The Earth burned.
Vegeta lay still. A prisoner in his own body, watching as Frieza hovered above the shattered battlefield like a god made flesh. The sky was torn, the air thick with the smell of smoke, blood, and broken dreams. Gohan was unconscious. Piccolo didn't move. Goten and Trunks, still fused and broken apart again, hadn't stirred since they hit the ground.
And then—he felt it.
A pulse.
A pressure.
Something stirred deep inside of him, almost like a distant echo. His thoughts remained trapped in his body, but the relentless, growing pain in his chest told him something—someone—was coming.
Frieza turned his head slowly, deliberate, his eyes narrowed with an emotion Vegeta could never quite place.
A golden light flashed across the horizon. It split the sky like a sword, cutting through the stillness. And then, the boom. The presence.
Goku arrived.
He floated in silence above the devastation, his boots barely touching the cracked earth. His eyes swept over the battlefield—his sons broken, his rival collapsed, his family shattered. The sight of it seemed to bring something out of him—something raw. But there was no time for hesitation.
Vegeta's heart pounded, even as his mind remained trapped in the prison of his own body. His rage boiled in silence.
"I should be standing beside you, Kakarot…"
Vegeta's inner voice echoed through the void, the words reaching nowhere but his own broken soul.
But Goku didn't seem to notice. He only looked at Frieza, his fists clenched, his gaze burning with the same familiar determination. It was as though Goku was prepared to burn the very air around him if it meant taking down the tyrant. And in that moment, Vegeta's frustration turned into something far darker—something he couldn't control.
Frieza's smile stretched wider, almost mockingly.
"I've left you for last, Son Goku,"
And then, Goku moved.
Frieza's smile widened.
Goku didn't speak. He didn't shout.
He simply clenched his fists—and roared.
His base form snapped into Super Saiyan instantly. No warm-up. No hesitation. The ground caved beneath his power. He launched himself at Frieza, and their fists collided with a shockwave that ruptured the nearby mountains.
They moved faster than light. Every blow from Goku was fueled by fury, every dodge tighter than instinct. He pounded Frieza across the sky, through cliff walls, into the ocean, sending geysers of steam into the air.
Frieza chuckled, even as he bled.
"There's that spirit. I missed this."
Goku's power surged. Super Saiyan gave way to Super Saiyan 2 in a crack of lightning. His muscles screamed. He pushed harder.
He landed a kick that sent Frieza crashing through a plateau—but Frieza caught himself mid-air and grinned.
"Shall we test your limits, Goku?"
Goku roared again—Super Saiyan 3. His hair whipped behind him, golden and violent. The sky turned red from the strain.
His fists broke sound itself. He battered Frieza with everything he had—every memory of pain, every glimpse of his fallen comrades. A punch to the gut. A hammer blow to the skull. A Kamehameha point-blank to the chest.
Frieza dropped, smoldering.
Goku fell to one knee, panting.
It wasn't enough.
Frieza rose, chuckling, dusting off his shoulders.
"Impressive. But I was hoping for more."
Black energy spiraled around him. The dome above Earth pulsed, feeding his form. Goku's head jerked up. He realized it in an instant—Frieza was draining the planet's lifeforce. Every attack Goku made, every ounce of power he used… it was giving Frieza more.
"You're fighting against your own home," Frieza whispered.
Goku's fury broke the limit again—Super Saiyan God. His golden hair bled into crimson. His aura became a swirling inferno. The sky howled.
He blurred forward and punched Frieza so hard, the tyrant's bones cracked. He screamed, pouring divine ki into his strikes. For a moment—just a moment—he overwhelmed him.
Frieza crashed into the ground, coughing blood.
Goku didn't stop.
Super Saiyan Blue burst forth in a flash of thunder. Divine energy poured from his every pore. He screamed again, driving a god-level blow into Frieza's spine.
"THIS IS FOR EARTH!"
But Frieza's smile didn't fade.
"You're finally entertaining."
The planet's core trembled.
Frieza stood, his aura now pitch black, jagged, unnatural.
"I didn't want to use this yet," he hissed.
Then it happened.
Black Frieza.
The transformation was silent—but the pressure was unimaginable. The light bent around him. His form gleamed with cosmic death. Every molecule of his being radiated finality. Even time seemed to slow.
He grabbed Goku mid-blow.
Crushed his wrist.
Twisted.
Goku screamed.
Frieza moved faster than thought—slamming him into the ground, then dragging him through the soil like a plow, flinging him into the atmosphere and catching him on the way down with a boot to the chest that cratered a continent.
Goku spat blood.
Still, he rose.
Super Saiyan Blue Kaioken. His body tore under the strain. His skin split. But he moved anyway. He roared, unleashing a flurry of punches so fast they left afterimages.
Frieza laughed.
"You still don't understand."
A blast of black energy ripped through Goku's stomach.
He dropped.
And still—he rose again.
Eyes wild. Hair silver.
Ultra Instinct — Sign.
His movements became untouchable. For a brief minute, he was the ghost of a god, dodging with impossible grace. He struck—fast, clean, precise. He drove Frieza backward, actually making him sweat.
The Earth itself seemed to hold its breath.
But then, the barrier pulsed again.
And Frieza changed.
The planet's stolen energy surged into him. He became more than Black Frieza. He became something else—something wrong. The void in his aura grew.
Goku's ki sputtered.
His silver glow dimmed.
He punched—and missed.
Frieza backhanded him across the sky.
Then came the end.
Frieza appeared behind Goku. Whispered into his ear:
"You never had a chance."
And struck.
A single punch.
Through the back. Out the front.
The blow shattered reality. The Earth split.
Half the planet broke apart. Oceans boiled. Skies collapsed.
Goku gasped—and fell.
There was no scream.
Only silence.
He crashed into the dirt beside Vegeta, eyes barely open. His body wouldn't move. His ki was gone. Everything was gone.
He heard Frieza's boots touched down. His smile stretched.
"No more tricks. No more miracles," he said.
He picked Goku up like a ragdoll, beaten and lifeless.
"You're mine now."
And then, in a blink—he vanished.
Only silence remained.
The wind howled over the broken land. Ash fell like snow. The Earth itself whimpered.
And beneath the surface—far beneath, where no ki should linger—something shifted.
A pulse.
Faint. Ancient.
A slumbering energy opened its eyes.
In the deepest void of the Earth, where even gods had forgotten…
…someone awoke.
Their eyes cracked open—burning gold.
And they whispered, through dust and time:
"…Kakarot?"
...
To be continued…