Kaioken

Blood. Lots of blood was spewing from Vegeta. Lots of blood was gushing from Frieza.

Standing but a few feet away from the fallen prince, the frost demon miraculously appeared. His body was mutilated, but he remained alive. The death beam he had so sneakily fired had not missed its mark, and soon his victory over the Super Saiyan would be final.

Bringer of Death.

"Oh no!" cried Goku, the pitch of his voice raised, conveying a sense of fear. "What have I done?"

Words could not describe the pain felt by Vegeta. He had tasted sweet victory, felt true power, and fulfilled his greatest longings. Suddenly, it had all been stripped away. He had been stronger, faster, smarter; he had fought with honor. How then, could he now be lying there in a pool of his own blood? What great mistake had he made that had cost him so dearly?

"Did I hold back? No, I know I didn't!" Vegeta inwardly argued with his subconscious. "Did I drag the fight out, giving him time to come up with some escape tactic?" he wondered. "No, I'm sure he couldn't have survived that attack. Yet, there he is."

Frieza stood, panting, and fixed his eyes on Goku. The red pupils in the tyrant's eyes were menacing, longing to murder again. He was still in a great deal of pain, having been beaten to a pulp a few moments before and then barely surviving the Super Galic Flash. He had sustained a serious injury to his right side, which he covered with his left palm to stop the bleeding. Additionally, he had cuts and bruises everywhere. His hands were warped, no longer white, but a melted brownish yellow. They had braced against the full force of Vegeta's attack and would probably be permanently deformed. Overall, however, he deemed himself still in good enough condition to fight.

"Ka...karott, you have...to finish what I started," Vegeta coughed blood again, trying to clear his throat so he could speak clearly. "You have...to get angry enough...cough cough..."

Goku interrupted. "Save your strength, Vegeta."

"No! Kaka...rott. Listen to me. You...are the last of the Saiyans now." Vegeta knew he only had a few words remaining. He could feel his mind growing numb, the world around him starting to fade. "Avenge me, Kakarott. Save the universe...you...are the only...cough...one who can."

Frieza would have intervened to break up their little heart to heart, but he was using the spare moments to try and recover his strength. Wounded as he was, he didn't want to take any chances. He had gotten lucky once; he did not want to tempt fate.

"I promise I will do everything in my power to stop him, Vegeta. You will never be forgotten, my prince, nor will I fail to honor what you achieved here today." Goku looked deeply into the eyes of Vegeta. For a moment, they understood each another as never before. Although no more words could be spoken, Goku felt the burden, the fate of the universe, being placed into his hands. Then, Vegeta was gone.

Silence. The battlefield was devoid of all sound. Even the waves of the sea seemed to stand still. Finally, a gentle breeze swept through the hair of the fallen prince; the planet's way of respecting the dead.

Goku bowed his head, honoring his fallen comrade. He then knelt down and took the prince in his arms, gently lifting his body. Nearby was a small opening in the rock which led to a one roomed cavern. It was nothing special, definitely not worthy of a prince, but it would still be better than burying him in a hole on the battlefield. Goku bent over as he stepped through the shallow opening and laid the Saiyan prince in the center.

"Vegeta, I'm so sorry I let this happen. I don't know how to become a Super Saiyan like you, but I promise you this: it's either me or him." Goku ducked out of the tomb. He then lifted his right hand above the ground, summoning a large boulder from underneath him. It ripped up through the dirt of Namek until it met Goku's palm. The stone was circular, about six feet in diameter. Telekinetically, Goku rolled it over to cover the entryway.

"Something still seems to be missing," Goku thought. "Hmmm. Perhaps a marking of some kind." He raised his right pointer finger and began filling it with energy. It glowed red. Carving into the stone, he wrote 'Prince Vegeta', and underneath it 'The Super Saiyan'. "There," Goku said, turning his head towards Frieza, who seemed quite anxious to continue battle.

Goku thought it strange that Frieza had allowed him the spare moment to bury Vegeta, but upon consideration he assumed that the demon was just preoccupied trying to recover his strength. Now, the ice tyrant was no longer breathing heavily and his bleeding had mostly subsided.

"One Saiyan down, two more to go." Frieza said, adding heavy emphasis on all his consonants. "I think the brat should die next," he said tilting his eyes down toward Gohan, who trembled and dashed quickly behind his father's left leg.

Instantly, Goku charged him, furiously hurling his fist at the tyrant. It was up to him now to defeat Frieza, but first he had to buy some time for Gohan to flee. His punch was aimed at Frieza's right side, the ribs, where he appeared most wounded. But the demon quickly turned his left shoulder to Goku and absorbed the blow with a forearm block. He then countered with a swing from his right that knocked Goku off his feet, drawing the first drop of blood from the Saiyan's nose.

Instead of fleeing the battle, Gohan childishly stood there in shock. It had been a common occurrence over the years for Gohan to watch in stunned silence as unbelievable battles took place around him. But since he had gotten to Namek the boy had grown up a lot. He had stood up to the mighty Recoome and even fought Frieza in his second and third forms, each time strengthening both his body and his mind. Now though, once again, the overwhelmed little scholar watched helplessly as his father charged Frieza.

Goku was up again, this time veiled in a hot red flame. "Kaioken!" he shouted.

With his new-found strength, Goku was pushing the limits of the kaioken technique far beyond what King Kai had ever envisioned. Originally, Goku had only increased his strength and speed to 120-130% in short bursts. King Kai had even warned him against going beyond 200%, lest the concentration of energy cause permanent damage to his body. Of course, Goku had quickly exceeded kaioken X2, going all the way up to 400% in his first fight with Vegeta back on earth. He had paid the price, though, and if it had not been for a Senzu bean, he would still be in a hospital somewhere back on Earth.

On his journey to Planet Namek, using the ship's gravity chamber, he had practiced concentrating enough energy into his body to boost himself to kaioken X10. By the time he arrived, he was good enough at conserving energy to maintain kaioken X2 without any negative side effects whatsoever. It was with this strength that he had quickly overpowered the ruthless Captain Ginyu, only to become the victim of Ginyu's body-change technique.

Yet the damage his body had received while being possessed by Ginyu became a blessing in disguise; the resulting zenkai had made him much stronger than Frieza's first three forms. Fortunately for everyone, he had earlier been able to concentrate enough of this new energy to produce a 20X kaioken Kamehameha wave, strong enough to deflect Frieza's Supernova attack and save the planet.

But at 20X kaioken, the slightest movement took tremendous concentration and control. Concentrating so much energy in his body drained him completely, leaving him seriously vulnerable to attack. He knew that he was nearing the absolute limit of the kaioken technique. If he became any stronger, or if he tried a higher kaioken boost, the strain of energy would be much too taxing for his body to withstand. He had been amazed by Prince Vegeta's Super Saiyan transformation. Unlike his kaioken technique, the Super Saiyan transformation didn't depend on Vegeta's base strength. It was a massive reservoir of raw, primal, unfiltered power, used by Vegeta in addition to his natural energy. Using the Super Saiyan energy required no special technique; it had come to Vegeta effortlessly. If only he hadn't let his guard down!

All these thoughts flashed through Goku's head in an instant as he powered up to the limit of his kaioken - pushing himself to twenty times his ordinary power level - and dashed toward Frieza. He took three running steps, gaining momentum even as blood-red flames exploded around him, and launched himself, full-fury, at the tyrant. Wounded as he was, Frieza was still much stronger than Goku, but the Saiyan's kaioken-enhanced speed was more than Frieza, still in his buff 100% form, had been prepared to handle.

"Thuuum," sounded Goku's punch. The swing connected precisely with Frieza's face, lifting him in the air. Goku knew his burst of power was temporary. He couldn't waste this opportunity. He raced after Frieza, catching him before he had time to recover his balance. "Thuuum," rumbled across the sky as Goku swung both fists together into Frieza's back. The demon was tumbling rapidly towards the ground, and Goku chased. The good-hearted warrior desperately hoped his speed boost wouldn't fail him now. In this same scenario against Nappa, he had caught the bald Saiyan with his extended left arm, breaking his back and ending their fight. Could he make it to the ground before Frieza? It might be his only chance.

The two streaking bodies, one white and one cloaked in red flame, fell out of the sky together. Their speed was so much faster than sound, Gohan didn't hear the sonic boom until long afterwards. Goku was almost there, pushing his body to the limits of his agility. He was going to make it, but just barely. Reaching the ground, Goku planted his feet firmly and extended his strong arm upwards, bracing to try and cripple his foe. The impact he expected never came. Instead, he looked up and saw a giant sphere of purple energy. It was upon him immediately. Frieza had neutralized the speed of his fall by firing a powerful energy attack, and Goku had taken a gamble he now deeply regretted. The blast exploded brilliantly, Frieza smiling at his good fortune.

"Daddy! NOOO!" screamed the only bystander.

"He can't hear you, brat!" The tyrant smiled and began to laugh. "Your father is dead! Hahahahahaha!"