Gohan and Goku stood in the center of the gravity room, heaving desperately for air. While Gohan's battle suit was in good condition save for a few scrapes, Goku's had been reduced to a series of rags hanging from his bruised skin. The monitor just a few inches above Goku's head read 180 G's, producing a pressure that taxed even the bones of two battle-efficient Saiyans. Getting Goku to Super Saiyan level before their excursion to severing the two heads of the Cold Force had been the main priority of their trip - now on day four – but it didn't seem to matter how much punishment Goku took within, and often against the reinforced steel walls of the ship. They simply couldn't get him there.

The full-blooded Saiyan fell onto his backside and caught his breath, exhausted from yet another beam struggle of which he had gotten the losing end. "Man…I just can't hack it!"

Gohan followed Goku's lead and sat as well. "You're not alone – if I still can't even figure out how to bring that power back out on my own, how am I supposed to help you reach it?"

"Good point," Goku chuckled.

Gohan closed his eyes, doing as he had been throughout their journey and trying to both focus on his Ki and reimagine the feeling of that transformation. In that stressful, inefficient form he thought had been Super Saiyan, the power source had been obvious – his tail. But in the case of the Super Saiyan, he couldn't pin it down.

"I guess it's rage," Goku mused. "Seeing Vegeta and that girl die like that was clearly what brought it out for you."

Gohan's eye twitched involuntarily. "I know. I even tried getting myself back into that mind state, but…" Gohan opened his eyes and his palms, observing his trembling fingers. "When I think about their deaths now, I don't get mad anymore. I already took all my anger out on Frieza; all I got left is the void where they used to be."

"Sounded like me for a long time," Goku replied with a mirthless chuckle. Gohan darted his eyes over at his father and studied his weary smile. "After you got taken away, I was just really mad for a long time. Prolly wasn't the easiest guy to be around. I only ever felt real hate once before then, towards Big Daddy Piccolo and his goons. But I took care of that. But Raditz?"

With a shake of the head, Goku whistled.

"I hated him, I hated the word 'Saiyan,' hell I'm pretty sure I was mad at myself just for bein' one. I was fired up, and ready to go nuclear to get you back."

When Goku rested his elbows on his knees and sighed, Gohan hung his head. He had never seen his father speak at length about how he dealt with the incident. He knew Goku to be a guy who always stayed on the positive side, even to nonsensical degrees. Just the thought of him fractured left a knot in Gohan's stomach.

"And as bad as it was for me, it was that much worse for your mother."

Gohan's palms clenched into fists.

"For the first year, she basically never got out of bed," Goku said, a bead of sweat trickling down his head. "And when I came back empty, and when the Dragon Balls…" Goku looked back up with a cringe, making Gohan flinch at the reminder. "Didn't work-"

"I'm-"

Goku waved him off with his usual benevolence. "Don't worry 'bout it. I get it."

Gohan sighed, skeptical of Goku's answer. Of all the vitriol he had spewed that first day back on Earth, that seemed to break his heart the worst.

"But man, once it got clear that I might never see you again, it all fell apart. Chi-Chi was basically a zombie for a few years, just kinda goin' on autopilot. I even stopped trainin' for a while."

Despite the negative subject, Goku actually started laughing; Gohan hummed with bewilderment. "Ah man, you shoulda seen me about seven years ago or so. I got all flabby 'n gross! It wasn't 'til Piccolo started stirrin' up trouble again that I finally got back in the swing of things and honestly? It helped. The thrill of the fight and gettin' back in my routine took my mind off you a little bit."

"It was the same with me," Gohan replied. "I rejected that wish because I thought it was keeping you guys safe, but deep down…I think I was just avoiding you guys. I thought if I just dedicated myself to the goal and fought, I could just bury all the bad feelings. The way you reacted when you first saw me...that's what I was always afraid of."

Goku's smile took a glum reversal. "I'm really sorry about that, Gohan. I always knew somethin' was fishy about what Shenron said, especially after I learned about Frieza. But I could never let go of the little boy Raditz swept away, and that's what I thought I'd be getting' if you ever returned. It was stupid."

"If I had any respect for myself, I wouldn't have lasted long," Gohan bitterly replied. "But after everyone kept pushing me around, I wanted to feel strong. All those scared faces on the planets we hit…they made me sick. It was like I was seeing that kid all over again."

Gohan didn't realize how much had been scraping his teeth against each other. After all those years, a piece of him that resented that crybaby still existed.

"But look at you now," Goku marveled. "Nobody can touch you, and you got rid of the evil boss."

Gohan aimed a glare at Goku's face that he hadn't given him in a year. "So what? That hasn't been important to me for a long time, if you haven't noticed."

"My bad," Goku replied, awkwardly scratching the back of his head in the face of Gohan's resentment. "That's the Saiyan talkin', I guess."

Opting to retreat into his shell, Gohan folded his arms and shut his eyes. The devastation of Frieza's fight had restored his bad old habit, routing him on a detour from his real feelings. He did enjoy having power over Frieza; he made sure to rub the salt in his wound. He didn't just want the Super Saiyan power back for utility's sake – he craved that invigorating rush more than the most potent nicotine.

"I've felt that way a lot," Goku muttered, snapping Gohan out of his spell. "I wasn't just angry at Raditz back then, either. He beat me in one kick. I work so hard to be as strong as I can and couldn't even protect my own son. If I'da been strong enough-"

"I wouldn't have even been there," Gohan completed with a smirk. "Yeah, they said that plenty. Eventually, I believed it. That's the biggest reason I was so nasty to you when I first got here."

"Yeah, I'd bet. I hate to admit it, but I'm not even sure I was so down just because you were gone. After I beat Piccolo and finally got over the Martial Arts Tournament hump, I thought I was the baddest dude around; now it turns out I had a brother in space who could just kick my ass like that? To the point where I couldn't even save my own son?" Goku swung his fist. "Man. I was so disgusted."

Gohan snickered. "Then I don't know if you would've gotten a kick out of it or just been even madder if you saw where Raditz really stood in grand scheme of things. Have you ever wondered why he took me away?"

Goku's brows lined together in thought. "I always figured it was either a trap, or worse. I never wanted to think too hard about it, to be honest."

"I'm sure you've already figured out how those scouters we wear measure people's Ki. Well, the reading he got from me was twice as strong as yours."

Goku nearly fell over. "WHAT?! Seriously?! I mean, you being stronger when you came back made sense, but even as just a little ol' baby?! It took a lifetime of trainin' just to get the little bit of power I had back then; Chi-Chi didn't even let you train and you were that good! Unbe-frickin'-lievable!"

"Yeah. Believe it or not, Raditz was actually a wimp. I was stronger than him right off the bat. He was basically the punching bag, and pretty lazy at that," Gohan said with a chuckle towards Goku's visible frustration.

"The guy that beat me in one kick was a wimp, and my four-year-old toddler of a son was a more worthy ally than I was," Goku looked up with an irritable, hysterical smirk. "If Raditz had stuck around you might've won the whole fight for us by accident. Now I'm wonderin' if Goten could've taken Frieza out in one hit!"

At the mention of Goten, Gohan looked down and idly tapped his fingers against the tiles. An uncomfortable grunt gave away his disposition to his father.

"Sorry-"

"No," Gohan interrupted. "It's fine."

"Well, I meant, sorry I kinda kept it a secret from you at first," Goku replied. "I mean, not that I had a chance to ever say anything about it with all the fightin', but it shouldn't have had to come out by accident. Guess I knew you'd feel a way about it."

"I was being a brat. I expected you and mom to be as lonely and miserable as I was."

"We definitely were before him. Every time your mom would pass by your room, she'd start cryin'. We knew we could never replace you, but we just wanted to make things a little brighter. It was actually Bulma's suggestion."

Goku gazed into the black abyss of space through the window with razor-sharp eyes. "It made me train even harder. I wasn't going to let anything happen to him. I needed to prove I could protect my own son."

Just seeing him sitting cross-legged, Gohan could see that fiery Saiyan spirit swimming in his father's eyes, only he had a greater purpose than just being stronger. A few moments later, his expression lightened back up to a laugh.

"'Course, look how that turned out. I did all this work to protect my new son, and now it turns out my first son's the one that's gotta protect me! I'm slackin'."

Gohan shook his head. That couldn't have been further from the truth; if Goku hadn't have nearly destroyed himself to defeat Avocado, they wouldn't have even gotten far enough to beat Frieza; if Goku hadn't protected Gohan from himself, he would have wiped out all of Earth.

"I'm startin' to understand this whole Saiyan thing. I guess I always had it in me even when I didn't know it," Goku said. "Here we are, talkin' about all the crap they put us through and we're still tryin' to bring one of 'em back."

"I should hate those guys," Gohan said, referring to Vegeta along with Nappa and Raditz. "I'm pretty sure they wanted me to, even. But I can't."

"Yeah. I think I realized that in the Time Chamber with Vegeta," Goku mused, looking up at the ceiling with an admiring smile. "That guy, man. I thought I was nuts, but he's a friggin' maniac. He barely even cares about his own wellbeing, let alone anybody else's. I guess when your life's one big battle royale, it don't matter if it's a grown man or a little kid. If you can walk, you can fight."

"That's how it was. We lived in our safe little bubble on Earth," Gohan began, looking into the vacuum he had traveled on countless occasions. "But out there, you're either strong, or you aren't. Raditz had been fighting life or death battles since he was the same age I was when he showed up. We were the crazy ones in their eyes."

"It's weird, ain't it?"

"At least those guys just wanted me to be strong. They weren't trying to torture me or humiliate me like Frieza. Once I proved myself, they accepted me." Pride swelled in Gohan's chest as he recalled the battles they fought together. "I've saved their lives, and they've saved mine."

"Vegeta's got nothin' to prove to me," Goku replied. "I mean, he's still a pretty nasty guy, but if he would take a beam for you like that, he's okay with me."

Gohan looked up at the spaceship's control panel – he and Vegeta had waged many fights within the walls of the spaceship to prepare for Frieza, pushing themselves to their limits and beyond. They'd taken out many of their frustrations with each other knowing if they couldn't survive, they wouldn't have been worth much. But in the end, Vegeta had proven he was worth plenty. He was worth going above and beyond to revive.

"I'm still confused about one thing, though," Goku cut in. "The girl who was killed – was she actually different from the one that helped us get on the Nimbus? 'Cause some things weren't addin' up."

Gohan laughed. "It's a long story..."

Day six had arrived. The efforts to make Goku a Super Saiyan still hadn't yielded any luck, but Gohan figured they had plenty of time between Namek and wherever they'd find Cooler. If it happened, it would happen, and at worst, Gohan could take care of them himself, anyway.

Through the window a few feet across, Gohan could see a green sphere expanding in size with every passing second.

"Heh, figures the planet would be green," Goku said, coming up from the second floor in a fresh uniform. Gohan rolled his eyes and studied its appearance.

"Commencing the landing on Planet Namek," said the automated voice from the control panel's speakers. The space capsule accelerated and made its plunge down into the green sphere's atmosphere. As it drew in closer, Gohan narrowed his eyes in focus; it wasn't the mission that brought him urgency, but a presence that grew stronger in his mind the closer they fell.

"Do you feel that, father?"

Goku raised a confused eyebrow until the signal hit him like lightning. "Whoa. I'm pickin' up some pretty big Ki."

"Two of them."

And that wasn't the most disconcerting part – these powers felt familiar. They weren't an exact match to the man that was on his mind, but they certainly felt rotten enough.

"They both feel like Frieza's…"

"You're right," Goku replied, his breath running thin. "Could it be his father and brother?!"

"Has to be."

Gohan blocked everything out, ignoring Goku's questions and the automated voice's informing of their landfall to devise a plan. Both of their Ki's felt in the same caliber of power as Frieza's - not his 100% power, but close enough. Gohan suspected Cooler may have always been in the state Frieza had been on Earth, but his father may have been a different story. That being said, Goku would still be a valuable asset against them, Super Saiyan or not.

The sound of the ship's door opening and the ramp sliding down snapped Gohan out of his trance. Alongside his father, he floated out of the ship and into the environment of Planet Namek. They had landed on a plateau shrouded in the same type of blue grass that Kiyomi smoked, while the sky possessed a rich shade of green lined by yellow clouds. Ahead of them were a series of islands big and small, all identical to each other – beautiful grass and a few trees, frogs hopping about. Despite the two odious Ki signatures, the atmosphere instilled Gohan with a sense of calm. It was exactly as King Kai had implied. Gohan wondered what Piccolo would have thought of the planet.

"Huh, this is pretty much Earth in reverse," Goku remarked, observing the landscape with the Dragon Radar in hand.

"Awesome, this place really does have Dragon Balls! But it looks like a few of the balls are already gathered together," Goku said after checking the radar. "And it's the same spot where I sense those two power levels."

With a snarl, Gohan kicked the grass. "They're after the Dragon Balls and beat us here. But how?! How could they know about them?"

"Well, Lapis said Ginyu was the one who mentioned the possibility of Dragon Balls on Namek, right?"

"The scouter," Gohan grumbled. "The damn scouter. One of them must've been monitoring the situation on Earth and overheard it."

"So, they probably know Frieza was defeated and now they're trying to make a wish so they can get a leg up before they fight us."

"Then it's a good thing we got here when we did."

Goku nodded. "Yeah. We can't afford to waste any time, so let's go after them."

"Hold on," Gohan said, motioning his arm towards his father. "We can't afford to put the planet in jeopardy before we have all the Dragon Balls. Let's gather up the remaining balls under their noses. These guys rely entirely on their scouters, so we can sneak around without using our Ki."

"Good plan. Hell, maybe we can even try catching them off-guard," Goku mused. "You think you can tap into Super Saiyan yet?"

"Maybe," Gohan replied with a cautious breath. "Let's just figure things out as we go."

Gohan led the way, hopping from peninsula to peninsula and growing keener on Goku's idea of a sneak attack. He knew enough about how Frieza operated to figure his clan had likely taken the Dragon Balls they already had by force. Allowing deaths to pile up would be the coward's way. And so, he headed for those two big Ki signatures, going until they reached the edge of a cliff above a village of white, spherical houses. He crouched down to maintain a low profile, as did Goku.

Down in the village stood several aliens who, while possessing various shapes, sizes, all looked just like Piccolo and God. Even their clothes were similar, which made Gohan wish he had gotten another one of Piccolo's outfits made to demonstrate he wasn't there for trouble; instead, he looked like an associate of the two men ransacking the planet. Every last one of them quivered in fear, their eyes engorged and directed to the ignominious figures in the center of the village.

One of them, a spitting image of Frieza's first form, only triple the size; King Cold. Right next to him, a man both rigid and relaxed who resembled an inverted, purple version of Frieza's final form – that man was Cooler. Both wore scouters. They looked just like they had in the live streams from Frieza's conference rooms.

"Must be them, huh?" Goku asked. "They certainly look the part."

They weren't alone, either. Also with them were a band of Cooler Force soldiers led by a familiar trio. There was Neiz, the lanky, brown toad. Dore, the green behemoth with black-hair. And then, Salza, the blue-skinned blonde who had given Gohan the scar on his chest.

While King Cold observed the terror-stricken Namekians with an amused smile, Cooler regarded them with impatience. He whipped his tail against the grass, littering dust onto the three enormous Dragon Balls gathered beside his feet.

"Let's make this simple, because the routine's already gotten old after the first three times – hand me the Dragon Balls, or I'll kill every last one of you."

"Ah, shit," Gohan hissed. Hearing Cooler's rougher, more masculine voice in person for the first time sent a chill down his spine.

"Damn, he's probably already killed plenty of these guys already then," Goku growled, digging his fingers into the grass. "No way can we let that happen."

"I know," Gohan replied. Even if they could be wished back, Gohan didn't want anybody to feel the trauma of death. "The moment they attack, we'll catch them slipping."

"Gotcha. We'll know when it gets out of hand."

An older, portly Namekian in a red vest stepped in front, while two Namekian children who appeared close to Gohan's age shuddered nervously behind him. "I don't know anything about this Dragon Ball business. Please leave."

Cooler merely chuckled at the elder's words. "Just like the other elders, then. They all said the same thing, pleading ignorance. You keep up the charade, you'll end up in the pile of corpses with the rest of them."

The Namekians were left aghast, standing frozen in fear. The elder nearly fell over in horror. "No…you wouldn't!"

"Dammit, it really is true," Goku said.

A smirk spread across Cooler's purple lips, every bit as sadistic as his brother's. "I wouldn't? You must not have heard of me, old man. I'm known across the universe for many things, most of all the complete annihilation I've brought to every planet I've crossed paths with."

Cooler took a grand step forward, alerting not just the Namekians, but the two Saiyans covertly observing them.

"But you know what I'm not known for? Patience. I don't want to hear any bullshit about tests of valor or character." Cooler mockingly folded his arms while his smirk spread. "In fact, if you choose to be the first one to not make this difficult, I'll even spare you and your village. Do please spread the word to the remaining ones, will you?"

"Why should I believe you?!" the elder sneered. "You are a shameless murderer - your word means nothing!"

King Cold chuckled like he had merely heard a clever joke. "Well, he has you there, son!"

With a proud chuckle, Cooler closed his eyes and lowered his arms. "I never was as good of a liar as my late brother, was I?"

He opened his eyes back up, aiming his blood-red pupils at every last Namekian.

"You're right. I was going to kill you all even if you talked."

Before the elder tyrant even had a chance to react, five younger Namekians lunged at him with the same intentions. Of all the Namekians, they resembled Piccolo the most. Before they could get even an inch in the air, and before Goku and Gohan could move, a pair of beams from Cooler's eyes incinerated them all and left their charred bodies in a pile right besides the Dragon Balls they had tried to protect.

After a contemptuous glare towards the green scrap heap, Cooler redirected his sights to the elder – specifically, the two boys cowering behind his legs.

"Have I mentioned I'm great with kids?"

That was enough.

With no regard for whatever erratic plan he had, Gohan stormed down from the cliff and delivered a crushing knee right to Cooler's skull that knocked the scouter right off his ear. Goku flew right down with him, standing behind Gohan with his back turned to ward off any sneak attacks. Cooler's soldiers surrounded the father & son duo and lunged at them, but a simple pair of Kiai shouts sent all of them skyward.

Cooler unleashed a string of angry curses as he got up and vaporized the one soldier who possessed the misfortune of flying towards him. Once he got up and took a closer look, his temper cooled.

"Ah, well if it isn't the match that lit the flame. Little Son Gohan," he beamed. "And you – you look just like the man I saw on the projection who opposed Frieza's destruction of your home planet. Now I see; you must be Gohan's father. The ship I let escape."

Cooler swung his head back and cackled into the green skies, motioning towards his Armored Squadron. "How fitting is this, boys?! You three were there when it happened; you remember what I said, right?"

"I believe you said that ship was Frieza's mess, now," Salza said from his thick accent.

"And sure enough, it resulted in his end. A great tragedy indeed," he obit with callous indifference for his brother.

"Ugh, it's just so heartbreaking," King Cold added with a whimper betrayed by his blithe grin while he nodded towards Goku. "You can relate, right, orange fellow? You try to instill your son with values, and responsibility, only for them to blow you off, left to learn their lesson only when it's too late. Alas, negligence was his Achille's heel."

"Enough of this," Gohan snapped, peeved by Cold's theatrics that he had clearly passed down to his son. "Why are you after the Dragon Balls?!"

"I heard Ginyu mention them and decided to look into it myself," Cooler replied, confirming Goku and Gohan's suspicion. "After I learned of Frieza's defeat, I wasn't going to take my chances. I came here to bestow myself with immortality before I arrived to Earth and crushed you. But I see you've expedited your fate."

Gohan's confidence tugged against the corners of his lips. "If you know I've defeated Frieza, then you must know I've become a Super Saiyan!"

What Gohan expected was for Cooler to project that same look of despair as Frieza – agape mouth, engorged eyes, and a shivering body. Instead, Cooler maintained his smirk, raised his hands…and clapped? Even King Cold, who had expressed some trepidation, eyed his son curiously as his applause rolled on.

"Congratulations, Son Gohan," Cooler said, continuing to clap as he marched towards his father. Both Gohan and Goku stood stiff, weary of his cryptic plans. "A most impressive feat indeed. You fulfilled the tall tale, and extinguished our clan's most infamous member."

"But Super Saiyan or not, our combined forces can take you," King Cold added.

Cooler side-eyed his father. "Combined?"

And then, he grabbed one of King Cold's horns with one hand, created a blade of Ki around the other, and sliced his head clean from his shoulders.

Not a single person standing in the village – not the Namekians, not the two Saiyans, and certainly not the soldiers – contained their shock. The massive body of King Cold sunk into the blue blades of grass, while its blood-spewing head hung in the hand of his cackling son.

"What the fuck?!" Gohan screamed.

"Surprised?" Cooler asked, marveling at his work. "Well, Son Gohan, I'll have you know I was the only one who believed in you – and you've given me what I've always wanted."

Even while trying to pick up the shattered pieces of his brain, Gohan wretched at such a twisted notion. His suspicion about Cooler's allegiances had been right all along.

Like it was a mere basketball and not the source of the egg he hatched from, Cooler chucked his father's head at Sauzer. His blue subordinate fumbled it in both hands a few times while restraining a rush of vomit in his cheeks.

"Salza!" Cooler called. "Put that in the flagship and hang it on my mantle."

"Y-Yes sir," Salza replied with a gag. Whilst clutching his stomach, he flew away.

"Um…ya kinda lost me…" Goku stammered.

Gohan watched Salza's flight before twisting his head back towards Cooler with no genuine idea of what awaited. All bets were off. Despite the bold murder that left he and Goku with one less opponent to worry about, Gohan couldn't help the ominous rumbling in his stomach.

"What's there to misunderstand?" Cooler mischievously asked. "I've wanted my sissy little brat of a brother dead for decades now. Killing my father was a bit gratuitous I'll admit, but his guard was down and I don't like people breathing down my neck."

"W-What are you talking about?" Gohan asked.

"For all his laundry list of flaws, Frieza was remarkably intelligent. He would never let me lure him into a situation where I could take him one-on-one in a fair fight. Getting rid of him meant I'd have to force my father to make the tough decision," Cooler's expression was almost nostalgic and wistful as he recalled past memories. "You remember Kabnet, right?"

Gohan's jaw fell at lightning speed. "What?! How…?! That doesn't make sense!"

"I don't blame you for thinking so – he would have said the same thing, had he actually known I was aiding him in the shadows. Peconne – his scientist, the brains behind his operation. He was a secret gift from yours truly."

While Gohan had no idea who he had been referring to, the next name rang a bell –

"Peconne put him in touch with Boysen, and the rest was history."

Boysen. The traitor who had sent Gohan, Vegeta, and Nappa into a deathtrap on Planet Linden. Where Gohan had been dead to rights until a girl with eyes as blue as the ice that had killed her arrived.

"My plan was rather simple. Once I learned of Kabnet's operation, I was going to let his little empire grow into a problem. Have Peconne lure a few more of Frieza's higher ranking men to his side until father grew sick of his negligence once and for all. But then you came and blew it all up, didn't you?"

Gohan idly nodded.

Much like his brother would, Cooler poshly chuckled. "Don't worry, I have no hard feelings. You opened my eyes, actually. To see Frieza's end by a hand besides my own, I'd have to invest in the Saiyans' strength. He always did fear you apes. Why else do you think I had my men supervise those training camps?"

Gohan simply blinked. Every detail of Cooler's story both surprised him and aligned neatly in his mind.

"I was the one who advised Frieza to promote you to an officer ranking. And when that fell apart, I was the one who called Frieza off-world and gave Vegeta the green light to kill Zarbon."

While Gohan had known about the latter incident, the former reveal left him short of breath.

"A year and change later, and you pulled it off. All because of me."

Letting the surprise of the reveal roll off his back, Gohan snickered with disgust while squaring his shoulders for battle. "Well, if you're expecting a 'thank you' from me, I'm afraid I'll have to leave you hanging."

"Oh, but I expected as much," Cooler replied. "You Saiyans were always rude and disorderly. You'll be repaying me soon enough anyway. Now that you're a Super Saiyan, you're the perfect fuel for my most ambitious project yet, whether you want to be or not. So why don't you bring this power out and give me a demonstration?"

"Famous last words," Gohan said as a gust of wind swirled around him.

"Can you pull it off?" Goku asked, remembering their struggles in the spaceship.

"Don't worry," Gohan replied with a voice full of vigor. "I think I figured it out yesterday. I just had to remember one little thing."

The ground rumbled beneath Gohan's feet. His fingers clenched into tight fists.

"I'm always angry."

A primal scream later, a golden flame swept across Gohan's body, igniting his hair into a matching brilliant shade and flickering his black eyes to teal. The sheer magnitude of his power forced Goku and the Namekians to retreat into the sky. Cooler stood before Gohan's Super Saiyan transformation not in fear, but awe.

"I see…" Cooler marveled. "The Big Gete Star will feast."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Gohan asked.

"You'll find out soon enough, little Saiyan. You see, you may have been able to defeat my brother, but there's a big difference between he and I."

"Like what?" Gohan scoffed. "Your brand of lipstick?"

Cooler smirked, ignoring his quip and raising his index finger. "One time more. I can transform one time more than Frieza. He's a little bit stronger than I am in our natural forms, but I figured out how to push my strength even higher with a new transformation!"

"Well let's see it!" Gohan yelled, thrilled at the prospect of a challenge.

Wasting no time, Cooler began his metamorphosis. Wind exploded around his feet while his body nearly doubled in bulk. Spikes grew from the shells around his head and wrists while the red of his pupils over took his entire eyes. His body had become a far cry from the sleek, demure aristocrats Gohan had become accustomed to; now, he resembled a machine efficiently designed for slaughter.

"Prepare to die!" he roared from his deepened voice before a shell slid over his mouth like a mask.

Though Cooler's transformation impressed Gohan, it didn't intimidate him one bit. The two superpowers met in a mid-air clash, their fists producing a shockwave that nearly leveled every house in the village.

They fought in a flurry indecipherable to Saiyan or Namekian eyes. Cooler landed the first strike, appearing behind Gohan and viciously kicking his spine. The Super Saiyan easily shook it off and got Cooler right back with a punch to the face that sent him into the field. When he plunged down to follow up, Cooler had already recovered and leveled him with a mere swipe of his forearm. As soon as Gohan sprung back up, he and Cooler exchanged a few heavy blows until the beast tried blasting his face off. He swiped it away, but in doing so left himself wide open and took a fist to his gut for his troubles. Cooler took advantage of their height difference and yanked Gohan by the strands of his golden hair so hard he thought it might all rip from his scalp, slamming his foot into his chest.

Cooler pulled his arm back to deliver the possible knockout blow, but Gohan caught it with his palm at the last second. With his other hand, he burned Cooler's face with a Ki blast and freed himself of the hold. His attempt at a head-rattling kick wound up in Cooler's iron-tight grip, however, and he found himself plunging towards the ground after being flung like a plastic doll.

Dust exploded around Gohan when he landed, and a purple torpedo came rushing down soon after. He was too busy reeling from the hit and blocking out the buzzing sound from his ear to notice him coming until a pair of scaly, purple legs smashed the air out of his chest. A cry of pain came with it – it felt like the strongest stone in the universe had dropped on him.

Cooler stepped away from Gohan and snickered. "You were a fool to oppose me, Super Saiyan or not."

As Gohan coughed on the ground, a small chuckle left his lips that caught Cooler's attention. "I-I knew it…!"

"Knew what, boy?!"

"You don't hit much harder than Frieza, really," Gohan wheezed as he stumbled back up. "Your new form's more energy-efficient than Frieza's full power, but that's it. If I'm a ten and Frieza's a seven, you're like a 7.3. No wonder you needed me to kill him for you."

"7.3?! Is that what you say?!" Cooler shouted. With his mouth no longer visible, Gohan could only picture the petulant scowl on the elder lizard's face. After charging his Ki up, he swung his arms back. "Try this!"

A purple Ki blast left his hands, but Gohan only needed his right hand to extinguish it. A half-second later, Gohan doubled him over with a punch to his gut and kicked him across the face for good measure. As Cooler soared across the sky, Gohan showered him with Ki blasts that exploded all over his skin, then phased in front of him and slammed both fists into his spiky skull to send exploding into the ground. Cooler blasted off from the crater with a furious roar, but Gohan met him shoulder-first in mid-air. Gohan struck him in the ribs as he staggered away, though his follow-up shot only landed his heavy, violet palm. The transformed lizard tugged the Super Saiyan into a punch to his jaw, laughing as he flew back. But when he phased behind him and tried kicking him across his considerably smaller back, his leg literally went through him thanks to the trusty after-image technique.

"Toy with me, will you?!" Cooler growled.

And toy with him, Gohan did, startling Cooler when his face rematerialized upside down directly in front of his with a maddening smirk. Before Cooler could attack again, Gohan flipped back to a proper position with his back towards him and elbowed his gut. A second elbow to the top of his head sent the beast right back to the field.

Gohan landed a few moments later, waiting for Cooler to get back up. He knew the fight was far from over, but knew just as well that he was in the driver's seat. All he needed to do was wear him down.

After Cooler stood back up, he cracked his neck and crouched into a fighting stance. "I wouldn't be cocky if I were you, Super Saiyan. I bet Frieza was throwing one of his little temper tantrums at this same point – but that's where we differ."

"We'll see, I guess," Gohan said before assuming his father's signature stance.

They dove at each other once more, Cooler imposing with his size. They went back and forth with attacks, each landing a bone crunching strike; but for all Cooler had in strength, Gohan had a clear edge in speed and was just plain stronger anyway. Every punch, every kick, every blast he took from the tyrant, he shook off; the same couldn't be said for Cooler. And the longer they fought, the greater Gohan's focus grew. This wasn't like Frieza – he harbored no real hatred towards Cooler, and if anything, he actually did feel just a little bit grateful for his shenanigans, even if they weren't really for his sake. But it was kill or be killed, and with no desire to humiliate Cooler, he knew it was time to wrap things up. Weilding his superior speed, Gohan phased through one of Cooler's punches, and with his superior strength broke at least two of Cooler's ribs with a kick to his side. Cooler fell from the sky squeezing his stomach and coughing through his little mask.

"H-How…?!" Cooler shrieked.

"How?" Gohan asked after floating down to his level. "This is what you wanted, right? Guess you never counted on me being too strong for you, either."

Cooler let his blank, red gaze linger on Gohan for a few moments before laughing. "Oh, really now? Let's see if you're too strong for this!"

In no time at all, Cooler fired a massive blast – that flew right past Gohan's shoulder. Gohan swung around and gasped when he realized the mass of Ki was heading right for his father and the Namekians. In just two seconds, Gohan had to deduce the following: his father was trying to tank it with a Kaio-Ken, his father wasn't anywhere near strong to pull that off, and in the time it would have taken himself to a gather Ki and fire a blast that could evaporate Cooler's, they would have been dead. And so, Gohan jumped in the way at warp speed and took the brunt of it himself, only shielding himself with his own right arm. A huge explosion erupted from the impact, making Goku and the Namekians flee to the grass.

In the wake of the smoke, Gohan lay on the ground with the right sleeve of his suit burned away and exposing his wounded, blood-soaked arm. To make it through that attack in one piece, Gohan had sacrificed his arm and paid dearly, pain coursing from the tip of his middle finger to his fractured shoulder. He staggered his way back up with the limb dangling by his side and a scowl firm on his lips for the tyrant up above. Cooler's attitude may have been different, but underneath it all, he was no different from brother. A spineless coward – only his trick worked.

Proud of his work, Cooler folded his arms with renewed bluster. "Well would you look at that! The Super Saiyan has been wounded!"

"That was a real a punk-ass move," Gohan snarled as Cooler descended to the grass.

"Instead of critiquing my strategy, maybe you should focus on escaping the treacherous waters," Cooler drawled, stalking towards Gohan methodically. "You don't want to be near a shark that smells blood, do you?"

Injured, but defiant, Gohan blasted the grass beneath Cooler's feat and leaped backwards away from him. As soon as he got a good distance, Cooler popped up to his right.

"Too slow!"

The sadistic lizard slammed his leg into Gohan's injured arm, adding more cracks to bones that had already been broken. Gohan crumbled onto his knees screaming in agony, squeezing his eyes shut as he tried his best to block out the feeling of his arm tenuously hanging from its socket. Cooler lived up to his self-analogue and circled around Gohan while his tail waved back and forth in anticipation. He came to a stop, letting his dark shadow cast over Gohan's body before he ruthlessly slammed his foot on his arm. Hearing the sound of his bones and tendons pop, Gohan gnawed against his teeth and banged his good hand against the ground in the only way he knew to resist the pain. Cooler didn't move his foot, keeping the pressure going until Gohan's Super Saiyan power left him.

"Not bad for a 7.3, huh?" Cooler taunted. "And where did the Super Saiyan go?"

Cooler stopped and lifted his forearm just in time to absorb the punch of a fist engulfed in red aura. Goku had jumped in to rescue his son, but his power was barely even a fraction of Cooler's. One single knee to his chest left him sailing hundreds of feet away and smacking into the grass.

"Calm down, full-blood. I'm not going to kill your little brat," Cooler said as his body shrunk in size and the pitch of his voice rose an octave in his return to his natural state. "He has a greater purpose, you see. Neiz!"

Cooler's toad-like assistant dropped to the grass with the rest of the soldiers. "Yes, sire?"

"You have the energy-absorbing cuffs I told you to bring along, right?"

Neiz nodded and dug a pair out from underneath his armor. "Got it right here!" he answered before tossing them to his leader.

Through his glazed-over vision, Gohan could only watch as Cooler caught the cuffs with one hand and looked down at him with a devious smirk. "You see, I expected you two to show up here after Ginyu's little factoid. I'm far more thorough than my brother."

Cooler flipped Gohan onto his stomach with a kick and encased his hands in the cuffs, sapping what little was left of his power. "I never took Saiyans for the selfless types, but I heard stories of the more benevolent, soft-hearted half-breed from Vegeta's crew. I guess whatever lessons Vegeta taught you about bonds and how they can be leveraged against you never quite took, eh?"

Hooking his arm around Gohan's, he lifted him up and forced him to look him right in his slithery eyes. "Rejoice, my boy. You're about become part of something illustrious. You witnessed Peconne's greatest work with your own two eyes and destroyed it in its incomplete state. And now, your Super Saiyan power is going to fuel its source."

Gohan searched through his hazy, addled memory, trying to piece together the fight against Kabnet and recalling that giant robot. But that was all insignificant compared to the mix of fear and anger rushing through his soul.

"With you powering the Big Gete Star, nobody in the universe will be able to stop me!"

As he tried and failed to wrestle his way out of Cooler's grip, Gohan turned towards his father, who needed the help of the Namekians to even stand up. Less like the teenager who had conquered the worst the universe had to offer and more like the toddler who was worthless without the protection of his parents, Gohan whimpered helplessly, trying to will his father with the strength to rescue him.

"And as for all of you!" Cooler said, addressing the Namekians while Neiz and Dore grabbed the Dragon Balls. "Despite what my reputation would suggest, I'm actually a more reasonable, diplomatic authority than my brother. I have everything I need, so I have no business with your planet anymore. Don't get me wrong, I'm taking the Dragon Balls I've already collected with me as insurance, but you're free to live on and try cleaning the mess I've made of your world. Hell, if I ever get a hankering for a wish, I might pay a little visit."

Goku jerked away from the elder Namekian's grip, but fell right onto his face without his support. Cooler snorted in amusement.

"You've taken all you can handle already, haven't you? I'm something of a battle junkie myself, so feel free to stop by any time to try saving your son," Just to demonstrate his handle on the situation, Cooler tossed Gohan onto his shoulder like a prop. "Though at that point you'll be picking a dry, withered flower."

"D-Dammit…" Goku growled, a decade-old sense of futility ripping through his chest. "Let him go…!"

Cooler shook his head, having a laugh with his soldiers. "It's been fun…"

They band of mercenaries floated back up into the sky, regarding the Namekians and the broken Saiyan with smiles of triumph. The widest smile of them all came from their vicious ring-leader who effortlessly held Goku's son in his arm.

"But my work here is done."

They flew away, leaving the Namekians to try making sense of what they had just witnessed. Several of them surrounded Goku, one of the youths in a white robe and burgundy vest sitting the Saiyan back up. "A-Are you okay, sir?"

Goku didn't reply. He didn't even nod. While clearly awake and conscious, he didn't exhibit a single movement at all. His eyes had been rendered two blank canvases looming a thousand yards ahead.

On a planet where the sky was green, and the grass was blue, one thing had remained the same:

Son Goku could do nothing to protect his first-born son.

So, a few things: go back and read a few older chapters to see the little seeds I'd been planting about Cooler's shenanigans. As for King Cold, his power had never been clearly defined. The anime made it sound like he was stronger than Frieza, while the manga just said he was similar. But for the sake of the story, let's say he was stronger than his sons at his peak and they fear him enough to still assume as such even in his advanced age. Not like they can sense Ki. *shrugs* And the Big Gete Star wasn't canon, so I've liberally changed a few things about it for the sake of this story.