Dawn broke over Mount Paozu with the kind of peaceful serenity that had absolutely no business existing after the events of the previous day.
Birds sang. Streams burbled. Dinosaurs wandered through the forests, completely unconcerned with the fact that alien invasions and ancient gods had just shaken the foundations of their world.
And in the Son household, chaos reigned.
"YOU'RE GOING TO SPACE?!"
Chi-Chi's voice could have shattered windows. Might have, actually—Nika noticed a suspicious crack forming in the nearest pane.
"It's not for very long!" Goku said, hands raised defensively. "Just a quick trip to Namek to get the Dragon Balls and bring back our friends!"
"A QUICK TRIP?! TO ANOTHER PLANET?! GOKU, YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW HOW TO DRIVE A CAR!"
"That's why Bulma's coming! She's really smart!"
"OH, SO YOU'RE GOING TO SPACE WITH ANOTHER WOMAN?!"
"Chi-Chi, it's not like that—"
"AND TAKING OUR SON?!"
"Actually, I was thinking Gohan could stay—"
"I WANT TO GO!" Gohan's voice piped up from behind the couch, where he'd been hiding. "Mr. Piccolo is going, and I want to help!"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Nika watched the domestic explosion with undisguised delight.
"This is WONDERFUL," he said internally to Marcus. "Such passion! Such fire! She really loves them, doesn't she?"
"That's one way to put it," Marcus replied. "Another way would be 'terrifying.'"
"Same thing! Shishishi~"
Piccolo stood in the corner of the room, arms crossed, looking like he wanted to be literally anywhere else. Krillin had wisely positioned himself near the exit.
"Perhaps," Piccolo said, his voice cutting through the argument, "we should focus on the logistics before deciding who goes."
Chi-Chi rounded on him. "LOGISTICS?!"
"We need a spaceship," Piccolo continued, completely unbothered by her fury. "None of us have one. The Saiyan pods were destroyed or escaped with Vegeta. Unless someone has a solution, this entire argument is pointless."
Silence fell.
Chi-Chi's rage deflated slightly as she realized the Namekian had a point.
"So... you CAN'T go to space?"
"Not yet," Goku admitted. "We need to find a ship first."
"OH THANK KAMI."
"But we're GOING to find one! And then we're definitely going!"
Chi-Chi's eye twitched.
Nika raised his hand.
Everyone looked at him.
"I might have a solution!" he announced cheerfully. "But it involves stealing!"
Beat.
"...What?" Krillin asked weakly.
"Stealing! You know—taking things that belong to other people without their permission!" Nika's grin was impossibly wide. "It's wrong, technically, but it's also FUN, and more importantly, it's NECESSARY!"
"You can't just STEAL a spaceship," Chi-Chi protested.
"Why not?"
"Because... because it's ILLEGAL!"
"Shishishi~ Laws are just organized suggestions! And besides—" Nika's expression shifted, becoming slightly more serious. "—the ship I'm thinking of stealing belongs to people who REALLY deserve to have their stuff stolen."
"Who?" Goku asked.
"Frieza's forces." Nika cracked his knuckles. "There's a small outpost on one of Jupiter's moons. A refueling station for long-range scouting parties. It's not heavily defended—just a few soldiers and technicians. And they have EXACTLY the kind of ship we need."
Piccolo's eyes narrowed. "How do you know this?"
"I can feel it." Nika tapped his temple. "Being the Sun God has perks. I'm connected to... well, everything, kind of. Anywhere that chains exist, anywhere that freedom is denied, I can sense it. And those soldiers on Jupiter's moon? They're slaves. Pressed into Frieza's service against their will. Forced to maintain equipment for an empire they hate."
His grin returned, but it was sharper now.
"We're not just stealing a ship. We're LIBERATING it. And maybe liberating the people on board while we're at it."
Goku's eyes lit up.
"That sounds GREAT! Let's do it!"
"Goku!" Chi-Chi protested.
"What? It's for a good cause!"
"YOU'RE GOING TO ASSAULT A MILITARY OUTPOST!"
"A SMALL military outpost! Nika said it's not heavily defended!"
Chi-Chi looked like she wanted to scream.
Instead, she took a deep breath.
"Fine," she said, her voice dangerously calm. "FINE. Go to space. Fight aliens. Steal ships. But if you don't come back—if you get yourself killed—I will find a way to the afterlife MYSELF and drag you back by your EAR."
Goku beamed. "I love you too, Chi-Chi!"
"Don't PUSH it."
Before they could steal a spaceship, they needed transportation to Jupiter.
Which meant they needed Bulma.
The flight to West City took about an hour—Nika could have made it faster, but he was enjoying the scenery. The Earth was so BEAUTIFUL from above, all greens and blues and whites, completely unaware of the cosmic threats gathering around it.
"It's strange," Marcus observed internally. "Knowing what's coming. Knowing how much danger this planet is in."
"Is it strange?" Nika asked. "Or is it FREEING? You know the shape of the future, but not the details. You can CHANGE things. Make them better. That's the opposite of helplessness—it's POWER."
"I guess. It's just... a lot of responsibility."
"Shishishi~ Responsibility is just another word for 'things that matter.' And things that matter are WORTH caring about."
They landed at Capsule Corporation—the massive, dome-shaped headquarters of the Brief family's technology empire. The building was even more impressive in person than Marcus remembered from the anime, all gleaming white surfaces and advanced architecture.
A blue-haired woman was waiting for them in the courtyard.
Bulma Brief.
Genius inventor. Heir to the Capsule Corporation fortune. Owner of the world's most advanced technology.
And currently looking at Nika like he was a particularly ugly bug.
"What," she said flatly, "is THAT?"
"Hi!" Nika waved cheerfully. "I'm Nika! The Sun God! Nice to meet you!"
Bulma stared at him.
Then she looked at Goku.
"Goku, what the hell?"
"It's a long story!" Goku scratched the back of his head. "But basically, Nika's a friend! He helped us beat the Saiyans!"
"I punched Vegeta across a continent!" Nika added helpfully.
"You... what?"
"Across a CONTINENT! It was very satisfying. He'd been really mean."
Bulma continued to stare.
Krillin stepped forward. "Look, Bulma, I know he's weird—"
"Weird doesn't BEGIN to cover it."
"—but he's on our side. And we need your help."
"With WHAT?"
Piccolo answered. "We need transportation to one of Jupiter's moons. There's a Frieza Force outpost there with a ship we can... acquire."
"You want to STEAL an alien spaceship?!"
"Yes!"
Bulma looked between them—the Saiyan warrior, the Namekian demon king, the short human, and the cartoonish rubber god.
Then she sighed.
"Why did I even ask? This is my life now. Helping my idiot friends commit interplanetary theft."
"Is that a yes?!" Goku asked eagerly.
"It's a 'fine, but you all owe me.'" Bulma turned and started walking toward the main building. "I've been working on something that might help. A modified capsule ship with enhanced engines. It's not designed for deep space travel, but it should get you to Jupiter's moons easily enough."
"You're the BEST, Bulma!"
"I KNOW. Now come on—and someone explain to me WHY the weird rubber guy is glowing."
Nika looked down at himself.
He was, indeed, glowing slightly. The white of his Gear 5 form was pulsing with a soft luminescence, like he was generating his own light.
"Oh! That's just because I'm happy!" he explained. "When I'm really happy, I glow! It's a Sun God thing."
Bulma paused.
Turned.
Stared at him for a long moment.
"I need a drink," she muttered, and continued walking.
Capsule Corporation's main laboratory was a wonderland of advanced technology.
Holographic displays showed star maps and spacecraft schematics. Robotic arms assembled complex devices in the background. Dozens of scientists moved between workstations, each focused on projects that would have been science fiction anywhere else on Earth.
And in the center of it all, Bulma brought up a three-dimensional map of the solar system.
"Okay," she said, all business now. "Jupiter's moons. Which one are we talking about?"
Nika stepped forward, his rubber arm stretching to point at a specific location.
"This one. Ganymede. The Frieza Force has a small refueling station in the northern hemisphere—underground, hidden from surface scans. Maybe fifty personnel, mostly technicians and support staff. A handful of soldiers for security."
"And you know this HOW?"
"I can feel them." Nika tapped his chest. "Their chains. Their suffering. Frieza's empire runs on slavery, Bulma. Everyone who works for him is either a victim or a monster. The people on Ganymede are victims."
Bulma's expression softened slightly.
"That's... actually kind of noble. In a weird, creepy way."
"Thanks! I think!"
She turned back to the display, pulling up more detailed information.
"Travel time to Ganymede in my modified ship is about six hours. That gives us time to plan the approach." She looked at Piccolo. "You're the tactical one. What do you suggest?"
Piccolo studied the display.
"Direct assault. We hit them fast and hard, disable their communications before they can call for backup, and take what we need. In and out before anyone knows we were there."
"What about the people?" Goku asked. "The ones Nika says are slaves?"
"We free them, obviously!" Nika bounced on his heels. "That's the whole POINT! We're not just stealing a ship—we're LIBERATING an outpost!"
"And where do freed alien slaves GO?" Bulma asked pointedly. "We can't exactly bring them back to Earth."
Nika paused.
"She has a point," Marcus observed internally. "We can't just dump a bunch of traumatized aliens in the middle of West City."
"Hmm. True." Nika's brow furrowed in thought. "But we also can't just LEAVE them. That would be..."
"Wrong?"
"BORING. And also wrong. But mostly boring."
"We take them with us," Nika announced. "To Namek. The Namekians are a kind people—they'll help refugees, especially refugees fleeing Frieza's empire."
Piccolo's expression flickered with something that might have been approval.
"That could work. The Namekians have a history of sheltering the displaced."
"Then it's settled!" Goku punched his palm. "We fly to Ganymede, beat up the bad guys, free the slaves, steal the ship, and fly to Namek! Easy!"
"Nothing about this is EASY," Bulma muttered.
"It's easy for US! We're really strong!"
Bulma opened her mouth to argue, then closed it.
"You know what? Fine. You're really strong. Go punch aliens. Just—" She pointed at Nika. "—keep the weird rubber stuff to a minimum around my equipment. I don't want you accidentally turning my ship into a balloon or something."
"I would NEVER!"
"Your track record suggests otherwise."
"...Okay, I might SOMETIMES—"
"EXACTLY."
Three hours later, they were in space.
Bulma's modified capsule ship was cramped but functional—a spherical pod with enough room for five passengers and minimal cargo space. Goku, Piccolo, Krillin, and Nika were squeezed into the main cabin, while Bulma piloted from the control seat.
Gohan had been left behind, despite his protests. Chi-Chi had been VERY firm on that point.
The view outside the windows was breathtaking.
Earth receded behind them, becoming smaller and smaller until it was just a blue marble against the infinite black. The moon passed by, pockmarked and gray, silent witness to their departure. And ahead...
Space.
Endless, beautiful, terrifying space.
"Wow," Krillin breathed. "I've never been off-planet before."
"It's AMAZING, isn't it?" Goku pressed his face against the window like a child. "So many stars! And they're all so FAR! Do people live on all of them?"
"Some of them," Nika said. "Not all. Space is mostly empty—that's why it's called SPACE. Shishishi~"
"That's... actually kind of profound," Krillin admitted.
"Thanks! I'm very wise sometimes!"
Piccolo remained seated, eyes closed, apparently meditating. But his ears twitched occasionally, indicating he was paying attention.
"ETA to Ganymede is five hours and forty-seven minutes," Bulma announced from the cockpit. "I suggest you all get comfortable. And Goku—STOP licking the window."
"But it tastes like space!"
"SPACE DOESN'T HAVE A TASTE!"
"Then why does the window taste like space?"
Bulma groaned.
Nika laughed.
"This is perfect," he said internally. "Exactly the kind of adventure I've been dreaming about for eight hundred years. Friends, danger, the unknown—everything a Sun God could ask for!"
"Glad you're enjoying yourself," Marcus replied dryly. "I'm still processing the fact that we're IN SPACE."
"Processing is overrated! Just FEEL it! The excitement! The wonder! The FREEDOM!"
Marcus—the part of him that was still the accountant from Denver—tried to let go of his analytical nature and just... feel.
And surprisingly, it worked.
The fear that had been lurking in the back of his mind began to fade, replaced by something warmer. Something brighter.
"That's it," Nika encouraged. "That's the spirit. We're not Marcus Chen, terrified accountant, anymore. We're not even Nika, ancient god, anymore. We're something NEW. Something that's never existed before."
"What are we?"
"We're an ADVENTURE. And adventures don't worry about what comes next—they just enjoy the journey."
The ship continued its course toward Jupiter.
And in the cargo hold, when no one was looking, Nika's rubber body began to experiment.
The cargo hold was small and cramped, barely enough room for a person to stand.
Perfect for what Nika had in mind.
He waited until the others were distracted—Goku watching the stars, Krillin napping, Piccolo meditating, Bulma focused on navigation—before slipping away. His rubber body compressed and stretched through the narrow corridors, moving with a silence that belied his cartoonish appearance.
"Alright," he said internally. "Let's try something."
"Gear 4?" Marcus asked. "Are you sure that's a good idea? We've never used it in this body."
"That's exactly WHY we need to try it! Gear 5 is wonderful—it's freedom, it's joy, it's everything I AM. But Gear 4 is different. Gear 4 is POWER. Concentrated, focused, devastating power."
"And you want to combine them?"
"I want to see what HAPPENS when we combine them. Luffy never got the chance to truly master both forms—he always had to choose one or the other. But I'm not Luffy. I'm NIKA. The source of the power itself. If anyone can merge them..."
"It's us."
"Exactly! Shishishi~"
Nika closed his eyes and focused inward.
Gear 4 was about compression. About taking all the rubber in his body and CONDENSING it, creating a denser, more powerful form. It was the opposite of Gear 5's free-flowing fluidity—it was STRUCTURE.
He began to blow air into his muscles.
Not his chest—his MUSCLES. Inflating them with controlled bursts of breath, feeling them expand and harden, turning from flexible rubber into something approaching steel.
His arms began to bulge.
His legs thickened.
His torso expanded.
Black markings began to appear on his skin—not Haki exactly, but something LIKE Haki. Patterns that wound across his inflated form like tribal tattoos, pulsing with contained power.
"It's working," Marcus breathed. "But—wait. The color. Gear 4 should turn us back to normal colors, right? Luffy's skin returned to its natural tone when he used it."
"That's because Luffy's base form wasn't awakened. His Gear 4 was rubber being FORCED into a new shape. But we're already in Gear 5—already awakened—so..."
Nika opened his eyes.
He looked down at himself.
His body had transformed. The inflation of Gear 4 was there—the bulging muscles, the compressed power—but the WHITE of Gear 5 remained. His skin was still that ethereal, cartoonish white, still pulsing with the essence of joy and liberation.
But now there were BLACK markings winding across it.
White and black. Joy and power. Freedom and strength.
"Oh," Marcus said softly. "Oh, that's..."
"BEAUTIFUL."
Nika flexed his inflated arm, feeling the power coiled within. It was IMMENSE—far greater than anything he'd felt in pure Gear 5. But it was also... different.
Less fluid. Less spontaneous.
More FOCUSED.
"Boundman," he whispered, testing the form. "Gear 5: Boundman."
He threw an experimental punch.
The air CRACKED.
The punch hadn't even connected with anything, but the displaced air created a shockwave that dented the cargo hold's walls. If he'd been outside, that punch would have—
The ship lurched.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Bulma's voice came from the cockpit. "DID SOMETHING HIT US?!"
Nika quickly deflated, returning to his normal Gear 5 form.
"NOTHING!" he called back. "JUST... STRETCHING!"
A pause.
"If you broke my ship, I'm leaving you on Ganymede."
"Understood!"
"That was close," Marcus observed.
"Worth it though! Did you FEEL that? The power? It's like—like Gear 5 gives us freedom to do anything, but Gear 4 gives us the STRENGTH to do it BIGGER. If I can fully merge them..."
"We'd be unstoppable."
"We'd be LIBERATED. In the truest sense. Free from all limitations—including the limitations of our own forms."
Nika returned to the main cabin, acting like nothing had happened.
But in the back of his mind, he was already planning the next experiment.
Two hours into the journey, Goku got bored.
"Hey, Nika!"
The Sun God looked up from where he'd been entertaining himself by stretching his arm into increasingly complex knots.
"Yeah?"
"Teach me something!"
Nika's grin widened. "Teach you WHAT?"
"I don't know—anything! You've got all these cool techniques, right? The stretchy punches and the balloon thing and that STEAM stuff you did during our spar. Can I learn any of it?"
"Goku, you're not made of rubber."
"So? I've learned lots of techniques that shouldn't work for me! King Kai's Kaio-Ken was originally a technique for his species, but he adapted it for humanoids. I bet you could adapt your stuff for ki-users!"
Nika considered this.
"He has a point," Marcus observed. "The principles behind our techniques aren't EXCLUSIVELY rubber-based. They're about manipulating the body in extreme ways. And ki can manipulate the body..."
"You're right! The acceleration of Gear Second is just cardiovascular enhancement—which ki can definitely do. The compression of Gear Fourth is muscle density manipulation—also ki-possible. Even the toon force of Gear Fifth might have a ki equivalent, if we think about it creatively..."
"Alright!" Nika bounced to his feet. "I'll teach you! But not the techniques themselves—the PRINCIPLES. You'll have to adapt them to your own style."
"AWESOME!"
Bulma glanced back from the cockpit. "If you two destroy my ship, I swear—"
"We'll be CAREFUL!"
"You're NEVER careful!"
"Okay, we'll try to MINIMIZE the damage!"
"That's somehow WORSE!"
Despite her protests, Bulma didn't stop them. Probably because she knew it was pointless.
Nika and Goku moved to the center of the cabin, facing each other.
"Okay," Nika began. "The first principle is ACCELERATION. Gear Second works by pumping blood faster than normal, which supercharges the whole body. You can't pump blood like I can, but you CAN pump KI."
"Pump ki?"
"Your ki is like blood, right? It flows through your body, provides energy, keeps you going. What if you made it flow FASTER?"
Goku's brow furrowed in thought.
"I've never tried that before. Kaio-Ken multiplies my power, but it doesn't specifically speed up the FLOW..."
"Try it! Focus on your ki circulation. Feel how it moves through you. Now—imagine pumping it faster. Like your heart beating double-time, but for ki."
Goku closed his eyes.
For a long moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A faint red glow began to emanate from his body.
Not Kaio-Ken red. Something different. Lighter. More... fluid.
"I feel it!" Goku said, eyes still closed. "It's like—like my ki is RACING through me! Everything feels faster!"
"That's it! Now try to maintain it while moving!"
Goku opened his eyes.
And BLURRED.
He crossed the cabin in an instant—not teleportation, but pure SPEED. So fast that he left an afterimage behind, so fast that the air couldn't keep up with him.
He crashed into the wall.
"OW!"
"Shishishi~ Needs some work on the control!"
"That was AMAZING though!" Goku pulled himself out of the dent he'd made in the wall. "I was so FAST! Faster than Kaio-Ken x2, at least!"
"That's the idea! Kaio-Ken multiplies everything equally—power, speed, durability. But this technique—let's call it Ki Acceleration—focuses specifically on SPEED. It's less versatile, but more efficient for what it does."
"Can I combine them?!"
"Eventually! But let's master this first."
For the next hour, Goku practiced the Ki Acceleration technique.
He got faster and faster, his control improving with each attempt. By the end, he could move in short bursts that rivaled Nika's Gear Second—and without the physical toll of Kaio-Ken.
"This is INCREDIBLE!" Goku bounced excitedly. "What else can you teach me?!"
"Lots of things! But we've only got a few hours before we reach Ganymede, so let's focus on what'll be most useful for the mission."
"What's that?"
Nika's grin became mischievous.
"I call it... GUM-GUM PHILOSOPHY."
Piccolo opened one eye from his meditation. "That sounds made up."
"ALL techniques are made up! Someone had to invent them! This one's mine, and it's about fighting CREATIVELY. Not just throwing punches, but using your environment, your body, and your opponent's expectations against them."
"I'm listening," Goku said eagerly.
"The core principle is this: NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE. If you can imagine it, you can try it. If you can try it, you might succeed. And if you might succeed, you SHOULD TRY."
"That's... actually not bad advice," Krillin admitted from his seat.
"Thanks! I'm very wise sometimes! Now—here's exercise one. I'm going to throw a punch at you. But here's the catch: you can't dodge, you can't block, and you can't counterattack. You have to find a FOURTH option."
"A fourth option?"
"Something unexpected. Something creative. Something that breaks the normal rules of combat."
Goku's eyes narrowed in thought.
"Okay. I'm ready."
Nika wound up.
"GUM-GUM PISTOL!"
His arm stretched forward, fist flying toward Goku's face—
And Goku SNEEZED.
The force of the sneeze—deliberately enhanced with ki—created a gust of wind that deflected Nika's rubber arm off-course, sending the punch sailing past Goku's head.
Silence.
Nika stared.
Then he burst out laughing.
"SHISHISHI~! THAT WAS PERFECT! You found a fourth option!"
"I've been wanting to sneeze for hours anyway," Goku admitted. "Figured I might as well make it useful!"
"GENIUS! Unorthodox, unexpected, and effective! THAT'S Gum-Gum Philosophy!"
Piccolo's other eye opened.
"Did he just win a fight by SNEEZING?"
"He won a LESSON by sneezing," Nika corrected. "And that's even better!"
The Namekian shook his head slowly.
"I don't understand either of you."
"That's okay! Understanding is overrated!"
Jupiter loomed in the viewport like a nightmare given form.
The gas giant was MASSIVE—so large that the Earth could fit inside it over a thousand times. Its iconic red spot swirled lazily, a storm larger than planets, ancient and eternal.
And orbiting it, like tiny moons around a cosmic god, were its many satellites.
"Ganymede," Bulma announced. "Largest moon in the solar system. Bigger than Mercury, actually. And according to the scans..." She frowned at her instruments. "...there's definitely something artificial in the northern region."
"That's the outpost," Nika confirmed. "I can feel it now. Fifty-three people—forty-seven technicians and support staff, six soldiers. The soldiers are... weak. Maybe power levels of a thousand each?"
"That's not weak," Krillin protested. "That's three times stronger than I was before training with King Kai!"
"You've gotten stronger since then! And besides—we've got ME. Shishishi~"
"Modest, isn't he?"
"I'm the SUN GOD. Modesty is for mortals!"
"You ARE mortal. Mostly."
"Shhhh. Details."
The ship descended toward Ganymede's surface.
From above, the moon looked like a frozen wasteland—ice and rock and craters, stretching endlessly under Jupiter's reflected light. But as they drew closer, Nika could feel the outpost more clearly.
It was underground.
Hidden beneath a kilometer of ice and stone, built into a natural cavern system. Designed to be invisible to casual observation.
But nothing was invisible to the Sun God.
"There," he said, pointing. "That crater. The entrance is beneath it—disguised as a natural formation. They've got sensor equipment monitoring the approach, but it's basic stuff. Won't detect us if we land quietly."
"Define 'quietly,'" Bulma said nervously.
"Without crashing!"
"That's a LOW bar!"
"But an achievable one!"
The ship touched down on Ganymede's surface with only minor bouncing.
Bulma let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.
"Okay. We're here. Now what?"
Nika cracked his knuckles.
"Now we introduce ourselves. SHISHISHI~"
The Frieza Force outpost was exactly as Nika had described.
Underground. Hidden. Staffed by slaves and guarded by bullies.
The entrance was concealed beneath a holographic projection of rock and ice—impressive technology, but useless against someone who could FEEL the people inside. Nika simply walked through the illusion, his companions following behind him.
The hallway beyond was metallic and cold, lit by harsh fluorescent lighting. The walls were covered with Frieza Force insignia—a stylized "F" that made Nika's stomach churn.
"Chains," he thought. "Everywhere I look, chains. These people are trapped in this frozen hell, forced to work for an empire that views them as disposable tools."
"Then let's break those chains," Marcus replied.
"With PLEASURE."
They moved quietly through the corridors, Piccolo's senses guiding them around patrols. The guards were complacent—they'd been stationed here for months with nothing to do, and their attention had grown lax.
Perfect.
"The main hangar is ahead," Nika whispered. "That's where they keep the ship. But the personnel quarters are to the left—that's where most of the slaves are."
"We split up?" Goku suggested.
"Makes sense. Goku, you take the hangar—secure the ship. Piccolo, Krillin, you two handle the guards. I'll free the prisoners."
"What about me?" Bulma asked.
"Stay here and look pretty?"
"I will END you."
"Okay, okay! You can... provide tactical support via comm link?"
"Better."
They split up.
Nika moved through the corridors toward the personnel quarters, his rubber body flowing around corners and through narrow passages. He could feel the people ahead—frightened, exhausted, barely holding onto hope.
"They've been here so long," Marcus observed. "I can feel their despair. They've given up on rescue."
"Then let's give them something better than rescue. Let's give them LIBERATION."
The quarters were a series of small, cramped rooms—more like cells than living spaces. Each one held two or three occupants, huddled together for warmth, their eyes dull and lifeless.
Until Nika appeared.
The first room he entered held two aliens—humanoid, but with blue skin and three eyes. They looked up at him with confusion and fear.
"Wh-what—?"
"Hi!" Nika's grin was impossibly wide, impossibly warm. "I'm Nika! The Sun God! I'm here to rescue you!"
The aliens stared.
"R-rescue?"
"Yep! This place sucks, right? Cold, depressing, run by jerks? We're shutting it down and taking everyone to somewhere BETTER!"
"But... but the guards—"
"Are being handled! By my friends! Who are VERY strong and VERY motivated!"
As if to punctuate his statement, an explosion echoed from somewhere in the facility.
The aliens flinched.
Nika's grin widened.
"See? Handled! Now come on—let's get you out of here!"
He moved through the quarters, opening doors, waking prisoners, spreading the news. With each room, his joy seemed to GROW—not just because he was freeing people, but because they were starting to BELIEVE.
Hope was contagious.
And Nika was the source.
Dum-da-da-dum-dum.
Dum-da-da-dum-dum.
The drums pounded in his chest, louder with each liberation, stronger with each chain broken.
By the time he'd freed the last prisoner, he had gathered forty-seven souls behind him—a ragtag group of aliens from a dozen different species, all of them looking at him like he was a miracle.
Which, in a way, he was.
"Okay!" Nika turned to face his liberated flock. "Here's the plan! We're going to the hangar, where my friends have secured a ship. We're flying to a planet called Namek, where the locals will take care of you. Any questions?"
A small voice from the back: "Are you really a god?"
Nika's grin softened.
"I'm really Nika. And Nika helps people who need helping. Whether that makes me a god or not—" He shrugged. "—that's for YOU to decide. What matters is that you're FREE now. And no one—NO ONE—will ever chain you again."
The prisoners stared at him.
Then, slowly, one of them began to cry.
Then another.
Then all of them—tears of relief, of joy, of hope restored.
"This," Nika thought, "is why I exist. This moment. These people. This FEELING."
"It's beautiful," Marcus agreed. "I never knew... I never knew helping people could feel like THIS."
"Shishishi~ Stick with me, Marcus. We're just getting STARTED."
MEANWHILE—IN THE HANGAR
Goku stood in front of the largest spaceship he'd ever seen.
It wasn't THAT large, objectively—maybe fifty feet long, sleek and angular, clearly designed for speed rather than cargo. But to a man who had never been off-planet until today, it was impressive.
"This is so COOL!" he said to no one in particular.
Behind him, the hangar was a mess.
Three Frieza Force soldiers lay unconscious on the ground, having made the mistake of trying to stop the grinning Saiyan from examining the ship. They'd lasted approximately four seconds.
Piccolo and Krillin arrived from a side corridor, looking only slightly ruffled.
"Guards are down," Piccolo reported. "No casualties on our side. A few broken bones on theirs."
"Nika's got the prisoners," Krillin added. "I can hear them coming this way."
"Great! Then we're almost done!" Goku beamed. "I gotta say, this whole 'space adventure' thing is pretty fun!"
"We haven't even reached Namek yet."
"But we WILL! And when we do, we'll get the Dragon Balls and bring back our friends! And then we'll beat Frieza!"
Piccolo's expression flickered.
"You say that like it's simple."
"Isn't it?"
"Frieza destroyed the entire Saiyan race. He's the most powerful being in the known universe. He's been conquering worlds for centuries."
"So?"
"SO, this isn't a game, Goku! This is life and death! If we fail—"
"Then we fail trying!" Goku's grin didn't waver. "That's better than not trying at all, right?"
Piccolo stared at him.
Then, incredibly, he smiled.
"You're an idiot."
"Probably!"
"But you're the right kind of idiot for this situation."
"Thanks! I think!"
Nika arrived with his entourage of freed prisoners, filling the hangar with a crowd of confused but hopeful aliens.
"Ship secured?" he asked.
"Yep! And it's REALLY cool-looking!"
"Excellent!" Nika turned to the crowd. "Alright, everyone! Pile in! It's gonna be cramped, but it's better than staying here!"
The boarding process was chaotic but efficient. The freed prisoners, motivated by the promise of freedom, moved quickly. Within minutes, everyone was inside.
Bulma appeared from the corridor, holding a tablet she'd apparently acquired somewhere.
"I've downloaded everything from their database," she announced. "Star charts, communication logs, technical schematics. This should tell us everything we need to know about Frieza's operations in this sector."
"Bulma, you're amazing!"
"I KNOW." She glanced at the ship. "Can anyone actually FLY this thing?"
Silence.
"...I assumed it was like a car," Goku said eventually.
"It's NOT like a car!"
"But it HAS buttons!"
"That doesn't mean—" Bulma took a deep breath. "Fine. FINE. I'll figure it out. I'm a genius. I can fly an alien spaceship. How hard can it be?"
Famous last words.
FRIEZA'S FLAGSHIP—EN ROUTE TO NAMEK
The throne room was cold.
Not literally—the climate control was set to a comfortable temperature for Frieza's species. But there was a chill in the air that had nothing to do with thermodynamics. It was the chill of power. Of authority. Of absolute, unquestioned dominance.
Lord Frieza sat on his hover-throne, tail curling and uncurling with agitation.
Before him knelt Zarbon and Dodoria, his two most trusted lieutenants. Beside them, a holographic display showed a frozen image—a white figure with a too-wide grin.
"So," Frieza said, his voice soft and dangerous. "This is the creature that defeated Vegeta."
"Yes, my lord," Zarbon confirmed. "According to the recovered scouter data, it appeared from nowhere, struck Vegeta with enough force to send him flying hundreds of miles, and proceeded to defeat both Saiyans using... unconventional methods."
"Unconventional?"
"It... inflated itself. Like a balloon. And bounced Nappa's energy attack away."
Silence.
Frieza stared at the hologram.
"It bounced an energy attack."
"Yes, my lord."
"By inflating."
"Yes, my lord."
More silence.
Then, unexpectedly, Frieza laughed.
It was a soft, chilling sound—nothing like Nika's warm chuckle. This was the laugh of a predator who had just spotted interesting prey.
"How delightful. A creature that defies the normal rules of combat. I haven't encountered something so... novel in centuries."
"My lord?"
"Tell me, Zarbon—what else do we know about this 'Sun God Nika'?"
"Very little, my lord. The name appears in some ancient records—references to a 'Warrior of Liberation' who destabilized several empires in the distant past. But most accounts are fragmentary or mythological."
"Mythological." Frieza's smile widened. "I do so enjoy encountering myths. They're usually quite surprised when I kill them."
"Should we adjust our plans, my lord?"
"No. We continue to Namek as intended. The Dragon Balls are my priority." Frieza's tail flicked. "But keep an eye on this creature. I have a feeling we'll be meeting soon."
He gazed at the hologram—at that impossible, laughing face.
"And when we do," he murmured, "I'll show it what happens to gods who challenge the EMPEROR."
FRIEZA PLANET 79—MEDICAL BAY
The healing pod beeped.
TREATMENT COMPLETE. PATIENT FULLY RECOVERED.
The fluid drained. The glass slid open. And Vegeta stepped out, naked and dripping, his body restored to perfect condition.
His TAIL was still gone. That would never heal.
But everything else was exactly as it should be.
"Welcome back, Lord Vegeta," a technician said nervously. "Lord Frieza has departed for Planet Namek. He left instructions that you should—"
"I know what Frieza wants."
Vegeta's voice was cold.
"He wants me to be a good little soldier. To follow orders. To pretend I'm grateful for the privilege of serving him."
He began walking toward the equipment lockers, completely unconcerned with his nudity.
"But I'm done pretending."
The technician paled. "L-Lord Vegeta—"
"Frieza is heading to Namek for the Dragon Balls. He intends to wish for immortality—to ensure that no one can EVER challenge his rule."
Vegeta pulled on a fresh bodysuit, then reached for a new set of armor.
"But he won't get the chance. Because I'm going to get there FIRST. I'm going to take the Dragon Balls for MYSELF. And when I'm immortal..."
His eyes gleamed with something that might have been madness.
"I'm going to kill Frieza. Kill Kakarot. Kill that laughing FREAK. Kill EVERYONE who has ever looked down on the Prince of All Saiyans."
He strapped on his boots.
"And then I'm going to rule this universe the way it SHOULD be ruled."
The technician was trembling now. "Should I... should I alert Lord Frieza—"
Vegeta's hand shot out.
The technician crumpled, unconscious before he hit the ground.
"No," Vegeta said quietly. "You shouldn't."
He walked to the hangar bay, commandeered a space pod, and launched toward Namek.
Behind him, alarms began to blare.
Ahead of him, the stars waited.
And in his heart, a voice that wasn't quite his own whispered:
Dum-da-da-dum-dum.
Dum-da-da-dum-dum.
Vegeta shook his head, trying to clear it.
"What the hell was THAT?"
The drums faded.
But they didn't disappear entirely.
THE STOLEN FRIEZA SHIP—EN ROUTE TO NAMEK
Bulma had figured out how to fly the ship.
It had taken approximately two hours of cursing, three near-collisions with asteroids, and one instance where she accidentally activated the weapons systems and nearly vaporized Jupiter's third moon.
But she'd figured it out.
"Okay!" she announced. "We're officially on course for Namek. ETA is approximately six days."
"Six DAYS?!" Goku's face fell. "But I wanted to get there NOW!"
"This isn't instant transmission, Goku! We're crossing INTERSTELLAR SPACE! Six days is actually incredibly fast!"
"But that's so BORING!"
"Then train or something! You love training!"
Goku considered this.
"Hey, Nika! Want to spar again?"
Nika looked up from where he'd been teaching one of the freed prisoners how to juggle.
"In a cramped spaceship? With fifty people watching?"
"...Yes?"
"SOUNDS FUN! Shishishi~"
Bulma groaned.
"If you destroy my—I mean, THE ship—"
"We'll be CAREFUL!"
"You literally JUST said that six hours ago and then punched a hole in the wall!"
"That was an ACCIDENT!"
"HOW DO YOU ACCIDENTALLY PUNCH A HOLE IN A WALL?!"
"Very easily, apparently!"
The ship continued through space.
Six days.
Six days of training, teaching, learning, growing.
Six days of Goku mastering Ki Acceleration and experimenting with other adapted techniques.
Six days of Nika secretly practicing Gear 5: Boundman in the cargo hold, trying to perfect the merger of freedom and power.
Six days of Piccolo meditating, feeling his power slowly growing, contemplating his connection to Namek.
Six days of Krillin wondering why he'd agreed to this and then remembering that his friends needed him.
Six days of Bulma keeping everyone alive through sheer force of will and genius-level problem-solving.
And at the end of those six days—
Namek.
A green jewel hanging in space, beautiful and peaceful, completely unaware of the storm heading its way.
Three ships were converging on it:
Frieza's flagship, carrying the most powerful tyrant in the universe.
Vegeta's pod, carrying a prince consumed by vengeance.
And a stolen Frieza vessel, carrying a Sun God, a Saiyan, a Namekian, a human, a genius, and forty-seven freed slaves.
The stage was set.
The players were in motion.
And somewhere, in the space between heartbeats, the drums of liberation beat on.
Dum-da-da-dum-dum.
Dum-da-da-dum-dum.
The Namek Saga had begun.
TO BE CONTINUED...
NEXT CHAPTER: NAMEK
In which the planet of green is visited by many interested parties, Frieza demonstrates why he's the emperor, Vegeta causes problems, and Nika finally unveils Gear 5: Boundman in true combat.
Also featuring: The Ginyu Force being completely unprepared for Toon Force, Nail being confused by rubber, and the first hints of a power beyond even Frieza's comprehension—a power that sleeps in the heart of a certain Saiyan.