Chapter 17: Ruler of the Universe

The awe-inspiring battle between Frieza and Cooler took a brief pause. The combatants alighted on cliff faces opposite each other, fighting for breath. "Careful, brother of mine," Cooler warned his younger sibling, "you're causing considerable damage to the planet. If you destroy the Dragon Balls, neither of us gets immortality."

"That's hardly your concern anymore." Frieza smiled slightly. "I think we both know who's going to come out on top." Cooler was considerably more damaged and battle-worn than Frieza, although the younger frost demon was far from unscathed himself.

"You think so?" Cooler straightened up, stretching his legs. "I think you'll find I have a few surprises in store for you. I've learnt to keep things close to my chest—as the weaker child, father always ignored me when you were around…"

"Well, without strength, what are you?" Frieza replied. "How can you expect to be an efficient leader without the power to keep your subjects in check? And power is what I have—more than you know."

"What's this?" Cooler raised an eyebrow. "Been holding back, Frieza? How very like you."

"Something like that…" Frieza hunched over slightly, his previously thin body bulking out as his muscles bunched and multiplied under his skin. His cold blue aura burst into life. "Prepare to face the mighty Frieza at full power!" he declared. Cooler was visibly taken aback, fear evident on his face.

Frieza's aura grew, engulfing the land around him and grinding rock into dust. Small sparks of energy flew off in random directions, detonating on contact with ground or water. Any that happened to fly in Cooler's direction, he ignored, being powerful enough to simply shrug off the minor explosions. Frieza hissed, gritting his teeth to avoid screaming, as his power rocked his body, pouring out in a wave of force and flattening the surrounding area. "Heeeaaagh!" Steam rose from his back, lifting into the sky and blocking out the sunlight. The ground shook, and arcs of electricity enveloped Frieza's body. "Yaaaagh!" A burst of white light signalled he was fully powered-up. Frieza stretched his limbs a little—his muscular state at 100% was always difficult to get used to—then turned to Cooler and grinned. "Well, how do you like me now? I was already above you, but now there's just no contest!"

To Frieza's surprise, his brother was laughing. "Haha! That's excellent! You had me worried for a second there!" A strange glint appeared in Cooler's eyes. "Is that all?"

"W-what?" Frieza glared at Cooler, uncomprehending.

"Well," the elder explained, "remember when I said I had a few surprises? For a minute there, you had me thinking you were about to do—this! Hrr…" Chunks of rock broke off from the ground and levitated around Cooler as he began his transformation. This wasn't a slow release of stored power like Frieza—it was tapping a sudden flood of energy which simply hadn't been there before. "Rrr…Huuu…Raaah!" Cooler's shoulders sprouted armoured plates, and he grew several feet taller in an instant. He thickened out to match his new height, but his muscles were toned and proportionate—not bulging and unnatural like Frieza's 100% state. A spiked crest jutted out from the top of his head, and his voice deepened to a guttural growl. "Haaah!" He continued to grow, more bony spikes emerging from his forearms. His teeth lengthened into fangs, and then an armoured 'mask' slid over his lower face, leaving his now glowing red eyes the only exposed part of his head under all the armor plating. "Heh heh heh…so, what do you think, Frieza?" Cooler now dwarfed his brother, towering above the other galactic ruler. The transformation had also healed all his previous wounds from the battle with Frieza.

"What…how…" Frieza tried to form coherent words, and failed.

"It's a fifth form I unlocked—unlike you, I actually had someone I could aspire to beat. Our father is too far above us, and nobody else in the universe can possibly challenge our kind. But you—you were an achievable goal to overcome. And that desire to become stronger fuelled my transformation."

There are forms above our true, original form? Frieza thought. But...I'm far superior to Cooler—I should have been the one to discover it! he mused, before returning his attention to Cooler. "Well, what of it? I'm still more naturally talented. Transform all you like, I'm simply stronger than you!"

"If you think so…" Cooler spread his arms. "Come and get me." Frieza, blind to the odds without his scouter, his belief—that his power was unchallenged (with the exception of his father) in the entire universe—unshakeable, charged into the jaws of death.

"Can you feel that?" Tien was staring into the distance as the brothers clashed on the other side of the planet. The warrior could sense their ki, but it was so huge it was beyond his level of comprehension. However, since Goku and Raditz had been healed by the Namekian child Dende, they'd also passed beyond that level—he just hoped, if it came to it, the saiyan brothers would be able to defeat whichever frost demon emerged the victor.

"Yeah…no kidding, that's some serious power. It's all they can do not to destroy the planet as they fight," Goku replied. "I feel unbelievably powerful myself all of a sudden, since I was healed—but I honestly don't know if it will be enough." Their group, consisting of Goku, Raditz, Gohan, Tien, Bulma, Zarbon, Nail and Dende, was gathered in a loose circle near the wreckage of Frieza's spaceship. "Funny…even I can feel the battle this time…" Bulma—the only non-ki-sensitive among them—noted, "The whole planet's shaking, and I'm struggling not to fall down…so, is everyone healed?"

Tien nodded. "I was the last. Let's summon the dragon while those two are occupied."

On Nail's command phrase, in the Namekian language, the seven assembled Dragon Balls glowed with a brilliant yellow light, and the great dragon Porunga burst forth. It had a roughly humanoid upper body, and was much larger than Earth's dragon. Spikes sprouted from its back, and antenna hung from its brow. "Woah…now that's a dragon and a half…" Goku muttered.

"All right. Zarbon, you've been a great help, and I think two wishes will be plenty for what we need, so you can have the first wish." Zarbon's face lit up.

"You mean it?" He stepped forward hesitantly. "I...I guess I'm so used to the world of backstabbing and power-grabbing, it almost feels strange to be trusted…I could get used to it."

"YOU HAVE SUMMONED ME," Porunga bellowed, its words magically understandable to all present, no matter what their native language, "NOW SPEAK YOUR WISHES, FOR MY PATIENCE IS NOT INFINITE."

"Er…oh, mighty…"

"Porunga," Dende supplied.

"Yes, right—Porunga! Grant me freedom from my hideous transformation—I want to be far more powerful as I am, without ever needing to become that creature in battle again!" Zarbon gazed up at the dragon. Immortality? He'd rather live his life to the full, and enjoy it. Nail translated his request into Namekian.

Porunga's eyes pulsed red, and the same light enveloped Zarbon, filling him with a feeling of sudden vitality. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED. NOW, WHAT IS YOUR SECOND WISH?"

"I guess we should wish back everyone the saiyans killed…" Tien said.

"I'm afraid that won't work." Nail shook his head. "Porunga can only restore one life per wish."

"All right." Tien looked up at Porunga, and Nail continued to translate. "Dragon! Please restore the being that is Kami and Piccolo to life—they're really two halves of one entity, so it's one life!" Again, the eyes glowed, and again, Porunga spoke. "YOUR WISH HAS BEEN GRANTED."

"Oh, I see." Goku smiled. "Good thinking, Tien—Shenron can restore groups of people with one wish, so we can use Earth's Dragon Balls for the rest now Kami's alive. Great idea!"

"SPEAK YOUR FINAL WISH, SO THAT I MAY LEAVE," Porunga boomed.

"All right, keep your hair on…" Raditz pushed his way to the front of the group. "How about if we wished everyone on this planet to Earth, including the remaining Nameks? There can't be more than a hundred left alive, so there wouldn't be a problem of space, and it'd be much easier to plan for the future if we didn't have to worry about Frieza and Cooler having the battle to end all battles on our doorstep." The shaking ground was a constant reminder of the ever-present danger.

"Sounds good." Goku nodded. "Go ahead."

"Uh, Porunga!" Raditz called up to the gargantuan, floating figure. "I ask you to move everyone on Planet Namek to the planet Earth—except Frieza and Cooler!" There was a brief pause, but just as the dragon's eyes lit up again, the light was snuffed out. A second later, the dragon vanished, and the dragon balls crashed to the ground, transformed into lifeless stones.

"W-what happened?" Raditz looked around frantically. "What went wrong?"

"Well, it didn't work, I guess…" Goku answered calmly.

"I CAN SEE THAT, you buffoon! What I want to know is why?!"

Nail's face fell. "I think I know. Guru, the Grand Elder of our people…he must have passed on. He was old, sick and weak…it was only with the greatest reluctance I accepted his decision to send me to help you in the first place. The effects of the battle between Frieza and Cooler were too violent for him to withstand…" Nail fell silent, and Dende sobbed quietly—Guru had been a father figure to practically the entire Namek race.

"And with this battle going on, we can't use one of the ships scattered around the planet…" Raditz added. "Can you imagine taking off in the middle of this, let alone trying to leave atmosphere?"

Bulma nodded in agreement. "The physical effects are bad enough, but the amount of energy those two must be putting out would play hell with the electronic systems. It'd be impossible."

"I don't know…it can't be that hard, can it?" Goku asked.

Bulma scowled. "Okay, you ever hear how it's hard to fly a plane through a hurricane? Well, now imagine it's two hurricanes, each with enough force to rip a planet apart, trying to kill each other, and since you're in a space vessel, not an in-atmosphere plane, you're trying to avoid the slightest bit of damage to the vehicle, because any damage would mean you could expose everyone inside to the lethal vacuum of space!"

"Oh…that is pretty difficult…I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens." Goku did some push-ups to pass the time. "But I feel stronger than ever right now! Whatever comes up, I'm sure we'll be fine."

Kakarot...what is it about you? How do you just keep improving like this? Raditz wondered. You were stranded, with no memory of your kind, on an alien world, but rose to the top, becoming its greatest hero...you learned about the saiyan race and needed to fight Vegeta, and increased your power level more than tenfold...greater challenges appeared on Namek, and you rose to meet them...and now, Frieza and his brother have shown ther true power, and again you've broken down all your barriers to match them-maybe that's why Vegeta thinks you're the one. You have the ability to meet any challenge, face any enemy...I think I'm starting to believe. It's you-the Super Saiyan. The one who will avenge our lost race. He was roused from his internal monologue by something-or rather, a lack of something.

"Hey, the shaking's stopped. And...one of the huge power levels disappeared." Gohan looked over at the horizon where the battle had been taking place. "Are they done?"

Goku nodded. "One of them is dead. I can't tell which—both of their powers are so huge…" He mentally prepared himself. "The other's bound to come for the Dragon Balls—and for us. I'll fight him. Raditz, you with me?"

Raditz shook his head. "I may have gotten a lot stronger, but if they're anywhere near your level, I'd just get in the way. You have to win, Kakarot. I hope it's Frieza—then you can redeem the honour of the saiyans."

"You still don't get it, do you?" Goku's voice had taken on the serious quality it occasionally had—when he felt what he was talking about was important enough to stop joking around.

"Uh…"

"I don't care about the honour of the saiyans!"

"What?" Raditz blinked, trying to tell himself he'd really heard that. So why was his brother so determined?

"It doesn't matter which of them, even if it was both, I had to fight. Their kind shouldn't have the kind of power they do." Goku's face was set in determination. "They judge everyone, and care about nobody. Just tap your scouter, and there's a whole living, breathing person, reduced to a number!" He gritted his teeth. "Cooler's just the same as Frieza. He'd have killed the saiyans just as easily—I'm sure he's wiped out plenty of species, warriors and innocents alike, himself."

"How do you know?" Tien asked. "I mean, I assumed Cooler would be bad, but you've never met him…"

"He was lured here by the promise of immortality, like it'll fix all his problems. He's a product of the same soulless society that created Frieza. He attacked without warning, shooting first and never stopping to ask questions. He's exactly like his brother, trust me. Frieza or Cooler—I'll fight them. And I will beat them. Until there's no fight left in them. No more venom or hatred, that makes people who could have been just like us casually wipe out billions of lives. It has to stop here."

Frieza lay in the dirt, broken and bleeding. Cooler stood over him, resting one foot on a rock, wiping his brow—more a symbolic gesture of the effort mortally wounding his brother had taken, as his highly efficient fifth form did not in fact sweat. "Well, I'd say we've learnt a few things today, hmm?" he taunted.

"Cooler…help…me…" Frieza pressed one hand to a gash in his stomach to try and slow the blood loss, shakily reaching his other hand up towards Cooler.

"What's this? Help you?" Cooler smiled behind his mask. "I've just spent the last hour or so trying to kill you, so that would be a little counterproductive, you have to admit."

"Please…" Frieza gasped. "Mercy…"

"Mercy." Cooler's eyes widened. "Mercy. Oh, that's rich, coming from you. Mercy, indeed. How about, no." Cooler reached down and, with a sharp twist of his arm, he tore Frieza's head from his shoulders. "Enjoy sucking vacuum for the few hours it'll take your brain to shut down!" Cooler called, tossing the defeated ruler's head into the atmosphere—Cooler was easily strong enough for it to break through the atmosphere, and Frieza's skin was tough enough to survive intact—as Cooler intended, their race's ability to survive fatal injuries would allow him to drift alive for a while before slowly dying. Laughing to himself, Cooler incinerated the remains of Frieza's body, regressing to his more natural fourth form.

"Here he comes...everyone, get behind me!" Goku raised his guard. He squinted into the distance, seeing an approaching purple-and-white shape. "Huh...I just realised, I don't know what Cooler looks like—or Frieza at full power, for that matter!" The figure landed several dozen metres away, dusting itself off.

"I've never seen Frieza's true form either..." Zarbon added. "But that one I recognise—it's Cooler. He's killed Frieza, and now he's come to clean up..." I hope this goes well...I've finally got a life free from my transformation, but I might not live to enjoy it...

Cooler studied the group assembled before him. Zarbon, one of the few surviving saiyans, a pair of Namekians and a couple of assorted humanoids. "Well, this is a merry little gathering. Why don't we start with the proper introductions? I am Lord Cooler, and as of today supreme ruler of the galaxy." His face rose in a half-smile. "How do you do?"

"Don't worry about the others. My name is Son Goku. I'm a saiyan, from Earth. You want a wish to make yourself immortal, right?"

"But of course." Another saiyan...and what's this 'Earth'?

"That on its own tells me all I need to know! It doesn't matter anyway—the Dragon Balls are gone. You'll never get your wish."

Cooler's eyes widened. "You lie! You're hiding them somewhere—so I'll just have to remove you and your friends from the picture, then I'll be at leisure to search the planet for them."

Goku shifted to a more defensive stance. "Believe what you want, but make a move to hurt any of them and I will stop you."

"You mean you'll try." Cooler smiled, then vanished. Goku frowned, and disappeared too. Shockwaves rocked the whole area as they clashed, faster than the others' senses could follow. Cooler appeared right in front of them, raising a hand to strike Raditz, but Goku jumped between them, blocking Cooler's punch, and they leapt off again.

Goku jumped backwards, back-flipping away, rebounding off a boulder and crashing into Cooler's stomach with both feet. Cooler slid back, not showing any outward sign of pain. He countered with his elbow, and Goku was sent spinning away, righting himself with a quick burst of ki. "How do you have such speed?" Cooler wondered aloud. "Nobody outside my family has ever shown such talent for fighting. I'd have expected that blow to kill a lesser being like you."

"What—are you going to try and recruit me or something?"

"No, actually." Cooler idly flicked his tail back and forth. "You've openly fought against my family—and an affront like that cannot be ignored. I do wish you hadn't, as your ability would make you an excellent servant. Ah, well..." He ran at Goku. "I suppose, since you're making it difficult for me to get to the others, I'll just have to destroy you first."

They battled back and forth, the fight moving over the ocean, and continuing suspended in mid-air above the water. "You know, I think I preferred fighting Frieza," Goku said, blocking a quick jab from Cooler. "He offered to fight me with only one hand."

"That's just like him." Cooler dodged Goku's kick. "He always did like to play games." He used the opening Goku's attack had made to slip past the saiyan's defences and land a punch to Goku's shoulder. Goku ducked away, moving to the defensive and knocking away Cooler's next few attacks. "Not...bad...Cooler!" He deliberately let Cooler's foot get under his guard, catching it before it made contact, and using the leverage to throw Cooler into the air. Goku pursued his opponent, vanishing and appearing in the air above Cooler as he shot upwards. Goku narrowed his eyes, throwing out an invisible burst of ki. "Haah!" The force knocked Cooler down into the water below, and Goku didn't waste a second, beginning to charge up his energy between his hands. "KAMEHAME...HAAA!" The blue energy beam shot down into the sea, vapourising the water for a mile around instantly. The shockwave opened up fissures in the earth running all the way back to where his friends were standing, and Tien had to pull Dende out of the way of one.

"Wow, this must be the battle to end all battles!" The three-eyed fighter muttered. Nail nodded in agreement. "Who would have thought...the saviour of our planet would turn out to be a saiyan. The universe works in mysterious ways..."

Raditz was entirely focused on trying to follow the battle—if he concentrated hard, pushing his new powers to the limit, he could catch glimpses. He doubted the others could keep up, but they could doubtless feel the effects of the fight—it would be hard to miss, given the amount of damage the Namekian countryside was taking. Come on, Kakarot...you can't lose! The fate of the entire universe hangs on this...the frost demons have ruled for longer than anyone can remember. You have to prove they aren't invincible...

Goku hung in the air, heaving for breath. The former sea was now a steaming crater, and the forests around it had been completely burned to the ground from the heat of his blast. But as he looked closer, he was equal parts surprised and dismayed—Cooler was picking himself up, scratched and burned but having suffered no major injuries. "Damn you, monkey!" He yelled up at Goku, flying up to hover opposite the other warrior.

"Hey now, there's no need for name-calling," Goku replied. "If we're fighting, you've got to expect to take some hits!"

"Not from the likes of you..." Cooler inclined his head. "I suppose I didn't tell the entire truth before. I do sometimes enjoy a bit of a game like my brother...for instance, hiding my true power from an ignorant little saiyan!"

"Wait...what?"

"I thought about five or ten percent of my power would be sufficient to break you, but you were a little tougher than I thought." There was a sudden flare of energy from Cooler's body. No drama, extended screams, or bursts of light. It was just there. "So, what do you say to full power?"

Goku gulped. "I think that sounds like an absolutely terrifying idea."

"Good."

"What's happening over there?" Gohan was looking intently at the two distant figures, who had resumed their battle.

"Nothing good." Tien shivered a little. "Cooler's power just increased massively. I...I don't think Goku can win."

"No! He has to!" Raditz's face filled with fear. "He must defeat Cooler...he must...be the Super Saiyan..."

"I am sorry," Nail told him, "but I think that possibility is becoming less likely every second."

"I don't care!" Raditz ignited his aura, blue and white energy mixing and flaring up around him. "I'm going to help him!" He flexed his ki, and his armoured top exploded off of him, leaving his plain black vest underneath. Really, his body had become tough enough that the armour barely made a difference anymore. "And I won't wear that symbol of their dominance anymore, either!"

"Don't do it!" Nail warned. "You'll die!"

"We're dead anyway when Cooler finishes with Kakarot!" Raditz took off. "Stay and hide under a rock if you want—I'm no coward!"

"Damn it!" Tien flew off after him, and Nail followed.

"Hold on, Dad!" Gohan flew off as well, leaving Dende, Bulma and Zarbon behind.

"You're not going?" Bulma asked Zarbon, who shook his head.

"They're all morons. Cooler won't be able to find us without a scouter—I say, as soon as he's finished with them and the fighting stops, we take a ship and head out of here."

"I...guess so..." Bulma wasn't entirely comfortable with abandoning her friends. Dende, for his part, stared silently into the distance, hoping Nail and his new friends would be all right.

Cooler landed another devastating blow, and Goku cried out in pain. He lost his balance, falling down to the ground below. Cooler floated down, landing in front of him. "Hmph. Is that really all you've got, primate?" Cooler prepared to launch into another series of attacks, when Raditz rocketed into him from the side, launching Cooler away. "Raditz?" Goku looked up. "Heh...this looks familiar..."

"Huh?"

"You're defending your brother from an opponent who's beating him, even though they're both way out of your league..."

The battle with Piccolo flashed through Raditz's mind. "I guess so. Hah! What a way to go. History repeating itself."

Cooler stood up, and faster than they could follow was back, standing barely three feet away. "Well, you've saved me some trouble, getting together over here so I can kill you."

"Enough, Cooler!" Raditz shone with power, glaring at his opponent and baring his teeth. "Your kind—you've taken our freedom...our lives...but there's one thing you can never take from us...our pride!"

"You're going to fight me?" Cooler raised an eyebrow. "You'll die."

There was nothing but hate in Raditz's eyes. "I know." For a brief moment, Cooler felt fear. "RAAAH!" Raditz charged in, his fists and feet crashing into Cooler's invulnerable body. The sheer momentum of his attack staggered the tyrant back, but he quickly righted himself, spinning and wrapping his tail around Raditz's neck. He smashed a fist into the saiyan's ribs, then let go, letting the force of the blow send Raditz flying to the ground. Cooler looked up to see Nail, Tien and Gohan flying at him. "Oh? More of you?" He dodged the initial charge, and with a wave of his hand, the force of his aura sent Nail flying. Gohan and Tien stood opposite him.

This is insane! Tien tried to prepare himself mentally. I can only imagine how Gohan's dealing with it...well, on the bright side, it seems Guru's is a gift that keeps on giving. I seem to have gotten even more powered-up while waiting for Cooler and watching the battle, but I think I've reached maximum now. I could maybe take Vegeta without the Kaioken now, but this guy...he's like a god... Tien gathered his energy, trying to achieve inner calm before attacking, before Gohan rocketed forward. His small frame crashed into Cooler, hurling them both down into the ground and below.

There was an earth-shaking series of shockwaves, before Gohan shot back up out of the earth, battered and bruised. Cooler followed, unhurt. "Well, that was a nice little diversion. The child has talent."

Tien looked around. Damn it! I'm the only one left! Got to make this count...and go even further beyond what I thought were my limits! "Hey, Cooler! Don't count us out just yet!" Red energy burst into life around him, as he summoned up his inner strength.

"Oh? What's this? Some fight left after all?" Cooler gestured his little 'come and get me' signal. "Let's see it."

"Rrrr..." Veins bulged on Tien's forehead, and he exploded with power. "Yaaah! KAIOKEN...TIMES...HAAAH...TWENTY!" Tien shot forwards, punching Cooler in the face and immediately following up with a knee to the stomach, finishing by kicking the frost demon away with both feet. "Hyah!" He propelled himself down towards Cooler's plummeting form, but his enemy vanished, appearing behind him. "Nice try," Cooler said menacingly, taking hold of Tien's arm between two fingers and snapping it, before throwing the fighter to the ground. "You caught me by surprise, but really, even with that technique you were barely stronger than the long-haired saiyan—and still below the one in orange, and you can see how easily I took him out. Points for effort, though. Now..." Cooler left Tien to lie on the ground, clutching his arm in agony. "Ah right where I left you."

Floating over to Goku, Cooler grabbed him by the front of the shirt. "Watch, monkey." Goku's eyes opened a little. "You were fighting to protect your friends, if I remember correctly." He pointed a finger off into the distance. "Well, as you've seen by now, you can't. Nothing can save them from me. You couldn't help all these fighters who tried to attack me just now..." his finger flashed, and a beam of energy shot off into the distance. "You didn't save the traitorous soldier of Frieza I just killed..." Another beam. "Or the Namekian child..."

"Damn...you..." Goku's eyes blazed. He tried to punch Cooler, who simply stepped to the side and dropped Goku, letting his limp body crash to the ground and landing on next to him.

"It seems cruel, but the universe has to know. To understand—nobody crosses our family. We are the rulers of the universe. You don't have a say in the matter."

"Cooler..." Raditz was on his feet, staggering towards Goku and Cooler. "Leave him alone!"

"Ah, still trying to save him? The hero riding to the rescue" Cooler shrugged. "I've already given the 'you can't save them' speech, so I hope this example will suffice..." He casually waved his hand, and with a flash of red light, Goku ceased to be.

He didn't explode. He wasn't incinerated, or get smashed into a thousand pieces. Cooler simply ripped him into his constituent atoms with the power of his mind, and scattered them into the wind. He was just—gone. "There. Now, do you understand? Don't be sad, now—you lesser beings die all the time. Really, what difference does one more make?"

It begun.

Something new came over Raditz. He'd felt anger before—it had been burning in his mind when he'd attacked Frieza and Cooler, always overriding his sense of self-preservation. But this...this was new. This anger drove everything else out, filling his head. He stared at the spot where Goku had been, moments before. His shoulders shook, as if his internal rage was trying to escape his body. "You...you heartless bastard!" His entire body was shaking now, and he felt his anger swell up like a wave of heat inside his body. "Hrh...rrh...rrgh..." Words were hard to form, as his conscious mind began to slip under the all-consuming fire in his brain. "Rrr..." The skies darkened, as if the physical world was coming to reflect his state of mind. A bolt of lightning struck the ground not ten feet away from Raditz, not that he noticed—he could think of nothing but Goku, and the casual, unthinking way Cooler had destroyed him. Lightning continued to strike, raining from the sky all around. As Raditz felt the inner heat pushing up out of him, a bolt struck right next to him, barely missing.

"Hhh...Rrrh..." An inner light seemed to emanate from the enraged saiyan, and Cooler frowned. What is this? What is he doing?

Waves of silent energy started to flow out from Raditz's body, stirring up the waters around them. The rocky ground began to crumble, rocks breaking off and floating up into the air, levitating around Raditz. "Rrrh...Haaagh..." His head snapped up as if pulled by some unseen force, then sank back down to stare at the ground. He forced himself to speak coherently. "I...I won't let you...get away...with this...!"

So...I think anybody who's at all familiar with DBZ knows what's coming. Anyway, this chapter was way longer than I'd anticipated, but I hadn't thought it would cover this much—I thought I'd leave it at Cooler powering up, and do this bit on Sunday, but it just didn't seem as good a stopping point, so we have this. I actually have, as they say, the chills right now—an expression I used to not understand—as of watching the equivalent scene from DBZ to make sure I got it right. Equal parts scary and awesome.

Goku: 5,000,000

Raditz: 3,000,000

Tien: 200,000 (Kaioken times 20 bringing it up to 4,000,000)

Gohan: ?

Frieza: 100,000,000

Frieza at full power: 120,000,000

Cooler: 80,000,000

Cooler, 5th form: Ah ah ah, not just yet...

Zarbon, wish fulfilled: 53,000

Nail: 42,000

By the way, in case you were wondering why Goku isn't stronger—at a certain point, strength like this plateau's out. A saiyan can't just keep getting infinitely stronger by getting injured and recovering. If you go by math alone (using the bit in canon where Goku fights Frieza after recovering, going from 90,000 to 3,000,000), Goku would be at 15 million plus, and Raditz at 4 million, but that didn't seem right.

Oh, and anybody worrying about Nail fading into the background now he's become relatively weaker, don't be too concerned. He has his part to play.

Q: Now, to critique. I wonder if I might have written Zarbon as having run back to Frieza, graveling...i doubt he has the stones to openly oppose him in his second form. Then, of course, Frieza rejects him and kills him anyway-but maybe you still have use for the character.

A: I think at that point, Frieza is past forgiving him, and Zarbon knows that. Perhaps this should have happened, though. Ah well, it's too late now.

Q: I would actually like to see Zarbon become a Z-Fighter. Is there a chance of that happening?

Similar Q: I don't know about everyone else but making Zarbon one of the good guys and joining the Z fighters would be a very interesting twist to the story and there's just so much you can do with it.

A: Well, he is dead, but that didn't stop Tien...and quite a few people seem to want Zarbon to be a hero, or at least on the side of the heroes. I might have to do that, to appease the readers. As always, I'll only do it if I think I can write it convincingly.

Q: You know, I'm surprised that Freeza went for Yamcha and not Zarbon due to the whole "Traitor" issue. It seems pretty ironic that Zarbon freaked out about Freeza's wrath and yet he and Nail are the only ones who survived the battle unscathed.

A: Frieza was using Yamcha as an example. He was, no doubt, planning some especially horrible fate for Zarbon, when Cooler came along.

Q: This chapter felt a bit like the Z-Fighters Epic Fail. But thats just my opinion. I'm not quite sure though why Freeza came out of his daze so suddenly when Gohan attacked. I mean, its not every day that a five year old matches a seven foot tall, ruler of the universe in terms of power. Something that sort of confuses you in battle.

A: I think Frieza was more focused on finishing the battle so he could be ready for Cooler.

Q: I read all of the dialogue from Frieza's second form in his TFS voice, and thought it was spot on! I'm not surprised you killed Yamcha off so quickly. He wouldn't have been much help here, though I hope that changes by the time the androids show up. Also, I hope Raditz is able to help more the next time the heroes clash with Frieza. I've got high hopes for him.

A: Since you said that, I went back and read the chapter again, and I think you're right! Thanks for that! Anyway, while I can't say for sure, just remember in canon the humans became less useful over time, not more. As for Raditz, you're not the only one with high hopes.

Q: Just a quick note about Vegeta, I understand the power level multiplier, but I meant more of like, Vegeta shouldn't be able to train at 100x gravity right away. Like Goku, he'd have to work his way up. If Vegeta landed on a 100x gravity planet with a power level of 25,000 he'd probably be crushed instantly. But I'm over it, just wanted to make sure you understood where I was coming from.

A: I do understand, and it's a perfectly reasonable thought. My reasoning was canon Goku, at maybe 10-15,000 at the start of his training—definitely less than 24,000 anyway—managed to master it in just six days. While Vegeta would have difficulty in not being able to work his way up, he also had several weeks and a higher initial power level. 100x gravity is ten times what he's used to—I imagine his initial training would be like Goku first arriving on King Kai's planet. This isn't to say you're wrong—just why I did what I did.

Q: In regards to Salza, the info about him being a genius, training in high gravity, and speaking thousands of languages is all from the same magazine you got your scans from. So, I guess it must be true? Although honestly I still never go by the scans since some don't make too much sense (Nappa is usually seen as higher than 4,000, Vegeta after his first fight with Zarbon should probably be higher than 30,000 since Zarbon was also 30,000 but was easily defeated). And still, even with Salza at around 180,000ish, I still feel like he shouldn't have been killed so easily (Vegeta was at 200,000, but was fresh from a fight with Tien, not to mention getting hit by a Tri Beam and a surprise attack, so he should've been at least weakened a bit).

Also, is it really that absurd to think that Cooler's henchmen could be stronger than Frieza's first form? Goku, Raditz, and Vegeta all increased dramatically over pretty much a week or two (Goku even becoming as strong as Frieza), so why couldn't elite henchmen achieve that high of a power level after fighting for years? Especially since they're with Cooler, who knows how powerful Frieza is, he'd probably want his henchmen to be as strong as possible (Cooler actually helps out his teammates, unlike Frieza). That being said, I was really disappointed with that chapter, but it's all good, the next chapter was great. Keep up the good work, man!

A: I did not know that the magazine also said that. I only saw the scans of the little bit showing their PLs, and anyway I even changed those a bit (non-canon characters and all that). And because of that, Salza was closer to 150,000 in my story. So Vegeta could kill him. Really, I just needed Vegeta to beat somebody, otherwise he could say he's grown incredibly powerful all he likes, but unless we've seen his new power in action, Goku beating him isn't going to have as much impact. However, because of the same reasons I allowed myself to come up with my own PLs for the Armoured Squadron, I wouldn't mind if anybody else put them at much higher in their own stories—it's whatever suits the plot and preservation of drama, really. If the Armoured Squadron had come in later—while Frieza and Cooler were fighting each other, for instance—they probably would have been closer to Frieza's first form, with Salza perhaps at nearly a million. To be fair, up until the heroes arrived, the Armoured Squadron were about the strongest non-frost demons in the galaxy, even at PLs of 'only' 150,000 (the next highest would be Captain Ginyu, say, and then lower-power elites like Vegeta, the Ginyu Force, Zarbon, Dodoria and Cui).

Q: Well, that was just sad for our heroes against Frieza. He completely destroyed all of them at the same time in only his second form. They better hope that Goku and Raditz get serious power boosts from being beaten like that. I wonder if Cooler can transform into the 5th. form yet, because if he can Frieza doesn't stand a chance against him. Anyway good chapter, and for some reason I have a feeling that Vegeta will be coming back but you know I'm an optimist.

A: Yes they did, yes he can, and quite possibly.

Q: please keep zarbon as a good guy i like how he can become stronger by transforming into a huge monster and i think if he had the chance to be a hero he would of turned on frieza because he probebly only worked for him out of fear. Also i think he could be a good guy by instead of wanting to wish for something evil like immortality he just wants to be able to have his full power in his regular form instead of his ugly form.

A: Spot on about Zarbon's wish. As for the first part, I wouldn't call him a hero at this point, but he's certainly no longer a fully-fledged villain—he won't fight the heroes simply because they're against Frieza, right now he really doesn't have a reason to go against anybody—he just wants to escape with his life. Oh, wait.

Anyway, with the customary Ps, Ls, Qs and As dealt with, see you guys on Sunday-I'm looking forward to it, and I hope you are too.