Cooler couldn't believe what he was seeing. His red eyes took it all in. Goku had risen from the depths of the sea, a changed man. Not just in power, but Goku had returned with new physical features; golden, spikey hair, green eyes, and blaring golden aura. Not to mention the ferocity with which he glared at Cooler and Frieza.
"That boy called Goku a…he called him a Super Saiyan, but that's impossible. It just can't be possible!" Cooler's shock and awe began to abate, moving closer and closer to rage. "That's nothing but a legend, myth, a folks tale dreamt up by those damned monkeys! I don't care how much Goku's power has risen, he will be slaughtered like the rest of his friends!"
Cooler's fists clenched at his side, his eyes leering over at Goku and Gohan. He was a viper ready to strike, and strike he would. All in due time.
"Here Gohan. Take Piccolo." Goku carefully passed the unconscious Namek to Gohan, taking in the confusion on his son's face. "Take Piccolo and go. Now."
Horror etched into Gohan's face as he replayed the sight of Goku falling to the sea. "No Dad! You can't beat them by yourself! I have to stay and…"
"I said go Gohan!" shouted Goku over his son. Goku's expression was stern as iron, his gaze unfaltering as he locked eyes with Gohan. "I won't argue with you! Go NOW!"
Gohan shrunk back at Goku's decisive tone, whatever argument he had planned evaporating in his throat. "O-okay," he replied meekly, adjusting his hold on Piccolo. He turned, beginning to fly away just as Goku turned to glare down Cooler and Frieza. Gohan paused though. "Dad?" Goku cast a glance over his shoulder, his eyes locking with Gohan once more. The demi-saiyan smiled despite their current situation. "Beat 'em!"
A white aura flared around Gohan's body before he shot out of the area.
"I don't remember saying that you could leave!" shouted Frieza, his ruby eyes following Gohan's retreating body. "But you can die!" The tyrant reared back, orb of purple energy channeling into his palm. A sadistic grin formed as he began to throw the bomb out towards Gohan and Piccolo.
"You'll never stop, will you?!" Frieza's arm was caught mid-throw, snatched up into a vice-like grip. Shocked and appalled, Frieza turned to the voice, his shock rising once he saw that it was Goku that had stopped him.
"How dare you?! Let me go, you dirty primate?!" The tyrant yanked at his arm, trying to snatch it from Goku's grasp, but he was locked in. "I'll kill you!" he seethed, distress evident in his voice as he continued to break Goku's grip.
"Is that all that you think of?" Goku released Frieza and the tyrant backed away a safe distance, mending his sore wrist. "Is killing all that gives you pleasure?" The Saiyan's green orbs looked from Frieza to Cooler and back again.
Frieza's head remained focused on his aching wrist, but he couldn't help the sly smile that pulled at his lips. "I don't know, Saiyan. LET'S FIND OUT!" In an instant, Frieza thrust a palm forward, a blast of red, hot energy shooting out and engulfing Goku's body. "MUWAHAHAHA! Stupid monkey! Who are you to talk down to me?! AHAHAHAHA!"
"You've killed millions." Frieza stopped laughing, his eyes drawn to the cloud of smoke that slowly evaporated to show Goku's unharmed form, his golden energy still flaring around his body. "You've exterminated an entire race of peaceful people for your own selfish gain. You've even killed my friends." Goku's green eyes seemed to take on a malicious expression at those final words as they seared into Frieza.
The tyrant smiled, despite the glare of a thousand daggers given off from Goku. "What can I say? My reputation exceeds me." He rubbed under his nose, trying to ward off the laugh bubbling in his throat. "There's one final thing missing on the repertoire, though. And that is the head of your meddlesome son." Frieza ignored the angered flare in Goku's face and turned to his brother. "Care to stall this monkey Cooler while I head off to kill that boy? It won't take long at…AHHH!" Frieza shrieked as Goku suddenly locked his hand around the tyrant's throat.
Malice rolled off Goku's body more than his flared, golden aura. He looked deep into Frieza's shocked eyes, looking into the very pit of darkness that housed Frieza's soul. "You won't hurt my son!" His grip tightened, another gasp uttering from Frieza. "You won't kill another person, Frieza! Not another soul!" In a split second, Goku slammed his knee into the tyrant's abdomen, Frieza's eye bulging from the pain. "Because I'm going to put an end to you RIGHT NOW!" Barely a second later, Goku's fist connected with Frieza's ivory jaw and the tyrant was sent piercing across the sky.
Goku paused before flying off after Frieza, his stoic form merely watching with barely contained anger. Ever so slowly, his head turned over to Cooler, his eyes actually looking just as cold as any of the Cold family's. "You're next," was all that he said before literally disappearing, moving faster than Cooler could dare to follow.
Cooler was frozen in place, his mind racing a mile a minute as he reviewed what had just happened in front of him. He could feel it in his bones, his senses alarmed at the power given off by Goku. He was different indeed, too different.
You're next. Cooler practically snarled at the remembrance of Goku's words. I won't be beaten so easily you rotten ape!
Just as Cooler aimed to beat Goku to the punch, Frieza halted his mid-air plight only to be greeted with a knee to the top of his bio-gem skull. The eldest tyrant froze again as he watched Frieza's body spear out of the sky, only to be reacquainted with Goku's fist in the form of an uppercut that sent him straight into the air
Cooler was stunned at the ragged appearance of Frieza, not at any concern for his wellbeing, but at how easily Goku was taking him on. The Saiyan didn't seem to put any effort into his attacks, yet Frieza was genuinely being punished.
Just as Frieza's body began to peak and drop back to the planet's surface, Goku appeared, anger written all over his face. He snatched at one of Frieza's ankles and one of his wrists. "This is for Piccolo!" Goku slammed the tyrant down onto his knee, Frieza yelping with unbridled pain as his spine nearly broke in two. Goku then haphazardly tossed Frieza back to the planet's surface, the tyrant's limp body rolling carelessly through the air.
"And this is for threatening my son!" Goku shot through the air like a rocket, and his boots slammed into Frieza's face, sending the tyrant piercing out of the sky and striking the ocean like a comet
Cooler was speechless. He actually believed for a split-second that Frieza might've been dead.
All those thoughts flew south as Goku suddenly appeared directly in front of him.
"He's down for the moment. I think you deserve a turn, Cooler." The Saiyan hero practically spat the villain's name as his emerald eyes bored into Cooler.
The eldest tyrant aimed to make a snide comment, but was cut short as pain exploded in his abdomen, forcing his body to curl in on the implanted fist. Cooler coughed out actual blood as the pain from Goku's unexpected punch had proven more than he could handle at that precise moment. He could sense Goku pulling a fist back for another blow, and instinctively sped out of the way. He was still tucked in around his stomach as he leered over at Goku, an unimpressed expression on the hero's face.
"There's no other way of explaining it," Cooler hissed, trying to pull himself into an upright position. "You really are a Super Saiyan, huh? I have to admit that I always imagined that it'd be a little more intimidating."
"I don't really know if I'm a Super Saiyan, and frankly I don't care. All that matters is that I now have the power to stop you and your brother, Cooler."
Cooler flicked his tail absentmindedly, internally weighing his options. "That's a pretty big boast. Think you can back…"
Before he could even finish his sentence, Goku appeared almost instantaneously in front of him with a fist aimed to strike. "I'm positive!" he declared before slamming the iron-like punch into Cooler's face, sending the tyrant back.
Cooler's face was roaring with pain, but he knew he had to push past it as he flew through the air. It'd only be a matter of time before Goku struck again. And as if on cue, Cooler barely caught the sense of the Saiyan. Acting quickly, Cooler shot into the air just as Goku had appeared to strike. Soaring through the air, Cooler looked back to where Goku had been and was shocked to see that he was no longer there.
In a split second, the hero appeared directly in front of Cooler, flying parallel to the tryant. Shocked and angered, Cooler thrust both hands forward and aimed to blow the Saiyan away, but Goku acted just as quickly and snatched at the two hands. As Cooler's blast veered off, Goku slammed a knee into his gut, effectively stopping the tyrant. The hero didn't stop there though. Again and again, he slammed knee after knee into Cooler's stomach, gasps of pain involuntarily spewing from the tyrant with each strike.
A flare of rage consumed Cooler's body and he lifted his head, two deadly rays of light shooting from his eyes and slamming into Goku's face. The hero immediately stopped his assault on Cooler, forcing a pleased smile on the Arcosian's face. However, that smile was instantly switched to alarm when it appeared that his eye beams had zero effect on Goku.
"There's no way!" Cooler roared in outrage.
It was Goku's turn to smile that time. He flipped Cooler over, aimed the tyrant toward the ground, and slammed an ungodly boot into his abdomen. The strike sounded off like a shotgun as Cooler was rocketed out of the sky, pain etched into his face. He managed to reclaim his senses before striking the ground through and stopped himself with a flash of power.
The eldest tyrant huffed and puffed heavily as he looked back into the sky at Goku's stoic form. Pain radiated all around his body and it practically screamed in his midsection. "I can barely follow his movements…his strikes are like nothing I've ever felt before…and the bastard doesn't even look winded!"
Right at that moment, Frieza's energy flared and he exploded from the depths of the ocean looking like a rabid animal. Goku lazily looked in the younger Arcosian's direction as he glared over at the hero. "Who do you think you are?" Frieza roared, several veins threatening to burst across his forehead. A flame-orb of energy gathered in his palms. "I'll make you suffer. DO YOU HEAR ME? YOU'LL PAYYY!" Frieza sent off the orbs in plenty, each of them striking Goku in fiery explosions.
Cooler's eyes sprouted as he watched the plume of fire and smoke spread around Goku's body. This was Frieza's Cosmic Cannon assault and would only lead to one heck of a blast zone in a few seconds.
And just as Cooler had predicted, Frieza lifted both hands above his head, an extra large ball of fire forming. "Now you die!" The bomb was thrown forward, and once it struck it was like a mini-sun right there on Namek's surface.
Cooler leapt off the ground, flying high away from the blast radius while Frieza laughed maniacally. The dome of searing, bright energy expanded for yards before bursting with an explosive power. In its wake, a mushroom cloud that seemed to stretch into space had formed, sediment and debris drizzling from the sky.
"And that takes care of that!" announced Frieza, delightedly dusting his hands as he turned to Cooler. "Now then, about that brat…"
"If that's the best that you've got, you truly are pathetic, Frieza."
Frieza froze, his eyes sprouting in shock. Even Cooler had stiffened, though he'd known Goku was there already. Cooler could sense it, Goku's energy hadn't faltered in the slightest throughout Frieza's entire attack. And he had a sneaky suspicion that even at 100% neither of them wouldn't be able to take on Goku.
The smoke around the Saiyan ran as he flared his energy, his triumphant form not the least be scarred by Frieza's Cosmic Cannon assault. "And here I was thinking that you were the strongest in the galaxy." Frieza seethed from the mock in Goku's voice.
Practically trembling from anger, Frieza roared, "I've had enough of you, you damned dirty SAIYAN!" He turned to Cooler, alarm in his eyes. "Together, you and I can end him Cooler! Let's destroy this pest! By our hands, this pathetic race will finally be crushed!"
"No!" Cooler smiled to himself, loving that shock that settled on Frieza's face. He'd even looked beyond his brother and noted the look of apprehension on Goku's face. That made him laugh! "Call me a fool if you must, but I do enjoy a good fight, Frieza!" And indeed he did! Lo and behold, he'd actually found one in this Saiyan. "This Saiyan will only die by my hands, Frieza. Just as you will do the same!"
"W-what?!" Frieza floated back, putting a comfortable space between his brother. "What do you mean, Cooler?"
Goku merely watched with minor interest in the events. The real thing that captured his attention was that Cooler had said that he'd be defeating Goku, and the hero could see the confidence in the tyrant's features as he'd said it. That wasn't overconfidence; Cooler had said it as fact.
Cooler couldn't have reigned in the sadistic look if he'd wanted to. "I'm tired of this game, Frieza. I'm not here to help you, to observe you, and certainly not to pet your already inflated ego. I'm here to finally put you to rest! It's been a long time coming, but you are finally about to meet your fate." Cooler clenched his hands into tight fists, energy beginning to swell in his veins.
"Is this some kind of joke?!" snarled Frieza. "Cooler, you can't defeat me. You never could defeat me and you never will because YOU ARE A WEAKL…" Frieza was cut short as a rush of energy slammed into his body, his arms moving up to block from the blast of winds.
"What was that, Frieza?" Cooler chuckled, a sinister sound as his body began to grow, to strengthen, to intensify. "I believe you were about to call me a weakling." His voice had suddenly shifted down a few octaves, an ominous tone setting to the expanse of red in his eyes and the growth of the horns on his body.
Frieza began to tremble, his eyes glued to the sight in front of him. "Cooler! What…what has happened to you?"
Goku had even grown alarmed now, and not just at the sight in front of him, but the power that had accompanied it.
Now, fully transformed and brimming with new power, Cooler glared down at his brother. "It is truly a shame that you never bothered to learn how to sense energy, Frieza. Otherwise, you'd already be on your knees and begging me to spare your life. But that's okay, Frieza…" Cooler chuckled again at the petrified look on Frieza's face. "…I'll have you begging for your life soon enough!"