Chapter #16

Frozen

The remnants of the demon floated aimlessly around space. The vacuum slowly carried the remnant of the last member of the Cold Family. Gazing at this was another survivor of the Ice-Jin extinction event which happened many years ago. Like many other Ice-Jins, he enjoyed sipping wine, but his presence in the universe was mostly unknown. Without a word, he glanced towards his soldiers, and immediately they knew. The Ice-jin had been in hiding for many years, honing his abilities, perfecting his skills. Now that he saw that his time for revenge was over already, he had only one wish, to seek vengeance on the humans who rid him of his vengeance. With a mere few words he said, "Locate the other survivors."

A soldier protested, "But that could take many years!"

A beam was instantly sent to his chest, "I don't care," said the Ice-Jin, "Now that we have found a means of increasing our power this much we can conquer the universe. Not even the Kaioshins or the Hakaioshin will be able to stop us."

He gave a razor sharp gaze at another soldier, who instantly set to work, "Sir, please be noted that this rally will take two days!"

The Ice-Jin grinned, "Two days it is then."

Space…

"Is this what death feels like? I feel so empty and so devoid. It hurts…it hurts, it really hurts."

A whisper emerged in Space, "Do you wish to be free of this pain, this labor?"

"Yes,"

"Very well then."

A vacuum-like structure sucked the wounded warrior in.

Earth…

Goku readied himself for another intense training session with Piccolo, two years had already pasted, and there was only one more year for the Androids to arrive. The Super Saiyan had finally managed to obtain the level of power that Vegeta had, but Piccolo had grown tremendously as well. The two engaged in a clash that sent shockwaves rippling through the Earth. Piccolo blocked another blow, but Goku was too powerful, and the Super Saiyan broke through Piccolo's defense. The Namekian panted as Goku powered down, "I think that's enough for today."

Suddenly, massive spikes of ki hit the Earth. Goku looked around, his senses overflowing with the ki levels. Piccolo scowled, "Damn, this can't be good."

Goku flew up without warning to analyze the ki signatures, and Piccolo took suit.

Moon…

"Damn, what is that ki presence? I can sense it from here!" exclaimed Vegeta.

Nappa growled, "Perhaps it might be another one of Frieza's?"

Raditz scoffed, "Don't say such impossible things, we saw King Cold be eradicated with our very own eyes, and here you believe that the Ice-jins are still alive?"

Vegeta spat on the Moon, "No, Nappa's right. It's extremely likely that the Ice-jins are on Earth, but why and how?"

Earth…

Froze picked up the rock and gazed at it intently, "Interesting, so this Earth has similar texture to that of Arcos."

Froze crushed the rock in his hand and moved on, attempting to survey more of the planet, but was cut off by a punch. Staggering back, the Arcosian recovered his vision in an outrage, "Who dares punch Lord Froze?"

His gaze was fixed upon a Saiyan wearing orange gi and blue boots. 'But how could this Saiyan have enough strength to wound me?' thought the Arcosian frantically, 'Could it be the Super Saiyan that Frost warned us about?'

The Saiyan spoke, "Listen, I don't want to hurt you. Leave this planet now!"

Frost blinked rapidly, "Leave? A Saiyan would never show mercy to his enemy."

Goku powered up into his basic Super Saiyan transformation, "LEAVE."

Frost threw off his armor, "And what makes you think you command me?"

He powered up, first into a hulking brute, then into a reptilian creature, and at last into what reminded Goku of Frieza. Goku blinked, "No…you can't be Frieza. Are you related?"

Frost laughed, "Oh Frieza, that pathetic excuse of a prince. How stupid would it have been if he inherited the throne from King Cold? No, I'm not Frieza, and with the new technology at Arcos you'll find that I'm much more powerful."

Dark aura surrounded Frost and blew away a few rocks. Without warning, the Arcosian leapt up and attacked Goku. The Super Saiyan blocked the attack, leaving Frost to exclaim, "Not half bad for a monkey!"

The two traded blows for a moment until Frost exposed a weak point in Goku's body. The Arcosian wasted no time and immediately attacked, letting Goku yell out a cry of pain. Frost attempted to attack again, but Goku grabbed his fist and punched the Ice-jin. Frost began to tire, "Intriguing, so this is the power of the Super Saiyan that Frieza feared. No matter, our reborn lord shall kill you."

Goku raised an eyebrow, "Reborn lord?"

Frost grinned, "You idiot, you haven't noticed that the Big Gete Star is rapidly approaching?"

Goku gave a blank stare, "Big Gete Star?"

Frost laughed, "It's a revolutionary outbreak in Arcosian technology. Had Polar not developed it, then it would never have existed! It's a star with the power to rebuild and reconstruct one being at will. We have given our lord the honor to wield this power. Now be glad, you shall witness it firsthand!"

Goku stared as the big star loomed over the Earth. He powered up to his Ascended Super Saiyan form, "Not good, Ka-me-ha-me-HAAA!"

Piccolo arrived just as Goku fired the Kamehameha wave with all the Z Fighters ready to protect Earth. He acknowledged Goku's new transformation with a nod, and stared directly at the Big Gete Star. Frost gave a smile, "A Namekian? Interesting, so this Earth is more diverse than most planets."

Piccolo growled, "Goku, who is this guy?"

Goku replied, "He's one of Frieza's. Be careful, King Cold's coming back."

Piccolo's eyes widened, and then came back to normal size, "Hmph, I've wanted to show him just how much we've improved."

A metallic soldier with a single red eye dropped down to the battlefield, and then another, and another. Frost laughed, "Prepare yourselves for the warm-up act."

Piccolo took off his weighted clothing, and the Z Fighters all got ready to fight. Goku instantly reverted back to Super Saiyan, and flew through one with ease. Piccolo punched one, and found that he cracked the armor. Grinning, the Namekian threw the guard at another to cause an explosion. Krillin found that none of his punches could break through the guard, and was thrown to the ground. Moaning, the human conjured a Kienzan that ripped through the Cyclopians.

All around, the Z Fighters were using ki blasts, until there was one remaining.

That one guard was sliced in half.

Between the two pieces was none other than Trunks, the Super Saiyan from the future. He smiled at Goku, "Hey, this is where you have your first major fight, and I'm sorry to say that you'll win, but it'll weaken you a lot. Be careful, and try to listen to me."

Frost yelled, "Another Super Saiyan?!"

Trunks glared at him, and attempted to slash him only to be stopped by a knee to the abdomen. He coughed out blood, and then did several backflips backward to lengthen the distance between him and his enemy: King Cold. This time, King Cold had all metal, and there was no sign of his normal purple, instead a metallic blue. Goku growled, "So this is Cold's new outfit eh?"

King Cold clenched his fists, "At last we meet again Super Saiyan, and this time…I'll emerge victorious."

Goku leapt at him and instantly aimed a few blows, but all were deflected easily off the Arcosian's new armor. Cold gestured to Frost, "You have done well, go back and report to the other Arcosians about the doom of the Super Saiyans."

He grabbed Goku's fist, and with one punch, sent him flying back. Goku coughed out blood and clutched his abdomen as his Super Saiyan aura began fading away. Goku growled, "S-senzu."

Krillin nodded, and threw a senzu towards Goku. The Saiyan popped it in his mouth, and immediately transformed to his Ascended state, "Let's see how you handle this transformation."

King Cold raised an eyebrow in interest, "Another Super Saiyan transformation?"

Goku grinned and powered up to his maximum, "I want you to pose a challenge to me, come at me with everything you have!"

King Cold growled and instantly shot a knee towards Goku. However, the Saiyan blocked his first attack. A look of shock and amusement flashed over King Cold's face, and he attempted another blow. The Saiyan blocked that attack as well, though with more effort. King Cold leaped back with a strange look on his eyes. Trunks leaped in front of Goku, "Goku no!"

The explosion caught Trunks and he emerged from the rubble, severely injured. Goku looked at Trunks in shock as Cold taunted, "Now to make him bite the dust."

Goku charged at King Cold and infused his fist with so much ki that it shot a hole straight through Cold. King Cold gaped at the power that Goku released, and then wires began repairing. The hole slowly began to patch up, with Goku looking in shock. King Cold grinned, "Surprised? The Big Gete Star's technology allows me to regenerate and armor myself against that attack. In short, you can never hope to defeat me, Super Saiyan."

Taking advantage of Goku's shock, King Cold punched him across the face and then kneed him multiple times. He threw his wounded body over and prepared to shoot a Death Beam to end it, but Piccolo interfered with a kick. He yelled to Goku, "Damn it, this guy's strong. We can only distract him temporarily."

King Cold laughed, "You weaklings hope to distract me? Very well then, I shall crush all the tiny hopes you have."

Piccolo growled as Krillin prepared a Kienzan. Piccolo, Tien, and Yamcha all charged at King Cold. The two humans were easily defeated, but Piccolo managed to hold his ground a little more until he was knocked back as well. Tien got back up and yelled, "Kaioken X20!"

Crimson aura instantly empowered him, but even with the boost of the Kaioken he was no match for Cold. Krillin fired the Kienzan, but the disc only gave King Cold a small cut before it disappeared into shatters of ki. Piccolo yelled, "Krillin, hurry with the Senzu!"

Krillin nodded and quickly gave Goku a Senzu; King Cold grinned, and appeared in front of Krillin ridiculously quick. Krillin's eyes widened with fear, and King Cold's leg met his face. The human was sent hurtling back, giving yells of pain. Goku panted, and then grabbed King Cold's leg. With an effort that would have made Hercules proud, he transformed back into an Ascended Super Saiyan and threw King Cold into a mountain. He panted, and quickly fired a Kamehameha wave that destroyed the mountain. He yelled towards the Z Fighters, "Hurry! Finish him off!"

All of the Z Fighters fired multiple volleys of ki blasts, and King Cold just could not regenerate fast enough. The metallic Ice-jin was reduced to mere dust after the volley of ki blasts. Goku began grinning and powered down to his base form. However, a cold metallic clap awoke him back to his senses. The Saiyan transformed into his base Super Saiyan form, and with a growl of rage, charged towards the clapper. The claps stopped, but Goku was sent back instantly by a punch.

Piccolo armed himself immediately, but the attacker stepped out of the shadows.

"HOW?!" yelled Tien, "Those were all our strongest attacks!"

The attacker was Cold, who stood uninjured. He laughed and then raised his hand. At least a thousand other King Colds emerged behind him. Piccolo growled with anger, "Damn it! It looks like this is our deathbeds!"

"Not until I've had Kakarot lying at my feet," said a familiar voice.

King Cold raised his head in recognition but a kick stopped him. Vegeta stood, in his Ascended Super Saiyan glory with both Nappa and Raditz backing him up. Vegeta gestured to Goku, "Give him whatever those beans are called."

Krillin gulped, "Last one!"

He fed Goku the bean, and the Saiyan instantly transformed into an Ascended Super Saiyan and stood beside Vegeta. All the Z Fighters gave a yell of awe as the two immediately rammed into and destroyed one Meta-Cold. Piccolo nodded to the other Z Fighters, and with a combination of techniques, they managed to destroy the Meta-Colds.

Suddenly, a voice rang out, "You have done impressively well."

All the Meta-Colds were destroyed as one gigantic King Cold stood in the Z Fighter's path. He began to raise his fist, but a mysterious Frieza-looking figure stopped it. He was transformed in what appeared to be his final form as well. This gesture of power shocked all the Z Fighters, and he growled, "Not yet my lord, there is other business to attend to."

King Cold growled and his booming voice shook Earth, "HAVE YOU FORGOT YOUR PLACE FROST!"

Trunks emerged out of the rubble and attempted to stop Frost, "NO!"

Frost blocked his sword easily and kicked him back, "You are well aware of my place?"

King Cold scowled, "Damn you, just you wait…"

Frost mockingly sneered, "Oh I'm sorry my majesty. It's not my fault that I surpassed you in power."

Vegeta gave a smirk, "Just what the hell is this conversation about?"

Two eye lasers emerged from Frost's eyes and pierced Vegeta's Saiyan armor before he could react. The Saiyan gave two twitches and shudders of pain, and then fell, reverting back to his base form. Nappa and Raditz both began to charge, but Goku stopped them, "Do you really think you can beat this guy when he has the power to stop an Ascended Super Saiyan?"

Frost grinned, "I'm glad you understand, now then, we'll be on our way."

He put two fingers on his head and teleported away with King Cold. Nappa gave a gasp of shock, "What the? I thought only Vegeta could teleport like that!"

Goku's fists trembled, "Something tells me that this is just the beginning of the storm. Get ready."

Trunks emerged from the rubble, and began yelling with rage, "Damn it all! This wasn't supposed to happen! You were supposed to defeat King Cold and his core just like that! There wasn't supposed to be interference like that! Now we have another threat to face!"

He panted, and transformed into a Super Saiyan in an outburst of rage, "Damn it all! If only I had not come to this past in the first place maybe this would be fixed. Instead now I've doomed us all! Androids and incredibly powerful Arcosians! The Earth's fate is sealed, and there's no way we can win, no way!"

Goku placed a hand on his shoulder, "Trunks, this may not be comforting, but I'll do everything in my power to save the future."

Those words were silently spoken by firm. Trunks powered down, and nodded, "Th-thanks Goku."

Trunks panted, "Well, if that happened here, then that means that the Arcosians are still out there in the future. Damn, this isn't good. I have no chance of stopping them!"

Goku grinned, "Don't sweat it…if you need anything you can come ask us!"

Trunks smiled back, "Thanks Goku."

Goku nodded, "We need to be careful. Who knows how many of them are still out there."

The other Saiyans nodded in agreement, clutching the wounded Vegeta. Goku began smiling, "Well then, I needed an excuse to get stronger."

I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter of Light of Hope! Sorry for the absence, I was busy with other things outside of LOH.