NAIL

I stared at the dark sky, watching the treasure of our people glow with power.

Flute, my pupil stood beside me, arms crossed, saying nothing. He was nervous. I could tell because he was quiet, and Flute was never quiet unless something was weighing on him. He wasn’t a warrior like me, but wanted to learn how to fight, and had offered to help me, to help the one who had once saved our people against all odds.

"Nail," Guru said, his voice calm and steady.

"Grand Elder."

"You have your request prepared?"

"I do."

"Then speak it when you are ready. Porunga will listen."

I nodded and turned to face the dragon. This was it. The wish. Three wishes, and I was using one to send myself and Flute across the universe to a planet I'd never set foot on, to fight something that was a million times worse than Slug.

It was a lot.

But it was simple at the same time.

I walked over to Guru and knelt. Not out of obligation — out of respect. The kind of respect that came naturally when you were in the presence of someone who had literally given you life.

"Grand Elder. Before I go."

"Yes?"

"I wanted to thank you. For allowing me to use the Dragon Balls for this."

Guru looked at me for a long moment. Those deep, ancient eyes that had seen centuries pass like minutes. Then the corner of his mouth shifted.

"I wouldn't have it any other way, my child. That child put his life on the line for us, it's only natural we do the same for him, don’t you think?"

Simple as that. Just a straightforward acknowledgment that this was the right thing to do, and that was the end of it.

I stood back up.

Flute was still behind me, arms still crossed, still quiet. I caught his eye and he raised an eyebrow at me. The look said "you sure about this?" without him having to open his mouth.

I nodded once. He shrugged and looked away.

I had been training non-stop since Slug. After that monster had been defeated — after Escarot had put his body on the line for people he owed nothing to — something had changed for my people. The complacency that had defined our warrior caste for generations started to crack.

We trained harder. We pushed further. We stopped accepting our weakness, we accepting "good enough" as good enough.

And the whole time, I kept thinking about that Saiyan.

He'd come to our planet knowing nothing about us. Knowing nothing about Slug, about our history, about what that monster had done to our people. He'd shown up, trained with us, ate with us, laughed with us, and when the time came… Bled for us. Fought for us. Nearly died for us.

A single Saiyan had changed how I saw his entire race.

Before Escarot, Saiyans were a story. A cautionary tale of how blind lust for power corrupted the hearts of others — about how not all beings deserve a second chance.

Then one of them showed up and the narrative changed.

If anyone was meant to change the heart of the Saiyans for the better, it was him. I believed that. Not because he was powerful — though he was — but because of the weight of his spirit.

Now he needed help. And like he had done for my people, I would do for his. Putting my life on the line wasn't a question. It was the only response that made sense, for we had bled into the same ground once, and we would do it once more.

"This evil you shall face is much more dangerous than Slug was, my child," Guru said.

I turned back to him. His expression had shifted — still calm, but heavier. The weight of foresight sat behind his eyes.

"I know," I said.

"Slug was a monster. But he was a monster with limits. What waits for you on Planet Vegeta may not have any."

"I know, Grand Elder. But I haven't been sitting idly since Slug."

That was true. The training I had done — had been more than hard, and it wasn't for nothing. I was stronger now than I'd ever been. And while chances were I wouldn’t be enough to vanquish this evil… I would make sure my death provided my friend the chance to do so.

"I am ready to die for the one who bled for our people," I said, without an ounce of hesitation in my voice.

Guru looked at me for a long time. Then he closed his eyes, and that almost-smile returned.

"Very well."

He turned his gaze upward toward Porunga, and in the ancient Namekian tongue — the language that predated everything, the one that the Dragon himself had been born from — he spoke.

—Porunga. I wish for Nail and his companion to be teleported to Planet Vegeta.--

The dragon's eyes glowed. The air shifted. I felt the energy gather around Flute and me like a cocoon, pressing in from all sides, warm and electric and utterly overwhelming.

I looked up at Porunga one last time. Then the light of the wish took us, and Planet Namek disappeared.

ESCAROT 

Frieza rushed me with speed that defied his current state. For someone who'd just taken an Eraser Cannon to the face, he moved like nothing had happened.

I didn't have time to react. His hands and feet seized my arms and legs, catching me mid-movement, and before I could break free, electricity erupted from his aura into my body.

Pain erupted all at once, my muscles locked up, my vision went white, and I heard myself screaming before I registered that I was the one making the sound. His laughter cut through it — booming, cruel, delighted.

He threw me down and crushed me under his foot. I felt my ribs creak. My face pressed into the dirt, blood pooling around my cheek.

Then he kicked me in the gut.

I coughed, spat, and flew through the air. Caught myself on one hand, spinning, bracing against the ground. My whole body was screaming, but I forced myself upright. 

The pain was already fading. Saiyan biology. Annoyingly useful when you're getting your ass kicked.

Across from me, Frieza was grinning. Despite how pissed he was, he was clearly enjoying this. Every second of it.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest, fingers extended, and created ten small ki spheres, and with a quick wave, he unfolded his arms and threw them at me.

I leapt into the sky. The blasts followed, chasing me into the air. Exasperating. With a single fluid motion, I caught two of them — careful not to let them touch directly and rotated them in my palms before sending them flying back to him. I seized another, deflected it harder. Then the remaining seven, alternating my rhythm, returning each one to its sender.

"Impudent monkey! Do you honestly think you can use my own attacks against me?!"

"I do!" I called out between deflections. "And between you and I, as far as techniques go, this one is pretty bad!"

His eye twitched.

Frieza caught each blast, freezing them in front of his aura with his telekinesis, then ejected them back at me at double speed.

A grin crossed my face; this was the gamble I was counting on. He needed a line of sight to target me, so it was time to blind him. I formed a ki shield and braced for impact, letting the collisions shroud me in smoke. Before the dust could settle, I surged through the haze and unleashed an Eraser Cannon point-blank.

"Impossible—!" Frieza’s shriek of disbelief dissolved into a raw, ear-splitting wail as the blast tore into him.

I was exhausted, but I'd gained the advantage. I knew very well how strong the Eraser Cannon was, and despite the difference in power… I knew it was more than strong enough to hurt him. 

"A few more and I should be able to win this—"

The smoke erupted.

An incredible aura, flashing with lightning, burst forth. Frieza flew at me with blinding speed. I couldn't react in time — and by the time I realized what was happening his fist was in my stomach.

Everything went white.

I spat blood. My body went into shock. I'd never been hit this hard — not by anyone, not ever. The pain seized every fiber of my being, and for a sliver of a moment, I couldn't think, couldn't move, couldn't breathe.

He grabbed my arms and before I could realize what was happening, his knee drove into the same spot, spilling more blood from my mouth. Then he let my arms go, and clasped his hands together and smashed into my back. I went head-first into the ground, eyes glassy, unable to move.

“I’m not done with you, yet!” Frieza hissed, blasting me with a powerful blast at point blank, pushing down even faster.

From the dust, and scorched earth, I pushed myself up, my knees trembling for a moment, before my legs finally gave out. I hit the dirt hard, face-first. Blood pooled around me. My whole body was covered in bruises, clothes torn, one eye swelling shut.

My mind was racing. Hazy. I had to think of something.

"I've... got to do..."

Nothing. My body wasn't responding.

Frieza landed in front of me, sneering. He'd heard my heartbeat. Knew I was still alive.

"It's time I send you to meet the other idiots who have dared to oppose me before. Goodbye, Saiyan!"

Purple balls of energy appeared on his hands. He hurled them at me. I couldn't move. Couldn't dodge. The energy attacks closed in—

And then, someone kicked the attacks away.

"You... who the hell are you?!" he screamed.

“You look terrible… Escarot.”

“He lowered his guard at the last second, I will kick his ass after I’m done killing this one.”

Those voices… Nail and Okara?

What was Nail doing here?

“Do you really think it is wise to get in my way?” Frieza hissed.

“Fuck you,” Okara replied, and I could tell without looking at her she was smiling.

“Not the words I would use, but yes,” Nail replied.