THUD! THUD! THUD!
Piccolo pummelled Recoome relentlessly, then drove a hard elbow into him.
BOOM!
Recoome's body plummeted from the sky, crashing into the ground and leaving another deep crater.
A moment later, Recoome clawed his way out — teeth clenched, staring at Piccolo with undisguised hatred.
"Hmph. Quite the difference between pre- and post-training," Piccolo remarked, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"This can't be happening! I can't lose to some Namekian?!" Recoome erupted, launching himself immediately back toward Piccolo in a furious charge.
After several more exchanges —
CRACK!
Recoome suddenly leapt back, putting distance between himself and Piccolo.
"Namekian! Don't think you've won! You're about to see what I'm really made of!" Recoome clenched both fists, energy surging wildly around him, and bellowed: "RECOOME — ULTRA — FIGHTING — BOMBER!"
CRACK!
Piccolo shot forward with a sharp uppercut — connecting squarely with Recoome's chest.
Recoome's face instantly contorted. He bared his teeth and crumpled slowly to the ground, out cold before he hit it.
"Ha — that's Piccolo for you," Krillin said, genuine admiration in his voice.
"Amazing, Piccolo!" Gohan was delighted.
"Hmph." Piccolo stood composed, arms folded.
"Guess I don't get to go on then," Yamcha muttered, scratching his head.
Across the battlefield, Tien's fight with Burter was also drawing to a close.
After exchanging blows for a while, Tien landed one heavy strike — and sent Burter crashing down.
Burter followed Recoome to the ground, out cold.
Jeice was completely beside himself.
What is going on?!
We're the greatest team in the universe!
Am I having a nightmare?!
Burter AND Recoome — beaten by these two?!
Their strength isn't far off mine — which means if they want to kill me, I probably can't escape.
Whoosh!
Jeice didn't hesitate for a single second. He turned and ran.
But Piccolo had already sensed it. He flickered and materialised directly in Jeice's path.
"Running?" Piccolo said coldly, and launched a sharp uppercut into Jeice's stomach.
"AUGH—!"
Jeice screamed.
Piccolo followed up with a powerful kick, sending Jeice tumbling into the sky.
Then Piccolo opened his mouth.
BOOM!
A blast of energy fired from his mouth.
BOOM!
The beam engulfed Jeice completely — nothing left but dust.
Tien, Krillin, and the others stared at Piccolo, every face stunned.
So when Piccolo was fighting Recoome, he wasn't using anywhere near his full power.
Tien in particular felt something complicated in his chest.
I'd thought I was pretty close to Piccolo's level. I was just a little slower to put away one of the Ginyu Force's members.
Piccolo was barely trying.
"The Ginyu Force is finished — all members down," Yamcha said with a casual laugh, then turned to Piccolo. "Though their captain got away. Do we go after him?"
"We pursue. Captain Ginyu is the strongest of them," Piccolo decided immediately.
The group grabbed one of Frieza's soldiers, commandeered a small spaceship, and headed off in Ginyu's direction.
...
Planet Vampa.
Broly was still beating Frieza.
Frieza had been on the receiving end of that beating for well over an hour and was no longer recognisable as himself.
After grinding through one final minute of Broly's fists, Frieza finally, mercifully, lost consciousness.
Seeing Frieza go limp, Broly walked over and kicked him a couple of times — reflexively assuming he was dead.
The golden aura around Broly dissipated instantly. He returned to normal, then went to check on his father's body.
There was no trace of life left in Paragus. Broly's expression carried a flicker of grief — though no tears came.
After a moment, Broly found a spot and buried his father.
With that done, he returned to where Frieza had fallen, intending to bury him too.
But when he got back, Frieza was gone.
Broly scratched his head.
Did some passing monster eat him?
Forget it.
What Broly didn't know was that Frieza had already regained consciousness and found somewhere to hide.
Right now, Frieza was crouched behind a boulder not far from Broly — watching him in cold silence, his whole body trembling with barely-contained fury.
Wretched Saiyan monkeys.
I, Frieza, will not let any of you go.
Part of Frieza had briefly wanted to destroy the planet — expose Broly to the vacuum of space and kill him that way. But thinking about it more carefully, that felt too easy for him.
You beat me this badly — I need to beat you back myself before this grudge is settled.
I can't beat him right now. But that doesn't mean I, Frieza, will ever accept losing to him.
The environment on this planet is terrible, but I don't care.
Right. I'll get away from this monkey and find a safe distance. Train properly. Once I've recovered my full strength from my previous life — then I'll show you.
Frieza quietly shuffled away, step by laborious step, putting distance between himself and Broly's area, until he found a safe spot and began a fresh round of training.
Just you wait.
All of you — just wait.
I, Frieza, will destroy you one by one!
Hold on...
I'm getting the sense this Saiyan monkey's head isn't entirely right.
Maybe I can nudge him in the right direction. Get some use out of him.
Once I'm done with him, I'll finish him off.
Either way — heal first. Then train.
...
Planet Namek.
Frieza's spaceship.
After approximately thirty minutes in the Medical Machine, Vegeta was fully recovered.
CRACK!
Vegeta shattered the pod and launched himself out.
"V-Vegeta-sama... congratulations — I trust you're fully healed?" Frieza's soldier asked with the most respectful tone he could manage.
"Hmph." Vegeta snorted and didn't bother giving the soldier a second look.
Quietly, he assessed his own energy.
Pathetic.
Absolutely pathetic.
Right now my battle power tops out at just over 30,000.
I have to get stronger. Fast.
Still — I have my previous life's training behind me. As long as I put in the work, recovering my Super Saiyan Blue form is absolutely doable.
Start with Super Saiyan first.
No — I need to get back to Earth right away and find Dr. Brief. Have him build me a gravity training room.
Though... Planet Namek feels different from what I remember...
Is it because I've been reborn?
That might actually be the explanation.
To be continued…
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