The Death of Son Goku – Part 2: Flying Solo

As he traversed through the sea of soldiers in the narrow hallway of his lord's starship, Goku felt a combination of emotions swell within him, each giving his conscience further anxiety and apprehension. These conflicting emotions had truly put his mind in a state of cognitive dissonance, something that would only be resolved when this mission was over and done with—regardless of the result.

The first of these emotions was one classified as excitement—as his brother so often claimed, no true Saiyan could ever refute the prospect of a true battle.

Another sensation that festered itself in his lower gut was one of anxiety—for the first time since his induction into the Planet Trade, Son Goku would be fighting alone.

That scared him. Greatly.

Although he'd been told by his prince to never show any sort of pain, whether it be physical or mental, it was quite apparent that this was one sensation he couldn't refute —torrents of sweat were drizzling down his face in beads as he walked forward, his legs shaking with every step. Some even murmured faint jeers at the Saiyan, though he ignored them; he was far too nervous to begin with. The last thing he needed was mockery and harassment for his inexperience as a soldier—word had spread of Goku's inability to kill without remorse.

Though he'd killed King Moai of the Arlian people, Goku had never particularly enjoyed the prospect of taking a life. Unless his own life was in danger, the armored fighter saw no true reason to speed up a fellow being's demise.

How could Frieza expect him to be able to slaughter an entire race with this state of mind? No matter how the Saiyan thought about it, no true conclusion could be found.

And, as he realized clumsily by smacking his head against the door, he'd ran out of time to ponder.

"Ugh…" groaned the Saiyan, tenderly rubbing his forehead as he attempted to recover from the dazing blow. Though he could hear laughter pounding against his eardrums, something far more painful entered his consciousness…

Two silhouettes could be seen in the room, the darkness of the night hiding their faces from view. The first stood tall and erect, looking over the second figure with what appeared to be a soft, gentle expression—though he couldn't decipher the face itself, the outlined figure's body language told him all Goku needed to know.

"What do we name him?" asked the second figure, its voice distorted and muffled slightly. It appeared to be cradling something in its arms, clutching it as if it were their life itself.

"After my grandpa… Gohan," replied the first, its tone somewhat rising with happiness.

"Get up!"

"AGH!" cried the Saiyan, his cheek now heavily stinging from the blow it'd just endured. Goku now found himself flat on his back, the world spinning above him.

Suddenly, an amphibian-like cranium was in his face, the pain of the blow seemingly enlarging it. The scales of his overseer's face repulsed him, intimidating him. Was his life destined to end because he hadn't thought straight? Had Malaka's warning, though indirectly, come to haunt him?

"Stand up, you clumsy Saiyan." The indigo-colored face seemed to smirk, a raucous snicker beginning to pound against the aforementioned Saiyan's eardrums. "You won't last long if you freeze up every time you're in a life-or-death situation."

Nervously, Goku conducted the aforementioned, his body shaking with every move he made. With every breath he took, those beady eyes of his overseer watched. Those eyes bore into the armored fighter until he stood erect, his full height towering over the fish-resembling warrior.

"My name is Cui. Remember that, my friend, when you're traveling on your journey." Cui smiled, clamping a hand firmly down onto Goku's shoulder. Though it disgusted him, the spiky-haired soldier didn't dare to move it away; he didn't think he had the endurance to put up with another beating.

Cui then stepped out of Goku's way, mockingly beckoning for the Saiyan to continue on his path. "Just remember that, Saiyan… for I promise you, this won't be the last we meet."

Visibly nodding slightly, Goku tried to still his mind; he knew instigating a further conversation wouldn't work out in his favor. He began his walk again, feeling the lavender-colored organism's onyx eyes watch his every move.

Silently, he opened the door to the hangar before walking inside…

"Welcome to hangar fourteen," happily chirped a viridian bird-resembling creature as he approached Goku, a device within his hand. Oddly enough, in a vast contrast to before, this alien didn't seem to have even a sliver of malice within his voice. That was rather perturbing to the Saiyan, causing him to quickly tap his scouter—he wouldn't be caught off-guard, like he had with Cui.

BEEP. As the number came up, Goku's shoulders relaxed; the creature before him only had a power level of seven. Such a power level was nothing to be concerned about at the moment. "Thank you… um…"

"Oh, how terrible of me! I haven't even given you my name!" trilled the emerald-colored creature, his voice rather high-pitched. "Allow me to rectify that silly blunder. My name is Depatrue, and I'm the overseer of this rather beautiful hangar!"

Goku glanced around, his eyes seeing nothing that could even be remotely considered alluring—dark, dreary shades of a murky black colored the walls, dust and soot creeping along some of the doors. Not wanting to sour Depatrue's jovial mood, Goku offered him a weak smile. "It's a sight, all right." He didn't have the heart to say anything further than such a generalized statement.

"Yes, it is quite a sight indeed!" babbled on the bird, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Frieza often recommends the new recruits to come here for their first missions—I suppose it's because he wants to brighten their spirits with such a vivacious display!"

"Could very well be," Goku responded, trying to make his voice ambiguous and rather cryptic. While he wanted to avoid putting a damper on Depatrue's gleeful outlook on life, he also felt it morally unjust to lie—though his brother encouraged it when dealing with Lord Frieza, he disliked the sensation that festered within his lower gut afterward. Dealing with such a bright and optimistic spirit only caused the guilt to intensify four-fold.

"Your ship has been pre-programmed for its mission. Spatios, I believe it's called." The green creature tapped a few buttons on the portable control panel with remarkable accuracy, the final input resulting in a pod nearest the opposite exit opening its hatch.

"Yes… Spatios…" Goku murmured, walking over to examine the pod. In terms of visuals, it was nearly an exact replication of what he'd taken on his voyage to Arlia, though, in contrast, this one looked far duller than its predecessor. Running his hand over the top of his ship, Goku found particles of dust had accumulated on his means of transportation. "Tell me, do you know anything about them?"

"The Spatoisians?" queried Depatrue, bringing his index finger up to his chin in thought. "No, I can't say I know too much about them. However, rumors have stated they're a force to be trifled with—judging by the mutilated corpses that were sent back in these very pods, I might consider that to be true." Upon seeing the horrified look in Goku's eye, the jade-colored bird saw it fit to add onto his sentence. Smiling, he did just that."…Granted, they didn't look half as powerful as you do, though. I'm sure you'll win without a doubt!"

Goku let out a sigh of anxiety; fate just didn't seem to be on his side today. Well, looks like my work's cut out for me today… "Thanks for your help, Depatrue. It's much appreciated." He then boarded the miniature ship, immediately wincing slightly as he felt the coarse back of the seat—for some reason, this pod seemed much rougher when compared to the one he'd originally traveled in.

Before closing the hatch, the bird waved frantically, grinning as if he hadn't a care in the world. "Bye-bye! Take care! You'll do marvelous!"

As the inverted door closed on him, the anesthesia began to filter within the pod, causing Goku to jostle slightly—even the smallest disturbance appeared to frighten the Saiyan to no end, it seemed.

Trying to relax his mind, Goku reclined his body the best he could, his thoughts gearing towards the challenge ahead. Though they grew fainter and clumsier with each second his brain felt the sleeping gas inflict its nitrous oxide, he still had enough coherent thought to voice:

"One thing's for sure… this won't be pretty."

Not even a split-second after, his world went dark.

Lord Frieza watched as the space pod flew off the starship, gliding through the silent chasms of space harmlessly. A grin crept up his face at the thought of what was in store for the freshly-inducted Saiyan warrior, thoughts that would even make even his elder brother cringe. Oh, how he loved outdoing Cooler when it came to sadistic tortures. One could even consider it a game… a game that he always won, of course, as proven by his control over the majority of the Planet Trade Organization.

Though many would think otherwise, Frieza hadn't felled his brother in battle in order to gain as much territory as he had. No, his father was too intelligent to conclude superiority by a mere battle alone. He tested them on their brutality, their ruthlessness—in such a category, Frieza had his brother easily outclassed. Though his brother was certainly a bloodthirsty tyrant himself, it was a universal fact that none could compare with Lord Frieza's might.

In order to win the throne, Frieza had prepared himself, challenged himself, knowing that his brother would stop at nothing to claim what he felt was his—in the end, his perseverance had paid off, resulting in becoming the most renowned tyrant known across the Northern Galaxy.

It was with this mentality that allowed him to gain control of his current possessions. Each henchman, each planet, they all belonged to him because of how involved he was with every single one of them.

And that was why Frieza had canceled his business call—in order to track his newest pet monkey's progress.

"So, I'm curious, Zarbon. How long do you think our chimp friend has?" asked Frieza, his tone devoid of any true emotion.

"Personally, Lord Frieza, I highly doubt he lasts longer than a day." Zarbon flicked his green ponytail over his shoulder, looking rather amused by his master's expectancy of Goku. The poor imbecile was weaker than Vegeta at five years of age; there was no way he'd amount to anything extravagant. "Shall I prepare a strike force to head to Spatios after him?"

"This mission is solely for Goku, and him alone. I won't tolerate any other forces assisting him in this mission," sternly warned Frieza. Embedded within his words was cold malice that, even after multiple decades of serving under Frieza, still made Zarbon's skin crawl.

"Of course, sire. I wouldn't dare dream of doing anything to oppose your wishes," hastily replied the teal narcissist, his eyes widening in fear. "I personally just don't see what you see in him, sire. At last check, he was approximately around five-hundred."

"Why can't you ever use your head for another reason than looking pretty?" taunted Frieza, scowling at his top henchman. "Goku, while nowhere near Vegeta, is at five-hundred without much training. Raditz, on the other hand, is barely above his brother in combat strength, and he's been with us nearly as long as Vegeta."

Picking up from where his master left off, Zarbon gaped as he realized the implications of Frieza's words. "Are you intending to replace Raditz with his brother? Although he may be clumsy, Raditz is certainly efficient when it comes to getting the job done."

"Strength in numbers, my dear Zarbon…" He cut his eyes in annoyance at his right-hand man. "…Why would I be so foolish to exterminate another monkey? Four is better than three, is it not?"

Zarbon opened his mouth to refute his master's argument, but then promptly shut it a moment later. It was then that he realized his mistake—he was flirting with death. Frieza was, quite literally, the bringer of death; it wasn't wise to incite his temper. Therefore, he simply did what he did best: look pretty and be a yes-man.

"Of course, Lord Frieza."

The sleeping gas of the Planet Trade Organization was… unique, when compared to other types of the substance. For one, it stilled users for a pre-determined amount of time; the effects of the anesthesia did not subside naturally. It was a potent, artificially designed substance that wouldn't harm the brain in any form whatsoever. It immediately jolted the subject awake once the ship was drawn in to another planet's gravitational pull.

Goku bolted awake, his body feeling a tremendous pressure due to having been bolted awake. Though, that wasn't the worst of his problems; he was freefalling out of the atmosphere—what was he to do?!

"Damn it!" He audibly swore, recalling to how disheveled the spacecraft looked at its first appearance. "How could I ever rely on this darn bucket of bolts to fly me?!" Subconsciously, a dark thought was provoked: while certainly kind, Depatrue had failed him; he hadn't prepared a suitable enough pod for him to travel with safety. Though he may've had his best interests at heart, the emerald-colored bird just might've cost the Saiyan his life…

With rapid speed, Goku's Attack Ball descended further and further, nearing the purple crust of Spatios. With rapid speed, Goku's conscience thought a thousand ways this could've been prevented, had the enthusiastic Depatrue actually done his job.

With rapid speed, the space pod collided with Planet Spatios's rocky grounds, resulting in a large mushroom cloud enshrouding the pod's immediate surroundings.

The pod was durable; he could say that, at least. Had it not possessed that quality, Goku would've perished right there and then, his legacy as a hero forever forgotten.

Alas, that was not the way fate would play out that fateful day.

Crawling out of the wreckage, Goku panted heavily, his sweat splashing against the bright violet grounds of Spatios. D-Darn this stupid pod! Just a pile of…

BZZZT! Out of nowhere, abreast him, materialized three figures, each tantamount in appearance. All were clothed in black jumpsuits, bandanas covering their mouths, and they all possessed the same snow-white hair.

"Invader…" lowly hissed the apparent leader of the trio, advancing towards Goku with hardened eyes—the eyes of a trained assassin, a cold-blooded killer.

This chapter was also one I wasn't exactly happy with. Nevertheless, though, it was another transitory chapter—I'm not going to use that as an excuse, but, considering this is a special(and, subsequently, faster-paced than the main story), I think I'm doing okay in regards to pacing. Regardless, we're finally up to the part I wanted to be at. I've got a bit to say here, so sorry if this A/N is rather long.

I went a bit reference-crazy with this chapter—see if you can find the intentional(and unintentional) allusions! They were pretty fun to include, and best of all, they fit with the tone I wanted to convey.

Dapatrue was… interesting for me to write. He actually wasn't in the original plot for this special, but he's served as a catalyst for the cultivation of Goku's distrust in others. I felt that it was actually very enjoyable to write.

Lastly, I received a review asking how long this special was going to be. I can't exactly say, due to spoilers, but I can say we'll be back in the main story by Chapter 20 at latest. For the rest of the Q&A, please check out my Q&A forum!

How will our hero fare against this mysterious new triad? Find out, on the next Sins of the Father!