On Planet Namek.
Wracked by the agony of losing his son, Son Gokū had awakened as a Super Saiyan.
The Destructive Eye Beams he took head-on left only a faint ache along his jaw. That pain became a reminder a dagger twisting in his heart of his fallen Gohan.
"RAAAH! Give me back my son!!"
His fury erupted. A shockwave of golden ki burst outward, hurling Frieza and Cooler away like rag dolls.
"Damn it… damn it!!" For the first time, regret flickered in Frieza's heart. Regret that he hadn't killed Gokū before this moment.
SHHH!
In a blur of golden light, Gokū appeared before him, driving his knee mercilessly into Frieza's gut.
BOOOM!
Frieza rocketed back, smashing into a jagged mountain of stone.
"And now you!"
Before Cooler could react, Gokū was already behind him, voice cold as death.
"When... when did you get behind me?!" Cooler's words stumbled over his shock.
CRACK!
Gokū answered with his boot. The kick sent Cooler crashing into his brother, the two villains smashing together and plowing through a mountain, stone burying them both.
"Kame… hame…"
Hovering above, Gokū's eyes locked on the rubble below, his aura seething with murderous intent.
"…ha!!"
The blue column of energy roared forth, blazing toward the brothers.
"Frieza NOW!!" Cooler shouted, recognizing the technique.
"Shut up, I know!!" Frieza snarled, conjuring a massive sphere of pink ki in his palm.
Cooler gathered his own golden surge, their combined beams colliding against the descending Kamehameha.
Three titanic waves clashed, splitting the sky in half.
"More power!" Gokū roared, pouring every ounce of his being into the blast. His Kamehameha thickened, swelling like a tidal wave, pushing the brothers' energy back.
"I am Lord Frieza, Emperor of the Universe! I will not be beaten by a filthy monkey!!" Frieza screamed, forcing more of himself into the beam, blood trickling from his nostrils.
Cooler too abandoned his restraint. "ENOUGH!!"
His body swelled with grotesque muscle, mirroring Frieza's 100% form yet stronger still. His ki spiked to 1.6 billion units, outstripping his brother by forty million. His golden blast expanded, twining with Frieza's in a desperate push against the Saiyan's wave.
The combined might halted Gokū's beam just barely.
But Gokū's eyes burned brighter. "You two… are finished!!"
His roar split the heavens as the Kamehameha ballooned even further, consuming their waves whole.
KA-BOOOOOOM!!
A colossal mushroom cloud clawed into the stratosphere. The very crust of Namek shattered, a chunk of the planet ripped away and cast into space.
Breathing hard, chest heaving like a furnace bellows, Gokū's body sagged. Every drop of his energy had been poured into that blast.
"My Gohan…" he whispered, sorrow searing deeper than exhaustion, as he drifted back to his son's side. He scooped Gohan into his arms, scanning desperately for an intact spacecraft.
But nothing remained Frieza's ship had long since torn itself apart, and Cooler's vessel had been obliterated in the blast.
"Damn it!" Gokū cursed under his breath.
And Gohan?
Internally, he was panicking. The plan had worked too well. While pretending to be lifeless, he had seen the anguish etched across his father's face the raw grief that fueled his transformation.
Now he dared not wake. How do I even explain this? Tell him I faked my death? He'd kill me himself!
"What do I do? What do I do? Think!!"
"Heh. Still not awake, kid?" A familiar voice brushed into his mind Merus.
"Big Brother Merus? You can hear me?!" Gohan thought frantically.
"Just think it, I'll catch it," Merus replied calmly.
"Good! Please you have to help me! If I wake like this, my dad will tear me apart. And my heartbeat's about to resume!" Gohan begged.
"Relax. Sense the explosion site," Merus instructed.
Gohan focused, his eyes widening. "Wait… Cooler. He's not dead?! That energy strong!"
"Correct. And Frieza too. His body's ruined, drifting in space, but alive. Their vitality is astounding," Merus marveled.
"Then you have to cover for me! Cooler's still got another transformation stronger than my father!"
"Fine. Leave it to me."
Merus appeared openly before Gokū.
"You, who are you?!" Gokū shielded Gohan instinctively, eyes sharp. Though he sensed no malice, he remained on guard.
"I'm a friend of your son's. He isn't dead. Step aside, I can bring him back." Merus's voice was even.
"…How do I know you speak the truth?" Gokū demanded.
Merus calmly produced his badge of the Galactic Patrol, alongside Gohan's. "He's been training with us. Hurry any longer, and even I can't save him."
"…Alright. But if you harm him, no one in the universe will protect you from me." Gokū relented.
Merus placed a glowing hand over Gohan's forehead, feigning mystic arts as a veil.
"Gohan… awaken."
"Cough! Father? Big Brother Merus? Wh...what happened?" Gohan's eyes opened wide with feigned innocence, his voice trembling with practiced purity.
The performance was flawless.
"Gohan!! You're alive!!" Gokū's tears flowed as he clutched his son tightly.
Behind his father's back, Gohan shot Merus a hidden thumbs-up.
Merus smirked faintly, then pointed silently toward the blast site.
"Dad, you're gonna crush me! Can't breathe!!" Gohan wheezed, wriggling free.
"You're alive. That's all that matters," Gokū whispered, relief breaking him.
Yet as he exhaled, both he and Gohan felt it the dark, crushing aura rising from the crater.
From the dissipating mushroom cloud stepped a figure, transformed beyond recognition.
Four horns swept back like a crown. His mouth was sealed beneath a metal-like mask. His eyes burned crimson. Massive shoulder protrusions jutted outward, while blade-like growths stretched from his arms. From his back rose two jagged spikes like demonic wings.
His ki dwarfed all before it 470 million.
"Dad…" Gohan's face paled.
Gokū's jaw tightened. "Cooler."
It was his Final Form.
Cooler had arrived.
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