Chapter 32: KAKAROT

What? I already had a chapter with this name? No, I didn't. That one was called Kakarot. This one is called KAKAROT. Difference.

Also, what? I covered too much in this chapter? It's too fast? Well, the Broly movie did cover en entire serious threat (which usually takes many, many episodes, which is many, many hours) in under two hours, plus due to changes in the timeline, quite a bit of the movie's plot doesn't really happen here. Because there's no Vegeta. And they're all Super Saiyans from the start. Look, I'll stop rambling now and you can read the chapter, okay?

EDIT: I made some edits, which I shall detail in the forthcoming chapter 34.

All was silent as Paragus' ship gently touched down on the surface of New Planet Vegeta. The hatch slid open, settling to the ground as a boarding ramp. Paragus was first out, followed close behind by Goku, hopping from one foot to the other in excitement. Raditz and Nail were the next to leave the ship, followed by Break—feeling somewhat uncomfortable in her civilian clothes. A year in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber had done for her previous outfit, Bulma's semi-armoured suit she'd worn to Namek, so Break had borrowed the closest fit from Bulma's day-to-day wardrobe—a red halter top and orange shorts with pink shoes and purple socks. Not exactly a fighting outfit, but Raditz's were all custom-made for him, and he was a good amount taller than Break. Of course, Break hadn't actually been planning on doing any fighting for another few days—this had snuck up on them. It wasn't so much of a problem for Goku, Raditz and Nail, who always wore their fighting outfits, and Gohan generally kept his Turtle School gi in a capsule about his person. Break felt a little out of place, but her Super Saiyan appearance gave her some confidence.

Gohan was the last out of the ship, other than the two lines of soldiers who marched after the group, trying not to look at Raditz (who had previously knocked them out with minimal effort). "Please, follow me," said Paragus, pointing to a tall building in the distance. "My palace is that way—" as soon as the words had left his mouth, there were five small explosions of sound as his 'guests' shot off through the air towards it. Grumbling, he took off after them, followed by his soldiers, who flew in perfect formation. This new generation… Paragus thought. So impetuous. Not like me. For all these years I've waited, biding my time…I won't let them ruin everything! He sped up, chasing the five visitors to his planet.

Goku jumped around the palace, skidding through corridors, running up and down stairways, peering out of windows. "Where is he? Hey, Legendary Super Saiyan! Come here so I can fight you!"

"Idiot." Raditz dragged Goku back downstairs to meet up with Paragus. "He said the Legendary Super Saiyan will be here soon. We're going to wait for him."

"Aw, but that's boring!" Goku frowned. "And we have to be back on Earth in time to fight Cell…"

"Don't worry. Now I know where this planet is in relation to Earth, I can return with Instant Transmission any time."

"Oh, okay." Goku turned as Paragus and his troops landed. "Hey, Paragus! So when do you think this Legendary Super Saiyan will arrive?"

"I am not sure." Paragus shrugged. "Based on his previous movements, within the next few days."

"Hmm…why don't we just go and fight him now?"

"By the time we tracked him down and got there, he'd have already moved on," Paragus explained. This didn't quite seem to make sense to Goku, but he shook his head and put it out of his mind.

"Hey, who's that?" Break pointed to a newcomer, who was just emerging from a passage in the palace.

"Oh, that's Broly," Paragus told them, "my son. I'm ashamed to say he's never been much of a warrior." Broly's power certainly wasn't very impressive—something like the saiyans' when they'd attacked Earth (of course, this was quite powerful by some standards, but not the Super Saiyans', and evidently not Paragus' either)—and he had an unimposing appearance. He stood slightly shorter than Goku, and had scruffy black shoulder-length hair (hardly unexpected, for a saiyan) and a dull, lifeless expression on his face. He wore baggy white pants with a red sash, with gold wristbands, armbands, belt, collar and a matching small chestplate, all studded with dark blue jewels.

"Oh, uh…hey! Hello!" Break waved at Broly, who remained unresponsive, acknowledging her comment with a glance before his eyes flitted away again.

"Break!" Raditz hit her jokingly on the head. "Stop staring at the shirtless kid!" He turned to Paragus. "Not much of a talker, is he?"

"No…" Paragus shook his head. "A bit of a waste, really. Neither strong or smart. I honestly don't know what to do with him…hmm?" He looked over at Broly, who was gritting his teeth and staring at Goku, his eyes narrowing.

"Kakarot…" Yes, the hair was different, but this was definitely him, after all these years…Kakarot. "Kakarot…" A faint green aura appeared around Broly, and his power began to rise rapidly. Soon it was almost as high as Paragus', but Broly's father acted quickly. He raised a hand, the strange gauntlet-like device he wore glowing brightly, and the gem on the younger saiyan's forehead began to glow with the same light. Instantly, Broly relaxed, his power dropping and his face becoming calm again. "Broly! That's enough!" Paragus hissed. Broly turned and slowly shuffled away down the corridor, and Paragus lowered his hand. "I apologise." He spoke directly to Goku. "I believe when you were infants on planet Vegeta, you were in the bed next to his…apparently, you cried incessantly, and this…disturbed Broly. Formative experiences tend to magnify in significance with the passing of time, and he bears some resentment towards you. I will discipline him—this won't happen again." He turned and strode off.

"That does sound like me," Goku laughed, "causing trouble even back then…but wow, way to hold a grudge. He must have great memory…"

"Yes, very funny." Raditz motioned to the others to listen. "But in all seriousness, something doesn't add up here. Paragus must know Broly's power is as great as his own, maybe higher—I'm sure what we saw just now wasn't all of it. So why would he pretend Broly's weak? And furthermore, this whole Legendary Super Saiyan thing." He pointed his thumb off towards the direction Paragus had left in. "Surely there's a closer world we can go to, and intercept him sooner? Less people will die that way."

"I guess Paragus doesn't care about that," Break suggested. "He just wants to protect his precious "new saiyan empire". Two whole saiyans. Not really an empire."

"True…" Raditz nodded. "That's another suspicious thing. I mean, how many saiyans are left in the galaxy? Five, and two half-humans. Most of them wouldn't accept his rule, or anyone's for that matter. Though I guess if offered a leading position Vegeta might accept…"

"Well, whatever." Goku stood up straight. "We'll give it a couple of days, okay? I'm sure you're just worrying about nothing. There's five of us—we can handle one Super Saiyan. And even if Paragus is up to something, any one of us could take him, his kid and his whole army without breaking a sweat. So don't worry." He sprinted off. "I'm gonna go explore this place!" Wow, a palace! Cool! I wonder if there's a larder around here…

Paragus sat in his chambers, deep in thought. I had this whole elaborate charade set up for Vegeta…the supposed empire, the fake 'new planet Vegeta'…the comet, set to strike and destroy the planet 24 hours from now…the back-up plan, my ace in the hole…I was certain he was on Earth! Who else could have been emitting that Super Saiyan energy? But now I have to deal with these clowns first…and start my search for Vegeta anew! All of my work… He stood up, opening the door and heading off down the corridor. The plan, the charade can go hang! Vegeta may be an object of my personal vengeance, but at least he's an honourable saiyan warrior! These fools are…they're kind-hearted! Soft! He threw open Broly's door. Enough playing around. Sometimes you have to do things the old-fashioned way. "Broly!"

His son looked up. "Father…I…K-Kakarot…"

Paragus grinned. "Yes, Kakarot. How would you like to kill him?" Broly's face lit up. "I thought so. Just don't forget the others. And be careful—we'll need to keep this planet intact if we're going to escape. Now, go. Show them what it means to be a true saiyan."

Goku ambled along the passage, meeting up with Nail at an intersection. "I've been searching for ages, and there isn't any food around here!" He moaned, dispirited.

"Ages? It's been less than an hour, Goku." Nail shook his head—as a Namekian, from a race which only drank water, the saiyans' immense appetites never failed to amaze him.

"Yeah, well—" A blur of movement catapulted through the wall, carrying Goku of through the opposite wall in a cloud of pulverised masonry.

"Why does everything we do have to end like this?" Nail muttered.

Goku kicked away from his attacker, landing in the forest beneath the palace's plateau on both feet and shaking his head to clear the dizziness. "Uh…Broly?" The mysterious saiyan stood opposite him, shaking with anger. "Kakarot…! Kill…you!"

"Hey, that's a bit extreme, don't you think?" Goku ducked as Broly swung at him, grabbing Broly by his attacking arm and throwing him into the dirt. His power's increased—it'd be in the millions on the scouter's scale. Just how strong is he? Growling, Broly launched himself back up at Goku, who sidestepped and knocked Broly away with a backhand.

Paragus, watching from above, frowned. He's losing… he tapped a setting on his gauntlet, the light fading a little. I'll let him use a little more power.

Broly breathed deeply, then let out a low growl. He suddenly seemed to grow a little taller as his body filled out, his hair standing up on end and changing to a dark blue colour. A blue-purple aura sprang to life around him. "What the—" Goku quickly raised his arm to block a lightning-fast punch. Is he a Super Saiyan? If so, why's his hair blue and not gold? Well, I should be able to handle it. He's only about as strong as I was when I fought Kuriza…but then again, it's still going up… He continued to block Broly's mad attacks, walking steadily backwards.

Three large ki signatures signalled the arrival of Gohan, Break and Nail. "Hey, Dad!" Gohan called. "You need any help?"

"Nah, I've got this," Goku told him. "His power kept growing, but now it's topped out at around 17 and 18's level. Where's Raditz?"

Break shrugged. "He said he had an idea. I guess he'll be here soon."

"I wouldn't worry," Goku said. "Broly here surprised me, but his speed isn't up to mine. Here, I'm getting tired of this." He aimed low, punching Broly in the stomach, following up with a high kick to his chin. To his surprise, the strange Super Saiyan didn't flinch. "Eh?" Goku somersaulted away, dodging another swipe from Broly. "Careful, guys—his strength and endurance are much greater than his ki or speed would imply…"

Broly stalked towards Goku, grinning. "Die…"

"Not if that's the best you've got!" Goku readied himself for battle. "What's this all about, anyway?"

"Rrr…" Broly stopped all of a sudden. His head turned slightly to look up at the palace, then back to Goku. A smile crept across his face. "Rrr…Grr…RAAAH!" Energy exploded out of him, throwing the fighters back.

"What?!" Goku complained. "You mean that still wasn't his full power? What is he?" Broly's headband, previously glowing with the controlling red light emitted from Paragus' gauntlet, had gone dark for some reason. Without this, there were no limits on Broly. "AAAH!" He screamed as his aura blazed around him, the ground shaking beneath his thunderous tread as he began to advance again. Lightning wracked the sky, and Broly's scream became a laugh. "A-hahahaaa! HAHAHA!"

"What is he doing?" Nail hissed. "He's stronger than me now, that's for sure…of course, Goku hasn't used his full power yet since he came out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Let's hope it's enough…"

Broly's power-limiting metal headband finally shattered, and bright blue and purple light seemed to emanate from inside him. It built to unbearable brightness, until it seemed to much for his body to contain, and Broly appeared to simply blow apart from the inside out, energy bursting out of his body in all directions.

"Wait…Did he just kill himself?" Gohan stared into the light as it began to fade. "No, he's still in there! It's like he just…discarded a shell…this isn't good." The transformation reminded him of Kuriza's, as if it was revealing Broly's true form within.

Broly now stood higher than any of them, his muscles huge, rippling and contorting up and down his body—he was wider from shoulder to shoulder than some of them were tall. His hair was standing up even further on end now, and had a sickly green hue. A violent green-gold aura burned around him. His ki was enormous—easily dwarfing any of theirs.

Though scared, Break was not unappreciative. "Hmm, and I forgot to bring my camera…"

"Break!" Came a voice from above. "What did I tell you?!" Raditz landed next to her. "Sorry I'm late. I decided to beat a few answers out of Paragus when I felt you fighting. Be careful—this whole thing's a trap! Broly's really the Legendary Super Saiyan!"

Goku groaned. "Yeah, I kind of guessed that." He indicated the transformed monster. "I mean, either that or he's been taking steroids like nobody's business…did you find out anything useful?"

"Well, he told me he was using his gauntlet thing to control Broly and keep his power in check…"

"Ah! Then we just have to—"

"…after I destroyed it."

"Ah."

Raditz shrugged as Nail and Break glared at him. "Sorry! It looked important and the bad guy had it! What did you expect me to do?"

"A-hah!" Break pointed triumphantly at Raditz. "So you admit you're not the 'bad guy'!"

"Excuse me." Broly was surprisingly lucid in his Legendary Super Saiyan form, aside from constantly emitting unintelligible growls. "I hate to interrupt, but…heh…no. Actually, I'd love to."

"Well, that's just rude—" Broly's fist slammed into Goku, knocking him away through the air.

"Hey!" Raditz charged Broly from the side, but the giant fighter just grabbed him right out of the air, throwing him back up into the palace. Break ran up from behind, her stomach meeting Broly's elbow in mid-air, flooring her. Nail ran at him, an energy blast detonating harmlessly on Broly's back, serving only to alert the saiyan of the Namek's attack. Broly swung around, kicking Nail's legs out from under him.

"Leave them alone!" Gohan shouted, standing right in front of Broly, his guard raised. Break and Nail jumped to their feet and stood next to him. "All right, attack him together!" Nail instructed them. Broly ran at them, his slow loping gait leaving craters where he stepped. There was a flash of gold, and Goku and Raditz appeared behind him, punching simultaneously and causing Broly to stagger sideways, missing the three others. "Let's show each other how much we've improved, all right?" Raditz said confidently.

"Yeah!" Gohan answered, and the five warriors powered up simultaneously, rocking the planet with their combined power. "Yaaah!" They leapt at Broly from all sides, and he just smiled. "That's right, try everything you can! I want this to be fun!" He dodged around their charge, smashing Raditz to the ground and turning to the others. Nail, displaying a little-used Namekian ability, stretched out one of his arms, extending it to many times its normal length, using it to trip Broly at the ankle, unbalancing him long enough for Goku to fly in under his guard and land a solid two-footed kick to his chest. Broly skidded back, grunting with annoyance, but instantly recovered, standing up straight and charging back at them.

"This way!" Raditz shouted, flying back up towards the palace. The other four followed him, Broly in pursuit. They landed on the rooftops and spires of the gigantic building, dodging back and forth as Broly's attacks smashed huge holes into it.

Paragus, beaten and bloody from Raditz's interrogation, staggered to his feet, painfully managing a run as chunks of rubble began to fall from the ceiling. "That fool…he's destroyed the only thing that can control Broly! There's no helping it now…I'll just have to leave. The comet will hit the planet, as planned…and Broly will die with the rest of them. It's for the best…" he reached the main exit as soldiers and technicians streamed past him. "Yes, I'll still have my revenge on Vegeta…but now I won't have to worry about these idiots. All it'll take is a little planning…"

Raditz caught Broly's punch, the impact driving him down inside the collapsing building. He grunted, freed a hand and punched back, Broly mockingly copying his block with much less effort. "Heh…Cell made the same mistake!" Raditz said, powering up past his natural maximum and bulking himself up further until he was almost as muscular as Broly. "With this extra strength, at close quarters like this, I have the advantage!" He began to push Broly back, but the Legendary Super Saiyan's look of surprise quickly changed to mild amusement. His aura intensifying, Broly pushed back, and Raditz realised with horror that he was still weaker than this terrifying enemy. Even Cell wasn't this strong! Broly shoved Raditz away, tossing a flickering green energy blast after him that exploded on impact, throwing Raditz further back.

Broly jumped back up to the crumbling rooftops, kicking Goku in the side and causing him to crash painfully into a twisted spire, the impact jarring against his ribs. Gohan jumped up from underneath, using the element of surprise and punching Broly square in the face. As they were beginning to expect now, it had no effect, and Broly threw Gohan away into the air, then appeared above him, grabbing him in both hands and soaring back down towards the palace. The ensuing piledriver levelled the entire palace in a clatter of breaking rock. When the dust cleared, Gohan was lying half-buried in the dirt, at the bottom of a vast, deep crater. Broly stood on the edge, grinning as he looked down at his battered young foe.

"That's my son you're beating up!" Goku yelled, landing behind Broly. "Try this—KA…ME…HA…ME…"

"Go ahead," Broly told him. "Let's see it."

"HA!" Goku released the energy beam, the attack completely engulfing Broly. As Goku continued to pour on the power, he noticed an approaching shape within the ki-charged light—Broly was running right through the Kamehameha attack without even bothering to defend himself! Could his power…still be growing? This thought was as far as Goku got before Broly kicked him away again. The Legendary saiyan's attacks were uncoordinated, with no real skill behind them, but his size and strength belied his incredible speed, which rendered Broly's lack of real training irrelevant.

The entire plateau exploded as Raditz flung his power in all directions. "BROLY! Get over here!" He rocketed through the air at their invincible enemy.

"Hey, Raditz—why don't we just cut our losses and leave? Use Instant Transmission and let's go!" Nail suggested.

"Run from a fight?" Raditz snarled. "What do you take me for? This 'Legendary Super Saiyan' has to learn who he's dealing with!" He slammed into Broly, punches and kicks raining down on the giant, but none did any serious damage. Raditz quickly charged his energy inside one hand. "Crusher Ball!" He released it at point-blank range, but Broly flicked his body to the side, avoiding it with ease. "Oh, I'm sorry, was that meant for me?"

"Well, if we can't run, we'll have to fight." Nail set his jaw. "I'm not out of tricks yet…HAH!" With a sudden, unexpectedly fast convulsion, he grew to many times his normal size. This is a little technique I picked up from Piccolo…it was ineffective against a fighter who knows what he's doing—like Goku, who climbed into Piccolo's giant body and beat him from inside—but against someone like Broly, it might just work…

"Woah!" Gohan, crawling out of his crater, looked up in amazement. "Nail's a giant! Way to go!"

Nail body-slammed Broly to the ground, crushing the saiyan under his massive form. "All you respect is power, huh? Well, here's some—" his voice trailed off into a pained squeak. Slowly, he rolled over, revealing the gaping hole in his stomach. Broly, standing where Nail had previously been lying, had one hand raised in the air, smoke rising from the ki blast he'd fired, drenched in purple Namekian blood. "Nice try. Do carry on." As he spoke, Nail's body began to shrink again, the warrior gasping and clutching at his torn and ragged torso as he returned to normal size.

This is insane! Goku thought as the blood-soaked Broly thundered towards him. How are we supposed to beat this guy? The thought that they might try something other than fighting never entered his mind, of course. "Hey, can't you give us a handicap?"

"Sure," Broly answered, smashing Goku's face into his knee, "how about brain damage?"

"That's not really what I—aah!" A second blow sent Goku reeling.

Broly began to laugh hysterically. "HAHAHAAA! Is that really all you worms can do? And you call yourselves saiyans?!"

"Is that what you think?" Break stood facing him. "You're the one who's unfit to call himself a saiyan!"

"What…did you say?"

She stood fearlessly before him as he advanced towards her. "That's right! You're no warrior—you're just a monster!" Raditz had told them all telepathically what Paragus had told him about Broly-how he'd been born with enormous power, using it to survive the exection dealt out by the saiyan king Vegeta, father and namesake of the prince they'd fought. Broly had gone on to save Paragus and himself from the saiyan homeworld's destruction, and Paragus' hatred for Vegeta's line had lived on. "You were born into your power! You've never had to work hard a day in your life…well, we've had to work our whole lives to get where we are, and no freak of nature is going to beat great fighters like Goku and my father!"

"Is that so—" Broly was cut off as Break's elbow crashed into his stomach, winding him. She followed up with an uppercut that staggered him back, and two swift kicks to his face. Roaring with anger, he stood up straight, his body heaving. "Why…you…"

She got him! Raditz was flying back towards the battlefield after his last beating. Could she really be that strong?

It didn't last long, though—unbelievably, it seemed Broly's power still hadn't finished rising. He growled as his ki shot up again, throwing a huge energy bullet her way. Quickly using Instant Transmission, Raditz appeared and shoved Break out of the way, teleporting off before the attack could hit him. He materialised behind Broly, who took his kick without flinching, then simply flared his power up around him, knocking Raditz away again. Break stood up, jumping at Broly. He swung, but only hit her afterimage, and she appeared above him, launching a barrage of golden energy beams. Broly smacked them all out of the way with a look of irritation on his face. "That stung a little, I'll give you that, girl."

Goku caught Raditz in mid-air, stopping his involuntary flight. "Okay, ready to go another round with him?"

"Of course!" Raditz told him. "You won't see me backing down!"

"All right then. Brothers together and all that."

"Count me in!" Nail called, flying up to hover next to them.

"Hey…you're healed?" Goku wondered.

"Of course." Nail nodded. "Don't underestimate my regeneration. Now, are you ready?"

"Let's do this!" Goku powered up, flying back into battle with the other two at his sides. The three fighters crashed into Broly, the impact flattening the ground for miles around.

Paragus stumbled up the stairs cut into the rocky cliff, finally reaching his hidden space-pod. "Finally. Goodbye, Broly, my son. You've outlived your usefulness."

"And here I thought I had a bad father!" said a voice from behind.

"What—" Paragus was sent flying by an impact from Kuriza's tail, knocking him right through his pod, smashing it to pieces. "Aargh!"

"Yeah, take that!" The juvenile frost demon was in his final form, and looking extremely pleased with himself. Then he frowned. "Oh, wait! I destroyed the pod…we probably needed that…no, we've got Instant Transmission and another ship. We're good." He breathed a sigh of relief. "Uh, you still there?"

"Demon!" Paragus hissed, infuriated. "Filth! Spawn of the tyrant!"

"Hey now, there's no need for name-calling," Kuriza pouted. "My dad was like that, you know. Monkey this, inferior being that, it just gets old after a while. You don't want to be like him, do you?"

"Silence!" Paragus threw a green energy blast, but Kuriza kicked it into the air with ease.

"Come on, is that really the best you can do?" Okay, I'm still getting the hang of this… "HAH!" He thrust one hand forwards, launching an invisible wave of force—the 'kiai' technique many of the other fighters used often—that knocked Paragus flat on his back, out cold. "Aw, yeah!" Kuriza danced around with joy. "I'm the best! I did it! I…" he sighed. "Yeah, he wasn't really a challenge. Oh, well. I'll go see how the others are doing! You stay right there, okay?" He took off towards the enormous powers off to the west.

Goku, Raditz and Nail lay beaten and bloody next to Break. "Great idea," she muttered. "Charge him head-on. Because that worked so well all the other times we've tried it. Really, you were playing right into his hands."

"I didn't see you helping!" Nail snapped.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she retorted, "it's just that I appear to be half-dead over here."

"Hey…where's Gohan?" Goku wondered.

"I don't know, I haven't seen him since Broly floored him that one time," Raditz told him.

"That's not really helpful, Raditz. You could pretty much describe this whole fight like that…"

Gohan was curled up into a ball behind a boulder, crying into his lap. His fear had overcome his sense of betraying his friends by backing out. Sobs wracked his body as he heard the others fight and lose. I…I can't do it! I'm sorry, Dad…everybody…he's too much! Please…I'm just a kid, I…can't fight him…don't make me…please…

"Is that all?!" Broly demanded. "Is that all you've got?! I demand more! You insects have disappointed me—and you're going to pay for that! Especially you, Kakarot!"

"You want me, Broly?" Goku staggered to his feet. "Here I am."

"Goku, what're you—" Raditz began.

"Don't worry. I have a plan."

"That's a first…"

"Raditz. Nail. Break. give me your energy," Goku ordered.

"What?"

"Give me your energy! All that you can spare!" He eyed the impatient Broly. "Right now, or he's going to kill us all!"

"All right…" Raditz raised a hand, a stream of vibrant energy flowing into Goku's body. It was joined by two more from Break and Nail. "Don't fail us now, Goku!" Nail warned. "We're giving you everything we've got!" Raditz and Break gasped as their energy fell below the level needed to sustain Super Saiyan, and were forced back into their normal forms.

"I know." He flexed his invigorated muscles. "Okay, Broly. Here I come…" He was battered, beaten half to death, his clothes ripped and his body almost broken—just like all the others. But now he felt supercharged, the power of three Super Saiyans and a twice-fused Namekian inside of him. His wounds felt like nothing.

"It doesn't matter how much power those fools give you, it won't be enough!" Broly boasted.

"Hah! We'll see about that. You'll never really know for sure until I try." With his suddenly-boosted speed, Goku dodged Broly's wild swing, preparing his counter-attack. "Your hour has arrived!"

"What?" Broly stumbled back. "Where is he getting all this energy?" Goku thrust his fist straight forwards into Broly's chest, shattering his golden 'chestplate' (though it was more ornamental than protective). Goku's fist drove up into Broly's body, and he felt a crunch beneath his fingers as he hit bone. "Now the real fight begins!" Goku shouted. Pushing against each other, they struggled for a moment…and then Broly righted himself, took hold of Goku's arm in both giant fists and snapped it in two places. Goku collapsed to the cracked, buckling ground, howling. Broly staggered away, the punch clearly having weakened him. He breathed heavily, glaring at his bruised chest, the first pain he'd felt for a long time. Then he looked down at Goku again, still writhing in pain. "You…Grrr…" Broly's eyes narrowed as his sanity slipped further away. "KAKAROT!"

"STOP HURTING MY DAD!" Broly slowly turned to see Gohan shakily walking towards him. The boy was sniffing back tears, his face trembling—he looked like he was about to explode with rage, or possibly break down and give up. Either way, he was clearly unstable. "I…I won't give up!" I'm the only one who can save Dad, and all the others, now! I have to beat him! I don't know how, but…I have to! He shook with nerves as he adopted his fighting stance. The others tried to lift themselves from the ground, drained and injured as they were, to watch. "Get him, Gohan…" Goku urged.

Gohan tried to steel himself. "Okay…okay…I can do this…"

"Can you, little man?!" Broly roared, stomping towards the half-saiyan child. The terrifying creature, power barely contained within his gigantic body, laughing with anger and screaming with rage almost simultaneously, was too much. Gohan's courage broke, and with a frightened yelp he turned and ran, leaping into a crevice in the fractured ground and lying low.

Broly snorted. "What a waste…I guess I'm done here. Huh?" He looked up into the sky, alerted by a steadily-growing light in the sky. "Oh, I see. That's the comet Daddy dearest was making such a fuss about. It was going to destroy this planet and kill Vegeta." He bellowed with laughter. "Not if Vegeta could do this!" He launched an enormous emerald energy wave that arced up into the sky, hitting the comet as it drifted through space and obliterating it within seconds. "See where all your careful planning gets you?" Broly said, apparently talking to himself, or possibly an imaginary Paragus. "Now me, I never plan. I live in the moment—and I've never lost! This is the true life of a warrior!"

Kuriza's voice sounded out across the devastated forest. "If you think that's all there is to life, you're kidding yourself!" He hovered, arms folded and tail swishing back and forth, a few metres from Broly. "I should know—I was like that once."

Gohan peered out of his hiding place. Kuriza, no! Don't do it!

"You were like me?" Broly chuckled. "There's nobody like me!"

"Yes there is…" Kuriza settled to the ground and started marching towards Broly. "The whole galaxy is full of people like you! I grew up around them-people who prey on anyone weaker than them! Who don't respect anybody who they can just crush! You're not special, you just got lucky being born in the right place at the right time! There are thousands of people just like you—and I'm sick of it!"

"Well, my deepest apologies." Broly gestured around. "But look at them. Compared to them, you're nothing—what are you going to do to me?"

"The only thing I know how to do!" Kuriza declared, pointing one finger towards the sky. A crackling red energy ball began to form, growing rapidly in size. "Fight, and keep on fighting until I can't anymore! I don't care how strong you are—I can't let you keep on hurting my friends!" He hurled the Death Ball, a technique Frieza had used to destroy entire planets in seconds, straight at Broly, who tensed himself, braced for impact, and punched it straight out of the air, the attack fading to wisps of red smoke as Broly's fist completely shattered it. Kuriza's eyes widened, but he stood his ground as Broly walked towards him with thundering footfalls.

"Kuriza!" Gohan leapt up, eyes dilating with fear, shouting to his friend. "Run! Don't try to fight him! Y-you'll die! Don't!"

Kuriza just grinned. "Sorry, Gohan. Goku turned my life around…and you're the only friend I've ever had. I owe you guys so much. I'd never be able to live with myself if I gave up now."

"You…you'd rather die?"

"I guess so. I'm trying not to think about it. Here goes nothing!" He charged, knowing defeat awaited him. Vicious blows hammered into his small body, knocking him back and forth. He coughed up blood, his muscles screamed, his head swam, but every time he picked himself up and flew back at Broly. His species' hyper-efficient, survival-oriented biology would keep him alive for a few seconds longer, but no more.

Gohan watched, wide-eyed, mouth hanging open. Fear warred in his mind, fear of death and fear of letting everyone down fighting for dominance. Finally, something inside…snapped. He closed his eyes, biting his lip until it bled. His shaking hands balled themselves into fists.

Run from a fight? What do you take me for?

You've never had to work a day in your life...well, we've had to work our whole lives to get where we are, and no freak of nature is going to beat great fighters like Goku and my father!

Get him, Gohan...

The whole galaxy is full of people like you...and I'm sick of it!

You're the only friend I've ever had.

I'd never be able to live with myself if I gave up now.

"Hh…Hhh…AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!"

Gohan was gone. The beast had awakened.

Goku struggled to look up. All had seemed lost. Then—some kind of new power had stabbed into his mind, the ki sense's equivalent of standing too close to a rock concert or staring into a bright light. He saw…something gold and orange slam into Broly, a blur of movement shoot past him and an impact stagger him back a step. "Aah!" The insane saiyan growled. "What was-" Another impact knocked him flat on his face. Gohan was moving too fast for any of them to keep up with, not giving Broly any chance to defend himself. He lurched back up to a standing position, spotting his enemy's movement, heralded by a brilliant golden glow. Broly lashed out in a feral, uncoordinated swing, catching only empty air, and receiving a hard stomach punch in return. Again, Gohan was gone before they could even see him. His attacks began to speed up, smacking Broly back and forth, punctuated by his enraged screams. "NO! MORE! I WON'T LET YOU!" Bones cracked under his furious assault.

Broly fell to his knees, gasping for breath through cracked teeth, wincing through an eye swollen shut. His body was half-crushed, one arm hanging limply by his side and a huge scorch mark down his back. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, and everywhere he bled, he seemed to be leaking pure pale-green energy. The air shimmered, and Gohan appeared in front of the Legendary Super Saiyan. The fighters struggled to look up, but the light emanating from Gohan was too intense to see through. The air had an electric, charged feel to it. Had he made some kind of transformation? Broly stumbled forwards, and another blow launched him up into the air. They could just about see Gohan's outline, cupping his hands at his sides before throwing them forwards in one smooth movement. "YOU HEAR ME, BROLY?! NO MORE!" A massive kamehameha wave erupted from his palms, lighting up the sky and enveloping Broly, blasting him out into space and utterly crushing his body. He howled in frustration, uttering one final growl as he vanished into the void. "Ka…ka...rot…"

The light faded, and Gohan fell to his knees, losing the energy to maintain his Super Saiyan form. With an exhausted smile, he collapsed, happily losing consciousness and sleeping better than he had for weeks.

Several hours had passed. Raditz had dragged himself out of the dirt, collected everyone (including Paragus) and teleported them to New Namek, where their healers had used their magical arts to fully restore everyone (except Paragus) to full fighting condition. They'd then left for Earth, arriving back at Capsule Corp. to find nobody waiting for them—after a while, they'd all gone inside out of boredom. They were a sorry sight; even after being healed, Goku had huge ragged gashes all over his outfit, Raditz had completely lost his shirt while Gohan's hung loosely from one shoulder and one trouser leg was ripped away, and Break was basically down to her underwear (Kuriza didn't require clothes in his final form, due to its natural armour and efficient biology, and Nail could recreate his jacket with the abilities he'd picked up from Katas). It was agreed that the saiyans would spend the rest of the day in their normal states, resuming their Super Saiyan forms the next morning. As for Paragus, when they finally went inside (and received much berating, especially from Chi-Chi, about running off at the drop of a hat, and explained their adventures), Bulma agreed to make him a ship which would take him anywhere in the near galactic vicinity—accompanied by a warning that if he continued to act anything like he had while in control of Broly, destroying planets and species simply for the thrill of victory, he would not live very long.

"Still," Goku said, as he relaxed with his family back in their secluded home on Mount Paozu that evening, "we learnt something important today."

"We did?" Chi-Chi, passing Gohan some cough syrup, raised an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah. We know what Gohan's capable of when he's pushed. If he can access that kind of power on command, Cell doesn't stand a chance." He grinned. "Compared to Broly, this is going to be easy."

OR IS IT?! Who knows. Well, me, but I'm not going to tell you, am I?

Oh, if you weren't a fan of the final Gohan vs. Broly fight here, read my answer to the first Q&A question below for une petite explanation. (EDIT: Sort of less of an issue now that I've made some changes?)

Anyway, if you want music suggestions while reading Broly's beatdown on the heroes, try something loud and violent, I guess. I was listening to "Die Hard" by Guyz Nite as I wrote this (yes, it is actually a song about the Die Hard movies. It's pretty good.), so go ahead and try that if you like. And for Gohan's transformation and victory over Broly, what else can it be but "Unmei No Hi (Tamashii Tai Tamashii)" from the Japanese DBZ soundtrack (by Hironobu Kageyama, apparently, if anyone's interested in that sort of thing.)

Q: No Roshi, but Kuriza. Significance I wonder?
I wonder might this be an opportunity for Kuriza (and possibly Gohan seeing as they're best friends) to get some more development (in both power and character) seeing as they haven't gotten much thus far. Ssj 2 and the fifth form seem to be possibilities with this. Are they? Well, probably not Ssj 2 because even if Gohan is a little weaker here he was significantly stronger than Cell (then again Cell might also be stronger, so I can't be certain) so he'd be able to thrash Cell AND have time to work out the emotional kinks.
Pretty much I see this going two ways if my previous theories have any merit. 1, Kuriza gets killed and/or severely injured which unleashes Ssj 2 Gohan (and a real Ssj 2 Gohan vs Broly would be an amazing fight). 2, Everyone gets thrashed and/or KOed, except Kuriza, he unlocks the fifth form, manages to stall Broly long enough for everyone else to get back in the fight. Admittedly 2 could lead into 1, but I'm not expecting it to.
And on the other hand if my guesses are off, well, I'll be in for quite a surprise.

A: Well, your theory number 1 was basically on the money. (The following is addressed to anyone pissed off about the Gohan vs. Broly fight) But what's this? I didn't make it the most amazing, epic battle ever? IMPOSSIBLE! It's almost like I'm making SSJ2 mysterious and still basically unknown deliberately. You might even think I'm SAVING it's full epicness for something. Hint. Hint. CELL. Hint. Hint.

Q: Hm...I'm curious though will Cell be able to sense them fighting Broly or even Vegeta? I could imagine Vegeta coming toward them after the battle and then finding nothing there before going back to doing whatever. Wait a minute did Babadi find him? Is he going to return as Majin Vegeta and only agreed to serve under Babadi to fight with Goku and Radtiz?

A: Obviously I can't answer the second part. We'll catch up with what Cell thinks of the whole escapade next chapter.

Q: Going to imply any possible solar flare/destructo disc combo in the near future? I mean almost everyone knows how to pull of the destructo disc and the solar flare by this point and time yet the combo is never used.

A: It would make sense, wouldn't it? But alas, it'd be a bit anticlimactic. Besides, Goku never used a kienzan-like technique until the Buu saga, and Krillin's wasn't powerful enough to hurt Perfect Cell at all.

Q: hmm... in the Q&A you mentioned not knowing what to do between the HTC events and Paragus landing... I think the only thing plausibly missing is talk of Gohan being a year older, and Chichi wanting to celebrate it. I mean while Chichi was away from Gohan for a day she knows her baby has been training (and growing) for a whole year without her. There is also actual talk from Zarbon and Krillin, but that could be used to break up the Brolli Special. I guess you could have added Hercule's (and a young Videl's) reaction from Cell's broadcast while at his dojo or some place too.

A: Thank you for reminding me of Hercule! I had forgotten about him. He'll be in the next chapter.

Q: the secret [I assume this reviewer mean the secret discovered in the HTC] was gohan went ssj2 in canon but here nope

A: Indeed. Nobody was expecting it here. Because Goku never received King Kai's training, and was less spiritually enlightened, if you will. But Gohan never spent a year enduring survival in the wilderness with Piccolo, and was more internally-focused.

So. That was pretty epic, I guess. And more to come, of course. Will Gohan squash Cell in five minutes? Or will Hercule show up and defeat them all? Or will Raditz become a Super Saiyan 3 and drown Cell in his hair? I…I'm honestly not trying to rehash this 'next time on DBZ' joke over and over…it just happens. I'm sorry. Have this limerick as consolation.

There once was a samurai from Earth,

Possessed of considerable girth.

Yaijerobe's his name,

Escaping's his game,

And he's only of debatable worth.

Yes, I'm random. See you soon.