Number Thirty-Two


Chapter Thirty-One

Ostara


The Spirit Bomb hits its mark.

Thirty-Two barely avoids the monstrous wealth of energy descending like the moon into morning, the heat searing his skin as it passes him by. Its mass has its own drag, and from it, Thirty-Two feels himself being drawn towards the bomb as the muscles in his legs scream. He manages for a time, but the ground's traction isn't enough to save him and so he begins to slip, slowly being drawn in by the energy's immense pull of gravity. His scouter is stolen and burnt up, the plastic outer shell crackling in the seizing fire.

Thirty-Two closes his eyes.

This is going to hurt…

Just as the ground gives way and Thirty-Two carousels backwards into the blast, there is a rough pull against his spandex. He's hauled back by his savior and together they tumble along the snow bank, rolling until hitting the Tree of Might with enough intensity to shake its base.

Immediately, Thirty-Two shoves Vegeta off of him, jumping to his feet with a dizzy wobble. He palms the bark to keep balance, staring in way of the recent fireworks. The detonation had been immense, rupturing the planet into sections that suction buildings down to its core. Cavities in the earth rumble dangerously, the sky above now an ominous orange in a way familiar to Thirty-Two.

They probably have less than an hour.

In the wake of the explosion, it's difficult to tell what kind of damage that attack did to Hailer. Whilst Thirty-Two can't sense him now, he doesn't have it in him to celebrate, not until he himself sees Hailer's still body rotting into the dirt.

"Can you sense him?" Thirty-Two asks, looking towards the atmosphere. There are no space pods jetting away now, and Thirty-Two can't feel a soul nearby. "I can't sense anyone, can you? …Vegeta? Vegeta!"

Thirty-Two hadn't even noticed. Vegeta's a lump of limbs, collapsed in on himself and smelling terribly of charred skin. He's barely coherent, grunting as Thirty-Two untangles him into a lean against the Tree. Assessing the damage, Thirty-Two recognizes the burns to be between third and fourth degree, with the skin around his chest blackened. Bone grotesquely can be seen between exposed innards, and what little remaining of his lips is barely parted and taking in air.

Thirty-Two breathes through his nose, furious.

"You fool," he chastises. "I can't die."

As if to contest him, Vegeta starts convulsing with ugly, scary spasms that aggressively jerk tender joints. His head twists unnaturally.

Without a second thought, Thirty-Two takes out the remaining half of the healing bean. He really hopes that Hailer is dead because this is the last one. Taking Vegeta by the throat, he unceremoniously pushes the bean down his gullet, and then rubs at the Adam's apple to encourage him to swallow.

Miraculously, the bean's magical effect takes place, and Vegeta subdues into a silence once 'healed', his body still injured but no longer approaching certain death. The blackened skin is now a raw red, and there isn't a single organ visible. Much better, although it doesn't mean Vegeta is out of the woods just yet. His breaths are audible but labored, so Thirty-Two has to pull him upright to ensure a better airflow.

That's when the Tree of Might decides to jab at them, encouraging Thirty-Two to relocate all together into the clearing. Luckily, that's where Goku decides to land, and he's straight over to them, lumbering from the strain of battle.

"I had to give him the rest of the bean," Thirty-Two says as greeting.

"H-He was n-nowhere near the blast." Goku's confused, understandably so. "And you were fast enough to f-fly out of there. I didn't think it would hit either of you."

Thirty-Two feels a vein throb in his forehead. "…I can't fly."

Goku pauses. Then his hands come together over his mouth. "Th-That's right. I… Gohan…! I'm so sorry! I… I didn't think! Oh, man, Vegeta… That's… I'm sorry."

"He'll survive."

"Are you okay?" Goku asks with that burdening expression that Thirty-Two despises.

Thirty-Two pulls away when he's reached for. "Yes. What about Hailer?"

Goku doesn't take the cold shoulder to heart. He instead looks over at the destruction, where a crackle of lightning cleaves the sky into individual carpels, splintering disquietly. "I'm f-feeling hopeful. I can't sense him anymore. Can… you?"

Thirty-Two shakes his head. Could Hailer really be dead? Just like that?

How… anticlimactic.

But Goku sees it reason enough to power down, his golden aura pacifying into a softer, cool blue. His hair and eyes return to their original colour, becoming dark again like Thirty-Two's. Obsidian settles on the decaying world around them, and then on the Tree that gauges itself on the remaining life. Beneath, Thirty-Two sees it, too; the roots have become aerial and throbbing, their tangle overflowing with manic energy. From them, the earthquake pulses outwards in waves, worsening.

"We need—" there's a final pant, "—to leave."

Thirty-Two agrees, towing Vegeta up and over a shoulder as Goku gets a hold over his breathing. That attack of his seems to really have taken it out of him, Thirty-Two notices, wondering how he should broach what to do next. Where does he even go from here? With Goku to Earth? Why should he—after Goku cut off Thirty-Two's wish to undo the immortality? What does Thirty-Two owe him?

Together, they mount separate piles of debris shakily as the planet vibrates.

Goku notices the heap of spherical mounds first. "There are some pods over here!"

Thirty-Two skids down a slope of bolts and scrap metal and into a ditch piled high with space pods. They're ranging in quality, with a great many looking near useless. They likely landed roughly in this subsection of land, which means Thirty-Two and Goku might not find much luck here. Some look disemboweled completely, their innards scattered throughout the ruin.

So, it's with great relief, three pods later, that one opens with a receptive hiss.

Without question, Vegeta is shoved inside, belted and suited with an oxygen mask. Thirty-Two crouches over the door to make sure the calibrations are correct. Everything aside the air conditioning seems to be in working order, meaning Vegeta may have to deal with being a bit sweaty for a little while.

"Did you set the coordinates to Earth?" Goku asks as though Thirty-Two knows the stream of numbers associated with a nowhere planet.

Thirty-Two doesn't contain his incredulity, giving him a look. "A nearby space station," he answers pointedly. "From there, you can decide on where you take him."

When Thirty-Two closes the pod's hatch, a hand captures his wrist. Over it, Goku's expectation is heavy enough to suffocate him. "Where we decide. Which'll be Earth."

Thirty-Two stands, pulling away in search for another pod to stuff Goku into. Behind, Vegeta begins to ascend out of this hellhole, and hopefully out of Thirty-Two's life, never to be seen again.

"Gohan."

Thirty-Two ambles about broken pod after pod. He throws one wayside. "I can't even go to Earth, in thanks to one of your…" there's a sneer, "your strange wishes."

Behind, sounds a noise of realization, and then a crunch of compressed debris under nearing boots. "It'll be fine now. You're not with them."

"Mm… Don't bother checking the pods with broken hinges. The pressure gauge won't wor—."

"Earth's your home." Thirty-Two doesn't dignify it with a response, and after a short reprieve, Goku tries once more. "Bulma's there. She'll be happy to—."

"Are you even looking for a pod?"

"Stop ignoring—."

Thirty-Two tosses a broken space pod accidently in Goku's direction.

"H-Hey! We're going to Earth—and that's it!" Goku asserts, dodging the ensuing vehicle, and confidently enough that is pisses Thirty-Two off.

Thirty-Two turns, throwing his hands wide. "And how do we do that?" he bites back. "You're not even helping find our way out of here! You're too busy peddling your sentimentality! Look around, Goku, the planet is self-destructing!"

"I just…" Goku scratches at the back of his head, scowling. "I just don't want you pulling a fast one on me the moment we leave. I want you to promise that you're not gonna' leave me behind again."

Cheeks burning, Thirty-Two rubs at his face. How does he even deal with Goku's shamelessness? Does the man not have any restraint at all? Thirty-Two doesn't know what to say so he doesn't say anything at all, but he does stand, becoming even more frustrated when none of the remaining pods responds.

Good God. Did Thirty-Two really just send Vegeta away in the last working space pod? What has his life become?

"Go—."

"Shut up," Thirty-Two snaps, face buried in his hands. "Stop saying tha—and stop touching me! Get off'a me!"

Goku pulls back his hand, the hurt evident—which just further aggravates Thirty-Two even though he wants Goku to leave him alone, and to stop piling all these uncomfortable feelings onto him.

The planet groans sadly, and an ensemble of thunder stretches across the sky, and yet, Thirty-Two can only hear all this faintly, the anger more loudly hotly bubbling in his ears.

"I don't want you," he rejects, seething. "I've… I've helped you. I've done my bit. Hailer is… gone. Haven't I done my part? Why can't you leave me alone now—now that you've stolen my death?" He forces a breath, and then kicks a nearby pod into an ugly dent of metal, looking anywhere else but at Goku. "I'm alive and well. You've done your bit—you can go. After everything, your son breathes. Shouldn't that be enough?"

"You may breathe, Gohan," Goku tells him sternly, "But you're not living."

Thirty-Two pinches his brow, not knowing what sort of answer he could give to that.

"Aren't you curious about your home?" Goku tries after a long stretch of silence, cleverly appealing to Thirty-Two's mind. "About who you are?"

"I don't care for such vanities," Thirty-Two mutters, returning to his search of a working space pod. "We need to hurry. The planet hasn't much longer."

"Don't you want to know about your mum?"

Thirty-Two refuses to take the bait. "She's dead," he counters, believing it to be true. When Goku doesn't contest him, Thirty-Two faces him and stares him down, scoffing. "I knew it."

A spike of lightning strikes nearby, splaying rubble and bleaching the world white, and yet, Goku doesn't so much as flinch. "I'm sorry."

"Then chase her memory," Thirty-Two says cruelly, despite the abnormal anchor in the pit of his stomach. "Why don't you wish her back? Advance into heaven and stage an uprising! Fight God himself!"

Rejecting Hailer doesn't mean that Thirty-Two has the intention to follow Goku around like a grateful dog!

"I am not the infant you lost—I'm beyond that," Thirty-Two adds, "I'm more than Goku's offspring, and I had goals… I had a plan—."

"Goals?"

"Yes!"

"You want to kill yourself."

"So?"

"I couldn't help your mum, and I still can't."

"You—What? I don't want to talk about th—."

"Because she wanted to kill herself, too, and… she did."

Thirty-Two chokes on his next sentence. A hollowness slowly carving a crevice in his chest, he stands as still as his body allows atop the quaking earth.

Why… Why would Goku even tell him that?

"You can't wish someone back after they do that, y'know." Goku grimaces through his words. "I think I understand your conviction. Your wish was kind of like the only thing you had going; your light at the end of a very long and dark tunnel." The grimace evolves into a smile, although it doesn't reach his eyes. "But, the thing is, I don't think you even know what you really want. You're just trying to have control over something after years of having control over nothing… right?"

That's not true.

Thirty-Two doesn't want this. He hates this retched world and all those who won't allow him to leave it.

"I know it must be hard to trust someone after being let down and hurt so many times, but you can't keep chasing this darkness. These feelings of—I don't know—despair are normal after everything you went through. Because I was stupid, for years, your mum felt this despair so deeply that she… she left, and now I can't wish her back. I can't help her. I can only chase her memory, as you said. So, here I am, looking at it.

"Gohan, you're not just my kid, you're hers.

"Every day, I wish she was here instead of me, not just because I miss her, but because I think she'd be able to relate to you in every way I can't. She'd know when to give you space for a breather and she'd know when to hug you tight. She'd not say something stupid like I always do. She'd make you feel safe and loved, and she'd only ever think about what's best for you. She was so… so great. So strong, and patient and kind."

This isn't making Thirty-Two better at all. It's making it worse. He wants to bury his head in the snow. He wants to shout and scream and remove all this from his brain.

"She'd want more for you," Goku goes on to say. "She'd not want you to suffer the same sadness she did. She'd want you to live."

Thirty-Two can't move. He's scared that if he does, he may say or do something he'd regret.

"And she'd love you." Goku stresses, almost desperate. "She'd love who you are now. She'd be so proud of you, for surviving, for remaining kind, for your intelligence—for being you."

Thirty-Two intakes a breath.

"You're not a memory, Gohan."

He releases it.

"I see you."

Goku

Boom!

The planet erupts in chaos. Firestorms tear across the sky as the crust splits open, spewing molten rock into the air. Amid the destruction, a single point of energy surges with unnatural force. In the heart of the chaos, a blinding explosion flashes—louder, hotter, more focused than the planet's own death throes. From that blast, Hailer descends before a curtain of furious crimson.

His body reforms in mid-air, bathed in pink light. Limbs reconstruct. Flesh hardens. Power pulses from his core like a second detonation. Like a protective casing, a shiny residue of energy glistens in the lustre of death. Around him, the planet crumbles—the snow boils away, mountains collapse, the atmosphere shreds into space. But Hailer floats untouched, suspended in the wreckage, reborn in fury.

A lone core of a familiar fruit tumbles away from the madness.

And then, Hailer opens his eyes slowly, glowing with venomous intent. A crooked smirk spreads across his face as he surveys the dying world. Explosions ripple outward in every direction, but he remains calm, perfectly still, surrounded by destruction like a god of war.

The noise fades for Thirty-Two, who hears only the beat of Hailer's disgusting power returning, louder than the planet's screams.

Goku is next to him, already transformed into his golden Super Saiyan form.

"Take the ship," Goku instructs him.

Frustrated, Thirty-Two gestures to the metal corpses. "What do you think I was doing before? None of them are working!"

"Hailer's," Goku says calmly, as though he'd already decided earlier on their escape.

Suddenly feeling very stupid, Thirty-Two spins in the direction of the ship he'd just overtaken with a flank of men. Yes. Why hadn't he thought of that?

"Go," Goku repeats, angrier, when Thirty-Two doesn't move. "You aren't gonna' stay around after anyway, right? It won't make a difference if you leave now or if you leave with me."

That's true. Yet Thirty-Two doesn't move, knowing Goku is just trying to manipulate him into leaving him to become a martyr. He doesn't want Goku to die even if the dragon could bring him back. Right now, Hailer looks like he could do a lot worse than murder.

"Gohan, go!"

"You won't be able to defeat him!" Thirty-Two shouts back. "Your Spirit Bomb wasn't enough!"

"Go!"

"Let's… Let's go together—like you said!"

It's a shock that when Thirty-Two grabs him he's rebuffed; Goku pushes him away hard. "Damn it, Gohan! Take the ship—and don't come back! I mean it!"

"Goku!"

Goku charges Hailer first, his deployment of energy fierce enough to knock Thirty-Two down into the dirt, entombing him with the wreckage and filth of Central. Thirty-Two has to shove aside metal, bricks and bodies, to emerge from the devastation, and when he does, he sees gold meet pink over an ocean of pandemonium. Goliath energies wage war on one another, rattling the already sensitive planet.

Back on his feet, Thirty-Two watches, eyes wide, heart pounding. Below him, the planet shatters piece by piece—newly formed volcanoes erupt, glaciers vaporize, and entire forts crumble into the void. The sky glows red with fire and lightning. Amid the chaos, two blurs of energy clash over the crumbling surface: Goku and Hailer.

They almost move too fast for most to follow, but Thirty-Two manages just about to catch every strike, every dodge. Goku's aura burns bright with determination, flaring gold with Super Saiyan power. Hailer, cruel and relentless, counters with raw, unrestrained fury. Their fists collide, sending shockwaves across the broken sky. Each impact tears the ground further apart. Still, they fight—undaunted by the planet's destruction.

Thirty-Two grits his teeth. He wants to help, but he knows this battle is beyond him. These conditions wouldn't be favourable to him, and besides that, he can feel the power radiating from both fighters. It's overwhelming. He watches Goku push past exhaustion, fighting not just for victory, but for survival. Hailer, revived and furious, wants only annihilation. Their battle is not just about strength—it's a clash of willpower, of ideals, of history once more.

The ground below them fractures entirely, revealing the molten core of the dying planet. Lava shoots into the air like fire from the underworld. Thirty-Two shields his eyes, but keeps watching.

Hailer is dominating despite Goku's efforts. The Spirit Bomb must have done some damage—but not enough in thanks to the fruit of the Tree of Might. Are there more? Should he force Goku to eat some?

No, Goku'd never.

He's good, and because of that they'll never win.

Thirty-Two looks over towards where Hailer's ship awaits him—the temptation is strong. Goku wants Thirty-Two to flee—to be far away from this mess—to live, probably with him on Earth when all this is over. To be a family. To love and to be more than what Thirty-Two is—a soldier—in a world far away from all this anarchy.

No, he can't think about this. Not right now. Never, perhaps.

Thirty-Two looks Death in the face, watching them both fight.

His hand slowly reaches towards his holster. The Astra is grazed.

If he could just land one shot on Hailer then maybe Goku could overpower him as the sheenks does its stuff.

This is going to be tricky.

The stolen Astra emerges and Thirty-Two raises it slowly, the barrel coming to sit in a central position, spectating the stage as Goku and Hailer dance along it. An eye closes behind, and Thirty-Two holds his finger over its trigger.

Hailer flickers in and out of range. Predicting his positioning is near impossible.

What choice does he have otherwise? Goku's going to last about as long as the planet will.

Just as Goku comes into vision, he knows its time. Thirty-Two pulls the trigger, momentarily panicking when Goku flashes into frame again. It's only for a short second at least, and then Goku materializes away to give room for the bullet to pierce through Hailer's tail. It only skims the top but it's enough to get a reaction.

Quite possibly, it's the worst thing that could have happened outside of shooting Goku.

Hailer's attention shifts fast.

Thirty-Two fires again, missing entirely with several rounds until Hailer reappears feet away.

"Not your best shot," Hailer taunts, his voice calm, almost bored. "I expected more from the Youth Program's finest."

The battlefield is a wasteland of shattered rock and scorched earth by this point, and smoke rises in thick plumes when Thirty-Two stumbles backwards in retreat. But, as quick as ever, Hailer vanishes in a blur, reappearing behind him. Before Thirty-Two can react, a knee slams into his back, sending him crashing into the ground with bone-cracking force.

The earth trembles as he hits, a cloud of dust exploding into the air. Thirty-Two coughs, blood splattering onto the dirt. He tries to stand, but his legs give out. Hailer descends slowly, savouring every second.

"In the end, no matter how well you hid it, you were always just another pathetic monkey." Hailer clicks his tongue, lifting a finger and firing a beam that explodes near Thirty-Two's side, sending him skidding across the rocks.

Goku doesn't let it stand for long. He returns to the fray, leg extended, but in the end is put down by a fierce roundhouse that has him carve a trench into a hillside. In the distance, molten rock splashes in furious rejoice.

That had to have hurt.

When Thirty-Two manages to wrench himself free of his own burial, Hailer ensnares him with that leathery, waspish tail, and it snaps around Thirty-Two's throat. Even as Thirty-Two scratches at it, it doesn't relinquish its grip, and from this vice, Thirty-Two feels his own tail experiencing a spasm as the pressure of strangulation seizes him.

"You are weak of character," Hailer tells him. "Even though you cannot die, you will never truly be alive, Thirty-Two. You're just a broken weapon made in the Youth Program's image."

Thirty-Two gasps, reaching for his Astra once more. Hailer hauls him forward and snatches the weapon, before then shooting Thirty-Two in the shoulder.

Thirty-Two grinds his teeth as the sheenks' power spreads like a cancer through his body. The magazine of the Astra is then stricken across his face and tossed to the ground, bouncing until silent. In Thirty-Two's mouth, well of blood pools immediately, spurting forth when Hailer punches him in the gut.

Gasping, Thirty-Two is slammed into the ground, the impact cutting a trough across the battlefield. He coughs violently, more blood spilling from his lips, his body trembling from the punishment. His uniform is torn, his aura flickering weakly like a candle in the wind. He struggles to rise, but his limbs barely respond.

"How arrogant. You really thought you could stand against me?" Hailer says, voice laced with venom. "Did you think you were like him—your father? Do not be ridiculous, Thirty-Two. You do not compare. You both may be monkeys, but you are even less than that. You. Are. A. Number."

Thirty-Two grits his teeth, trying to push past the pain. He launches a shaky blast of ki, but Hailer bats it away like it's nothing. In a blink, he appears in front of him and drives a fist into Thirty-Two's gut, folding him over with a choked wheeze. Another punch sends Thirty-Two flying, skipping across the ground like a stone over water.

He crashes to a stop, his body limp. His breathing is shallow even after no time at all.

Hailer lands gently, his boots crunching against the dirt. "What a waste," he says coldly, lifting one finger to gather a small but lethal orb of blushing energy. "After years of training, this is all you could do?"

Thirty-Two is given the time to stand, and as he does, he digs his fingers into injured flesh to retrieve the sheenks bullet. It's a practiced move by this point, and so he's easily able to dislodge it, clumsily tossing it aside, and by doing so is immediately rewarded by its absence. Ki freely circulates his body. With this ki, Thirty-Two summons a crackly fistful of heat and quickly fashions it into a wall-like shield. Of course, Hailer shatters it without any real effort at all. His fingers splay, Thirty-Two's energy fizzing away when pink fire catapults Thirty-Two into a surviving cliff's edge.

The darkness is nice for that ephemeral moment before Hailer arrives once more, his energy radiating like a storm, oppressive and overwhelming. Before Thirty-Two can emerge from the rockery, Hailer lashes out with a blinding burst of heat which peeks into Thirty-Two's makeshift cave. Somehow, Thirty-Two leaps to avoid it, but the explosion grazes his leg and sends him tumbling. He lands hard, hissing from the pain. Still, he rises on reaction, launching a volley of ki blasts in rapid succession. Hailer weaves through them with ease, chuckling darkly.

"You're exhausted," he states, suddenly appearing behind Thirty-Two. He strikes, a brutal punch to the gut that drops Thirty-Two to his knees. Thirty-Two gasps for air, his vision swimming. Then, Hailer lifts him by the collar, mocking him again, enjoying the play. "Even if you were at full strength, it would still be like swatting away an insect."

There is truth in the words—Thirty-Two is tired, of everything.

"What to do, what to do? Torturing you would be a waste of time, of course. Your Youth Program training saw to that." Hailer spins him, "Graduates are made be indifferent to pain, and indifferent to the pain of others, too. Before your breakage, you had been the perfect weapon." Thirty-Two's tail is snagged—and then compressed, sending a jolt of agony up his spin. "Even now, you barely let out a whimper. This must hurt a great deal for a saiyan juvenile."

Thirty-Two practices his breathing, as he was trained to do.

"But were never entirely indifferent, were you? I'm sure you have and always had sensitivity to the pain of kin—much like he has. Perhaps I had this the wrong way round. Perhaps I should use him to hurt you instead." Hailer smirks. Then, he charges a beam in his fingertip, ready to do some real damage.

Horror fills Thirty-Two, but not from the threat of energy.

"You stole the battle today," Hailer whispers, amusement drained unnervingly fast. "My men, my dragon balls, my vengeance… But I will not allow you to steal victory. I am impossible to fell. The Tree of Might has seen to that. It encases me in its power. It allows not for damage."

The sky then cracks. A flash of golden light explodes between them, and Hailer is knocked back by a powerful force. Thirty-Two falls to the ground, stunned—but at least not mortally wounded.

Goku has returned.

Golden-haired and glowing, Goku stands in front of Thirty-Two, his eyes locked on Hailer with deadly intensity. "You've done enough," he says, his voice calm but dangerous. Behind him, Thirty-Two looks up at Goku, experiencing a strange déjà vu, admittedly relieved even though Hailer is all the more powerful.

"As predicted. The monkey returns for its young."

Goku's bleeding, and on his back there's a large, painful-looking gash that's stripped away his shirt and began bruising along the edges. His shoulder is abnormal with fracture, and Thirty-Two can tell that he isn't putting his full weight on his left leg.

"Gohan, leave now," Goku orders Thirty-Two, not even bothering to turn around.

"He's—!"

"There's nothing you can do here. Go!"

There must be something. Surely. Thirty-Two can help.

Hailer's threats spiral in Thirty-Two mind. Hailer'll play with Goku. Torment him definitely. He could put Goku through a hell unimagined. There are even torture rooms Thirty-Two has never been into, weapons and contraptions he's only heard whispers about but never seen. Because of them, dying would be but a giddy daydream for any, an aspiration perhaps, like it'd been for Thirty-Two—and then what? Goku would kill himself, and then he wouldn't be wished back, just like he'd said happened to Thirty-Two's mother.

Thirty-Two's mother killed herself. Goku'll do it, too,—Thirty-Two doesn't care what Goku says now, not when he doesn't know what it's like to live under Hailer's ire. Then, when he's dead, Thirty-Two will be alone again, forever alive, sentenced to take another excruciating breath as he's commanded to eternally butcher people.

The crushing gravity that compresses his chest returns, and all of a sudden, he can't breathe. His mind swims against the current of reality.

Hailer's right.

That earlier déjà vu now feels like a weapon, the barrel down Thirty-Two's throat. The faded memories of a perishing Namek overlap and all of a sudden Thirty-Two is terrified.

There's nothing he can do—like Goku said. He's weak, even weaker than he was with Frieza. All his adversities have meant nothing. The Youth Program training couldn't fix him. Sure, he's resistant to physical pain but that's not the same as being strong. Like Hailer said, he has no strength of character. He's too much of a coward to say and do what he really wants, to take charge of his own life. How long did he follow the Frost Empire's orders under the guise that he really had no choice—or that he was biding his time?

And biding his time… to do what, exactly? Die? Even Goku thinks it's an empty goal, that it's just some comfort blanket to help him survive his sadness. He really is a child, isn't he? A stupid, sad, little boy.

Thirty-Two could have told Goku about everything weeks ago, and then they wouldn't be on this awful planet, and Goku wouldn't have to face this evil.

Thirty-Two's empty, and weak.

His eyes heat.

How desperately he wants to not be here.

The world grows fuzzy.

The idea of leaving the Empire motivates him, but the idea of going somewhere panics him. Thirty-Two doesn't have any character, any desires, he's empty and without a sense of self or ambition. He isn't a person anymore. He's a product, and a faulty one at that. Thirty-Two can't want or aim or love. He'll only disappoint. He'll only cause desolation. There's nowhere he deserves to go.

A choking bubble develops in his throat.

He's pathetic.

"Leave," Goku repeats.

And yet, Thirty-Two can't.

Despite everything, Thirty-Two won't leave Goku to Hailer.

He raises a hand to his mouth, and mortifyingly, a sob leaves him.

It's loud of enough for both Hailer and Goku to react, mirroring expressions of surprise turning to him. Thirty-Two grits his teeth, forcing silence, yet the heat over pours over his cheeks, and he has to bow his head to hide his shame. His fingers scrape through the dirt as angry droplets rain down, his vision a haze.

He wants the hurt to stop. The fear. The sadness. The anger. The confliction of feelings he has towards Goku and the others.

Thirty-Two doesn't need to raise his head to see who is laughing at his agony.

"What a sight to behold," Hailer says beyond the haze, fuelling the nightmare. "This feeble creature destroyed by a few cruel words and the promise of maiming Daddy."

He tries to swallow his sadness, but his throat is congested with it, with the ache of being overwhelmed. Thirty-Two doesn't know what to do. He needs to be told. Hailer is right. He needs a leader. Freedom, even in death, would be unliveable. Forever trapped.

"Gohan."

Thirty-Two's eyes are scrunched, burning.

"Gohan, listen to me."

But it's all too much. Too sad and angry and frightening.

The hand on Thirty-Two's shoulder has him jostle, and despite his shame, Thirty-Two's watery eyes bounce upwards to catch Goku's. They're firm and deep with a soft confidence Thirty-Two could only dream of owning, the edges flickering orange in reflection of the ensuing end of Central. Where no words need to pass in this exchange, teal resonates.

"I won't go," Thirty-Two forces out.

Goku's hand on his shoulder tightens, and he smiles painfully.

"This isn't the end, son," he says. "You have to trust—."

Eyes bulge, the white submerging the teal into a wobbling prick. Time seems to stop when, above, Goku's mouth opens into a perfect circle, coating Thirty-Two's face in a wet heat. The hand loosens its grip and he slumps forward, Thirty-Two quick on the uptake in order to catch him—but for some reason his arms don't work.

Hailer is behind, his finger still extended, attached, a lingering line of smoke but a telling shadow. Thirty-Two concentrates on this as Goku hits the ground, and then slowly, he turns to look down at the small hole protruding his own chest. It's excessive with blood, and it pours until Thirty-Two gingerly presses his fingers there.

It doesn't hurt in due to shock. Though, the world starts to feel further and further away, and still, the tears fall as copiously as the blood. He can't sense anything—or anyone—and Thirty-Two can't tell if that's because Goku is dead already or if that Thirty-Two's so disconnected from everything that it's all a blur.

No, no… Hailer wouldn't kill Goku like this. It'd be too quick.

He wants to hurt him and Thirty-Two—he wants to keep them here until the last possible minute before the planet erupts in flames. There will be punishment. With this knowledge, Thirty-Two tries to steady himself. But with looking at Goku's still body, he can't. Guilt, fear, and anger clash within him, but one emotion quickly takes hold, burning hotter than the rest: rage.

He's proven right when Hailer approaches with a lazy swagger. "Which body part should I extract first, Captain?"

"No..." Thirty-Two whispers, his voice trembling. "Leave him alone!"

"Oh?"

That's when Thirty-Two snaps.

A fierce scream rips from his throat as a bright aura explodes around him. The ground shatters beneath his feet as he rockets forward, faster than Hailer expects. Gohan's fist slams into Hailer's face with enough force to send the tyrant flying backward, crashing through rocks and debris. Gohan doesn't hesitate—he's already there, pummelling Hailer with punch after punch, each one fuelled by pure fury.

It's a white hot emptiness that fills him. This isn't just about hurting Goku. This isn't just for today. Thirty-Two feels the fury well within until his aura flares, bright and wild, as his power surges beyond control.

It's happening again—this lack of control, and instead of fighting it, Thirty-Two allows it. He submits to his own searing fury. The reins are no longer his, and in this vacuum, he allows his body to carry forth its violent will.

With a raw cry, Thirty-Two charges, slamming a fist into Hailer's face. The impact sends him hurtling back, stunned. Thirty-Two doesn't stop. He follows with a flurry of punches and kicks, each one faster and harder than the last.

Hailer snarls, recovering, but Gohan's fury gives him borrowed strength beyond his limits, wound or none.

Thirty-Two yet again charges at Hailer with blazing fury, his golden aura flaring like wildfire. His fists are clenched tight, his jaw set, and his eyes locked on the enemy. The real enemy. In a flash, he slams into Hailer with a crushing punch to the face, sending him spiralling through the air. Before Hailer can recover, Thirty-Two appears behind him, driving a knee into his back and launching him into the ground.

The earth cracks beneath the force. Thirty-Two follows, not giving Hailer a second to breathe. He grabs him by the arm and hurls him into a mountain, then bursts through the debris with a roar, hammering Hailer with a rapid series of punches and kicks. Each hit lands with the weight of Thirty-Two's anger and heartbreak, cheeks still embarrassingly sodden.

Bringing it all together, Thirty-Two levels his hands, pulling every ounce of ki in his tired, aching body into this one attack. It's nothing compared to the Spirit Bomb, but it's still nothing to sneer at; the sweltering, throbbing sphere still so wide that Thirty-Two can't see from one side to the other.

When he throws it, Thirty-Two envisions all the pain this evil bastard put him through, all those torturous, long years of misery. At this point, Thirty-Two doesn't care about winning, just about causing suffering. He used to think he wanted to hurt Pyrak, but no. The only person Thirty-Two has ever wanted to rip limb from limb is in front of him right now.

Not only is this for Goku, this is also for Thirty-Two—no, for Gohan—for the boy who was murdered by the Frost Empire.

For everyone Thirty-Two has been forced to kill.

For everyone affected by the Frost family's hand.

The explosion follows, and the sky holds its breath as all burns a royal hue.

By the end of it, when there seems to be no sound at all, in the decaying world, Thirty-Two is alone, panting.

His knees wobble until no longer can he stand. He clenches his chest where the hole is, shakily searing it closed to prevent any more blood loss. The beam didn't protrude through the back, having already broken through Goku's skin twice and then Thirty-Two's once, so at least he doesn't need to deal with that. Goku, however, may need Thirty-Two's help.

By the time Thirty-Two's returned to where he left Goku, he's barely able to move at all. The walk had been tough, although it isn't all bad news when he gets there. Goku is in the process of pushing himself up; looking a bit more together than when Thirty-Two last saw him.

As soon as he's able to, Thirty-Two collapses to his knees over Goku, quick to sear the wound on his back (and any others) to a close. There's a grunt and stench of burnt meat, and when he turns Goku over to see to the one on his chest, dim teal eyes catch his own.

They widen. "Gohan…" he lets out, flinching as Thirty-Two presses his hands to the wound. It's not terrible, missing all the vital organs. What luck. "Gohan... You…" Goku says again, his lips curved upwards. "Whoa."

His hand rises in gesture of Thirty-Two himself, and then it falls, coming to rest on Thirty-Two's hand atop his chest.

"We need to go," Thirty-Two hoarsely tells him. "I… I don't know if he's dead…"

There's no immediate movement from either of them, likely because they're both completely wrecked and so exhausted that walking even a few feet feels impossible right this second. As the planet quakes, Goku's hand at least remains warm, and very much alive.

Thirty-Two stares at it, feeling the pulse above beat with rhythm, thrumming into Thirty-Two's own fingers. The palm squeezes around his own.

A crack of lightning cuts into the ground nearby, and before he can stop himself, Thirty-Two upturns his own hand, holding charred, callused fingers.

Around, the world unravels, and they sit, just for a moment, breathing.

It feels like a moment of no turning back.

Thirty-Two recalls that night he drugged the inhabitants of the Capsule Corporation, of when he sat on the floor by Goku's bed, staring into the empty, foreboding night.

His breath hitches nervously, because even though Thirty-Two's now caught in Goku's claustrophobic, expectant web, he knows that this is the start as opposed to the end.

Goku's warmth no longer hurts to bask in. "S'okay… to cry," he croaks.

Thirty-Two snorts a laugh, and then takes a hand back to wipe away the residue. It's a bit late for that.

Actually, it's getting late, generally. They should go.

Thirty-Two assesses him. Internal bleeding is likely. There are a few fractures, a couple breaks, and most certainly a concussion. "Can you stand?"

Goku grins bloodily. "Probably not well. Help me up?"

Thirty-Two quavers with the planet, struggling to his feet, taking Goku with him. It's a nightmare getting their footing, especially when the Tree of Might reminds them of its existence, attempting to ensnare them with a crooked, crusty root. As they stumble backwards in retreat, they both slip down a crater and into a ditch filled with rubble—of which starts to crack and break apart as they step upon it. An unsettling gurgling follows.

"The ship," Goku notices, pointing into the distance.

Thirty-Two drags Goku from what's becoming a sinkhole, hauling him up until Goku finds enough strength to take to the sky, grabbing Thirty-Two by the arm and flying them over the worst of the devastation.

"Do you think he's dead?" Thirty-Two asks, scouring the horizon.

The silence is telling enough, and when they land, Thirty-Two realizes Goku's dedication to the plight of Thirty-Two leaving alone is still strong.

"Don't be an idiot," Thirty-Two snaps. "Come with me."

Goku shakes his head, landing. "You were right. So long as Hailer is around, you'll never be free."

"I don't care about that anymore."

"Even if I die, Bulma and the others will be able to wish me back. But you need to get a head start on this. You need to put as much distance between Hailer and you as you possibly can." Goku looks over to where Thirty-Two senses a flash of power from where he'd barrelled everything he had at Hailer. "When it's over, I'll bring you home. I promise."

Thirty-Two steps in front of him. "Death isn't the worst thing someone can experience."

Goku laughs darkly. "Oh, I know that."

"Then don't be stupid!" Thirty-Two throws his hands, frustrated. "Don't let him torture you, because he will, and you'll… you'll…"

"Gohan, you've gotta' trus—."

"He's stronger than both of us!" Thirty-Two shouts. "His ki supply is endless—how could anyone defeat someone with that much fire power?"

Goku's smile is crooked, giving no answer. He doesn't know, either.

"There's no-one more powerful than him…" Thirty-Two attempts to reason. "Hailer is in a league of his own."

"I have to keep trying."

"To do what? Wait him out? Do you think the planet's destruction will do the job? He doesn't need oxygen in the same way we do! He'll survive it! What the—?"

"Your gun. I found it earlier."

Thirty-Two looks at the Astra, perplexed and then considerate. He could shoot Goku right now and drag him off this rock…

"Make the bullets count."

"No." Thirty-Two pushes him backwards, nearly tripping from the fatigue. "I won't let you." Goku steps forward again, and Thirty-Two pushes him back each time, only to be overcome when Goku awkwardly manoeuvres into the sky. "Goku! Goku, you can't beat him! Goku! Come back!"

Spinning on his heel, Thirty-Two whines into his hands, back at square one and panicked again.

For God's sake, the ship is right next to him. He could pilot it and leave, organize for his microchip to be removed, and go into hiding.

Yet, he doesn't.

Lowering his hands, Thirty-Two looks towards hell, and follows after his father, astra in hand.


Fighting Frieza had felt prophetic in some ways. He'd been the epitome of evil, an empty, cruel creature who had no desire aside to dominate all those around him.

He'd been, fundamentally, a bully.

Goku has always hated bullies, and Frieza had represented all the wrong associated with them and then some. Beyond Frieza's bloodthirstiness, there'd been this innate desire to bring upon cruelty, to hurt and dominates others until revered. So, beating him felt like he'd achieved a great justice for the universe, as well as personal victory over the smaller wrongs in life.

But it'd come at a cost, and it hadn't been worth it.

Losing Gohan had been a price too high for what Goku had perceived as peace across the universe. And that wasn't even true; Goku would come to learn over the years travelling. Hailer and Cooler had overtaken Frieza's rule, militarizing and expanding in a more practiced, polished fashion than Frieza had, their presence a point everywhere Goku looked. Everybody had known of the Frost Empire. And Goku'd know—he met loads of people. Hundreds who'd shared their stories of hardship, told Goku of their own loss, spurred Goku on when he felt low, and shared their food and homes with him. They inspired him to never give up.

Finding Gohan had been about when and not if.

Despite knowing about the Frost Empire, Goku hadn't anticipated how much it'd impact him reuniting with his son—Gohan had become interwoven into Goku's once prophetic fight, into the history that's haunted him up until this moment.

On this crumbling planet, history will be today fixed.

Goku skids across the rocky ground, his boots tearing deep gouges through the dirt. Dust and rubble explode in his wake. Hailer hovers above him, expression cold, his bleeding tail batting wildly. With a sudden burst, he dives. Goku raises his arms just in time—Hailer's punch slams into his forearms, the impact rattling bone.

Colourful cracks spiderweb through the air and then ground as Goku is driven downward. He crashes into the canyon floor, creating a crater that swallows the terrain. Before the dust settles, Hailer is there. A blur of motion. A knee to the gut. Goku's breath catches. His body bends around the blow. Hailer's fist follows, snapping Goku's head sideways.

Goku tumbles through the air, bouncing off serrated rocks. Blood noticeably paints his torn clothes in wide strokes, clotted around where Gohan seared his wounds closed. Thank God he did, too, otherwise this would be made even harder. Goku plants one foot against a boulder, launches himself back with a desperate effort. A flurry of punches. Fast. Desperate. Each blocked with surgical ease.

Hailer counters—one strike, perfectly timed. It slips through Goku's guard and finds his ribs. Something gives way. Goku folds. A beam of energy then erupts from Hailer's fingertip, driving Goku skyward. He disappears into the clouds like a star extinguished.

In this moment, despite the pain, Goku spirals, churning to build enough momentum to kinetic energy to feed into an attack. Between his fingers, his signature Kamehameha Wave builds at speed before bursting into a silver-blue, slicing line.

As correctly predicted, Hailer appears in the energy's aerial path, and the attack lands beautifully. A small victory, Goku gets to acknowledge—but his relief is smothered when Hailer emerges from the other side of the blast, unaffected.

Energy coats Hailer's body like a shimmery, sparkling shield, slowly sizzling away as Hailer patiently awaits the process to end. It's then that Goku realizes what's happening—each energy attack, whether Goku's or Gohan's, has been repelled by whatever technique this is. Or perhaps, it's not even a technique at all and just a consequence of the Tree of Might's fruit's incredible properties. Of course, Hailer would just let the fruit do all the work for him—he doesn't need any skill whatsoever, just the energy of all his victims'.

Grimly, Goku realizes that this means that no energy attack will be strong enough to bring him down. And with hand-to-hand combat not enough to take down Hailer, there really isn't many if any options to beat him…

He's an impenetrable shield—one that can punch back.

And when he does punch back, a crater spreads like a scar across the wasteland. Goku crashes into the dirt, body skidding, limbs limp. Blood streaks his face. His breath is shallow. His energy flickers.

Okay, so this process needs time to power down after shielding Hailer from an attack—could that make a difference? Could Goku do anything at that point—even if he's so broken and useless now? Hailer's attacks have been relentless—precision strikes, cruel punishment. Goku's strength wanes with every second.

A beam slices the ground beside Goku. Rocks explode. He barely rolls away in time. His body is slower now, bruised and battered, each movement laced with pain.

Hailer now darts in, striking. Goku blocks one blow, misses the second, and takes the third to the gut. He folds over. A knee to the back sends him sprawling again. The earth quakes beneath the force. Goku doesn't rise.

Hailer lifts one hand, gathering energy—dense, sharp, final—although Goku knows it won't be final because Hailer wants to make him suffer.

That's when, predictably, Gohan takes the shot with his gun.

The bullet bites into Hailer's shoulder, and then another and another follows, burying into reptilian flesh. Hailer snarls, enraged, but before he can make way for Gohan, Goku tackles him and punches him hard where wounded. Already, that energy shield is returning, sinking into the bullet holes in a likely bid to discharge them. Hailer roars in his fury, his tail thrashing and whipping Goku with all its might, launching him at least twenty feet into the air.

Aerially, Goku sends out a nasty array of blasts, hoping to add insult to injury.

Gohan's already by his side by the time he lands, still shooting the gun's collection of bullets into Hailer. It won't do, though. The energy shield will do its work soon enough.

Goku sends out another Kamehameha Wave, his insides rioting from the exertion. When the explosions rumbles the landscape, Gohan tries snagging him backwards.

"Let's go!"

But he can't let Hailer continue to haunt Gohan—he needs to end this, all of this—or this lived hell will continue forever more. That prophetic battle with Frieza has bled into this moment.

"Goku!"

Gohan has him by the shoulders, his mirroring eyes searching Goku's own, looking for dilation or other concussion symptoms. Most certainly, Goku has it, but it's not enough to knock him out of the game. Not yet.

Looking at Gohan this close up, he sees everything he was looking for. What an idiot he was to not see that this was his son when Gohan is so very himself.

Then, he thinks back to the Green Snow Tavern incident, with its snowy backdrop and warm evening beams casted from the pub. It infuriates him how he hadn't recognized Gohan then. Or even before that, during the first time he'd seen him, back when he'd performed the Boiler on Vegeta.

Goku's eyes widen.

"—an't you hear me?" Gohan shakes him. "We need to move!"

Goku lets loose a breath. "Gohan. We can't overpower Hailer."

A flash of annoyance distorts his face. "Yes, that's what I've been saying! Now—."

"The energy of the Tree of Might's fruit is protecting him. I don't think anything can penetrate it fully. It's why he comes back each time after every—."

"I don't care the reason! Get up! Come on, m—!"

"But you can." Gohan gives him a look between incredulity and frustration. "The Boiler."

"What?"

"The Boiler. It attacks the person from the inside, right?" Goku turns to see Hailer slowly collecting himself, that hue of ki at work in preserving him. "You said no one is stronger than Hailer—so by that logic, Hailer should have enough power to bring himself down. You just have to channel his own energy against him."

Gohan stills, a very clear revulsion crossing cool eyes, and immediately, Goku feels bad for even asking. Of course, performing such an evil act would be no better than observing it—which was bad enough on its own accord.

"I can't," Gohan then says lowly.

"You can."

"No, I mean… I can't. I haven't the skill… the control. You can't just perform it. You need to know about the victim's weight and height and… and… It's… It's a difficult technique and requires the user—."

Impatient, Goku interrupts him. "You're going to have to try, Gohan." There's a flash of disbelief. "I'm sorry to put this on your shoulders like this, but we don't have long, you know that—and I don't have this power—but you do. The only person right here right now that can stop Hailer for good is you.

"So, use that energy he stole—the energy of millions—and bring an end to this. All of this. The Frost Empire dies with him."

Gohan's eyes are everywhere as that raw panic from earlier returns. He's paliid in the light of the dying planet, his expression so scared, so young.

"There's no other way." Goku smiles reassuringly. "Then, after, we leave. I promise. It'll be over."

"G—."

Another roar of planetary fury casts a shadow over the moment, the nearby volcano wailing fire. This is it. It's now or never.

"You want that, right? This is how we do it. We need you to use the Boiler."

"I… I…" Gohan's brow knits together. "I… Goku… It's… so wrong."

"I know." There's a pause. "But I'll be here with you. I'll have to keep him occupied, but you won't be alone."

As if broken, Gohan stands there with a disorientated look about him, everything around in ruin.

"Or you can leave," Goku adds, meaning it. "You have a choice. I want you to know that. I won't think any less of you, and one day, I'll find you again. I promise."

At that, Gohan shakes his head, almost violently, and wipes at his eyes.

Then—light. Blinding, pulsing, violent.

He's back.

Hailer predictably reforms from that stolen energy, his body stitching together in a storm of blinding white and seething pink. His eyes snap open, cold and furious. The ground splits beneath him as his aura erupts, scorching the air, the removed bullets cast wayside.

Goku turns too late.

Hailer rockets forward, a streak of destruction. His fist drives into Goku's stomach, folding him in half. Goku flies backward, a haphazard blur against the scorched landscape, crashing through cliffs and dust.

Before Goku can rise, Hailer is there—already charging another attack. A ball of energy grows in his palm, humming with power. He hurls it. The blast hits, detonates, and the shockwave levels the terrain.

Goku bursts from the smoke, panting, barely on his feet. He throws a desperate punch—misses. Hailer ducks low, counters with a spinning backhand that sends Goku into the depths of a hollowed out building.

"Like a cockroach, you persist to survive," Hailer sneers, landing opposite. "I can see why my baby brother had his struggles with you. I hope he is right now watching from whatever domain he has found himself within. I hope he watches me SQUASH YOU!"

Hailer moves like a blade through the air—sharp, unstoppable. Goku can barely react. Each hit lands with brutal precision: a fist to the jaw, a knee to the gut, an elbow across the cheek. Bones rattle. Blood sprays. Goku stumbles, trying to breathe, but Hailer gives him no time.

With each passing second, Goku grows wearier and wearier, as though all the energy in his body no longer works.

He grabs Goku by the throat and slams him into the ground. The crater widens beneath them. Dust and rock shoot skyward. Hailers yanks him up again and hurls him into the nearby ledge of a once window. Stone shatters. Goku drops, barely conscious, limbs trembling.

Hailer is relentless.

He strikes Goku across the face, the impact echoing across the barren chamber. Goku staggers, barely keeping his footing, but Hailer is already behind him. A sharp kick to the back sends Goku tumbling forward, crashing into a jagged outcrop of stone. The rocks shatter on contact, dust swirling into the air.

I'm going to die.

Before it clears, Hailer surges through the haze, slamming Goku into the ground with both fists. The force rattles the planet's surface further

Goku groans, struggling to rise, but his limbs shake under his weight. His breath is shallow, his aura flickering like a fading flame.

Gohan…

"Pick a limb, Super Saiyan…" Hailer stills, smirking. "Perhaps that thing between your legs that your species favour so dearly… How do you think it will taste? How should it be seasoned?"

Goku staggers, holding the wall. Dizzy. Unwell. He can't feel his energy. He can't even feel Hailer's.

Hailer's pointer finger readies itself to do more damage, pointing to where the roof had once been. With an evil grin, Hailer calls forth his energy as all Goku can do is watch.

And wait.

And wait…

Yet, still, no such energy emerges.

Hailer's grin dies and he too becomes perplexed, admiring his finger as though he's never seen such a digit in his entire life. "What…?" And then, on what must be instinct, he looks upwards to behind Goku, to where a tumbling unearthly rock bounces along the floor.

A gun fires.

Gohan fires and fires until it clicks emptily, each bullet landing with precision into Hailer's broad torso as they had before. The gun is discarded, clattering, and Hailer falls to his knees, oddly affected.

"What did you do!" Hailer roars. "THIRTY-TWO!"

Gohan stands firm, eyes narrowed, aura pulsing with intensity. He doesn't reply. He doesn't need to. Goku realizes by looking around that Gohan lined the area with whatever sheenks he could grab. Lumps of it lounge, sucking the energy from the room greedily as the bullets do so at an even faster pace.

"Yes, Gohan!" Goku cheers, reinspired. "Do it now!

Gohan draws a deep breath, focusing his ki inward, channelling it through his core. The air around him grows hot, iridescent with rising heat. His hands move apart slowly, and between them, sparks ignite—flickering, then bursting into flame. Fire swirls into existence, fed by his energy, controlled by his will. It wraps around his arms, fierce but steady, casting his face in a glow of red and gold. With a sharp cry, he thrusts his hands forward, and the fire erupts in a blazing wave, scorching the earth in its path, enveloping Hailer.

He's doing it! Yes!

The fire that now burns is not of Gohan's ki, which has become affected by the sheenks. It's that of which is imprisoned within Hailer's body and unable to fight back.

Impressive that it is, the Boiler is an appalling spectacle to behold.

Ki fire also crashes into Gohan, engulfing his arms in a blinding flash of heat. The flames wrap around them, tearing through his spandex and searing into his skin. He grits his teeth, a strained gasp escaping as pain rips through him. His aura bursts outward in a desperate surge, but the fire clings, refusing to be shaken. Smoke rises from his shoulders and back, the air thick with the scent of scorched fabric and flesh. Gohan stumbles, falling to one knee, eyes wide but focused on the task.

Goku can only tell something's happening when, finally, Hailer lets loose the most unhinged noise. He wails, the screech painful to Goku's ears as the cooking of flesh heightens. Despite not wanting to watch, Goku does, knowing that Gohan also has to see this. Whilst there is no horror in Gohan's expression right now, Goku knows that this will sear into his memory, that this will be unpleasant to recall and that there is no satisfaction in the execution.

The process isn't fast, and fire clings to Hailer, crawling up his arms and shoulders, blackening the once smooth surface of his bio-armor. He still screams, trying to shake it off, but the flames bite deep, leaving glowing scorch marks. It's no quick death by any means, with Gohan plainly feeling the strain of the implementation.

He can do this. Goku knows he can. He's so, so strong. Strong in all the right ways.

Goku limps over to his son when he drops to one knee, panting. Gohan's skin is red at best, blistering at worse. The wave of concentration Gohan wears is nonetheless impressive, the overexposure to pain not enough to make him stop. There's something beautiful in this horror, that Hailer is suffering because of what he did to him.

"It's nearly over!" Goku encourages when Gohan begins shaking. He's powered down by this point, the royal hue now a murky fuchsia. Gold is gone, taking a great deal of light. Goku must have dropped out of his transformation, too, because the only brightness is the fire which eats Hailer.

Melting the ice which never melts.

It's strange because in this pivotal moment of life, Goku can't help but reflect on a story Chi-Chi had once shared with him and a very young Gohan many years ago. The Sun and the Wind had been its name, and the story had revolved around a competition between the Sun and the Wind over which could cause a man to disrobe first. In the tale, the Wind went first. It had blown hard, violently trying to tear the man's cloak away. But the harder it blew, the tighter the man clutched his cloak around him.

Then… the Sun had shone warmly and gently. The man had soon relaxed, felt the heat, and eventually took the cloak off willingly.

They'd been sat in a park when she'd told the story, with Gohan on her lap as the breeze gently tickled at her hair. The day had been perfect, and she'd kissed him and called him the Sun.

"Even though you're so strong, it's your kindness that defines you."

Gohan much loved the sun as a little boy, and back when he'd adored Goku just as much, he'd called him the Sun, too.

It's funny because, there is nothing kind about what Goku's asked Gohan to do here. To burn someone alive. To murder.

But it's a necessary evil.

I promise it'll be better from this point on.

Now, the sun has started to rise, and with it, the long winter will fade away.

I'm here.

Gohan's wheezing through the technique, his alertness fading.

You're nearly done.

Flames lick out at Goku as he advances.

Don't worry, Gohan. Dawn is approaching.

He rests his hand over his son's splintering arm.

The sunrise will bring a new day.

Then, the screaming stops.

The Boiler slowly dissolves, and above, Gohan pants wetly, smoking and cindering.

Silence.

"It's over." Goku looks over at the heaped, unmoving body. How funny it is, after everything, that Hailer would look so meaningless so soon after death. Gohan's looking, too, as though he can't believe what he's witnessing. "You did it, Gohan. You saved yourself."

There's no movement for a long time.

A crack of lightning rips apart the flesh of the land, and a hum of thunder follows like a shadow.

Shaking, Gohan can only look at Hailer's corpse.

"It's over," Goku repeats. "You can rest."

Finally, Gohan nods precisely once before succumbing to his exhaustion, and even though it is almost too much to handle, Goku collects him, walks past Hailer's body with Gohan strewn over his back, and limps his way over to the ship.

Amid the chaos of a dying world, Goku brokenly races across the crumbling terrain, passenger loaded. The ground splits beneath them, molten lava bursting through cracks, lighting the sky in blazing red. Ash now rains down like snow, and the air trembles with each thunderous eruption.

Escaping an exploding planet… I think I've done this before, Goku reflect wryly. Only now, he leaves with all his heart intact.

Gohan, battered and unconscious, barely stirs as Goku pushes forward, muscles straining, breath ragged. Flames lick at their heels, but Goku doesn't stop. His eyes burn with focus, determination carved into every step. The planet roars behind them, but all that matters is his boy on his back—and getting him home.

Still, Goku can't pilot a foreign ship alone, so when he arrives, Gohan has to be shaken awake for instructions.

"I can do it," he slurs.

"Tell me what I have to do," Goku insists.

It's tricky, and for one small moment, Goku worries that it's too late and that they won't make the take-off with all the destruction around them. Yet, they manage it together, Gohan explaining the function of each button needed.

Movement is the biggest relief of all.

With Gohan still over his back, Goku overlooks the scene through a floor to ceiling high window, breathing a soft sight as they begin to ascend. The magnitude of the destruction comes into focus the further they pull away from Central, the smoothness of the ride jarring in comparison to everything else that's happened today.

"Stay awake."

"I'm... awake."

"We're gonna' get you in a rejuvenation tank soon, okay?"

Gohan hums, his tail flicking against Goku's leg.

"Gohan, open your eyes."

"They're open."

"Don't sleep."

"I'm watchin… the planet." Despite his words, Goku shuffles him higher, jostling him to remain alert. "It's... going to… go… Explode, I mean…"

And sure enough, it does. But by this point, the planet is but a ball beyond the window, its sweep of orange just out of range to do any damage, but beautiful enough to see the Sun in it.

Then, something very strange happens, the planet's core unravelling in a storm of fire and light. In a sudden stillness—silence. From the heart of the explosion, light bursts upward, not in destruction, but in rebirth. The fire curls inward, reshaping, folding upon itself. Colossal roots sprout from the scorched ground, thick and glowing. A trunk rises where the core once burned. Branches stretch toward the stars, endless and ancient. Leaves unfurl—delicate, golden, shimmering with energy. Each one glows like a tiny sunlit moon, swaying in a windless void. The tree pulses with life, its roots threading through space, its crown touching the limitless expanse. What was once a dying world now breathes as something greater—no longer a planet, but a living monument. A tree of cosmic memory, born from fire, holding the echo of everything it once was.

"What…" Goku steps closer towards the window. "Is that the Tree of Might?"

Gohan's head rises from Goku's shoulder.

The Tree is impossibly mammoth. Never has Goku seen anything like this before. The golden pollution dazzles strikingly, orange from the fire never really leaving.

"Goku... Look…"

Goku does, following Gohan's shaky, blackened finger to above the Tree where the once familiar presence of the Namekian Dragon lingers. It helixes, throwing its arms out in jubilation, before then diving headlong into the pinnacle of the Tree. Seven orange orbs orbit around the branches.

"It's found a new… host…" Gohan mutters, resting once more. "I hope… it's happier there."

Goku can't tear his eyes away. Such madness to come from nowhere at all…

"The Wishing… Tree," Gohan mutters, amused.

The Wishing Tree...

Together, they watch the roots of a new dawn splinter into a once evil, bringing forth Spring.

Hope follows the sunrise.

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Just one more chapter left. Thanks so much for all the feedback! I wish I could show you how horribly busy I am these days just as an excuse for my terrible replying.

I really appreciate everyone for following to the end point with me. It's been such a ride. I'll try and get the final chapter out in May, but I want to really take my time with it just to make sure I'm happy with the story's conclusion. There's been so much that has happened over the last two chapters, reminding me of the long, painful slogs I'd write for my other story, Horse. Writing them is one thing but proof-reading is another. Saying that, I've enjoyed writing all the Gohan and Goku scenes, which can feel absent in this story due to their respective plotlines. But finally, we see them together at the end.

We've had a few conceits over the story, notably with Goku's connection with the Sun. Fire and snow have been such improtant symbols throughout this story, showing how Gohan relates to both. He's been locked in an eternal winter. Hopefully now, he can breathe the fresh Spring air.

Oh, we also got a return of the Boiler, which I was very excited about. I've always known how Gohan was going to kill Hailer, with the very first challenge he suffered in the first chapter. I do love me a full circle...

Anyway, I'm off.

I'll catch you guys on the next one. On Chapter 32!