Review Responses:

To Ushindi: Hey, long time no see. Thanks for responding a while ago. Cooler's character here is meant to be less callous and petty while being more pragmatic. He's also an opportunist.

1. I think Vegeta can have Super Saiyan 3, but that will be later down the road. Like,

much later.

2. Nope, Gohan will NOT have Super Saiyan 3. I have a different idea in mind with Gohan.

3. Goku Black; amazing concept. Brilliant introduction, horrible conclusion.

To Iwik: Thanks for posting as well, I appreciate it. Trunks will be interesting in this chapter on how he acts, and Gohan's moment will be something to look forward to.

That's all for now, on with the show.

Last time on Dragon Ball Z: PRIMAL, the Dragon Team were scattered to three districts of West City with a plan to lower the collateral damage while salvaging parts of Cooler's robotic foot soldiers. Meanwhile, Gohan confronted Cooler and learns of his intentions to bring the planet under his galactic reign and offered Gohan a chance to serve him. Being the son of Goku, he refuses and engaged the brother of Frieza in combat. Will our heroes overcome their obstacles? What role will Gohan's new friends play in this operation while the stakes are high? Find out now!

Capsule Corporation, West City, Age 774

Never in a million years had Erasa ever imagined how she would spend her senior year of high school. Sitting in a room with the Bulma Briefs while watching her best friend fighting off a robot alien invasion with her new friend being a literal superhero.

If Erasa was to meet her past self and tell her everything that was going to happen, her past self would have put her present self in a mental institute. Though, Erasa wouldn't have blamed herself. The situation at hand was becoming more and more hectic as time went on.

Not something that the pixie cut blonde would imagine occurring in her life, let alone her senior year of high school.

She watched as the rest of the Dragon Team and Videl faced off against the Robot Soldiers and each member of the Armored Squadron respectively.

Meanwhile, Bulma (with Sharpner's assistance) was hard at work in formulating calculations that were essential to her plan.

Erasa, noticing a lack of Saiyaman and Cooler on the final screen, said, "Ms. Bulma! I don't see Gohan or that alien guy!"

Sharpner and Bulma stopped everything and looked up to see the lack of the two.

"What!?" Bulma shouted.

She got up from the table and made her way to the computer and typed in coordinates that located Gohan based on the frequency of his watch. From there, the satellite was able to find Gohan in a desert miles away from West City.

"There he is! And holy shit, that alien guy got jacked!" Sharpner pointed out.

Bulma studied Cooler's new appearance, feeling a pit of dread forming in her stomach.

'Damn it! This isn't good at all.' Bulma swore mentally as she continued to work on the kill switch over at her workstation with Sharpner's help.

Erasa couldn't help but shudder in fear at the change Cooler made, practically feeling the intimidating stature, even if it was a second-hand experience.

'Oh Kami, it grew enormous and it's so hideous-looking! Why does Son-kun have to fight a monster straight out of an alien horror movie?! He's strong but this is thing is a monster just like Cell! Why isn't Videl's dad here to do this kind of thing instead? For Kami's sake, he's just a kid like the rest of us!' Erasa mentally panicked.

"Poor Gohan…" The blonde girl whispered

Turning the the CEO of the company, Sharpener asked, "How far is that gizmo you're working on, Bulma?"

"It's partially complete. I still need the technology those monsters are working with if this plan is going to work." Bulma sighed as the woman turned to screen.

Sharpner and Erasa did the same, praying to Kami (Dende) that their friends were safe while all hell broke loose outside.

With Cooler and Gohan

"Now then," Cooler said while in his Fifth Form. "Let's see how long you can last before I break you."

A strong wind blew at the face of a masked Gohan, prompting him to instinctively cover his face as Cooler flew towards him from off the ground. Fortunately for him, the half-Saiyan used Rapid Movement to move out of the way, causing the ground in which he stood on to shatter and form a dust cloud.

'Shit! That would have been me!' Gohan screamed in his head while keeping his guard up.

Gohan was on guard, but wasn't keen enough to see Cooler appear in front of him.

"...Hello." Cooler mused.

"What the-ARGH!" Gohan muttered before feeling his solar plexus take a strong knee by the larger alien before the half-Saiyan was sent to downwards by a rough backhand.

At mid descent, Gohan recovered as he raised himself back in the air. He felt the right side of his helmet rub against his head which signified a large dent. The pain of that hit caused that side of his face to bleed as the teen tasted that familiar copper flavor that touched his lips on too many times.

His dazed confusion turned into anger. That anger increased the flare of his ki as the white fire-like aura grew larger and danced around Gohan. He flew back to try and attack Cooler. But each time he did so, whether it was a roundhouse kick, a flying kick, or even a single throwing punch, Cooler's usage of the Instant Transmission followed by a counterattack proved to be troublesome for Gohan. His tactics ended with him either being punched in the face, slapped to the ground with his tail, or thrown to a nearby plateau.

With this next attempt, Gohan charged headfirst in a fit of rage reminiscent of the tenacity of his father and the relentlessness of Vegeta. Little did he know that golden-yellow irises burned within his eyes. His charge was followed by a battle cry that would have made his entire race proud of their legacy…

…Only for Cooler to grab his wrist with his own giant hand.

"Hahaha...No." The brother of Frieza goaded.

Yanking his wrist, Cooler preceded to headbutt Gohan while the teen grunted in pain from the helmet her wore continued to slowly break over his face. Next, he used that arm to swing him around five-time before tossing him skywards. Putting two fingers on his forehead, Cooler reappeared seconds before Gohan could be slammed into the alien. Putting his two hands together, the conqueror of South Galaxy struck the eldest son of Goku in the back of the head, shattering Gohan's helmet and sending the teen down to the ground, leaving a giant crater.

Cooler landed ten feet away from the crater, awaiting the dust to settle while his scouter still picked up Gohan's Battle Power.

"Come now, monkey. I know you can fair better than this," Cooler spoke. "Even without this Scouter, I know there's more to your power than what you've displayed. Come out and show yourself, son of Goku."

And as he wished, Son Gohan burst out of the hole he was left in, with his Great Saiyaman helmet left in the rubble in pieces. His red cape was torn and still burnt. His bodysuit was torn a bit and his Battle Armor was cracked and stained in his own blood. However, his bare face and gravity-defying jet black hair with a single bang were now out for all to see.

Cooler, now pleased to see the half-Saiyan standing tall and ready for combat couldn't help but notice the resemblance to the full-blooded Saiyan who defeated his younger brother.

"...Ah, so this the face of the man I've been fighting." The larger alien said. "You Saiyans are resilient creatures. To think that all of your kind are nearly extinct."

While panting, Gohan said, "I'm…not done yet! This fight is far from over!"

Chuckling in a condescending manner, Cooler said, "I was hoping you'd say that. Come, then. Let us continue."

Breathing in and out, Gohan focused his himself and flew at the elder brother of Frieza while never losing those golden yellow irises in his eyes.

With Trunks and Tien

Eight-year-old Trunks Briefs was having a grand ol' time. Fighting robots in the latest Capsule Corp. gaming system had nothing on doing the real thing. Most can say that the adrenaline rush to conquer something with their own power was a Saiyan thing.

But could he truly be blamed for it?

Squads of Robot Soldiers came to splatter Trunks until he was a bloody stain on the pavement of West City. However, all of the efforts of these machines proved to be fruitless. Less than four dozen of Cooler's mechanical foot soldiers were met with punches and kicks that came from hell and ki blasts that annihilated them when targeted at their weak spots.

At that point, the young boy all but forgot his mother's instructions out of the enjoyment of destroying the machines of the Big Gete program.

As he stood on the streets, five Robot Soldiers surrounded Trunks. He grinned, remembering an action movie that he watched that had a scene in a similar scenario that he was in at the very moment.

'Ooo! This is gonna be fun! Maybe I can make a cool moment out of this like in those action movies Mom let me watch every once in a while. …Man, I wish Goten or Marron was here to see this. Oh well, let's do this!' Trunks said as he looked at the largest Robot Soldiers.

"Beep!" The leading Robot Soldier droned.

"Look, pal, the last forty-eight of you are laying all over the place. If those guys couldn't stop me, what makes you think you bolt-brains can do the job?" Trunks verbally jabbed with an arrogant smirk on his face.

"Beep!"

Cleaning his ears, Trunks said, "Cause I beat them one by one? What does have to do with anything? I could have blown all of you dumb-dumbs up with one pinky if I wanted to. Look, this is your last chance to go quietly."

Suddenly, all of the Soldiers turned their metallic claws into barrels that had bullets loaded and pointed at the child.

"Beep!" The largest on droned, with its red light shimmering with murderous intent.

The kid could only sigh as he said, "Ugh… Okay, it's getting late. Just remember, you guys asked for this."

In a split second, before the Robot Soldiers could pull the trigger, Trunks vanished using Rapid Movement. While some of the Robot Soldiers withstood each other's bullets, the leading Soldier took extensive damage from a knee that Trunk delivered, denting the machine before decapitating it with a haymaker. As the other four Robot Soldiers shot at Trunks, the lavender-haired boy used the remaining body of the larger Soldier as a covering. With quick thinking, Trunks found his next target and threw the chassis of the broken Soldier at the second one, then threw a fast ki blast, destroying both objects. The explosion blinded the remaining three Robot Soldiers. But what they didn't expect to see overhead was a bright violet that shimmered.

Trunks floated ten feet above them, clutching his hands together in a position reminiscent of Vegeta when he first came to Planet Earth.

"See ya, chumps! GALIK GUN…" Trunks chanted. "...FIRE!"

Outstretching both of his palms with one hand above the other, the child charged and fired a violet beam that overtook the last three of the third of the Army of Robot Soldiers Cooler distributed. The explosion covered a small area of the street, given how Trunks held back for obvious reasons. Once the smoke cleared, Trunks landed on the ground and observed his handiwork.

Smiling to himself, Trunks smugly said, "I'm the best,"

Meanwhile, debris flew everywhere at the impact of the invisible clashes of Tien and Doore. The clashes of their bout were so intense, the thundering sound upon impact shattered the buildings that surrounded them.

This happened six more times until they were seen again in the middle of the streets.

The Triclops was now on the defensive, guarding punches, weaving around kicks, and catching high knees aimed for his gut.

While pushing Tien backward as he threw strikes at the bald man, Doore tried verbally attacking Tien in order to provoke him.

"a! I 'ave you on 'he ropes now! Why don'' you surrender righ' 'ere an' i'll make sure your dea'h is quick?"

Narrowing his eyes, Tenshinhan growled back, "I'll never yield to the likes of you scum!"

Bringing his hands over his face, Tien used the Solar Flare technique, blinding the large green alien.

Doore screamed in pain.

"Argh! You son ov a whore! righ' in 'he mincers!" The Armored Squadron member screeched as he covered his eyes.

The giant oaf didn't have time to swear in pain as his neck was struck by an open palm strike, courtesy of Tien which prompted the blinded alien to cough up blood.

Next, Tien sprouted another two arms from his upper body, the Triclops unleashed a flurry of blows with excellent precision using the Four Supernatural technique. Ending the chain attack, Tien launched a front kick, sending Doore sprawling skyward.

Breathing, Tenshinhan brought his hands together and shaped it into a diamond as he aimed it in the direction of Doore.

"Say your prayers, monster! SHIN! KIKŌHŌ!"

From the hole of his hand, a large yellow beam shot up to the air, engulfing the subordinate of Cooler in a large explosion.

"NARGHHH!" Doore screamed before he disintegrated.

Tien sighed, allowing his body to briefly be relieved from the tension he felt. Looking at where the school had once stood, the martial artist thought to himself,' You have been avenged.'

Trunks approached Tien while clapping.

"Bravo, Triclops. I'd give that finisher a solid seven out of ten." The son of Vegeta and Bulma said.

Suppressing the urge to snort at the children's cheeky behavior, Tenshinhan got to business and spoke to Trunks.

"I'd take it that you've dealt with those machines with little problem?" The monk questioned.

Trunks folded his hands on the back of his head, stating, "Tch! They're nothing but an army of overgrown trash cans. I had them scrapped easily."

"Okay, did you retrieve any remains and place them in a capsule by any chance?"

The young kid's eyes changed from arrogant and laid back to surprised expression.

Trunks explained, "...Oh. Right. To be honest, I was so caught up trying to be a badass that I kind of forgot about the whole plan with Mom so I may have FUBARED each bot I thrashed. Hehehe…Oops."

Tien sighed, shaking his head at Trunks' antics.

"You are your father's kid…" Tien said. "Alright, Trunks. But next time, you need to listen and follow through with instructions."

Trunks nodded as the two targeted the nearest ki signature of a warrior that was on the Dragon Team, taking off elsewhere.

With Goten, Lazuli (C-18), and Krillin

The sounds of gunfire crackled throughout the streets as bullets were sent flying, targeting a particular half-Saiyan.

That target is the mischievous and agile younger brother of Son Gohan, Son Goten.

The bullets that came from the many dozens of Robot Soldiers that were spread throughout the streets of West City proved to be as useless as a screen door on a submarine as Goten backflipped away, cartwheeled from side to side, and eventually ran past the projectiles that were aimed for him.

"Hahahaha! Missed me!" Goten Chirped, finding the situation amusing and the gunfire as a test for his training with Gohan.

With the Nyoibō in his hand, Goten stormed the streets with the drive to start bringing down his metallic opponents. One Robot Soldier descended to crush the mini-Goku.

Fortunately for Goten, his keen hand-eye coordination and excellent skill for timing allowed him to extend the mystical item and swing the Nyoibō fast enough to send the machine flying.

Three more of these killer robots saw this and started charging at Goten with claws ready to maim the boy. Goten quickly retracted the bō staff as he readied himself with his new "training buddies".

Excited, Goten cheered, "Oh boy! This'll be fun!"

With three Robot Soldiers surrounding the boy in a triangle formation, the battle commenced. All four of them ascended to the air, with the machines throwing swipes, elbows, punches, knees, and kicks at Goten.

Goten used his size and superior speed to weave and deflect against this as he came up with a plan.

Goten pondered, 'Wow, these guys are good! Not as good as my big brother, but still. But I can still see all of their attacks. Hm… I wonder what would Gohan do in a time like this. Ooo! Ooo! I know!'

Upon countering two punches by shielding with both of forearms, Goten made a farting noise using his mouth while sticking out his tongue in a cheeky manner at the Robot Soldier that was in front of him.

"You can't hit me! Nya nya nya nya nya!~" Goten taunted, Making a silly and mocking face.

Enraged the machine increased the frantic nature of his attacks ferociously. Goten however, used this rash behavior to his advantage.

While using the After Image technique, Goten directed each physical attack to not only attack the other two Robot Soldiers but coordinate the short-tempered machine to attack many of the other robots in close proximity to him.

Whenever Goten was flying around a group that targeted him with their cannons, he used the afterimage to give the machines the slip and they'd get blasted by the Soldier tailing Goten. While landing on a vehicle and waving at another robot, that random machine gets bombed to scrap his pursuer on sight. Or simply running through the streets while leaving a trail of afterimages, the half-Saiyan's angry metallic opponents blown through every last one of his allies with that red light on his face burning in anger.

By the time Goten stopped running and stood to face his opponent, he sported the biggest grin on his face while the Robot shook in anger.

"Beep!" The Robot Soldier droned, itching to kill Goten.

"Wow, mister robot! You're crazy strong when you get mad! But I didn't think you'd get so mad that you'd want to beat your own friends too." Expressed the half-Saiyan as he spread his arms all around to emphasize the street's lack of metallic patrols.

When hearing this, the remaining Robot realized his mistake upon looking at what it's done. Due to this, it quickly sent a request protocol for reinforcements from the main program's computer back in Cooler's ship.

Seeing this as an opportunity, Goten used his weapon and enhanced it with ki. By doing so, he smashed the Robot Soldier with a single vertical strike from overhead.

"That was awesome!" Goten cheered, pumping his fist in the air. Too bad that went by fast. I didn't even get to use any ki techniques yet. Not that Gohan taught me any yet, but I've him and Trunks do it all the time. If only there were more of these robots…"

Another five dozen metallic foot soldiers appeared in the streets with the urge to kill Goten.

The boy's face instantly lit back up at the sight.

The boy squealed in delight, "Eee!"

Not too far from Goten, C-18 and Krillin were double-teaming Nezu, who was focused on C-18 as his main opposition.

The amphibian-like alien went for an elbow to her ribcage, but she grabbed it and kicked Nezu's face in mid-air. Growling, C-18 took a punch to the right cheek and to the solar plexus, causing her to wheeze. The alien was aiming to shoot C-18 with a ki blast in order to end her. Thankfully, Krillin came in as support by an age kick so hard, it forced Nezu's head to retreat inward to his body.

The couple backed away, looking at their handiwork, only for them to witness Nezu's head pop back out of his body like a gopher.

Krillin grimaced, saying, "Yikes," at the sight.

"...Disgusting," The woman spat.

"This guy's more trouble than we expected. And I thought that the Ginyu Force were weird." Krillin commented seriously.

C-18 simply assured, "We've both been through worse. This isn't anything big enough for the both of us to handle."

Turning to his wife, the former monk asked, "Hm? You got a plan, hun?"

Smirking, C-18 stated, "Let me roughen this thing up. When the time is right, go for the finishing blow."

Krillin nodded and fell back, giving his wife the space to face Nezu.

As streams of lights, C-18 and Nezu clashed at each other at high speeds, colliding with each other six times.

Reappearing, Nezu tried to throw a roundhouse kick only for C-18 to block with her forearm and kneed the alien in the shin. Then, she smirked and sent a devastating kick to Nezu's right arm, breaking it.

Nezu screeched in pain, clutching his arm.

"It seems that I've broken something. Shame… I was aiming to shatter your ribcage." Snarked the blonde.

Seeing red when turning to C-18, he charged purple ki that surged from his good arm and shot it at the woman like electricity, shocking her in the process.

C-18 shrieked at this, spazzing out for a moment out of agony from the ki attack.

"Lazuli, no!" Krillin cried out to his wife.

Just as Krillin went to aid his wife, C-18 regained her composure as the electrical started to be channeled and eventually absorbed the energy from the blast into herself, raising her Battle Power.

Nezu gasped, muttering incomprehensible questions that translated to "How? That should have killed you! How is this Earthling sow still alive!?"

With a sharp breath, C-18 brushed her blond bang from off the side of her face as she said, "...I'm going to enjoy this."

Moving in a blur, C-18 struck dozens of punches, with each impact of the hit being compared to a sledgehammer, drawing blood from Nezu's face. C-18 ended her takedown by landing a brutal uppercut which sent Nezu flying upwards.

"Now, Krillin!"

Appearing meters above Nezu, the short man sent a roundhouse kick from the air down at Nezu's head, causing the Armored Squadron member to fly towards the ground. But before Nezu could do so, brought up his hand and condensed his energy into a yellow sharp saucer.

"Take this, KIENZAN!"

Throwing the technique, Nezu didn't realize that the breath he had taken gasping in pain would be his last as his body was cut in half by Krillin's signature technique. After that, the usually clumsy warrior had tossed a ki blast for good measure, blowing Nezu into smithereens.

C-18 had landed where her husband was, smiling at the man's handiwork.

"Not bad. It seems that you haven't been slacking off as much as I thought." Lazuli mused.

Krillin scratched the back of his head, saying, "Hehehe! Well, I am a police officer. I have to stay in shape. Besides, with crooks running around like rabid dogs, I have to be prepared for anything."

C-18 nodded, then turned to see flying robot parts in the direction of Goten. Krillin saw this as well, then smirked with nostalgia in his mind.

Krillin sighed while folding his arms, "Man, I swear that kid is becoming more like his old man each time I see him. …Should we stop him?"

C-18, while pulling out an old DynoCap, said, "No, let him have his fun. I'm pretty sure his mother keeps him tethered enough given what Gohan-chan had to go through as a child. But it's like you said, Krillin, Goten-chan is more like his father than his older brother. As a demi-alien who is bred from two warriors, he needs this."

Krillin nodded, agreeing with his wife, who found a Robot Soldiers remains and placed it in a capsule in order for Goten to simply have a good time.

Retreating inward, Krillin thought to himself, 'Hang in there, Gohan!'

And like that, the Taeru couple flew towards Goten's direction to support him.

Back to Cooler and Gohan

Gohan knew the cost of being the protector of the planet. He understood that even as a child. Back when Goku was alive. Gohan had watched that man shoulder the burdens and harshness of the world and pushed forward despite its harshness. From the invading Saiyans to the tyranny of Frieza on Namek, up until his sacrifice.

Goku had struggled and overcame each obstacle, with himself playing a major key role for his son to finish the last trial in his place. So, Gohan had very well understood what it meant to put on his father's shoes.

Nobody ever said it was easy to fill them.

Rock formations, the occasional tree, and parts of the ground shattered and crumbled

at the might of the two forces colliding with each other.

Reappearing, Gohan was clotheslined into another plateau, which he recovered by flipping as he slid on his heels.

Gohan rushed forward, throwing a leg at the eldest son of King Cold's chin.

Cooler took the attack head-on, not even budging at the force behind the attack.

"Such redundancy," Cooler mused, outstretching his arms as if he's presenting something. "It's unbecoming of a warrior, and a Saiyan at that. Where's the versatility?"

'He's right! None of my physical attacks are grazing him in the slightest! I better try something else instead of hitting him hard!' Gohan mentally gritted.

Scowling, Gohan moved twenty feet away and above Cooler using Rapid Movement.

Looking up, Cooler thought to himself, 'Now, what kind of tricks is this Saiyan monkey up to this time?'

Borrowing a page from Vegeta's books, Gohan sent a volley of blue ki blasts at Cooler, who immediately began to fly towards his opponent.

The elder brother of Frieza snorted at the useless attacks, pointing a single finger that shot a small burst of violet energy. The blast that Cooler created tanked all of the volleys Gohan shot, creating an explosion.

Little did Cooler know, that was a distraction. By the time Cooler saw that Gohan's position shifted and he turned around looking upwards, the teenager had a halfway-charged Masenko ready for him.

Cooler for a split second narrowed his eyes with anticipation, saying 'Oh, this is going to be good!'

"HAAA!" Gohan bellowed, firing the blast that was in the same class as Master Roshi's Kamehameha Wave.

But what Cooler did after he fired the beam shook him to his very core. The son of King Cold not only flew towards the beam, but he flew through the beam and grabbed the half-Saiyan like his head was a ball.

Then he kneed Gohan in the midsection and tossed his body downwards into another nearby plateau.

Gohan, being as stubborn as his father in trying times, recovered and landed safely on top of the rock formation, panting like crazy.

'I thought Frieza and Cell were tough, but this guy…his power is unreal! Not only is he as durable as his brother, but he's more powerful than when Cell regenerated.' Gohan thought analytically. 'I need to find a way to get close enough to land a strong attack.'

Cooler landed on the ground of the plateau, towering over the bruised and beaten, yet still standing Gohan.

"Bravo, monkey. You're standing, even after all of that punishment. I haven't had this much amusement in decades." Cooler clapped half mockingly while still genuinely impressed at Gohan's resistance in combat.

Wiping the blood off his face, Gohan responded by saying, "Good to know. I hate to admit it, but you're by far the strongest opponent I've ever faced in my life. Definitely stronger than Frieza was back on Namek."

"That is to be expected. He never trained in a day of his life!" Cooler spat before a wave of curiosity washed over him. "Though, your knowledge of such events piques my curiosity. How is it that you know of my brother's power by the back of your hand?"

"Oh, that?" Gohan understood. "I was there when it happened as a child. A few friends and I came to Namek on a mission. But that mission came to clash with Frieza's ambitions. When he couldn't get what he wanted, we ended up having to fight him. I fought him while he was in his second and third form. Was I outmatched in the end? Absolutely. But my father took our place in the fight. And he eventually defeated Frieza."

Cooler stared into the Saiyan's hardened eyes, not detecting a single sense of lying from them. Seeing that, Cooler nodded, acknowledging the information given to him as fact. He knew what kind of person Frieza was, so it made perfect sense to the elder brother how his younger brother was bested.

"I see… Interesting." Cooler said while thinking to himself.

'He still isn't budging. This son of Goku is quite stubborn. It reminds me of that Bardock character Salza told me about...What is it going to take to unleash that power of his? It's well suppressed, but I know it's there.'

While Cooler was pondering, Gohan was busy thinking to himself.

'I need to stay on guard and figure out a way for me to keep up with his Instant Transmission. If I can do that, I may be able to stand a chance.'

"Very well," Cooler announced, floating up in the air as Gohan followed. "Since I'm in a generous mood, I suppose I can give you time to breathe before we continue. How about we make this fight more…interesting?"

Gohan mentally groaned while he impassively said, "Go on."

"For the next five minutes, I will not attack with my hands or feet. In the duration of this trial, I'll let you land as many attacks as you want. And that's if you can bridge the gap."

Gohan, narrowing his eyes in suspicion, asked, "What kind of game are you playing at, Cooler?"

"This is no game, boy. I'm giving you a chance at a freebie. If it helps, you can think of this as a sort of spar. From what I have gathered as of now, you seemed to have been lacking in an important element in combat." Cooler said while folding his arms to his chest.

Gohan raised an eyebrow, he asked, "Oh, yeah? And what's that–ARGH!"

The teen was then punched in the gut by Cooler, who had instantly warped to the boy's location.

"...Dodging." Cooler said as he placed one of his index and middle fingers on his forehead. "Your five minutes begins…now."

The older brother of Frieza disappeared into the Teleportation Zone.

Gohan looked around, keeping his guard up.

"Okay, where is he now?"

Suddenly, Gohan was struck behind in the back by a small Death Beam, courtesy of a smug-faced Cooler adjacent to him.

Gohan hissed, feeling the burning sensation on his lower back as the villain chucked.

"You lying son of a-!"

Cooler cut him off by explaining, "-Tsk, tsk. I specifically stated that my hands and feet are off-limits. I've never that I wouldn't attack you at all."

The superhero had to stop and think about it. Once he understood the terms, he could only sigh as he thought, '...After all these years and I still have trouble with the basics. Dende, I hope Piccolo doesn't find out about this or he'd be very disappointed.'

While Cooler vanished, Gohan could hear "Tick, tock, monkey!~"

Tensing up, Gohan got back on his low defensive stance. As the seconds went by, several Death Beams and the occasional Darkness Eye Beam at the Saiyan, who either evaded or deflected them. This, however, wasted half of his time, focusing on evading instead of landing a blow on Cooler.

Mentally, Gohan growled at the situation.

'Shit! All I'm doing is weaving and dodging! At this rate, Cooler's going to get tired of this charade. And if he's anything like Frieza, things will go down South quickly! Damn it, it feels like he's trying to toy with me with that look on his face! GRRR!'

As Gohan began to get worked up, a familiar electric spark surged through him that he hadn't felt in seven years. The boy instantly stopped all thoughts when that power crept back, Gohan, now aware of that spike, took a deep breath to calm himself down again.

"Keep it together, Gohan. The planet is at stake. There's no time to lose yourself," He whispered to himself.

Cooler, while in the Teleportation Zone, felt that surge of power emanating from his younger foe and marveled at it.

Cooler said alone, "...That spike of power! It was…immense! And it was for a split second, but his eyes changed to teal as his father did in that vision. So, he can do it too. Now I have something to work towards!"

Death Beams that came from behind or above him were aimed at his limbs. Gohan gracefully cartwheeled and jumped away from the blasts as he continued to contemplate his opponent's movement.

'Cooler's got a greater mastery of that technique than Dad does. And had it since I was a little kid. But, this shouldn't be impossible to track his movement down.' Gohan said, as he kept twisting and turning to avoid ki blasts from his opponent.

'I've seen Dad use it all the time. He even explained the move to me back when he came back from Yardrat. Dad always did say that the key to Instant Transmission was to lock on a person's… Wait, that's it!'

Gohan, preparing himself to make his move, closed his eyes and began to sense out Cooler's ki.

"Okay…Here goes nothing. …Instant Transmission!"

Suddenly, Gohan felt himself being whisked into the Teleportation Zone. From there, the atmosphere looked to be seen as a void beyond time and space. As he moved into this space, the half-Saiyan found Cooler preparing to locate Gohan. So upon concentrating and turning to the side, Cooler could only gape through his mask in shock as he took an earth-shattering punch filled with the energy of a borderline Super Saiyan Gohan.

Upon being knocked out of the Teleportation Zone, Cooler fell thirty feet before crashing on the ground. He tasted blood that was drawn from the punch of the teenager.

'W-What just happened!? My head is spinning and my face is throbbing in pain!' Cooler staggered mentally, struggling to stand up for a few seconds.

"Ugh…H-How? W-What happened?" Cooler asked aloud, clutching his forehead.

"I happened."

Standing up, Cooler glanced at Gohan, who remained firmly on the ground and stared down the elder brother of Frieza.

"...You. You!" Cooler growled while still baffled at what happened. "There's no way that you could have possibly laid a hand on me. Not while I was using-"

"Instant Transmission. A Yadratian technique that utilizes the ability to translocate the user to a person's coordinates by tracking their ki signature. Right?"

That sentence shook the former son of King Cold's core. Not wanting to be seen caught lacking, Cooler composed himself but glared at his younger foe.

"...I wasn't aware you were familiar with Yardrat, let alone one of its many peculiar techniques." Cooler restored impassively.

Gohan smirked as he explained, "Well, let's just say that my father took a detour before he came back home from his spat with Frieza. And besides, it's as I said earlier…"

Gohan then placed two fingers on his forehead with his right hand, mimicking his father all those years ago.

"...I am my father's son."

Cooler, staring at Gohan, saw a change in the young man's demeanor. It screamed confidence, certainty, and pride. This intrigued the conqueror further. Although he remembered the agreement, his curiosity about the Super Saiyan overtook his overall objective. Witnessing Gohan's hidden power was his top priority. And Cooler wouldn't rest until he see it in its entirety.

Pulling himself together and with the return of his charisma, Cooler mused, "Hohoho! I do believe that I detect a sense of Saiyan pride! Though, I suppose it's warranted. You've somehow intercepted and countered my favorite technique by learning it on the fly."

Cooler cracked his neck as he continued, "That punch from before, I felt it through this mask. …I haven't tasted my blood in nearly a century. And if I'm right about you, there's more to you than you let on."

Finishing this, Cooler began to power up to fifty percent of his maximum Battle Power, causing the teenage half-Saiyan to brace himself.

"Now… let us stop this prattling and get serious!" Cooler spurred.

To Be Continued…

The battle for Planet Earth continues as the Dragon Team progresses forward with Bulma's plan. Thanks to the memories of his fallen father Goku, Gohan has learned the Instant Transmission. With the playing field now even, Gohan prepares to continue his fight with his adversary. But what will transpire out of their bout? Will the killswitch for the Robot Soldiers be completed in time? And what of Piccolo and Videl's progression during everybody else's contribution? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Z: PRIMAL!

Author's Note: Woah! It's been way too long. Why? Well, I've got a life, responsibilities, and I've been working on SONIC: RESURGENCE (which will have an update soon). Another reason why I haven't updated here was because of what was going on with Toei and Youtubers such as Totally Not Mark. While I was boycotting Toei for their nonsense, it killed my vibe to continue the story during that time.

But, I'm back now. And I aim to finish this arc. I'm not promising a consistent updating schedule, I am trying to dedicate myself to press on with my story. I am open to suggestions, criticism, and comments. Any way that I can better myself as a writer, I'm open to it.

Please, let me know what was your favorite part of this chapter, your favorite character, and what and who you would like to see more of.

I'll catch you guys later!

-DarkShadowGames451