Chapter 7: A Super Saiyan's Wrath
"You... You're the son of zat Saiyan filth who took out my team and stole our scouters aren't you?! Tell me where you're hiding zem or it won't end well for you!"
Goten responded to Salza confused, "Huh? You mean the guy who looks like my dad? Burdock isn't my dad! And hey, if this Cooler guy is Frieza's brother, why hasn't he been to Earth to get revenge or something, already?"
Salza was annoyed at the child's questioning, but he decided to humour him regardless. "Lord Cooler and ze Cooler Force are stationed on ze other side of ze universe. He did not bother to look into his brother and father's demise, as he did not really care for those two very much. Cooler was secretly ze strongest out of ze three of zem, anyway. He never disclosed his fifth form to his family - They were weak and careless, unlike him! He rules his section of ze universe, comprised of 256 planets, with a firm hand!"
Goten looked surprised. "Huh? 256 planets? So he's a huge deal?"
"Yes, you dim-witted small fry!" Salza shouted.
Bardock, after overhearing Salza's whole explanation, descended, landing in front of Goten and Salza. "Hey, brat, he's one of Cooler's elite goons. Gimme a sec."
"You!" Salza pointed at him with a rage-induced glare. "You've come back for more, Saiya- Guh?!"
Goten watched with fascination as Bardock swiftly vanished behind Salza and hand-chopped the back of his neck.
It only took a second, like he said.
"Wow! That was really fast! You're good!" Goten beamed at him.
"Hmph." Bardock tried to ignore the child's praise. He had received enough of that on Planet Plant already.
"No wonder you were fighting Frieza's brother for so long! You're so strong. You gotta spar with me sometime, Burdock!"
"Ugh..." came a groan from Salza.
Bardock remarked, "Looks like I didn't hit him hard enough."
As soon as Salza regained consciousness, he found himself pinned down by Bardock.
"Alright, clown. How did you escape before?" Bardock demanded with a sharp tone.
"Zis is how, you rotten egg!"
He stabbed him in one of his arms with a ki-blade. Salza then tumbled away from Bardock, only to be met with the fiery eyes of Goten, who pointed at him with a scowl on his face. "You hurt Burdock's arm! You're straight-up nasty, especially since you like working for Cooler! I think you need... another nap!"
"What can some child- Gah!"
Goten kicked him hard in the forehead. Salza was out like a light. Again.
Bardock turned to Goten while holding his arm. "You've got a lotta power, haven't you, kid? I want you to go find his two other friends and give them the same treatment. We can't have 'em interfering and helping Cooler. Got it?"
"Ooh! I get it, Burdock, sir! But is your arm okay?" Goten inspected the appendage with concern.
The older Saiyan sighed. "It's Bardock. And I've had much worse than this. Think you can handle the other two I just mentioned?" Bardock asked impatiently.
"Yeah! You bet, Mister Bur- uh... Bardock, sir! See ya soon! Tell Trunks what I'm doing, okay?" Goten saluted him, jumped into the air confidently and then flew off to scour the landscape with his arms stretched out.
Once Goten had travelled a fair distance away, Bardock discreetly ended Salza, making sure there was no trace of him left.
"I hope you loathe your time in Hell."
Bardock frowned as he dwelled on his choice of words. 'That's where I'll be headed when I kick the bucket too, won't it?' he pondered. 'Damn it - I never want to see his sorry blue ass there.'
He then shook his head. He had a job to do. Well, two jobs now - eliminating Cooler whilst ensuring that these two Saiyan children didn't get too badly hurt. Because as soon as this mess was dealt with, he wanted to have a word with not only these kids, but also with the Namekians about those wishes. It was pretty clear to Bardock that their wishmaking skills needed a little work if he was forced to babysit on the battlefield.
'What a joke all of this is.' He shrugged before making his way back to Trunks and Cooler.
To his immense surprise however, the battle raged on strongly, and the expression on the kid's face exuded confidence.
'Just who is this kid? He's taking on one of the strongest beings in the universe... How is a kid like him so strong? Just who taught him to fight? Argh... too many questions! I gotta get in there and fight!'
—
Cooler was both annoyed and greatly impressed by the power and skill being displayed by this small child. Trunks was matching Cooler blow for blow even after five minutes of duelling the tyrant, which was something only few could claim to have accomplished. Only sometimes, however, Cooler's tail would catch him off-guard.
"Heh... Wanna see something neat?" Trunks asked Cooler in a boastful manner.
Cooler remained silent towards the boy. Trunks' hair suddenly turned gold, just like that Saiyan "Burdock"'s. Suffice to say, Cooler was getting more triggered each minute by the nonsense that was his time here on New Namek. Super Saiyans seemed to be crawling out of the woodwork to greet him!
"I'm surprised that a brat like you is a Super Saiyan as well. But no more of this! I will end each and every last one of you!"
Cooler fired a huge barrage of Death Beams at Trunks, who attempted to dodge them all until one Beam grazed his hip.
"Huff... Nice job, I guess..." Trunks winced as he clutched the bleeding hip. 'I can't believe he hit me...!'
Cooler laughed haughtily at the child's pained expression. "No matter how many of you monkeys there are, you're all the same. I'll send you all into the afterlife!"
Trunks pressed on despite the hit, and after another couple of minutes, Cooler was finding it difficult to end the young Saiyan. Not only did he look worse for wear, he began to get desperate.
"I have you now!" Cooler quickly used his psychokinesis to hold Trunks, and increased the pressure in an attempt to squish him. Trunks gave out a strained yell.
"Haha! How splendid that I can torture three monkeys for the price of one on this planet. After you're done, those two vermin you call allies are next on the list!"
"Gahhhh! ...I hate you!" Trunks snapped through gritted teeth.
"Well now, that's no surprise, boy. And I share the sentiment. Why is that, you ask?" He gripped him harder, causing Trunks' yells to turn to whimpers.
"Because you lot are regressions - Monkeys that didn't evolve quite fast enough for everyone's tastes. Oh, and while you may have been useful in Frieza's eyes, laying waste to those planets he wanted, that certainly didn't last, did it? Not with how you were effectively blown away in one fell swoop. Even he finally saw how savage you lot truly were. You have no future in this universe-!"
Cooler was on the brink of squeezing him to death. However, it was at this frightening moment when Trunks noticed a blur out of the corner of his eye. Before he knew it, his invisible grip had been released and Cooler was sent flying a dozen feet away.
Bardock panted, looking absolutely furious. He shouted, "Who's the "clod" now, huh?"
Cooler had his back to him, appearing to have been quite injured by that one blow. 'Inconceivable! He was holding back earlier! He had to be!' His hands were shaking. In fact, he looked like he was about to snap. Perhaps the absurdity of the battle was getting to him. He also appeared to be rambling to himself about how ridiculous the situation was.
"I will not fail! I am not to die against the species that killed my brother, father and my ancestor! I-"
"Got you, freak!" Trunks chipped in with a harsh kick to the back of Cooler's neck while his guard was down.
Cooler whirled back around and something finally clicked when he regarded Bardock again. "Argh! It absolutely has to be you! You're that one Saiyan who faced Frieza above your home planet, aren't you?! You're the reckless moron who approached my brother and got himself blown-"
Bardock interrupted Cooler again by ripping his mouth guard off with all his strength, decking him in the teeth afterwards. "So what if I had a little chat with Frieza?!" he snapped with a tiny hint of a voice break, "What the hell is it to you?!" Trunks blinked in confusion at this exchange.
Bardock shot a ki blast in Cooler's eyes, blinding him. He then gestured for Trunks to back off, and then he built up a considerable amount of energy in his undamaged arm's hand.
"Hnnngh... Yaaaah!" He chucked it as hard as he could, and it tore right through Cooler's torso.
"H- How could you- *cough* Ack- *cough* You don't... scare me-!"
"I'm going to stop you right there," Bardock interrupted. "Tell your ancestor Chilled that his descendants never escaped a Super Saiyan's wrath. Tell him... that Bardock the Super Saiyan sent you to him."
And with that, Bardock shot another, larger ki blast at Cooler, who screamed in unholy anguish until he was no more.
...
There was a long period of silence, with the only sound being the wind that blew gently past the ears of the two remaining fighters. Trunks spoke up in awe after a moment. "Woah... That was pretty gruesome, but... badass, too!"
"He's finally gone. Good riddance," Bardock spoke to himself in relief as he powered down, his hair reverting to black. Bardock grunted with his arms crossed as a response to Trunks' earlier comment.
Trunks gasped with an astonished expression. "What the heck? Even your normal hair is the exact same as Goten's and his dad's! Hey, what did Cooler mean about you facing Frieza above your home planet? Y'know, Planet Vegeta?" Trunks asked intrigued, as he too powered down.
Bardock responded, "I knew he would try to get rid of us at some point in the near future, so I faced him. And my efforts didn't do a thing; my race got wiped out anyway!" He wore a rage-filled expression that told Trunks he should probably not press the topic. He almost did, though, but he had another thing on his mind.
"That's... really brave of you! Anyway, where did Goten go, Burdock?"
Bardock groaned. "It's Bardock, kid. Don't forget it." He looked in the direction Goten flew off from. "Your friend's doing a job for me; he's taking out the other two members of Cooler's elite forces who might've come here and interfered - Think the kid should be back any minute, judging by how effectively you were dealing with Cooler." He looked back at Trunks. "Is the other kid a Super Saiyan too, then?"
"Yup. Don't think Goten needs to use it now, though, since Cooler is gone. I mean, Cooler was the real threat and not those soldiers he had, I'm guessing," Trunks theorised.
Bardock nodded in agreement. "Hm. Cooler's elites sure were pushovers." He turned away and shook his head. 'Super Saiyans... at such a young age.' Bardock took off his bandana a moment and wiped his brow with it.
—
During the battle with Cooler, Goten flew to the closest high ki signature he could sense. And luckily for him, he saw two guys in the same weird armour as what Salza wore. "These must be those guys Bardock was talking about! Time to have some fun- oh wait they're destroying the village."
He huffed in disappointment. "Aw man. I gotta lead 'em away, and then I can have some fun!"
His plan set, he descended dramatically, surprising the heck out of the two goons Neiz and Dore.
"A... A small child just came from the sky!" Neiz squeaked in confusion.
"Hey! Take a look at his crazy hair! He's gotta be the son of that Saiyan filth we met earlier!" Dore came to a 'realisation'.
"Oh hell no! Not his offspring! We're takin' this pipsqueak down! And then that Saiyan's next!" Neiz went in for a hand chop to the kid's skull, but Goten simply held Neiz's wrist inches above his head.
"Hey! You didn't even let me talk or bow before you started fighting me! That's rude, you know!" Goten flung Neiz's hand away, which also made Neiz travel a little distance too. Goten bowed and quickly lowered his stance.
"Anyway, I'm Goten! Follow me, you jerks!" He pulled down a lower eyelid and stuck his little tongue out. 'Now they'll follow me for sure!' Goten thought deviously. Trunks would be proud if he was here right now.
The two buffoons did indeed start following Goten. The kid pretended to slow down out of breath before abruptly halting entirely, making the goons slam into his extended legs he placed rigidly behind him.
"Ouch! What the hell is this kid made of?!"
"It doesn't matter, Neiz! Kill him!"
Goten crossed his arms unimpressed. He shook his head as the two cornered him either side trying to block any attempt at 'escaping'.
"Don't move, kid, and we'll make it quick." Dore smirked.
"Nobody to save you now! Not even your monkey father!" Neiz said enthusiastically.
Goten placed his hands on his hips. "If you guys are anything like the blue guy was, then I'm sorry to tell you, buuuuut..."
Goten vanished behind Dore and punched his head hard. He was sent to the ground, down for the count.
"...You're total looooserrrrs!" Goten flew directly at Neiz, head butting his stomach and then kicking his sorry face in.
No time for Neiz to tuck his head in from this opponent.
"Gauuuuuuughhhh!" Neiz's face looked comically spooked before he landed right next to his buddy with a thud and a little dirt cloud.
As he started to get up to attack again, Goten yelled, "Kamekameha!"
"Augh-!" Their bodies were singed all over from the blue beam blast. They wouldn't be moving for a good, long while.
Goten groaned, "Aw man! I meant to say, "Kamehameha..." Goten got over his mistake and taunted them with his tongue out as they lay unconscious. "Oh well! I did what Bardock said to do, soooo..."
"Hey...!"
"Huh?" Goten turned around to see who the new voice was.
"You took those guys out? You must be one tough kid!" An adult Namekian approached him. He then bowed. "Thank you for dealing with them. We only just had this village restored, and the invaders came to wreck it again."
"No problem sir! I gotta get back to Trunks and Bardock! See ya!" Goten quickly waved and sped off without another word.
The Namekian sweatdropped at his abrupt exit. "...I hope that kid stays safe, at least."
Goten flew back to where Trunks and Bardock were fighting Cooler, only to find no Cooler there.
"Huh? Where's Cooler, guys?"
"Dead," Bardock stated bluntly.
"Aw, you can't be serious!" Goten complained. Bardock looked completely taken aback by the kid's reaction.
"I barely got to fight him! Hey Trunks, what was it like? Tellme-tellme-tellme!"
And so Trunks, with some input from Bardock, recounted the fight to Goten.
...
"So you were like, 'Gotcha, freak!' and you were like, 'Ha, that's my mouth guard now!' and then you defeated him! Cool! I guess I wasn't needed after all... but I'm glad I got brought here with ya, Trunks! Summer school study is boring..."
"Same here, Goten! It's a shame our parents weren't here to see this. Can you imagine how many extra presents we would've gotten for our birthdays and Christmas?" Trunks pouted, followed by Goten.
"Hey. You two brats." Bardock looked at them pointedly. "First of all, I have no idea who the hell you are or where you came from, and secondly I suggest you come back with me to Moori and the other Nameks to discuss what you're doing here instead of any goddamn adult fighters."
Trunks chuckled, "Hey! This guy is okay with swearing around us! Cool. I don't like being treated like a baby who's too sheltered to understand."
Goten commented, "I just know that my mom would throw a huge tantrum if she was here!"
Bardock started to fly upwards. "Come on," Bardock called impatiently.
"Alright already! We're coming!" Trunks complained.
———
It had been a good three hours of searching the planet for any sign of the half-Saiyan duo. Gohan and Piccolo were growing rather concerned. After not being able to find or sense the two at all, they went to the Lookout to ask Dende about their predicament.
"That's strange. I can't seem to locate them anywhere on Earth myself," Dende realised.
"Then there's really no sign of them anywhere," Piccolo concluded. "Personally, I think they could be... somewhere else entirely."
"Somewhere else entirely...?" Gohan repeated, encouraging him to explain what he meant.
"Like not on Earth. I'm not sure how or where, but..."
"Hm. I dunno... Trunks was said to have been in the gardens of Capsule Corp before vanishing completely. Dende, are you sure they're not in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?" Gohan inquired.
"They're most certainly not in there. And if they're not in there, then Piccolo makes a good claim. They could be on another planet somehow," Dende suggested. "I'm sorry I wasn't watching either of them closer before they disappeared."
"So they might've been abducted by aliens...?" Gohan wondered. "Well, it's not unheard of. I mean, it happened to me when I was four. But I'm really worried about them. If only we knew more!" Gohan scratched his head, frustrated.
"If only we could use the Dragon Balls to find out," Piccolo commented in annoyance.
Dende nodded his head solemnly in agreement. "The Dragon Balls won't reactivate for just under a year's time, so we couldn't find out or even wish them back yet... I hope they don't remain lost for much longer."
The three on the Lookout had little to say after that. Uncertainty hung thick in the air.