Cooler sighed a long one as he leisurely sat atop a boulder of ice. One smoldering index finger was extended in front of him as he sat and when his scarlet eyes looked back at the figure floating across from him, it took every shred of self-control not to obliterate it.

"You know, Nosa," he began and straightened up just a bit atop the ice. "I get the feeling that you're one of those one step forward-two steps back kind of creatures."

The only response he got out of the Yadratian was a muffled cough that was probably blood saturated by the amount of damage he'd taken by Cooler's hand thus far. There Nosa floated across from the eldest tyrant. A mass of different shaded bruises covered his body, alongside a few bloody gashes, and the Yadrat's clothes were purely wrecked beyond belief. And despite the pain that definitely racked his body, he still managed to float there and stare right into Cooler's deadly eyes with an audacity immeasurable.

"Nothing…still?" Cooler questioned and only growled irritably when Nosa only maintained that daring glare. "Fine."

With that, Cooler warped off of the ice boulder in the blink of an eye and was already smashing his forearm across Nosa's jaw. The blow to the head snapped the alien's head back and as Cooler pressed further, they both flew down into the icy surface of Acros and crashed with a plume of icy clouds. Amidst the current shroud, two resounding smacks sounded through the air before Nosa's ragged body was sent flying out and across the ground like a missile. And hardly a full second later, Cooler leapt from the cloud of ice as well with a ball of orange energy held in his left hand.

"Be as uncooperative as you feel, Yadratian! And I'll be glad to show you the same amount of ruthlessness!" Cooler roared out in irritation before flinging the energy bomb down at Nosa's ragged body.

The blast struck with a bright and flashy explosion with as much power to send fissures splitting out all around the surrounding ice. More icy clouds joined the mass of black smoke from the explosion and Cooler could only float high above the smog as he lazily looked down into the haze for any sign of his prisoner.

"Come now, surely that wasn't enough to keep you down…" Cooler mused quietly to himself as he watched the shroud of ice and smoke begin to evaporate.

"You're right!"

Cooler's eyes bucked wide upon the sudden declaration from right behind him and he turned to look over his shoulder in surprise, he found Nosa less than two feet away from him and closing in with a large and sharp-tipped icicle in his shackled hands. Before Cooler could do anything, the Yadratian snapped his legs around Cooler's body and pinned the tyrant's arms down and then lifted the icicle to attack.

"My turn, Cooler!" Nosa roared out in anger and triumph before swinging the jagged weapon down right for the tyrant's neck.

However, Cooler's shock passed and his senses return just in time for him to shift his neck to the side and pull his shoulder up to take the attack instead. The sharp weapon tore right through Cooler's skin on impact and exploded out the front of his body with his blood coating the tip. Biting back the pained grunt in his throat, Cooler instead growled out of anger and flared his energy to break Nosa's hold on his arms and force the Yardratian back. Completely ignoring the look of shock now on Nosa's face, Cooler snarled openly like a wild dog and turned ready to smash Nosa's brain right out of his head.

He saw Nosa move as if ready to block the attack and possibly counter with an attack of his own, but before Cooler could complete his attack on the Yadratian, a surge of electricity splayed across Nosa's body in that moment. And if that wasn't enough to make Cooler pause just briefly, the pained exclaim that tore through Nosa's mouth was. The second the electric binds roared to life, Nosa howled out in pain and fell out of the sky to crash back to the icy surface and writhe around in pain.

Cooler only remained dumbfounded for a moment longer before he smiled a conniving one. "So the little prisoner actually aimed to fight back against me there for a moment," he mocked and slowly descended from the sky. "Seems those energy-muting shackles really do the trick." His pronged feet dropped onto the icy ground and then Cooler began stepping closer to Nosa, whose electric punishment had now concluded. "But I think the real question here is if those shackles really punished you the way you deserve or could I've done better?"

As the tyrant stood there above Nosa, the Yadrat rolled over onto his stomach and looked up at Cooler with a hatred like nothing Cooler would've imagined. "If you're going to kill me, just get it over with!" the prisoner demanded with a snarl.

"Ah, now you're speaking freely!" Cooler sounded with a gleeful tone. "Maybe we are making progress!" Then, as if an idea suddenly popped in his head, Cooler pointed a glowing finger down to Nosa and with a maniacal smile, said, "Now that I see what gets you talking, let's amp things up a bit. Shall we?"

Another aggravated roar tore from Nosa's mouth and just when it looked like he was ready to leap from the ground and rip Cooler's head off, another rush of electricity ran through his body, making him roll around on the ground in agony from attempting to power up once more.

The sight made Cooler's smile falter completely, though. "And that makes two Yadratian," he mused as he watched Nosa catch his breath from the second round of shock therapy. "That makes twice that you've actually attempted to mount an offense against me. Don't you know by now how futile a fight against me would be for you?"

Nosa took two more seconds to catch his breath before actually smiling and replying with, "You can't exactly fail at something if you don't at least try it once, now can you, Cooler? In any case, you picked the wrong prisoner if you were looking for someone who was just going to give in to every demand you dished out. If I were you, I'd just cut your losses and kill me."

"That's a pretty tempting idea, Yadrat," Cooler grouched and aimed his glowing finger once more. "An idea that I should really take you up on…" And with that, Cooler fired the beam right down at Nosa, but when the Yadratian blinked a few times and looked down at where the blast was fired, he gaped in surprise.

"…that's an idea that I should probably take you up on, but I've got a score to settle with a certain Saiyan and I don't plan on facing him without this secret technique that you have." Cooler straightened up again, his smile nowhere in sight as he leered down at the smoldering, burnt cuffs by Nosa's side. "So then, if showing you just how futile it is to fight me will break your spirit down enough to get you to cooperate, then I will just have to do that."

Nosa took another few seconds to look at the destroyed shackles once more before looking over to Cooler in complete surprise. Then, realizing the opportunity he was being given, he leapt to his feet and jumped back to give a bit of space between him and Cooler. "You know, I never said that I'd ever help you and giving me a fighting chance against you isn't going to change anything," he said defiantly as he casually rubbed at the soreness around his once restrained wrists.

Cooler smiled wickedly as he replied with, "That may be so, but I think you'll find that I can be most convincing when I put my mind to the task. Creatures bigger and meaner than you have bowed down to me, and you will be no different, Nosa."

The Yadratian returned Cooler's smirk in full and allowed a translucent aura to flare around his body. "You know you made a mistake by freeing me, right? But that's fine really. I'll have to show your mistake much better than I can tell it to you."

"Frost, this doesn't make sense. What do you mean Cooler killed Frieza?!" Sheer quietly, yet frantically demanded as he followed his older sister through the corridors of the compound.

The half-breed Cold clan hurriedly walked through the hallways of the castle, Frost leading the way with a determined expression on her face as Sheer walked at her side.

"Frost?!"

"I know how it sounds, Sheer!" the girl suddenly snapped out and stopped abruptly to glare at the blue-skinned Arcosian. "Trust me. I don't want to think it any more than you do, but everything just falls into place."

"And you said that Cooler's dog, what's his name - Onion, told you this?" Sheer questioned now that he had his sister's full attention.

But Sheer shook her in the negative. "No, Onen only told me that Frieza was sure to be dead. He didn't go into very fine details, but apparently Cooler happened to arrive on that Namekian planet just before the whole thing ripped apart. Frieza supposedly died in the explosion of the planet, but there's no way that's true. Really, it's scary to think of how resilient Frieza is, and now we're supposed to believe that he died in the explosion of a planet? An explosion that he caused?! There's no way that's true! Cooler has more to do with whatever happened on Namek than he's telling." She stepped away from Sheer then, and over to a nearby window where she leaned out to get a brief view of their kingdom. "This wasn't an easy thought to grasp, but when you add in the heated rivalry between Cooler and Frieza alongside their rather ruthless natures, it's really a wonder that they hadn't managed to kill each other sooner. But I guess Cooler just couldn't stand the fact that Frieza was going to attain immortality. In any case, I refuse to just stand by idly with the thought that Cooler killed our brother. Family takes care of family, and when you begin killing your own family, you've become a monster that doesn't deserve to exist in this world any longer."

"But Frost, how could you possibly prove what he's telling is wrong? The only proof would be Frieza himself, but if what Onen said is true, then Frieza is long gone!" Sheer pleaded and then as Frost's determination seemed to solidify, he added, "Not to mention what Cooler will do to you when he finds out what you're trying to do! If he really did kill Frieza, then there's no telling what he'll put you through as punishment!"

If that was supposed to frighten Frost, it wasn't the least bit effective. "Oh, there's a way to prove how false Cooler's lie is and expose him for the murderer that he really is," she said confidently. "And as for Cooler himself, I'm not the least bit concerned with what he thinks." She lifted her right hand and clutched it into tight fist as a faint purple aura radiated from the limb. "It's been a long time since we last sparred, but I think he'll find that I'm not exactly the weakling that he likes to think that I am."

Frost turned away from Sheer then, and started moving, only to stop and say, "If you don't want to assist me, I understand completely. But it's something that I have to do. For all I know, I won't find anything incriminating against Cooler, but I can't let it go until I've exercised this last option."

Sheer paused for a long while, his eyes locked with his sister's as she watched him over her shoulder. And then, Frost looked away one final time before walking on up to a door. With a deep sigh, Sheer announced, "Fine, Frost. I'll help, but I hope that you're wrong."

Frost didn't waste another second before blasting her way into the room. The door flew across the area, letting in a wide berth of light from the hallway in the otherwise dark room. There were computer monitors all around the small area and about five creatures of varying species seated about with headphones covering their ears. But as Frost and Sheer stalked into the room, each creature leapt to their feet.

"L-lady Frost! Sir Sh-sheer! W-what are you two doing down here?!" a bird-like creature squawked before nearly tumbling over his chair in fear. "Y-y-your father would not want you in this room! This is an area for his eyes only!"

Frost watched over the different PTO soldiers, her amber eyes looking more demonic with the dark shadow over her face. "I already know this, creature. That is why I didn't bother with trying to input my passcode. This is a secret area created solely for Father and Frieza's needs. Cooler doesn't know about it, but I do. Let's just say that being daddy's little girl has its perks."

Sheer walked ahead of Frost, walking deeper into the room as he looked at a few of monitors, and his eyes sprouted in shock when he saw camera angles showing areas of the castle that he had no idea was being monitored. There were even cameras showing different brigades out in space and on missions. And he could only imagine that the earphones were for hearing the soldiers' conversations. "What is this?" Sheer breathed out in astonishment.

"This room is what Father calls the Cosmic Guard. It's a room solely dedicated to watching every spaceship. Every brigade. Every soldier within the PTO," she said as she walked up to the bird soldier that was trying his hardest to faze through the computer monitors behind him to get away from Frost. "Here, everyone is scrutinized. Not a single conversation goes unnoticed. And they have files dating back years, so I know it won't be a problem to rewind the tapes back a few months. The only people that are absent from scrutiny are you, me, Frieza, Cooler, and Father."

"But Frost?" Sheer announced once he let the information settle. "How will you – "

"Because Cooler's Armored Squadron was on Namek as well, and I can only imagine the conversations that the scouters of Salza, Neiz, and Dore picked up," Frost stated and then clutched the bird alien by his space suit. "What's your name, soldier?"

The alien squawked out nervously before saying, "T-tekki, milady! But please, you don't understand! If the king finds out that we're even talking to you, he'll – !"

Frost applied a bit more pressure on her grip of the alien's suit and it squawked out in terror. "You let me worry about my father! What you and your friends are about to do is rewind your tapes back to the day that Cooler reportedly landed on Namek and watched it blow to cinders. And you're going to playback every single message that your secret devices managed to record off of the scouters of Cooler's Armored Squadron. Do I make myself clear?"

"Y-yes ma'am!"

"Then get to it!" she demanded before tossing the creature over at the computer where he happily began working, and it only took half a second for the rest of the alien's to fall in line. "Alright, Cooler," Frost mused to herself as she watched the scene. "Let's see what you're really hiding."

"So then, Nosa, you seem to be very confident in your abilities," Cooler mocked with a conniving grin as he watched the aura swirl around Nosa's body and the ice at the Yadratian's feet give off steam as it melted. "And I'll admit that with a power level around 100,000 you are more than a match for over 90% of the PTO, but you see I'm in that special 10% that you are absolutely no match for. I don't even need 5% of my full power to obliterate you." Cooler paused just long enough to see a confident grin stretch across Nosa's mouth. "And I see that explaining things to YOU is pointless. So how about we just get on with this?"

"Alright, Cooler," Nosa responded and dropped down into a fighting stance. "I'm not very familiar with your numerical ranking of power levels, but I'll just promise you this much…...I am far beyond anything you could put a count on!"

Cooler opened his mouth, ready to make another snide comment, but before he could get the opportunity, Nosa's body suddenly flashed brightly as his aura shined like a sun and his power level quadrupled in an instant. Before Cooler could do more than be shocked, Nosa rocketed across the icy grounds of Arcos and slammed a punish knee to the tyrant's face. The power behind the attack sent Cooler spearing across the ice, making him carve a long and deep trench in the surface before he reclaimed his senses and rushed high into the air.

"I have to admit it," Cooler grouched before wiping away a stray trail of blood. "That was unexpected." He then looked back down to where Nosa once was, but scowled when he saw that the Yadratian was no longer there. "He is quicker than I expected him to be," Cooler mused.

"It's not just speed!" Nosa's disembodied voice suddenly announced and Cooler's eyes sprouted wide a second time out of shock before the Yadrat materialized right in front of him. "It's the instant transmission!"

And then Nosa shot forth with a palm strike against Cooler's chin that snapped the monarch's head back, and followed up with a knee to his abdomen before slamming his clasped hands down on Cooler's back and sending the tyrant falling out of the sky.

But Cooler's freefall lasted a mere second before a wave of energy rippled off of his body and he rolled over to fly back up at Nosa. "I've had enough of your games!" he roared out angrily as he sped right for the Yadratian.

Cooler was less than half a second away from impact to Nosa's body when the prisoner dematerialized once again, leaving the tyrant to speed messily right through where Nosa had once been. It took him a moment to stop his messy flight due to his missed attack and when Cooler began whipping his head around to spot Nosa once more, he didn't have long to wait before the green warrior appeared again. This time with two boots planted in the side of Cooler's face with enough force for the impact to sound out like a shotgun before Cooler speared out of the sky like a falling star and struck the ground with an explosive impact that forced the surrounding ice and snow to crack, crevice, and all around rip apart.

"And this is where our fight ends, Cooler," Nosa proclaimed as he pointed a hand down to where Cooler's body rested. Just then, the hand became encapsulated in an orb of blue energy before a blitz of energy blasts shot from the hand and rained down on the icy surface with variety of explosions. And while Nosa tore the surface of Arcos apart with his rush of energy blasts, his other hand held up another bomb of energy that first started out as blue, but slowly morphed to a bright green color as he readied to attack.

"Malachite Star Screen!" Nosa announced as he suddenly threw the bright green orb down at the explosions where Cooler rested.

The blast struck with a resounding boom of power that illuminated the entire surroundings in rays of green and then a rush of hot wind swept over the area with enough strength to blow down any icy rock structures. And while the power of the attack wrecked Arcos's surface, Nosa floated above the carnage and breathed heavily from the exertion the attack put on his body. Finally, things settled on the icy surface and what was left was a few stray clouds of ice and smoke.

Nosa took a few moments to watch the ragged surface, noting the pool of water that was forming in the crater that the bomb had created. He almost seemed ready to breathe a sigh of relief, but then his sense picked up an ominous power. And then, on cue, a swirl of dark purple energy roar from beneath the ice and an explosion of energy tore up into the air and from within the dark energy column, Cooler's scowling figure emerged.

"That was interesting," Cooler announced, his scowl boring into Nosa's face. "Not that poor attempt at you trying to kill me. But witnessing the Instant Transmission in battle. Now that was interesting! And I can promise that the reports of the ability do not do it justice." Then, much to Nosa's surprise, Cooler smiled. It wasn't a conniving or evil smile. It was…assured.

"Which is why, Nosa, I'm not going to kill you," Cooler went on to announce. "I'm not going to kill you because you're going to join me and you're going to teach me that technique."

"What?" Nosa gaped out of shock. "I-I'm not doing that! I'm not joining you and I'm surely not helping you!"

With a blink of Nosa's eye, Cooler disappeared from in front of him and was now floating right beside the Yadratian. "Allow me to make a few things clear in this moment, Nosa," Cooler declared, his appearance making Nosa shrink back in surprise. "I can kill you. I can kill you in eight different ways and not even remotely break a sweat doing it. I'm faster than you." Cooler practically disappeared from Nosa's sight and moved behind the Yadrat, going on to say, "I'm stronger than you." By the time Nosa bothered to turn around and look at Cooler, the tyrant was already zooming to the front of the prisoner and then slammed an elbow into his stomach to emphasize his greater strength.

"And let's face it," Cooler went on and lifted Nosa's head so that they were eye to eye. "I'm smarter than you." Nosa seemed to growl out in anger at that, but Cooler ignored it and released the Yadrat's face so that he could back away a bit. "If the reports I read about your capture are correct, my brigade found you slumming your life away in a space bar. You're powerful Nosa; unbelievably so. You're power level greatly surpasses 100,000. If I had to guess, I'd probably place it somewhere in the millions.

"Not only do I need you to show me how the instant transmission is performed, but I'm also in need of some new henchmen, seeing that my last set was eliminated. So, what do you say Yadratian? Allow me to give your life some purpose."

Nosa still held his abdomen out of pain, but straightened up nonetheless to look Cooler directly in his eye. "Yes, of course, dear Master Cooler. And then once I've lost my usefulness to you, I join the long, long…long list of deceased soldiers of the almighty PTO and you move on to the next idiot that's actually willing to listen to the garbage that's coming out of your mouth. My life may not have purpose at the moment Cooler, but I value it enough not to sell it over to you. Go ahead and kill me so that you can find another guinea pig."

"Come now, Nosa. Every man has a price. What do you want? Money? Power?" Cooler offered with a smile that could make the devil's look innocent. But Nosa looked unconvinced. "Or maybe you want more than that? You look like a man of deep roots with more to him than such shallow goals. Well what if I told you I know of a way for you to get anything that you desire?" Nosa's interest only vaguely changed, but Cooler knew he had the man's attention. "I'm talking about a dragon of legend, a creature that can provide you any wish imaginable. And I've seen it and witnessed its power with my own eyes. If you help me, I will give you this dragon and allow you to make any wish that you desire. How does that sound, Nosa?"

"Any wish? As in being able to revive the dead as well?" Nosa asked timidly, looking absolutely weary of this potential deal.

As for Cooler, if even possible, his smile seemed to stretch even wider as he nodded his head in the affirmative. "You want them to live once again, and they shall return my friend. Join me and they can all be yours very soon." Cooler extended a hand for Nosa to grasp and accept the deal.

The Yadratian floated towards the tyrant while looking extremely anxious over the situation. He reached out a green hand to shake on his deal with Cooler, but paused just briefly. "Just so we're clear, I still don't like you and there's no way in hell that I will ever refer to you as 'lord' anything. Okay?"

Cooler cackled out like a demonic hyena as he took a firm grip of Nosa's hand. "Deal!" he announced with a maniacal smile. "But first, a bit of payback, shall we?" Nosa hardly had a second to be shocked before Cooler yanked him out of the sky and threw the Yadrat down with enough power to force him to spear down into the ragged icy surface below.

And while Nosa was implanted in the ice and snow below, a mad man's laugh overtook Cooler as he cackled out uncontrollably. "You hear that you Saiyan monkey! I'll be coming for you soon and I'll have a new technique ready and waiting! It won't be long now, Goku!" Another fit of laughter overtook Cooler as he enjoyed his moment of triumph.

But the laughter only lasted for a few more seconds before Cooler caught the sight of something far off in the sky. His laugh slowly died out as he watched it come closer and closer with an ungodly amount of speed and then Cooler's eyes bucked in surprise when he noticed the cruiser as none other than King Cold's, which meant…

"Father has returned!" Cooler mused to himself as the cruiser sped overhead and moved through the protective dome of Arcos's city and headed for the landing spot in the castle.

With a wicked smile, Cooler looked down to where Nosa was pulling himself out of the confines of the ice. "I'm going now Nosa. Go get yourself cleaned up! We'll start again tomorrow!" He didn't even bother waiting for a reply before rushing out to greet King Cold.

It only took a few minutes to return to the castle, a gleeful smile on his face as he took in his father's space cruiser as it rested. "Time to welcome Father back from an uneventful mission," he mused openly before rushing down to land atop the landing pad.

The second Cooler's feet touched the surface, he watched as the door beneath the cruiser dropped open. The prince walked over with a proud smile on his face as he waited to see his Father step down the ramp, but as Cooler drew closer and closer, his smile was slowly wiped away at what he saw. In fact, Cooler stopped walking all together when he took note of the group of medical technicians rushing a gurney down the ramp with a whole mess of devices connected to whoever was being ushered out. Cooler could only imagine that his Father had become hurt in his idiotic search for Frieza, and it only left another reason to hate Frieza more, but when Cooler looked back to the ramp after the doctors ushered the patient off, his heart stopped when he saw a very grievous looking King Cold trek down. So, when the doctors rushed over in Cooler's direction and the prince got an up close look at the patient on the gurney, his knees almost buckled at the sight.

Aboard the gurney, with all kinds of equipment and devices attached to his skin was Frieza, or rather what was left of his brother. Part of skull was gone, alongside his limbs and a portion of his torso, but Frieza was alive and the doctors were rushing him past Cooler right the medical wing where they were going to give him the best medical treatment found in the entire solar system.

And while Cooler stood there, dumbfounded and unable to breathe, he vaguely caught the sight of his Father walking past him. For the briefest of moments, father and son locked eyes and when they did, Cooler felt his entire body go cold. But King Cold went on in pursuit of the doctors and Frieza.

Meanwhile, Cooler remained rooted to the ground, his heart beating a mile a minute as he watched with fearful eyes. Only three words were running through Cooler's distraught mind at that moment and when he accidently breathed the words aloud, he nearly had a heart attack and died on the spot.

"Frieza is alive."