Then the scene shifted and entered the memories of Frieza, recalling the day he first set foot on Earth after the battle on Namek. In that memory, a young man with lavender hair stepped forward Future Trunks. The mysterious youth transformed into a Super Saiyan just as he had when confronting Frieza's father, King Cold, and shouted with blazing fury:
"Frieza!!"
Golden light erupted around him, the same radiant aura first seen when Goku became a Super Saiyan on Planet Namek after the death of Krillin. Trunks drew his sword a blade he carried from his devastated future timeline and in a single flash, he sliced through Frieza. At that time Frieza had been rebuilt with cybernetic parts after surviving Namek's explosion, becoming Mecha Frieza. Yet even with mechanical enhancements, he was powerless.
The sword flashed again and again. Frieza's body was cut apart before he could even power up to 100% as he once did against Goku on Namek. Finally, with a single energy blast from one hand, Trunks completely obliterated him.
"So that kid is also a Saiyan!" Frieza gritted his teeth in rage within the memory.
"I didn't expect that after Planet Vegeta's destruction, there would still be so many Saiyans alive first Kakarot, then Vegeta, and now this brat!" he snarled. "Despicable Saiyans! I will exterminate every last one of you!"
Watching this unfold, Son Goten felt a chill run down his spine.
"He seems really angry…"
Trunks (the present timeline child) nodded quickly.
"Anyway, Goten, let's get out of here first!"
"Right!"
Without the overwhelming power of Gotenks' fusion the same fusion that once battled Majin Buu inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber the two boys lacked both the strength and confidence to challenge someone like Frieza in his current revived state.
However, despite his fury, Frieza chose not to act personally. Just as he often relied on subordinates like the Ginyu Force on Namek, he ordered his soldier Tagoma to handle the situation.
But Tagoma struggled to stand, still writhing in pain.
At that moment, a frog hopped in front of him. On the ground, it carefully traced the word "Change."
When Tagoma read the word aloud, a beam shot between them and in an instant, their bodies swapped.
The frog's true identity was none other than Captain Ginyu, the former leader of the Ginyu Force who had once stolen Goku's body on Planet Namek. After failing to defeat Goku and being tricked into switching with a frog, Ginyu had remained trapped in that small amphibian body for years on Earth.
Now, at last, he had obtained a powerful new body.
When viewers saw the body-switching technique again, they were stunned. Ginyu's Change ability was as terrifying as ever. It had once nearly cost Goku his life, as Vegeta had to severely injure Goku's stolen body to weaken Ginyu before forcing another swap.
The thought spread quickly among the spectators.
"If you had that move, wouldn't training be pointless?"
"Just find someone stronger and steal their body!"
Some even imagined switching with a God of Destruction — though they forgot that divine beings possess overwhelming ki control far beyond mortals.
In the chat:
[Tagoma: What!? That frog took my body!?]
[Frieza (Hell): So Ginyu survived… Hmph. After all these years hiding on Earth. How amusing.]
[Members of the Ginyu Force (Hell): Captain! We wondered why you weren't with us!]
[Goku: Ginyu's alive!?]
[Vegeta: That pest again… He's more troublesome than he looks.]
Both Goku and Vegeta remembered clearly how dangerous the Change technique was. Goku had experienced it firsthand on Namek. If Ginyu attempted that trick again, it could spell disaster.
Back in the scene, Ginyu boasted of the hardships he endured as a frog unable to fight, unable to command, reduced to hopping helplessly while the universe moved on.
Now in Tagoma's trained body, strengthened further through harsh training under Frieza, Ginyu felt invincible.
He appeared before Son Gohan, Piccolo, Krillin, Tien Shinhan, and the others.
"I recognize you!" he sneered at Gohan. "You were that crying brat on Namek!"
His gaze shifted to Krillin. "And you injured me back then!"
Before anyone could react, he moved.
Bang!
In a blur, Ginyu struck Tien Shinhan in the abdomen. Tien collapsed instantly, vomiting from the force. Even with his disciplined training since the Saiyan Saga, the gap was overwhelming.
"Hey! Why me first!?" Tien shouted in disbelief while watching.
In less than two seconds, Ginyu overwhelmed the entire group. His speed rivaled the elite fighters Frieza once commanded on Namek.
From Hell in Universe 7, Frieza smirked.
"Well done, Ginyu. Crush them."
He imagined the look on Goku's face if he arrived too late — just as he once arrived too late to prevent Krillin's death on Namek.
Back in the battle, Gohan forced himself to stand.
He understood the situation clearly. After years of peace following the defeat of Majin Buu, he had focused more on studies than training. Unlike during the Cell Games, where his hidden power surpassed even Goku's, his strength had dulled.
"Piccolo, take the others and use Senzu Beans," Gohan ordered. "Then retreat!"
He stepped forward alone.
He could still transform into a Super Saiyan the golden form he had first mastered during the Cell Games after witnessing Android 16's destruction at the hands of Cell. If necessary, he could even push further.
Ginyu laughed.
"Show me, brat! Let's see how much you've grown since Namek!"
"Haaah!"
Gohan charged, transforming into a Super Saiyan. Golden hair flared upward, lightning crackling faintly around him.
Yet despite his effort, Ginyu blocked every strike with ease.
Disappointment crossed Ginyu's face.
"So this is all? I haven't even used half my strength."
Gohan gritted his teeth. With each exchange, he realized the harsh truth.
After years without serious training, he had become far weaker than during his battle against Cell.
And now, facing an enemy empowered by Frieza's army once more, Son Gohan understood
He was no longer the strongest warrior on Earth.
Because of years of neglecting serious martial arts training after the defeat of Majin Buu, Son Gohan's strength had declined drastically. During the peace that followed Buu's destruction by the Genki-Dama formed by Goku, Gohan had focused on his studies and family life, rarely pushing his body the way he once had under Piccolo's harsh guidance or during his preparation for the Cell Games. Compared to the time when his hidden power overwhelmed Cell, his current state was undeniably inferior.
Seeing that Gohan was struggling, Captain Ginyu decided not to waste any more time. Using Tagoma's body already strengthened through intense training under Frieza Ginyu seized Gohan by the legs and hurled him violently into the air.
Then came a ruthless barrage reminiscent of Vegeta's classic rapid-fire ki assaults: dozens of energy bullets rained down on Gohan's position, detonating in a chain of explosions. Smoke and dust billowed upward, forming a massive black cloud that swallowed the battlefield.
Yet, just like in many past battles, when the smoke cleared, the Saiyan still stood.
Bruised and breathing heavily, Gohan remained upright. He understood clearly now his base power was insufficient. Only transformation could bridge the gap.
"Haaah!!!"
With a fierce roar, golden light erupted around him. Lightning crackled faintly as his hair stood upright and turned gold. Though this was only the standard Super Saiyan form first awakened by Goku on Planet Namek, Gohan was pushing it to his current maximum. He could not access the dormant rage that once triggered Super Saiyan 2 against Cell. That power felt distant now.
"That is…!"
"Super Saiyan!?"
Frieza's expression darkened instantly. The words "Super Saiyan" were etched into his memory with humiliation and terror. He remembered how Goku, bathed in golden light, had utterly crushed his 100% full-power form on Namek. That trauma had driven Frieza to train for the first time in his life to achieve his Golden form years later.
"I didn't expect the brat could transform as well," Frieza muttered coldly.
Ginyu's eyes widened at the surge of power, but his pride would not allow him to show fear.
"So this is a Super Saiyan's strength? Good! Let me experience it myself!"
He powered up to his limit and dashed forward at top speed. Before reaching Gohan, he formed a condensed ki sphere and fired it point-blank.
But this time was different.
Gohan calmly swung his arm in a sharp hand strike, deflecting the incoming blast aside just as Vegeta once had against weaker opponents. The explosion detonated harmlessly in the distance.
Ginyu roared and charged in with both fists but Gohan had already moved.
Thud!
A heavy kick drove into Ginyu's abdomen. Before Ginyu could recover, Gohan vanished and reappeared behind him, slamming an elbow into his back and smashing him face-first into the ground.
Silence fell.
Ginyu lay there, stunned. The gap had reversed completely.
However, instead of finishing him, Gohan allowed the golden aura to fade. His hair returned to black as he powered down.
"You've already lost," Gohan said calmly. "There's no need to continue."
Just as on Namek, where Goku had spared Frieza after defeating him, Gohan chose mercy.
That familiar scene reignited Frieza's deepest humiliation.
On Namek, Goku had offered him energy to escape. To Frieza, being spared by a Saiyan was the ultimate disgrace. It was a wound to his pride that had never healed.
His eyes turned bloodshot with fury.
"Leave Earth… now…" Gohan began.
Suddenly
A crimson beam pierced through his shoulder.
It was Frieza's Death Beam, the same precise technique he had used to kill Vegeta on Namek and to execute countless subordinates without hesitation.
Frieza had intervened personally.
"Saiyan… I will kill you!" he snarled. "But not quickly. I will make you suffer first!"
In the Seventh Universe's Destroyer Realm, Vegeta clenched his fists in rage.
"Gohan, you fool!!"
He had seen this mistake before mercy in battle without absolute dominance.
Moments earlier, Gohan had already lowered his guard once. If Frieza had aimed for his heart instead of his shoulder, the battle would have ended instantly.
"I'll have to speak to him myself," Goku said seriously.
Vegeta turned sharply. "Kakarot! Who do you think he inherited that softness from?!"
Goku froze, scratching his head awkwardly.
"Me…?"
"Of course you!" Vegeta snapped. "You spared me on Earth because you wanted to fight again. That mercy nearly cost you everything!"
Back on Earth, Gohan himself was thinking deeply despite the agony.
Was he wrong to show kindness?
After reflecting, he clenched his fists.
No—kindness was not wrong.
The real problem was weakness.
If he were as strong as he had been during the Cell Games when even Perfect Cell trembled before his Super Saiyan 2 power no sneak attack would threaten him. True strength would allow mercy without consequence.
In the battlefield, Gohan clutched his bleeding shoulder. Frieza descended slowly in his hover pod, smiling cruelly.
"You spared Ginyu… just as your father spared me."
Frieza's hatred intensified.
"When I remember that day on Namek, my insides boil with rage!"
Another Death Beam shot forth, piercing Gohan's leg. Then another struck his abdomen. Frieza was deliberately avoiding vital organs.
He wanted pain.
Beam after beam tore through Gohan's limbs. Blood stained the ground. At last, unable to maintain the form, Gohan's Super Saiyan transformation collapsed. His hair returned to black as he fell helplessly.
Piccolo and the others attempted to intervene, but Ginyu blocked them effortlessly, determined to prove his loyalty.
Frieza hovered above the fallen Saiyan.
He could have ended it instantly just as he had destroyed Planet Vegeta with a single Supernova. But instead, he chose slow torment.
Across the universes, many viewers could not bear the sight. Frieza's cruelty was methodical. Calculated. He derived satisfaction from suffering.
Some trembled in fear.
Others cursed his name in outrage, hoping a warrior would soon arrive to stop him just as Goku once arrived on Namek.
Yet among the darker hearts scattered across different universes, there were those who admired this sadism. To them, Frieza's calculated torture was not monstrous but magnificent.
And as Gohan lay bleeding on the ground, one question echoed in every mind
When Goku arrives…
Will history repeat itself?
...