Yo! Son Goku and friends! The Frieza Saga (Prologue)
Goku
"That was Frieza, right!?" Goku yelled loudly to the rest of the crew.
"I… Uh…" Raditz had a hard time articulating, stumbling over his words.
"Well who the hell else could it be!?" Tien interjected. "Whoever it was just blew up a whole planet! That was insane!"
Piccolo closed his eyes in thought, crossing his arms. Krillin, Yamcha, and the others paced around in the ship frantically.
"Wasn't it!?"
"Yes! I think so. I've never seen a planet destroyed before. I always thought Lord Frieza was jesting but. It stands to reason that it could have been him."
"It was ki."
"..."
"I could barely feel it when we were in the throne room but that had to have been ki, otherwise I couldn't have sensed it."
Raditz swallowed harshly as he maintained fierce eye contact with The Demon.
"That blast was so intense I could feel him charging the energy from outer space. If that was what Lord Frieza is capable of, we've got our work cut out for us."
Krillin and Yamcha spared nervous glances at each other before looking back out into the not-so-empty ashy and rubble-filled galaxy.
"This is proof! Frieza is strong enough to destroy planets! You said he enslaved more than just the Saiyans!"
"Brother…"
"We can't let this continue!"
"We're not strong enough."
"Planet Vegeta is our homeworld, don't you care!?"
There was a palpable intensity in the air.
"I have nothing but painful memories living on a planet where no one treated me with respect, Earth is my home."
Goku jumped on his brother and embraced him in a tight hug. It put everyone in kind of a strange mood, lifting the tension awkwardly.
"But…" Goku took his hands off and looked at his kin.
"I know, Kakarot. I just… the magnitude of his power is not beatable. Not by us. We can't do it!"
Yamcha kept his left palm locked onto the window of the ship as he listened in.
"It takes so much effort just to get out of bed, ya know?"
The Wolf balled his right fist tightly and closed his eyes in thought.
"Raditz!"
"..!?"
Yamcha pointed a declarative pointer finger at The Saiyan, drawing the attention of the whole ship.
"The reason Goku was always stronger than me was because of this!"
"What?"
"If you cave to the challenge, you'll never know what you'll be capable of! Who was that guy we saw on Namek..?"
"Cooler." Krillin answered quickly, backfisting Yamcha's chest.
"That's right, Cooler!" The Wolf maintained his sharp posture and index finger.
Raditz' eyes widened.
"Maybe we're not strong enough, but if he's really Frieza's brother maybe he can put up a fight!"
"Yes!" Raditz screamed. The volume was so intense it echoed throughout the metal halls of the ship. "Not bad, 4 for 5!"
Krillin nodded, getting hype.
"Good thinking, Yamcha."
"Suppose we get that Mongrel to come help us out, I heard someone call the other Frieza over the speakers in the throne room. I never heard Frieza's actual voice. We'd have to fight two, not just one."
Piccolo's delivery iced the room.
"Damn…" Raditz balled his fist tightly.
"It's worth a shot."
"Brother…"
"If he's not strong enough on his own to defeat those two that means we'll just have to pitch in."
Emperor Cold and those of The Cold Throne grow battle power inherently. Saiyans and Namekians are strong but they have to fight, they can't grow strength from nothing whereas Emperor Cold and Lord Frieza can. Emperor Cold's battle power has risen from 700,000 clean from when Raditz was 16 to 730,000. Emperor Cold has gained more battle power sitting on his ass than the Z Fighters have ever gotten in their entire life. The Z Fighters would lose immediately. No contest, no power boost, no nothing. Just lose, a brutal and unsatisfying slaughter.
"Good, I've had enough of your storybook telling of their low-level pittance of a journey."
"There are several rooms in this castle, Beerus. I'm beginning to think you like these guys seeing as you're always in the same room as me when I start up each session."
"Eat my ass."
"Ah-hem."
Raditz breathed out a deep sigh and nodded.
"Bulma!"
She looked back at The Saiyan from the cockpit.
"Get us to Namek, we're taking a detour."
The scarred blue haired executive shook her head and scoffed with a smile.
"It's never that easy with you guys."
"And?"
"We've spent 6 months in space and we're probably gonna spend more than a year out here now, we're just lucky Namek is on the way home. Alright…"
She pressed a bunch of buttons on the console before resting her hand daintily over a lever.
"Ready whenever you are."
"I'm getting excited!" Goku shouted cheerily, arms raised.
Bulma gassed and soon enough, they were no more.
Cooler
The purple tailed brother of Lord Frieza waited patiently with arms crossed on the bay next to flowing green water from a waterfall stream.
Klululululululululululululululululululululu~
Cooler raised his right brow in intrigue, still maintaining his closed off body language.
"Is that..? No way, I think those two Earthlings and that Saiyan are back."
Cooler opened up, looking at the green sky up above and sure enough, a large space ship descended upon the blue grassed planet. The son of Emperor Cold walked forward gallantly, taking deliberate strides as the wind kicked up all around him. Goku jumped out ahead of everyone, landing on the blue grass with a front roll.
"Hiya!"
Cooler brought his left hand to his mouth and chuckled.
"Ah-hah~ hello there."
"My name's Son Goku! Nice to meet you! Do you happen to know a guy named Cooler!?"
"No, I don't know him."
"Oh well, sorry to bother you."
"I am him."
Goku stopped mid-turn to look back at Cooler.
"Great! Huh-Hah!"
The younger brother jogged forward spiritedly and presented a handshake which Cooler accepted with grace.
"Nice to meet you, Son Goku."
"You too!"
As the pair conversed, others started to exit the ship; namely Raditz, Piccolo, and Krillin. Yamcha and Tien elected to stay behind with the others.
"Ahh~ you're friends with the Earthlings. I remember those two."
Goku looked back to see Piccolo, his brother, and Krillin.
"Howdy!"
Cooler nodded to Krillin and looked Raditz up and down with bubbles of suspicion.
"You want something from me… don't you?"
Raditz sweat it out harshly before stepping forward.
"I… we…" He looked to Kakarot. "We need your help."
"Do tell."
Goku stepped in, meeting eye to eye with the man.
"Frieza just blew up the Saiyan homeworld, we want your help to stop him from going any further and destroying any more planets."
"You're serious~" Cooler's tail jived and curled up intensely. His focus struggled to keep contact with Goku's eyes, gritting his teeth tight.
Goku pressed the issue, not by saying anything but by stepping forward even closer and sharpening his eye contact. Cooler caved, turning down and away to look at the shimmering green water.
"I've thought about it many times, even before I left."
Piccolo furrowed his brow, dipping down and putting his hand in the water.
"But… you must understand, I can't challenge The Cold Estate by myself. I can only challenge my brother. If I were to challenge father it would be a complete and utter disaster."
Raditz nodded his head.
"However…"
Goku wore that same cheesy smile as always.
"Father is a strange man. I'm willing to bet he'd disband the whole Cold Estate if I were to somehow steal Frieza away from him."
"What?"
Goku tightened his fist.
"Great! I didn't want to kill Frieza anyway! I just don't want any more people to get hurt."
Cooler spared an inquisitive glance at Raditz.
"Are you not a Saiyan?"
"I am."
"Would you not take total revenge on your homeworld's destroyer?"
"No."
Cooler shifted his body language to match up with the long haired man, tucking his right hand under his chin in thought.
"How can I trust this judgement?"
Everyone there raised a brow at the question, Raditz answered.
"Planet Vegeta and The Cold Estate are full of nothing but feelings of regret, neglect, and defeat. I don't really think I'm going to miss it to be honest." Raditz looked over to his brother. "I think I've got all I need with these weirdos."
"Ah-hah!" Cooler laughed with joy. "Can I trust you then?"
"On what terms?"
"I wish to take my brother away from The Cold Estate diplomatically, no fighting, no assassination, none of that. Can I trust that you'll let me make the moves?" Cooler shifted his sharp eye contact with Raditz and gave the whole group a once over.
"You bet!" Goku responded as happy as could be, thumbs up.
"Shoot." Krillin rubbed the back of his bald head. "I don't think it's the worst idea we've ever had… Piccolo?"
"Preferably if we're intent on following Son Goku's lead, we wouldn't fight a monster so clearly out of our league. If this is the path to defeating Frieza, then it sounds better than running in and getting killed immediately."
"..."
Cooler smirked and sharpened his eye contact with Raditz.
"Sounds good. I wouldn't even attempt something so foolish if Kakarot wasn't hopping on our heads about it."
"What do you mean?"
Krillin laughed pretty loudly.
"Goku's always jumped in head first before he even saw what he was jumping at, I'm just used to it at this point."
"I would say that Mongrel's dumb as rocks but he got us this far. I don't think a true idiot could do that."
"Huh-Hah!"
"It's settled then?"
Everyone gave a 'yes' with their movements and body language.
"Could we do it today then?"
"What!?" Krillin and Raditz instinctively shouted in time.
Cooler laughed with gusto as his tail jived back and forth.
"I can use long reaching telepathy. The elders started teaching me long ago."
Telepathy and by extension, Ki Sensing is easiest to use on kin. Since Lord Frieza and Emperor Cold are already insanely strong and Cooler's kin his Telepathy can reach out insanely far.
"These guys are something else…" Piccolo rumintated with crossed arms as he saw Cooler put his hands together in prayer. "I can just tell~" The Demon sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing and got back something monstrous.
Cooler smirked as he felt the pang right next to him.
"I am the weakest, you know." The son of Emperor Cold shot back through The Demon's mind.
"What?"
"Both my brother and father are stronger than I am." Cooler cleared his throat and spoke loudly to the group. "I am at rest, at your battle power, should worse come to worst I suggest you Do Not use Ki Sensing."
"What do you~"
Cooler interrupted Krillin quickly.
"Beings such as yourself are not really equipped to sense for ki of our magnitude. I am not saying this to brag and this is not a jest, if we fight you all should only use your eyes to follow us."
Piccolo furrowed his brow and interjected adamantly.
"That's two times now, do you expect to fight Frieza? I thought you were doing this diplomatically."
"We are, but ehh~"
Cooler put his left index finger on his temple, pushing it in and massaging the area.
"I'm not liking our odds of pure diplomacy."
Everyone had eyes on Cooler as he swallowed harshly and finally sent out communications.
"Frieza, can you hear me?"
"..."
"It's been a long time, little brother, I'd like to see you again."
"..."
"..."
"Cooler?"
"I'm right here, brother."
"What do you want, traitor?"
"I just want to talk. Telepathy isn't enough, I'd like to see you in person."
"...You think I'd talk to you when you abandoned m~... us?"
Frieza was still but a child when Cooler left The Cold Estate. Only 14 years old.
"I should have done the right thing and taken you with me, but in my foolishness I left you in his grasp. In the back of my mind I just assumed father would kill both of us. I honestly never expected to get past the stratosphere. Living for as long as I have was totally not what I expected at all."
Frieza was back in the Command Centre, staring out into the stars through the glassy orb. Salza looked on with intrigue as his lord was clearly intense at this juncture.
"I was willing to die instead of those who would die by our hand. If that was the price to pay, so be it. But I didn't want to make you pay the price with me."
Frieza balled his fists tightly and his eyes glazed over in seething rage.
"You left us to pick up the pieces because your idea of rule is different from ours."
"I know it's not your idea of rule either."
"Where... Are... You?"
"I am on Planet Namek. That's in North Galaxy Sector 3."
"I'm not coming there to talk with you, I'm coming there to kill you for daring to speak so foolishly after You abandoned Us. You don't get to take the moral high ground if you run away."
"I see."
"You better not run away, Again."
"I'm sorry."
Cooler breathed a heavy and contemplative sigh.
"How'd it go?" Goku asked with that high energy, chipper demeanor as always.
"Ah-heh-hah. Terribly." The brother of Frieza responded with a smile.
"That means…" Krillin looked to the blue grass and khaki dirt with a shaky right hand.
"Yes. Hmph-heh. I'm not sure I'll be able to win on my own, but I must ask you to stay out of it all the same."
"But."
"Son Goku."
"Yeah?"
"I don't want to drag anyone else into a family quarrel. This is between me and him… besides, if you got in the way, Frieza could kill you without even looking. There is a severe power gap between us and you. I cannot stress this enough."
"But!"
Cooler put his hand over Goku's chest empathetically.
"I can tell you're a good guy, and that's why you want to help. But that's also why I must ask that you don't. You're too pure a person to die such a silly and preventable death."
Goku and the son of Emperor Cold stared into each other's eyes for a long time.
"Do I have your word, Son Goku?"
"..."
"Kakarot."
"But if he's in danger I want to help him."
"Getting out of the way is helping, Goku." Krillin grabbed harshly onto his friend's shoulder.
Tien and Yamcha dropped onto the grass, as did Bulma, Launch, and the sisters.
"What's going on!?"
"Cooler is gonna fight Frieza!"
"What!? Awesome!"
Cooler spared a melancholic glance at The Wolf before returning his gaze back to the shimmering green water.
Frieza
"Salza!"
"Yes Lor Frieza?"
"I'm going out. Don't tell father and no one's coming with me."
"Ye~yes Lor Frieza." Salza got out in a lame whimper as the slender lord walked through the archway and vanished down the halls, a palpable aura seemed to guide Salza's steps out of the way.
Lord Frieza gallantly strided out into the hallway, small trickles of electricity radiating off of his tightly packed frame. His brow told of murder as his steps caused dips and warps in the white tile of the floor. Frieza walked out into the elevator and took his right hand to his mouth, letting out an emphatic cough that bent the glass as he descended.
"Eh~HEMM!"
VWUU~
The elevator dinged and as the lord walked out into the lobby area, passersby had their scouters explode.
Every single one of them.
Pof! Bom! Skof!
"Dah~"
"Ugh…"
"Lord Frieza!" They saluted, blood and burn marks etched around their ears.
The many differing alien creatures kept their gaze locked on Lord Frieza. Swallowing under the great pressure he caused.
"Calm down~" He attempted to quell the fury as he stepped through the sliding door.
KRSHHH!
It shattered as it opened up for him, raining shards all around the entrance way and carpet.
"Sorry Lord Frieza!" One of the receptionists called out. "We~ w~ We'll have that fixed right away-heh-heh!"
Lord Frieza walked out into the courtyard, everyone stepping aside and hitting their best salute they could possibly conjure.
"Lord Frieza!"
The slender lord finally stood face to face with one of his men, looking him dead in the eyes.
"I'm gonna die, aren't I? I lived an okay life. I didn't have to go out on the front lines like everyone else. If this is it, I get to claim Lord Frieza was the only one man enough to kill me… DO IT YOU BASTARD!"
"Ahum!"
"Yes, Lord Frieza?"
"Where are the Saiyan pods located?"
"Oh uhh~ We certainly have a surplus for you sir-hah! Seeing as their aren't too many Saiyans left to uhh~"
"I didn't ask for you to give me the run-around. Where Are They?"
"Hangar to the left, sir!" He pointed dramatically with his left hand.
Lord Frieza put his hand on the blue man's shoulder pauldron. The blue man sweat it out like no tomorrow, his white mustache quivering in fear. He closed his eyes in anticipation.
Tp. Tmp. Tup. Dmp. Dp.
Nothing happened.
The man opened his eyes and looked at the small white figure walking towards:
Hangar B
"I- I lived…" He opened and closed his hands. "I really lived…"
Lord Frieza stepped in front of the large hangar doors, everyone in and around the place totally perplexed until their small white lord gestured with his left hand, pulling one of the pods like it was on an invisible string. Soon enough Lord Frieza caught the decent size orb in his hand and threw it near the blue man with a mustache.
DOMPP!
"Yahcuch!" He yelped awkwardly as it barely missed him.
"How do I fire it up?"
"Oh~uhh~ You need to put it on one of the launching apparatuses over there." He pointed the back of his thumb at what looked to be some sort of spring-based device.
Frieza just shot the man a cursory glance.
"Oh! Follow me! I'll help you."
Frieza picked up the pod with his telekinesis once again and walked it over.
"So uhh~"
DWOMP!
"Yeah." He scratched his head as his lord put the pod on the spring. "So you lay it down."
The man hit something on the side of the pod which forced it open.
"This is the remote if you need to call it or have it do something."
Frieza spared a quick glance.
"It has all the places we've mapped out so if you don't want to put in the coordinates you can just choose one of the planets. Well… uh… if it's in our databases."
"Is Namek on there?"
"..."
"..."
"Looks like it."
Be-Bee!
"Oh~" He shot a glance and then winced. "That's where you wanted to go… right?"
"Yes. Good job."
"Whew~ Alright. All that's left is that you climb in, relax and press that red button on the left side of the console. The blue button on the right sets the sleeping gas and you can configure the potency with a couple taps on the console."
Frieza piled into the ship, his long white tail coiling up behind him like an arm rest.
"I don't have all day."
"Ye-Yes, Lord Frieza!"
The man slammed the hatch door shut and provided a shaky thumbs up. Frieza jammed the red button on the console and tore off into the sky, knocking the blue man on his ass.
VYYUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu~
"Huh- That's crazy. He was pissed and I still lived. That's like. Impressive"
The white lord looked out into the stars, casting one quick glance at the console's estimated time of arrival before closing them in thought, his tail squirming once more.
Frieza recalls his early years as just a kid.
"Hahaha~" Frieza giggled with the genuineness only a child can. "Found you!"
"Yes yes." Cooler replied, crawling out of the hole and standing up to his full height. "Now it's your turn. You get two minutes."
"Two minutes? You only had..." Frieza's eyes looked like they could hold worlds as he counted on his fingers. "10 seconds!" He held up both hands. "Why do I get two minutes?"
"I can use Ki Sensing like father."
"Whoa~"
"I'll find you easy if I use it though so I'm only gonna use it as a last resort."
"Uh-uhh! You won't find me even if you cheat!"
"Bold statement. Now hurry up." Cooler patted his small brother on the back, forcing him to run off, darting past the guards and running into the tree line.
"Mlem!" Frieza stuck his tongue out and blew a raspberry as he disappeared behind the brush.
Cooler let out a laugh-breath, shaking his head with a smile coaxed out of him by the purity.
The older brother put his head against the tree, closing his eyes and beginning his count.
"117… 118… 119-120!"
Cooler turned around with a bright smile
"Well… Where do we begin?"
The trees were absolutely gorgeous, lit by the golden glitter of a morning sun that can't be gotten anywhere else. He stepped carefully around the stream, hopping along the rocks and laughing to himself like an idiot.
"Now… If I know any better I'd think he'd probably be hiding somewhere with a nice view." Cooler ponificated.
The distinctly short purple adolescent perused the bushes, the trees, upturned rocks.
"Well I mean… It's not like I actually expected him to be under here."
WHOMPP!
After a long while of walking through the green glade, Cooler came across a drop-off. The stream reaching the apex of the cliff and thus forming a waterfall. The stream was pretty wide and as such creating a bombardment to the senses when close enough.
"Come on, Frieza! I know you're there! There's no way you'd pass this view up!"
KSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~
"Ahh~ forget it."
KSHHH"hel"SHHHHHHHH!
"Hmm?" Cooler raised a brow and looked back over the cliff.
KSHHHHHHHHHHHH~
"Must have been nothin-"
"Hel-"KSHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
"Frieza!?"
The older brother flew off the cliff, skipping along the air to find out what the noise was. He sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing to check.
"Ahhh~ Thank goodness. Ah-heh."
"Cooler!" Frieza whined as he saw his older brother float on the air in front of the small cave-in.
After a moment's laughter Cooler looked and saw real distress on his younger brother's face.
Frieza had been swept away in the stream and left to sulk in a little cave overlooking the rest of the waterfall. The only way out was up with flight or dropping down into the abyss of water miles below.
"Are you okay?"
"I~ I thought." Frieza was waylaid by tears and snot, uncleanly. The way only little kids can be.
Cooler knelt down next to him, putting his arms around the boy's purple gem shoulders.
"I thought I was gonna fall~heh-hehhh~"
Cooler let out a chuckle and closed his eyes.
"It's okay." He hugged his baby brother tight. "I'm right here, Frieza."
Frieza cried and hugged him back tight. The waterfall parted for only a moment in a bit of lag from the stream, revealing the many white moons and planets in the distance.
KSH-Ksh-KSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~
Cooler
Goku and the crew had been waiting on Planet Namek for three days, awaiting Lord Frieza's arrival.
Piccolo stood tall on a mountaintop, overlooking the rest of the landscape of harsh blues and tranquil greens, his white cape fluttering softly in the wind. Yamcha and Krillin sparred on the grassy earth, kicking up a bit of dust in their light practice. Goku was swimming with the girls, laughing like a toddler.
"Why'd you bring swim trunks!? Huh-Hah!"
"You never know! Capsules make it so easy to overprepare and not even worry about it!"
"Nice!" Goku replied as he dunked into the water and started lurking the watery depths below them, all sorts of sprawling caverns.
"Take that!" Launch yelled as she splashed her man.
Tien said nothing, just laughing and smiling as he floated around in the water.
Raditz walked up with Cooler behind The Demon.
"Are you stressed, Green Man?" He prodded with a cocky grin.
Cooler let out a laugh-breath and shook his head as he stood in a line with the other two men.
"If no one else is gonna do it, I'm gonna make sure to keep a lookout."
"Piccolo."
"Hmm?"
"You're not in danger, he's coming to kill me. And he's here."
"What!?"
Just as Cooler said that, a gigantic red spark shot out from across the green sky.
VYYYYYYYEEEEEEEEEEEE~
"He's here!" Piccolo shot out telepathically as fast as he could.
Yamcha and Krillin looked on in awe as the red line impacted the earth just in front of them.
Krrrrrrrrrr~DONKK!
"This is him!? Are you sure!?" Krillin yelled back.
"Positive."
Cooler's voice overrode everyone and the brother hopped down onto the ground below.
"Son Goku, get your ass back up here!" Piccolo shot at his rival telepathically.
Everyone crowded in a huddle before Bulma ran over towards the ship, a huge gout of water splashing up as the younger brother leaped from the abyss.
"Uhh~" Goku let out dumbly. "Are we gonna have enough time to change?"
"I say we go for it." Yamcha replied as he ran back to the ship, all the others in tow except Krillin, Piccolo, and Raditz who were clothed for the occasion.
Frieza opened up the hatch from the Saiyan pod, much to Raditz' surprise.
"He'd travel in our vehicles? What..?"
The small lord opened his eyes, a bleeding and icy fury marking them. He met Cooler's eye contact first before shifting his gaze like a predator, eyeing up the prey. His tail jived animalistically.
"Who are these randoms?"
"Friends. Pay them no mind."
"..."
The brothers stepped forward with a cold demeanor about them. Frieza looked up at Cooler.
"You should have stayed off the radar."
Cooler said nothing in response, just amping up the tension by stepping forward once more.
"You use our powers to do nothing?"
"You use our powers in the will of our father, you only do it because you fear him."
The blue earthy tones started shifting and shaking as the brother's locked stares. Piccolo's own eyes widened at the display. Raditz looked on in horror, choking down an empty swallow like it was the hardest thing in the universe.
"If I know you, I'd hazard a guess that half the time you're sitting in the Command Centre looking out the glass of the observatory. You don't want to have to put your boot on anyone's neck, it's just not worth the hassle. You only destroy in fear of your own destruction."
Frieza didn't disagree, he sharpened his gaze.
"I am in control of my destiny, Cooler. All of us are. We're the only real beings in this universe capable of such a claim." Frieza spared a glance at the trio behind his brother and the gathering of the Namekian people over the ridge. "The-hese people?" Frieza waved his left arm over them all with a confused laughter. "They can't say that. If they go above their station they are executed just like…"
"Frieza~" Cooler motioned to slap his brother's wrist but the energy was already lined up, a litany of purple sparks arcing in the background.
Snapp! BA-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!
The mountain behind the five men exploded in a fury, eradicating what must have easily been a hundred Namekians.
"That. What a destiny. Whoo~" He flared his arms and palms out in jazz-hands as debris and smoke flew all around. "Live your life with honour and integrity only to get snuffed out by some guy who doesn't give a shit. What a worthless existence."
"Shit."
Piccolo pondered not for his own safety but for Son Goku's interference, looking to the ship with immediate intent.
Sure enough after a few moments passed, Goku ran out of the ship without a shirt on, just the blue parachute pants and kung fu shoes.
"Frieza!"
"Stop, Son Goku!" Cooler put his right arm out, a warping bubble of white glass enrapturing his frame entirely.
Buwuwu~
"Wha~ Cooler! Let me out! You saw what he did!"
DONKK~DWONN!
He banged on it like it was plexiglass, to no avail. The Saiyan made no headway.
"I know that! But you promised me you'd let me handle it!" Cooler turned his left hand like a dial, the white pressure enrapturing the kai student seemed to tighten.
Goku looked on with a pained expression as he attempted to move his hands, held back by what seemed like an impossible force.
"I can't~"
"Better for you that way."
Goku looked at Frieza with a righteous fury.
"Better for you, that way."
Zzz~zzzZTT!
Goku was unfortunately going to waste all of his Sparking! locked up in Cooler's Telekinesis.
"I'm taking it easy on your new friends, Cooler. You had better be thankful."
"You don't have to do any of this."
"What's goin' on, Hah!?"
Tien made sure to step in front of Launch and block her from their line of sight, edging closer to the others.
"That's him!?" Yulin called out from behind the others, breaking through their formation with a hefty stride.
The older sister sharpened her eyes at Frieza and sent a pulse of Ki Sensing at him. Frieza felt the force come out of her the second she popped it and Frieza shifted from rest to active.
GZZZZZNNNN~
The weird feedback Yulin got from the Ki Sensing rang out her ears and caused her to collapse into unconsciousness. She stumbled backwards for a bit before falling limp to the ground, bleeding from the nose, mouth, the ears, and her eyes. Frieza shook his head and laughed a bit.
"Silly girl, this is why we use scouters."
If a person at 100 battle power were to read someone like Emperor Cold, they would literally die from shock. Gods of Destruction are gods because they have immaculate ki control, enough to where someone wouldn't die from sensing with such a power disparity, but could choose to make their signature erratic enough to kill their target regardless if they so desired.
"Yulin!" Krillin screamed in awe.
"You fight back and I just might not have to kill the rest of your friends."
"I'm afraid we're past the point of negotiation. I accept that you don't want to talk to me."
Fwuof~
Cooler threw off his red vest and scarf, keeping his white pants and red belt as he stepped forward dramatically with his left leg, preparing some sort of pseudo stance as he bowed a little and flared out both arms. A deep indigo dome covered over his frame and his brother mirrored him, casting a dark dome over himself as well. Soon enough:
Krrkrkrkrrrrrrkrrr~Krakkk!
The dark shells broke off and the two brothers came out lined in gold. All but Cooler's red facial lining, and their hands and feet. Both Frieza and Cooler's faces were purple as well, Cooler's blue gems glittered brilliantly as did Frieza's own purple embellishments. They stood face to face as the dim shards of glass dissipated into nothingness, fluttering away in the very light breeze. A strange golden mask of some sort shifted up from his chin and covered Cooler's mouth and nose.
GZZ~ZNN-Chk!
Unlike his brother, Cooler's hands and feet were covered in more thin layers of armour, not the palms and undersides however.
This is The Cold Throne's Golden Forme. It is quite possibly the most powerful transformation in the modern understanding of the word by Angels and Gods of Destruction. Sparking! Ultra Instinct, and Kaio-Ken come nowhere close to how much more powerful this form grants the user. Technically the skill ceiling is much lower as Kaio-Ken and Sparking are going to do more for you at the very top level but in practice that matters very little. Kaio-Ken cannot grant god-level beings (1 mil) a consistent 200,000+ power boost. Reality begins to break once that starts happening. Angels are technically only around 100 battle power higher than the Gods but each individual point becomes a ludicrous debate of semantics. In my opin~
"Get on with it! I'm up. These two are actually worth watching."
"Oh joy! I thought you'd tune in for this one."
"Ah-hem."
Yamcha and Tien met up with the others behind Cooler as the brothers amped up their pre-battle hype. The ground cracked even more and sparks of electricity ran wild out into the air, snapping and arcing viciously.
Zzzt! Znnatt! Skrsss~
The ground shook, warped, dipped inwards, cracked, and everything else as they took increasingly unbearable steps forward.
Wsht~
Cooler VS Frieza
Objective: Take Frieza away from The Cold Estate!
The first clash was intense, no one had ever seen anything like it, the Earthlings or the Namekians. This is the kind of combat The Cold Throne dominated the North Galaxy with.
KA-KOOOOOMMM!
The ensuing shockwaves sent ripples that uprooted the earth and shot out carving, piercing gale winds. Tien instinctively got in front of Launch, gripping her hand tightly as the sheer volume of their combat did damage to him.
"AGHCK!"
SCUFWUSCUU~
Thin lines of blood ran over his frame.
"Tien! You okay!?"
"You have to get inside the ship!"
FWUOF~SNAPP!
Just Frieza punching and getting blocked by Cooler's left arm almost lifted Tien off the ground, forcing the three eyed man to catch his girlfriend mid-air and fly back towards the ship. Yamcha followed through quick as could be, leaping to the ship in 3 hops, shooting to grab Bulma, one to gain distance, and a final hop to get inside. Pao grabbed Yulin but was tossed around wildly by the harsh and devastating tornado-like winds. Piccolo appeared before the girls and ushered them to safety behind his cape, looking back periodically at the titanic combat behind him.
BUH-BOOOOFFFF!
Raditz barely reacted in time to Cooler being sent across the field from a hard left straight. His flight path almost killed The Saiyan, drawing blood like a papercut from just the travel speed's accompanying air.
Slllt~
Raditz dragged his left hand's fingertips along the bloody mark to check himself as his brother struggled to get free of the bubble.
"Rrrrrr~ No fair! Cooler!"
Tien walked back out as the hatch closed, meeting up with Piccolo and regrouping with the others. The Wolf made a last minute break out of the ship and landed in a front roll in front of the pair, dashing ahead to meet up with Krillin, and Raditz.
PA-POKK-PA-POKK-PA-POKK!
They traded serious blows but it looked to be Cooler consistently losing the exchanges, being beaten back ever so slightly. Piccolo furrowed his brow as he noticed something. Krillin noticed Piccolo's noticing.
"What's up?"
"That gold armour~" He pointed a declarative finger. "Look closely."
The New Turtle Grandmaster as well as everyone else tried their best to get a good look at the fighters despite weathering the storm, such a feat required much more investigative commitment.
"Whoa~"
"Mmhmm." Piccolo returned to arms crossed.
"It's cracking…" Yamcha let out dumbly.
"I don't know what that means, but those Mongrels wouldn't go into that golden state without a reason. I would imagine it's a power boost like the Kaio-Ken or whatever Tien and Yamcha did."
Tien audibly swallowed and took a step forward, sending out a pulse of Ki Sensing. The lashback he got was overwhelming.
GZzzz~WATTTT!
"AH-Huaghhh~" Tien gasped with real pain in his voice as he fell to his knees, forehead vein looking to break through the skin.
"Tien!"
"Huu~ha. Huu~ha." Tien breathed rapidly to get oxygen back in his system. He lifted his head up to shift his focus back to the battle as all three of his eyes grew bloodshot. A trickle of blood slid out of his nose unintentionally. "Wha~"
"Hey man, are you alright?" Krillin looked on with serious concern.
Another spray of red nostril fluid drained out and Tien did Not look aware of his surroundings.
"Holy shit…" The New Turtle Grandmaster grabbed The Crane as he fell into his arm. "Guys, we… what the hell are we gonna do?"
"Wait. What can we do?"
Yamcha said nothing, he just fell onto his ass in pure disbelief.
"Kakarot doesn't even think this is a problem unconquerable." Raditz mused with closed eyes. "Phuuu~ Then I can't either. I'll just have to wait for the right moment." The older brother locked eyes with his sibling and made a b-line towards him.
"Raditz!"
"What!?"
"You're seriously going to throw Son Goku to the wolves!?"
"Green Man, I'm not that dumb!"
"Raditz…"
The Saiyan prepared his signature chamber punch and sent a monstrous gust of Kiai, amplifying the hype with a throaty and pure Oozaru screech.
"DAHHH!"
Pu-POKK! Swuffumble~
"Damn…"
Goku looked to the blue grass, a little disappointed.
"Thanks for trying, bro."
Raditz scoffed and shook his head.
"I'm at a loss, Kakarot."
His younger brother looked on at the epic battle happening in the sky.
WHAPP-WHACK-Wha~WHAKK! Skffffffffffffffffffff~
Cooler launched back into the air in no time, smashing his brother into the dirt just the same as he did for him just moments ago. Nail landed next to the Earthlings, a clear anger in his eyes.
"You!" He pointed an adamant finger at Yamcha and Krillin. "You outsiders brought this threat here! You must answer for the deaths of our people."
"Sorry."
Nail locked eyes with Piccolo but The Demon broke eye contact pretty immediately to study the flaring combat before them.
"We're past that now. We've just gotta hope that Cooler's strong enough."
Nail cursed himself and balled his fists with righteous fury.
"I have to watch?" His antennae twitched and told him the truth.
There is no stopping them as you are now.
"Kah, Guardian of Namek? Pathetic…"
Nail turned his back on the group and paced around with a hand on his forehead.
"I'm gonna take Tien inside. It's too dangerous for him out here."
Piccolo nodded as Krillin darted back toward the ship, maintaining his study of the legendary battle.
KOMM!
Cooler slammed his brother with a haymaker of a right hand, sending the golden boy crashing into the earth only to stick the landing like a master, sliding along the ground and kicking up dust. The taller brother moved so fast with his flight it looked like he was in the air and then just teleported behind him. Piccolo definitely couldn't tell the difference, based on his reaction. Frieza was calculated, sniping out his brother with a very acrobatic kick behind his head while facing forward. The strike caught him off guard and forced Cooler on the back foot.
WHAPP!
"Agh~"
As Frieza turned around, his tail whipped across Cooler's face hard, smashing and cutting off some of the golden mask. A deep red line of blood draining below his eyes and just above what looked to be some sort of gas mask.
SCINGG!
Cooler's face was swiped to the left from the maneuver and his brother capitalised on the moment by jamming in a barrage of punches.
"EuuuAGHH!" Frieza screamed as he laid in a full committal left overhand, sending Cooler flying into the broken up debris of the previous mountain.
Before Frieza even took off he was already waylaid by a right roundhouse at the face, aiming downward to the ground. The smaller brother took the hit and propped himself back on his feet with a back handspring to keep with the momentum.
"He~ I~ I can't keep up." Piccolo admitted to himself as he shook his head in awe.
The two brothers sent out checking jabs and alignment punches to check for distance and add pressure but even their low-level attacks sent wild and snappy winds that rolled out into the plains, toppling trees and causing rocking waves in the water.
Da-DOOMM!
Cooler hit a two-piece left roundhouse that checked the forearm guard before slamming into the side of Frieza's temple. As the little brother toppled over Cooler came in with a controlled right upper. Frieza looked to counter this but his brother parried his punching arm and came in with a heated blow at the jaw, sending him up into the air.
POMM! Fwuwuwuwu~ WHOKK!
Cooler leaped into the air and spun around like a top before delivering a pseudo-roundhouse maneuver with his long tail at Frieza's chest, cracking and causing a crater in the already beaten up earth of Namek. Before he could even land, Cooler was struck in the jaw by a monstrous left elbow, bending his neck in an unnatural contortion as his brother had already recovered from the attack.
FWUUUU~
Piccolo's eyes widened as he shifted positions without knowing it, Yamcha's left hand on his cape.
"You were gonna get murdered by that, dude."
Piccolo swallowed as he saw Cooler re-enter combat and the two of them piled on whirlwind after whirlwind of strikes. Yamcha, Piccolo, and Raditz could barely hold on as the torrent of winds pulled their footing all around.
"You've got to be kidding me~" Piccolo grunted out. "I've got to use ki just to stay and watch? How in the hell was Goku gonna beat this guy!?"
"You just don't!" Raditz yelled back in response as he covered his eyes. "You don't even try stepping to The Cold Throne! They've been too strong for almost 200 years! It's not like people haven't attempted before!"
Pu-Puf-POKK! THOKK! THMM! Fwuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu~
Sharp slicing gales shot out and cut their skin, forcing them to back up even further.
"Guys 10 times stronger than we are now still get killed by a flick of the wrist! It's not worth it! I… I didn't have the heart to tell Kakarot no!"
"Well we're in it now!"
"You egged him on, 4 for 5! This is just as much your fault as it is mine!"
"Hey! Cooler was my idea, Not fighting him ourselves!"
There was a lull in their shouty conversation as the trio watched the brothers practically tear the planet apart. Dents, cracks, craters, upheaval, you name it and the fight produced such destruction.
"I've even heard stories that Emperor Cold once killed someone just turning around!"
"Wha-ha-hat!?" Yamcha laughed as he yelled back.
"Yeah! He didn't even Do anything! He just turned around so fast the whip of his cape decapitated someone! I don't know if it's true or not but actually seeing these guys in action, I just might believe it!"
"What's goin' on!?"
"I don't know yet, Krillin. I can't tell who's in the lead, I think maybe Cooler could be losing." Piccolo let out an olive branch of telepathy for the party.
At that moment Frieza connected with a snapping roundhouse using his tail, slamming Cooler into the earth. The taller brother skidded along the dirt, kicking up dust in an epic display as Frieza readied a purple glint in his pointer finger.
Vyuuuuu~Pom! Fwst~Fwf~Wsht!
Cooler vanished out of the way, it was a sidestep so fast it just looked like he was on the ground and then to the right, skipping any startup time.
He did it three more times as he scaled the nothingness in front of him in aerial hops. Cooler forced Frieza's hand with a high roundhouse, checking the guard. The taller brother fully committed, spinning into the left roundhouse and coming around with a tail to double down. The lengthy limb slammed into Frieza's guard again but it wasn't enough this time, sending him crashing into the earth instead. The masked brother blasted off to pressure but was caught off the rip with a hot pink disc of energy. Cooler barely vaulted over it with his flight but Frieza had prepared for the reaction with his off hand, firing a massive purple blaze of energy with his right.
ZHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~
"RrrrrrAGHH!"
Cooler put up a cross-arm block as he dipped backward in a gainer, his golden forearm armour cracking a little under the pressure. As soon as the masked brother landed he dashed off the ground instantly. Frieza was still in the middle of firing his huge blast so he took the soccer kick to the chin raw, throwing the smaller brother into the air. Cooler followed this up with a brutal combination, jumping up into a superman punch while grabbing Frieza's tail with his own. Frieza whiplashed hard from the hit as he couldn't follow through with the momentum having been stalled hard by the tail grapple.
"Ack!" Frieza let out unintentionally as Cooler swung him from below him to behind and above him.
Frieza stalled in the air once more, almost seeming to move in slow motion as Cooler hyped up a tornado left roundhouse with an epic ice-skater twirl.
FwufwuSwuFwu~KRAKK!
Frieza was sent far off into the distance, far enough that the four onlookers couldn't even see him anymore. It didn't matter however as Frieza was back before it felt like any time had passed at all, already strong-arming his brother's tail. The smaller brother yelled like a madman as he ragdolled Cooler to the ground with a hand-of-god throw. Cooler winced as he made contact with the ground, a huge burrow-like crater being dug into the ground as if he were tilling a mile-wide crop.
Frieza flew down right after to keep piling on the damage but Cooler unrooted himself just in time to start blocking his brother's furious frenzy of punches. After a long time of backpedaling Cooler saw his angle and grabbed hold of Frieza's head, guiding it right into a left knee lift. The blow was brutal and had his brother reeling before he followed through with a left thrust kick, jamming him back towards the previously existing mountain.
Cooler followed after him to keep up appearances but it was to no avail as Frieza epically counter-hit him with a spinning left elbow, lariating him epically and causing the taller brother to wipe-out. Cooler grunted as a few flakes of gold frittered off his mask and he got right back to his feet, the two of them clashing up a storm in front of the onlookers.
"Kffff~Kuu. Kffff~Kuu." Cooler let out breaths that seemed to be altered by his mask.
Frieza clearly got the better of the exchange, blasting his brother back with sharp hits to the face.
POKKTHOKKWHAMM!
"Geh~"
"RAGH!" Frieza screamed as he waylaid his brother with a gut punch, bending the helpless man over before he let loose and blasted him with an overhand left. The top of Cooler's head started to crack and shatter a little more while Frieza only had sparse dents and ruptures in his armour.
"Frieza's gonna win." Piccolo said adamantly, crossing his arms for the first time in a while.
"But~"
"There's no buts, Yamcha. If Cooler can't clutch the win we're shit out of luck. Nothing we can do to even slow down this monster, forget beating him."
"What can we do?"
"Tcheh. That fucking Solar Flare move is probably the only thing that'd do work. I can't imagine actually pulling out an attacking move and even doing any dama-"
"I didn't train for this hard and for this long just to stand by and watch, A SECOND TIME!"
Everyone, including the dueling brothers looked up at the figure standing on the air.
Tien recalls the time he watched Goku defeat King Piccolo right in front of him.
"That's what you think buddy! I still have one arm left that I can use!" The little Goku screamed at the heavens, battered, beaten, broken, only one limb even capable of moving.
"Goku…" The Crane thought. "He's just a little kid and he's 10 times the martial artist I'll ever be..."
Tien is brought back to reality as he shapes his hands into the triangle position.
"Goku was fighting not just for me but for everyone else… Willing to take the hits for me just so that I wouldn't bite it. If I can't pony up now, I'll never surpass Goku. Strength is subjective, I definitely still haven't surpassed him." Tien's thoughts punctuated the moment as an intensely bright yellow light conjured in the gap of his hands, yellow arcs of electricity sparking not only around his hands but around Frieza's location.
"NEO TRI-BEAM!"
Tien had never fired more than one Tri-Beam before as even one was enough to knock yourself out. The life force draining effect acted pretty immediately, even more brutal than the Kaio-Ken. Tien had also never put his all into the move out of fear of killing himself, but now that was off the table. It didn't matter what happened, not to him.
Cooler was in Tien's line of sight but he tightened the angle just enough to get him out of the blast's range.
"HAHHH!"
The Tri-Beam cannot be dodged on reaction, it is impossible, it has to be predicted.
A thick yellow block of energy slammed a hapless Frieza into the ground.
THOKK!
Cooler had never seen something so strange before, it wasn't like any beam he'd known before.
"WHAT!?" Piccolo's thoughts were so loud they bled out to everyone even if unintentional.
Cooler quickly stepped out of the way with a backdash and Tien widened the scope to full capacity as quick as he could, taking in a full but wheezy breath.
"Huuu~"
"HAHHH!"
Frieza attempted to stand but the Tri-Beam was too fast and punched him into the ground a second time. Piccolo scouted the movements more clearly this time, all of Frieza's top half had been cracked by the first wave.
DMMM! Fwuf!
Frieza's eyes ran blood shot as he kipped up much quicker this time, flakes of gold trailing off him as he stood. Piccolo's eyes widened as he saw the damage Tien did to the armour.
"You've gotta be~"
"Huuu~"
"HAHHH!"
THLAMM! Krshhh!
Frieza had barely lifted off the ground before he was pummeled back into the square cavern, his entire torso's golden shell had been completely annihilated. It sounded like a window broke through by a crowbar, the volume was strangely loud considering that the Tri-Beam was also ringing out into the air. The small lord shot up even faster and zoomed off high into the sky after Tien.
"Huuu~"
"HAHHH!"
THMMMMMMMM! KrrrrrrrOCKK!
Frieza was slammed utterly back down to the earth, but he got up just the same, ready to pounce. As soon as he left the blue grass, Cooler grounded him in a wrestling tie-up, the two of them face to face as Tien's consciousness gave out and he began to fall out of the sky. Everyone was bewildered and almost not cognisant of what just happened.
Tien had literally done 0 damage. Frieza was not hurt at all by the Tri-Beam but the Tri-Beam had knocked off all of Frieza's entire top half of armour. The Cold Throne's Golden Forme's power is determined by the amount of armour still left. Seeing as Frieza was half broken, Cooler was now clearly in the lead as a member of The Cold Throne is able to generate much more power with Golden Forme. Battle power as mortals understand it is a flawed concept because right now Frieza's battle power is all over the place. Around 700,000 at his legs but only around 500,000 for his torso. It's not so easy to just mark with numbers and have those readings be so accurate.
Goku looked on from his watery bubble and screamed with fervor, breaking free from his chains.
"Tien!" He screamed as he hopped out with great force.
Fwsh!
Goku leaped high into the air, flailing his arms out to get the right distance before he snatched up Tien daintily in his arms.
"I got you, buddy."
The younger brother touched down on the ground and held Tien in his arms like a baby, palpable concern showing on his face as he brushed his friend's face.
"Come on Tien, talk to me…" Goku said as he lightly slapped Tien's left cheek.
The two brothers went to town, causing more raging gusts to bellow and squeal out into the air, pushing the now all six fighters on the sidelines. Cooler and Frieza traded punches like no tomorrow, one here, one there, not caring too much about form anymore. Cooler was blasted back by a committal overhand right, a huge spray of blue grass and dirt tore up into the sky as Frieza followed through and came after him. Frieza missed as Cooler wrapped around the mist and came at his back, blasting him away in turn. Frieza zoomed out of the cloudy mist and sent up his arm in a wave. A huge purple column of energy burst from the ground like a volcano, rupturing the ground and shaking the surrounding area in a massive quake. Piccolo and the others looked on in fear.
"What a blast~" Piccolo put his arm in front of his eyes to shield from the piercing light.
An even more gigantic cloud of smoke permeated this time, shaping the taller brother in a brown shadow. He bursted from the mist and locked eyes with his brother, arm raised high in defiance. Frieza looked at him for so long as if he were frozen in time, unable to move. Cooler finally rained down on him and chokeslammed Frieza into the ground, tearing up the earth for a mile long before his brother had enough and slammed a volley of machine gun kicks into his throat. Cooler gagged as his left hand was counter-hit. He released his hold on his brother and Frieza took up the opportunity, fully committing to a 360 tail-slap spin, knocking Cooler off of his footing.
Cooler stepped to the left, off-axis. Frieza stepped in hard to pressure but his previous hit wasn't enough.
WHAMM!
Cooler iced Frieza with a sudden left roundhouse, forcing him on the backpedal instead. It also didn't do the damage necessary as Cooler now stepped in only to be slugged right back. The two duked it out until Frieza dominated the exchange with a familiar three-punch combo, all overhands, starting and ending with his right fist. Cooler shakily stumbled backwards before he went in and crushed Frieza with another left roundhouse at the temple. Frieza faltered as a nasty purple bruise welted on his white skin in the area. They both had enough, putting up a lazy defence, both of them, in favour of a brutal battle of who had the better offence.
They exchanged shot for shot, trading blows on the mouth, stomach, and chest. Cooler's armour cracking in, denting, and starting to break away from the heavy-duty assault going both ways.
"RrrrrAGH!"
"HuuuuuAGCK!"
The brothers screamed bloody murder as they locked in their right arms and sent them at each other, meeting in the middle and causing a thunderous sonic boom that not only broke the sound barrier but caused an actual explosion. A huge bombastic wave of orange and red fire blasted out in every direction as the six onlookers put up their arms to defend against the ensuing pressure. The punch-based explosion rang out not once but three separate times, causing a weighty dual-layered aftershock.
The black smoke soon cleared and the brothers shared a thousand yard stare that said everything without saying anything. Frieza looked at his brother longingly as his cracked golden tail jived once. Cooler looked back with a killer determination, cracking his fingers on their sides with his thumb, causing little glitters of gold to fall off his knuckles and fingers like it were a layer of flakey paint, exposing the rest of his purple and fleshy skin.
Piccolo looked on with proper mysticism, his cape and turban singed to bits and practically falling off even though he had done no fighting, but had been standing the closest. Goku swallowed harshly, his face straddling the line between worry, anger, regret, and hope as he clung tightly to Tien. Krillin and Yamcha stood stunned next to each other, barely able to catch their breaths. Finally, Raditz took a step forward and started bouncing his left leg, entering his stance. The others spared a glance at The Saiyan only for him to respond with an intense drive.
"What? Three Eyes just proved us wrong."
The two brothers let it sink in for a moment, letting the black clouds pass before they clashed again. Frieza's arms crossed as he locked legs with Cooler, the taller brother had his arms up and readied for battle. They brought it back, locking legs on the other side before Cooler broke up the exchange, locking his left leg in and circling around the clash to dominate Frieza's temple area again. It worked and Frieza audibly cringed:
"Eu~hah!"
Frieza opened his eyes wide in a frenzy as his brother pressured him from the front. He fell with the momentum, falling to the left and spinning his tail in a whipping right roundhouse. His eyes widened in intrigue instead of anger as he saw Cooler duck low and dodge it, grabbing onto his tail during his compromised state. Cooler screamed as he strong-manned the smaller fighter, throwing him into the ground with a thumping:
THWACKK!
"Gu-Houff!" He let out as Cooler started grinding him along the earth, Frieza digging his nails into the planet trying to keep traction.
It wasn't enough as Cooler roared once more, catapulting him into the air like one of those olympic hammer throws.
"Tyahh!" Cooler screeched like a banshee as he launched after him with the frog-leap of legends.
The brothers eclipsed the sun as Cooler got into position, slightly off-axis to the left of Frieza. The small lord slammed in a right leg at Cooler's face, cracking his mask fully on that side. The taller brother took it, much to Frieza's surprise. Cooler slammed his own roundhouse, smashing into the section along his neck and the back of Frieza's head, causing him to rocket to the ground in a flashy display. Cooler's head armour and mask fell off as he flew down to the earth with immense, cutting speed. Frieza still had enough in him to dodge, weaving the high-speed superman with ease. Cooler cut up the ground as he turned to face his brother, carving into the earth with his feet.
ZYUUUU~
Frieza let out a sharp black-blue blade of energy which Cooler slid under like an expert, gliding along the dirt as there was practically no grass left.
Pyu~Pwew~Vyew!
Three laser pointer beams shot at the taller brother during his forward push, Frieza packing on the keepout as he backdashed along the broken and upheaved battleground of Namek. Cooler slapped the first beam with his tail, cracking a glitter of gold off of it before he dodged the last two with juking weaves. Frieza, clearly panicked, sent out a shockwave of purple ki from the ground, once again blasting from beneath the ground in a volcano. Cooler long-jumped sideways in a pseudo-cartwheel to clear the waves. He landed in the heart of the blast as it still rocked around him. Frieza let loose, firing a machinegun barrage of beams from both pointer fingers, trying desperately to tag him down.
Cooler's determination was clear to see in his eyes as he dashed out of the first few to gain distance, slapping the rest of the beams out of the air with his tail like it were a sword. Cooler also took a veritable spray of energy on his left forearm to tank the hits also, covering his face and eyes as he sprinted forward. His tail's armour cracked and broke the closer he got until it ran back to purple flesh, bleeding, bruised, and burned from the affair. The previous gold armament on his left arm had been run down to a bloody white mess until he got face to face.
"Huh~" Frieza let out unintentionally as Cooler stepped right in front of him.
Cooler parried Frieza's right arm to the side, completely exposing him to attack. Frieza cringed, closing his eyes and bracing for impact as Cooler locked in his right fist, glowing and shining brilliantly with a blue and yellow sheen. The right hand steamed with pressure as it beared towards the gem on Frieza's solar plexus.
There was no punch.
"I'm right here, Frieza." Cooler reassured his little brother as he wrapped his bleeding arms around him, pulling him in close. "I'm right here."
Frieza couldn't hold back tears, there was no sniffling, stuttering, or anything. They just came out as his hands shook in a mixed state. Frieza hesitated for only a moment, fully embracing his brother in a tight hug as he let it out.
"Uh~haaa~"
Goku's worried look turned right around and he was as happy as could be as he saw the tender moment between the two brothers. The kai student laughed jubilantly as he stood Tien to his feet.
"You good, buddy?"
"Yea…" Tien rubbed his temples with his thumbs, his veins brought to the surface.
"I think it's safe now." Piccolo looked back to the ship and shot out a line of telepathy. Soon enough, everyone else filed outside and watched as the two titans stood up proudly.
"What..?" Pao asked as she looked to The New Turtle Grandmaster, exiting the ship in a fast flurry.
"I uhh~" Krillin let out dumbly as he rubbed the back of his bald head. "I think we're in the clear."
"No shit." Yamcha stated bewilderingly, eyes blinking with emptiness.
Bulma jogged over to The Wolf, kissing him on the cheek.
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I didn't even fight. Whatchu worried about?" He shot back with a goofy smile.
"Dummy." She pinched the same cheek she kissed.
"Sowuhh~ We done or whateva'?"
Launch was immediately distraught by the sight of Tien's reddened and sickly looking physique.
"HAH!? Sweetheart, whatid they do toya hah!?"
"Eh~heh. Easy."
"Nah, I ain't goin' easy! Youa' hurt! Whatthe hell happened!?"
"He did that himself."
"Hah!?"
"He used the Tri-Beam to break off that gold shell Frieza had."
Launch was not following.
"Do what now?"
"Tien was the only reason we won. That simple."
"Wa-hay to go!"
"Ahh~"
Launch's eyes widened.
"Oh~"
She lightened up, softly backing away.
"Sorry."
"It's okay. It's like…" His breath was ragged, scattered, and seemingly unhealthy. "LIke a really bad… huuu~ sunburn. Tch."
Tien had to take several breaths to compose himself and stand up straight, wiping the seemingly endless sweat off his tomato-red torso.
"So what now?" Krillin posited to the group as he scratched the top of his head this time.
"Well. I guess we go home."
"Kakarot and I still have unfinished business. We came out here for another reason and we've yet to accomplish that goal."
"Riiiight. Goku?"
"..?" Goku just looked and raised his brows at Krillin.
"I don't know. I'm just along for the ride. Meeting my parents would be fun and all but dismantling The Cold Estate is the priority. I don't like it when someone has all the rights to tell people how to live."
"Well we're done with that, so it's Turles and father next."
Goku nodded before stepping outside the group and towards the two brothers.
"Hiya! My name's Goku. Now I don't like that you destroyed Planet Vegeta but I'm willing to forgive you if you say you're sorry."
Goku's face held some uncomfortable seriousness, able to draw that disappointed parent look very easily. Frieza bit his tongue, glancing at Goku for a moment before shifting his gaze back to that of the sky.
"You have to look at me when you say it, too. It's easier to lie when you don't have to look at their face."
Since becoming a father and gathering more life experience, Goku had gotten uncannily good at telling truths from lies.
"Well?"
"I hesitate to say that I'm all that sorry to be honest."
Goku furrowed his brow.
"But I can tell you're that sickeningly virtuous type like my foolish brother here. So…"
Frieza met Son Goku's eye contact and the pair stepped forward with a pinch of animosity.
"What's he saying?" Raditz spoke up immediately, grabbing hold of Piccolo's shoulder pauldron.
"You know how he is, that Mongrel doesn't take no for an answer. Even now he's demanding an apology for the Saiyans."
"Ergh~" Raditz yelped.
"People such as yourself don't deserve to be in the presence of monsters like me. You deserve happiness and respect." Frieza looked around at the large group of Earthlings behind the three of them. "The reason you live now is because goody-two-shoes like you make strong connections…"
"..." Goku still stared him down like an adversary.
"I'm not sorry about those Saiyan or Namekian lives but I do promise to do better, if only you'll give a tyrant like me a second chance."
"Anyone can turn a new leaf." Goku extended his hand for a shake.
"My my. What a fool."
Frieza and Son Goku shook hands with a vibrant shake.
"And if you don't. I'll be strong enough to stop you next time. Cooler won't even have to bail us out. Me and my friends are gonna get stronger than ever, you can count on it!"
"Do tell." Goku's immaculate aura finally breaking the ice and causing a smile to formulate on the now Ex-Lord's face.
"That's right, cause we're the goddamn Z Fighters!" Yamcha reiterated, pointing dramatically at Frieza.
"Oh wow, they've got a name." Frieza said as he looked over at his brother. "I don't have the heart to tell them that it's the lamest shit I've ever heard."
Namekians started to gather from all around, talking and gabbing about the battle, the lost lives, and the ruin. Cooler sighed with a real frustration in his voice before he kneeled down and begged for forgiveness, bowing his head to the onlookers.
"I'm sorry. I failed Namek today. I was unable to protect the lives of this planet. I don't deserve to-"
"Cooler, are you listening to yourself? You followed the Namekian code to a tee." A small Namekian boy spoke up as he ran over.
"Cargo…"
"We do not solve our problems by destroying them. We compromise."
Cargo hugged Cooler tightly around the neck as he sat on his knees. Cooler wrapped his damaged and bleeding arms around the small child.
"Eww! Ha-Ha!"
"Ah-heh. Sorry." Cooler wiped at the blood before Muri stepped forward and handed him a tan coloured cloth, nodding slowly.
Cooler smiled at the gesture, picking up the cloth and dabbing at his wounds with it.
"You all are too kind to me. I'll have to talk to Guru anyway, but I appreciate the unparalleled kindness all the same. You all have done nothing but treat me like a king." The taller brother took another deep bow as he wrapped the cloth around his left arm like a bandage.
Muri shot a quick head movement to Cooler and then to his brother.
"Hmm."
"Come."
Frieza finally broke out into another smile and followed behind his brother.
"So?"
"..? So what?"
Goku scratched his head.
"Are we done here? Don't we need to take down the rest of The Cold Estate?"
"Kakarot…"
Cooler stopped on a dime, turning to face the empathetic Saiyan. He struck up a thinking pose with his right hand tucked under his chin.
"I've got next level telepathy. I might even be able to contact you from Earth. We'l-"
"King Kai!" Goku yelled at the green skies and white clouds.
"Uhh~"
"Hey! I need some help, King Kai!"
"What!?"
"Whoa…" Cooler as well as the other Namekians gathered around were thrown for a loop at the commanding voice in the sky.
"You're the best I know of! Can you tell me how good Cooler's telepathy is!?"
"Uhh… Oh my god you're serious."
There was a long pause, Cooler opened his eyes wide as a strange aura swam around him.
"Oh, he's good! He can definitely pierce the whole North Galaxy. He's not multi-galaxy though, so if you go past the borders he's probably not gonna be able to reach you."
"Huh-Hah! Thanks!"
"Goku."
"Huh-Hah! What!?"
"How the hell did you win Frieza over?"
"I mean I didn't really do it. Cooler did."
There was a long draining sigh from The Kai before the voice from beyond faded into just that, whispers on the wind.
Goku
"We're just gonna leave them?"
"We got places to be, Goku." Bulma replied as she tapped on the console, the large entrance hatch closing on the ship.
"Son Goku."
The kai student shifted his gaze to Piccolo's.
"You heard him, he's gonna get in contact with us. They're the playmakers, we're the bit players. Until we get strong enough to matter we have to leave it to them."
Goku jogged over to the stargazing hallway, putting a hand on the glass as he saw the planet fade from their view as they blasted along the stars.
Qua-Kmm~
"Aaaaattention all passengers, flight staff has accounted for crashes, repairs, and mandatory landings. Seeing as we did not waste as much fuel or run into any problems on the way we'll be speeding back to Planet Earth within Five. Count em', five months instead of the steady six we came here in. Thank you for sticking with us, we'd love to have you again. Just kidding, spending a half a year in this metal prison was about as enjoyable as the flight staff was expecting, so don't expect another one. Thank you."
Ka-Klmm~
"We do our own training, learn all we can from North Kai and then we'll be able to do what we do best."
Goku smiled.
"Thanks, Piccolo."
"Hmph."
Goku looked out as the blue green mass turned into just another unrecognisable blip along the galaxy. A sweeping sense of hope, and excitement washed over him.
"Piccolo?"
"What?"
"I'm just. I'm really excited!"
"Tcheh. You're a damn child, you know that?" The Demon couldn't hold back his laughter.
"I just… Wow!"
Dwer!
He hopped up once in a joyous state.
"I was there! Ya know!?"
Piccolo just raised a brow and kept his eyes locked onto the wondrous man before him.
"Pikkon and King Kai are crazy strong, but…" The kai student met Piccolo's gaze. "It doesn't feel real over there. Like… it's like it doesn't count if I can't feel my body! Ya know!? I'm just~Hee-hee! Man! That's awesome! I have so much more to go! So much more that someone can be so much stronger than me that using Ki Sensing on em' can knock me out! That's great!"
He banged his right fist on the window and let out steady but distinctly upbeat breaths. The glass started to fog as he let out exhales from his nose, staring into the indigo abyss.