First off, can we please have a moment of silence…
.
Thank you. This silence is to mourn canon Gohan, who is being absolutely destroyed in Super. I still hold hope that Toriyama might have Gohan getting reduced to trash, as a push for him to get stronger after the RoF arc… but then I remember how things ended in DBZ… although, while this is bad for Gohan canon wise, this has lit a fire under me fanfiction wise and I am going to start churning chapters out for this like crazy. Gohan was and still is, my favourite character from any anime/manga (see my penname) so seeing him reduced to nothing is honestly painful to watch. I thought maybe with Trunks coming back, Gohan would get back some of the fire he had in the Cell Saga… but they didn't even tell him what was happening… *sigh* I guess Gohan will never regain his legendary status, but at least Future Trunks is still awesome.
Disclaimer – I don't own Dragon Ball/Z/GT. All I own are my original characters and plot twists.
'Talking'
"Thinking"
"Telepathy"
*expression*
Flashback
Chapter 8 – Ingenuity
Six months has passed quickly for the defenders of Earth. Despite Gohan's words, or rather, in spite of them, the Z-fighters had trained as hard as they could, pushing themselves to their limits. The newly arrived Saiyans had also trained hard, with Tarble spending most of his time training with Vegeta, while Broly had continued his mental training with Piccolo, occasionally dropping in on the two sons of the Saiyan King and reminding them why even their father had feared him as a baby. Goku had continued to train, but he had also been busy helping Chi-Chi look after Goten, who had proved to be just as much of a handful as Goku had been, only minus the Saiyan programming to destroy the Earth. Given his appetite though, he may have been trying to destroy the Earth by eating everything in existence.
As the fateful day neared, Gohan and Bulma had been hard at work, putting in many hours of research and technical development. It helped a great deal that Bulma had already been developing a device to stop the androids and even with Krillin destroying her first model, the blueprints still remained. With the notes Bulma's father had on Sixteen, they had been successfully able to rewire it, to target the parts not shared between Sixteen and the two cyborgs: their organic matter. After that first goal had been achieved, Gohan had tried his best to figure out how to target Ki directly. Ki was a fickle thing to target, as it was simply energy. Everything had it, which made only targeting Cooler's specific Ki a truly arduous task.
They were now only weeks away from Cooler's predicted arrival, but the two geniuses still couldn't bring the idea of a Ki disrupter together with Bulma's device.
'I don't get it, what are we missing?' Muttered Gohan in annoyance.
'Do you think that we might just have to rely on it being a broad-spectrum device, one that will target any organic matter?' Asked Bulma.
'That's not acceptable though, there is no telling what will happen if we use it like that. It may even hurt us and leave Cooler alone if we can't attune it properly, which would mean we are finished.' Said Gohan, with a shake of his head.
'Well, I don't see any other way around it then. Somehow, we need some of Cooler's organic matter to make this thing target him specifically.' Sighed Bulma.
'Yeah… but there needs to be something we can use.' Said Gohan.
'Well, we do have the blueprints on Cell and Cell contained cells from Cooler, couldn't we use them?' Asked Bulma.
'No. When Dad blasted Cooler into the sun, all of Cooler's DNA was mutated. If the race of Cooler and Frieza wasn't so attuned to adapting to harsh environments, he would have perished from the genetic load alone.' Said Gohan, a small frown appearing on his pensive expression.
'What are we going to do then?' Asked Bulma.
'I guess we really don't have any other choice. The device won't be ready until Cooler actually arrives. We need to get a sample of his core genetic material as it is now, to prime the device against him specifically.' Answered Gohan, crossing his arms over his chest in annoyance.
'That's really risky though. If the device is damaged in the battle, that's it, we lose. Not to mention, that you'd need to actually get close enough to Cooler's real body, meaning you'd have to fight off all of his clones to get within range. You've only got seconds after that to prime the device and maybe not even that, especially if he realises what you are trying to do and the device itself will need a minute to calibrate properly on his specific energy signature.' Said Bulma, crossing her arms over her chest as well.
'Well, I guess that's just a risk we're going to need to take. This is the best chance we've got and considering we had nothing before, we just need to make it work somehow.' Said Gohan, as he uncrossed his arms and let his shoulders slump slightly.
'Hey, chin up kiddo, you can do it. If it is a matter of time, I'm pretty sure you can outlast anyone, besides, I'm sure the others will be there to help, you won't be on your own, remember that.' Lectured Bulma.
'Yeah, you're right Bulma, see you tomorrow, I need to go visit Lime before she gets mad again.' Said Gohan, before teleporting away.
Bulma gave a small sigh of relief at this.
'Hang in there, kiddo, we need you.' Whispered Bulma, before another explosion rocked the building.
'I swear, if those meatheads broke the chamber again, I'm not fixing it this time!' Growled Bulma, before leaving the lab in a huff.
-line break-
'Soon… soon I will be victorious.' Spoke Cooler, sitting in an armchair and swirling a glass in his right hand, head resting on his left palm.
'I told them all along that I would come for them, I can only hope their wills' haven't been completely crushed, after all, I look forward to doing that myself. For all their power, they cannot stop immortality.' Monologued Cooler, before taking a sip of his drink.
Cooler gazed down at the glass in his hand, before shattering it, as he clenched his teeth.
'That accursed Saiyan reduced me to nothing! I almost perished… but now, not only will I have my revenge, I will collect, with interest. Just you wait, Goku!' Spat Cooler in distaste, before an announcement was heard.
'So, that's Earth… a quaint mud-ball if I've ever seen one. It will be a pleasure to destroy it.' Said Cooler, standing from his seat, before walking towards the window of his spaceship made up of the Big Gete Star, peering out at the blue planet.
-line break-
Piccolo stood across from Broly, who was seated with his eyes closed on The Lookout. The hulking Saiyan was taking deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm himself down. The tall Namekian gave a slight nod of approval, feeling Broly reign in his emotions, before the silence was shattered, by a startled yelp from Dende, causing Piccolo to face his fellow Namekian, while Broly contorted his face into an expression of irritation.
'Dende, what is it?' Asked Piccolo quietly, trying not to disturb the Saiyan, with a temper that went well beyond volatile.
'A large Ki is approaching Earth. It will be here in a few hours.' Said Dende, a bead of sweat sliding down his cheek.
'What? Are you sure?' Asked Piccolo, uncrossing his arms, only for his fellow Namekian to nod.
'This is earlier than Gohan said, but I suppose it was a rough estimate in any case. We need to alert the others.' Said Piccolo, earning a nod from Dende.
'I'll go tell our beloved prince.' Said Broly, with a smile promising ill intentions for the husband of Bulma, before flying off The Lookout.
'I suppose I'll tell the others.' Said Piccolo, before flying off as well.
-line break-
'Gohan, what is it?' Asked Lime, seated next to Gohan, as they were fishing in a small stream.
Gohan was staring up at the sky to his right, eyes narrowed and a serious expression on his face.
'Lime, I'm going to need to cut this short today. On the positive side, if everything goes well today, I'll be able to come over more often.' Said Gohan.
'What if things don't go well?' Asked Lime, gripping her rod tightly.
'Then this will be the last time we ever go fishing again.' Said Gohan, pulling his rod out of the water.
'Gohan… can you be honest with me? Is whatever has had you worried for the past few months something like… Cell?' Asked Lime, staring at the grass in front of her.
'… Yeah, it is.' Said Gohan, after a short pause.
'Gohan, just remember, if you could overcome something like this before, you can do this as well, just… don't forget that.' Said Lime.
'I won't.' Said Gohan, before putting two fingers to his forehead and disappearing.
-line break-
Gohan appeared just under the point where Cooler was going to arrive. Luckily, it wasn't anywhere populated, in fact, it was in the middle of a desert, not to different from where Vegeta had transformed in a Great Ape and nearly killed them all, before Gohan had transformed as well.
"This is it, it all comes down to this." Thought Gohan, now clad in the same clothes he had worn to defeat Cell, only minus the cape. The three remaining full blooded Saiyans and Tarble soon arrived, standing beside Gohan.
'Ready?' Asked Goku, only for Gohan to jump in surprise.
'No! We haven't made the device yet!' Shouted Gohan in shock, before teleporting away.
'Only a spawn of you, Kakarot, could be so dense, as to forget the one thing we need here today.' Growled Vegeta.
'Hey, Gohan's actually really smart you know!' Protested Goku.
'Well he has an excellent way of showing it!' Roared Vegeta, before a large mass breached the clouds above.
'Well, here we go.' Muttered Tarble.
-line break-
'Bulma, we need that device now!' Exclaimed Gohan, appearing in front of Bulma and starling the blue haired woman.
'What, why?' Asked Bulma in surprise.
'Cooler is here, now!' Exclaimed Gohan.
'Well, it is a good thing I started working on it last night then, just give me an hour and I'll have it ready.' Said Bulma, before rushing into action.
'I'll be back!' Shouted Gohan, before disappearing again.
-line break-
When Gohan had reappeared at the site of Cooler's landing, he noticed the Big Gete Star had already started burying itself into the Earth, feeding off it.
'I was thinking you had chickened out, but it seems you were too foolish for that.' Commented Cooler, steeping out of the Big Gete Star.
Cooler appeared exactly the same as he had when he first arrived on Earth, only his entire body was now silver, barring his red eyes.
'So you did come, just like you said you would.' Said Gohan.
'Of course, I wouldn't want to disappoint.' Smirked Cooler, before leaping backwards to avoid a superman punch from Vegeta, which crushed the ground where he had just been standing.
'So impatient, Vegeta, do not worry, you will perish soon enough, right after I deal with those three nuisances.' Said Cooler, looking at Tarble, Broly and Gohan.
'I am the Prince of all Saiyans, yet you ignore me for a couple of half-breeds and a berserker. I will not tolerate such insolence.' Said Vegeta, clenching his fists.
'I'm sorry to hear that, Vegeta. I know you were always my brother's favourite Saiyan lapdog, but it seems you are still just that, a dog, barking about his insecurities.' Commented Cooler, enraging the Saiyan.
'I will destroy you, Cooler.' Said Vegeta calmly.
'Perhaps, you may be able to destroy this body of mine, but how will you deal with the rest?' Challenged Cooler, before a bright sheen of silver was seen on the horizon.
A few moments later, hundreds of identical versions of Cooler, had appeared behind the first.
'You see, after my first run in with your fellow Saiyans, I thought immortality alone would have been enough to defeat them. I was mistaken it seemed and I have no trouble admitting that I was easily overpowered as a single unit. As things stand now though, I am not Cooler. We, are the Meta-Cooler army. We do not tire. We do not quit. We are limitless. Most importantly though, whether now or in the future, we will be your end.' Said Cooler.
'I didn't see the resemblance at first, but now I do.' Said Vegeta, confusing Cooler, before his head was blasted off, the body falling to the floor immediately after.
'You and your whole family love to talk incessantly. Make no mistake though, you will lose.' Said Vegeta, before clenching his fists and giving a mighty yell.
A few of Cooler's nearby clones were blown back from the sudden increase in Vegeta's Ki, as he transformed into a Super Saiyan.
'So it begins.' Said one of the clones, before being blasted into oblivion by the prince.
'Vegeta, don't waste your energy, we need to be smart about this.' Said Gohan.
'You do what you need to do, brat, I have years of frustration to work out on these… things.' Snorted Vegeta, before diving into the mass of clones.
Gohan was about to say something to this, only for Broly to shoot off after the prince, cackling madly, as he started to rip through the clone army, impaling them on his muscular arms.
'Well, I guess I should have expected that from Broly, but I'm surprised he is actually restraining himself and not transforming into his… never mind.' Muttered Gohan, before the Saiyan behemoth transformed, doubling in size and increasing the speed at which he tore through the clones.
'So anyway, what's the plan Gohan?' Asked Goku, as he and Tarble looked at Gohan expectantly.
'We need to get to the core of the Big Gete Star and find Cooler's real body. That needs to wait though, as Bulma is still making the device that will stop him, so we just need to hold him off for about an hour.' Said Gohan.
'Then it seems we came right on time.' Said Piccolo, as he, Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Chiaotzu, dropped down behind the three Saiyans.
A quick sense of their power levels and Gohan was mildly surprised. He didn't expect them all to reach the level that they did, with Krillin and Tien being almost as strong as Cell in his initial form, Yamcha being as strong as King Cold and Chiaotzu being just under Frieza's first form. Piccolo blew them all out of the water though and it made sense, since he was the one watching over Broly, someone who had pushed Gohan himself at one point. Piccolo had managed to match Cell in his first form before, after fusing with Kami, but now, he could probably survive against his Perfect form, although Gohan doubted he would beat him in a one-on-one fight, in terms of raw power.
'I know you guys have been training hard and you've improved, but I really think the four of you should stick together. The longer we fight Cooler and his clones, the stronger they will get over time, so make sure you don't wear yourselves out.' Said Gohan, addressing the four humans.
'Damn and here I was hoping we would be able to overpower Cooler this time.' Joked Krillin.
'Well, I guess now's a good time to join in.' Said Gohan, seeing Vegeta starting to get surrounded by a few Coolers who were starting to reach his strength in his base form.
The Saiyans jumped in first, Tarble going to back up his brother, already transformed into his Super Saiyan form. Goku, on the other hand, refrained from transforming for now, but started to attack the swathe of clones on the opposite side of Broly, deciding to give the large and partially insane man some space, as he cackled madly, flinging green blasts of energy all around himself. Gohan decided to charge straight for the Big Gete Star, deciding that locating Cooler's true body would be important, even if they still needed to hold him off for an hour. The non-Saiyan Z-fighters then joined the battle, working as a team to take the clones of Cooler down, one at a time. Tien and Krillin did most of the heavy lifting, with Chiaotzu providing support and Yamcha keeping them from being surrounded, frequently rushing in and breaking up any circles that tried to form around the duo. Piccolo decided to follow after his student, providing support, as they flew towards the Big Gete Star.
'Kid, if this thing you've planned doesn't work, what's your backup plan?' Asked Piccolo, even as he launched a light grenade down and vaporised three Meta-Coolers.
'Honestly, I don't have one. The only other thing I can think of is destroying the Big Gete Star itself, but with the army of Cooler's to deal with, I doubt I'd have enough time to gather enough energy to completely destroy it and the clones might even block the attack, either with attacks of their own, or their bodies. That being said, if we only partially destroy the Big Gete Star, I worry about how it might adapt next.' Confessed Gohan.
'In that case, if things don't go to plan, teleport me to the Lookout. I've got a backup plan, but hopefully we won't need to use it. The drawbacks are extremely severe and could leave us in a worse situation.' Said Piccolo, with a grunt, stamping down on Gohan's hopeful expression.
'Got it.' Said Gohan, transforming into the first form of Super Saiyan and speeding up, leaving a trail of gold behind him.
Piccolo turned around and prepared to attack the clones of Cooler from behind and begun charging up a Special Beam Cannon, before slicing through dozens of clones, which all fell apart in pieces. Piccolo's expression of satisfaction was short lived though, as he could see another wave of clones emerging from the Big Gete Star, pinning him between the remaining clones and the clones soon to come.
A mad cackle of laughter that rang out just then, sounded like music to Piccolo's ears, as Broly launched a blast of green energy, which tore through the remaining clones, before he rushed through the smoke cloud he had created, advancing on the new set of clones.
"Well, I guess this means we'll be able to last a little bit longer." Thought Piccolo, as the remaining Saiyans rushed after Broly.
'Those Saiyans are insane. We've taken out dozens of those clones, but they don't even look winded.' Complained Yamcha, as he and the other humans met up with the Namekian.
'Well, if you haven't noticed by now, Saiyans have an absurd growth rate. No human can keep up with them.' Said Piccolo.
'No human? What, you mean you can keep up with them?' Asked Yamcha, causing Piccolo to chuckle.
'Don't forget, without their Super Saiyan transformation, I was almost the strongest person in the universe at one point.' Said Piccolo, throwing off his turban and cape, before a green aura enveloped him, as he powered up.
'And unlike you fools, I never slacked off.' Smirked Piccolo, before flying off to join the Saiyans.
'Do you ever feel like we can't keep up with those guys anymore?' Asked Yamcha.
'You've been trying? Haha, I thought you were smarter than that Yamcha. None of us can match those monsters. Luckily, they're on our side though, so we won't ever need to.' Laughed Krillin.
'Yeah, after the Saiyans arrived on Earth, we've been quickly falling behind. That being said, it is much healthier to focus on being the strongest human on Earth, than the strongest person in the universe.' Said Tien.
'That sounds like you think you are the strongest.' Said Krillin teasingly.
'Aren't I?' Asked Tien, only for Krillin to look at him challenging.
'Well, we'll decide by whoever can defeat more clones from this point on.' Smirked Krillin, before raising his right hand in the air and making a circle, a disc of Ki forming above his hand.
'Destructo Disc!' Exclaimed Krillin, launching the saucer of energy into the mass of clones, successfully cutting through three of them, before the attack ran out of energy.
'Your move.' Said Krillin cockily, before flying closer to the action.
-line break-
'So, are we going to do anything when we get there?' Asked Seventeen.
'We shall see.' Replied Sixteen.
'I still don't get why you want to do this.' Commented Eighteen.
The three creations of Doctor Gero were currently flying through the air, towards where a massive battle was taking place, based on the rapid Ki fluctuations in the area.
'With all that has happened to this planet due to the actions of our creator, I believe it is important for us to make amends.' Said Sixteen.
'Your creator and our kidnapper.' Interjected Seventeen snarkily.
'Yes. However, the three of us have also caused a bit of trouble for the earthlings. It would be good of us to try and redeem ourselves.' Continued Sixteen.
'I highly doubt a few small-time robberies and a little bit of grand theft auto is really that bad. Care to say what you really mean, Sixteen?' Added Eighteen.
'I want to protect this planet. It is a place full of beauty and a wonder of creation. As someone who is not human, it astounds me what my sensors can pick up. I do not wish for this planet to suffer.' Said Sixteen, after a short pause.
'Heh, why didn't you just say so from the beginning? This place is kind of growing on me too.' Commented Seventeen, with a small grin.
Sixteen turned to face the cyborg beside him and studied him momentarily.
'I see. I had not expected that from you, Seventeen. You seemed to prefer the more destructive tendencies of this planet.' Said Sixteen.
'Wow, that's some serious sass coming from you, Sixteen.' Commented Seventeen.
'It is not outside my programming to provide some, serious sass, as you put it.' Said Sixteen, looking to Seventeen, with the barest hints of a smirk.
'You two can be so childish sometimes. Why did I have to be the oldest out of the three of us?' Sighed Eighteen.
Now, I must apologise to all of you reading this, for letting this story go so long without an update… again. I really have no excuses, other than a lack of motivation for DBZ writing, but if you read the note above, you'll see that isn't the case anymore.
In other news, given what is happening in Super, I can't help but want to do my own take on things. I know I have a lot of stories, with more to come no doubt… and I can't promise regular updates or the like… as you might have noticed by now, but, is there any interest in me writing a DBZ/S story?
I think given how much I've improved since I started this story, many years ago, I should hopefully be able to give a more enjoyable story from the beginning and with new episodes coming out every week I shouldn't be short on ideas for a while.
In any case, please let me know what you think and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
SSJ3 Kyuubi Gohan.