Hey, everyone, Lion here. I figure I should get right to the point here: Chapter 35 hasn't yet been finished.
I know how often I kept saying the arc would be unbroken, that there wouldn't be any delays between chapters, and I swear, I tried to keep that promise. Even when college work proved to be harder than initially anticipated. Even when the quarantine started. Even when things got even worse, I still kept trying to work up the motivation and set aside the time to get this last chapter out on time. Unfortunately, things got so bad that I simply was not capable of doing that. The school year is winding down, and with that came a whole bunch of last-minute work, but on top of that, issues in my personal life left me so stressed out that it was incredibly difficult to do both that work and write this fic. Every day just felt so draining. It was already stressful enough getting each chapter done ahead of the deadlines I'd set, trying to keep the promise I made at the start of this arc, the promise that I continued to insist upon. Now, with all of this on top of that...I wasn't certain I could finish this chapter alongside everything else I had to do, certainly not to the quality that I've tried to maintain, and certainly not without great sacrifice on my part. I've said before that I don't want to make writing this story something that I hate, because I know that if I hate it, I'll never want to go back to it. I feared that that is exactly what would happen if I tried to push myself to finish this arc in that current state.
Thus, although it pains me to say it, I have no choice but to postpone the release of Chapter 35 by another 2 weeks. I just don't know how long it will take for things to get better on my end; things are looking up at the moment, but they could easily get worse again. And it really does pain me to say it; I honestly feel like I've failed you all by not being able to deliver on my promise at the last leg of this arc. All the same, though, I have to acknowledge the fact that I simply couldn't do it. I imagine some of you will be disappointed, so I figured I'd add something to this update to try and make up for my failure: what I have for Chapter 35 so far. It'll be included when the actual chapter comes out, so that nobody misses it, but for now, I'm hoping that this will be enough to tide you all over. Once again, I'm sorry for not being able to fulfill my promise, and I hope you all at the very least enjoy what I was able to produce. As always, thank you for reading, have yourselves a fantastic day, and take care.
Cooler looked down at the unusual scene before him, his eyes widened in disbelief. Just a moment ago, he was seconds away from wiping both the insolent monkey and his loathsome father off the face of the planet, along with the planet. And yet, now, a new figure with some strange mask over his face and an intense golden aura of ki was holding back his final attack. The figure hadn't been anywhere in sight a moment ago, but now they were suddenly there, with a level of ki that seemed to at the very least match Cooler's own. And most concerning of all, although it definitely didn't look easy for them, they also didn't appear to be struggling too intensely to hold the Supernova in place. Which, of course, suggested that they may be holding back a good deal of their power. Cooler was beginning to suspect that leaving his father with one foot in the grave might've been a mistake.
He mulled over precisely how to respond to this new threat for a moment when he noticed something else: a steady increase in the new figure's ki, directed towards his position. From what he had observed, they hadn't appeared to be having trouble holding the Supernova back before, which meant…
"They're planning to push it back," Cooler thought, a thought which sent a chill down his spine. He had poured a great deal of his power into that attack, in order to ensure that his rivals were defeated. If Goku and King Cold couldn't have survived the attack, then in his condition, his odds of survival weren't much better. With a sudden flick of the wrist and a quick burst of ki, Cooler sent a small ki blast flying towards his own Supernova, one intended solely to destabilize the sphere of ki and cause it to spontaneously explode. He instinctively smirked as the small ball of purple ki flew towards the giant orange ball...only to suddenly be flying through empty air before crashing into the snow, as both the mysterious warrior and the Supernova vanished from sight right before Cooler's eyes.
"What?!" Cooler exclaimed aloud, eyes widened in surprise as he frantically tried to determine where the figure and the sphere of ki had gone. With growing apprehension, Cooler realized that neither of them were to be found anywhere within the vicinity of the planet, or anywhere else he could sense for that matter. He couldn't believe it. Someone like the mysterious warrior hiding their own energy from his senses, that he understood, but there was no way that a manifestation of ki like the Supernova could be hidden from detection. And yet, at the same time, he couldn't dispute the fact that the Supernova was gone...at least for a few seconds.
Cooler sensed the reappearance of the Supernova and the figure before he heard their arrival, accompanied by a high-pitched whine of some sort as they both suddenly came back into existence. Not far from where he was currently floating above Goku and King Cold's bodies, hovering at around the same height, Cooler could feel the figure directing a powerful ki blast in his direction, one which immediately impacted the Supernova and sent it flying towards him. He was only barely able to turn towards the sphere, attempting to halt it in its tracks with his one good hand. Unfortunately, the added kick of the ki blast accelerating the Supernova forward proved to be too much for Cooler, and he was sent flying away from the planet with a scream of absolute fury and pain.
As Cooler flew into space, the figure simply grunted, their hair and aura remaining a piercing golden yellow. The mask they wore altered their voice such that the grunt came out sounding much deeper and distorted than it actually was. Without missing a beat, they vanished once more, reappearing with that same high-pitched whine right next to Goku's unconscious body. They hovered over him for a moment, sensing his ki and knowing that he didn't have much time left. At the same time, something else caught their attention: King Cold wasn't dead yet, either. In fact, his ki seemed to be steadily growing in intensity, at a rate so imperceptible that the masked warrior doubted Cooler had noticed it in the heat of the moment. They certainly hadn't until now.
They grunted again. They would deal with the king later. For now, they had a Saiyan to save, which they set about accomplishing with the expediency of a person on a mission. Without hesitation, they reached for Goku's mouth and forced it open, while the other hand was busy retrieving what looked like an ordinary bottle for liquid medicine. Goku moaned softly as he continued to weaken, his mysterious affliction taking its toll on his body. The rough method of treatment certainly didn't help. In any event, the figure used a small kiai to pop open the bottle and shoved the contents into Goku's mouth, forcing him to swallow them all in spite of the Saiyan warrior's unconscious protests. The figure then let go of Goku and examined him again, letting out a small grunt of satisfaction as the Saiyan's vitals appeared to stabilize. He was still weak, and the figure knew that even with the medicine, he'd be in a coma for days to come as he tried to recover. The figure idly wondered if Goku would get a Zenkai boost from such an ordeal, and chuckled to themselves. If he did, no doubt it would be enough to render the Saiyan warrior stronger than them once more. Such was their luck, they supposed.
The masked warrior looked down at Goku, unconscious and vulnerable as the optimistic fighter was. He had been beaten half to death, as per usual, and in his state he could be killed instantly by a standard Cooler Force laser pistol. But...he was alive. For them, that was all that mattered. All the work to get here had been worth it. Although, all the same, they couldn't help but chuckle at the bizarre situation.
"Who would have thought I'd be saving your life, eh, Kakarot?" Vegeta asked, smirking a little underneath the mask which distorted his voice beyond recognition.
With the matter of Goku's demise settled for the moment, Vegeta took a deep breath before placing two fingers to his forehead. It had been difficult to get the technique to work before, especially with the Supernova in tow, but he'd practiced transmitting without the usual gesture enough to manage a momentary hop to Planet Chilled and back, even with such unusual cargo alongside him. Still, it always helped to have a clear focus established before transmitting. He still remembered the time he got part of his shoulder stuck in that rock face. The experience had given him a slight Zenkai boost, but that was hardly worth the agony of un-dislocating his shoulder.
After a moment of focus, he eventually found what he was looking for: the ki signature of a certain half-Saiyan child. A child who, thankfully, was both familiar to the former prince and absurdly powerful enough to allow him to lock on to the boy even from this extreme range. Without a word, Vegeta placed a hand on Goku's leg with just enough pressure to establish a connection. With one more high-pitched whine, the two Super Saiyans vanished from the frozen planet, on course for Earth.
"Gohan! Dinner!"
Chi Chi's voice rang clearly from the front door of the Son family residence, all the way to the oak tree Gohan was currently sitting under as he read one of the books his mother had assigned for his homework. Upon hearing her call out to him, he mulled over the reading he had left for a second before replying.
"I'll be there in a minute!" he called out, before proceeding to rapidly read through the last few pages he had to complete. As soon as he had done so, he picked up his bookmark with his tail and set it carefully into the book so he could pick up where he left off tomorrow. With that, he was just about ready to fly rapidly towards the front door when he suddenly heard a high pitched whine, and recoiled in shock as someone familiar suddenly appeared in midair. As the figure hit the ground, Gohan could have sworn he sensed a second person slightly above the first, with a ki signature that felt oddly familiar in and of itself. However, it had only appeared for an instant, and at the moment, there was something far more important that needed to be addressed.
"Dad?!" he exclaimed in panic and disbelief, but there his father was, lying on the ground and incredibly weak. Without hesitation, Gohan moved towards his father and picked him up as gently as he could before taking off towards the house, calling for his mother. Chi Chi herself remained standing in the doorway until Gohan arrived, flying into the house faster than she could see and setting someone down onto the couch. She quickly moved to investigate.
"Gohan? What are you doi-oh my God!" Chi Chi cried out, immediately dropping everything and rushing to her husband's side, checking to see whether he was suffering from anything serious. "Gohan, what happened?! How-?!"
"I don't know! I was just reading and he suddenly teleported right in front of me!"
Chi Chi glanced towards her son, and she could tell that he was panicking. She had to get a handle on the situation fast.
"Okay, Gohan, the first thing I need you to do is-"
Before she could finish her thought, Piccolo flew in with slight traces of panic on his face, followed by Tien, Chiaotzu, and Blonde Launch, who ran in carrying her trusty minigun.
"I felt Gohan's energy spike, what's...oh, my," Piccolo said, his panic subsiding somewhat as both he and Tien looked down at Goku, while Chiaotzu and Blonde Launch stood nearby. "What's going on?"
Chi Chi took a breath, still trying to stay on top of things. "Well-"
Before she could finish her thought, everyone in the room heard something outside, as if someone had just stumbled into a bush. A string of unintelligible words followed, words which had clearly been uttered by Dende in a moment of extreme frustration. Piccolo couldn't help but smirk slightly, while Kami gasped inside his mind.
"My, where would a child like Dende have heard that?" he asked, to which Piccolo could only bark out a laugh as Dende suddenly appeared in front of him, looking rather displeased. A few stray twigs had gotten caught in his robes, which he blew away with a small kiai as he looked around. His eyes widened as he saw Goku's unconscious body, and he rushed towards the Saiyan before placing a hand on him, the telltale orange glow washing over Goku as his injuries were repaired. After about twenty seconds, Dende lifted his hand with a relieved sigh, satisfied that Goku's condition had improved.
"Well, he didn't appear to be in extremely serious danger, but all the same, it's a good thing I managed to get here so quickly," he said, to which the group nodded, likewise relieved that Goku seemed better off than he was before. Chi Chi, in particular, leaned in further, positioning herself close to Goku's face.
"Goku? Are you feeling better?" she asked, waiting for her husband to stir. As the seconds passed with no reaction on his part, she and the others began to grow worried once more.
"Something's wrong," Tien said, to which Piccolo and Chiaotzu nodded in agreement. Gohan, meanwhile, moved next to his mother.
"Dad? Dad, are you there?" he asked, starting to panic again. This time, Chi Chi wasn't able to stop herself from succumbing to the same feelings of apprehension.
"Honey? The fight's over. Y-you're safe now," she said, her voice becoming strained as all she heard in response was Goku's light, yet steady breathing.
"Uh, green bean? I thought you healed him already?" Launch asked, causing Dende to grumble slightly in annoyance at Launch's nickname.
"I did. I...I'm sensing something unusual, though. I better take a closer look." His face assumed a look of intense concentration as he laid his hand on Goku again, this time examining his general health and prompting those around him to move a little closer to him.
"Hm...this is rather odd," Dende remarked aloud after a moment, which only confused the others more. "Just so I know, how exactly did Goku get here?"
Gohan spoke up, somewhat nervously. "W-well, I was reading outside, and all of a sudden he appeared right in front of me. I...I think someone may have brought him here themselves, but they vanished before I could figure out who they were or what their power level was. I was mostly focused on dad anyhow; his ki was really weak."
Dende nodded. "Strange. It sounds very similar to my own Instantaneous Movement technique. Did you all sense a second person in the area as well?
Chiaotzu, Tien, and Piccolo all mulled over the question for a moment before slowly nodding.
"Now that you mention it, I think so," Chiaotzu said. "They were only there for a fraction of a second. It was like a flicker, almost, only, like, super intense."
Tien nodded. "Me and Piccolo were training as per usual, so I think it only clicked for us on the way here." Piccolo simply grunted, seemingly confirming Tien's assertion. "And, now that I think about it...their ki felt like something I've sensed before, but I can't quite figure out anything beyond that."
"It felt like that for me too!" Gohan chimed in. "It was...kinda freaky, to be honest."
Dende simply nodded. "Well, in any event, we can dwell on that mystery later. For now, I've noticed something rather...peculiar, regarding Goku's health at the moment. I'm afraid it brings up more questions than it answers."
"What's going on?" Tien asked, prompting Dende to explain.
"From what I can tell, Goku appears to have been suffering from some kind of virus, one which was primarily affecting his cardiovascular system and causing him to experience immense fatigue and a host of other symptoms."
The group collectively drew a tense breath, with the exception of Piccolo and Gohan, who both looked around at them confused.
"C-can you tell what virus it was, specifically?" Chi Chi asked, every part of her expression betraying her immense worry. Dende murmured to himself.
"I'm afraid my senses are not that specific. Why, is there a specific virus which you're worried he contracted recently?"
Both Chi Chi and Launch nodded, with Launch taking the initiative. "There's this new virus that's been cropping up recently, which causes symptoms just like that. Can't quite remember the name, but Bulma was telling me about it; how Capsule Corp is working on a cure. For now, though, you get this thing, and you're a goner." Chi Chi and Gohan both became noticeably more apprehensive, while Dende and the others nodded slowly, taking it in.
"I-it's rather picky, from what I've read," Chi Chi said, somewhat frantically. "Experts think it only seriously affects people with a certain blood type. I-I didn't even think it would affect an alien like Goku, but..." Chi Chi chose not to finish her sentence, placing a hand over her mouth as she mulled over the circumstances, while Gohan moved to comfort her. Dende murmured to himself until Tien spoke up.
"Is Goku going to be alright?" he asked, to which Dende nodded.
"Yes. Somehow, it would seem that a cure is exactly what Goku's been given." The group let out murmurs of confusion and surprise before Dende continued. "From what I can sense through my abilities, although the virus is still very much present in his system, it's being fought off by some kind of antiviral drug, suspended in a liquid solution that he recently ingested. By all appearances, although he'll likely be unconscious for a while...he's going to make a full recovery." The murmurs of confusion only intensified once Dende said that.
"I-I don't understand. How is that possible?" Gohan asked, to which Chiaotzu raised a finger in response.
"Maybe he got some kind of alien treatment somehow?" he suggested. Tien murmured to himself, contemplating the issue.
"Perhaps, but it seems rather unlikely that there would be an alien cure for a virus that originated on Earth."
"Especially if that virus is one that has only recently emerged," Piccolo added. "From what I understand, if it is an antiviral drug as Dende said, it was likely designed to eradicate one virus and one virus alone."
"And Bulma said they're years away from having anything workable," Launch finished. "It doesn't make any damn sense."
"Nothing about this situation makes sense!" Chi Chi said, still suffering from residual panic. "I-I don't even know where Goku could have gotten something like this!"
The others mulled over this for a while before Tien spoke up.
"Well, he was in the hospital for quite some time last year. It's possible he contracted it there."
Launch nodded slowly. "Yeah, that makes sense. Plus, Bulma was saying this thing takes a while to really kick in."
"Well, in any event, the symptoms appear to be in remission now," Dende said. "His breathing is still slightly irregular, and everything else I can piece together would seem to suggest that he's recently experienced a severe case of cardiac arrest. He also appears to have narrowly avoided hypothermia, but I believe that's unrelated." Dende took a deep breath as he lifted up his hand once more. "I said this once before, but: it's a miracle he's not dead."
The group fell silent for a moment, thinking over the situation themselves before turning to look at each other.
"So," Gohan began, "we're dealing with a mysterious person who somehow teleported dad to exactly where I was sitting."
"A person whose ki felt familiar, although we can't figure out who they might have been or why they might have brought Goku here," Chiaotzu continued.
"And apparently, Goku almost died from a heart virus, one that came from Earth," Piccolo said.
"One that both has a cure, sitting in his body...and one that likely won't have a cure until years from now," Tien finished. All of them considered the situation at hand, before Dende eventually sighed, likewise immensely puzzled by what he had observed.
"Like I said...more questions than answers."