Disclaimer, in case it wasn't obvious. I don't own Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, or really any other property. Thank you.

The Cataylst

Act IV

Chapter 49: Had it Coming

Turles:

Two jabs shot in towards his head as Vegeta lunged at him from his prone position, trying to immediately move in towards him. A flurry of other punches tried to catch him on another level as Turles's head weaved around each one of the blows, a sinister grin never leaving his features as he saw the holes appearing in Vegeta's defences. Aggression was always the best answering. Slipping under Vegeta's attacks, Turles crashed into Vegeta without mercy. His right fist uppercut into Vegeta's abdomen, leaving the other Saiyan gaping, hanging over his fist. It was already over before it had begun, wasn't it?

Well, aren't you intimidating Vegeta?

Pulling his fist away, Vegeta staggered back, his features seething with self loathing and disdain for him. Why blame him for being weak? That was a bizarre thing to Turles in the extreme. It wasn't as if he'd made him weak. That was the fault of the flawed lineage of Saiyan Nobles. Standing there with his rolled up sleeves and unbuttoned shirt, up to the beginning of his suit-vest, Turles almost laughed as he raised his fists again, moving in for the kill. Apparently he was leading the revolution against the high minded nobles. Given that he was more or less, the last of the Saiyans barring Raditz.

Power to the people.

Raditz would have loved to see this anyway.

"You should learn your place beneath your betters, Vegeta."

Stepping in with his right, the Saiyan warrior aimed to strike down towards the hunched Vegeta with a left punch. The blow soared over Vegeta's shoulder instead of making its target. Blinking as he saw Vegeta's features go from pain to determination, Turles realized exactly the mistake he'd made. He'd fallen for the bait. Quickly he tried to recover, his midsection was open to attack. His right arm tried to go in as his left recoiled. His right knee even tried to move in place before Vegeta returned the exchange. The second he missed that punch, it was too late.

Vegeta struck without mercy, quickly shooting his right fist into his abdomen, mirroring his prior attack. A stunned Turles felt his diaphragm retract as his entire body felt like it was being forced inward. Before he could make another move, Vegeta struck high, catching him off guard as the next strike came in, this time connecting with the side of his jaw. The ground fell away from his feet, at least from the perspective of the born third class Saiyan. A scowl covered the distorted Saiyan's features as he began sensing the world around him. Throwing his ki around him, Turles's body stopped in the air with a roar.

"Vegeta," he almost snarled.

The world slowed down as Vegeta's blurred image came into view. Raising his arm, he blocked the incoming strike as his black eyes locked onto Vegeta's, his own intensifying with anger at the humiliation he'd just faced at the hands of the weaker of the two of them. Striking back with an outstretched left strike, Turles felt even more surprised as Vegeta managed a block, even as his arm trembled after the impact. Using his body's motion and momentum in the air, Turles pulled himself towards Vegeta, flanking in around him before slamming his knee into the other Saiyan's side. The prince gagged for only a second before Turles grabbed him by the face ruthlessly. His fingers digging into the flesh of his would-be superior, the third class just seethed for a moment.

This kind of a turn around hadn't been expected at all. In fact, this fight hadn't been expected at all. It was just a frustrating roadblock for him to circumvent or run over.

"I didn't give you permission to hit me, did I, Vegeta?" Turles snapped.

As soon as he released his hand, in almost the same motion his other hand immediately balled into a fist, slamming into Vegeta's ribs before he threw his right elbow out, cracking into his face. Before the Prince could be sent back, in one turning motion, Turles threw out a round house kick, looking to send Vegeta's body flying through the city itself. Despite the damage inflicted however, Vegeta seemed to use the force from his strikes to pull his body up despite it all. The younger Saiyan's leg swept into nowhere as Vegeta tumbled back. Blue energy sparked across from him as the prince regained control of his flight and blasted off towards him.

The move was another surprise. When he barrelled into him, Turles only barely managed his defence, blocking the incoming strike. With indignation, the leader of the Crusher Corps roared striking out with fury before thought, throwing a right hook. With an elegance Turles didn't expect, Vegeta flowed around the punch, before swinging into his own roundhouse kick, just as the ki flared around his body. With full force, Turles felt the kick slam into his chest and pass through him. His own purple aura flickered the intensity of the blow was so great.

Helplessly falling back, he felt himself plunge through the roof of the space craft below. Metal tore and ripped through his shirt, pants, and vest, shredding his suit. When his body indented into the floor, Turles felt the almost wet thud he made as the sound of metal screeching emerged below him. His head fell to one side for a brief second as he felt his chest breath in the air like he was breathing in fire.

He'd taken his advantages for granted, and even now he realized it. Not taking this seriously was his first problem. It was obvious that Vegeta's power had not only grown, but he'd been learning from his prior errors.

And here I thought I wasn't going to kill him!

Turning his head up towards the hole his body had made, Turles just breathed to control himself. His eyes almost cracked with rage as he felt himself losing control. This was humiliating, and it was happening right now, wasn't it? This little rat was overcoming him. It wasn't that he didn't respect Vegeta or his power. Oh he'd seen the Prince's real potential before, and it was formidable, but it wasn't supposed to be this kind of stumbling block to him. He was the second strongest being on the planet, and the strongest being who didn't need to transform on the planet.

I'm going to-!

His thoughts were cut off when he noticed a blue energy crackling around Vegeta as he hung in the air above the training station. Breathing in and out through his mouth, Turles's rage was only halted when his mind realized what was happening above.

In a flash of burning bright light, Turles saw the world above the hole in the space craft turn blue as a massive bolt of destruction descended upon him. When it hit him, he felt the entire world detonate around him. In the midst of the carnage, Turles screamed out in pain and fury.

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Vegeta:

His one hand hung oustretched in front of him as Turles stared at the flaming wreckage of what had once been the space craft he'd been training in. Too much ki was flowing through the air, but there was no mistaking that it was an attempted kill shot. Any time you had an advantage over a superior foe, you always went straight for the kill rather than waiting to lose to them once they rallied their strength and senses.

Descending from above, his feet landed on the grass as the warmth of the fire reached out to him. The intensity of the inferno was in such a state he knew that any human who got within a few metres would be burned just from proximity. Inside that burning wreck lay either a dead man, or a recovering monster which would rapidly rise to overtake him.

"Y-you did it?" Bulma's voice emerged behind him. Turning his head slowly, he just eyed her for a moment, regarding her presence as little more than a bother at the moment.

"To fulfil our agreement, you need to stay back," he told her bluntly. "I don't know if it's over."

"But are you hurt?" she asked, clearly concerned for his well being.

That was a miserable concept. It was as humiliating as when she'd taken him under her wing to heal his prior injuries from Turles. It was obvious she had her own designs, he wasn't such a blind fool to not see through them. Even this agreement to protect her, it was all aimed at the one she was the most afraid of, and that was the idiot who was burning in the wreck of his space craft. This was an exchange and little else.

Reaching up his hand, Vegeta brushed his mouth and revealed a trickle of blood on the back of his hand.

"I'm fine," he answered bluntly.

When she walked over to him, he noticed how strange it was that she looked first at the blood on his hand, before looking directly at him. The concern in her eyes was real, whether that was for him, or for herself, he didn't really care.

"I dunno about Vegeta," Yamcha's voice cracked out from the background. "But uhhh... Bulma... I'm kinda hurt."

Blinking several times without turning away from him, she seemed to process the human was there. Before she could move to help him however, the fire in front of them bulged out the centre as Vegeta sensed Turles's power rise to the surface. Fire burst from the front of the front of the burning wreck face towards them as part of the frame's bottom which had survived his attack tore open. Walking out of the wreck, Turles made several steps.

"H-h-he can't be real," Bulma whispered to herself. "This is a nightmare."

The only pause he saw in Turles's attack was the woman being there herself. It immediately told Vegeta something intriguing. This fool still feared Kakarot, despite how furious he was. And Vegeta could tell his former comrade from Namek was furious. The entirety of his shirt was destroyed, along with his vest. Burns and scrapes covered his upper torso, and rips covered his pants. The shows Vegeta had been looking at only minutes ago, didn't exist any longer, completely destroyed in the blast. The look in his eyes were those of a barely controlled animal.

The second the woman left his side, the assault would begin. And Vegeta could sense Turles's energy intensifying by the second.

"Go," Vegeta ordered, not even bothering to look at Bulma.

"Why is he even here? Doesn't he know Goku will-"

"Go," Vegeta repeated more forcefully.

"But-"

"Don't you understand, girl?" Turles's voice almost demonically echoed through the air. "He's trying to save you. So move."

It was strange to sense her reluctance before Vegeta sensed her move away and heard her feet running across the grass towards her pitiful choice in mates. Turning his full attention back to Turles, Vegeta at least understood the other Saiyan's motivation. He wanted to get on with their little battle, and he suspected was intending on limiting the amount of fury Kakarot would have for him if this battle got out of hand. It was as calculating as ever, he was sure.

Reality was at hand however, Vegeta knew that at this stage of the fight his odds of putting up much resistance was going to be out of spite for the most part. Even keeping his calm as he had through his fight, it was like a trying to fight the oncoming tide. At least for the moment it was. Because if he survived this, he was going to have his revenge for this humiliation. And once he was done with Turles, he'd move on to Kakarot and their foolish weakling brother Raditz.

Knowing the pain was coming, seeing falsely calm Turles in front of him, Vegeta couldn't help but crack a smile as he raised his guard, leering his head forward like a mocking jackal, he let loose with what he really thought.

"You know, the thing that I've come to realize in this fight is that you really are a second rate Kakarot," Vegeta mocked. "At least he'd have given me a challenge so far-"

Before he could move another muscle, the air around him swirled as his ki field was disrupted. Diving into his abdomen, Turles tackled into him at full speed before blasting straight into the air. A stunned noise left Vegeta before he started kneeing and kicking at his counterpart, as the two ascended upwards into the clouds above. When he broke free while they broke apart in the vapour, Vegeta only had a second before a hard right slammed into his left side, before a kick stabbed into his left all before he could managed a block. When the next right came in, it exploded into the left side of his head, feeling his skin breach above his eye from the force of the blow. Swelling happened in under a second while he felt the bone around his eye fracture. A gagged noise now followed as he felt himself falling back through the air.

In a flash of purple energy Turles disappeared again, before he felt himself shoved further down before the other Saiyan appeared next to him, grabbing his chest and arm and driving him as hard and fast downward as he could.

The sound barrier cracked around them before the boom fell in behind them. It cracked again, and again as the Prince struggled before they passed another sound barrier before he felt the ground behind him. The entire compound trembled as his body broke through a dozen metres of hardened earth and clay. Fissures opened up around him as he felt his lungs almost collapse as the world around him cratered. The depth kept going down for several seconds as the Earth absorbed the force of the impact like a falling meteor almost. The explosion of mud and dust kicked up around him as Vegeta gasped for air desperately.

"Second rate Kakarot? What does it say that you can't compete with the second rate Kakarot?" Turles breathed angrily before grabbing him by his leg.

Still gasping for air as his lungs slowly started to recover, Vegeta grabbed at the compressed and hardened ground beneath him before his body started to drag up the side of the crater.

"Oh what's that Vegeta? I can't seem to hear you from down there." Turles snickered over the wheezing coming from Vegeta. "Oh and by the way Vegeta? This is going to hurt."

The other Saiyan paused for a moment, seemingly more furious and Vegeta couldn't figure out why. Then everything picked up speed, his entire body lost control before he was flung through the top of the Capsule Corporation building. Tumbling through two levels of the structure, concrete and drywall shattered around him as glass broke in his wake. Each layer of the building caused him to twist and tumble further before he broke through the other side, flying for a hundred metres without control before smashing into the side of a glass tower. His body broke into the surface of the high grade material as it cracked and shattered around him, his body imbedded in some of the steel holding the building together.

His head drooped for a moment as he finally started to breath, even with the wheezing being persistent inside him. When Turles appeared in front of him, he wasn't surprised. When the punch landed on his face, the sound of a thousand windows shattering washed over him as glass rained down from above. Plunging through the side of the building, the steel and glass shred through his body as he tore through the materials, crashing into the next tower of glass and being raked along the side of it as his frame continued on helplessly. A hand grabbed his face, grinding him further into the buildings as they peeled off one glass structure, leaving behind a trail of glistening glass in the air illuminated by a purple light, before crashing into a concrete tower. When his face hit the hardened material it cracked. Blood oozed out of the right side of his face from being raked through the glass before it'd been shoved and broken into the new, harder surface.

Gravity seemed to take over a second later as Vegeta felt himself falling through the air. It was almost pleasant. The inside of his head was ringing and the world was disoriented as he spiralled helplessly into his descent. When his body crashed atop a car, breaking into it's roof, people were standing around, trying to catch sight of the spectacle that had overtaken the city so far this evening. Crowds screamed in fear when his body hit the street, only after he rolled out of the dented ceiling.

"Mister, are you okay?"

"Just what the Hell is happening?"

"Oh my god, he fell from the building up there? Did you see the glass? What's going on?"

"Where are those lights coming from?"

"Someone call an ambulance."

"What the Hell is that?"

Barely opening his one good eye, Vegeta stared at the hovering figure approaching him from above. People immediately started to clear away as the cold stare from above remain locked onto him. It was pitiful, to think that a 3rd class Saiyan had overwhelmed him. Between Turles and Kakarot, he'd been defeated three times. What was more disgusting was how it'd come to pass. And this time it would appear that he would pay for it with his life. Killed honouring a contract with a woman he found at the very best tolerable, and at the worst insufferable. Frieza would be laughing at him from Hell.

"H-he's flying!?" one person in the crowd screamed.

Turning his attention to the crowd only briefly, Turles just flinched with disgust at all of them before looking at Vegeta.

"It looks like you're going to have an audience for this Vegeta. You're so fortunate. It's better to die knowing that others will remember you, even if they only remember how you ended," Turles snickered before he landed. "It's a shame. I didn't want to push the species one more step towards extinction."

In a predatory lunge, Turles aimed to strike down at him for the kill. In a blur of motion he couldn't even see, Vegeta stared death in the face, not flinching away as the other Saiyan moved. In a blur of orange and blue however, Vegeta didn't face this end. No, his humiliation would continue.

Kakarot.

It was even worse than being finished off. Being saved by Kakarot.

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Turles:

The fist Turles struck out with was caught in mid air before his twin fazed into existence in front of him. Staring at his reflection, Turles couldn't help but smile darkly back at his brother. Well, wasn't this a surprise?

Well, Kakarot finally decides to involve himself.

Instant Transmission was real. Which meant that Kakarot could have intervened much sooner. It was already easy to see why he waited so long to step in. He wanted to spare Vegeta's pride and feelings, and was going to save him only now because there wasn't another option. It was easy to read Kakarot. Now what was going to happen? Well, he was certainly going to get chastised, wasn't he? Oh he was so-

The concussive force of a meteorite impact slammed into Turles's head. Kakarot's chastising appeared to be more physical than he originally imagined. A familiar boom appeared around him as his body pushed past the barrier of sound before he clipped the top of a skyscraper. The clip caused him to start rolling helplessly before he felt Kakarot's fist catch him again as he flew up into his brother once more. Spit shot out of his mouth before he flipped upside down as he passed by Kakarot. Something grabbed his shoulder, and the cold air of the atmosphere, filled with wind, changed around him within a heartby before he felt himself appear inside of a forested area.

It was disorienting, on top of the disorientation he already felt from the two head injuries he'd just taken. He remained static for a moment, as if all the momentum behind him had disappeared, before his body flopped to the ground head and shoulder first.

Blinking several times, the 'younger' of the twins tried to get his bearings. When he pulled himself up, it wasn't hard to see the truly enraged Kakarot staring back at him. He was impressed, he never expected to see such a ridiculous thing. Oh he knew perhaps a beating was coming his way, but it was going to be little more than that. In fact there was always his contingency for dealing with Kakarot. It was just something he'd like to avoid. No matter how strong Kakarot and his Super Saiyan powers thought they were, he would always surpass him.

"Kid, I'd really examine your plans. You're getting yourself in trouble."

Quiet old man. I've had enough of you.

A furious noise escaped Turles as he pulled himself together while looking at Kakarot, his eyes flashing with brilliance. Well, anyone else might have said madness, but Turles understood exactly what he was going to do. No, he was going to be in charge again. There was no way he needed to play second fiddle to anyone, let alone Kakarot!

Even now his smile deepened as he cracked his neck to one side.

"So... my dear brother has finally decided to intervene-"

"You hurt my friend Yamcha, and you scared my friend Bulma. You were trying to steal from Bulma, weren't you? And then you just tried to kill Vegeta when he stepped in," Kakarot said tightly. "I told you before that none of that was allowed."

"Oh you did, but you also forgot that to a Saiyan, only strength matters," Turles chuckled. "And I've determined that despite all that power, you are very weak Kakarot."

The unimpressed look continued across his twin's face, but Turles wasn't concerned. Even when the golden light emerged across from him as his brother's hair turned upward. Behind him, the light illuminated their elder brother, Raditz. It was fitting that their elder sibling had an opportunity to see a confrontation from the two strongest beings alive on this planet. An unfamiliar hum entered the air for Turles as he felt the waves of energy rolling off his brother. The scale of the difference in their power almost made him nervous as he felt sweat forming on his brow.

"You're a rabid dog, Turles," Kakarot commented. "Every time we've interacted, all you've done is try to hurt people and dominate others. You're so out of control you can't even keep yourself composed when there are rules in place."

"The rules need to be enforced by someone stronger than me," Turles chuckled in response, his eyes scanning the heavens briefly before looking back at Kakarot. "And you are not stronger than me."

A confused set of brows knit together as Turles formed an orb of white energy in his hand, tossing it above his foolish brother's head. Clenching his fist a moment later, white energy began raining down form above. A surprised twin looked up in the air before staring back at him. Turles let his tail slip out of his ruined trousers, flicking behind him. It was definitely true Kakarot was stronger when he transformed. How about when he evened the odds? Even by his own math, Turles put his odds at better than favourable.

Always keep an ace up your sleeve. Let's see how much stronger you are now.

Instinctively he jumped back, even as he looked up at the moon ball he'd formed as Kakarot jumped in towards him, swiping out his arm to catch him before he got the adequate dosage of energy.

"Now then Kakarot! Let's see just how much stronger you really are!"

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Goku:

He'd just done damage to a dozen buildings in West City. He nearly killed Vegeta. He stole from Bulma and beat up poor Yamcha. That was before taking into account he'd endangered countless people by starting a fight in such a populated area. He was able to see the same kind of beast that Frieza was reflecting back at him when he looked at him. And now his 'brother', someone who was anything but by his actions, was staring into an artificial moon. Which was bad. His voice was changing and he was starting to bulge with muscle and fur-

It's almost like that time Vegeta...

Several vivid flashbacks came before his eyes as he recalled exactly what happened the last time an artificial moon had appeared. His Super Saiyan glow intensified as Goku brought more of his power to the surface, just as Turles's body expanded. Massive arms and legs expanded out as his central body started to fill out as well. The terrible monstrous face elongated out as his red eyes stared down at him. A thundering boom echoed out as the great ape took one step forward, a deep rumble coming out through the air as he chuckled.

A massive wave of force rolled out over the entire landscape as Turles roared, his purple aura flaring around his furred, gargantuan form.

Something's... off.

Raditz was the first to notice. From behind him he could even hear him comment.

"He seems... to be the same strength as he was before."

The roar from Turles stopped as he blinked, clearly having heard Raditz. There was a brief moment where Goku didn't even think to attack. Instead, he just stared at what he'd been so terrified of for several seconds. The gigantic ape looked at his hands beforel ooking around for a brief few seconds.

"I don't understand. My power... my power should have increased!" the ape shouted. "It doesn't make any sense!... ... SHUT UP!"

Shut up? No one said anything.

A huge foot stepped back as Turles seemed to notice him. The flicker of golden energy from Goku's body illuminated the trees all around them as Goku started to make his way towards the now giant target. If Turles had increased his speed and strength by almost ten fold, even with the handicap of such an enormous size, Goku knew he'd have been overmatched quickly. Unfortunately, as he was, Turles was in less of a position to defend himself than he had been in his smaller state.

Nervously, Turles took another step back as sweat began forming on the great ape's form. His entire posture seemed unsure and defensive.

"Kakarot, brother, you know I have always respect you. If you thought for a moment-"

Yup. I think we're going to get started.

Disappearing a burst of speed, Goku appeared in front of the giant's abdomen, throwing a punch into its gut. A thunderous impact resonated outward as he immediately heard a choking sound from the giant ape. Zipping up into the air, Goku the cut a kick upward, cracking it into the bottom of the prime ape's jaw, knocking the bottom of his mouth into the top and lifting the giant into the air. Immediately he shot back down, slamming both his feet into Turles's ribs. The sound of the huge bones cracking left another horrific sound echoing around them before Goku burst at full speed, zipping around and punching Turles in the side of the head, altering his course in the air.

Appearing beneath the falling mountain of a Saiyan, Goku blasted straight up into his back. Throwing his elbow out before the impact, another explosive clap came out of the impact as he heard at least one vertebra in his back crack. This time, it wasn't a grunt or choking noise that came from the great ape, but a howl of agony.

The world slowed down for Goku as he took off to the side, landing another blow on Turles's ribs, before he jetted up the side of the collapsing colossus, throwing a back kick into the other side of his supposed brother's face. The force of the impact on his face was so hard that it split open the thick hide of the ape along his cheek. The force of the blow was hard enough that it sent Turles's body into a spin before the humongous ape slammed face first into the force below. The world seemed to quake with his descent to the Earth, having fallen far in terms of height and in terms of his self worth.

Floating in the air above, Goku just stared down at the body as it tried to crawl ahead for several seconds.

Well, I've got another solution to this.

Zipping down, Goku grabbed the base of the tail, pulling it, before pulling out his free hand and forming ki along the side of his palm and finger. A second later his arm cut clear through the tail's base as the gigantic wriggling mass of a tail slammed into the ground behind them.

Slowly but surely, the monstrous form regressed, leaving only a broken, battered, naked Turles on the ground, his body shivering in agony. Cuts covered parts of his frame. It was easy to hear him coughing, what Goku thought reasonably was blood.

Trying to pull himself up a second later, Goku sensed just how much weaker Turles's body had become.

"...Okay..." a voice rasped as he coughed again weakly several times from the broken form he now possessed. "... I think... I want to give u.. up..."

Turles barely got to his hands, let alone knees, before his body collapsed face first into the mud.

No one can say he didn't have that one coming...

Now what to do with him?

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Author's notes:

Oh poor Turles. Well, that got resolved. Lol.

Most Catalyst Chapters are probably going to be around 10-20 pages for the most part I suspect. They tend to be tighter than TLR chapters, which is kinda good. It lets me put out more chapters more reliably. I'm trying to pair down TLR chapters a little bit, though not quite as much. They're both very different stories in terms of how they spread focus. TLR is a much more intimate perspective with a bit more depth, perhaps even a bit too much depth. The Catalyst is a bit more plot driven, but still explores these characters, especially Raditz, Turles, and increasingly Vegeta and Goku which is why they were flipped to mains.

The next update is slated for Early April. If I get a lot done, maybe late March. I've gotta run a tabletop RPG which I'm painting about 40 miniatures for, and that I'm writing the backstory behind the world. I'm drawing maps and making NPC's, as well as tweaking 5th edition DND (I dislike D20, but I'll accept it because its what the players want. Lol). But worry not, this is not expected to prevent the April update from arriving. Because it's done already! I'm trying to build up a series of chapters for both stories, which will prevent me from feeling so pressured if I run behind. So it'll also mean consistent updates. I'm going to aim for Monthly, but if I can crank out 2 in one month, I'll be happy to. I just wanna make sure I have content to post to keep you guys from thinking I've abandoned anything, lol

I'm really excited about where the story is going. I finally am gonna get through The Slug Saga, and its aftermath. To fans of TLR, worry not, the next update going up for TLR is coming in March. Progress started on the chapter as of March 1st. It's an 800,000 word slog, but if you like The Catalyst, I can honestly recommend The Long Road. Not to promote myself too much, lol.

Music:

An important point in terms of how I write, is the music I listen to while writing. Certain characters are impossible to write, and certain scenes are impossible to write without certain bits of music. Some music I hear while driving or working, and it inspires me for the direction of a scene I want to write, or inspires me to take the story in a certain direction. One song I heard years ago, which really inspired me, was actually one which will be a bit surprising. It's what I named this chapter after. The first time Turles died on Namek, when he was thrown into the air by Frieza's death ball, was a song named "Had It Coming" by Matthew Good, a Canadian artist and band named after him. It's not hard metal or anything strange like that, just the overall theme of it kinda fit for me. I've got a massive array of music I enjoy, so its not consistently one genre. Lol

More consistent character songs I listen to as examples, I'll start with Raditz.

Everclear is actually a pretty common place for me to go. When I wrote Raditz years ago involving Colonel Violet, the song I used to use to jumpstart certain scenes when writing was Heroin Girl by Everclear. When I'm writing general Raditz, Santa Monicais a common one.

Son Goku, is always a tough one. I'd actually say that as of the last year or two, one of the most common things I listen to is the soundtrack from Movie 4's English dub to kinda get a sense of Son Goku. The two main songs that really work fro him that get me into my Goku mindset are Boy Hit's Car, The Rebirth and I'm a Cloud.

Turles is easy. I Walk Alone by Saliva is the easiest thing to get me in a Turles mindset. Monster by Skillet also works sometimes too.

Vegeta... I really don't have a specific catalogue to write Vegeta honestly. He's really easy to get into his headspace. I know, weird right? For The Long Road for some more difficult stuff, I've listened to Adam's Song by Blink 182, but I never really needed to do that here. Kinda weird.

I'll go over some of the other characters and themes behind chapters next A/N. I like telling people how I formulate what I'm doing. It's almost a kind of screaming into the void I guess.

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Reviewers:

Blades of Fury: Even though I think Raditz has potential, and will be a force to be reckoned with at different stages of the story, I think his ceiling is genuinely lower than Vegeta, Turles, and Goku's. His role in the story is obviously important, and his combat feats are gonna be awesome (he's got a few BIG moments coming up...), but Raditz's strengths as a character are going to be more and more shown as the story progresses. :)

Perfect Carnage: You had to explain to me who that was, lol. I found Yamcha's part to be hilarious to write, honestly. I chuckled for a good 10 minutes after writing Turles's response. "Yes you do." lol.

Anonymous: I don't think I was questioning it in the way you'd think. Also, you've probably not read TLR. I don't really believe in Power Levels. I do believing in leagues and placement of strength though. You're unlikely to see any references to specific power levels now that the Frieza saga is over, unless Cold and Cooler are talking about them.

And Turles directly steals from people. He shakes them down for cash, shamelessly. He's figured out what makes humans powerful among each other. He's literally a wolf wearing sheep's clothing to blend in, but manipulate others. And the Catalysts are alive my friend :D

And Junia, Brass, and Taro are definitely coming. They'll be getting a chapter at some point after Slug I believe.

Guest: Raditz's interactions with Vegeta are going to come to a head, I can assure you. But it won't be now. And due to time budgeting, you're unlikely to see Utopian Turles vs. Frieza, sadly.

Pyromania101: Planet Earth, Saiyan Prison Planet. Lol

Kacarrot: I dunno if Vegeta matured. I think Vegeta very likely is just a more honourable person than Turles, despite being a shitty one (at the moment). Oh you should see what's planned for Turles. It's going to be glorious! GLORIOUS! Lol

Peter1398: Answered via PM.

Thomasthetmc: Uhhhh... For what? Lol

Super Mystic Gohan: You're going to have to. :P

MaxrideLover: Hurray!

DarkFalconZ: Raditz is really becoming an awesome person in a lot of ways. I think out of all the Saiyans not on Earth, he kinda "got" it first. Nappa and Vegeta killing Violet really began him down a road to being a better person. If anything, Raditz should be thanking Vegeta! ;)

Luke: Yep. But fear not. There are some intersections between them all. It'll be great :P

Lauren: I hope you're enjoying The Long Road. It's considerably darker than The Catalyst in a lot of ways, and its kind reflective in the higher rating for that. Rating "T" to The Catalyst kinda makes me feel hamstrung. I use stronger language and the intense violence of some scenes just feels pulled back. But oh well, life goes on. :P

LatexGloves: Glad I could be of service?

FireFnBrimestone: Vegeta's not helpless anymore, but he couldn't touch the base form Bully. If they fought now that might be a bit different of course...

MaximumSSJ: Eh, a couple days sooner. I just have some stuff coming up this weekend and may not be able to post in time. So it goes up now. Means a bit less proofreading, but life goes on. Rather fix it later than let it languish.

Landser03: Of Raditz's big moments that'll be coming up, his transformation into a Super Saiyan feels truly spectacular. But I won't say when or how. Lol

Team Soda: I hope you enjoy the read.

YRN: Answered by PM,