Universe 7.
A streak of light plunged from the depths of space, hurtling toward Earth at breakneck speed.
Moments later, at the Lookout, a transparent cube-shaped spaceship docked smoothly.
A figure flew out, hovering high above, gazing down at the battered Earth that looked riddled with holes and on the verge of collapse. A pleased smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
"Ohohohoho…"
Frieza looked down with narrowed, slit-like eyes, sweeping his gaze across the group gathered inside the Lookout's main hall, locked in heated discussion.
"Earthlings, long time no see!"
The debate inside the temple came to an abrupt stop.
When they recognized who it was, most of them wore expressions that said, Oh, him again.
But there was one exception.
One man's teeth clenched so hard they nearly shattered, every muscle in his body tightening as he slipped into a fighting stance.
"Frieza!"
Bardock's eyes flooded red.
Frieza.
A thousand years had passed.
That hatred hadn't faded by even a hair. If anything, it had sunk into his bones.
This was the true culprit who destroyed Planet Vegeta and wiped out the Saiyan race. And in that planetary explosion, his wife, Gine, had been swallowed up and reduced to dust.
"Mr. Bardock, calm down!" The others sensed something was wrong and tried to stop him. "Frieza is our ally now "
But Bardock couldn't hear a word.
Gine's smile. His comrades' dying wishes. The firelight of the planet exploding…
Countless images tore through his mind like a storm.
Boom!
The Lookout's ceiling exploded apart as Bardock roared and shot toward Frieza.
"F RIE ZA! DIE!"
"Oh?" Frieza remained perfectly composed, glancing at Bardock. "Another Saiyan monkey that didn't die properly? Judging by your face, you seem to harbor quite the grudge against me."
Bang!
With a single finger, Frieza calmly caught Bardock's incoming punch.
His eyes narrowed. "Oh my, oh my. Not bad strength."
"RAAAAHHH !"
A savage aura detonated outward. Crimson fur swallowed Bardock's body in an instant as he transformed into Super Saiyan 4!
Frieza wasn't ready.
His abdomen took several heavy blows in rapid succession thud, thud, thud before he could even react.
He'd only come to enjoy the spectacle of Son Goku and the others facing the despair of a dying planet. He'd even greeted them politely for it.
And yet this Saiyan monkey, who'd come out of nowhere, didn't ask questions or explain anything he just transformed into Super Saiyan 4 and launched a sneak attack.
"Super Saiyan 4 or whatever… I can beat you with one hand."
A blinding flash erupted as a layer of golden radiance wrapped around Frieza's body.
Boom!
Frieza shot backward like a bolt of lightning, smashing deep into the Lookout plaza.
"H-How is that possible?!"
Frieza rose slowly from the crater, wiping blood from the corner of his mouth, his face twisting with rage.
"Damn Saiyan monkey…"
"You've truly angered me!"
"Giao !"
Before the last syllable even settled, he shifted into his Dark Gold form, vanishing from where he stood.
A fist tore through the air.
Frieza and Bardock collided head-on!
RUMBLE !
At the impact point, space warped and caved inward. Shockwaves blasted outward, ripping up every tile in the plaza and sending debris flying like shrapnel.
"So fast!"
Everyone's eyes could barely follow their movements.
It was obvious the King was genuinely furious now.
He had no intention of holding back. Every strike carried destructive energy.
But Bardock didn't dodge or retreat. His crimson aura formed a barrier that sealed the destructive energy outside.
Then Bardock's leg snapped out in a brutal whip-kick, slamming into Frieza's side.
Bang!
Frieza went flying, crashing through several of the Lookout's pillars in a chain of explosions.
"Filthy monkey!"
Frieza staggered up through the rubble.
And then he realized something.
He began to look at Bardock properly.
Since when did Saiyans produce someone like this?
The longer Frieza stared, the more familiar Bardock felt.
And then a memory, buried for decades, rose to the surface.
A face and voice nearly identical to Son Goku's… and that scar.
He remembered.
On the day Planet Vegeta met its end, a Saiyan wearing battle armor, scarred across the face, had charged his fleet alone, trying to stop him from destroying the planet.
"Don't tell me…"
A violent storm surged through Frieza's mind.
Impossible!
Back then that insect had been nothing more than something he crushed casually underfoot. How could he possibly stand on equal ground with Frieza after only a few decades?
And wasn't he supposed to have vanished in the fireworks of Planet Vegeta's explosion?
Bardock didn't give him time to think.
He dove down and the two resumed their savage clash.
Boom boom boom !
They fought from the sky down to the ground, tearing the already-ruined Earth into something even more broken.
"How is Mr. Bardock this strong? He's actually fighting Frieza evenly!" Dende stared, stunned.
"He said he's trained for over a thousand years," Tien explained, then frowned in confusion. "But… do Saiyans even live that long?"
Goku didn't care about that.
His blood was boiling. His fists clenched tight.
"My dad… he can actually stand up to Frieza. I really want to fight him!"
"Bardock's ki is incredibly stable. Maintaining Super Saiyan 4 doesn't seem to drain him much," Piccolo said with arms crossed. "He mastered that transformation in an unbelievably short time."
Yamcha watched with open envy. "Man… if I were a Saiyan too, I'd totally go Super Saiyan 4 just for fun. That form's so cool I'd have a whole crowd of beautiful girls chasing me."
"Tenshinhan should be the one who gets to be a Saiyan," Chiaotzu protested on Tien's behalf. "With his talent, he'd definitely master every Saiyan form. I want to see him turn Super Saiyan 3."
Tien could only sigh.
No matter how hard he trained, the Son family kept pulling farther and farther ahead.
Sometimes he'd even imagined it himself if he were a Saiyan, would he be standing on a bigger stage right now, trading blows with the strongest fighters across the universe?
Unfortunately, his era of glory was already long past.
On the battlefield, the two fought with no clear winner.
But Piccolo and Goku could see what was really happening.
"Bardock's movements aren't wasting a single motion," Piccolo murmured. "His combat experience is far beyond Frieza's. Is that what a thousand years of growth looks like?"
"And Frieza is tough as hell," Goku muttered. "Dad's that strong, but Frieza can still take it this long. If it were anyone else, they'd have lost already…"
"Between Mr. Bardock's Super Saiyan 4 and Mr. Goku's Super Saiyan 4, who's stronger?" Dende asked curiously.
"Bardock isn't weaker than Goku at all," Piccolo answered. "Even before transforming, his fighting power was terrifying. Add on his experience and technique…"
"A thousand years of training really is something else."
Gohan suddenly spoke up. "Dad… G-Grandpa really hates Frieza, doesn't he?"
"That's not surprising," Piccolo said quietly. "Frieza destroyed the Saiyan homeworld and killed who knows how many people Bardock cared about. That kind of hatred… doesn't just go away."
"But we can't let them keep fighting," Bulma said anxiously. "Earth is already so fragile. It can't withstand a battle at this level."
"Bulma's right." Someone else nodded. "And Frieza is still our ally. In the all-view exhibition match, he helped our universe several times."
"Several times?"
"You didn't know? That female Saiyan from Universe 6 was terrifying. If Frieza hadn't held her back, the arena would've turned into chaos."
"And before the match, Puar couldn't even turn Super Saiyan. Thank goodness for Frieza…"
Hearing that, everyone grew curious about what had happened in the exhibition match and began firing questions.
"An event that amazing and we missed it? What a tragedy!"
"Piccolo, tell us! Which universe had the strongest fighter?"
Piccolo gave a rough summary.
"To think there are so many fighters in other universes stronger than Goku… Even Toppo, that candidate God of Destruction, was already insanely strong. But his universe has someone even stronger than him?"
"Were those two female Saiyans cute?" Yamcha couldn't contain himself. "Did you get their contact info?"
Piccolo looked at him as if he were beyond saving, then snapped his attention back to the battlefield.
"Crap We talked too much. Frieza's about to get beaten to death!"
Frieza's body was covered in wounds. There wasn't a single unbroken patch left.
His aura was weak, but his mouth was still stubborn.
"A wild monkey who only knows brute force… is that all you've got?"
He seized an opening and pulled back, raising both hands as a massive energy sphere rapidly formed above him.
"Try this! Die together with Earth!"
BOOM!
But in the instant the energy sphere began to fall
Bardock vanished.
"What?!" Frieza's heart lurched.
That bastard wasn't fighting like someone who cared about protecting Earth at all.
Then a fist wrapped in crimson aura exploded into Frieza's vision, rapidly enlarging
BANG!
Frieza's eye socket took the full impact. His body plummeted.
At the same time, staring at his own energy sphere about to slam into Earth, Frieza's pupils widened in horror.
Earth couldn't be destroyed.
Otherwise, forget about getting taller if Levos came back for revenge, turning him thirty centimeters shorter wasn't out of the question.
That guy would absolutely do something like that!
Grinding through the pain, Frieza flashed in front of the blast.
During the interception, Bardock's relentless blows rained down on him like a storm.
Blood sprayed in arcs.
And finally, Frieza used his own body to forcefully stop the energy sphere.
"Damn it… why am I doing this…?!" Frieza screamed internally.
The ground cracked apart. Smoke and dust shot into the sky.
Everyone on the Lookout gaped.
"Frieza got taken out by his own attack?"
"He… protected Earth. That was… reckless."
"Why am I kind of moved right now?"
At the center of a massive crater, Frieza lay there feeling like every bone in his body had shattered. The humiliation burned even worse.
"Damn it… why… why is it always Saiyans?!"
"First Kakarot… and now his father…"
"These filthy monkeys… why won't they ever go away?!"
"No… when Levos comes back, I'm going to that 'Hyperbolic Time Chamber' to train! I refuse to be surpassed by these inferior lifeforms again!"
But even though Frieza was down, Bardock had no intention of letting him live.
At the edge of the bottomless crater, Bardock stood silently.
His gaze was ice-cold, locked onto Frieza.
In his palm, an energy sphere condensed tighter and tighter layer after layer his killing intent growing colder by the second.
Then, in a flash
A figure teleported in front of Bardock, between him and Frieza.
It was Goku.
"Dad!" Goku's expression was serious. "Frieza's already lost."
Bardock paused slightly, then glanced at Goku. "Kakarot, move. This is between me and him."
Goku frowned, trying to explain. "Frieza is our ally now. He helped our universe in the tournament, and just now he got this badly injured protecting Earth. I can't let you kill him!"
"Ally?" Bardock let out a scornful laugh. "You're pleading for mercy for the man who wiped out our race? Kakarot… have you lived on Earth so long you've forgotten who you are?"
"I'm doing this to avenge all our people!"
Goku's eyes became unusually serious.
"The Saiyans conquered planets and slaughtered countless innocent lives. Their hands were soaked in blood too. Their extinction was the punishment they earned."
Bardock froze.
What Kakarot said… was an undeniable truth.
Over that long thousand years, he had once been controlled by Towa, forced to follow her and witness the rise and fall of endless timelines.
No one understood better than him just how much disaster the Saiyan race had brought to the universe.
Avenging his people had always been the excuse he used to numb himself.
And yet, in Bardock's mind, a gentle smiling face kept surfacing.
"Gine…"
His eyes were bloodshot as he stared at Goku. "But what did Gine ever do wrong? She never liked fighting. Her greatest wish was for our family to live peacefully together…"
"She was always busy at the meat shop. Every time I came back from the battlefield, she'd have hot food waiting for me…"
Bardock sank into distant memories.
"She'd complain about the smell of blood on me then she'd carefully tend my wounds…"
"The last time I saw her was before I sent you to Earth. She and I escorted you and your pod all the way out. She watched you leave Planet Vegeta with her own eyes… and she told you to live. No matter what…"
"And I promised her… we'd come to Earth, find you, and reunite as a family…"
Bardock's voice trembled as he drowned in the past.
Those warm memories he'd buried for a thousand years surged back like a flood, and tears spilled from his eyes.
"But I didn't keep my promise!"
"I hate myself for being powerless watching Frieza destroy everything!"
He looked at Goku, eyes blazing red.
"Kakarot… tell me."
"Should Frieza die… or not?"
Goku fell silent.
He had no memory of his mother at all, but in Bardock's words, she sounded like a good person.
He stood there, torn apart.
On the Lookout, Piccolo sighed. He understood Bardock's feelings. This kind of personal hatred wasn't something he had the right to stop.
Dende whispered, "This time… Frieza might really be finished…"
Only force could stop Bardock now.
But other than Goku, no one could step into this family matter.
Bardock suddenly raised his hand and hurled the energy sphere condensed countless times over straight at Frieza.
"It's over, Frieza."
"For Gine…"
"Pay with your life!"
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