"Man, when is he going to come back?! I wanna give it another shot!" Goku yelled, stretching out his arms above his head as his eyes had some eagerness in them, "I still don't think I can beat him, but… I want to try so bad!"
"Goku… please stop talking about him coming back," Krillin chuckled, rubbing the back of his shiny, bald head a bit nervously, "It's bad enough having to see his face everywhere, right? If he just never came back, I certainly wouldn't mind!"
"Aw, come on, Krillin! He's not that bad," Goku waved him off, only causing a man a few feet away to look at him dryly.
"'Not that bad?' You do remember what he did, don't you, Goku?" Tien asked him blandly, "He kidnapped Bulma, then killed all of us! Even Gohan! He's still going to therapy, isn't he?"
"Eh? Um… I think so?" Goku said as looking off into space for a moment, but then just shrugged, "But, you're all back now, so it's fine, isn't it? And, you're stronger! If anything, it was a good thing!"
"A good thing that we died? Not all of us only care about becoming stronger, Goku," Krillin pressed, shaking his head slightly somberly, "Man, I always thought I was pretty tough, but… I can't shake that feeling. The way he looked down on us… how he killed us all so easily… how I couldn't do anything… every time I see his face, I can feel it! And I see his face way too much!"
"Tell me about it," Piccolo agreed, standing a dozen feet away in his usual cloak, as he looked dryly back at the top of the Lookout's building - which had a large, billboard-like sign on the top.
"Oh, those? I mean, if he's the king now, then he can put stuff wherever he wants. King Furry did it too!" Goku justified, not backing down as his face was set in stubborn defiance, "Besides, there's nothing bad about a couple of signs! He's not that bad of a guy!"
"Are you even hearing yourself, Goku?" Tien said again, this time his voice a bit harsher, "The guy who killed and traumatized your son isn't that bad of a guy?! Gohan's still in therapy as we speak!"
"Eh, he doesn't really need that, it's just because Chi-Chi wants him to go!" Goku justified again, shaking his head lightly as a small, excited grin formed on his face, "I've been training with Gohan a lot recently! When Frieza comes back, he'll get his chance against him too!"
"You… you want Gohan to fight Frieza?" Krillin spat out, looking at Goku like he was insane, but then just sighed. It wasn't that big of a surprise to him, as he had long since known that Goku was more than a bit obsessed with fighting, and that he also wouldn't be winning any 'Father of the Year' awards. That obsession had only become more obvious and fearsome after his constant defeats at Frieza's hands, as Goku had been training harder than he ever had been before.
"Yup! He's gotten way stronger lately! He'll do great!" Goku just nodded confidently, his grin growing wider, "But… I'll take a crack at him first…"
"We'll all take 'a crack at him,'" Piccolo said coldly as Goku trailed off, "This isn't a tournament, Goku. He's an evil person and someone who took over the Earth. When he returns again, we must all be strong enough to contribute. Then, we'll fight him together."
"W-What?! You want us all to fight him at the same time?" Goku gasped dramatically, staring at Piccolo with wide eyes, "But, that's not fair!"
"Exactly, it's not," Tien agreed, nodded stiffly at the idea, "I don't like ganging up and making a fight unfair either, but this isn't the time to be playing fair, Goku. He killed us and took over the planet! We're not fighting him to spar, or for fun!"
"Yeah!" The voice of Yamcha agreed, who was 'resting' to the side of the group, as he tended to be a lot lazier in his training than they were, "I'll never forgive that bastard for what he did! Both to us, and to Bulma!"
"It's not 'us,' because you were killed by a Saiba-" Krillin started to supply helpfully, but was interrupted as Goku shouted.
"B-But… he's not a bad guy!" Goku said helplessly, glancing between the group of his friends as he didn't know how to convince them.
"Goku… you're not just acting like he's a good person because you want to keep fighting him, right?" Krillin pressed, looking at Goku a bit doubtfully, "You… you're not just overlooking all the bad things he did because he's strong, are you?"
Krillin's expression turned dry as Goku didn't meet his eyes, instead glancing away as he chuckled nervously, "W-What? Krillin, if he were really a bad guy, then I'd definitely be with you guys! We would take him all on together! For sure! Yup!"
"You're a terrible liar, Goku," Piccolo said bluntly, causing Goku's expression to crack, "I don't care how strong he is. He's our enemy, and the next time he comes here, it'll be the last time!"
"Oh? And why is that?"
"Because we'll kill him-" Piccolo turned around, and his words died in his throat. His eyes went wide as he stared at a familiar face, but not one on a billboard this time.
"No, no, go on," I smirked lightly at the Namekian, who took a quick step backwards as his body tensed and his hand clenched into a fist, "What were you saying? Something about… killing me?"
"W-What?! H-How did he… when did he…" Yamcha trailed off, staring with no small amount of fear in his eyes at my arrival.
"I-It's… it's him!" Krillin stuttered out as I practically appeared out of thin air - or, more specifically, literally appeared out of thin air with Instant Transmission - on the Lookout. He took a step back, his body tensing, and to the side, Tien did the same.
"F-Frieza!" He stuttered as well, glaring at me as he shifted into a fighting stance. His voice had not small amount of venom in it, and a thick tension filled the air.
"Hey, Frieza! What took you so long?! I'm itching for a fight!" Which was then promptly broken as Goku grinned widely, casually striding towards me as if I was a friend, which was a big contrast from the fear-stricken, tensed Tien, Krillin, Piccolo, and Yamcha.
"Goku," I greeted him casually, grinning lightly at the man's excited expression, "It seems your friends have all returned."
"Yup! Thanks for letting me use the Dragon Balls!" Goku just grinned even wider, nodding quickly at my statement, even as said 'friends' were watching the exchange with stiff bodies.
"Frieza Balls," I corrected him immediately, as I was building a brand here, y'know? You don't take all the effort to put your face on the Dragon Balls just for no one to call them the Frieza Balls!
"F-Frieza Balls? Hell no! I-If you think we're going to give in to your machinations and let you do whatever you want, then you're sorely mistaken! Right, Goku?!" Yamcha interrupted, finally growing the balls to step forward as he glared at me, "They're the Dragon Balls, bastard!"
Honestly, I was a bit impressed by the man - both in his bravery, intelligence, and stupidity. Bravery, because he actually had the balls to say something to me. Intelligence, because I definitely didn't think Yamcha would have 'machinations' in his vocabulary. And, finally, stupidity, because he was yelling insults at the guy who could kill him with the snap of my fingers. Unfortunately, that stupidity really outweighed the other two.
And, his stupidity seemed to have translated to his training style as well. As I glanced around the Lookout, I took note of the Z-Fighter's new power levels, which had definitely increased during their training with King Kai, as well as during the past four months of training with Goku. Piccolo's was particularly impressive, as I knew he hadn't fused with Kami, but his power level had still skyrocketed to nearly twenty million. Considering he hadn't even reached ten thousand during his battle with the Saiyans, it was a very impressive jump.
Tien's was a bit less impressive, but still large, as he sat at around five million. Krillin was slightly higher, sitting at roughly eight million, and then, finally, Yamcha was at… one hundred thousand. A certainly impressive number - if this had been nearly a year ago, when even Goku was only around twenty thousand. But this wasn't nearly a year ago, and as such, it certainly wasn't impressive. Power creep was a thing for a reason - as one fighter, usually Goku, got insane power-ups, he could then use that power and help his friends grow stronger as a result. Piccolo, Tien, and Krillin had certainly seen that boost as they trained with a Super Saiyan 2 Goku on top of training with King Kai, but Yamcha had somehow, someway, managed to only reach one hundred thousand.
That was the seriously impressive part - how the hell did Yamcha even manage to not gain that much power? Was he training at all? I'm pretty sure Goku could've just kicked his ass for a month straight, and he'd make more progress than he did!
"Oh, right! The Frieza Balls!" Yamcha's glare promptly faded as Goku didn't agree with him in the slightest, just waving past the name as if it wasn't a big deal, "Now, let's battle!"
"No, you will not be battling!" A voice behind me huffed, and Bulma finally intervened in the conversation as she glared at Goku and stepped around my frame, "You always do this! I haven't seen you in months, Goku! And I haven't seen the rest of you in even longer!"
"B-Bulma?" Yamcha stuttered, his eyes going wide as he stepped forward, and then his nervous face shifted into a relieved grin, "You're alright! Goku said you were fine, but I'm glad I can finally see you again!"
Bulma paused, raising a hand as Yamcha rushed towards her, his arms open in a hugging gesture, "What are you doing?"
"H-Huh?" Yamcha blinked as she stopped him, looking down at her curiously, "R-Reuniting with you? I haven't seen you in almost an entire year! I was worried!"
"Not worried enough to do anything when I was being kidnapped," Bulma just shot him down dryly, and Yamcha stumbled at her harsh words, "Or, to cheat on me before I was kidnapped. Don't talk to me."
"Yikes," The other woman I brought with me, Android 18, muttered behind me, though she sounded amused as she watched, "That was cold."
"He deserved it," I just shrugged at her words, as I certainly didn't feel bad for Yamcha in the slightest. I might've indirectly been responsible for his embarrassing death at the hands of a Saibaman, constantly mocked him for it behind his back, and taken his woman from his, but he was still… Yamcha. I felt no guilt.
"B-Bulma! Come on, don't be like that! I was just dead for a bunch of months!" Yamcha tried again, but got no results as Bulma just brushed past him and approached Goku again. His gaze turned to me, and his face hardened as he glared harshly at me. In response, I just smirked back.
"Don't blame me. The others can be upset because I killed them, but you? You…" My smirk grew a bit wider as Yamcha's glare intensified, and he clearly knew what I was about to say next, "Were killed by a Saibaman. A literal plant, which grew from the ground only a minute before it killed you. You lost to a one-minute-old plant."
"S-Shut up, you bastard!" Yamcha huffed back, but aside from glaring at me, he couldn't think of anything else to say to my words. And, he was certainly too afraid to approach me physically.
"W-What… what do we do?!" Krillin hissed in a whisper-shout as Bulma reached Goku, glancing over at Goku for some guidance.
"Hey, Bulma! What'd you want?" In response, Goku blatantly ignored him, speaking quickly to Bulma, "Can it wait? I've been wanting to fight him for forever!"
"Don't brush me off to fight again! I haven't seen you in months, and this is what you do?! Moron!" As Bulma started to chew out the Super Saiyan, Krillin glanced over at Piccolo instead, who looked similarly conflicted.
"W-We… we still have to do something, right?" He muttered, doing his best to speak without letting me hear him, but failing terribly, "H-He's right there! We've been training for months to be ready for this!"
"You're right," Piccolo simply nodded, his expression steeling as he turned his gaze to me, "We can't just let him do whatever he wants to our planet and get away with it."
"I agree," Tien agreed to side, still shifted into his fighting stance, "But… we can't beat him without Goku, right?"
The trio all glanced over to Goku, who still seemed to be a bit preoccupied.
"I'm one of your best friends, and you haven't seen me in months, Goku! Instead of catching up, you just want to fight him again?! Do you think fighting is more important than our friendship or something?!" Bulma was in the middle of jutting her finger into Goku's face, as the man leaned back with a sheepish expression.
"W-Well, Bulma, when you put it like that, it sounds bad!" He chuckled lightly, which only served to piss Bulma off more.
"YOU REALLY DO THINK FIGHTING IS MORE IMPORTANT THAN ME?!"
"M-Maybe we can wait until another time to fight him," Krillin muttered a bit shakily at the sight, "H-He's not doing anything bad right now, at least, right?"
"'Anything bad?' What did you think I was here to do?" I deadpanned at Krillin, who stiffened as he realized I was overhearing everything, "Did you think I came all the way just to kill you guys again or something?"
"W-Well, something like that," Krillin responded sheepishly, relaxing a bit at my words, "That's what you did last time, y'know?"
"Scemantics," I waved my hand dismissively, "I wanted to piss Goku off enough to become a Super Saiyan, so your deaths were necessary for that end. Besides, don't act like death is some terrible thing. You got a four-month exclusive training vacation, and then I let him use the wishes to revive you."
I was downplaying the situation a bit, as I had still killed them in cold blood, and those memories would never fully fade. But, I also wasn't lying - death in this world was just… not really that bad. Well, if you were a normal person who died, and then had to wait in a long-ass line until you were reincarnated, it was actually decently bad. But, for the Z-Fighters?
One of their motives in life was to become stronger. Even if I hadn't killed them, they would've spent the nearly half a year that they had been on King Kai's planet training on Earth anyway. They would've been doing the same exact thing, with pretty much the same training partners, since they were all dead and training together with King Kai. All in all, I figured that Goku would've held the biggest grudge against me, considering he had witnessed all his friends die in front of his eyes, but now that he wasn't holding a grudge in the slightest, I felt like the others didn't really have much ground to stand on here.
"I mean… he's not wrong," Tien muttered, not looking happy about it as he did, and then he relaxed slightly as well, "I guess we don't have to fight him right now, at least if he's not here to cause any trouble."
"R-Right!" Krillin nodded rapidly, and a bit shakily.
Honestly, they were a bit more accepting of my logic than I expected, but I assumed their fear was playing a pretty big factor into that. I was still the person who had effortlessly killed them not even a year ago, and without Goku on board with a plan to attack me, they likely knew they wouldn't be able to defeat me. Their acceptance was less because they truly weren't upset at me for my actions, but more so because they had no choice but not to be upset.
"See! I told you he wasn't a bad guy!" Goku butted in, grinning widely as he overheard his friend's words, "Now, let's fight, Frieza!"
"Seriously?! Did everything I just said to you go in one ear and out the other?!" Bulma huffed next to him as Goku didn't back down on his challenges, but then finally sighed, "Whatever. We can all catch up after you fight, I guess. Make it quick!"
"Trust me, it will be," I chuckled lightly at her words, only causing the Z-Fighters to stiffen a bit again, "But I didn't just come here to fight you, Goku."
"Huh?" Goku blinked, tilting his head at me curiously, "Why else would you be here?"
This guy really was a bit too obsessed with fighting, huh? But, considering that for most of the series he neglected his wife, son, friends, getting a job, and… pretty much everything to train and fight, I shouldn't have been surprised.
"You're father," I told him bluntly, just causing Goku's eyes to go wide, "You're actual, biological, Saiyan father, who sent you to Earth when you were a child. I brought him here to meet you."
As I finished speaking, a thick tension filled the air, and no one spoke. The Lookout was deadly silent as Goku stared at me with wide eyes, and the Z-Fighters also were wide-eyed as they looked over at Goku.
"H-His dad?" Krillin asked, looking at Goku with a strange expression.
"His brother did come here before, didn't he? Then, it would make sense that his father was out there somewhere," Tien muttered, also waiting for Goku to respond, which he finally did.
"...Can that wait until after we fight?" The tension was instantly ripped from the air as Goku spoke in an almost whining tone, apparently not caring in the slightest about meeting his real father, "I've never met him before, so he can wait, right? He's waited years! He can wait until after the fight!"
I stared at Goku dryly, "I went through the effort to find your father, and bring him all the way here to meet you, and you don't even care?"
"Why does it matter? I told Raditz the same thing," Goku's face shifted a bit, becoming more serious. "I'm not this 'Kakarot' guy! I'm Goku, and even if I'm a Saiyan, I'm from Earth! This is my home, and my family is here."
Goku's determined eyes locked with mine, and then, after a moment, I just sighed. I had expected for Bardock to have a bit more value here, as both something to hold over Goku's head, and something to make him and his friends accept my rule more. I was being kind enough to bring his father to meet him, but it was my fault for expecting anything more than this. Goku had made it clear to Raditz that, even if they were brothers, he didn't mean anything to him. Besides some slight hesitation during the fight when Raditz had been literally begging him, Goku had no qualms about killing his brother for what he did, and never even considered wishing him back to life with the Dragon Balls.
Goku was an Earthling through and through, even if his lineage was from space. If he cared about fighting more than raising his own son, then I shouldn't have expected him to value meeting his father over it. But, at the very least, the Z-Fighters seemed to appreciate my gesture.
"Maybe… maybe he really isn't that bad?" Krillin muttered, glancing over at Goku, then me, then Tien, "Even if Goku doesn't care, it's still a good thing to do, right?"
"Yes," Tien relaxed more, nodding at Krillin's words, "At the very least, I… I guess he's not the cold-blooded monster I thought he was."
"W-Wait, yes, he is! He kidnapped Bulma! A-And killed us!" Yamcha butted in, shaking his head furiously at the two, "Don't fall for it just because he's being a bit nice now! He took over the whole planet!"
"He did, and if you cared about anything other than training than hitting on women, you would've seen all the good that came from it," Bulma butted in, defending me as she glared lightly at Yamcha, "The homelessness issue has become non-existent, access to affordable technology and health services has been increased greatly, and the normal, non-fighting-obsessed citizens here love him! He's done more for the people here in four months than that dog did in decades!"
Bulma's defense was both correct and touching, but also exaggerated a bit. I guess I had technically done all that, because I was technically the 'King' of this planet now, but in reality, I hadn't done much at all. Instead, I had just used the Zarbon I left here, along with Instant Transmission, to bring a few of the ultra-intelligent weak aliens that I had managing a lot of the planets in my Empire here. With not just one of them, but multiple of them, at the helm, this planet had been receiving nothing but benefits for the past four months, and in rapid succession. Civilization was flourishing more than ever before, and to say that Earth was becoming a utopia wasn't all that much of a stretch.
Of course, since the Z-Fighters were both abnormal compared to the average man, as well as probably more preoccupied with training in preparation for my return, rather than actually looking at the ins and outs of the changes being made to each city, they likely hadn't noticed much of that at all. I doubted any of them had insurance, considering their main method of healing was a magical green bean. Though Goku had gone to the hospital after his fight with Vegeta, so… maybe they did?
"B-But, he… he… he killed us! A-And kidnapped you!" Yamcha just repeated, gesturing at me desperately, and at this point, I was starting to feel bad for the man. You could only dunk on somebody so many times before it became a bit sad. Apparently, I wasn't the only one.
"Give it a break. You look like a loser now," 18 said bluntly, as she didn't hold back her true feelings, as per usual. Yamcha turned to glare at her, but I got his attention back with my next words.
"A Saibaman killed you," I corrected, as he simply made it too easy for me, "And you don't have to be upset just because she doesn't care about you anymore. Maybe you shouldn't have cheated, or…"
I vanished, shooting forward quicker than Yamcha's eyes could even go wide as my fist lightly slammed into his gut. It was very lightly, because with how weak Yamcha was in comparison to myself, my fist would've gone straight through his stomach if I put even a bit of strength into it. However, it certainly didn't feel light to Yamcha.
"Been so weak."
Yamcha hunched over my fist, his eyes wide, and the Z-Fighters all tensed as I stepped back, letting Yamcha fall to the ground. He coughed in pain, clutching at his gut as tension filled the air.
"Yamcha! F-Frieza!" Goku shouted, but I ignored him.
"I appreciate that you don't think I'm a monster anymore, but don't misunderstand," I said bluntly, glancing to the side as my eyes glanced over the tensed forms of Krillin, Tien, and Piccolo, "I wouldn't consider myself a bad person, but I'm not some 'good guy' either."
That was the full truth - I would kill who needed to be killed, take what I wanted to take, and do whatever the hell I wanted. I wasn't some cruel overlord who would let my people suffer - I had morals, just as any person did, and as a result, I would try to improve the living conditions of those in my Empire.
But, while I had morals, I wasn't some self-righteous, moral-preaching type of person. I'd always look out for myself above all else, and those I cared about would certainly receive favoritism. In this instance, I needed to show the Z-Fighters just who my favorites were. In case it wasn't apparent, Yamcha was definitely not one of them!
"I let Goku use the Frieza Balls to wish you all back to life, and then brought his father here, but neither was out of some kind act. Not because I felt bad for killing any of you, nor because I pitied Goku for never meeting his father," I told them bluntly, my eyes going a bit cold as my power rose, and the tension in the air became thicker, "I did that because I value Goku. He's strong - far stronger than any of you, and he works hard enough that he'll continue to grow stronger."
That was also the truth - one of my primary goals was raising the Mortal Level of Universe 7, and while I assumed that the legwork I had put in for my Empire had probably raised it by a lot already, that didn't mean I would relax. I had no knowledge of the other universes to compare this one against, or even a concrete idea of how Zeno judged the 'Mortal Level' of each universe. In the end, having strong allies and subordinates would always be useful, both to raise the Mortal Level and to help in the much longer-term conflict that would inevitably arise against Beerus. Goku had near limitless potential, and for that reason, I had focused on him heavily - working to inspire him, manipulate him, and now, slowly gain his loyalty.
"In my galactic empire, strength is what matters more than anything else." I continued bluntly, my power rising higher as it became harder for the Earthlings to breathe, and all but Goku, Bulma, and 18 were staring at me shakily, "Whatever thoughts you have about defeating me are useless, but I welcome them. Come for my life - either alone, together, or with an entire army. It won't matter."
I bent down, casually grabbing Yamcha by his hair and yanking him upward - nearly pulling him entirely off the ground as his body shook and slumped in my grip, "I'll win every time. What you must do is simple - if you want to defeat me, then become stronger. If you want to stop me from doing whatever I want with your planet, then become stronger. If you want to survive in my Empire, then become stronger. And, if you want to stop me from taking your lives, women, or friends, then…"
I yanked Yamcha up, dragging his hair back as I forced the bandit to stare up at me.
"Become stronger."
In my Empire, you had to contribute value. If you were a drop-dead gorgeous woman like 18, then that was your value. Bulma had that, and then her insane intelligence increased her value even more. Gero was a genius who could create androids - that was his value. Goku got his value from his strength. I was glad that the Z-Fighters were starting to view me in a better light, but at the same time, I didn't want them to.
Right now, their value was low. They were stronger than the average human, but compared to me, Goku, my family members, even Ginyu in his new body - compared to a damn lot of people, they weren't really that powerful. The fear that I had instilled in them upon my first arrival on Earth had faded over the nearly two years since then, and I needed to remind them.
"Luckily for you all, you have potential. A lot of potential," I continued casually, dropping Yamcha to the ground as I glanced at Krillin, Tien, and Piccolo again, "Which is why I'll help you become stronger. I'll bring someone to help you train, and then, I'll give you four more months."
"Four more months?" Piccolo spoke this time, his face steeled as he glared at me lightly despite his stiff frame, "What will happen after four months?"
My lips curved up into a large grin at his words. Unfortunately, just their lives wouldn't be enough to keep them motivated anymore. They had already experienced death and knew that it was something that could be reversed by the Dragon Balls, and that it wasn't even that bad. I needed to up the stakes, and up the stakes I did.
"I'll blow up the Earth."
That should motivate them, right?
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AN: Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be posted in a few days!
There are also 20 more chapters posted on Patreon.com/Koyon ! Up to chapter 56 is on there right now!