Dragon Ball GT: Maximum

by Kensh3h

GT is bad. That much is a given. Not nearly as much as the Moro arc of Super, but still a work of extremely poor quality that's cemented itself as a contentious topic. To try and rectify this, I decided several weeks ago to rewrite GT to a more palatable standard of writing quality, hopefully living up to the quality of the original manga. Constructive criticism is welcome.

2. In Which We Meet Mr Kaiba

Chapter 2: In Which We Meet Mr. Kaiba

A few hours after the events on Kami's Palace, yet another dilemma was unfolding for the Dragon Team: In this case, the young president of Capsule Corporation, Trunks.

"Mi-Mister President, sir!" said Trunks' Capsule Corp. employee frantically, "We've a major problem on our hands!"

"I heard you coming loud and clear from the next door over," said the disinterested half-Saiyan president, "Just what could be so important that you have to bother me on the rare day that I'm actually working?"

"Someone is rapidly buying the stocks of Capsule Corporation! At this rate whoever it is, he'll have more than your family's share of 24%!" continued the Capsule Corp. employee, "Almost all of the other shareholders have sold their shares!"

"You can't be serious!" said Trunks as he freaked out at the news, "W-who in the hell?! I made sure with me having 24% of the stocks, and the remaining 76% being more or less evenly distributed between the other five stock holders, we'd have complete control! And that 24% is already tantamount to my mother and grandfather's life savings!"

The Capsule Corp. employee then added, "T-There's no real explanation for what is happening, but whoever bought the stocks passed 21% an hour ago, sir! A bit more, and you'll be expelled from your position as CEO!"

"Grrrarrrrrgh!" Trunks banged his fists so hard on his desk that the bulletproof windows of the room shattered, and little more than tiny pieces of wood remained of his desk, "We've got to get to the bottom of this! Before it's too late!"

Far away in East City, the city once destroyed by Nappa during Vegeta's invasion of Earth decades ago, the culprit behind this takeover watched Trunks' frantic reactions with glee.

"Fufufufufu..." said the shadowed figure as he petted his pet cat while sipping wine, "it really speaks to how rusty this 'Trunks' kid must be to be unable to even realize I've planted bugs and cameras in his office. I'm willing to bet that Saiyan 'Vegeta,' who I'd learned long ago was the one behind the destruction of this now-prosperous city is [i]supremely[/i] disappointed with him."

The shadowed figure then rose from his chair and began to float in mid-air, before shouting, "Stocks!"

The large screen then turned to display that Trunks' share of Capsule Corp.'s stocks were now equal to his own. The figure then smirked, and with the strength of his incredible grip twisted his cat's head 180 degrees before tearing it right off. He then tossed it straight to the ground and muttered, "Soon... soon, after two years, revenge will finally be mine!"

The scene now once again shifts to Kami's Palace, where Pilaf and his two henchmen were tied to a pillar using their own steel cables. Oob, Mr. Popo and Dende were at a loss as to what they were going to do.

"T-This can't be happening..." said the disgruntled Dende as he grasped his head in frustration, "It's bad enough that Goku is gone, but for the Ultimate Dragon Balls to have been used to do the deed..."

"I still don't get why we couldn't have just offed those scoundrels," said Oob, "Goku's hope for me first and foremost was for me to become the defender of Earth. And that means doling out appropriate punishments for scoundrels like these."

"Even in these troubled times, you must remember to keep your mind as tranquil as the lake of Mt. Paozu," said Popo, "and strike as fast as lightning only when the time comes to defend yourself. These three aren't worth getting your hands dirty."

"Kami! Earth's Kami!" interrupted a loud, anxious voice, "Goku has filled me in on the details! I've spent the last few hours researching the Ultimate Dragon Balls!"

"Who's this?" wondered Oob, "And he says he knows Goku-san?"

"Kaio-sama! It's good to hear from you, my lordship!" said Dende in reverence, "Please don't tell me it's as bad as we've feared!"

"Things are exactly as bad as you'd suspected- no, maybe worse!" said the Kaio of the North, "Thankfully Goku's existence itself wasn't erased by the Ultimate Dragon Balls due to the wording of the wish, but it couldn't possibly be any worse for your planet!"

"So the previous Kami's instructions on what to do with the Ultimate Dragon Balls... they were correct?" said Dende with dread, "That they really will ravage our planet in a year's time?"

" 'Ravage' is an understatement! If the Ultimate Dragon Balls are not returned to where the wish was granted in a year's time, your planet itself shall explode!" yelled Kaio, "And if what we know about the hierarchy of the three sets of Dragon Balls is to be trusted, only the Ultimate Dragon Balls themselves can possibly revive Goku! That Pilaf scoundrel wished for 'permanent death' that can't be undone, especially by any weaker set of Dragon Balls!"

"W-Well Kaio-sama, if things really came to that, we could just ask Kaioshin-sama or the old-timer to revive me," said Goku with his hand placed on Kaio's back, "it ain't like we didn't do that the last time I was dead. Not that I'm exactly in a hurry to return to life or anything..."

"OH SO BECAUSE THE HIGHEST GODS OF THE UNIVERSE OFFERED THEIR LIVES ONCE WHEN THE UNIVERSE WAS IN DANGER, YOU THINK IT'S JUST PROTOCOL FOR THEM TO DO IT EVERY TIME A MORTAL WANTS HIS LIFE BACK?!" yelled the frustrated Kaio angrily, "That's literally the last thing they'll ever say okay to! And if you haven't noticed, the Ultimate Dragon Balls have power that makes yours pale in comparison, and there's no way either of the two Kaioshin-sama could undo their wish either!"

"O-Okay Kaio-sama, sheesh... I was just pointing out they did it for me before, that's all..." said Goku after receiving an earful, "So here's the deal guys, whether I come back to life will have to be a secondary concern, if the Earth explodes again in a year and we can't evacuate everyone in time by then, it'll turn out to be a major disaster! Especially considering most of the Earth's population has already been revived before! I'm dead, so I really can't help you guys, but I suggest heading over to Capsule Corp. right now to get Bulma started on a new spaceship so you guys can go gather those Ultimate Dragon Ball thingies and bring them back to Earth! Let's think of what we'll do with the whole bringing me back business after that!"

"That's just like Goku, being unbothered by death..." said the dumbfounded Dende, as he then took a breath and said to Oob, "I want to go with you, Oob-kun, but I can't leave this palace because truth be told, just before the wish was made on the Ultimate Dragon Balls, the sky blacked out as though the Dragon Balls were used. And from the looks of these three miscreants we see here, it doesn't appear that they were the ones to have made the wish. I'll have to look down on the lower world until I've learned who used my Dragon Balls."

"Got it," said Oob, "Goku-san taught me Shunkan Idou, so I'll just teleport to Trunks-san and have him lock these three up in a jail cell in West City. I'll have to break the terrible news to Goku-san's family afterwards..."

Oob then placed two fingers on his forehead, grabbed the three incompetent evildoers by the wires they were tied up in, and then teleported to Capsule Corporation. When he arrived at the site of Capsule Corp., however, he was treated to a rare and unusual sight...

"L-Let me go, Dad! I'm going to find whoever did this and just-" said a heavily frustrated Trunks, transformed into Super Saiyan as he was being held in a full nelson by Vegeta with half of Capsule Corp. being in ruins and Bulma and Bra hiding behind the ruins of Vegeta's gravity chamber as Trunks continued to try to rampage further.

"Calm down, boy!" said Vegeta as he headbutted the ensnared Trunks and knocked him onto the floor, "Your short temper is your weakest trait! The past fifteen years ever since your last big battle, just what have you been doing exactly? You've just had everything handed to you, the company, food, you've never had to work a day in your life to provide for yourself, and you've done nothing but slack off in your training! And any time things don't go your way, your first instinct is to just explode and smash whatever's in your line of sight! All the potential you've held just waiting to be unleashed, and even with your royal heritage and talent you've wasted them all!"

"This has nothing to do with talent! Training or no training, I'm one of the strongest fighters on this planet and I know I can kill this guy the moment-" said Trunks defiantly until Vegeta interrupted him, saying "SILENCE! Listen up and listen good, Trunks! There's a good reason why my race, a race of bloodthirsty, ravenous countrymen with high pride were able to retain a civilized society, and that was due to respect for their superiors! I am your father and you will learn to keep your head in check! Something as trivial as this company being bought out isn't a problem you can't solve if you just calm yourself down, got it?!"

"Ugh... fine, whatever you say," said Trunks as he begrudgingly returned to normal, "I still think we could've just asked Shenlong or Dende or whoever to tell us who did this and killed him."

Just then, Goten, holding Chi-Chi in one hand and Gyu-Mao in another, flew to the site of the half-destroyed Capsule Corp. saying, "Whoa, this totally looks like a warzone. Trunks-kun, you really need to keep that temper of yours in check, man. The Ki you were emitting when you went on a rampage here, we could feel from the other side of the globe! I came to check up on what was going on. Gohan-niisan should be here too from Satan City as soon as he's done with his lecture."

"I guess this makes enough of you that I can relay the bad news now..." said Oob as he then began to go into detail as to what had been happening over the past several hours, finally finishing the story saying, "... and that's how I came to bring these three to justice. But I guess we can't do that now that Capsule Corp. is halfway destroyed..."

Just then, Gohan arrived with Videl and Satan at hand, as did his young daughter Pan.

Gohan then said, "Kaioshin-sama filled us in on the details as I flew over. We're in a world of trouble, aren't we?" said Gohan in a depressive tone.

"Yeah, tell me about it," said Goten, "Mom just fainted as soon as she'd heard the news. I don't often say this, but I think it's time to break up with my current girlfriend and get started on training again."

"B-Bzzz-"

The Dragon Team and their grieving conversation was then brought to a halt as suddenly, bugs installed on trees adjacent to their location suddenly expanded in size and began projecting a large hologram of a shadowed figure in the sky.

"Greetings, fallen aristocrats! As well as that family of nobodies from East District 439," said the shadowed figure, with his likeness projected onto the sky at hundreds of times the size of a regular person, "I heard everything. So evidently you're not just at the lone dilemma of your rich and privileged life coming to an end, but Goku, a previous winner of the Tenkaichi Budokai, has been put in a state of... permanent death, is that right?"

Trunks instinctively transformed into a Super Saiyan and blasted the hologram, before it harmlessly passed through. He then yelled, "Who are you? And how do you know about us?! You can't be..."

"Exactly right. Allow me to introduce myself. I am known as... Kaiba," said the figure projected into the large hologram, "And I am indeed the one who bought out your company. I have half a mind to have you arrested for destroying what is no longer yours, but I've a much more... appropriate and entertaining punishment in mind."

"Appropriate punishment?! I'll tell you what's an appropriate punishment," said the infuriated Trunks, "Me whooping your ass and giving you a one-way ticket straight to the afterlife!"

"Oh, don't be like that..." said Kaiba's hologram, "You're just going to love what I have in store for you. For starters, the dark-skinned one there... Oob, was it? I was the one who wished upon the Dragon Balls yesterday, as well, if you were wondering. To become the richest man on the planet."

"Becoming the richest man on the planet... and buying off Capsule Corp., just what is it that you're planning?" yelled Goten, "You just trying to flaunt your wealth in our face?!"

"Oh please, I know it's hard for a mere country bumpkin to grasp the beauty of my grand plan, so I'll go into detail slowly for you," continued the holographic figure, "It all starts with that bald fool Mr. Satan over there. You see, I was a genius of many talents in my time. A great genius of mechanics and science, as well as one of this planet's greatest martial artists. I, who had once been the young president of a rival corporation of Capsule Corp., entered a Tenkaichi Budokai tournament two years ago to further advertise my products."

Trunks smirked as he began to put two and two together, saying, "And you got your ass whooped royally in the finals, is that it? And that's why you want revenge?"

"Watch your tongue, boy, or I'll sear it shut," said the angered Kaiba, Trunks obviously having touched a nerve, "But yes, that was the end result. Even though I would clearly have been the victor over that bumbling, bald fool over there in a fair competition, or against any other competitor in that competition," continued Kaiba as his hologram projector then turned to show a large, crowded street below where he was standing in East City, at which point he concentrated Ki into his palm and blew it up, killing hundreds. As Mr. Satan nearly had a heart attack, Kaiba then added, "but thanks to that dirty cheat 'Mister Boo' abomination, I had my victory stolen from me in just the first round! A defeat so resounding that my company's stocks plummeted over the next year!"

"And that's when you swore to have revenge on Satan and Boo, that much I can understand," said Gohan, "but what is your beef with the rest of us? I personally haven't even participated in the Tenkaichi Budokai since I was in high school, and none of us participate regularly."

"My 'beef' is with all of you, you who constantly manipulate the roster of the Tenkaichi Budokai to maximize the odds of Satan winning, and put honest and hardworking martial artists like myself at a proportionately greater disadvantage the more skilled we actually are. I refuse to believe Boo facing myself, the clear favorite to win that tournament that year, was a coincidence. You used his magic to take out all but the weakest of Satan's adversaries, then had Boo lose to the least threatening of them and have him be beaten by Satan in the last round to maintain his title unfairly!"

Everyone's eyes turned to Mr. Satan as chills went down the fraudster champion's spine, as he was unable to deny a thing.

Calming himself down to his smug and arrogant demeanor once more, Kaiba then announced the rest of his plan, "So here's the rest of my masterful, highly-calculated revenge: I will personally fund for Bulma to build a spaceship large enough for three of you to go gather these 'Ultimate Dragon Balls' to prevent our planet's demise. After all, I've just wished to become the richest man on Earth, and I'd hate for this planet to vanish before I got to relish in it."

Trunks said with a large frown on his face, "But there's a catch, right? Some kind of horrible punishment for us if we fail?"

Kaiba's smirk then widened to a psychotic, large grin as he then added, "Very perceptive! Since a challenge isn't any fun without the proper amount of stakes, I give you... six months, not a year. Should be plenty to just gather a bunch of balls, especially for people like Oob and yourself."

"And if we fail?" inquired Trunks.

"That's the best part!" shouted the ecstatic Kaiba as he then added, with a contorted, demented look on his face, "If you were to fail in meeting the terms of my challenge, I shall personally wish upon the Earth's Dragon Balls, which I had my AI robots gather in just a few hours' time even in stone form thanks to my high-level technology, for Bulma, your baby sister Bra and that accursed Mr. Satan to be reduced to a state of permanent death... not unlike your friend Goku."

"WHAT?!" said Trunks and Vegeta simultaneously.

"Ha! Hahahahahaha! You'd just love to come to where I am and end me, wouldn't you? But be warned, you do that and my new, advanced radar will be lost, and you'll die too in a year's time when the Ultimate Dragon Balls haven't been gathered in their proper place! I would think accepting the terms of our deal would be in your best interest," said Kaiba mockingly as he then sipped more champagne, "I give you two weeks to give me a yes/no answer. Of course, a no will result in me dropping off the radar and erasing your precious family. Chao!"

Kaiba's hologram then disappeared as Trunks punched a large crater into the ground, before undoing his transformation and returning to normal.

"I can't say we've ever been in a predicament quite like this..." said Gohan as he swept some sweat off his brow, "someone like Cell or Boo, who just want a fight or to destroy stuff we've come across before, but..."

"I'll kill him! I'll kill him right now!" yelled Trunks, "I felt his ki just faintly when he blew up that street, I can go ahead and end him and we can worry about what to do later!"

Oob and Goten both restrained Trunks as he said this, prompting Trunks to yell, "Let me go! Or I'll beat you two to a pulp first!"

Vegeta swiftly moved to Trunks' direction and punched him in the face before then beginning to lecture Trunks, saying "Feh! I told you before when Capsule Corp. was being bought out and I'll tell you again: A threat of this meager caliber is something no son of mine should ever have any trouble conquering! From the sound of things, he has a year before he can actually make any wishes, so even if he wanted to try anything underhanded, he wouldn't be able to for a year's time! And that year being cut in half for you to gather those 'Ultimate' Dragon Balls is perfect! You've been nothing but a hell of a disappointment for the past decade, and now you've finally got the incentive to go out and make something of yourself!"

Suddenly, the conversation was joined in by the deceased Goku, who then added, "Gotta say, I feel bad for Bulma and Bra that they're in the situation they're in, but I'm in agreeance with Vegeta here! I've been preoccupied the past five years trainin' Oob, but if this challenge will get Trunks and Goten to finally step up to the plate as they should've during Majin Boo's rampage, then I'm all for it! Give it the best you've got, guys! I'm rootin' for you!"

Bulma and Bra then sighed and wiped some dust off their clothes, then Bulma added, "I swear, it's always the men in the family who make the big decisions without any input from us. But I agree. If we have to kill this Kaiba guy, we need to do it after we've gotten all the Ultimate Dragon Balls back! Bra and I will be fine for the next year from what we can tell, so don't worry about us. I know my son, and I know he can handle this. We'll think about how we can bring back Son-kun once we've made it out of this predicament."

"That settles it then," said Piccolo as he suddenly emerged and landed onto the site of the destroyed Capsule Corporation, "I couldn't help but overhear that loud holographic bastard as I was flying to this location when I sensed your Ki gathered here. I technically created the Ultimate Dragon Balls as the previous Kami, so I'm going to help solve this problem personally. I'm heading out to space with Trunks and Goten."

"I want to go, too, Papa! It's my grandpa's life on the line, not Trunks'!" demanded Pan.

"This is much too dangerous, Pan. You'll stay here," said Gohan, "and if someone attacks Earth in the meanwhile, I'll let you have the first crack at him! I promise."

Trunks had to begrudgingly accept the terms of this agreement and then underwent retraining under Oob along with Goten for the next two weeks. Because Goten had occasionally been trained by Goku whenever he returned to Mt. Paozu to have Chi-Chi's cooking with Oob over the past five years, he managed to pick up Oob's Shunkan Idou skill. And thus, the day of no return has finally come...!

Kaiba was busy ordering for Capsule Corp. to be rebuilt as KaibaCorp., and as per the terms of the agreement handed Piccolo his Super Dragon Radar, which had a radius that covered a fourth of the universe at once and could detect Dragon Balls even in their stone states. Bulma and Bra were hiding out at Kami's Palace watching this over a camera they'd installed on Vegeta's jacket, figuring that neither Kaiba nor Trunks would have the pluck to attack him even if they were to try something funny in rage.

"I have to say, I wonder just why it is that the brightest minds on Earth always turn to evil," said Bulma in frustration, "First Gero, and now this guy... I invented the Dragon Radar, and I can't fathom for the love of me how this guy managed to build one that advanced without any sort of reverse engineering."

"That's great and all Mom, but maybe we should worry about what Onii-chan and the others have to deal with? This is our lives on the line here," said Bra while sighing, "And where is Pan? She said she'd visit us today!"

"Keep myself calm, my anger is my weakest trait... Keep myself calm..." chanted Trunks to himself as he was about to enter Kaiba's specially built "OctoPUS 9000" spaceship, with a flight speed on par with Attack Balls.

"I'm going in first. I'm already familiar with how Namekian spaceships work, so it's probably best that I do the piloting." said Piccolo as he entered the spaceship first off.

"I'd love to go with you guys, but as Goku-san said, what he wanted of me was to be Earth's greatest defender. It isn't that I don't trust Vegeta-san and Gohan-san, but I also need to continue my own training," said Oob as he shook Trunks and Goten's hands, "Good luck to you both! And you've made great progress in just two weeks' time! I believe in you two!"

"Screw it, I'm heading inside. The longer I have to look at Kaiba's face is the longer I keep resisting the urge to sock him." said Trunks as he headed in the spaceship.

Goten was busy getting yelled at by his girlfriend before he just smashed his phone in his grip, begrudgingly accepting that saving the planet was more important than maintaining his relationship with her. He then took a deep breath and said, "Well, here goes-"

Suddenly, the door to the spaceship closed and the timer to its launch started its countdown.

"5-4-3-"

"Pan? What are you doing here?!" said Trunks in shock, "Bra told me you were visiting her in the Heavenly Realm!"

"Heh... she reminds me of Goku when he was a child. Always unpredictable." said Piccolo.

"Aaaaaaaand! LAUNCH!" yelled Pan in glee, "I'm a grownup too! And ain't no one gonna tell me to stay behind!"

"OctoPUS 9000 ready for takeoff," said the central computer, "Launching now."

The spaceship instantly freed itself from the confines of Capsule Corp.'s ruins and blasted smoke in Goten's face and exited the Earth's atmosphere. The unlikely trio of Trunks, Piccolo and Pan were now off to find the Ultimate Dragon Balls in six months' time...!

To be continued...