(I have to do this!)
Facing the colossal mass of flame descending toward Namek, Lisette chose the only path left: she would meet it head-on by pushing her power to its absolute zenith—and then beyond.
She could have used a Gate to swallow the attack and reflect it. But a Gate of that magnitude required time to stabilize—less than a second, but in that heartbeat, the fireball would have impacted the planet and erased Goku and everyone else. She needed an immediate interception.
"Burst Limit... Octoginta!"
Her current stable limit was 40x. She doubled it instantly, skyrocketing her combat power by a factor of eighty.
The physical toll was catastrophic. Her blood vessels began to rupture. Her heart hammered against her ribs with a violent, agonizing rhythm, and her chest felt as though it were being pierced by white-hot needles. Her bones creaked under the pressure. Blood trickled from the corners of her mouth.
Lisette ignored it all. She accepted the price.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Her scream was thick with blood as a pillar of pure white light erupted from her body, piercing the sky and scattering the dark clouds over Namek. She condensed every ounce of this forced energy into her palms, creating a radiance that rivaled a falling star.
"Sparking Meteor!"
A pure white comet rose to meet the crimson supernova. This was the evolved, maximum-output version of the "Sparking" technique she had once used against Dr. Wheelo.
The two titanic energies collided, the sheer pressure of their struggle vaporizing everything in the surrounding area. For that fleeting moment, Lisette's output reached a staggering value:
$$495,000,000$$
It surpassed Cooler's maximum of $470,000,000$. Her white radiance began to grind against the crimson orb, slowly pushing it back toward the heavens.
"T-This... This cannot be happening to me!" Cooler roared.
He threw his entire physical weight against the blast, trying to shove it back with brute strength. Had he chosen to retreat, the outcome might have been different. But his pride as the "strongest" wouldn't allow it. It was a testament to his freakish power that he could even touch such a mass of energy, but even his legendary strength couldn't stop the combined momentum of his own attack and Lisette's.
He was pushed back with terrifying velocity—out of the sky, through the atmosphere, and into the cold vacuum of space. The momentum didn't stop until he reached one of Namek's three suns.
Cooler found himself sandwiched between his own Super Nova, Lisette's Sparking Meteor, and the crushing gravity of a living star.
"How... could... a bug..."
Amidst unimaginable heat and agony, Cooler struggled. His body was scorched, his flesh carbonizing and crumbling into ash as the star began to claim him. Yet, even as his cells disintegrated, his heart refused to admit defeat. In his final moments, he felt no fear—only a burning hatred for his enemy.
In that split second between life and death, Cooler saw a flash of the past. He remembered the day Frieza destroyed Planet Vegeta. He had seen the pod Frieza allowed to escape. He had known its destination.
"The destination is a planet called Earth. Shall we shoot it down?"
"Leave it. It's the seed he planted; let him harvest the consequences. Frieza is... still too soft."
Cooler had left that pod alone specifically to teach Frieza a lesson about his "softness."
But now, he realized the truth. Why hadn't he looked into that planet? Why hadn't he investigated the species living there? He had assumed it was a backwater world with no threats. If he had only checked... if he had shot down that child and destroyed Earth then...
Frieza wasn't the only one who was soft...
I was the fool...!
With that final regret, Cooler's physical form vanished into the sun.
***
"Hah... hah... hah..."
Lisette stumbled, her body swaying. It was over. He was a terrifying opponent. It was her first true life-or-death struggle against a superior foe. Until now, she had always been the one with the overwhelming advantage. This was different. It had been agonizing, and the pain wasn't stopping.
(I did it... Cooler is gone... now I just have to... join Goku and the others... and... finish... Frieza...)
But her body wouldn't listen.
(Wait... I can't move... Everything is... going dark...)
The backlash hit her like a tidal wave. Even with her self-healing, energy squeezed out from beyond the soul's limits doesn't recover easily. Goku could move after doubling his limits because he was a Saiyan—a race built for the impossible. Furthermore, Goku had the untapped potential of a Super Saiyan to draw from. He wasn't pulling energy from a void; he was unlocking a door that was already there.
Lisette had no such door. She had simply torn her own foundation apart to generate that power.
Her eyelids grew heavy. Her small, youthful body collapsed silently into the dirt.
"Oh? What's this?"
"Some brat's taking a nap in the middle of a war zone. Heh heh heh!"
Three figures landed near the unconscious Lisette. Angila, Wings, and Medamatcha—the elite, cruel henchmen of the wicked Namekian, Lord Slug. Medamatcha chuckled, kicking Lisette's limp form, but she didn't stir.
"What should we do with her?"
"Take her back? She'd make a fine toy for the soldiers."
"Heh, can I play with her first?"
Had she been awake, the gap in power was so large she could have swatted them like flies. But the demons, ignorant of the monster they were mocking, reached out to grab her.
In a flash, Medamatcha—the one closest to her—was split down the middle, his body then diced into a dozen pieces before he could even scream.
"Eh?"
"M-Medamatcha!?"
A young man appeared out of thin air. He had silver hair and wore a long black coat, a gleaming sword held in his hand. The speed of his blade had been so divine that the air itself seemed to lag behind his strike.
"Listen well, filth," the youth said, his voice cold. "Do not lay your dirty hands on her."
"Who the hell are you!?"
"Doesn't matter! Kill him!"
Angila and Wings lunged at him from both sides. In that instant, the youth changed.
His silver hair stood on end, turning a brilliant gold. A golden aura flecked with blue sparks erupted from his body, releasing a pressure so immense that even the previous battle between Lisette and Cooler seemed dim by comparison. He swung his blade once.
One flash.
To the demons, that was all it was. In reality, a hundred strikes had been delivered in a microsecond. They didn't even realize they had been dismantled until their consciousness faded into nothingness.
The youth sheathed his sword and powered down, his hair returning to silver.
"Whew... okay, nobody saw that. If the Supreme Kai of Time caught me interfering that directly, she'd give me another earful."
He scanned the area to ensure they were alone, then gently picked up Lisette. He carried her to a nearby cave—the same one she had used earlier—and laid her down on his black coat.
With a flash of light, the mysterious traveler vanished.
***
"GUH... OOOOH..."
The Great Ape collapsed, the ground shaking beneath his weight. Turles had fought valiantly, but Frieza's relentless assault had finally broken him.
Frieza grabbed Turles by the tail, swung the massive beast around with one hand, and hurled him across the landscape. He followed up with a pinpoint energy blast, destroying the Power Ball in the sky. Deprived of the Blutz Waves, Turles shrunk back into his human form, battered and broken.
"Hmph. Monkeys aren't a challenge," Frieza sighed. "They're just hideous and an eyesore."
Turles lay in the dirt, unable to even spit out an insult. He was at his absolute limit.
Frieza looked at the sky. He had seen the second "sun" flare up briefly—Cooler's Super Nova. It had chilled him to the bone, but Namek hadn't shattered.
(My brother... for all his talk, he clearly wants the Dragon Balls as much as I do. He wouldn't risk destroying the planet. But I am the one who will claim immortality.)
Frieza didn't even consider the possibility that Cooler had lost. He assumed his brother had simply stopped the attack to protect the Dragon Balls.
"Well, this has been a decent workout," Frieza said, raising his hand toward Turles. He sensed a blast coming from the side and swatted it away casually. He turned to see Vegeta standing there, an arrogant, confident smirk on his face.
"Vegeta. You've seen the gap between us, yet you still stand? You must really want to die."
"Heh... laugh while you can, Frieza. Standing before you is the thing you feared most. A Super Saiyan!"
"A Super Saiyan? Pfft... Hahaha! Your jokes are as sharp as ever."
Frieza laughed, but Vegeta's confidence didn't waver. His power was surging, making the very air vibrate. Having undergone multiple near-death revivals thanks to the Senzu Beans, Vegeta's power now surpassed even Turles's.
"Kakarot won't even be needed!"
Vegeta took flight, blurring toward Frieza. Frieza vanished, but Vegeta tracked him instantly. His increased speed allowed him to see the tyrant's movements.
"I see you!"
Vegeta swung a knife-hand strike. It hit nothing but air. Frieza had vanished again. It was the same as before, but the speed was different. Frieza had moved so fast that Vegeta's "evolved" eyes couldn't keep up.
"Hahaha! I turn up my speed just a little and you're already lost? And you call yourself a Super Saiyan? That monkey rolling in the dirt was more entertaining than you."
"I-Impossible..."
Vegeta's power level was now over 3,000,000. But that was the wall.
He didn't know that the Saiyan "near-death power-up" was merely a set of training wheels designed to get a warrior to the threshold of transformation. That threshold is 3 million. Once a Saiyan hits that number, the revivals stop providing significant gains. You are at the door, but you need a key.
Vegeta had the qualification. He was standing at the door to legend. But he didn't have the S-Cells.
S-Cells are the biological requirement for the transformation, and they only increase when a Saiyan possesses a gentle or calm heart. This is the ultimate trap for the Saiyan race. To become the ultimate warrior of blood and fire, you must first possess a soul capable of tranquility.
Vegeta, who lived for slaughter and pride, had almost no S-Cells. He had reached the 3 million mark through brute force and Senzu Beans, but he couldn't open the door. He had spent his beans on a shortcut to a wall he couldn't climb.
"DIE, FRIEZA!"
Vegeta fired a desperate, massive blast. Frieza hopped into the air and kicked the beam back at the ground as if it were a soccer ball.
Vegeta's spirit broke. For the first time in his life, the Prince of Saiyans wept. Tears of pure terror and frustration ran down his face as he realized the absolute, crushing reality of his weakness. He stopped fighting. He simply stood there, waiting for the end.
"Well, you've lost your fighting spirit. Let's end this," Frieza said, leveling a finger for a Death Beam.
The beam hissed through the air. But before it could pierce Vegeta's heart, a massive figure stepped in the way, taking the hit to the shoulder.
"Don't... underestimate... a Saiyan!"
It was Nappa. Having recovered from his own near-death state, his power had jumped to 1,500,000. He was wreathed in sparks, his aura warping the air around him.
"Vegeta! Snap out of it! The man I want to surpass isn't a coward who cries in the dirt!"
Nappa stood alone against Frieza. He knew he couldn't win. But if he could buy time for Lisette to return, they might have a chance. He chose to be the shield.
"Nappa... it seems you've forgotten to be afraid of me," Frieza sighed.
"Yeah, well! I was never the smartest guy! I tend to forget things that don't matter! I've decided... I'm going to protect this place... and these people... no matter what!"
Nappa had finally found a place where he belonged. He wouldn't let Frieza take it away. He threw a barrage of punches, but Frieza dodged them all with a bored expression. Frieza delivered a single kick to Nappa's ribs, a sickening crack echoing across the plains as the big man was slammed into the earth.
"No matter what, hm? A big mouth for such a small man."
Turles's spirit, Vegeta's pride, and Nappa's resolve—to Frieza, they were all just dust under his heel.
Technical Stats & Lore
Nappa: Power Level $240,000 \rightarrow 1,500,000$ (One Senzu revival).
Vegeta: Power Level $29,000 \rightarrow 3,000,000$ (Multiple Senzu revivals).
S-Cells: A biological necessity for Super Saiyan. They increase with a gentle spirit. Vegeta's lack of "calm" is why he hits the 3 million wall without transforming.
Sparking Meteor: Lisette's ultimate projectile. Unlike a sustained beam, a massive orb maintains its power once formed, making it the perfect match for her "Burst Limit" which only lasts a few seconds.
***
10 Advanced Chapters Available on my Patreon!
https://patreon.com/Well_being