Light. Endless white that warmed his soul and wrapped his mind in a comfortable layer of cotton. Weightless, disconnected from his body, Jor-EL drifted without thought. Nothing existed but the river of energy around him, embraced completely as he let instinct guide his hand.
He needed strength, power to overcome something that currently escaped him. All he could do was bask in the light, wait until he had the might needed to defeat… whatever it was that itched at the back of his perceptions.
“Faster…” Jor-EL murmured, consciousness extended to grasp at the energy around him. “I need to grow faster…”
----------------------------------------
“Goku, look out!” Launch ground her teeth, hands extended to send a wave of energy into their enemy’s path. The hulking monstrosity just ploughed through her attack, fist extended to slam against Goku’s temple. “We need to retreat, figure out a different strategy…”
The rest of her words died on her lips, replaced by a fountain of blood. The sharp-toothed grin of the invader appeared before her, its fingers driven into her chest. Energy bloomed within her, an explosion of tainted ki that seared her flesh and darkened her vision.
“LAUNCH!!!”
Goku’s voice filtered into her consciousness, muffled and dim compared to the buzz in her ears. Even the words of her other self were too quiet for her to hear, lost as the beast ripped its hand free of her body and batted her aside.
“WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!!!”
As darkness closed in on the edges of her vision, a flare of red blossomed from beyond her sight. A pair of hands took hold of her body, wrapped gently around her to slow her fall. Goku’s face swam, unfocused before her as the shadows stole the last of her sight.
“LAUNCH!!!”
A spark of gold flickered, a last glimpse of the world before all was lost to the silence. A hand reached out and took hers, the blue haired self given form as they drifted toward a land of light and clouds.
----------------------------------------
“Goku is about to transform…” Hal squinted at the screen, past huddled Kais and the relaxed figure that was Note. The Saiyan’s body trembled as he set the blond haired corpse onto the ground, his energy savage and uncontrolled. “Launch’s death has affected him even more than Krillin’s ever could have.”
“It seems this one is finished already,” Meta-Cooler swiped his hand through the air and cast aside Launch’s blood, cold gaze turned to the shadowed face of the Saiyan. “How about you, little monkey? Will you take vengeance for your fallen comrade?”
Goku remained silent, eyes lost to the sudden darkness as storm clouds replaced the heavens. Lightning hammered the earth, blue and gold that highlighted the rage on the Saiyan’s face.
The broken ground at his feet trembled, rocks covered in Launch’s blood raised into the air around Goku’s body. His hair lifted upwards, raised to a point as he finally turned his eyes to catch Meta-Cooler’s gaze.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“You… you killed her…” Goku’s voice echoed through the air, accompanied by a symphony of thunder. His hair flickered, caught between black and gold, eyes changed to an emerald green. “I WILL MAKE YOU SUFFER!!!”
Golden ki erupted from Goku’s skin, a savage aura that attracted the lightning like a beacon. Footsteps masked by the roll of thunder, the Saiyan marched towards an indifferent Meta-Cooler.
The mutated Frost Demon maintained his smug leer, right until Goku’s fist impacted him under the jaw. Teeth slammed together, splintered apart as Meta-Cooler catapulted toward the heavens.
“What transformation is this?” the Supreme Kai pressed his face to the screen, until Old Kai rapped his head to drive him back. “His power has been multiplied to an amazing degree!”
“It’s called Super Saiyan,” Hal focused on the screen as Goku bounded forward, knee planted into Meta-Cooler’s spine. The Doomsday hybrid rocketed through the skies, driven into the middle of an inhospitable desert. “It multiplies a Saiyan’s base power by at least fifty times, but that’s only the beginning.”
Super Saiyan had multiple grades, as well as the second and third tiers of the transformation. Goku would reach them, and beyond, but for now Super-Saiyan-one would be enough to finish this battle… if the Saiyan killed his enemy quickly.
“YOU INSIGNIFICANT WORM!!!” Meta-Cooler’s twisted body rapidly healed, returned to an even more monstrous state. Boney plates continued to replace his flesh, crowned with sharpened spurs. “I’ll grind you and your planet into DUST!”
“You won’t be killing anyone else…”
Goku appeared before Meta-Cooler, faster than the villain could respond. Eyes narrowed in rage, his fists lashed out in a blur. One blow twisted the Frost Demon’s knee, while another popped a shoulder free of its socket.
An elbow found Meta-Cooler’s cheek, a crack of bone that drove the mutant backwards through the desert sands. Goku drew his hands backwards, ki channelled towards his palms. Gaze focused, he began a familiar chant.
“Kaaa… meee…haaa…meee…”
Meta-Cooler exploded from the ocean of sand, bony fists extended towards the Saiyan. Energy exploded from beneath his cracked skin, purple light that battled for a hold on the sky. Highlighted by the blue-gold of Goku’s attack, he roared in defiance as the final syllable fell.
“HAAAAAA!!!”
“Impossible!” Meta-Cooler crossed his arms, a vain attempt to bear the brunt of Goku’s blast. The kamehameha barely hesitated as it washed over the Frost Demon’s body, a wave of light that assaulted the villain's every cell. “How can you be so powerful?”
Goku responded with a roar that doubled the size of his beam, a flare of energy that arced outward from the Earth before it exploded within the depths of space. No trace remained of Meta-Cooler’s hulking form, just the injured and dead that had fallen to his hands.
“It’s not over yet, little brother,” Hal’s voice echoed within Goku’s mind, projected by King Kai's unique ability. “Look to the sky!”
Highlighted by the falling sun, the Big Gete Star loomed forward and replaced the heavens. Mechanical tendrils extended from the silver world, vast structures that reached out and burrowed into the Earth.
Goku frowned, gaze locked on the massive structure as he pulled his hands behind his back once more. Before he could do more than charge up a flicker of blue, countless gateways irised open on the artificial planetoids surface.
A legion of Meta-Cooler’s erupted from within, red-rimmed eyes discoloured with rage. They swarmed like insects, driven by a single purpose as they charged toward the wide eyed Saiyan. Goku set his jaw, ki channelled between his palms.
“Ka-me… ha-me… HAAAA!!!”
The blast of concentrated energy washed over the cloud of Meta-Coolers, a firehose that stood alone against an inferno. Dozens, hundreds fell, but the wave of flesh carried onward undeterred.
“You can’t kill all of me, Saiyan!” Meta-Cooler laughed from ten thousand mouths, countless blows on their way toward Goku’s golden form. “The more I battle, the stronger I become, an evolution shared amongst every clone!”
“It doesn’t matter how many of you there are,” Goku slammed his arms outward, a burst of ki that evaporated the Meta-Coolers around him. Hand raised skyward, he released a rain of yellow-gold blasts into the legions. “I’ll burn every last one of you to ash!”
***Power Levels and other notes***
Hal: 13,500,000 (135 million with symbiote armour enhancement, 270 million with symbiote transformation, 13.5 billion/27 billion at Max kaio-ken: 100x)
Jor-EL: 200 million
Meta-Cooler: 475 million at the start of battle, 750 million by the time of the first clone’s death.
Goku: 27,000,000 after potential unlock (270 million at Max kaio-ken: 10x, 1.35 billion after Super Saiyan 50x multiplier)