Thirty thousand light-years from Earth, at King Cold's military headquarters
"My dear son, what happened out there? Burter and the others reported you were gravely injured." King Cold peered at the returning Frieza.
He didn't know the "Frieza" before him was already Captain Ginyu wearing a new body.
"Father, on Planet Namek I ran into a terrifying foe a Super Saiyan. Those damned monkeys… one of them left me in tatters," Ginyu said, mimicking Frieza's cadence, posture, even his smirk. After years of service, he had Frieza's mannerisms down cold.
As for Super Saiyans, Jeice and Burter had picked up the term while monitoring Namek from orbit. Before Ginyu spirited Frieza away, the real Frieza had ordered them to brief King Cold on anything unusual. Bewildered, they'd used the scoutship's sensors to eavesdrop on Namek and watched Cooler die at Son Gohan's hands.
"Count yourself lucky it was only a near-death," Cold said, drumming his fingers on the throne's armrest. "According to Burter's report, your brother Cooler has been eliminated by that Super Saiyan."
"What? Cooler is dead?" Ginyu's eyes widened no act this time. When he left with Frieza's body, Cooler had still been alive.
"Cooler had one more transformation. His battle power reached 470 million and he still perished to a Super Saiyan."
Tap… tap… tap…
Cold's gaze hardened, finger rhythm steady against the armrest.
"What do you order, Father?" Ginyu ground his teeth, wearing a mask of grief and hate.
"Frieza, you were iced longer than either Cooler or me that means your potential exceeds ours. You will swallow your pride and begin special training. Draw that potential out. Until your battle power reaches at least one billion, you have no hope against a Super Saiyan."
Cooler's death sent another shiver through causality the butterfly effect in motion. Had Goku merely scraped out a win over Frieza, King Cold might have marched on Earth himself; he was slightly stronger than his younger son. But Cooler's death spoke volumes. Cold knew what his eldest could do even if Cooler had never shown him that final form, a father has ways of knowing. And if Cooler could plant spies in Frieza's ranks, Cold could do the same to Cooler.
A family of schemers, all knives under smiles.
"Special training? …Fine. When I emerge, the Super Saiyan dies." Ginyu clenched his fist, letting killing intent billow for show.
"Good. And I'll join you later. First, master your third form. Once you can control it flawlessly, I'll be your sparring partner," Cold said.
"As you command, Father."
Ginyu withdrew to an isolated gravity gym and ordered that no one disturb him without his say-so.
"I've stolen Frieza's body, but I can't make it do what he could," he muttered. "I need to learn this vessel."
He flared his ki only to confirm his fear. The training hall's scouter array read a mere fifty million.
Ginyu gritted his teeth and threw himself into brutal, endless drills…
Elsewhere the Afterlife.
"Out of my way! I am Lord Frieza, emperor of the universe! Who dares judge me?" Frieza's soul arrived at King Yemma's court and promptly staged a riot when he heard the verdict: straight to Hell.
Cooler, who had died a little earlier, was already there. He wasn't taking judgment quietly either; with Sauza (Salza) and the rest of his Armored Squadron newly dead at his side, he'd carved out a little kingdom among the damned. Even in Hell, he intended to be the worst of the worst.
King Kai's Planet
"Can't even stay quiet when they're dead? Figures. Guess I'll need that kid again," North Kai sighed, having watched the chaos on Yemma's monitors.
Gohan, Frieza and Cooler are causing trouble in the afterlife. I need you here, King Kai sent via telepathy.
Earth
"I'm on my way, Lord Kai," Son Gohan said, glancing skyward.
"What is it, Gohan?" Goku asked.
"Frieza and Cooler are rioting in the Other World. I'll go put them down." With that, Gohan vanished with Instant Transmission, leaving Goku, Raditz, and Nappa to dive back into their own training.
King Kai's Planet
"That's odd by my count, Frieza isn't actually dead," Gohan frowned.
"He got body-swapped by that Ginyu fellow," King Kai said. "Ginyu's training at King Cold's HQ wearing Frieza's skin."
"You could've told me earlier!" Gohan gaped.
"You didn't ask," King Kai said, utterly unruffled.
"If I don't ask, you don't say?"
"Why would I say if you don't ask?"
…
Gohan pinched the bridge of his nose, then Instant-Transmitted straight to King Yemma's court.
"Frieza. Even dead you can't behave?"
"You!" Frieza's soul hissed. "If not for you and your father, Ginyu would never have betrayed me! The debt of the father shall be repaid by the son!"
He fired off volley after volley of Death Beams out of habit more than sense.
"Still this arrogant without a body," Gohan sighed, slipped behind him with a blur of movement, and chopped him on the crown. Frieza's soul crumpled, out cold.
"King Yemma, how would you like him handled?" Gohan asked.
"Hmm… send him to Heaven," Yemma decided after a beat. "Seal him there, let the pure spirits scour his malice."
"Heaven? Won't folks call that unfair?" Gohan blinked.
"I've already consigned Cooler to Hell," Yemma said. "He's playing nice after subduing the local riffraff, he hasn't escalated the chaos. That's not the worst outcome. Frieza, however, is more vicious than Cooler. For him, Heaven will be the cruelest punishment."
Gohan chuckled. "Wise as ever, your majesty. He's yours. I'll go have a…talk with Cooler."
He didn't go straight to Hell. Instead, he jogged along Snake Way, thinking.
Weird. In Z, during the Majin Buu arc, Frieza and Cell were watching from Hell. In Super, Frieza's sealed in a cocoon in Heaven. Continuity, huh…
(Heckler: "The author's not consistent!")
(Author: "Ask Toriyama-sensei!")
(Toriyama-sensei: "I forgot!")
Ahem. Back to business.
"Whatever. History's already changed. No point nitpicking. I'll rattle Cooler's cage then it's time to break through to Super Saiyan 2."
After wrapping up in the underworld, Gohan returned to Earth but not to Mount Paozu. He headed for the Lookout.
"Kami hasn't Piccolo come to fuse with you yet?"
"What, are you hoping I disappear?" Kami grumbled.
"Ah no, no! Just asking," Gohan laughed, scratching his cheek. "I'm here to borrow the Hyperbolic Time Chamber."
"Mr. Popo, take him," Kami instructed.
"This way," Mr. Popo said, leading Gohan toward the Room of Spirit and Time.
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