46 My Own Way

"TAKING ME SERIOUSLY NOW?!"

"YOU'RE ABOUT TO FIND OUT!"

Zyleth and Cooler charged towards each other at great speed, their fists colliding in an all out struggle for dominance. The planets, moons, asteroids and comets surrounding them felt each and every impact of their fists, threatening to buckle under the pressure.

The golden glow of Super Saiyan enveloped the sixteen year-old boy, pushing back against the full power and strength of Cooler's Fifth Form.

"You think you can challenge me?!" Cooler yelled out in anger. "You're nothing but an insignificant welp!"

"I'll rip off your fucking tail and make you choke on it!" Zyleth responded in kind.

The two pushed back against each other, the only thing that could be seen of their confrontation is the shockwaves of their fists meeting over and over. Both of their respective forms caused them to act more aggressively towards each other, which was perfectly fine with them.

"Are they still at it?" Salza asked as he flew out of the ship and stood beside Dore and Neiz, looking on at the fight between his Lord and Commander.

"Mhm." Neiz hummed and nodded his head.

"Been about three hours now." Dore told him.

The two spectators were sat on the ground, sharing a bowl of popcorn between them.

"Hey, Salza, you think you can get us some more popcorn?" Dore asked.

Salza looked down, his eyebrow twitching as he saw that the bowl was nearly empty.

"No." He replied curtly.

"What? Why not?" Dore asked, sounding despondent.

"Because that was the last bowl, you imbecile!" Salza shouted at his compatriot.

"What? No, it's not! Zyleth brought, like, a whole box of that stuff!" Neiz said, refusing Salza's claim.

"Yes, and the two of you ate it all in an afternoon, you pair of swines!" Salza retorts, pointing towards the empty bags of popcorn that were floating beside them.

Dore and Neiz looked at empty bags before looking towards each other, wincing at their blunder.

"It wasn't our fault!" Dore yelled out defensively.

"Yeah, it was the popcorn's!" Neiz added.

Salza's eye twitched in annoyance beforr he let out a small chuckle, "Oh, I'd love to hear this..."

"It's too delicious!" Neiz claimed.

"Yeah, especially the ones that have "butter" on the label!" Dore added he grabbed one of the floating buttered popcorn bags and pointed at the label.

A vein appeared on Salza's forehead, threatening to pop if he grew any angrier, if that was even possible.

"You..." Salza seethed, his arms raising with ki blasts forming in his hands. "...Run..."

____________________

[Zyleth's POV]

My hair returns to its natural black as I watch Salza proceed to beat the absolute life out of the two other members of the Armored Squadron.

"Should we... do something about that?" I asked Cooler, pointing down at the three idiots running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

Cooler floats down beside me, reverting back to his fourth form.

"I should say yes, but I'm quite curious as to how this will go." He replied.

"...Fair enough." I shrugged my shoulders and yawned.

"Tired?" Cooler asked.

"We've been fighting for hours." I pointed out to him.

"So no?" He asked.

I look at him for a few seconds before saying, "Nah, not really."

He responds with a hum before looking back towards the Dumb, Dumber, and Dumbest.

These past eight years have been very productive. We've beaten back the Frieza Force almost to extinction, and my strength has improved tremendously thanks to the training sessions I've had with Cooler.

I've tried to master the Evil Saiyan transformation, but I just couldn't. I can't even control the damn form, let alone try to figure out the process in order to master it.

It was such a shame as well. The stackable part of the form would easily put me above Super Buu, which was my biggest concern at the moment. All I need to do is get stronger than him and I can finally rest.

For about a week until I have to start training again so that I can surpass Jiren.

Ah... The grind never stops does it...

It is a very good thing that I don't have a lot of Saiyan Pride. There are a bunch of cheaty ways to raise your power level in this universe that it's actually frustrating that Goku and Vegeta don't use them.

Elder Guru for one. The guy can literally release your latent potential and make you infinitely times stronger than you were. I know that he's dead in the original timeline, but you could've just used the Dragon Balls to do it instead.

Speaking of which, it's probably a good idea for me to go ahead and make my own way out into the universe. I'm starting to feel myself stagnate. The gains in power have been minor lately, not like the giant leaps in strength like before, which likely means my Zenkais are starting to lose their proficiency.

More than that, Cooler just isn't that much of a challenge anymore.

As grateful as I am for Cooler's help, it's just not cuttting it. His power is staggering, but he's been pushing the limits of his fifth form for a long time now.

It was actually interesting to see how his Fifth Form worked. It was basically just his full-power form, but he mastered it. If I had to put to compare them to something, the muscled up form of Full-Power Frieza was basically Super Saiyan Grade 3, whilst the Fifth Form Cooler had achieved was Super Saiyan 2.

The overwhelming amount of power without the strain and slowed movement of its lesser counterpart.

Eventually, his Fifth Form had surpassed his Forth Form by so much that his Forth Form was basically a restriction. It was quite fascinating to see.

But even then, it just wasn't enough. I need a new partner. A mentor. And I have a very good lead on one if I just head to Namek and wish on the Dragon Balls.

"Hey, Cooler." I spoke.

"What is it?" He asked.

I took a deep breath in and out, hoping that he'll take my request well.

"I want to leave." I told him.

"Okay." He replied almost instantaneously.

"I know that-- I beg your pardon?" I said as it took me a moment to finally process what he just said.

"Okay, go ahead." He said, waving his hand dismissively.

I blink at him a few times, very confused as to why he was going along with this so easily.

"That... That's it?" I asked.

"You were always free to leave, Zyleth. I'm not holding you hostage." He said, turning towards me with a raised eyebrow. "What, were you expecting something different?"

"Uh... Yeah... Like... World ending fury type of different..." I told him.

"Zyleth, you're the Supreme Commander of the Cooler Force. If you wanted to leave, all you had to do was say so." Cooler said with a roll of his eyes. "Go. Explore the universe. See your family more than once a damn year."

I don't know what I'm more shocked by. The fact that he agreed do easily or the fact he was making snide comment about how little I see my family.

Yes, he knew my family was still alive. He didn't know where they were, obviously, but he probably has it narrowed down to the few livable planets that I had under my ownership.

Yes, I own planets. Actually I owned about fifty planets, which may or may not include Earth, Vampa, Namek, and Cereal. The others aren't that important and I just took them because Cooler forced me to as payment.

It was fine. Gave them an extra layer of security.

Sure, planet ownership is not exactly a good shield, but it's effective against those that don't want to get on the bad side of the Cooler Force.

Or Cooler himself...

Or me, now that I think about it...

"So... you wouldn't mind if I just... leave?" I asked.

"To be honest, Zyleth, you're no longer needed." Cooler told me. "We are both so overwhelmingly powerful that the "war" we're fighting is nothing but a one sided massacre. All that's left now is to find and kill Frieza, so unless you have a map leading to him and my father, I doubt that you'll be of much use."

"I... guess that's true..." I nodded.

"I told you, I don't care much about you or your goals. As long as you're not gunning to rule over the universe, I'm content with your continued existence." He said.

"Why do you even want to? Sound like a bunch of micromanaging and days filled with nothing but headaches." I said.

"It can be..." He sighed. "In truth, I don't even remember why I chase after the title myself anymore. Maybe I just wanted to spite my father and brother. Or maybe it's just embedded into my being. To control... To conquer... It's what I'm good at."

"Have you ever tried being good at something else?" I asked.

"What fun would that be?" He asked, turning towards me with a smirk and letting out an audible chuckle. "All jokes aside, I find myself envying your lack of ambition more and more as time passes."

"Wow, thanks." I groaned sarcastically as I rolled my eyes.

"It may sound like an insult, but it genuinely wasn't. You're free to do whatever you wish, whenever you want." He replied.

"And you can't? The Cooler Force could basically run itself at this point. You're just as free as I am, only you have a very bad habit of wanting to control everything." I told him.

Cooler seems to mull over my words before our attention is suddenly grabbed by the sound of an explosion. We both turn our gazes towards the ship and see that Salza has managed to blast Dore and Neiz off into the darkness of space.

I let out a tired sigh before saying, "I'll go grab Dumber and Dumbest before they float into a star or something. Take it as my last assignment until you find Frieza."

"How magnanimous of you..." Cooler replied sarcastically.

____________________

A few hours later, I walked into the cargo bay and saw the Armored Squadron waiting for me, standing right beside my ship.

"I swear, this vessel just appeared out nowhere one day. There is no paperwork on it in our database at all." Salza said as he looked over my ship, a datapad in his hand.

"Couldn't you just check the registration on it?" Neiz asked.

"I've tried! The only thing information I can find on this hunk of glorified metal is that it was on Planet Vegeta." Salza replied.

Dore let out an audible gulp, causing his two comrades to look over at him.

"You... You said that this ship was on Planet Vegeta and it just appeared out of nowhere...?" He asked, his voice trembling a bit.

Salza and Neiz looked at each other with raised eyebrows before turning their gazes back towards Dore.

"Yes?" Salza replied, wondering what had Dore so frightened.

"Don't you two know what that means?!" Dore exclaimed before pointing towards the ship. "That's a ghost ship!"

"Ghost ship? Don't be absurd!" Salza chastises.

The ship all of a sudden started to power on, causing all three of the Armored Squadron members to jump back in a fright.

"What the-?!"

They heard a small chuckle coming from behind them, turning around to find me holding the starter key.

I had Cooler requisition a key for my ship that only started once and specific code was inputted. There have been too many times someone had stolen an enemy ship and used it to fly to safety. They were not going to do that to me. I'm taking them down even after I die.

"Not funny, Commander..." Dore grumbled.

"I beg to differ." I said with an amused smile as I started to walk towards my ship. "Everything alright, Salza?"

"Ready and operational." He said, checking his datapad and giving me a thumbs up.

"Good." I replied.

As was about to step onto the ship, I was stopped by the three soldiers.

"Wait, one moment!" Salza spoke up.

I turned and saw them holding a white box. I turn and face the three, a look of curiosity making its way onto my face.

"What's this?" I asked.

"Lord Cooler decided that since you won't be officially apart of the Cooler Force whilst on leave, that we should get you some more appropriate clothing." He said, handing the box over to me.

I open the box and see what's inside, which causes me to smile a bit.

"Hold on." I told them.

I walk into the ship and close the door, taking a couple minutes to change before walking back out in my new clothes.

"How's it look?" I asked.

"Smashing, Commander." Salza replied.

"Very nice, very nice." Neiz nods in appreciation.

"You're going to style on all your enemies corpses with that, sir!" Dore yelled, giving me a big thumbs up.

I chuckle at the last comment. Looking down at myself, I realized that the outfit had a strange resemblance to Xeno Goku. Most of the differences were minor. The only thing that was noticeable were that I had gloves instead of wrist bands and my boots weren't wrapped from my ankle to my knee.

The colors were also a combination of white, grey, and black instead of Xeno Goku's red, blue, and black.

"Yes. Seems it wasn't a waste after all."

I look up and see Cooler leaning on the wall near the entrance of cargo bay.

"Don't go dying out there. The embarrassment if you were to die on some backwater planet would set us back decades." He said, walking towards me.

"Aww, you do care." I teased, covering my heart.

"Take it however you'd like, I just don't want you tarnishing the name of the Cooler Force." He replies with a roll of his eyes.

He stops right in front of me, making me have to turn my head up to look at him.

"So if I'm not officially on the Cooler Force at the moment, does that mean that you'll finally start calling me Zy'?" I asked.

"Don't be ridiculous. Nicknames are childish and unbecoming." He said.

"Come on, Cee, do it." I goaded him on.

"You are insufferable..." He stated, his eyes narrowing at me.

"What are you gonna do about it?" I asked, smirking at him.

We stare down at each other, not making any sudden movements before suddenly lunging at each other, fists raised in the air. The strike causes the ship to groan and the Cooler Squadron to be blown away.

Cooler and I stand unfazed, our fists planted into each other's faces.

Cooler's frown shifted to a small smile and he started to laugh. I respond in kind, laughing alongside him as we retracted both of our fists.

"Safe travels, Zy'." He said, using his thumps to wipe away the blood on his cheek.

"See you soon, Cee." I replied, using my fist to do the same.

I turn towards my ship and walk inside. In the doorway, I turn back towards Armored Squadron and give them a one-handed salute.

"Until next time, fellas. Take care of yourselves while I'm gone."

____________________

Zyleth (Base) - 478,000,000

Zyleth (Mastered SSJ1) - 76,480,000,000

Fourth Form Cooler - 482,000,000

Fifth Form Cooler - 68,360,000,000

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Early upload. Just got home. Long drive Gonna sleep for a damn month.

Feels good to be back.

Love y'all.