Dragon Ball Z: Paradise Found

Heartless

"I... Can't believe it..." Krillin stared at Frieza's body lying on the back with a gaping wound of a literal explosion blasting out from his chest, littering the pure white skin of the space emperor with a hectic splash of cherry the same that dyed all around his immediate surroundings. "Did Chayote just...?"

"His Ki... It's... Almost non-existent," Tenshinhan muttered. His face twitched while cold sweat ran down its surface. The Dragon Team struggled to rise back on their feet and continue their vain struggle against the invincible Frieza before witnessing this shocking turn of events.

"Well, he was a mean guy, so he got what he deserved. Still... I'd have liked to beat him fairly, you know?" Goku scratched his head. "Beating him with a technique like that doesn't really feel right."

"So... Does that make Chayote the empress of the universe?" Yamcha scratched his head after emerging from a black lake and wiping the thickened water off of his eyes. When the goofball noticed that the rest of the Dragon Team turned toward him with wayward stares, Yamcha just laughed it off. "It was just a joke, guys... Come on... Chayote?"

"Let's just go home," Chayote sighed. "We've found Gine, Lord Frieza is dead. We've got no more reason to spend a minute more on this planet."

Without particular rush to their step, the Dragon Team kicked the layer of ash from beneath their feet off and dashed off toward the skies. While everyone still struggled to believe what had happened just before, no one spoke up for a while. Goku stared on ahead with a blank pair of eyes. His face was completely devoid of emotion, which was not a natural look for him.

"Are you okay?" Krillin wondered, finally breaking the unspoken oath of silence that everybody looked to be oppressed by.

"I... I don't know. This just feels so strange, so... Empty." Goku admitted while the two friends flew alongside one another, heading toward the direction of the spaceship. "I know of an incredibly powerful technique called the Spirit Bomb. It calls upon the Ki from everything around it and alright decimates anything that is evil. King Kai tried teaching it to Gohan, but since he didn't know the technique himself per se, Gohan couldn't take in what the old geezer was giving him."

"And you've learned it?" Krillin gasped.

"Through hearsay, yes. King Kai never taught me directly, but I caught more than a fair share of stuff through watching Gohan learn from him. The Spirit Bomb... It's a powerful technique, but... I just don't feel like using it, you know?" Goku sighed. His face looked calm but far from ready to tangle with the consequences of Chayote just destroying Frieza like that.

"What's with you bringing this up right now? Also, why did you hold a technique like that back? We could have used it against Slug, you know?" Krillin cheeked Goku, acting hurt.

"It just... Didn't feel right using it." Goku shook his head. "I can't stand the idea of beating an opponent I can't defeat with someone else's power."

"What are you saying, Goku?" Tenshinhan scolded his old rival having just overheard the most crucial bits of the conversation. "Frieza was absolutely tearing us apart out there. We were leagues and miles away from being ready! We could have trained our entire lifetimes and have never become truly ready for a monster like that! Chayote saved all of us out there!"

"She did," Goku nodded, still not a hint of joy, satisfaction though not even a glimpse of sadness or disappointment either shined in his eyes or twitched in his face.

"The Devil Mite Beam is nothing like the Spirit Bomb either," Chiaotzu raised his own objections, being familiar with the Spirit Bomb himself after spending a decent chunk of time in King Kai's little planet and having picked up the fundamentals of the old deity's teachings. "Chayote worked long and hard, polished that technique all throughout her life until she could complete it. It's her own power, an odd mixture of dark magic and Ki, but Chayote pulled it off herself."