On Planet Namek.
Two figures clashed savagely in the sky, while off to the side Frieza continued to unseal his full strength.
Sixty million… seventy… eighty… boom! One hundred and twenty million!
His body swelled with bulging muscle, every line cut sharp as though carved by a sculptor like a grotesque bodybuilder flexing for the cosmos.
For the first time since his birth, Frieza had unleashed his full power.
"This… this intoxicating power. I could get used to this." He admired his own form, though he found the bodybuilder bulk less than elegant. Still at last, 100% full power.
"Frieza, stop dawdling!" Cooler barked.
"Hmph, you useless fool. I'll handle this." With a sudden burst of speed, Frieza appeared beside his brother.
From below, Gohan's eyes glimmered. Perfect. The opportunity has come.
"You two… come at me together!" he roared, flinging a ki blast straight at Frieza. The tyrant crushed it in his palm, stepping into the fight. At the same instant, Gohan darted in on Cooler, striking with martial ferocity.
"You're even more arrogant than your father!" Frieza snarled, joining in with a crushing punch.
Gohan raised his knee to block, but Cooler's tail whipped across, smashing toward his skull. Gohan crossed his forearms, catching the blow, though the impact left his arms trembling and numb.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The brothers pressed their assault with fists, elbows, knees every weapon the body could offer. Gohan blocked and evaded what he could, but there was no opening for counterattack. Blow after blow forced him back, dragging the battle away from Gokū's line of sight.
"…Why isn't he transforming? What is he playing at?" Gokū frowned, rising unsteadily and drifting after them.
"You little brat. Even if you are a Super Saiyan, you'll die here! Death Beams continuous!!"
Frieza unleashed a barrage, not only at Gohan but at Cooler too.
"Bastard! You'd even target me?!" Cooler snapped, breaking away.
"My dear brother… the moment was too tempting, I couldn't resist. Ohohohoho!" Frieza's sinister laugh rang out.
Cooler glared he knew Frieza's treachery too well, always watching for betrayal. Their mistrust meant neither could fully commit to killing Gohan quickly.
"Hey! You two finished bickering?" Gohan shouted, batting aside the streaking beams.
Frieza grunted and surged back into the fight, Cooler close behind.
Now fists, palms, knees, and elbows collided in a storm of raw violence. The sheer physicality of it bone-shattering, blood-pounding would make any warrior's heart blaze.
For Gohan, the thrill burned bright. For a moment, he nearly forgot the "plan."
CRACK!
Cooler's fist slammed into his gut.
"Ughhh!!" Gohan spat bile, his stomach lurching.
Frieza seized him, wrapping tight, and hurled him headfirst toward the ground. At the last instant, he released.
BOOOOM!
The ground split apart, a massive crater erupting beneath the impact. Dust and rock billowed into the sky.
"Frieza, get clear! Supernova!!"
Cooler, high above, had gathered a massive sphere of golden energy.
"Hold back! Don't destroy the planet, I still need the Dragon Balls!" Frieza snapped.
"I know! Stop whining. Now DIE!!" Cooler bellowed, hurling the colossal sun downward.
The air itself shrieked as it fell, space trembling under its weight.
KRA-THOOM!
The world flipped upside down. Volcanoes erupted, magma spewing from the ruptured crust.
"GOHAN!!!"
Gokū, still weak but racing toward the site, swallowed a senzu bean in desperation. His body healed instantly, his battle power surging to five million. The Saiyan trait flared rising stronger from the brink of death. But he hardly noticed.
All that mattered was the explosion ahead.
Perfect.
At the heart of the blast, hidden, Gohan smirked. Dropping into his base form, he sealed away his aura, slowed his heartbeat, even stilled his breath his pores drawing in energy like a vacuum.
Moments earlier, when he saw Cooler charging his Supernova, he had made his move.
He had deliberately let Frieza slam him down, then as the Supernova detonated he transformed into a Super Saiyan in secret, raising a protective barrier copied from his memory of Android 17. Shielded, he lived while to the world, he appeared obliterated.
"GOHAN!!"
Gokū plunged into the inferno, heart splitting as he found his son lying limp upon a crumbling boulder, magma creeping ever closer.
Scooping him up, he soared free, panic surging.
"Gohan! Wake up!! Here take a senzu, quick!!" His hands shook as he pressed it toward Gohan's mouth, but the boy's lips would not part. No breath, no heartbeat.
"GOHAN!!"
Memories crashed through him Gohan's childhood, his laughter, his growth. Gokū's vision blurred, mind thundering with grief and rage.
"You… you monsters… YOU KILLED MY SON!!"
He laid Gohan gently on the ground. His whole body quaked uncontrollably.
KRAK-BOOOM!!
The skies erupted with thunder, black clouds splitting. Rain fell in torrents, as though the heavens themselves mourned.
In the shadows, Merus chuckled softly. "That little rascal… faking his death like that. Hahaha. Won't his father tan his hide if he finds out?"
"Hm? Merus, what's so funny?" A voice stirred behind him…
Meanwhile.
Gokū's grief ignited into something beyond reason. Murderous intent surged from his body like a tidal wave, saturating Namek with bloodlust.
"You'll pay… you'll all PAY!!"
His roar ripped the heavens open. A golden blaze engulfed him, dark hair igniting into brilliant flame. His vacant eyes snapped green, fury incarnate.
A supernova of power burst outward.
Five million… fifty… eighty… two hundred fifty million!
At last, Son Gokū had transcended.
The Super Saiyan had awakened.
"IMPOSSIBLE!!" Frieza's voice broke, eyes wide with terror.
"Damn it… we pushed too far!!" Cooler's heart clenched, though he did not share his brother's dread he still held one final transformation in reserve.
But the sight… the hair, the aura, the very essence…
"This… this is the Super Saiyan…" Frieza whispered, trembling.
"Frieza! It's your fault! I remember now that hairstyle! He's the same brat who escaped Planet Vegeta!" Cooler snapped, anger masking his unease.
"And you saw him and let him LIVE?!" Frieza hissed.
"Pah! Your mess, not mine!" Cooler spat.
"Enough! We end him here!!" Frieza barked, though his voice wavered.
Cooler's expression hardened. "So this is what Lord Chilled's prophecy meant…"
In a blur, Gokū appeared before them. Neither brother even saw him move.
"So fast!" Frieza gasped, cold dread seizing him.
"You two… will die here."
"Begone!!"
Cooler's eyes flashed, firing twin Destructive Eye Rays.
Bzzz!
Gokū merely tilted his head. The beams seared across his chin harmless. Not a scratch remained.
"Impossible!!" Cooler's mind reeled. Those rays could pierce almost anything.
Frieza staggered back, icy fear devouring his pride.
The tide had turned.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
Your support keeps this story going leave a 5★ review, add it to your library, and feed it some Power Stones!
"Want to stay ahead of the game?Advanced chapters are up on my Patron. If you're enjoying the ride, swing by and check them out."
[email protected]/_theon
Change @ to "a"