Author's note: Hey, guys, thanks for the reads, & the reviews. I love getting those alerts. Please feel free to keep them coming, & let me know your thoughts as the story progresses.
Written by: SparkerLightning & StevenBodner
Edited by: StevenBodner
Chapter 52
On King Kai's planet
King Kai stood in front of his car. Slowly and carefully, he ran a smooth cloth over it. After each stroke, he placed the cloth in a bucket of sudsy water, moved a few inches to the side, and repeated the process. Beside him, Bubbles quickly rinsed the soap off of the car, and beside him, Gregory dried the vehicle. Once it was clean, it would be time to wax.
As they worked, their attention was exclusively on their task. They did not see the air distorting over their heads. They did not see the octopus-like machine slowly fade in. They did, however, feel it, as it slammed into the ground.
King Kai let out a yelp of surprise as he jumped into the air. The machine was close, only a few inches from his car.
"What the HFIL is that?" He exclaimed.
"No idea, boss." Gregory said as he floated over beside King Kai.
King Kai shook his head as he looked over the contraption. "That was a rhetorical question."
Inside the time machine, Gohan and Videl let out a held breath. The space was tight, but brighter now. The blue glass canopy filtered the natural light entering the canopy. Without the pink prison cell, they no longer were bathed in purple.
Videl sat on Gohan's lap, as there was no other space in the machine. Gohan had his arm wrapped around her waist, but once they landed, he released it.
"Did it work?" She asked over her shoulder.
Gohan craned his neck in the cramped quarters. Spotting the chronometer, he pointed at it.
"Age 762." He pulled Videl closer. "Eight years. We just traveled eight years into the past."
Three sharp knocks, almost cracks, rang out in the canopy. A fist was wrapping on the glass.
Videl jumped, pushing back into Gohan.
"Should..." She glanced back, he was still there. "Should we get out?"
Gohan took a deep breath.
"Things are going to get hectic, if we timed this right, but… yeah." He said, enthusiasm clear in his voice. "I'll go first..."
After releasing two internal latches, Gohan and Videl awkwardly switched places. They pointedly did not make a fuss about the cramped quarters. Flipping the series of switches Bulma instructed him to, depressurizing the cab, releasing hydraulically sealed latches, powering down the unit, and eventually, he prepared to exit. When the glass canopy shifted slightly, he prepared to stand, and when it lifted off, he stood in the cockpit, Videl behind him.
King Kai hopped up to the frame of the operating station.
"WHO ARE YOU?" He demanded of Gohan.
Gohan leaned backwards, letting his tail move forward to help him keep his balance as he bent over Videl. "I'm, I'm Gohan, sir."
King Kai saw the tail. He saw the Saiyan. How was that possible?
"Go… han? Gohan?" He lifted an eyebrow. "Gohan, a Saiyan?"
Gohan glanced down… yeah, he gave that away immediately.
"Half. I'm only half Saiyan." He shrugged his shoulder, rotating his body slightly, showing his companion. "And this is Videl."
King Kai glanced into space for a moment. Gohan, the one he knew of, the son of Goku, was still on Namek, and, and that wasn't going well… Returning to the moment, he nodded at Videl.
"It's nice to meet you, ma'am." He looked back to Gohan. "Do you know where you are? Do you know who I am?"
"We are in Other World." Gohan nodded. "You are King Kai. You are the Kai responsible for the Northern Galaxy."
King Kai didn't expect that. He should have, but he didn't. "And, and how did you get here?"
It was Gohan's turn to lose focus. Distantly, in the back of his mind, he felt himself. He felt his energy spike, and, more importantly, he felt his father's vanish. He was on Namek, fighting. He just transformed… "Uh, time machine..."
His father reappeared. He was still far away, at the check-in station, but but he was here. Bulma would be with Jeice. They'd be on their way back to the Empire, away from Namek. He couldn't let them get too far, or they'd be much, much harder to track.
Slowly, Gohan lifted himself out of the cockpit, floating over the small planet. He felt himself, he felt Frieza. He felt others on Namek, Krillin and Turles. He felt Tien, or was it Ginyu? A slight tickle at the edge of his senses, and that was what he was looking for.
"I'm sorry. I'll be right back." With a barely audible pop, Gohan was gone. Videl looked at King Kai, a King Kai who didn't know her. King Kai looked at Videl, a time traveler.
Videl slowly lifted herself out of the seat, standing in front of the Kai.
"Hi." She said.
"Hi." He responded.
"Hi..." Goku frantically spoke as he appeared, halo over his head, behind King Kai. "Listen, King Kai, on Namek… I died… things are bad… Gohan's still there… can you help me get back? Is there anything we can do?" He noticed the girl, and looked above her head. No halo. "Hi."
He turned back to King Kai. "King Kai?"
Somewhere in space:
As Gohan appeared in a distant memory, he disappeared from King Kai's planet. The original Capsule Corp ship… he couldn't even remember the name painted on the side. What he did remember was the sterile yet homely scent, the feel of the tile under his feet, and the other two individuals in the room with him.
As Gohan appeared, Bulma tried to disappear. She had already been taken once, and now, another stranger was here. He was young, but she felt the intensity of his presence. She felt the power radiating off of him. She felt the disdain, but didn't know where it was directed.
As Gohan appeared, Jeice reacted. Immediately he was on his feet. A purple blast in his right hand, a red one in his left. He was behind the pilot's seat. Bulma was in the kitchen. Between them and not feeling threatened by the low-powered warrior, Gohan glanced from one to the other, as well as the rest of the ship. This place was surprisingly clean.
"HEY!" Jeice shouted at the intruder. "This isn't your ship! Get out of here!"
Gohan stopped looking around. His attention was on Jeice. Bulma's partner, in romance and in research. He tilted his head. "Jeice?"
"Yes, Jeice. I am Jeice, a founding member of the Ginyu Force." Jeice stepped forward, pulsing more ki into his hands. "I demand you get off of my ship. Leave the same way you came, or through the air lock. I don't care how, but go."
"Your ship?" Bulma raised her voice as she questioned Jeice. Gohan shot her a look, a curious, and pleased, look, and she instinctively ducked under the counter.
Gohan shook his head at the red alien.
"Stand down, Jeice, before you get hurt." He took two steps towards Jeice, and Jeice took three steps backwards.
Jeice held his hands up, ready to blast. As he willed the energy forward, the stranger appeared in front of him. The blasts flew several inches, before burning into his hands. The stranger gripped the blasts in his open palms, not flinching, not redirecting them, just letting the energy fizzle out against his skin.
As the attack faded, Gohan placed a hand on Jeice's shoulder.
"You are the enemy." He squeezed, causing the Brench-Seijin to grimace. Gently pushing down, Jeice buckled under the pressure, falling to the ground. "I could easily destroy you, right now. No one would miss you."
His eye flicked to the side, Bulma was peeking out at him. "However, I think, I know, you have potential." He took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "I have no interest in killing you, but if you make me, I will."
Jeice continued staring up at the young teen in front of him. This wasn't his first time having his life threatened. This wasn't his first time being made to feel like nothing. And, deep inside, he hoped this wouldn't be the last.
"I'm here for Bulma." Gohan said. The woman quickly ducked out of sight once more.
From the kitchen, Gohan heard drawers being pulled open, searched through. He ignored it.
"If you want to come with us, I can take you too. If you want to continue on to King Cold, you may. If we ever meet in battle… you will not survive another confrontation with me, or my team." He released his grip on Jeice's shoulder. "Through no fault of your own, you got in way, way over your head."
Slowly, he turned his hand over, holding it out to Jeice.
Jeice's mind was racing. If he showed up emptyhanded, he'd likely be executed. If he resisted, he'd be executed. If he betrayed the Frieza Force, or Cooler, or Cold, and was caught, when he was caught, he'd be executed. He was dead, there was no way out. But, if he played along, he'd at least have a chance. The boy was clearly a Saiyan, a powerful one. He'd heard rumors of a Saiyan baby with a massive power level, 10,000 if he recalled, perhaps, perhaps this was his son…
Jeice reached up, taking Gohan's hand.
"I'll play nice." He said. "I don't want to die."
Bulma found what she was looking for. Brandishing the large knife, she pushed her back to the fridge.
"NO!" She shouted. "I am not being double kidnapped!"
She held the point of the knife towards Gohan, towards Jeice, towards the aliens, the kidnappers, the kid… if she had to, she'd turn it around.
"Woah, there, Bulma." Gohan said as he held up one hand and calmly he pulled Jeice to his feet. "I'm not here to kidnap you. I'm here to save you, Bulma."
With Jeice up, he put both his hands over his head.
"Save me?" Her eyes bulged. "I don't even know you! Who are you?"
Gohan let his tail glide smoothly around behind him. "I'm Son Gohan. Son of Son Goku, and Chi-Chi."
He stepped forward, and Bulma quickly turned the knife to point it at herself. Crap, she really didn't want to do that.
"STOP!" She shouted. "Or, or I'll do it!"
She pressed the edge to her throat. Her hand shook, and she immediately knew she'd lose this confrontation. Whatever he wanted, he'd get. She, she couldn't do it.
Gohan stopped in his tracks, keeping his hands up. "Bulma, don't… it's me…"
"No!" Bulma shook her head, pulling the knife slightly away to do so. "Gohan is a little kid. He's, he's only five!"
"I'm not that Gohan..." He smiled. "Well, I was..."
"YOU'RE NOT MAKING SENSE!" Bulma shouted.
"I'm from the future!" Gohan snapped. "It's not making sense, because ..."
He shook his head, slowly lowering his hands, Bulma not doing the same.. "I'm sorry, Bulma. You, you built a time machine, and sent me back in time to save you."
"What?" She let herself sink down the wall slightly, keeping the knife close.
"In the future… things got bad." He glanced at Jeice, and she did as well. "He kidnapped you. As he is in the process of doing now, actually."
He made eye contact with the alien, and he had the decency to take a step back. "My dad, and others, saved you, killing Frieza for a second time. He was revived by mistake, and that's a long story, but in doing so earned the wrath of King Cold, Frieza and Cooler's father."
"Cooler?" Bulma asked.
"Lord Frieza's older brother." Jeice helpfully provided. "He's, he's..."
"He's dead in my timeline. I fought him myself, and I'll kill him myself." Gohan waved him off. "Cold trained for the battle, but my dad wasn't able to. He was killed, and the Earth was invaded."
More distant memories. Smoke, death, endless armies… "We barely managed to escape, and, and you spent five years building a time machine. When it was completed, you sent us back, Videl, the daughter of a friend plus another student of Master Roshi's, and I. I'm here to save you. I'm here to stop things from getting out of hand."
As Gohan spoke, Bulma lowered the knife. When he finished, she hesitated. A moment later, the edge was pressed into her throat once again.
"Prove it." She said.
Gohan raised an eyebrow… How come they didn't think of this? Bulma, Bulma should have known how she'd react. "Come with me. I'll, I'll take you to safety. I'll take you to Goku."
Bulma narrowed her eyes. "You'll take me back to Earth?"
Time travel was impossible. Theoretically, it was interesting, but, but not possible. But, with time, and necessity, could she figure it out? Her father had done the impossible, creating capsules. Her best friends constantly violated so many laws of physics. It was possible.
Gohan thought for a moment. Jeice was with them, and if they went to Earth, he may be the strongest being on the planet. He trusted Jeice, in the future, but not yet. No, he was still loyal to Frieza, or fearful. He, he didn't know if he was ever loyal.
"I'll take you to Earth." Gohan nodded. "Touch my arm, and we'll be there in a matter of seconds."
"That's, that's not possible..." Bulma shook her head. "You can't teleport."
Gohan hovered slightly off the floor, crossing his legs under him. "Is it any less believable than being able to fly? If flying is impossible, and teleportation is impossible, and time travel for that matter… maybe the word impossible needs to be redefined..."
Jeice slowly raised his hand. "Do, do I touch your arm too?"
Gohan closed his eyes in thought. "Yes. I can't go directly to Earth, not at the moment. We'll go to the time machine, and from there I'll take Bulma to Earth. You, I'll leave you there while I take Bulma home."
Jeice set his jaw and nodded. He slowly approached Gohan, ready to flee at any sign of aggression. Reaching the young teen, he extended a gloved hand, gently grabbing his elbow.
Gohan began throwing his senses outward. With the ripples of energy from his younger self and Frieza, it was like looking into a blizzard, and trying to find a pearl. King Kai's energy was familiar, but despite him being a Kai, it did not shine that bright. Gohan felt other powerful beings, equal to Frieza, but far away… Cooler, Cold… Continuing his search, he felt another familiar, low, power. Videl.
Extending the arm that Jeice was holding, towards Bulma, Gohan smiled at her. "I'm ready."
Bulma's fingers loosened around the knife. She lowered it slightly, but kept it close. "How do I know I can trust you?"
Gohan sighed and rolled his eyes. "Because, if I wanted to hurt you, I would have already? If I didn't care about you coming willingly, I would have just taken you?"
Bulma couldn't fault the logic, but her gut still told her something was wrong. She didn't really have a choice though, did she?
"What if I choose to stay?" She asked. "I can pilot the ship back to Namek, and make my own way home. You've saved me. You've done your job. I, I can meet you back on Earth."
Gohan closed his eyes in concentration once again. Putting his mind to it, he couldn't think of a reason she couldn't make her own way home. With Frieza dead, and the only remaining member of the Ginyu Force with him, she'd be fine. She'd be lonely, she'd make it. Well, Ginyu himself, but the others could handle that...
"That works." He finally said. "I'll take Jeice, and we'll meet you back on Earth. Okay?"
Bulma nodded, lowering the knife further.
"Perfect..." She looked back towards the latter. "Once you're gone, I'll turn the ship around and..."
They were gone.
Back on King Kai's planet
Appearing beside Videl, Gohan gently touched down on the ground. Jeice was not nearly as graceful, and fell to the ground.
"I have something else I need to do." He told Jeice.
"I'll be back, and, in the meantime..." He nodded to King Kai. "This, is God."
While, distantly, Videl noticed their arrival, she did not acknowledge them. Her eyes were unfocused, staring into space, as were Goku's. Their hands were on King Kai's back. Videl's jaw was hanging open. She'd seen fights. She'd seen battles. She's fought… she's killed. This though, this was crazy. She'd seen Gohan spar, she'd felt his energy while doing so.
On Namek though, against Frieza, he was at an entirely different level. The furiousness of his attacks, the hatred in his screams, the agony on his face… this was Gohan, this was Gohan at his worst. She was transfixed.
Feeling the two new energies, Goku lifted his hand from King Kai's back. He didn't notice. Goku looked them over. Jeice raised several red flags, but no one else was concerned, so he wasn't either. The boy though, he seemed familiar, and it wasn't just his tail. He had… he was gone.
On Namek:
Loa sat atop her home. As the world trembled under her feet, she mentally recited the name of each of her villagers. She felt their energies, she felt their fear. Titans were clashing, and a few insects wouldn't even be noticed.
As she watched the clouds overhead, a new energy appeared. It was large, but calm. Beside her, Gohan sat on the roof.
Casually, Loa turned to face him.
"And you are?" She cupped her chin, and shook her head. "The boy, the child?"
Gohan smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm Gohan… You picked up on that really quickly."
"It's hard not to. Your power is thick in the air, and… there are two of you." She felt the energy of the one in front of her, and, it was similar, but not quite identical. "I, I don't know how there are two of you, but you'd have to be blind to miss it."
Taking the unintentional hint, Gohan suppressed his energy further. If he was right, the Ginyu Force was still being dealt with, and he wouldn't want to distract any of his friends, or himself. "It's a long, long story. An eight-year long story, to be specific. I came from the future."
"I've heard many tales, told many tales, of visitors from the future. This is the first one bringing good news." Her smile spread slightly. It was still cold, but she was trying to warm it.
Gohan averted his gaze.
"Unfortunately, I don't have good news." His shoulders sagged. "I have a warning, but that's about it."
"A warning?" Loa cocked her, most people would cock an eyebrow, she mostly just cocked a piece of gummy flesh. "What's the warning?"
"Things got pretty bad in my timeline." He chewed his lip. "Frieza's father swore revenge on us for killing him. My father, and others, battled him somewhere, I don't know where. But his men invaded the Earth, my home. We were ready for a battle, a massacre, but not a siege. We lost, the Earth lost. Humanity was destroyed."
"I can relate..." Loa said. "Unfortunately, entire planets, full of life, of value, of love, being wiped from the galaxy is not nearly as uncommon as I would like."
"Your partner?" Gohan asked.
Loa's expression tightened.
"Well, that confirms you're either a time traveler, or a mind reader, as that's not information I'd hand out lightly… but yes, my husband." She took a deep breath, expanding her chest significantly, before slowly letting it out. "Your warning?"
"During the battle, we split up." Gohan said. "You, me, the others. We each protected a city. Something happened, and your city fell. You went to reinforce another, but you weren't fighting, you weren't killing. You were absorbing others, absorbing enemies. They were evil, but they were alive."
Loa cocked her chin. "I was taking their power?" She shook her head. "It's not something I would enjoy doing, but if I'm running low on energy, it makes sense to take more from the enemy."
"I don't know if that is what you were doing, but, more happened. You, you took their souls." Gohan looked at his hands. "Eventually, when there were too many dark souls inside you, they, you, were replaced. Something happened to you, you lost control, and according to King Kai, you weren't even you anymore. Your body had been used as a beacon, a lure… you became evil incarnate."
"Oh..." Loa turned to face the horizon once again. "That's, that's not supposed to happen."
"If we get in that situation again. Please, please don't absorb the living enemies." Gohan took a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "We retreated to King Kai's planet, in Other World. Basically Heaven, and, and that's where you transformed. I guess the being that took you over wasn't able to do so in the mortal world? I don't know, that's just speculation..."
He turned back to her, she didn't return the gesture.
"You trapped us there, in a bubble. We weren't able to break out." He looked down. "We spent years there, while Bulma built a time machine. They're still there. Only two of us could come back. The rest? They're, they're still trapped."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Loa sincerely apologized. "If I could do anything, I would."
"It's not your fault." Gohan looked back at the horizon, the fight was reaching a climax. He remembered this moment. He remembered the beam struggle. He remembered slipping away after he won. "But now you know. Make sure it doesn't happen again."
He stood, looking at her. When she turned to him, he locked their eyes.
"If it looks like it will happen again..." He flexed his fingers. "Well, I won't let it happen again."
Loa shook her head. Threats weren't required.
"Neither would I." She recited her villagers names once more, all were accounted for. The boy was gone.
Back to King Kai's planet
Intentionally missing his target, Gohan appeared over the planet. Quickly fixing his orientation in relation to the gravity, he looked down on the others. They were gathered together, by the car.
Goku was the most animated. His father was excited. His father was throwing Bubbles into the air, he was flying up and catching her. He was beaming, and his face was soaked.
"He did it!" He shouted. "He's alive! He did it!"
King Kai was stoic. He was amazed by the power of the young half-Saiyan. While he didn't know what the future held, he knew what was likely. Frieza was not alone. The Frieza Force was not alone. There were others. Cooler, Frieza's brother, was just as powerful, just as ruthless. Namek was saved today, trillions of lives would be saved, for now… but Cooler would take over, a new shadow would fall, and it may not be soon, but it was inevitable.
Videl was alone. Her real father was gone. Gohan was gone. Everyone she knew, everyone she trusted, was gone. Gohan was somewhere, he would come back, but that was Gohan on Namek. That boy, that child. That power, that anger, that wrath. It was Gohan.
If that was his past, what was his future? She'd seen him spar. She'd felt his power. She knew nothing. This was crazy. He was explosive, and if he went off, there was nothing she could do. Nothing anyone could do. King Kai was the god of the Northern Galaxy, but if he couldn't stop Frieza, what could he do against Gohan?
She kept her back to the others, hiding her tears. She was afraid, and she felt wrong. These emotions were real, but they shouldn't exist. Gohan was safe. Gohan was sweet. Gohan would never hurt her, never threaten her… he left her, but he'd be back. He said things would move quick. She just had to wait.
Throwing his senses out once again, he felt several high power levels. One stuck out about the rest though, and it was familiar. It was dark, twisted, broken. It was Cooler.
"ONLY ONE THING LEFT TO DO!" He shouted down to the planet, instantly attracting all eyes before he popped away once again.
Deep in interstellar space
Stars twinkled overhead. They were dim, but enough. Thousands of pinpricks of light bounced off of the snow, painting the environment in an ever-stable pale light.
Where Gohan landed, it was smooth. Deep snow was layered over thick ice. As far as he could see, the world was featureless. He felt several clusters of life over the planet, plentiful and powerful. More importantly though, was the only thing in sight.
The purple Arcosian didn't notice him at first. He stood alone, in what he believed was complete isolation. As Gohan watched him, he watched the stars.
Gohan took a steadying breath before speaking. "Cooler."
Cooler took his time acknowledging the interruption. Rotating in place without moving a muscle, he turned to face Gohan. He locked eyes with the boy, amused. He grinned. "What, did you call me?"
"Cooler." Gohan crossed his arms. "You are Cooler, aren't you? Elder brother to Frieza? Son of Cold?"
Cooler's first instinct was to crush the child. Rip his head from his body. Leave his corpse in the frigid tundra, where it would be frozen forever. But something made him pause.
"I am Lord Cooler." He sneered.
He rolled his eyes, trying not to sigh.
"I am Son Gohan." He gestured to himself. "I am here to kill you."
Cooler's sneer devolved into a smile, which momentarily turned to a chuckle. He glanced around, they were alone. "I don't know who you are, or why you want to kill me." "But I welcome the attempt."
"Your father killed mine." Gohan slowly slid one foot backwards, marking the snow, pointing his left shoulder towards his enemy. "Your armies invaded my planet, destroyed my planet."
He lifted his hands into the air. "I am here for revenge, Cooler, and I am going to get it."
Cooler lifted himself slightly into the air, and spread his arms wide. "
You have no idea how little that narrows things down, do you?" He summoned the smallest portion of his power. In a purple flash he appeared in front of Gohan. "And, if you will not call me by my proper title, you will pay the price."
Swinging a downward chop, his hand connected with nothing but air and snow. Angered, he snapped his head from side to side, trying to find the boy. As he searched, Gohan found him first. Both boots connected with the crest of Cooler's head at the same moment, driving him into the snow.
Gohan, hands held behind his back, hopped off of Cooler, spinning before he landed gingerly on the snow, barely disturbing it. "Keep your eyes open, Cooler, or this will be over before it starts."
Cooler smashed his hands down, shooting himself out of the frozen terrain. Spitting out snow his breath visibly puffed out in small wispy clouds. "You have made a terrible mistake, brat."
"I have?" Gohan gestured at himself innocently. "I would be concerned, but what are you going to do? Kill me more than you already were planning to?"
A large huff of fog escaped Cooler's nostrils. Quickly he fired a set of Death Beams at Gohan. Each beam was narrowly dodged by a slight movement, almost a dance, from side to side.
As Cooler's eyes widened in shock, they were forced shut. As the last beam passed Gohan, he charged. Before he knew what hit him, the boy's elbow connected with his jaw, and sent him flying into the darkness.
Expecting a moment of solitude, a chance to catch his breath, Cooler was disappointed. A fist met the back of his head, followed by his stomach. Two slaps met each of his cheeks, before a pair of fingers pinched his screaming tongue, pulling it, but not too hard.
As Gohan's barrage continued, he rotated the frost demon. In just a few dozen blows, Cooler was facing the cosmos, back to the planet below. A moment later, his back broke the icy ground once more, as Gohan landed a midair, two-foot stomp into his gut.
Cooler groaned in effort as Gohan landed near his feet. Slowly he pulled himself out of the ground, and back to his feet. Nursing his soar torso, he considered shooting eye beams at the boy.
"Who the hell are you?" He demanded.
Without breaking eye contact, Gohan loosened his tail from around his waist. Casually, he curled and uncurled it in open air. "Take a guess, Cooler."
A Saiyan? Cooler's expression hardened. A Saiyan was fighting him? A Saiyan was beating him? A child at that? This, this just couldn't stand. No, the boy would suffer, and it will be glorious.
Without responding, Cooler pulled back for a moment. Releasing the coiled energy, he charged. One punch, one bone breaking, skull crushing, punch, and this would be over. A memory, a memory of a dream, a nightmare, a hallucination. One punch is all it would take.
His fist closed on Gohan. A foot away. An inch away. His skin connected with Gohan's, and… Gohan jolted backwards, easily back flipping to safety.
No! Not real! Not possible! Cooler charged forward again. An uppercut. Drive his teeth through his brain.
Gohan lazily twisted, letting Cooler's hand barely touch his aura.
Lashing out with his long thick tail, Cooler swept at Gohan's feet. Gohan hopped over, more so lifting his feet out of the way, than jumping. A kick to the groin was met with a cartwheel. A slashing claw was met with the second half of that same cartwheel.
Cooler growled in frustration. A growl that was cut short by a hammer fist smashing into his cheek. Launched to the side, Cooler skidded against the snow, throwing ice crystals into the air.
Using his tail as a counterweight, he quickly got his feet under him though, sliding to a three-point landing. Snapping his arm up, and supporting it with his other hand, he sighted his target.
"Death Cannon." He spoke under his breath, shooting the energy sphere at the best.
Gohan dodged left, pushing the sphere away with his right hand.
Gohan dodged right, pushing the sphere away with his left hand.
The sphere of ki was crushed between the two Gohan's, exploding in a burst of smoke and frost.
Cooler recoiled in surprise. As he tried to regain his footing, two Gohans appeared at his 2 o'clock and 10 o'clock.
"Ka… me…" They spoke in unison.
"Ha… me…" A blue ball of ki formed in both of their hands.
"That's nothing." Cooler proclaimed as he spun in two tight circles. As he finished his second revolution, he was encased in a barrier of faint ki.
"HA!" They shouted in unison.
Their attacks burst forward, wider, and slower, than normal. Encountering Cooler's barrier, they mushroomed out, enveloping a majority of it in blinding blue and white light.
Cooler smirked from inside his shell, until it started to give, just slightly. One heartbeat, it was perfectly round. The next, two dimples appeared where the attacks were most concentrated. The third, he shot himself backwards to safety, as the beams collided where he was floating moments ago.
As he flew backwards, he was stopped. He was tied to the ground, one of the brats acting as an anchor. Gohan gave him three quick spins before throwing him at his other half. The receiving Gohan was prepared, punting him away with a savage kick to his jaw. As Cooler was tossed away, the Saiyan that had his feet met him in the air, driving both his knees into the frost demon, one into his chest, one into his pubis.
As Cooler flew away, the punting Gohan formed a small ball of ki in his right hand, and linked it with his left. Launching the ball forward, he caught Cooler, bouncing him back into the air. They stayed there, in the air, for an excruciatingly long amount of time. One Gohan forcing himself towards the ground with all his might, pushing down on Cooler. The other stabbing upward with a ball of pain, trying to drill through his back. As the forces inevitably fell out of balance, Cooler began to spin, and was shot off yet again.
He was quickly stopped, as one elbow found his armored chest, and another the center of his spine. Cooler's eyes and mouth shot open, unable to scream due to the pain, unable to see due to the pain. As he was released, he inhaled, a breath caught short by a mirrored roundhouse kick sending him digging into the ground once more. The angle was shallow, but the force and speed were incredible, and he found himself entombed.
"For one of the self-proclaimed lords of the universe, he's pretty pathetic." One Gohan said to the other.
"Yeah." The other agreed. "We were even nice enough to cut our power in half."
As the two bantered, the ground beneath them began to shake. They felt Cooler's power grow, and they saw the snow turn to water, before being blown away as steam.
A pillar of purple energy shot into the air, as well as bubbled around Cooler. A crater formed where Cooler was buried, lit in eerie energy.
"You will pay for that." Cooler proclaimed.
"You'll kill us even more dead than..." One of the Gohan's tried to repeat his retort, but was stopped as Cooler's fist drove into his gut. He doubled over in pain, spitting, nearly vomiting, onto Cooler's arm.
The other Gohan summoned his ki, attempting to smash a one-handed Kamehameha into Cooler's face, but was grabbed by the hair before he could. Cooler forced his head down, releasing it only to bounce it back up with a powerful knee strike to the boy's chin.
Taking aim, Cooler adjusted his punching fist into a grabbing claw. Twisting slightly he threw the doubled-over Gohan towards the other, where they met in the air. As they attempted to untangle themselves, they were slowed by a barrage of eye beams.
Cooler stood, hands on his hips, laughing, as he shot blast after blast.
Each one struck home, each one cut through clothes, or burnt skin. Each connection resulted in an explosion. Each explosion pushed the Gohans further and further away. When they were almost too far, when they would almost have enough time to dodge, or at least block, he vanished.
Reappearing behind them, Cooler dropped an axe kick, followed by an elbow strike, into the respective Gohans. Launched down, it was their turn to be encased in frigid terrain.
Cooler crossed his arms, pointing his toes to the ground. Smiling ear to ear, his laugh died to a chuckle "Fool should have known his place. A Saiyan? Nothing."
"I know my place." A voice spoke in his ear. "Pissing on your families shared grave."
Swallowing back a gasp, Cooler spun to face Gohan. Seeing the boy, he cursed under his breath. How did a Saiyan survive that, let alone unharmed?
"Sorry we were so slow." The other Gohan whispered into Cooler's ear.
Spinning in a blur, Cooler delivered a cross chop at neck height… to nothing.
"We've been cooped up for a long, long time." The second Gohan continued, once more behind the frost demon.
Cooler's tail slashed out, an edge of ki threatening to bisect anyone in its path. It warmed the air, but nothing more. A blur of light skin as the other Gohan ducked behind him.
Ignoring the brat, Cooler prepared to eviscerate one of them… he didn't know, or care, which. As his claw came up, as the boy didn't react, two clinched fists crashed into his skull form behind.
Cooler rocketed towards the ground. The force of the blow spinning him, to be headfirst. As he fell, the second Gohan caught up to him, smiling, open palmed.
Delivering a gentle strike to Cooler's stomach, he winded the emperor. Taking advantage of the opening, he dropped him, catching him once more by the tail. Winding up, he threw Cooler at the first Gohan, who already had his hand in the air.
Without moving more than his fingers, the first Gohan caught Cooler. Winding him up in return, he threw him towards the horizon, further along the same arc the second Gohan launched him… where said Gohan was waiting to catch him once more.
As Cooler struggled to catch his breath, the boys continued to toy with him, spin him, and bat him around. They were cats, and he was their mouse.
Several throws later, the original Gohan did not grab Cooler's tail. Instead, he smashed a fist into his face, sending him back towards other. "This is."
The second Gohan took a play from the original's book, and treated Cooler's head like a ball. With a nearly neck snapping kick, Cooler was sent away again. "Getting boring?"
Rather than hitting him once more, the original Gohan prepared a small ki blast. As Cooler neared, Gohan flung it underhand at him. The resulting cloud of smoke hid Cooler's decent.
Sputtering and coughing as he pushed himself to his feet, Cooler probed the inside of his mouth with his tongue. A canine moved. They knocked his tooth loose! Continuing his examination, he found the opposite tooth was nowhere to be found. Exploding in anger, Cooler soared into the sky, to where he fell from. "ARE YOU PROUD OF YOURSELVES?"
"Cooler?" Gohan's voice was full of sarcastic concern. "Are you okay? It's just the two of us here."
The other Gohan had merged back with the original.
Quickly checking over both shoulders, Cooler moved to focus on the only remaining target. He slowly cupped his head in his hands. No, he couldn't lose control. He couldn't go all out, not for a monkey. "I, I asked you a question. Are… you… PROUD?"
"Yes." Gohan set his jaw. "I am proud of myself."
Reaching inside, he pulled another wave of energy towards the surface, but did not release it quite yet. "I am Son Gohan, you are Cooler. We are here, alone. No one will know my name, and no one will remember yours. I'm getting what I want. You, your entire family, will pay."
"And what do you mean by that?" Cooer turned his body sideways to the Saiyan, making himself a smaller target, while trying to appear as if he was not bothering to hear his answer.
Gohan vanished, spinning as he rushed forward, delivering an axe kick to the top of Cooler's head once more. Another tooth flew free. "You don't listen, do you? I wouldn't expect you to. You, or rather your father, destroyed my entire life. You tried, but you weren't enough. You're still, not enough. You will never be, enough."
Gohan's eyes flickered green, before returning to black. "I lost my father, I lost my friends, my family. I lost my allies, my planet, my life. Not because of you, not for lack of your trying. No, because of your family."
Gohan's eyes flickered once more, before he was able to restrain the beast. "I am here for revenge. I am here to hurt you, hurt your family. There is nothing more to it than that."
Cooler stabbed a finger at Gohan, launching a Death Beam. The distracted Saiyan's eyes bulged. It was fast, powerful, and thicker than usual. Narrowly, Gohan dodged to the side, earning a tear in his gi pants. Turning to watch it fly into the distance, make sure it wasn't coming back, Gohan took his eyes off of his enemy.
Cooler appeared behind him, wrapping his tail around the boy's neck, and more importantly, the boy's swaying tail. He wasn't facing him, but, but this would do. He tightened his grip, trying to crush his windpipe, and take advantage of the Saiyan weakness as well. Winding up, he delivered a heavy blow to Gohan's left cheek, followed by one from the right. Left, right. Left. Right. Left… right. He slowed as his blows grew heavier. Pulling back, he threw a punch from each side at once, planning to crack open Gohan's skull.
His hands were stopped. Gohan's flew up, off of his tail, and caught the attack in dead air. It was like striking a planet.
Without saying a word, Gohan curled his tail around Cooler's. He tightened his own, digging into the Arcosian's. With seemingly little effort, Gohan pulled Cooler's tail away, and rotated in space, diving towards the ground.
Cooler let out a protesting growl as he fought back, as he tried to fly upwards, but the boy was pulling him down. The Saiyan was pulling him by the tail, with his tail…
At the last moment before impact, Gohan spun, smashing Cooler into the ground. As he dug into the ground, Gohan snapped his tail up and over, flinging Cooler into the ground once more, backwards. Sinking to the ground, Gohan sprung up, finding fresh snow, and slapped Cooler there again, and again, and again, leaving a perfect imprint of the mighty frost demon with each impact. When the terrain around him was marked fully, he gave Cooler one last, mightier, swing, and let him soar.
As he flew, the stunning effect soar off, and Cooler began to regain himself. This had to stop. Letting his anger take hold, he began to power up. Looking back, not daring to lose track of the boy, he was horrified to find him mere feet away, keeping pace with his flight.
Hurriedly, Cooler spread his fingers and a barrage of pointblank Death Balls. As his power climbed, so too did the energy in each attack.
Gohan dodged the first few, and deflected the next. As they became stronger, he resorted to blocking them, before Cooler let up for a moment, focused his energy, and launched a large one directly at Gohan's skull.
Gohan stopped his chase, grabbing the attack in both hands. Letting its force spin him around, he redirected it, took control of it, and launched back at Cooler.
Not even blinking at the redirection, Cooler finally stopped his flight and clamped his eyes shut. Reaching out, he felt himself, felt his energy, felt his anger. Latching onto it, he reopened his eyes. The Death Ball there, blocking his vision. He had stopped it with his telekinesis, but just barely.
"Masenko!" Gohan called as a powerful wave crashed into the red of the Death Ball, detonating it against Cooler's nose.
Flinching his hands to his face to sooth the burning, Cooler lowered his guard. Taking advantage of the moment, Gohan speared Cooler in the side with a powerful kick. Skidding across the ground, the Arcosian allowed himself to roll, finally stopping himself in a three-point stance. Coiling back, he charged, fists flying.
Gohan held his ground, not moving his feet. Each kick was shunted away by a forearm, and each punch was knocked away by an open palm. Cooler's attacks grew faster, more frantic, less directed, and equally less powerful, as Gohan continued to effortlessly dodge blow after blow. Noticing one particularly poorly executed kick, Gohan caught Cooler's foot between his left armpit. Bringing his right elbow down, Gohan smashed his knee.
Cooler screamed in pain, in rage, a scream that was cut short by a one-handed Kamehameha being force fed to him. Flying back, Cooler was allowed to crash, and burn.
Panting, confused, wounded, both in body and mind, Cooler forced himself back to his one good foot. He opened his mouth to speak, but Gohan cut him off.
"Face the facts, Cooler." He slowly lowered his hand to his side.
"I… will..." Cooler spoke between breaths.
"I could have killed you in our first exchange." Gohan's lips parted, a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "I could have killed you before you even knew I was here."
"Bull..."
"But I wanted you to feel this." Suppressing his crimson aura, Gohan pushed his power one level higher. "I wanted to know what it felt like to be toyed with. To fight someone that you have absolutely no chance of defeating."
Cooler's head fell. His eyes closed, and his shoulders began to shake. Several sharp, shallow, breaths escaped as he cupped his face in his palms. Slowly, he lifted his chin, lowered his hands, and continued to cackle. Extending his hands, Cooler applauded the boy. The little devil.
"Congratulations." He sneered. One of three, one of three people to actually hurt him, to cause him pain. His father was an unobtainable goal, but his brother… oh how his brother would suffer the next time they met. Frieza may have had the upper hand, but not anymore.
"Two." Cooler said. "There are two people who have fought me like this, and congratulations, you are the third."
Not moving his broken leg, Cooler lifted himself into the air.
"The time for games is over." Snapping his broken leg backwards, he quickly forced it out, straight. He tried to hide his wince, but failed. "You think you've been toying with me… and you have."
He reached deep inside … it was time to battle test this new power. "But I've been allowing it. And no more. Prepare to die."
Cooler clinched his fists. Quickly, he brought them together in front of him, before slowly pulling them apart. His aura burst into life once more.
Gohan took a step back.
"You're going to lose." He said, confident in his voice, but not in his movement. Cooler's power was climbing, faster than he remembered.
He was an Oozaru in that battle, he didn't really get a good grasp on Cooler's power, and it was malice incarnate. Frieza was evil, but Frieza was a businessman. Cooler was cold, brutal, and his energy felt like all it wanted to do was rip, tear, burn.
As Gohan steadied himself, comforted himself, his enemy transformed. In a heartbeat, Cooler's body doubled in size, along with his muscle mass. Four horns shot out from his elongating skull, forming a crown. His natural armor crept along his face, forming a thin mask over his mouth and nose. His ankles and wrists, as well as his tail, thickened as spikes rapidly grew over them. Flexing his fingers, elbows, and knees, Cooler revealed that in this form, in his final form, that he was healed, and he was ready for more.
"WOW!" Gohan shouted over the maelstrom of energy. "That, that's more powerful than I thought."
He took a step forward. "Believe it or not, you're actually a lot stronger than Frieza was, when I killed him."
Cooler ignored the lie. Thrusting his palm forward, he launched a powerful Kai, knocking Gohan off his feet, and flying across the flat landscape. Shooting into the sky, he aimed down and repeated the attack, over, and over, and over again. Each shot burying Gohan deeper in the permafrost.
As he maintained the assault with his left hand, he lifted a single finger on his right. In no time, he had a Death Ball, and a few Kais later, it was ready. Flicking it down at the helpless boy, a smile crossed his lips, revealing a mouth of perfect teeth.
The Death Ball crashed into the ground. The hole Gohan was in was narrow, too narrow for the attack. It dug down, burning or knocking back all material in its way, until the ground around, and below, Gohan's landing place was gone.
"Is that it?" Cooler sneered. "I do hope my brother puts up more of a fight."
Lowering his two fingers from his forehead, Gohan swung a punch at Cooler's back. His gi was torn, his pants were cold, wet, and dirty, and he would need new shoes, but he was still in good fighting shape.
Cooler saw the attack coming from the corner of his eye, effortlessly catching Gohan's right ifist n his tight grip. Yanking the boy forward and up, he smashed his elbow into the boy's stomach, and again in his chin. With his victim dazed, Cooler released him, spun, and kicked Gohan into the distance. Where was a mountain when you needed something to smash someone into?
Taking a moment to rub his bloodied lip, Gohan recovered. Right before he was going to skid along the ground once more, he stopped his flight. As he did so, a purple blur blazed past him, resulting in Cooler planting his fist into the ground.
Flipping over his head and bracing against the ground, Gohan smashed both his feet into Cooler's jaw. As the far larger fighter pulled one fist free, he smashed the other into Gohan's stomach, knocking him backwards once more.
"Your defeat is inevitable." Cooler grinned. "Your death is imminent."
He cracked his neck. "In this form, my power level is hundreds of millions above what any mere Saiyan could ever dream of."
He took a step forward, and Gohan flipped around on the ground, facing his opponent. "Even if my home world had a moon, you couldn't hope to challenge me."
He took another step, and Gohan tucked his legs under him.
Springing up, Gohan let his aura ignite for the first time in the battle. The ground around him, formerly lit only by stars, glowed as if under daylight. Blood ran from his nose and into his mouth. A cut was open from above his left eye, and down to his mouth, splitting his eyebrow. His body in general was in similar condition, cut, scraped, and battle worn.
Gohan wiped something, he didn't know if it was mud or blood, from his cheek. Spitting a glob of blood onto the ground, he grinned.
"I have to admit, this is too much for me to handle as I am." His eyes were wild. A lion, contemplating which part of the nyala to rip into first.
Cooler took a deep breath in, slowly letting it out. "I am glad you accepted the truth." He pushed more energy into his ki. It was wasted on the light show, but it felt good to be on top, and he was willing to celebrate.
"I never said I couldn't win, just that I can't hold anything back now." Squatting down, Gohan rolled his head from side to side. He really needed to stretch before battling, or fight more often… "Playtime is over."
The light that surrounded Gohan shot outward, lighting the ground, the sky, for hundreds of feet in all directions. Cooler's needle of energy reached indefinitely into the sky, and Gohan's washed it out. Dawn broke. Gohan's energy brightened, turning quickly into a golden flare.
Cooler felt his own power, his own might, and knew there was nothing that could stop him. But, but this boy was confident. This boy was brilliant. Visuals were nothing to go off of, he could easily create an equal spectacle… but, but he was a titan. Was this boy on the same level?
The lion roared and the prey cowered. Across the planet, scouters were going crazy. Lord Cooler was obviously a high level, but, but who was this other person? King Cold was gone, and wasn't expected back for some time still. Lord Frieza was halfway across the galaxy, on a private task. Whoever this was, they were new, and that was cause for concern.
"DO YOU GET IT?" Gohan called into the expanse. "DO YOU GET IT NOW, COOLER?" His voice cracked as his aura simmered down, concentrated around him.
"You never had a chance!" Gohan screamed at him. "YOU ARE DEAD!" His voice was rough. Taking a series of short breaths, he forced his temper under control, as much as he could. "I wanted to give you a taste of your own medicine. Make you feel fear, give you false hope, and then, give you death."
Without realizing it, Cooler took a step back. His carapace was covered in a thin layer of sweat. His mouth was dry, and, for the first time in a long time, he felt fear.
"Keeping distance won't save you." Gohan took a step forward. His footfall was light, though he carried the weight of a beast.
Steeling himself, Cooler sank into his fighting stance. No, this was a trick. The boy was a skilled illusionist is all. He split himself into multiple beings, and he created a light show.
Rushing forward, Cooler plowed his fist into Gohan's forehead. Feeling his fingers crack, he rained a barrage of heavy strikes over the boy's body. The boy was tough, rigid at first, but eventually his body gave in, and was easily carried along with each blow. He was limp, only kept upright by the merciless assault.
Getting Gohan several dozen feet into the air, without a single blow being blocked or dodged, Cooler shot his mouth open. A red ball of ki was already form. He reached down, almost as if to kiss the boy's bleeding forehead, but instead fired the attack against his scalp. Gohan was repelled immediately, slamming into the ground in a tangle of limbs and golden hair.
Not letting up, Cooler appeared above him. "Prepare to be erased!" He shouted as he tightened both hands around Gohan's throat. Shooting off into the distance, he forced himself downward, forced Gohan into the ground. A trail of blood, speckles, joined the trench of upturned earth.
"You… will… know… your… PLACE!" Cooler shrieked as he spun over Gohan, throwing him into the air. Firing a barrage of Death Beams, each hit home. The first wave pierced his limbs, before Cooler was able to tighten his aim and direct the next several, the next dozen, throw Gohan's stomach, chest, and head.
Smiling wickedly, Cooler thrust his hand into the air in victory.
As he did so, Gohan faded away, the After-Image expiring.
"You only think one move ahead at a time." Gohan said from behind Cooler.
Cooler spun, eyes wide and stomach turning. The boy was uninjured. He stood there, arms crossed, feet spread to shoulder's width, and gazing into the sky. He was taunting him, he was toying with him.
"Predictable." Gohan said lackadaisically. "As a warrior, you need to grow, you need to evolve. You can't rely on the same trick over, and over, and over again. Death Beam, Death Ball, Death Cannon. Death everything."
He threw his hands behind his head, taking a deep, relaxing, breath. He was cool, he was calm. He hadn't transformed in years, and the rage took ahold of him. But it was okay, he was under control. He hoped. Or maybe he didn't.
"SHUT UP!" Cooler howled as he wound up for a powerful blow. As he turned his hips, rotated his waist, and plowed his shoulder and elbow forward, Gohan touched his middle fingers to the sides of his eyes, before clamping them shut.
Gohan took a step back, letting Cooler's fist narrowly miss him. As Cooler pulled back, stepped forward, the half-Saiyan released a Solar Flare. The light was blinding. Cooler's hands shot to his face and he snarled in frustration. He turned slightly, kicking at where Gohan was, striking out wildly with his tail, hitting nothing.
"You will pay!" The tyrant vowed.
Continuing to strike out, Cooler struck nothing. As the searing pain in his eyes began to fade, he began lashing out with a fist as well. As the dazzling lights in his eyes dimmed, he grew concerned. One was still there, right in front of him. Cooler threw both his fists out, just falling short of Gohan.
Gohan's middle and index fingers were pulsing with golden energy. Cooler's fist barely reached the energy, but had no impact. The kiai that he threw out blew the dust and mud off of the boy, but didn't influence him in the slightest.
"The only reason you're still alive." Gohan sneered through gritted teeth. "Is because I really, really, want to drive home just how, just how incredibly, outmatched you are."
His eyes grew manic.
"I don't think you'll beg for your life, but you know you should." Cooler's body was now glistening with cold sweat. "I can see it in your eyes. You know you're going to die. And that, that is what I wanted from you. Fear, terror, hopelessness. I wanted you to feel what you made so many others feel. I wanted you to feel what you, your family, made my family feel."
Cooler lashed out with his tail, and Gohan was gone.
"I've never met you before." Cooler growled. Gohan was right, he wouldn't beg, but that didn't mean he couldn't reason with the boy. He'd keep deniability, as this was just conversation, but if it tampered the boy's wrath, he wouldn't complain either.
Gohan reappeared several strides in front of Cooler, energy still crackling. With his free hand, he stroked his chin. He was right, this Cooler had never met him, had never gone to Earth, had never hurt… Bulma. Bulma. How many other people did he put through that living hell… Gohan's rage exploded, and the energy on his fingertips tripled in size. He shut his eyes. He couldn't see Cooler. He couldn't see the monster. He was calm. He was in control. He was calm. He wouldn't explode.
"Open your eyes when we are talking!" Cooler shouted. "Or I'll rip them open myself."
The attempted diplomacy did not last long…
"You disgust me." Gohan exhaled. "Just looking at you makes me sick."
He inhaled. "You're welcome to try to force my eyes open, but you'll fail."
Cooler slowly lifted himself into the air, and a hand over his head. Without saying a word, he rotated around the boy, increasing in speed, preparing a Death Ball. Gohan didn't move, he didn't acknowledge the frost demon. As Cooler threw the attack forward, as it left his hand, Gohan shot his hand out to the side, finally firing his Special Beam Cannon.
Gohan's attack was faster, by far. Before Cooler's Death Ball had even left his hand, it went off. The Arcosian's continued travel carried him away from the blast, but it was close. He felt the heat, the burning pain, wash over his feet and shins.
Not deterred in the slightest, Cooler sharpened his ki down his arms and out of his hands. A pair of purple blades shot out of his arms, and he went on the offensive. He started his attack with a cross chop, which Gohan ducked inside of. He went to knee the brat in the chest, but Gohan had already flipped backwards, over the blades, and landed on his feet. Slashing upwards, aiming to bisect the boy, he missed as Gohan bent sideways, letting the attacks shave his arm hair.
"Hold, still!" Cooler demanded as each slashing edge, each stabbing point, and each bludgeoning fist, fell short. He brought both blades together, and sliced downward in a parallel guillotine strike.
"Okay!" Gohan declared.
As the blades grew nearer, he poured his energy into his aura, thickening it. He wouldn't move. His guard was down, but he wouldn't move. His head was on the chopping block, but he wouldn't move. Forcing his energy out, he thickened his aura, reinforced his defenses… the blades connected with his forehead, before being stopped in their tracks. They were hot, burning hot, but he'd caught so many ki waves, survived so many ki explosions, this was nothing new.
Reaching up, Gohan took a ki blade in each hand. Crushing one in each fist, they dissipated to nothing.
"Even without eyes, I see things far more clearly than you do." Striking outward, he kneed Cooler's exposed belly.
As Cooler collapsed to his knees, clutching his stomach, Gohan continued his turn. Smothering his blazing aura, he pulled his power back to his core, and focused it into his next punch. The uppercut was a glancing blow by design. It clipped Cooler's jaw, shattered his nose, and sent him sprawling onto his back. Gohan could have sent him into the atmosphere with that punch, but he wanted to keep things low, keep himself grounded.
Gohan opened his eyes. Cooler's nose was gushing blood. It was more of a pile of cartilage, flesh, and blood, than a recognizable shape. The mask he wore was nowhere to be found… unless fragments of it were mixed in with the dozen teeth that were on the ground around him. Casually, he walked around the downed enemy, crushing the teeth under his foot as he did so.
Standing over Cooler, looking down at him upside down, Gohan swallowed.
"Are you ready to admit defeat? Admit that you have no chance of beating me? Are you ready to join your brother in hell?" He did not break eye contact.
Cooler fired a pair of eye beams, aiming to blind the Saiyan, but he was too slow. Gohan leaned backwards, letting the attacks fly into space. Watching the attacks soar, Gohan gave Cooler a wide opening, one that he took.
Cooler launched himself into the sky. "I have had it with this farce!"
He roared into the sky, his aura leaving a comet like trail behind him. Upon reaching a high vantage point, where he could see the curvature of his planet, he threw both his hands into the air.
"Let's see you survive this, monkey!" A red ball of ki quickly formed, and rapidly grew. The Super Nova was his most powerful attack, and even if the boy survived it, the planet would not. Cooler could live in space, Saiyans could not. Cooler would live. The boy would not.
Gohan tensed his muscles as the attack swelled. This planet had no sun, and the introduction of a Super Nova didn't seem like the kind it needed… Crossing his hands over his head, he prepared his counterattack.
"You said this is your home world!" Gohan called up. "Are you sure you want to risk destroying it?"
Cooler poured more and more energy into his attack. As long as he survived it, it didn't matter if he was capable of fighting afterwards. He would live, and the boy would die. "I am the beloved son of King Cold, Lord Cooler. If my people must die so that I may live, they would cut their own throats!"
The Super Nova cast an eerie red glow over the battlefield and beyond. Distantly, crimson snow was falling.
"When you die, will your people rise up and seek revenge?" Gohan pulled back a portion of his power. In the back of his mind he searched for, and found, the ki signature he was looking for.
"If you somehow won this battle." Cooler wound up. "Then not one of my kind would rest until your head decorated our palace's wall."
He fired the attack, and Gohan was gone.
Appearing behind Cooler, Gohan shook his head.
"Then thank you for killing them, so they won't be able to hunt me or my friends and family." He looked down, watched the Super Nova as it connected with the planet, as it burrowed through the crust.
"Masenko." He said under his breath as he launched the attach at point blank range.
He didn't need precision, he didn't need a wave. He spread his arms as he fired the attack, widening it. With little fanfare it enveloped Cooler, and in a moment, the dark energy was gone.
Snapping two fingers to his forehead, he locked onto Videl's ki. He took a deep breath, watched the Super Nova continue on its path, digging into the core of the world. With a faint spark from deep within the planet, the Super Nova went off.
As the planet turned to dust and rubble under his feet, as the shock wave blasted him into space, Gohan released his Super Saiyan transformation and reflexively closed his eyes against the vacuum of space. As the energy left him, so too did the rage, quickly replaced with a tinge of regret, of guilt. Cooler was a tyrant, a maniac, and, and maybe he lied. Maybe his people lived under him the same way others did, in fear, and with hatred… As the air was pulled from his lungs and the moisture inside his mouth began to boil, he tapped his forehead and appeared over King Kai's planet.
Author's note: Well, that got a little out of hand, but Cooler tends to have that effect on people, doesn't he?
Author's note 2: Thank you to Steven for once again scripting the fight scene. I know I colored a little out of the lines on this one, but I think it turned out well.
Author's note 3: We return to Earth, and Videl's reunion isn't exactly what she thought it would be.