Five

This story's theme is Light me Up by Ween.

“I must say, Nail, you are one pathetic warrior. Do you really think you stand a chance against me?” The wind blew serenely in the background, a contrasting backdrop to the horrific scene that Frieza was inflicting upon Nail. Nail had, to no avail, attacked Frieza with all his might; in spite of this, Nail was the one who was defeated. His torso was covered in cuts and bruises while Frieza’s appearance remained pristine and unscarred. He hung his back in shame, turned away from Frieza. For not even a moment had Nail held the upper hand, and he knew this all too well.

Frieza, upon receiving no answer, continued his tirade. “Might I suggest you give up now while you’re still breathing and simply tell me the password, hmm?” The question hung ominously in the air for a moment as Nail contemplated his options. Every part of him wanted to capitulate then by giving Frieza the password and concluding the fiasco. But Nail adhered to a higher order than his own personal desires - he had to protect Guru before himself.

Frieza waited another moment, and then gave up on Nail. “Oh well, suit yourself,” the androgynous alien sighed, without moving a single muscle. Nail stood there, his body heaving up and down with each successive breath, and then resolved that it was time for his final stand. His series of attacks had been thus far relentless. There was no need for it to end there.

Nail pivoted around and unleashed his most powerful attack, a bright yellow wave, unto Frieza. The grass around Frieza was torn and promptly decimated by the energy wave and the land around Frieza was left completely barren. But the dust soon cleared to reveal Frieza still standing there, completely unmoved. The attack had not even phased him.

Nail gasped in shock. That move had never failed him before. His jaw swung open, and he let out a clearly audible gasp.

Frieza’s lips contorted into a small, sadistic smile. “You really are starting to bore me, my dear friend.” Nail’s body tensed up in anger, his fingers curling into a threatening fist. Frieza continued. “As you well know by now, you can never defeat me. So my question is, why are you still trying? And if you don’t tell me, maybe I’ll just have to beat it out of Guru. Is that what you want?” Frieza rose off the ground, before saying, simply, “It doesn’t make any difference to me. One way or another, I will get that password.”

Frieza momentarily disappeared completely and then reappeared, facing the same direction as Nail. Frieza swung his forearm backward and it collided with Nail’s head, sending him flying backward until he hit the ground. He laid there, clutching his head, and he felt his mind wander to a place far removed in both time and location. ‘

Frieza was not the first alien to come to Namek seeking the Dragon Balls. In sooth, he was not even close to the first. Many more had come before him. For this reason, the Namekians had devised the whole system of keeping each Dragon Ball with a different tribe. The Namekians were no amateurs.

In Nail’s time, five different groups of aliens had come to the planet searching for the mystical objects. Their reasons varied, but they were all similar in that they were vain and egotistical. Frieza was the exception in strength alone - three of the others had also sought some form of immortality, and the other two had wanted riches instead.

Nail’s mind wandered back to the first group that had invaded the planet. Nail remembered it quite clearly, for that was when he, the only Namekian warrior, finally got to prove himself.

For whatever reason, Nail’s most vivid memory was when the aliens touched down outside of Guru’s settlement. They had all looked the same to Nail, who knew not their species. They were purple aliens and could be described as nothing less than repulsive. Their foreheads were daunting in size, and they were colorfully spotted. The only difference Nail could detect between them was that the spots on their foreheads were different - aside from that, they all looked perfectly uniform to Nail.

When they first arrived outside of the palace, Nail was not sure what to do. It was of course bright out (this was Planet Namek, after all), but nevertheless it appeared to be dimmer than usual. Nail was put off by this, for brightness was constant on the planet, but he accepted it as just being one of those days.

As the new group of invaders arrived, Nail turned to Guru. “What should I do with them?”

Guru pointed out of his domicile. He spoke only one word: “Go.” Guru, in his innumerable years, was familiar with invasions. He trusted Nail to deal with this new threat.

Nail stepped out of his new home most apprehensively. The group of aliens had congregated together, facing toward him. There had to be close to fifty of them, in total. Nail briefly sensed over their Ki levels - they ranged from low to tiny. There was no legitimate potential of threat from these enemies.

In unison, the crowd raised their weapons out of their holsters and brandished them threateningly at Nail. He waited calmly as they readied their blasts.

At last, their leader spoke. His voice was a raspy growl, most unpleasing to the ears, and it was practically painful to hear. “Give us your Dragon Ball and we won’t blast you to smithereens!” It was a simple demand, one that had worked on three villages beforehand. But Nail was not so easily persuaded. He waited, calmly, for them to attack.

A sense of unease spread throughout the crowd of aliens, who waited for Nail’s response. After a minute or so, the leader finally spoke again. “Well?!”

Nail turned around and saw that Guru was watching him. He knew that he could not perform poorly. “I can’t give that to you,” he spoke, and then he waited.

The leader growled audibly, his body taking on a more offensive stance. Turning to his squadron, he shouted out, “Fire!” They all unleashed their guns upon Nail, barraging him with a series of successive yellow blasts that pelted him consecutively.

Several stray blasts missed their marks, hitting the ground around Nail and leaving the ground barren. The stream of blasts did not end, though, until the last man’s gun had been completely emptied and a strong cloud of smoke surrounded Nail. There he stood, though, fully undamaged. In fact, Nail had taken on a fighting stance, and was prepared to attack.

He began with a few simple punches and kicks to the nearest soldier. The alien crumpled over in pain, falling to the ground. Nail determined that multiple punches and kicks would not be necessary - he instead elected to topple each alien with one kick or punch, until none remained.

The aliens quickly reloaded, however, and began to retaliate. They all shot furiously at him as he made his rounds through the aliens, but none of it could deter Nail as he continued to tear through the crowd. The blasts were glowing and emitted a bright yellow aura that seemed to encapsulate Nail within. The aliens were therefore unable to clearly see Nail as he tore through them. They were completely defenseless.

It was not long at all until Nail had all the aliens laying on the ground, himself standing over the leader who had earlier spoken to him. His foot was on the leader’s chest, who had been conquered by no more than a single punch.

Nail looked down at him. The man looked back up at him, the fear in his eyes shrouded by the anger forming concurrently. “What are you gonna do now, kill me? Go for it! See if that helps!”

Nail looked into his eyes. “I don’t want to kill you. I just want you to leave. You’re not wanted here.”

The creature below Nail’s foot squirmed a bit as hope filled his eyes. Nail released the man from under his foot, and he crawled away before standing back up. He rallied his troops together, and then they were off again, having left three Dragon Balls behind. Nail had proven himself.

Nail’s mind returned to the present as Frieza concluded a monologue.

“...either you divulge what I want, or you will never get up again! You truly are pathetic!”

Nail, however, began to chuckle as he moved his hands off of his face. A smile stretched across his face, to the surprise of Frieza, and he began to divulge what Frieza wanted not to hear.

“You know, I think it’s time I let you in on a little secret. Our little diversion worked perfectly. Yep, by now, Dende has given the password to the people from Earth.” He continued chuckling.

“What?! I don’t-” Frieza began, as shock flooded his face. He was notably taken aback, and his body tensed up in anger. As he prepared to fly away, he declared, “Mark my words, I’m not finished with you yet!”

And then, Frieza was gone.

Before Frieza, Nail had conquered five groups of aliens. Now, he had, at last, conquered another. That was his victory.

Endnotes

 * This story takes place at the end of Frieza's fight with Nail. Specifically, it starts here. It might be useful to watch from that clip to the end of the video to get some context on the fight between Frieza and Nail, and this story in general.
 * This story is exactly 1,555 words long.