Far across the universe—
King Kai finally got an answer.
"Hello?"
King Kai nearly collapsed.
"GOKU!"
A pause.
"...King Kai?"
"YES, KING KAI!"
Goku pulled the receiver away from his ear.
"Wow. You sound stressed."
"I AM STRESSED!"
King Kai pointed furiously at the crystal ball despite Goku being unable to see him.
"Get over here and look at this!"
Another pause.
"...Did somebody die?"
"NO!"
"Then why are you screaming?"
King Kai grabbed his face.
"Because somebody is trying very hard to!"
Without waiting for another response, he thrust his hand toward the crystal ball.
A moment later—
Goku appeared beside him.
The Saiyan scratched the back of his head.
"What's going—"
His eyes landed on the crystal ball.
The sentence died immediately.
Silence.
Far below, Namek burned.
Entire mountain ranges were gone.
The ocean had swallowed coastlines.
The sky itself looked damaged.
And at the center of it all—
Brian and Frieza stared each other down.
Goku's expression slowly changed.
The casual smile disappeared.
"...Wow."
King Kai folded his arms.
"That's all you've got?"
Goku didn't answer.
He continued watching.
Brian's orbiting spheres screamed through the air.
Frieza remained perfectly still.
Waiting.
Thinking.
Analyzing.
The battlefield felt less like a fight and more like a chess match being played with continents.
Then Goku noticed something.
His eyes narrowed.
"...He's different."
King Kai blinked.
"What?"
Goku pointed toward Brian.
"He's stopped fighting Frieza."
King Kai stared.
"What are you talking about? That's literally what he's doing."
"No."
Goku shook his head.
"Earlier he was trying to beat Frieza."
His eyes remained fixed on the crystal ball.
"Now he's trying to understand him."
King Kai froze.
Because that was exactly what he'd been seeing.
Goku's expression became thoughtful.
"That's dangerous."
King Kai pointed excitedly.
"THAT'S WHAT I'VE BEEN SAYING!"
Goku ignored him.
His eyes followed Brian.
Every movement.
Every adjustment.
Every tiny change.
Then Goku smiled.
A very small smile.
"He reminds me of somebody."
King Kai groaned.
"Please don't say you."
Goku laughed.
"No."
His gaze remained locked on the battle.
"Actually..."
His smile faded.
"A little bit of everybody."
King Kai blinked.
"What?"
Goku pointed.
"The way he studies people?"
"Yeah?"
"That's not normal Saiyan behavior."
King Kai nodded.
Fair.
Very fair.
"The way he adapts during battle?"
King Kai nodded again.
"That's more Saiyan."
"Uh-huh."
"The way he keeps experimenting even when he's losing?"
King Kai winced.
"Yeah, that's the scary part."
Goku laughed.
"That's the part that reminds me of me."
King Kai immediately pointed.
"Exactly! That's a problem!"
Goku's smile widened.
Then his expression slowly became serious again.
Because he had finally noticed something else.
Something King Kai hadn't.
Far below—
Frieza wasn't getting frustrated.
He wasn't panicking.
He wasn't making mistakes.
In fact—
He looked calmer than ever.
Goku's smile disappeared.
"...Uh-oh."
King Kai looked up.
"What?"
Goku pointed.
"Look at Frieza."
King Kai did.
For several seconds he saw nothing unusual.
Then—
His stomach dropped.
Frieza wasn't reacting anymore.
The tyrant had stopped responding to Brian's chaos.
Stopped chasing.
Stopped testing.
Stopped probing.
He was simply observing.
Learning.
Exactly the same way Brian was.
"Oh no."
Goku nodded slowly.
"Yeah."
For the first time since arriving, concern entered his voice.
"Frieza's adapting too."
---
Back on Namek—
Neither fighter moved.
The distance between them remained roughly eighty meters.
Brian hovered above the shattered remains of the plateau.
Frieza floated over open air.
The ocean stretched behind him.
The ruined mountain range remained behind Brian.
The orbiting spheres continued screaming around him.
Their paths constantly changing.
Constantly evolving.
Constantly creating new variables.
Frieza watched them.
Then smiled.
Brian's grin faded.
That smile again.
"Figured something out?"
Frieza nodded.
"As a matter of fact."
Brian immediately became cautious.
Frieza raised one finger.
Not toward Brian.
Toward one of the spheres.
A beam shot forward.
The sphere exploded.
Nothing unusual.
Then another beam.
Another sphere.
Another.
Another.
Brian frowned.
Frieza wasn't attacking.
He was selecting.
Choosing specific spheres.
Specific trajectories.
Specific variables.
Brian's eyes widened.
"Oh."
Frieza smiled.
"You finally see it."
One more sphere vanished.
The entire network shifted.
Not in Brian's favor.
Against him.
Frieza had started manipulating the system.
Using Brian's own creation against him.
Above King Kai's planet, Goku's eyes narrowed.
"He found the pattern."
King Kai looked horrified.
"There was a pattern?!"
"Of course there was."
Goku folded his arms.
"There always is."
Down below, Brian's grin slowly returned.
Not because things were going well.
Because they weren't.
Not even close.
But for the first time all battle—
Someone had finally done something he didn't expect.
And that was exciting.
Frieza had solved part of the puzzle.
Which meant the puzzle could become more complicated.
Brian laughed.
Frieza smiled.
And watching from King Kai's world, Goku felt a chill.
Because neither fighter looked worried.
Neither looked angry.
Neither looked tired.
They looked interested.
And Goku knew from experience that the most dangerous battles weren't the ones where people hated each other.
They were the ones where both sides were still learning.
Far below, Brian raised his hand.
The remaining spheres changed formation.
Frieza's smile widened.
And Goku quietly muttered:
"Yeah..."
His eyes never left the crystal ball.
"...this is where things start getting crazy."
King Kai couldn't sit still.
He paced around the crystal ball.
Stopped.
Looked.
Started pacing again.
"Goku, say something."
The Saiyan remained silent.
Far below, Namek shook.
Brian floated above the remains of a shattered continent while the surviving spheres of ki orbited around him like miniature planets.
Across from him, Frieza observed.
Learning.
Adapting.
The same way Brian was.
King Kai swallowed.
"Do you think he can win?"
Goku didn't answer immediately.
His eyes remained fixed on the crystal ball.
Watching.
Thinking.
Remembering.
---
When they'd met on Namek.
Brian had walked into a situation that should have terrified him.
The Ginyu Force.
Vegeta.
Frieza.
The fate of an entire planet.
And somehow—
The guy had looked annoyed more than scared.
Goku remembered watching Brian dismantle Captain Ginyu.
Not overpower him.
Not overwhelm him.
Understand him.
Every dodge.
Every movement.
Every prediction.
The fight had looked less like combat and more like someone solving a puzzle.
Then came the conversation afterward.
"I'm gonna be the one killing Frieza."
Goku remembered how calm Brian had sounded when he said it.
Not angry.
Not boastful.
Certain.
At the time, Goku had assumed Brian was simply confident.
Now—
Watching him fight Frieza—
Goku realized something.
Brian had never been confident.
He had been committed.
There was a difference.
---
Back on Namek—
Frieza raised one hand.
The surviving spheres immediately reacted.
Not because Brian commanded them.
Because Frieza had figured out how they influenced one another.
A beam lanced through the battlefield.
One sphere exploded.
Three others changed trajectory.
A fourth accelerated.
A fifth drifted out of formation.
Brian's grin widened.
"Nice."
Frieza looked irritated.
"Must you enjoy everything?"
Brian laughed.
"Not everything."
Another sphere shifted.
Brian's eyes followed it.
"But this?"
His grin widened.
"This is cool."
---
King Kai grabbed his antennae.
"He's complimenting Frieza."
Goku laughed.
"Yeah."
"He shouldn't be complimenting Frieza!"
"He always seemed like the type."
King Kai stared.
"The type?"
"The type that likes figuring things out."
Goku folded his arms.
"Back when we met, everyone was worried about Frieza."
King Kai nodded.
Reasonably.
Very reasonably.
"And Brian was worried too."
King Kai blinked.
"Really?"
"Yep."
Goku smiled.
"He just didn't let it stop him."
King Kai stared at the crystal ball.
Then slowly looked back at Goku.
"...That's a Saiyan thing."
Goku laughed.
"Probably."
---
Namek trembled.
Frieza moved first.
The tyrant disappeared from above the ocean.
Brian immediately tracked him.
Not visually.
Instinctively.
Frieza emerged beside him.
Twenty meters above the water.
One hand extended.
Brian twisted.
The attack missed.
Frieza's tail swept low.
Brian folded over it.
The ocean exploded beneath them.
A wall of water rose hundreds of meters into the air.
Neither fighter looked down.
Both remained focused entirely on each other.
Frieza attacked again.
Brian didn't evade.
He flew directly toward him.
Frieza's eyes narrowed.
The distance vanished.
Ten meters.
Five.
Three.
Then Brian abruptly stopped.
Frieza's attack passed through empty space.
Not because Brian was faster.
Because he had intentionally broken the expected rhythm.
The water wall collapsed behind them.
Thousands of tons of water crashed into the sea.
Neither noticed.
---
King Kai leaned forward.
"Did you see that?"
Goku nodded.
"He baited the timing."
"Exactly!"
King Kai pointed excitedly.
"Frieza expected acceleration."
Goku's smile faded.
"Yeah."
His eyes narrowed.
"And Frieza almost corrected for it anyway."
The smile vanished entirely.
King Kai noticed.
"What?"
Goku stared at the crystal ball.
For the first time since arriving—
His expression looked concerned.
"Frieza's improving too fast."
---
The realization hung in the air.
King Kai slowly looked back toward Namek.
And suddenly he saw it.
Brian wasn't the only one learning.
Every trick.
Every experiment.
Every unusual movement.
Every improvised tactic.
Frieza absorbed all of it.
Analyzed all of it.
Adapted to all of it.
Just in a different way.
Brian evolved through creativity.
Frieza evolved through efficiency.
And those two paths were rapidly approaching the same destination.
Far below—
Frieza smiled.
Brian smiled back.
And for the first time since they started watching—
Goku felt something he hadn't expected.
Not fear.
Not doubt.
Respect.
Because regardless of how this ended—
The strange Saiyan he met on Namek had become a warrior capable of standing in front of Frieza and forcing the emperor of the universe to think.
And that alone was incredible.
Then Goku's eyes suddenly widened.
"...Wait."
King Kai looked up.
"What?"
Goku pointed at the crystal ball.
Brian had stopped looking at Frieza.
Instead—
He was looking at the ocean.
King Kai frowned.
"Why is he staring at the water?"
Goku's expression changed.
A grin slowly spread across his face.
"Oh."
"What?"
"Oh, that's crazy."
"What is?!"
Goku laughed.
"He's got another idea."
King Kai immediately buried his face in his hands.
"Of course he does."
And somewhere below—
The ocean began to move.