South Central Elite Academy
Riiiing
"Class is finally over! Gohan, I grabbed two mousse cakes on the way here, the chocolate's for you, I'll take strawberry." Videl pressed a six-inch mini cake into Son Gohan's hands.
"Thanks, Videl." Gohan dug in with the tiny spoon, all smiles.
While he ate, he quietly stretched his senses toward space.
King Cold's fleet was about to enter the atmosphere. Time to invent… a reason to cut class. The mousse cake would make a perfect pretext.
"Ow my stomach!" After two bites, Gohan doubled over, face scrunched in pain.
"Gohan, what's wrong?! Teacher! Teacher, Gohan's stomach hurts!" Videl called out.
Their homeroom teacher hurried over.
"Son Gohan, I'll take you to the nurse's office." She crouched to lift him.
(Elite academy perks, Gohan thought wryly. White blouse working overtime at the buttons; fitted pencil skirt; sheer stockings… no wonder half the dads insisted on doing pickup.)
Ahem. Focus.
"No need, Sensei. It's an old problem if I use the restroom I'll be fine. May I take the afternoon off and go home?" Gohan asked.
"…All right. Have a family member come get you," the teacher said at last.
"Okay. I'll hit the restroom first."
"I'll go with you!" Videl blurted.
"To the boys' restroom? Absolutely not," Gohan shot back, flustered.
"It's my fault I shouldn't have brought cake!" Videl's eyes pooled again.
"Don't cry. Be good, stay in class. Come check on me after school, deal?"
"Mm. I won't cry. I'll go straight over after class." She dabbed at her eyes.
Gohan exhaled and slipped into the hall.
Riiiing
The bell for next period sent the corridor into instant silence.
He ducked into an empty stall and vanished.
Five thousand kilometers east, on a desert steppe
"Gohan, there you are! Heard you started school again? And a little girl tracked down your house? Starting young with the girlfriend thing, huh?" Krillin grinned.
"At my age that's not scary," Gohan replied sweetly. "What's scary is a certain someone your age still not having a girlfriend."
Raditz, Nappa, and Krillin wore the exact same my soul just left my body expression.
Krillin looked hopefully to Piccolo.
"Don't look at me. I don't have that… need," Piccolo said flatly.
"Gohan, sometimes you're really not cute," Krillin muttered, out of comebacks.
"They're here," Goku said, eyes lifting skyward.
The familiar saucer-type mothership swelled in the clouds, dropping fast.
Three minutes later
Shhhht
Jets scorched the ground; dust mushroomed into the air.
Hummm
The hatch split with a slow clatter. Footsteps. One tall shadow, one short, descended the ramp.
"Oh? Such a crowd to greet me?" King Cold sounded amused.
"Hyah-ha-ha "
"Oh, shut it, Ginyu," Gohan cut in before the laugh finished. "That fake Frieza cackle doesn't fit you at all. Keep it up and the real Frieza will crawl out of Hell to slap you."
Ginyu's pupils pin-pricked. "What nonsense ! Die!" He snapped a ki blast at Gohan.
"Trash." Gohan brushed it aside one-handed and popped it like a soap bubble.
"Is it… true?" King Cold's face went black.
Shhk
"King Cold!" Soldiers gasped.
"It's true. So what?" Ginyu didn't hesitate. In the motion of turning, a half-meter ki blade bloomed from his right hand and punched straight through King Cold's heart.
"Kill him! All of you, kill " Even with his heart pierced, the Frost Demon's life force was monstrous; his roar rang like iron.
"Who moves dies." Ginyu's bark froze the elite guard where they stood. "As for you go join Frieza and Cooler."
He flung King Cold skyward, lifted his palm, and closed his fingers.
"No !" Cold's last howl tore the air
Boom.
A blood-red cloud blossomed high above. King Cold died with hatred soldered into his bones.
Gohan recognized the technique and, despite himself, glanced at Krillin.
"What? What is it?" Krillin asked, blinking at Gohan's odd look.
"Nothing." Gohan smiled thinly Nothing at all. Inwardly he mused: No "heavenly offering" on Namek, so I had to fake my death. If the 'sacrifice' happens on Earth, would that push Dad to Super Saiyan 2?
It was only a thought. Once a Saiyan breaks through to Super Saiyan, it's like a genetic lock comes off; with enough grind, the next stages will come.
"King Cold is dead. Those who yield keep their posts. Those who don't die. Name's Ginyu. Frieza died by my hand." Ginyu turned and addressed Cold's troops, voice cold as space.
"Long live Lord Ginyu!" one voice cried. Ten more followed. In the end, fists decide the truth.
"Clown show's over." Gohan's eyes slid to his own side. "Ginyu, as far as I know, you never had any blood feud with Saiyans. Why come to Earth?"
He genuinely couldn't fathom the stupidity.
"Son Gohan, right? I endured for years and finally got a body this powerful. If I don't crown myself Emperor of the Cosmos, wouldn't that be a waste? To sleep easy, the Saiyans must die." Ginyu looked down his nose at them, ambitions spilling out.
Strategy-wise, he wasn't wrong: erase the threats. But he'd assumed that pushing his battle power to 1.2 billion over three months meant he could steamroll Gohan's camp. Reality had other plans. Even setting the Saiyans aside Piccolo alone could take him.
"Heh. Who's up first?" Gohan stopped bantering and glanced at Goku and Piccolo.
"Leave him to me," Piccolo said, stepping forward.
"No way I go first!" Goku was practically vibrating.
"Are you provoking me, Son Goku?" Piccolo snapped. The surge in his power had his confidence spiking; even facing Goku, he wouldn't budge.
"Kakarot, let Nappa and me warm up. You two can watch and pick him apart," Raditz said, stepping out.
"Yeah. You and Piccolo can crush him any time. Let us loosen the jar." Nappa joined him.
Goku looked… deeply aggrieved.
Piccolo was about to jab at them when Gohan got there first: "Enough. Let them get their reps in. Dad, Piccolo you two rock–paper–scissors for who closes it out."
"…Fine! Big bro, make it quick. I can't hold it in!" Goku's battle lust was a geyser.
"Son Goku, dream on. He's mine," Piccolo bristled.
"Come on rock, paper, scissors."
They faced off. Piccolo's face twitched at the childishness; then he raised his hand anyway.
"Rock, paper, scissors!"
Goku threw paper. Piccolo threw scissors.
"Aw, man. I wanted to go all out," Goku sighed, genuinely bereft.
"Don't pout," Gohan said. "Once Ginyu's down you can fight Piccolo. You're close in power you'll love it."
"You're right! Why didn't I think of that?" Goku brightened instantly.
Watching all this, Ginyu's face contorted; his rage spiked like a solar flare.
"That's enough! Mock me like this and you all die!" he roared.
"Mm. He's mad. Big bro go together. One-on-one won't cut it," Gohan warned.
"Right. Nappa now!" Raditz's aura blew gold.
"On him!" Nappa ignited beside him their Pseudo Super Saiyan states snapping into place.
They hadn't broken through to true Super Saiyan in the last three months, but both had mastered the pseudo form, and their base power had climbed.
Raditz: 1.5 million base → ~37.5 million pseudo.
Nappa: 1.8 million base → ~45 million pseudo.
Together, they didn't quite make one hundred million. If Gohan hadn't been here as the safety net, neither would've dared.
"Two pieces of trash think they can fight me? Don't insult me," Ginyu snarled, teeth bared.
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