Foreword
Before I begin you will need to understand a few things about this fic:
-This fic is not a story about Goku and Co. with an OC mixed in like most of stories of this nature tend to be.
Maybe there'll be some interesting character interaction but otherwise it's pretty much canon in the authors personal flavor. Maybe some of the more powerful characters techniques will be shared out like candy to keep characters relevant in terms of power. Perhaps there will be efforts to nerf the Dragon Ball power scale to 'reasonable' levels and so on.
There will be none of that here.
This story follows its own path. Dragon Ball characters will be present and involved but it's not going to be the same DBZ you know. The further in you go the more changes there will be until you realize it's a whole different ball game.
-There will be no nerfing here
As I mentioned earlier most authors nerf the characters in their fiction, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In this fic characters will be every bit as powerful as they're shown/stated to be in canon unless I make some kind of change for story purposes. Indeed, you may even be surprised to learn how strong Dragon Ball characters truly are.
I am currently working on a power estimate system similar to that on the vsbattles wiki as an objective way to measure how strong each character is. If you're a debater, do not PM me trying to rope me into a debate. I will ignore you. I do appreciate character discussions though so long as there's a point to it and you're not there just to tell me how cool Vegeta is.
Additionally, if you are familiar with vsbattles wiki do not PM me with messages about how I've placed a character higher than they should be. Many characters on that wiki are heavily downplayed. They claim God Goku is Universal for example.
As a fan you may be thinking, nothing is wrong with that. However, reference to official guides such as the Daizenshuu will tell you that the Dragon Ball Universe is a macrocosm, composed of first the Living World which is the size of the Universe, Other World which is also universal in size, the Majin realm which is again Universal in size and then the Kaioshin Realm. Goku and Beerus were going to reduce all of that into "nothing".
That is easily 3 universe sized realms at least being destroyed along with their space and time. That is not a merely universal feat. This is without even considering that not only was Beerus not trying, Goku by the end of that fight was stronger than the Goku that caused those shockwaves.
Add in Super Saiyan multipliers, and he more than qualifies for low multiversal. If you really want to get specific you can take Base Goku by the end of his fight with Beerus, give him SSJ forms and he'd be Multiversal. If you wish to nerf Super Saiyan (By saying it's only 50x) then consider his growth throughout out the rest of the series. He more than qualifies.
Multiversal supposedly has a contentious definition so perhaps I'm wrong.
Either way Goku is capable of destroying large numbers of universal entities in a single shot and that's the point.
This leads me to another issue.
-The Dragon Ball Universe is not only four galaxies big.
North, South, East and West Galaxy are not actually galaxies. Reference to the Daizenshuu will inform you that they refer to quadrants of the Living World overseen by their respective Kaio. The Dragon Ball Universe is stated to be similar to ours, and in Super Jaco references the Milky Way galaxy. As such each respective Galaxy (North, South, East and West) is actually referring to a quarter of the universe.
This ties in with the "No nerfing clause placed above".
If you watched the first Broly movie (I'm referring to old Broly), you may have realized that when they said Broly destroyed South Galaxy they were referring to a quarter of the Universe and not just one galaxy. If we assume Broly did this over time (say he was constantly emitting energy for a 100 years straight), he would still have to be busting multiple galaxies every second. This is without access to his Legendary Form by the way.
This is downplay because he would moreso achieve this by blowing up large portions of the Universe at a time. Additionally, this is a casual feat.
Compare this with Super Perfect Cell who at his peak gloated that he had enough chi to blow away the entire Solar System. As you can imagine, he's fodder to old Broly.
(For anyone confused, this means a fight between them would be a stomp in Broly's favor.)
Yet another issue arises.
-The movies do not share the same power scale as the main timeline.
Toriyama first brings this up when asked if he has a hand in the movies and he said he was entirely an audience member for them. How Toei chooses to do things in the movies has little to do with him. He considers them separate timelines that have nothing to do with his story. In its Broly movie entry, The Daizenshuu points out how odd it is that the warriors were having a picnic instead of training for Cell, thus supporting this statement.
An example is that Goku in the Tree of Might had a power level of 35,000 despite the fact that it was supposed to happen before Vegeta came to Earth. The Multi-galactic Broly example is another.
Often, they do not scale to each other even when characters make cameo appearances. The Broly movies do scale off each other however because they are stated to by Toei. This is why Broly from his movie can be so much more powerful than Cell from the main time line.
Now, with this in mind if I bring in a character from the movies I will not nerf them either, barring exceptional circumstances or if I get a cool idea. Why? I find challenging fights more interesting.
If this entire time, you've been imagining things like Turles being weaker than Saiyan Saga Vegeta or Old Broly being weaker than Main Time line/Canon SSJ2 Gohan you're going to have a pretty rude awakening.
Same for if you thought Janemba was stronger than Buu.
-There may be cameos from other fiction.
Don't hold your breath though. I can be fickle.
-Super Saiyan…
There are many fan theories concerning Super Saiyan that I simply will not touch with a ten foot pole. There is more than enough information on Super Saiyan in interviews, official guides and DBZ itself that answer all the questions people have for the most part. Posting that however would require a Bible that I am simply not willing to write on the first page of my story. I may put some of it on my profile if it really concerns you
For now, this is the short version:
Super Saiyan is only a flat 50x multiplier when first unlocked. It gets way more powerful, outclassing Grade 3 by the Cell arc (which we know as Grade 4). This principle applies to Super Saiyan 2 and 3 as well.
Just because two Saiyans can use the Super Saiyan ability does not mean they're in the same league of power.
Mastery over Super Saiyan is a thing. Greater proficiency with the ability, allows the user to draw out more power with less strain. In short, if you're bad at using Super Saiyan you'll draw out less power for greater strain. Because of this a Super Saiyan 2 can beat a Super Saiyan 3 even if the users were equals in Base Form. This example applies to all forms like SSJ vs SSJ2, SSJ vs SSJ etc.
Super Saiyan 2 and 3 are not separate forms. They are just powered up variations of the same ability.
Super Saiyan Grade 4 is more powerful than Grade 3 (by 2x if not more), not just more efficient. It is Super Saiyans true power. (500x-1000x base minimum depending on the extent you wish to downplay)
Super Saiyan 2 isn't just a 100x base. It is 2x your Super Saiyan form. If your Super Saiyan form is greater than the 50x boost, your Super Saiyan 2 will be higher. The boost from SSJ2 can also be improved.
Ditto for SSJ3 except its 4x your SSJ2 form. Unclear if it can be improved further.
Super Saiyan God is not a Super Saiyan form. It is a divine state that powers up its user.
Super Saiyan Blue is the Super Saiyan form of a Super Saiyan God.
-Do not come at me with info from the wiki
In the course of my research I have found that the wiki is notoriously inaccurate and in some cases filled with headcanon.
Potential Unleashed for example, is considered a transformation that grants Gohan power equivalent to his SSJ2 form from the Cell arc. I have no clue if this was removed or changed since I read it but that was not the only error, just the easiest one for me to remember. (There were several.)
It's not even a transformation in the first place. This discussion also cannot be touched on, not for length but simply because I lack the patience to handle incredulity. The short version once more:
Gohan is simply that powerful after the ritual. He's just that strong.
He can still go Super Saiyan but considers it unnecessary for unknown reasons.
Mystic/Ultimate Gohan is a fan name. No official mention of him anywhere. It came about when the games needed a way to differentiate Gohan after the ritual from Gohan before the ritual.
It was originally Chou Gohan lit: Super Gohan.
Gohan's full potential can be surpassed by himself and others.
Gohan is not the strongest unfused character. That's a fan statement too.
-There will be elements from GT
Such as Super Saiyan 4.
If you read what I said about God Goku above you've probably realized that the God forms are easily more powerful than SSJ4. i.e. they grant a bigger boost. It's not even close.
This doesn't mean the form will be disregarded in my story. Don't be discouraged. I won't pretend they are even though. I told you I won't nerf powers.
-Faster than Light
Dragon Ball characters stronger than Raditz are faster than light. Complaining about how that breaks physics doesn't mean much. It's fiction. That sort of stuff is allowed and Dragon Ball is hardly the first show to do so.
If you want realism you're looking in the wrong place. If this makes you hate Dragon Ball you might as well quit DC, Marvel and most of the top shonen shows/manga while you're at it. They all eventually reach and surpass the point where their characters are FTL.
Eg. (Luffy dodging photons, Naruto dodges 4th Raikage who is confirmed light speed, Saitama casually keeps up with someone confirmed FTL, Raditz dodging Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon even while off guard, Super Man crossing the volume of the Universe within the time it took a human heart to beat once)
To be fair, light isn't necessarily hard capped either. Its speed is a function of its frequency, the plank coefficient or some such physics thing that I can't be bothered to look up at time of writing. It would simply mean light in those stories is way faster than light in our universe. This point is also for the Dyspo downplayers. (The proper translation of his technique is Super Maximum Speed Mode)
If you enjoyed the shows before you read this I see no reason why that has to change.
Raising your power level increases both strength and speed unless stated otherwise.
-God Ki doesn't mean squat
At no point in the show was God Ki stated to be stronger than regular Ki. Feel free to look. It's not a new concept. It was stated that Shin's power couldn't be sensed and Shin is weaker than the Saiyans and Piccolo in the Buu arc. No Piccolo choosing to give up doesn't mean he's weaker. His statement was about how Shin was a god and he wasn't.
When Beerus made mention of it, he said that simply raising your power cannot be considered divine. Or maybe that was Whis. Doesn't matter. The point being made is that divinity has little to do with power.
All we know about Beerus is that he is a god and he is strong. It was never said that he was strong because he was a god.
The only one to imply such a concept was Zamasu and well… how reliable do you think he is?
*Cough*Gets his ass handed to him by mortals repeatedly*Cough*
This would explain why mortals are capable of matching and surpassing gods.
All we know about god ki thus far is that it's a different type of ki used by gods that can't be sensed by mortals. That's it.
-Ki control
This is another concept that requires a lot of explanation not because its complex but because people either prefer their headcanon or don't know about it because they started watching from Z. I know the first part seems like a sarcastic insult but believe me it's actually a statement of fact. As you can imagine, I'm not typing that essay.
The short version:
Dragon Ball characters draw out their strength through their own concentration and will.
Fighters can be anywhere between their maximum strength and 0 at any given time. This is because they can control how much power their body uses through ki control.
The more ki you happen to be using the harder it is to control, this is why it is more comfortable to stay at lower levels of strength.
Ki control can be used to minimize or cancel out collateral. This is why characters could casually blow up the various heavenly bodies, the universe itself and the multiverse but never seem to do so even when enraged. Example: Goku vs Vegeta (Saiyan Saga) has better feats than Goku vs Vegeta (Buu Saga).
All these statements apply to any and all transformations such as Super Saiyan unless stated otherwise. This is why a character can become a Super Saiyan against someone who was even with his base form and not instantly win. They are simply not using all the extra power granted by the form. This does not make them weak.
How hard they may be trying doesn't mean anything if they're not at full power.
-I may not provide a power level system
I know I said I was working on a power estimate system instead but I may not use that either. It is harder to create tension when you know who is stronger than who. I'm fickle. Sue me.
-The beginning is awful
Unfortunately the beginning of my stories tend to be bad because you're being introduced to so many things and so many concepts necessary for the story. I'm impatient and tend to cram as much information as possible into as few scenes as possible so I can get on with the stuff that matters, a trait Toriyama and I share. This usually means there's a lot of clunky seemingly unnecessary exposition. It's not so bad you can't read but just to let you know… if you're impatient like me you're probably going to skip a lot of sentences.
That's part of why I post. To work on my writing.
I am still refining some scenes so don't let the beginning fool you. The quality of this fic does improve, especially when I get the basic foundation going and the story really begins to move. My talents begin to show themselves around the ending of the Namek arc of this story.
Everything before is intro. Yes, the 200- 300k words long this fic is stated to be is my introduction.
I also update the earlier chapters with improved versions as I go along.
-With that out of the way…
If by some miracle I haven't lost you yet after everything I've said I have just one thing left to say:
Enjoy yourself.
It was a day of war. It was a day of pain, suffering and betrayal.
On this day two gods died.
The sky was dark, suffused with red clouds. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed but there was no rain. The ground was black, dotted with orange flames. It was large field, once filled with grass. Two figures moved upon it, one crawling the other walking. One robed, the other armored.
The Dragon god struggled to create distance between them. "What are you doing, Kin'emon? Stop this I implore you!"
"That power you gave to your useless dragon, Zalaman," said the figure in armor. "I want it."
"He's for utility, if Creation does not go as planned he's the failsafe," the dragon god replied. "I can't just do that, you know that! I thought you agreed! I thought we all agreed!"
The armored figure did not pause in his slow advance. "Creation was a mistake. Do you not see the mortals? How they live? That power is better used elsewhere…"
"We gave them guidance! The Kai, Zen-Oh, the Hakaishin! There are still plans in play!"
"Is that a joke? Tell me you're joking."
Zalaman's backward crawl was starting to slow down. "We worked so hard for this… isn't it lonely for you? Do you not want to make your own mark on Creation? To observe something you can call your own? Is simply being… enough for you?"
"I have no need to share anything of myself with anyone," came the reply. "By virtue of who I am, nothing will suffice."
"If you're not satisfied we can hold another meeting-"
"Can we, Zalaman?" the armored man said, drawing his sword with a practiced flick. "Can we really?"
Blood splattered on the ground, thrown off the edge of the blade. The Dragon god fell silent.
"Not as foolish as you seem," the armored man acknowledged. "Give it to me."
A red blur streaked above them, landing between the two with a crash to reveal a newcomer.
"Super Saiyan God," the armored one spoke. "I was hoping you wouldn't get here."
The god smirked. "Yes well, I don't fight fair."
The armored one nodded in acknowledgement. "The only reason you are still alive."
"Why don't you stand down now?" the Saiyan god spoke, red aura flaring to life.
"No."
Zalaman looked forlorn. The Saiyan god remained upright, his posture neutral. The armored warrior was the same but for the blade at his side.
The Dragon god felt sorrow, very deep sorrow.
As the two warriors faced off and the Dragon god watched, something flew through the air. It landed behind him with an earth shaking tremor. Steam hissed from the newcomer, every step releasing new quakes until it stopped behind the three beings.
The armored man tensed.
Zalaman eyes widened in realization. "No, don't-"
White energy bathed the fields.
Two gods died that day.