Chapter 20: Death to the King

Hello, all. I have an apology to make.

It's been brought to my attention that the fight I wrote between Raditz and Cooler is very similar to the fight between Vegeta and Cooler in Bringer of Death, one of my favourite stories. I was extremely annoyed with myself when it was pointed out to the extent this had happened—to the point where you could be forgiven for thinking I'd just copied and reworded some sections. I'm not sure if I have a full explanation. I suppose their fight was probably in my subconscious, and anyway my style of writing is somewhat influenced by BoD. So, this little message is to say: I made a mistake, it was an accident but it still happened, and I'm sorry. I will be making some minor edits to chapters 18 and 19 over the next few days to make the similarity less obvious, but just for the record, here's the main points that were pointed out to me in the original version (this is a direct quote from the message I received, with minor changes to switch around the first/second/third person bits, i.e. 'you' has been changed to 'I'):

-Cooler's faceplate mask being smashed in with a 'sickening crunch' (I described it the same way they did)
-Cooler's use of the telekinetic rock attack (This is no biggie, except it being coupled with the others)
-Cooler reverting to 4th form after being beaten up.
-Cooler being considerably stronger than his foe, yet still being outmatched (theirs was by vegeta's skill and preparation, mine was by pure determination)
-The way that Raditz gained the upper hand by looping his arms around Cooler's shoulders-along with how Raditz smashed pieces of Cooler's armor through the fight the way we wrote it. (The second part of that, again, wouldn't have been an issue if it was standalone)

So that's been quite irritating, discovering that what I'd considered one of my favourite chapters was not nearly as original as I'd thought (it's kind of ironic, then, that I ended up putting the only deliberate reference to their story in chapter 18, without realising that said chapter was related to BoD in a less desirable way—you know, when King Kai said 'hope of the universe, or bringer of death'...that was mainly to point out how you've got Goku and Vegeta, these almost totally different worldviews, and Raditz stuck somewhere in the middle.). There will be minor changes to chapter 18 and 19 to fix this a little. These will not affect the overall plot in any way, but they will somewhat lessen the uncanny similarity between these two fights. Once I've made said edits, if you don't particularly feel like re-reading the chapters in question, I'll post a list of them in a future chapter's pre-story note, at the beginning. I will also be making attempts to move my writing style away from theirs, seeing as they were a major influence on it, in future. All right, I think that's everything covered. The show must go on.

Time is not supposed to be complicated. It's a one-way street, and you live out your life going ever so slightly further along the grand highway of the universe. But then human beings just had to go and invent time travel, and make everything that much more difficult.

For instance, on one fine day in the year 764, time split—in one timeline a dark future awaited, but a single warrior travelled to the past to rewrite history, and try and prevent the nightmare from ever starting.

On the same day as the split, only a few minutes before the warrior's arrival in the past, a dark, spider-like craft silently entered the solar system, gently coasting through the void as its immensely powerful engines powered down. A harsh voice from one of the occupants echoed around the main deck. "How long until we arrive, father?" A mechanical tail thrashed impatiently against the floor, leaving cracks in the metal.

"Calm yourself, Cooler," a much larger figure, reclining in a throne and sipping from a wineglass, replied to the first speaker. "We will enter Earth's orbit in mere moments. Then we can find this Super Saiyan you spoke so much of."

"Are you absolutely certain they are on Earth?" Cooler asked, ignoring the previous answer.

"If you continue this impertinence, I may have to demonstrate why it is I, not you, that really runs this galaxy!" the towering horned figure snapped. "But to answer your question, yes, I am one hundred percent sure. As per your inecessant whining, I have been monitoring the entire empire, and several beings matching your descriptions were located on this planet. They are here, and the sooner we're done with this the better—it's all a giant waste of time, if you ask me…"

"Father! They killed my elite squadron, and mortally wounded me!"

"So?"

It was just Goku's luck. He had to sense the enormous, evil power level right in the middle of his breakfast! He swallowed a mouthful of pancakes, wiping his mouth and jumping to his feet. "Sorry, Chi-Chi, I gotta go!"

"What? Why?" His wife eyed him with suspicion.

"An enormous evil presence just appeared on the planet! I don't like it—I'm gonna go check it out!" He disappeared out the doorway.

"Wait! I'm going too!" Gohan ran up to his room, throwing off his clothes and pulling on his orange gi. Chi-Chi stormed up the stairs after him. "Oh, no you don't, young man! You get right back…" she skidded into the bedroom to find an open window and a quickly-vanishing orange figure soaring off into the sky. "…here…oh, Gohan…why do you have to be so brave? You're just a little kid…"

Goku and Gohan landed in the middle of the eastern wasteland, on a plateau overlooking the ship, which had come to a rest on Earth. Mere moments later, they were joined by Piccolo, Nail, Tien, Yamcha, Krillin and Zarbon, all flying in from different directions.

"So, you guys felt it too, huh?" Goku asked, to a chorus of assent.

"Hey…is it just me, or is that energy signal familiar?" Tien stared down at the ship, squatting like a giant ugly insect on the landscape.

"Yeah, now that you mention it…" Goku frowned. "Of course."

"Huh?" Krillin glanced around at the concerned faces. "What'd I miss?"

"I'm lost, too," Zarbon admitted.

"Of course." Nail nodded, realising. "Not everyone was on Namek, and Zarbon couldn't sense ki back then. Cooler is in that spaceship."

"Cooler?!" Yamcha—who had been dead by the time Cooler had arrived on Namek—put his head in his hands. "That's it. We're dead. We're all dead. Thanks so very much, Raditz, nice job killing him." Goku lightly punched Yamcha on the arm in an attempt to shut him up, accidentally knocking the much weaker fighter to the ground. Goku attempted to raise everyone's spirits. "All right, let's stay calm. I wish we didn't have to fight, but knowing Cooler, I think it's fairly safe to say it's going to happen. There's more of us this time—maybe we have a chance!"

"I think you're avoiding the elephant in the room…" Tien grimaced. "There's a second power in that ship—even higher than Cooler's. Any way you look at it, this isn't good…"

Cooler walked out onto the surface of the Earth, stepping out of his vessel's shadow. "Hmm…I was expecting a dump, but this planet isn't bad." His metallic feet clicked on the rocky ground. Cooler had been heavily modified, robotic parts added to compensate for the grievous injuries suffered on Namek. He was entirely mechanical from the waist down, and had various smaller bionic parts on his upper body.

"Perhaps we should sell it, then, when we're done here?" King Cold, his father, asked. Cold was massive, having to duck to get through the ship's hatch. He somewhat resembled Frieza's second form, with his size, imposing musculature and upwards-curving horns, but he was easily larger than any form of either of his sons, and his purple colouration was a much deeper shade than Frieza's. He wore customised black armour, and a richly-fashioned cape hung from his shoulders.

"No." Cooler was firm. "He dies, and then his planet. I will leave no trace that the saiyan race ever existed!" Soldiers began to file out and examine the surrounding area.

"Very well." King Cold shrugged, tossing his wineglass aside for a hapless flunky to catch before it broke. "Let's just find this 'Super Saiyan', kill him and be done with it, agreed?"

"Apparently, that's the only thing we can agree on," Cooler muttered. "All right, let's—hmm?" He noticed a humanoid figure in the distance, partially obscured by the heat haze, walking slowly towards them. Who is that? All eyes turned to the distant newcomer. Abruptly, the figure flickered, and reappeared much closer, continuing its unhurried approach.

"I don't know this one," Cooler said dismissively. "Must be a local."

"Sir," a bird-like soldier reported, tapping his scouter, "power level's only 10. Orders?"

"Just kill the little primate!" Cold snapped. "We've wasted too much time already, and I can't be bothered to listen to some primitive's babbling." The soldier nodded, raising his arm-mounted blaster and firing off a shot. It arced through the air, but before it hit home, the approaching figure vanished. The wind picked up, and an invisible force seemed to collide with the soldiers one by one, each trooper collapsing to the floor, unconscious but not dead, only the minimum amount of force necessary used to knock each one out. King Cold wrinkled his nose in displeasure. "You know, some of those troops were equal in power to the Ginyu Force. That really wasn't very considerate of you." He was following something with his eyes, and Cooler was doing likewise. "Oh, and you can stop running around like that. Your speed may have been sufficient to let you evade our soldiers' senses, but we can see you just fine and dashing back and forth just makes you look silly."

A blue blur condensed into a human being, standing silently ten metres from the frost demons. "Yes, well done. You can hide your power level and are an accomplished fighter." Cooler spoke up, getting agitated. "But you're starting to annoy me, with your acting superior and giving us the silent treatment—and people who annoy me don't last long in this world!" He extended one hand and fired a thick purple energy beam. This should clear up this mess, and then we can get down to business…

There was a burst of golden light, and the stranger exploded with power, their body enveloped in a bright yellow aura before the beam engulfed them. Cooler's attack faded, revealing empty, barren ground. The intended target stood several metres to the side, having dodged at the last second. The intense heat and emanating power incinerated the unconscious soldiers, and internal explosions rocked the nearby ship as sensors and instruments backfired.

"Ah, so this is the Super Saiyan you spoke of?" King Cold asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No…this isn't him…" Cooler shrank back in fear. Another one?!

"Well, the description seems accurate—golden aura, high power, hair standing up…"

"Father! He crippled me and threw me into the heart of an exploding planet! I'd remember him anywhere, and this is not Raditz!"

"Fine, then!" Cold sighed. "We'll just kill them all, one by one if we have to." He was about to tell his son that he'd be happy to stand back and let Cooler deal with it himself, when a roar of pure rage came from in front of the demons, and the Super Saiyan was upon them.

"Woah! Check it out!" Krillin shielded himself from the shockwaves of power. "Whoever that guy is, he's putting out power like nothing I've ever seen before!"

"And he's a Super Saiyan…?" Tien blinked, then pinched himself. No—not dreaming.

"I wondered what it looks like…" Goku grinned. "Wow, look at him go! He just ripped Cooler into pieces with his bare hands, like it was nothing!"

"Hmm…I'm sure it helped that Cooler didn't transform, but our boy may just have been able to handle him anyway," Tien added. There was another battle cry, and another flash of light.

"I couldn't even follow that one!" Gohan said, open-mouthed in shock.

"Me either!" Goku narrowed his eyes, squinting to see if he could follow it better, both with his five conventional senses and his ki detection. "But it looks like the big guy behind Cooler just got blown away! Man, I don't know who that guy is, but he couldn't have picked a better moment to intervene—we'd have stood no chance ourselves. I wonder who he is…all the saiyans except Raditz, Vegeta and me are supposed to be dead, but that doesn't feel like Raditz or Vegeta…"

"Excuse me." Nail hadn't spoken in a while (as opposed to Piccolo, who hadn't spoken at all). "I may not be an expert in human and saiyan biology, but I believe that 'he' is a 'she'."

"Uh…really?" Goku looked down at the stranger, who—with all enemies obliterated—was powering back down to normal, and back up at Nail. "How can you tell?"

"Namekian hearing is extremely sensitive," Nail explained. "She was shouting—incoherently, I might add—while she killed those two, and it was definitely a female voice."

"Yeah, but—" Yamcha was about to explain why a girl couldn't possibly be such a powerful fighter, then stopped as he realized there wasn't really a reason at all. "Uh, okay."

"Hello up there!" The mystery girl was looking up and waving, calling out to the assembled group. "Can we talk? I don't want to fight you or anything."

Cautiously, the Earth's defenders flew down to the plain where the invading army had stood moments before. "Hi," Goku said, smiling and holding out a hand. "That was amazing! But I have to wonder, how is it that you're a Super Saiyan?"

The girl shook his hand, doing her best to smile, but it was clear she hadn't had much experience. She was in her mid to late teens, quite tall with dark blue hair that hung in loose curls down to her shoulders, and had an air of constantly being on edge about her. She wore a scuffed blue jacket, which interestingly enough bore the Capsule Corporation logo on the left shoulder. Underneath she wore a plain black vest and trousers, all a little worn. Over her back was slung a red fighting staff, which those whose senses were developed enough to watch the battle would have noticed she used to knock out the common soldiers before transforming. "It's…complicated. I'm not sure how much it's safe to tell you, without…well, anyway, it's very difficult. I came here to deliver a warning, but I want to wait until you're all here."

"All here?" Goku looked confused as he considered this, his brain not quite yet reaching the question of, how does she know us? "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that in a few minutes Raditz is going to return to Earth, and if I told you everything now, I'd just end up repeating it. Follow me—I know where he'll arrive." The puzzled group, having pretty much figured out that asking 'how' and 'why' wasn't getting anywhere, simply followed the strange girl through the air. They landed in a patch of rocky ground that looked exactly like the patch of rocky ground they had been standing on in the first place, only minus a spaceship. The girl stood perfectly still, looking expectantly up at the sky. Ten minutes passed. Piccolo was meditating. Yamcha was practicing his Wolf Fang Fist on some unfortunate rocks. Zarbon was pacing. Goku was half-asleep, yawning as he tried to pay attention to Gohan's babbling on about a bird he'd seen that morning. "Be patient," is all the girl would say.

Another ten minutes, and a pinpoint of light appeared in the vast blue sky. It grew into a spherical shape, which crashed into the ground at full speed. It always seemed impressive and dangerous to onlookers, but it was probably just the way the Planet Trade Organisation's transport pods were designed to land. That, or the saiyan inside simply had no idea how to fly the thing. The fighters approached the smoking crater, peering down into it as the pod's hatch cracked open. And just as predicted, Raditz stumbled out, dressed in plain brown, somewhat ragged clothes. He gave a small smile as he saw everyone looking down at him from the rim of the crater, and floated up to meet them. "Well, hello again." He stretched, breathing deeply. "Ahh, feels good to be out of that cramped little pod…well, sorry I took so long getting home. Damn thing's controls made no sense. These new models, I swear, don't make 'em like they used to. So…how come you all knew I was coming?" He was tackle-hugged by Gohan, and silently acknowledged the boy's affections with a pat on the head, grinning to see Goku alive and well.

"Ask her," Krillin replied, "whoever she is. You just missed one hell of a show!"

"Yes, I was wondering about that…" Raditz folded his arms, turning to look at the girl. "I was racing Cooler and his father home…"

"—his father?!" came an outburst from the side.

"—shush, Yamcha!" Krillin hissed.

"…and I was going to intercept them as soon as they got to Earth," Raditz continued, ignoring the humans' interruption, "when their energy disappeared. And for a short time, another huge power appeared…" He indicated her. "That was you?"

She nodded. "I guess, now you're all here, I should give you an explanation."

"About damn time," Piccolo muttered, receiving a glare from Nail.

"Well, I'm afraid I'm going to have to disappoint you…" she sighed. "I can't really explain. If all goes according to plan, you'll understand in time…but I can deliver the warning I came to give you." She looked much more serious all of a sudden. "In three years' time—I've got the exact time and date written down," she said, handing Gohan a piece of paper with some hasty scrawling on it, "two androids will appear. Terrible, evil beings, even more powerful than a Super Saiyan! They'll destroy everything, hunt down all remnants of humanity for sport. The world will become a living nightmare." She looked at each of them in turn. "I'm telling you this because if you know it's coming, you can train harder, anticipate the threat…I might be able to help you, as well, but I can't promise anything. It's really down to you—you have to change the future for the better!"

"Assuming we believe you," Piccolo asked, "what happens to us? Do these androids kill us, too?"

"Most of you. Look…I've got personal reasons, but…there's some things I'd rather only share with Goku, all right?" This got mixed reactions.

"Better than not telling anyone, I suppose." Raditz flexed his muscles a little. "But before you two take off to go talk in private, tell me…how do you know what's more powerful than a Super Saiyan?" He set his jaw, his expression hardened, and—with a slight burst of ki that sent the fighters closest to him staggering back—made his Super Saiyan transformation for the first time since returning to Earth. This was the first time many of them had seen this 'legendary golden warrior'.

"I guess I forgot, your friends never did have time to fill you in on the details." She furrowed her brow, gritted her teeth, and a second golden aura burst into life. Her hair and eyes shined with intense power.

"Woah…too much!" Yamcha complained, standing even further back, in awe of such powerful, almost mythical beings.

"Well, that I didn't expect." Raditz looked intently at the other Super Saiyan. "So that's what it looks like from the outside…anyway, it would explain how you defeated Cooler and his father so easily—woah!" He flinched to the left on a reflex as the girl threw a sudden punch at his head. A low growl rose from her throat as she continued to launch quick, short-ranged attacks, Raditz stepping from side to side and avoiding each one. It didn't take long for him to get fed up, and he swept her legs out from under her, knocking her onto her back. She breathed out, returning to her normal state, and he did likewise.

"That was uncalled for," he said sternly.

"Sorry." She held up a hand in apology. "I lose mental control when I transform. But I'm impressed—they said you were good, but you're amazing!"

Raditz couldn't help smiling at this. "You flatter me. So, you were testing me? Seems as good a way as any. You're quick, but your technique lacks precision. You should work on that."

She nodded, standing up and turning to Goku. "All right. Now, if you don't mind…"

Goku followed her into the air. "All right. Let's talk."

Well, here we go. This chapter is fairly similar to the original DBZ version of events, but I hope it's got enough differences to keep you entertained, and I've certainly got some surprises later on, so bear with me as we continue to diverge away from canon.

Anyway, sorry, King Cold fans. I know I put basically no detail into his death, because a. you've seen it before, and b. it's to emphasise how quick and effortless it was. If you're that concerned and want to see more of Cold, well...he does impact the story somewhat a little later on. His role is not just to appear and die. Promise.

Yeah, no more power levels. Sorry. I don't think I'd be very good at coming up with them. Feel free to suggest some, but I probably won't put them here in the author's notes, it'd just be a pain deciding who I agree with and why.

Q: An excellent end to an amazing saga. I have one question, though... how did Goku get revived on earth? Last time I checked, he died on Namek. And in canon, they needed one wish to transport his soul to the Earth's check-in station...

A: He was completely atomised. There was no body to return his soul to. So the dragon created a new one. It wasn't quite like Krillin in DBZ—he was blown up, leaving dust, which the dragon restored into a body, but it had to be moved to Earth first. Goku here was more than blown up—he was torn apart at an atomic level. Nothing at all left.

Q: What would raditz look like as an ssj 3? Would he impale himself on his own hair if he's not careful? Could he use it as a weapon? (and other such joking reviews about SSJ3 Raditz…)

A: He'd just bury Buu, Dabura and Babidi in it, and end the saga in one minute flat.

Q: A befitting end to an era. One question though, How did Piccolo train in hell? You can't keep your body.

A: The DB series is pretty inconsistent about that. I think it might be a bit complicated. We know for a fact that Goku and other heroes keep their bodies. However, it's sort of 'iffy' on whether or not Frieza/Cell etc. kept theirs in Hell. I'm going to say it's pure good or pure evil people that have a 'simple' enough energy to retain their bodies. Vegeta, by the Buu saga in DBZ, wasn't quite good or bad. He was, like most people, neither complete hero or villain, and as such couldn't keep his body.

Q: (various comments for and against Zarbon/Bulma, some people really want it to happen, some really don't)

A: No comment.

Q: Great chapter to wrap up the Namek saga. I wonder who the "heavy hitters" are that Piccolo did his best to avoid. Do you plan on elaborating on who and/what they are? Also, do you plan on having Zarbon train? He seems to be growing accustomed to Earth quite well.

A: I can answer the Piccolo thing—I just assumed there'd have been other powerful villains throughout history who ended up there.

Q: will you have any other character role changes like, Android 17 for example.

A: Er…gonna have to go with another 'no comment'.

Q: now that goku has died will he (finaly) get the training by king kai or will he be revived before that.
wonder if they bother to revive zarbon...poor guy :P

A: He was revived before that, and yes. But you already know that by now.

Q: So did Goku learn the Kaioken while he was dead? I feel that if he had it in his battle against Cooler's 4th form, he could've taken him out with a 20x Kamehameha.

Is Raditz going to train on planet Yardrat to learn the Instant Transmission technique? I'm curious to see the reunion between them. And Vegeta, who remains a mystery for now.

A: Goku did not. He wasn't dead for long enough—he just sort of hung around, waiting to be resurrected, maybe doing some 'idle' training on his own. As for Raditz, find out what he's been up to next chapter.