Goku's hand hung open.
Relaxed.
His long fingers were painted red, and from each one blood gathered into heavy droplets that swelled, snapped free, and fell.
They struck the dirt below and disappeared into the dust, their brief lives ending in silence.
Cooler's body lay face down at his feet. Massive. Still.
Frieza. King Cold.
Standing few meters away. Not moving.
Frieza's eyes were locked on his brother's body. His mouth was open but nothing came out. His hands hung at his sides.
King Cold stood slightly behind his son. One hand still clutching the wound in his chest. The other hanging limp. His eyes weren't on Cooler anymore.
They were on Goku.
The golden Saiyan stood between them and cooler's corpse. Head slightly lowered. His eyes were shadowed beneath his brow.
He wasn't smiling.
This face had nothing.
Just eyes. Looking down at them. The way you look at something beneath you. Beneath everything.
Silence.
The planet groaned somewhere far away. Lava hissed in the distance.
Then the sky lit up.
A flash of lightning, white, jagged, splitting the black clouds above. For a single frame it illuminated the side of Goku's face. The jaw. The cheekbone. One eye. Cold. Gold. Empty.
Then darkness again.
Thunder rolled after it. Low. Deep. Vibrating through the ground
Silence returned.
And then,
*Tck.*
One step.
Goku's boot on the dirt. A small sound.
But Frieza flinched like he'd been shot.
King Cold's breath hitched, a sharp, ugly gasp.
He was coming.
He took another step.
Then another.
He stopped.
Looked down at them, both of them small, shrinking, wilting under the weight of his shadow.
"It's your own actions that brought you here."
His voice wasn't loud. Wasn't angry. Just a fact. Like
King Cold moved first.
He straightened up, slow, one hand still pressed to the small hole in his chest. But his face changed. The terror was still there.
A smile.
"You're... you're truly something else, aren't you, boy?"
Frieza's head snapped toward his father.
King Cold's voice found its old rhythm, that oily, diplomatic tone.
"Truly outstanding. To think you could eliminate my son Cooler in a mere instant... Such power. Such potentiel."
His smile widened.
"How would you feel about taking Cooler's place? Hmm? You, the strongest being in the universe, are more than suitable to become part of my clan. My empire would be yours to-"
"WHAT?!"
Frieza's voice cracked.
He spun on his father. Eyes bulging. Veins pulsing in his temples.
"You- you would replace me?!"
"Silence, Frieza." King Cold didn't look at him. His eyes stayed on Goku. "This is survival. Something you clearly never learned."
"SURVIVAL?! You coward! You miserable, spineless-"
"Watch your tongue, boy. I am your FATHER! … I'm trying to save us, you ungrateful-"
"You're trying to save YOURSELF!"
CRACK.
The ground between them split open.
A geyser of lava erupted, massive, white-hot magma shooting thirty meters into the air, spraying molten rock in every direction. The heat hit like a wall. Everyone shielded their eyes.
All of them stared at the pillar of fire.
The Queen stepped forward.
"I don't know what you're planning to do. But you need to do it fast."
Goku looked at the geyser. At the cracks spreading across the ground. At the sky turning red.
Then he looked at Frieza and King Cold.
He turned his back on them.
Started walking toward the Queen.
Over his shoulder, without stopping.
"Stay low. Don't make noise." His voice was flat. Bored. "If I hear that you survived... I will go through every planet, every rock with a shadow to hide behind. And I will find you. And I will kill you."
He kept walking.
Behind him, King Cold's legs nearly buckled with relief. His breath came out in a shuddering exhale.
Frieza didn't move.
His fists clenched.
His teeth ground together so hard something cracked.
Goku reached the Queen. She was looking past him, at the two figures behind, one groveling, one shaking.
"You don't have the Saiyan fierceness in you," she saidl. She looked up at Goku. "You're too soft. I'll have to reshape you."
Goku reached down and grabbed the edge of her cape.
He used the fabric to wipe the blood from his arm. Forearm. Wrist. Knuckles. Each finger.
"Killing something cornered and afraid isn't the best feeling," he said.
He dropped the stained cape.
Behind them, in the back, Frieza heard every word.
*Cornered.*
*Afraid.*
*Something.*
Something shattered behind his eyes.
"I AM THE MOST FEARED AND STRONGEST CREATURE IN THE UNIVERSE-"
The Queen turned.
"-AND YOU WILL DIE BY MY HAND!!!"
Frieza's arm extended. Every last drop of power he had left, every ounce of pride, of rage, of humiliation, compressed into a single, massive ki wave that erupted from his palm. Blinding purple. The blast tore the ground apart as it surged toward them, consuming everything in its path.
"FRIEZA, NO!!!" King Cold screamed. He knew better.
The Queen's eyes went wide. The blast was already filling her vision.
"Curs-!"
Goku smirked.
"That's better."
The ground beneath Goku shattered. Cracks spiderwebbed outward in every direction. The shockwave alone sent the Queen tumbling sideways, rolling across the dirt.
His muscles swelled, veins rising to the surface like roots of an ancient tree. His golden hair spiked harder, sharper, leaving only a single bang falling across his forehead and two smaller strands framing each side. The aura around him changed, tighter, fiercer, crackling with arcs of static electricity that snapped and popped against his skin.
He turned in one fluid motion, smooth, effortless, almost beautiful, and extended his hand toward the incoming blast. His palm glowed gold.
"This is strength."
The wave erupted from his hand.
Golden. It covered everything.
The two waves collided.
For a fraction of a second.
Then Goku's wave pushed through Frieza's like it was nothing, like a river swallowing a stream. The purple light crumbled, shattered, dissolved into sparks that winked out against the gold.
Frieza saw it coming.
A wall of golden light. Too powerful to block. Too wide to dodge. Destroying the ground in its path, carving a canyon into the planet's surface as it came for him.
"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!!!" King Cold screamed, throwing his arms in front of his face.
Frieza was silent.
He stared into the light. Into the sheer, incomprehensible power of the monkey he'd spent his whole life being told to fear.
His lip trembled.
"You're a monster."
The wave hit them.
King Cold's scream lasted longest. His body bent backward, spine arching, mouth stretched open, arms reaching. His skin rippled like water, light pouring through the cracks forming across his body. A disintegration. burning white-gold before scattering into nothing.
Frieza's body lifted off the ground, weightless. The light hit his chest first and spread outward, eating through him from the center. His arms stretched. His face distorted, pulled. For one single frame his eyes were still there, still open, still staring at the source of the light.
Then he was gone.
Both of them. Gone.
The wave continued past where they'd stood, tearing across the surface of the planet, splitting the horizon, punching a line of destruction that would be visible from orbit.
Then it faded.
Smoke. Dust. A crater where two emperors used to be.
The Queen was on the ground, sitting on her hands, staring at where the blast had gone. The heat still on her face. The light still burned into her vision.
She turned to Goku.
His hair fell. Strand by strand, softening, dropping, losing their golden edge. Black returned, roots first, then tips. The aura flickered once, twice, and vanished. The static died. The muscle settled.
Just a man standing there. Black hair. Calm eyes.
"What was that?" she breathed.
He looked at her.
Smirked.
"Let's go."
---
The ships broke orbit just as the first cracks reached the equator.
Planet Vegeta was splitting. Slowly. Like a fruit rotting from the inside, magma bleeding through the fissures, the atmosphere turning to fire, the surface buckling inward. From the windows of the fleet, it looked like a dying star. Orange. Red. Shrinking.
"We still have the Princess," someone muttered. "That's something."
A hand shot out and grabbed the speaker by the collar, lifting her off the ground.
Nappa.
"You dirt bag!" Her voice was a growl. "The Queen doesn't die easily. You don't get to talk about her like she's already gone."
She dropped her. The woman stumbled.
Toma stood against the far wall, arms crossed. Calm. Thinking.
"She's got that man with her," she said. "She might be fine. He was... strong. The scouter couldn't even read him."
"Yeah!" Fasha leaned forward, eyes bright. "Did you SEE how he held off the entire Cold Family?! By himself!"
"But how do you know he's an ally?!" A Saiyan from the back, nervous, skeptical, her voice sharp.
"Because he saved us from Frieza's hands," Toma said flatly.
"And he seemed nice," Fasha added.
"Frieza was nice at first too!" the skeptic shot back. "Gave us planets to conquer! Money! Resources! And look where THAT got us!"
Murmurs spread through the ship. Fear. Doubt. Uncertainty.
In the corner, away from all of them, Princess Vegeta stood with her arms crossed.
Ten years old. Small. Rigid.
She was staring through the window. That orange dot in the black, growing smaller, dimmer, further away with every second. The only home she'd ever known, folding in on itself.
*Mother… Master...*
Their voices reached her. That noise behind her, the bickering, the whining, the doubt. It sounded like what it was. Weakness. Buzzing. Insects arguing about things they couldn't change.
"Shut up."
The ship went quiet.
Everyone turned to the tiny figure at the window.
She didn't turn around. Just spoke over her shoulder.
"As weaklings, you should just shut up and follow the strong."
Silence.
"But Princess!" One of them stepped forward. "Your mother the Queen is still there. And without her... can we even rebuild? Can we even-"
Footsteps.
Steady. Measured. Regal.
Eve stepped out of the crowd and stood beside Princess Vegeta. Her posture straight, her chin raised. She carried herself the way the Queen did, but with something extra. A quiet, unshakeable confidence.
"Don't worry."
Her voice cut through the tension like a blade through silk.
"The man with her... my father... will make sure she's okay."
The word landed like a bomb.
*Father?!*
Bardock's eyebrow twitched.
Nappa's mouth opened. Closed.
Fasha blinked.
Princess Vegeta's head turned, just slightly, her eyes flicking to Eve beside her.
*Her father? Master?*
*But she... she looks almost older than him.*
The questions hung in the air. But nobody asked them. Not after what they'd just witnessed, that man holding back the Cold Family. Not after that.
"If he was her father... then maybe she was right."
A murmur rose. Then a voice. Then another.
The Saiyans cheered.
Eve accepted it without expression. She turned to the window.
The orange dot was almost gone now. A pinprick. A memory.
*I'm here.*
*That mean you made sure Mother is safe.*
*But from here... it's unknown territory.*
The dot vanished.
*Dad...*
—
Back to the dying planet.
The crater was still fuming from Goku's blast.
Smoke curled up from the scorched earth, thick, black, rising in lazy columns against the red sky.
Goku stood with his hands on his hips. That satisfied look on his face. Relaxed.
Queen Vegeta was watching him.
That last moment, the transformation. The new physique. The spiked hair with that single bang falling across his forehead. The static electricity. The feeling. Different from she'd seen before.
Her gaze was buried deep into him. Into his eyes.
"Good!" he said.
She twitched.
Snapped back.
She pushed herself up off the ground, dusting her armor, brushing dirt from her knees. Crossed her arms. Recomposed.
"You really did it..." She looked past him, at the crater. "You wiped the Cold Family from the world of the living."
Goku turned to her. "Sounds like a red flag."
He turned toward the city. Eyes narrowing.
*I feel multiple ki signatures... Most are remnants of the lizard's soldiers... But that spike from earlier... It had something different. Maybe I should-*
"What now?"
The Queen's voice cut through his thoughts.
"The planet will explode in minutes. What's the plan?" She smirked. "Dying here doesn't bother me."
Goku blinked at her. "Huh? Well, for me, it does bother me."
She laughed softly.
"Then let's search for a space pod. They might have missed some."
"Yeah..." His eyes stayed on the horizon. "But first I'm going to search for a survivor."
She went still.
"What?"
"A ki spike. From the city. Just before Cooler transformed."
"What survivor?" Her voice dropped a register. "The only living creatures left on this rock are remnants of the Cold Family's soldiers."
"No. This ki was different."
He turned to face her.
"Maybe a Saiyan."
The Queen's gaze changed.
Cooled. Flattened.
"And?"
Her voice was flat. Emotionless.
"Even if it is a Saiyan, she couldn't make it to the ships. Meaning she was hiding. Or too weak. Or some other cowardly thing." Her jaw set. "So let her get disintegrated with the planet. That's what the weak are for."
Goku looked at her.
Long. Quiet.
"I promised I'd save the Saiyans. I didn't set conditions."
He started walking.
Toward the city. Toward the ki.
"Stop."
Her voice was sharp.
He didn't stop.
"STOP!" Louder now. Stepping forward. "I am your Queen! You must obey my order! LEAVE her!"
He stopped.
He turned his head.
Just his head. Over his shoulder.
He looked at her.
She felt it before she understood it.
His stare.
That piercing gaze, no golden hair, no transformation. Just his eyes. Black. Calm. And heavy. An immense pressure settling over her shoulders. The weight of something that had decided, and nothing she said was going to move it.
She tried to hold his gaze.
A mouse in a staring contest with a lion.
Sweat beaded on her temple. Rolled down her cheek. Her tail froze, then curled. Pressed against her leg like it was trying to hide.
*I ca- can't-*
He broke the eye contact first.
Just looked forward again. Didn't say a word. Lifted off the ground, slow, casual, and began to fly toward the city.
"I'm not one of your subjects. You can go search for an escape. We part ways here."
He blasted off.
The moment he was gone, she dropped.
Knees hit the dirt first. Then her hands. Fingers curling, grabbing fistfuls of cracked earth and squeezing. Dust spilled between her fingers.
Her chest was heaving.
*What... what was that.*
She pushed herself up.
"I won't leave you," she whispered.
"Your people need you. I nee-"
She didn't finish.
She got up. Launched into the sky.
And flew after him.
---
Further in the city.
The mother was flying now.
Baby clutched tight against her chest. Wind tearing at her hair, wearing only her leotard, armor lost earlier, eyes scanning below.
The landing pads.
That's where she aimed.
The pod facility where space pods launched from, rows of crash pads, reinforced concrete strips designed to catch pods on return.
She landed hard. Boots skidding across the cracked pavement.
Pods.
Dozens of them.
All destroyed.
Holes punched through. Glass shattered. Engine plates pried open and the wiring torn out. Whoever had been through here had made sure nothing would fly again.
She ran between them, shoving pods aside one by one, checking the next, the next, the next.
"Shit! Shit, shit!"
A tremor hit.
Big one.
The ground split open few meters away, a fresh fissure cracking across the landing strip. The building housing the launch tower groaned, then buckled, a section of roof collapsing, sending chunks of concrete tumbling down.
Her baby twitched in her arms. Whimpered. Started to cry.
She squeezed her tighter.
Another tremor shook a huge pile of damaged pods stacked at the far end of the pad. They buckled. Collapsed. Rolled.
And as they scattered, one caught her eye.
Cleaner than the others.
She flew to it. Crouched. Started inspecting, hands moving fast, breath held.
Engine plate, intact. Fuel tank, full. Oxygen scrubbers, green. Hermetic seals, unbroken.
"This... this could work."
She pressed the release button.
Hiss.
The door began to open, lifting, sliding.
Clank.
It fell.
Just came free and crashed to the ground at her feet.
She stared at it.
"The hinges... the hinges are destroyed. Not the door. The pod itself. I can't just take a door from another one. If I could pilot it and hold the door shut during atmosphere exit, but alone I can't-"
"I can help you, if you want."
A male voice. Smooth.
She froze. Arms tightening around her baby.
She turned.
Standing fifteen meters away, the tall turquoise commander. The burned side of his face black and crusted. Payolo beside him. The third soldier flanking on the right..
She raised her free hand. Ki gathering in her palm. She'd blast them before they-
"Oh no you DON'T!"
The commander vanished.
Reappeared in front of her, faster than she expected, faster than she was ready for. The back of his hand cracked across the side of her head before she could release the blast.
She flew sideways. Crashed against a busted pod. Slid to the ground.
"I won't lower my guard this time." He spat blood onto the dirt. "Not twice."
Payolo was already scrambling over the rubble to the pod she'd been inspecting.
"Hey, boss! This pod seems to be in good shape! We can use it!"
"For real?!" The third one's voice cracked with relief.
The commander kept his eyes on her. "First, take the baby. Get rid of it."
Payolo froze mid-step.
"What?! Me?! But she's dangerous, boss-"
"GO. Or I'll show you what dangerous means."
Payolo reluctantly hopped down, approaching the mother carefully, hands raised like she was a cornered animal. He stepped around, circled, edged closer. The baby was whimpering in her arms.
He reached out. Snatched.
Grabbed the infant by the tail. Yanked.
"Leave her!"
The mother lunged, grabbing his leg, clawing at his armor.
"Let go of me!" He stumbled, kicking.
"Go help him!" the commander barked.
"Wha-?! okay..." The third one jumped down, grabbed the mother from behind, pinning her arms, locking her head.
"You smell good for a monkey," he murmured against her ear.
Payolo was holding the baby by her tail, the infant dangling upside down, squirming. He turned to the commander.
"What do I do now?!"
The baby started to cry. Small whimpers at first. Then louder.
The commander's eyes flicked to the fissure.
"Throw it. Into that crack."
"NOOO!!! STOP!!!"
Lava was gushing from the split in the earth, white-hot, spitting, the heat distorting the air above it. Payolo walked toward it slowly, the baby still dangling from his fist by the tail. The heat hit him like an oven door. He squinted. Held the baby out over the opening.
The cries got louder.
Louder.
The mother was screaming, thrashing against the soldier holding her.
"GIVE HER BACK AND WE'LL LEAVE!!!"
Energy started to pour off the baby.
Green. Flickering. Rising.
Like before. The pressure. The shockwave building.
"HURRY, YOU FOOL! THROW IT!!!" the commander roared.
Payolo's fingers opened.
The baby fell.
"NOOOOO!!!"
The cry intensified mid-air. Green energy burst outward, trailing her as she plummeted toward the lava. The three soldiers dove behind cover, dragging the mother with them, shielding themselves from the incoming blast.
Nothing.
No explosion.
No splash.
And the crying was... fading.
Calming down.
They looked at each other. Wide-eyed. Confused.
Then turned toward where the cries were coming from.
"Yosh yosh. Stop crying now."
A deep voice. Slightly amused.
The mother's eyes went wide.
A tall man stood there.
Saiyan battle armor. Black spiky hair. A long brown tail curled loosely behind him.
And cradled in his arms, her baby. Alive. Being gently bounced.
"What the hell?! What happened?!" one soldier hissed.
"The baby, it stopped crying…"
The infant had gone completely silent. Smiling now. Reaching her tiny hands up toward the man's face, grabbing at his cheek, his nose, babbling.
"Friendly, are you?" he murmured, smirking down at her.
They were all staring at him. Frozen.
The mother felt the grip on her loosen.
The soldier holding her was too shocked to remember his job.
She didn't hesitate. Ripped free. Dashed across the cracked pavement toward her daughter.
She reached for the baby, fingers almost there.
His free hand lashed out.
Locked around her throat.
"Guh!"
She stopped like she'd hit a wall.
Couldn't move. Couldn't breathe right. Her feet barely touched the ground, he was holding her there with casual, effortless strength. One hand with the baby. One hand crushing her windpipe.
*I was right,* he thought, studying her face. *The ki spike was that baby. A Saiyan. And this one... her ki is faint, but I can feel it. And they're similar.*
In one smooth motion, he pulled her in front of him, released her throat, and grabbed the back of her neck. Pressed her forward. Bending her at the waist. Her rear angled toward him.
"WHAT?! What are you DOING?!"
A blush rose to her cheeks despite everything. She tried to struggle but his grip was iron.
His eyes dropped, not to her body. To the base of her spine. To where her leotard met her waist. Where a tail would attach.
*Yes. Saiyan. No question. The mother, most likely.*
He released the grip on her neck.
The second she felt it release, she spun and cracked the back of her hand across his face.
Her palm stung. Hurt. Like slapping stone.
The baby, nestled in his other arm, burst out laughing.
A bright, delighted giggle, her tiny hands clapping together.
The mother was holding her throat.
Coughing. Frowning. Looking up at the man holding her daughter.
Her mind was racing.
Something about him told her not to try anything stupid. Not fear like with the commander. Not the same at all. This felt worse. Quieter. Like a cliff edge that didn't need to warn you before you fell.
"G-give me back my daughter..."
A little further away, the three Frieza soldiers were still staring.
"What do we do, boss?" one whispered.
The commander didn't take his eyes off Goku.
"The rock's about to collapse on itself," he muttered. "We move to the pod. Quietly."
Goku looked down at the baby in his hand, then at the mother.
"Why are you still here?" he asked. "Why didn't you leave with the other Saiyans?"
She was still intimidated, but there was anger fighting through it now.
"What is it to you?" she snapped. "It doesn't matter. Give her back."
Goku lifted the baby a little, sitting her in his palm.
"Yeah, alright. No need to answer-"
THUD.
A heavy sound hit the ground behind them.
Burnt flesh. Smoke. A body charred black and still steaming.
The third soldier.
Dead.
Goku and the mother both looked up.
"I finally caught up to you."
A feminine voice.
Queen Vegeta stood on top of the pod, cape shifting in the hot wind, looking down at them like she owned the ground, the sky, and the last breaths in everyone's lungs.
On the ground, the commander and Payolo had frozen.
She had cut them off from the last working pod.
The two Frieza soldiers looked at each other once.
That was enough.
They fled.
No threats. No last words. They just blasted off into the air like rats abandoning a burning ship.
The mother saw the Queen.
The fear she'd had toward Goku vanished instantly.
Her face twisted.
Fists clenched.
Jaw tight.
Goku noticed.
He looked at her posture, her expression, the way her body had changed in a second.
Then it clicked.
The Queen jumped down from the pod and landed near them.
"So," she said casually, glancing at the mother. "You found one of the ones left behind."
Then her gaze hardened.
"Soldier. Name and rank."
The mother's face changed again.
Her anger didn't vanish, but shock hit first.
"Y-you..." Her eyes widened. "You don't remember?"
The Queen frowned.
"Should I?"
"You forgot?"
"I rule a planet," the Queen said flatly. "I did not memorize every face crawling on it. And despite the planet dying beneath our feet, I am still your Queen. Bow before the royal family."
The mother's lip twitched.
Then she lowered her head just enough to make it sting.
"Of course, Your Majesty," she said, each word packed with venom. "Allow me to remind you. I am Paragus. Elite warrior."
The Queen's eyes narrowed.
Paragus continued.
"After my daughter was born with an exceptionally high power level, you ordered our quarantine. You stripped me of my position."
Silence.
Then:
"And I heard the rumors," Paragus said. "You were planning to exile us. Me and my daughter both. The order just never came."
The Queen stared at her.
Then, slowly:
"I remember."
Paragus' fists tightened.
"Your daughter's potential threatened mine," the Queen said without hesitation. "The heir to the throne comes first. Yes. I intended to exile you."
She turned her head slightly toward Goku.
"But something happened that demanded all of my attention."
No apology.
Not even a crumb.
That made Paragus even angrier.
The Queen noticed.
"What is that look?" she asked. "Do you resent me, your Queen?"
They stared at each other.
The whole planet felt one spark away from igniting under their feet.
Meanwhile, the baby had pulled herself upright on Goku's palm and was holding onto his cheek with both tiny hands.
Goku turned away from both women and started walking toward the pod.
They both broke eye contact immediately.
"Where are you going?" the Queen asked.
"Give me back my daughter," Paragus snapped.
Goku leaned toward the pod and inspected it.
"Paragus," he said. "This one good? We can use it?"
Paragus blinked.
"What do you mean we?" she said. "There's only room for me and my daughter."
Goku ignored her.
He climbed into the cramped pod, sat down like he belonged there, and settled the baby on his lap.
Then he started messing with the controls.
Buttons. Levers. Random.
The pod hummed to life.
The locking mechanism began to turn.
The broken hinge whirred uselessly, trying to pull shut a door that wasn't attached.
The Queen and Paragus rushed up to it.
Goku looked up once.
"Someone has to hold the door shut," he said. "If it opens in space, all the oxygen's gone."
"I said there's only room for one!" Paragus barked.
BOOOOM.
A huge sound rolled across the planet.
All three of them looked out toward the horizon.
Far in the distance, the earth was caving in on itself. Whole sections of land were folding downward into molten lava. The surface was starting to collapse like rotten bone.
"We need to go," Goku said.
"Shit," Paragus hissed.
"Shit," the Queen echoed, glaring at her.
They looked at each other.
Then, without another word, both squeezed into the pod.
There was no room.
None.
The Queen ended up on Goku's right, half-standing, half-bent under the curve of the ceiling, her body forced against his side. Her chest was pressed against the side of his face.
Paragus was lower, kneeling awkwardly in front of him with her rear to his torso, one arm braced against the frame while both hands dragged the detached door upward and held it in place manually.
The baby sat on Goku's lap, clapping her little hands.
Goku started pressing buttons again.
Randomly.
Paragus twisted her head just enough to glare at him.
"Do you even know how to pilot this thing?!"
"...Maybe," Goku said.
The pod lurched.
Floated.
Then blasted upward.
Outside, Planet Vegeta was dying fast now. Landmasses cracked apart. Fire burst from the wounds. The surface compacted under impossible pressure, as if the whole world was being crushed by an invisible hand.
The pod punched through the atmosphere.
Then came silence.
A terrible, empty silence.
And then-
A blinding flash.
White swallowed everything.
A heartbeat later, the shockwave hit them from behind.
The pod was launched forward like a bullet.
All three of them were slammed back by the force.
The hull screamed.
Metal groaned.
Every bolt, every panel, every screw sounded like it was about to tear loose.
Paragus snarled through gritted teeth, both hands straining to keep the door shut.
The Queen was crushed harder into Goku's side, one hand braced against the wall, the other grabbing onto his shoulder.
The baby settled down and secured, just laughed.
Goku squinted ahead, one hand on the controls, the other keeping the child from bouncing off his lap.
Behind them, where Planet Vegeta had been.
There was only rocks floating.
The light faded.
The shaking stopped.
Silence.
Goku glanced down at the child in his lap.
"You got a name?"
The mother hesitated. Just for a second.
"…Broly."
The baby giggled.