"Seventeen? What a strange name. Still, you're quite young, aren't you? Having this kind of power at your age—being a little arrogant is only natural, I suppose."
Frieza's mocking tone returned once more. Arms crossed, he smiled slyly as he spoke.
Seventeen blinked in confusion. Arrogant? How exactly had he been arrogant?
He reached out and gave Frieza's head a few light pats, saying,
"Shorty, you look like you're not even fully grown yet, but you sure talk like an old man!"
That casual gesture and teasing tone made all of Frieza's subordinates go pale with terror.
Right then, they all had the same thought:
"This planet is doomed!"
Sure enough, after being called "shorty" twice—and even having his head patted—Frieza's composure finally cracked. He roared furiously,
"How dare you, you insolent fool! I'll kill you!"
Boom!
The ground beneath Frieza's feet split open as purple energy erupted around him. His fury pushed his first-form power straight to the limit.
That kind of power might have intimidated Goku and the others back in the day—but to Seventeen, whose black hair fluttered back in the blast, it was nothing. He stood there looking perfectly calm, not taking Frieza seriously at all.
Frieza's eyes narrowed sharply, and twin beams of purple light burst from them, striking Seventeen square in the chest and burning two holes through his T-shirt.
Seventeen finally frowned, irritation showing on his face.
"Hey, hey! I wore this new shirt just for the party, you know? Now I'm really pissed off."
Frieza was stunned. His attack had incredible piercing power—yet all it did was leave a few scorch marks on this guy's clothes?
While Frieza was still frozen in disbelief, Seventeen moved. He kicked him lightly—at least, that's how it looked—straight in the gut.
"Ugh—!"
A huge spurt of purple blood burst from Frieza's mouth as he doubled over and collapsed before Seventeen, gasping for air.
His subordinates had never seen Frieza in such a pathetic state. All of them shouted in panic,
"Frieza-sama!"
Seventeen smirked and said,
"'Sama'? Really? That sounds way too tacky."
Hearing that, Frieza—still on the ground—wanted nothing more than to tear him apart. But that one kick had nearly killed him; he could barely move.
When Frieza didn't respond, Seventeen crouched down in front of him, propping his chin on his hand.
"My brother-in-law said you were pretty strong, but this is it? Come on, you're letting me down here."
Frieza, trembling with rage, forced himself up from the ground. Wiping the blood from his mouth, he said in a cold, tight voice,
"I'll admit you're strong—but don't get cocky. You haven't seen even one percent of my power yet!"
He wasn't bluffing, either. In his final form, his Power Level exceeded one hundred million. In that sense, his claim was actually conservative.
Seventeen looked genuinely surprised.
"Really? Funny, because based on my calculations, even if you multiplied your power by a hundred, you still wouldn't stand a chance against me."
"Nani!? Don't spout nonsense, you damned Earthling!"
Frieza couldn't believe his ears. In his mind, aside from Beerus or Majin Buu, no one in the universe could match him in his ultimate form.
He was eager to see fear appear on Seventeen's face.
With a fierce tremor, Frieza tore off his battle armor and scouter, inhaling deeply as he prepared to transform.
Seventeen stood up, crossing his arms as if settling in to watch a show.
Frieza's body glistened with sweat as he clenched his teeth, straining to force out his transformation. It had been ages since he'd used his final form, and the process looked… well, almost like constipation.
But his energy was indeed skyrocketing. A purple sphere of energy enveloped him, its power distorting the air and darkening the sky.
That was when Eighteen frowned and called out sharply,
"Seventeen! What are you doing? Hurry up and finish that guy off already! Great—he's ruined the nice weather too!"
Hearing his sister scold him made Seventeen flinch.
"Got it, Sis! I'll take care of it right—"
Crack!
A sharp sound cut through the air as the purple energy shell around Frieza split apart with countless cracks. Then, with a shattering burst, it broke away, revealing Frieza's final form.
His face was eerily calm now—radiating the confidence of someone who thought victory was assured.
But Seventeen's next comment shattered that composure once again.
"Huh, didn't expect you to have another form in you. Though… your height didn't change at all. Still the same fun-sized little guy—kinda cute, actually!"
Frieza glared up at him, his voice low and trembling with fury.
"You'll pay dearly for that remark."
Seventeen spread his hands with a casual shrug.
"Then I'll be waiting to see it."
After a brief silence, Frieza suddenly leaped into the air, launching a blazing purple energy blast straight at Seventeen.
With a lazy flick of his hand, Seventeen sent the blast soaring harmlessly into the sky.
The explosion overhead made Frieza's expression darken even further. Refusing to give up, he unleashed volley after volley of energy blasts—but every single one was effortlessly deflected into the air.
Soon, the entire sky was glowing purple. People in the city below, clueless about what was happening, looked up and muttered,
"Wow, Capsule Corporation sure has money to burn—setting off fireworks in broad daylight!"
They had no idea that any one of those "fireworks" could obliterate the city in an instant.
Realizing his energy attacks were useless, Frieza roared and rushed straight at Seventeen, switching to close combat.
Seventeen, not wanting to ruin his sister's mood, chose not to counter immediately. Instead, he flew upward, leading Frieza into the sky.
The two figures vanished into the clouds, and soon the sound of violent clashes thundered through the air.
The Z-Fighters below looked up with tense faces.
Meanwhile, Eighteen, completely unfazed, carefully held out a piece of grilled meat to Kaito and asked softly,
"Kaito, try this. I don't think it's as good as Seventeen's, but… what do you think?"
Kaito took a big bite and grinned.
"Not bad! Perfectly cooked! My Eighteen is amazing!"
Eighteen blushed slightly, just about to reply—
When suddenly, a small figure came crashing down from the sky, slamming hard into the ground.
It was Frieza.