An Unburdened Fury
Chapter 71: Hell Freezes Over
The Herans split off in opposite direction as a Death Beam sliced through the ground between them. Zangya twisted for a moment to get a bead on the massive Arcosian only for her chest to be crushed underneath his foot. She was buried and the tyrant pushed her through the unforgiving stone before leaping off of her.
The relief was short lived as he crushed her with another stomp to her chest. Blood and spittle flew out of her gaping mouth ast he agony exploded through her and left her thoughtless. Cooler grabbed her by the throat and tore her from the embrace of stone. "Where is the Dragon Ball?" He hissed at her like a snake waiting for its bite victim to die.
She wheezed in his grab some moments before she spat in his face. "Unde-urgh...some corpse probably."
He socked her in the stomach and she gasped. "Tell me!"
Zangya struggled to get the words out. "I-I don't know where it is. You blew the place to hell!"
Cooler's eyes shone with malicious power. "Then you're useless!"
Whatever Cooler was planning was interrupted as a Namekian warrior took that moment to charge in and kick the Arcosian across the jaw. His eye beams scorched the side of her head, which elicited a hiss from the Heran, but sailed harmlessly passed otherwise.
"Insect!" The tyrant grabbed the warrior by his leg and ripped the offending limb away with ease. Zangya saw the distraction for what it was and kicked Cooler's chest to free herself from his grip. She had to get distance and put bodies between her and the tyrant; anything to slow him down.
Cooler ignored the Namekian he mutilated and charged for the Heran woman. He wanted to think that his focus on killing her was that doing so would break the rest of their wills but that was a lie. Ever since she confronted him, he'd had a special hate for her. No one struck Cooler like that and lived. She cowered behind several other slugs.
He punched through one, horizontally bisected the second with a swipe, and blew a hole through the last one's skull with an eye beam without losing a step. Cooler reached out once more, to throttle the life from her, but a flash of metal had him sidestep at the last moment. Kogu rushed in with several more swipes and even cut one of the Arcosian's horns clean through.
Cooler cried out in pain before bringing up his own ki blade to stop Kogu's assault. Behind Kogu, Nail rose with hands together around a pulsating orb of unstable ki. The swordsman pushed away as Nail launch the attack. Light and smoke swallowed Cooler and both warriors rushed away. Kogu grabbed Zangya as they found their way behind some upraised stone and hid their power levels.
"Any ideas?" Kogu asked as he looked hurriedly between the two. "I mean, besides just hitting him harder"
Nail looked around the rock just as Cooler passed by. Another of his brothers stood in the Arcosian's way but the tyrant simply passed through him. He felt some of his friends still living with their destroyed bodies. The agony speared through his own chest. Even with healers, they could not be saved. Nail made his decision.
"I have one. I'll need you two to keep distracting him while I convene with my brothers."
"You mean the ones Cooler slaughtered with ease?" Kogu asked with some exasperation. "What the fuck do you think you guys can do?!"
"Apologies for not being the meat shields you wanted." Nail hissed as he stood. "It doesn't matter how strong Cooler is; we stand in defense of our people."
"Kogu, cool it." Zangya made a zip motion with her hand and the swordsman held his tongue. "What are you planning?"
"Our people have a forbidden technique. I will not detail it to you but it will give us power. I just need some time with my brothers."
Zangya nodded before gesture for Kogu to follow her. "You'll get it. Kogu, let's see if we can find Eighteen or the kids. Hide your power level."
The trio split off just as Cooler escaped the smoke. He felt the moment both of the Herans disappeared from his senses and he clenched his fists. He lost them but they were just a distraction. Find the Dragon Ball, he told himself, get the wishes, and then take his time tearing them apart. A flash of purple ki later and he was heading to the remains of the village.
Right before he passed over them, the Herans hid themselves beneath a toppled mess of trees. The Arcosian didn't notice them as he rocketed away.
"He's gonna beat us there." Kogu mentioned with notable frustration.
"Cross your fingers then." Zangya said as she got up and started flying in Cooler's wake though at a noticeably slower speed. They could not trust he wouldn't look back and see them.
"Do you think Nail's plan will work?" Kogu asked.
She shook her head. "No but maybe he'll draw some more blood."
Eighteen rushed the three others along as Cooler flew past. He stopped right after, if for the briefest moments, to kill yet another Namekian. She glanced back. There was only the smallest hint of yellow that indicated where they left the other Bulma's body. They hadn't moved much.
"I can feel my people dying." Dende sounded on the verge of sobbing. He only restrained himself because that would alert the monster flying above them. "It's horrible."
"We should be helping them." Gohan said in a low voice as another innocent died by the Arcosian's hand. He squeezed on the Dragon Ball in his arm. "It doesn't feel right."
"I know, kid, but without Zangya and Kugo there's no chance of fighting him." She responded as they snuck to another building. She could only wish the tyrant moved on for hope of an escape. "We have to lay low."
"Things are going to be okay, you two." Bulma tried to reassure them even if her own words felt hollow. "We'll pull through. We always do."
"I want my dad."
"Me too, Gohan, me too."
Eighteen waved them along. "Come on!" The android let them pass first before she followed them at the rear.
"There you are!"
They were only a few steps out when a purple blur hit Eighteen and sent her into a nearby hut. Dende cried out as he was pulled towards the Arcosian alongside the Dragon Ball. Cooler waved a dismissive hand at Bulma and Gohan and the Earthlings were rocketed back by an invisible push. The half breed latched onto the woman just as the two slammed into the remains of another hut and were buried.
Cooler flew off and didn't stop for at least several minutes before he stopped and dropped the Namekian child as he transferred the capsule from tail to hand. "After this, my reign will be absolute! My name will be remembered eternally!"
With that, he pressed on the capsule and threw it down where it popped into a puff of smoke. Cooler cleared the smoke with a psychic push to reveal-.
"WHAT?!" It was supplies. Water, food, and bedrolls but no Dragon balls! He stuck his hands in in and tore it apart. Maybe the woman hid them somewhere?! Never mind the fact that the balls were much larger than anything here! "No, no, no! She wouldn't be so foolish as to give me the wrong capsule!"
She didn't give him the wrong one. She intentionally misled him. The woman must have anticipated her death and he was too caught up in his triumph to think about the possibility of deception! Cooler's eyes snapped to Dende and the Namekian child was frozen in terror under his gaze.
"Where is the older woman's body?!" He demanded. When Dende stuttered his ignorance, he grabbed the child by the neck and brought him within inches of his face. "I will tear apart this entire world and make you watch if you don't give me a straight answer NOW!"
"Let. Him. GO!"
Cooler felt the tickle of a great power behind him. He turned just as a tiny fist crashed against his cheek. Cooler staggered back, completely unprepared for the strength behind the blow, and a blast hit him square in the face. The half breed stood there, baring only the lightest scratches and with golden hair, as he lowered his arm. The boy had followed him and he hadn't paid him the slightest attention!
"You have a stronger spine than I had estimated, child." Cooler lifted his finger and grabbed the boy in a telekinetic hold. A hold that was promptly overpowered as the hybrid rocketed to him and speared him in the face with a kick. The Arcosian fell onto his back in utter shock. He was being foolish and not taking these Earthlings seriously! They had already tricked him and marked him; that ended now.
Gohan rushed in with a guttural cry but he was slapped aside by the tyrant's tail. Cooler caught the boy by his legs and slammed him onto his back. Gohan wheezed out as the breath in his lungs rushed out and it was replaced with pain. The giant Frost Demon stood up and crushed the hybrid with a stomp. Blood rushed out of his throat and his hair turned black for a moment.
He wasn't taking any chances. Cooler rained blow after blow onto the child with each fist coming back bloodier and bloodier until Gohan stopped moving and his hair stayed black. Cooler rose and looked between the children and the Dragon Ball. Leaving it behind would keep it out of the Heran's hands but the Namekian child- whose open sobbing was grating on his nerves- could hide it or somehow make contact with another of his kind. He couldn't take the time to hide it himself because Genome could be on them any second and the Herans most likely knew the ploy and were looking for the other balls.
Wait, why was he keeping the Namekian around? The elders from the other villages would know how to make wishes at the least; they had to. There was no way they would entrust the only means of asking for wishes to a child. His eyes flashed and Dende was dust; the ball stayed put right next to where he last stood. The Arcosian rocketed back towards the village not content to waste another moment on trivialities. He'd have to trust that the orb would stay where it was.
"Fuck! We're too late!" Zangya cursed as they found the remnants of the Earthlings. Eighteen, looking slightly panicked, had the injured Bulma propped against the closest standing wall and there was some relief when she spotted them.
The android pointed in the direction where she last saw the alien tyrant. "Cooler just flew off with the last Dragon Ball!"
"What?!" The Heran woman cried out as Kogu cursed up a storm next to her.
"He's got everything he needs!" The swordsman yelled as he twisted around to where Cooler went. "We have to chase him- wait!"
The women were about to question the sudden shakiness of his voice when the Arcosian crashed down between them all and sent them flying back.
Zangya quickly jumped up. Why was he here? Why hasn't he summoned the dragon?! Cooler's fist smashed against her guard and Zangya buckled underneath him. Sweat poured down in rivers as it took all that she had just to stop his momentum.
"So weak, so pitiful, yet so painful! Like a splinter that refuses to come out! I would admire the tenacity!" His foot smashed against her abdomen as she was sent tumbling back. The Heran wheezed as she struggled to pull a breath in. The Arcosian stepped on her head. "Were it pointed anywhere else!"
She struggled to think as the foot threatened to crushed her head into bits. Whatever more Cooler had to say was interrupted as Kogu came charging in like a green missile into the Frost Demon's back. The relief as the pressure from her skull was removed was almost euphoric and Zangya had to revel in it for a second.
"Come on, get up!" Eighteen yelled as she swept passed with a hand outstretched. The Heran woman groaned as she caught it and allowed herself to be pulled up into the air. The two burst forth to chase after the other half of fighters.
Cooler brought down his elbow onto Kogu's head. He cried out in pain as they fell to the ground. The Arcosian landed feet first and clasped the swordman's head in a lock. He twisted with their momentum and body slammed the ascended Heran into the Namekian surface. Kogu gasped as the air was forced from his lungs but Cooler caught his throat.
The mammoth Frost Demon twisted once more and planted the swordsman headfirst into the floor.
He felt the phantom of an energy signature behind him and he twisted to meet it. Eighteen and Zangya slammed into his arms feet first with an earbursting war cry. He seethed as they forced him back uncontrollably. They simultaneously threw ki blasts into his face and blinded him. He yelled out in pain as he swiped at where they were. They had long since moved away.
"You're only delaying the inevitable!" He screamed "Those wishes are mine!"
Nail knelt next to his brother, Taniish. An admirable warrior and fourth in line to be Guru's protector were Nail to pass. He was missing his legs but life remained in him. His fellow Namekian looked him in the eyes and an unspoken understanding passed between them.
Taniish reached up and Nail joined their arms together. "Save our world, Nail. Let this power pass from me."
He nodded solemnly. The grief was cruelly smothered for his soul would shatter were he to feel the full weight of what he was to do. A moment of blinding light and wind passed before Nail stood alone. Immense power flowed through him but it wasn't enough. Not yet.
"Your sacrifices will not be in vain."
Namek shook under the immensity of the clashing powers.
Zangya and Kogu struggled to match Cooler's brute strength even with their combined might. Zangya tried to attach her Psycho Threads with Kogu occupying the emperor's attention but it was clear that he saw through their methods. The Arcosian was nimble when he needed to be or he would cut straight through the threads with his ki blade. Bastard must've been studying them intensely without their notice.
Eighteen rushed in just as Kogu was about to take a nasty hook and smashed her feet into the back of his head. He swung around just as she put up her barrier and the impact sent her rocketing away. Kogu moved into his exposed guard and kneed the massive alien right in the side just as Zangya smashed her shin into his mask.
Countless blows fell onto the tyrant to punish the small delay in his recovery. Cooler screamed as his aura exploded out to give him the minimum of breathing room. He reached out, arms wide open to capture the swordsman in a bear hug, but Zangya's Psycho Threads blocked him from moving forward. He snapped his attention to her and unleashed a Death Beam from his eyes only for a dozen ki blasts to explode against his back.
With that distraction in place, Kogu crashed into the Arcosian's midsection with a spear. Cooler raised an elbow to crush the Heran's spine but the machine took hold of his arm and held it back. He looked at her with unfathomable hatred even as she struggled to use all of her strength just to stop him from moving. He raised his other arm only for it to be grabbed by Zangya as well.
Cooler snapped to her as her threads wrapped around his limb. His already soaring heart rate spiked even further as he looked her in the eye. Even now, all three of them so beaten he'd seen better looking corpses, she smiled with smug satisfaction. As if they planned this. That couldn't be possible, they hadn't had the time to speak!
"Don't you-AAAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!"
It was agony in its purest form. The beatings from his father, the humiliations from Frieza, none of it compared to what this was in the moment. He felt his power wane amidst the agony and his resistance against their hold failing. Was he going to fail this close? End up dead on some backwater to some nameless pirates and a glorified computer? No! He was Cooler! The strongest of his race! True heir to the Planet Trade Empire! The last son of Arcos!
He kicked down and the ground around the quartet shattered throwing them all off balance. Cooler pushed all his power downwards and the Arcosian shot skyward like a bullet leaving them all behind. As he reached the clouds, his form shrunk and his breath heaved.
The Herans and the android caught up and surrounded him. He could taste the satisfaction that oozed from them. They believed they had brought him low, made him vulnerable. How wrong they were. he raised his hands as if surrendering and the fools actually stilled though it was clear it was from shock rather than accepting his white flag.
"You've bested me." The words were acid on his tongue but they were necessary. "Just allow me a moment to speak before you kill me."
They looked at each other confused and Cooler continued before they could make any kind of decision.
"My family markets and sells planets for a living. Of course, some of those planets have existing natives that are inconvenient for our customers and so we purge them with our forces. Purging, however, can be overly destructive and expensive." There was a collective raising of hairs as the temperature began to drop and their breaths became visible with mist. "So, I ask you, what do you do when you want to preserve most of the infrastructure but none of the natives?"
The light of the suns above dimmed as clouds formed. In moments, the sky was black with storms.
"I'll show you why they call us Frost Demons."
"Eighteen, grab Bulma!" Zangya cried out as she and Kogu rushed the tyrant.
The blades of grass below them froze into knives of ice.
"Sublime Extinction."
Author's Notes
Lots of bad shit happened. Went through a bad depression. Still pulling myself out of it.