On Planet Namek
Cooler charged like a raging beast, murderous aura flooding the battlefield as he closed in on Gohan.
But Gohan shifted, closing distance not with Cooler,
but with Frieza.
That's right. He intended to take them both on.
"Son Goku, what's the meaning of this?" Frieza demanded, eyes narrowing at Goku, who had ceased fighting.
"Heh… nghh, so much pain… I've lost. But don't worry, my son he's even stronger than I am. Don't you dare underestimate him." Goku managed a faint grin, though the tug on his wounds made him wince. His battle spirit had burned out, leaving only the awareness that his body had pushed far beyond its limit.
But in his warning, he had openly told Frieza: Gohan was stronger.
"…Dad, am I still your son?" Gohan muttered in annoyance.
Really? Warning the enemy? Isn't that just helping them prepare?
Any lingering guilt in Gohan's heart evaporated. Now, he felt only the urge to push things further.
Good. All the better. Dad, go ahead rage to your heart's content, he thought with a sly smile.
"Die, monkey!!"
Cooler, cloaked in violent purple ki, spread his arms wide, turning himself into a living comet. He barreled straight at Gohan with his Supernova Strike.
"He's insane! Tch!" Frieza cursed, retreating quickly. He knew that technique he used it himself. New Star Impact.
Gohan's eyes narrowed. That move… right, Frieza used it too. In the original timeline, he even pierced through Dad's Kamehameha with it.
But here and now.
"Kaio-Ken! Eight times!!"
Scarlet ki flared around Gohan, his hair bristling upward as his power skyrocketed. From a 10-million base, the multiplier drove him to 80 million matching Cooler's half-power head-on.
BOOM!
He caught Cooler's wrists, the comet's force grinding him back, gouging trenches into the Namekian soil as his heels dug in. For a hundred meters he slid, refusing to yield, until
The charge stopped.
"What impossible?!" It was Frieza, not Cooler, who gasped first.
Cooler's eyes widened too. His Supernova Strike wasn't just about raw numbers it was devastatingly focused force. Yet this child had stopped it.
"Gohan… looks like I underestimated you. Even without Super Saiyan, you're this strong," Goku said, pride and awe flickering in his battered face.
"Kid… just who are you?" Cooler demanded, suspicion and anger mixing in his glare.
"Who I am doesn't matter. What matters is this: the reign of your Ice Demon Clan ends today." Gohan's tone was flat, merciless. To him, both brothers were nothing more than tools.
"Arrogant whelp! The Ice Demons are rulers of the cosmos you think you can defy us?!" Cooler tore free and snapped a kick at Gohan's chest.
Gohan shifted aside, seizing his leg instead and yanking forward.
WHAM!
Cooler toppled headlong into the dirt.
From afar, Goku's weary eyes lit up. What a move…
Cooler's lips twitched with rage, his aura boiling. This brat dares to mock me?
"Earth-Splitter Slash!!"
Energy surged in his palm, forming a glowing crescent blade. He hurled it with lethal precision.
Shhhk!
Gohan leapt clear as the crescent carved through the ground.
"Now!! Death Ball Prison!" Cooler's eyes gleamed.
An orange sphere of energy engulfed Gohan, freezing him midair. His limbs locked as though his spine had been ripped away.
"Telekinesis? Interesting," Gohan muttered, face calm.
"Rot in hell!" Cooler thrust his hand toward a distant tree. The trunk wrenched free, branches snapping, the top sharpened like a spear.
Unlike Frieza's crude telekinesis, Cooler's control was refined razor-sharp.
The sharpened trunk streaked toward Gohan.
"Annoying. Can't you use a move that actually helps me fake my death? Break!!"
Scarlet light burst outward. Gohan's Kaio-Ken jumped to tenfold, power tearing apart the psychic prison. He vanished just as the tree-lance shot past, vanishing into the horizon.
"I may look like a child but childish tricks won't work on me," he taunted.
"Damn brat… too cunning. Must I really use my full power?" Cooler's thoughts raced.
Then his eyes flicked to Frieza. A sly plan formed.
"Frieza. Let's kill him together. Haven't you noticed? Their power spikes, their shifting aura it matches the legend. These Saiyans might truly be the Super Saiyans foretold by our ancestors."
Rather than reveal his full strength, Cooler chose deception, pulling Frieza into his scheme.
Frieza sneered. "Ohohoho… Father warned me never to underestimate you, said you were dangerous. But look at you now. My dear brother bested by a Saiyan half-breed. How disgraceful for the Ice Demons."
Yet inside, the words struck home. The legend of the Super Saiyan haunted him. If Goku and Gohan truly embodied it, then neither could be allowed to live.
"Heh. My dear little brother, this is your territory in the North Galaxy. If you don't care about erasing them, then I won't bother." Cooler smirked, feigning indifference.
"Bah, as if I need you. I'll kill them myself!" Frieza snapped, his body already crackling with recovered strength.
Cooler's lips curled into a victorious smirk. Hook, line, and sinker.
"What are you grinning at? You're both trash," Gohan shot back coldly.
"Frieza, he just called you trash," Cooler said slyly.
"Do you take me for a fool? He said it to you too." Frieza's eyes narrowed. He wasn't so easily manipulated.
"Enough talk. I'm done waiting. Both of you come at me! Kaio-Ken… ten times!!"
Gohan's aura exploded, scarlet fire engulfing the planet, shaking Namek to its core.
"He's been holding back this whole time?!" Frieza's smirk faltered. A knot of unease twisted in his chest.
Could Cooler be right? Were these two truly the Super Saiyans of legend?
"Fine. Hold him off for a few minutes, I'll prepare," Frieza said, beginning to charge energy.
"Make it quick," Cooler agreed, feinting weakness once more.
As Frieza stepped back to power up, Cooler lunged forward, unleashing just a little more of his hidden strength.
Gohan's eyes sharpened, battle spirit blazing.
"Finally getting serious? Good. If I'm going to play this role, I'll play it all the way."
The stage was set. The true clash was about to begin.
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