Chapter 51: Full Circle
LAST MINUTE EDIT: Yes, it's late, stop throwing things at me and read the announcement at the end, please.
I took down the poll about which stories I should do. I've got a pretty good idea of what I'm doing in the foreseeable future (that's a weird word, foreseeable...it looks like it's got too many vowels in it), and it seems like most of you want me to focus on Break Through the Limit anyway. (As for Best Served Cold chapter 3...it's still in the planning stages. Yeah, I'm not a model of efficiency. Deal with it.)
You know, I was writing some of the Lord Slug dialogue, and I realised that there's some of Kami's backstory I might never have explained, how he was the child prodigy sent away in Guru's time to escape the cataclysm, etc., etc. But you guys have all already seen DBZ, right? (Or read it...) You don't need me to repeat the same exposition, and I guess we can just assume Kami or Nail or Moori or somebody told the heroes all this sometime off-screen. Sorry if this created any confusion, I didn't mean to skip it. And hey, maybe I did write it into some of the earlier chapters but I forgot that I did, so maybe it isn't a problem. Who knows? Not me, and I'm too lazy to check.
"Thanks, Videl." Gohan supported his injured friend as they settled to the ground. "I still have nightmares about Broly, and that was just self-defence...I don't know if I'd have been able to live with myself if I'd killed someone when I didn't have to. Even if he did deserve it..."
"Well, in the end...I guess he just couldn't live with the knowledge that he'd been beaten—shown mercy, even." At this, Videl seemed to lose her strength, and slumped against Gohan's shoulder. "You..." she mumbled. "You're a good guy, Gohan...never lose that."
It was strange, Gohan realised. He was in his Super Saiyan 2 form, but able to think clearly. The anger wasn't gone—it wasn't full mastery of the form like he'd achieved with the first level—but it was diminished, bubbling quietly in the back of his mind, no longer overriding everything.
A sound to his right brought him out of his daze—crumbling rock. Two figures smashed down through the ceiling, tumbling to the floor and leaving a sizeable impact crater as they skidded along, finally coming to a halt. Gohan shielded his eyes as the dust settled. "Uh...Zarbon?"
Indeed it was he; the reformed alien soldier was crouched atop the battered body of his mechanical opponent. Cacao was dented, scraped and burned all over, pieces of its metallic body twisted, melted and scored with jagged slashes. Beneath some of these could be seen organic body parts—flesh and blood. This was, in fact, the secret to Cacao's surprising strength: a combination of cutting-edge cybernetic enhancements and a soldier with a naturally high power level. Zarbon, though the victor, was in bad shape too. Even as he watched Zarbon deliver the finishing blow to his opponent's exposed biological face, Gohan noticed the burn marks covering most of Zarbon's left side, the lacerations adorning his body, and the bruises on his face. He stood up, stretching his muscles. "Ahh...now that was a fight. I haven't fought like that for years."
"What about Cell and the androids?" Gohan asked.
"Are you kidding?" Zarbon laughed. "That doesn't count. I never fought an opponent that I was a match for during that whole affair. There's a battle, and then there's stalling for time, or getting smacked around by some unbeatable opponent. This," he indicated the downed cyborg, "was a fight, my friend." He paused. "What are you looking at me like that for?"
"Oh, sorry," Gohan said, smiling. "It's just...I was thinking. What you said is true. You were pretty outmatched...and more than the rest of us, you probably could have got off-planet and survived somewhere other than Earth. But you stayed and tried to fight anyway."
"Yeah, well..." Zarbon spluttered. "Look, I've lived there for a good few years! I'm allowed to be a bit fond of the place! Don't try to make a hero of me just because of something like that!"
Gohan grinned. Despite what he says...and what Bulma says, come to it...I'm glad to have a guy like that on our side. He's got a good heart...it just took a bit of digging to bring it out. "Hey, can you take care of Videl?" he asked, letting Zarbon support her.
"Why?" the older fighter asked. "Something you've got to do?"
Gohan nodded. "I don't know how long I can maintain this Super Saiyan 2 power. I might as well take down the other ruler here while I'm at my maximum. No messing around like we did with Turles—he's going down, and nobody else is getting hurt. What can you tell me about him?"
Zarbon accessed his internally stored data, still relying on the session of Deep Sight he'd used on the news stations. "His name's Lord Slug. He's pretty despotic, by all accounts."
"He can't be worse than Turles."
"I'm afraid so." Zarbon noted Gohan's disbelieving look. "Look, I'll try and explain. To Turles, his people were expendable, yes, but he still felt some attachment to them—they were his, and he'd still at least try and keep most of them alive, even if only so he can use them for something later. Slug just doesn't care. He just sees himself as owning the land, and if there's anybody living there they'd better stay out of his way. The people just try and lay low as much as possible...there's pretty much nothing in their lives than trying to survive from day to day."
"So less of a ruler...more of, well, a pirate. Or just a thug."
"Right." Zarbon took off. "I'll take her to a hospital. You finish up quick and meet me back here."
"Okay!" Gohan lifted off, angling his flight towards the hole Zarbon had made entering the room and soaring out into the sky.
"Mind if I join you?" Gohan looked to the right to see Kuriza gliding along next to him.
The saiyan nodded. "Sure. I'm going to take down Lord Slug—that's the Namek ruling the other side of the planet."
"Bad?"
"Worse than Turles, apparently."
"Wow. Huh." Kuriza fell silent. "...do you think this is just natural? The way of the world? My father's deposed, and we come back and we've got these guys running the place just like he would."
Gohan shook his head. "No. People...most people are better than that. They tried, you know...they had a fair government, for a while. But Vegeta's little terrorist stunt gave people like Turles and Slug the chance to step in."
"So what do you hope to achieve?" Kuriza asked. "You take these guys down, how long before it happens again?"
"It won't. People like this are cowards at heart. After today, they'll have something solid to fear. I'm going to end the Super Saiyan as a myth, and make it real."
"If you say so...this sounds dangerous, Gohan."
"What do you mean, it vanished?" Lord Slug demanded. He was over six feet in height, and well-built even for a Namekian. He wore a yellow cloak over his dark fighting outfit, and a scar ran down the left side of his face, only partially concealed by his helmet.
"It's just gone, sir!" the soldier said quietly, backing fearfully away from his capricious ruler. "Turles' power level just dropped off the map...and another group just appeared, around the same time—one of them is literally off the charts! We can't measure it!"
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it?" Slug laughed. "You scared me there for a second. It's just a malfunction...Turles and his men couldn't have died that quickly! And people don't just pop into existence, especially not with power levels we can't even measure with our heavy-duty sensors! They can detect my power level, can't they? Hell, they wouldn't even short out at old King Cold himself—there's no way anyone could be that—"
Comic-book sound effects, while aesthetically pleasing, are rarely accurate in relation to the noise something actually makes in real life. However, the sound of Gohan and Kuriza breaking through the roof of Slug's armoured bunker and decelerating from supersonic speeds to a dead stop in milliseconds, generating enough heat to partially melt the stone floor beneath their feet, was definitely a BLAMMM!
The soldier, Angila, who'd been reading the sensor reports, was the first to react. "What...the...f—"
"Oh, just shut up!" Gohan punched him clean through the wall and into the next room. He didn't get up.
Slug's eye twitched. "Kill the bastard! Get both of them out of here!" His three remaining soldiers in the room, Zeeun, Wings and Medamatcha, began to move to attack. Kuriza's image flickered, and the soldiers collapsed, giving out gasps of pain and surprise. "You...you..." Slug growled, clenching his fists. "Just who the hell do you think you are, coming in here and tearing things up like this? Don't you know who I am? You are addressing the great Lord Slug, now show some respect or prepare for oblivion!" He paused. "Wait a minute...you, you're..." His eyes widened with the realisation. "...Kuriza...! The lost prince..." A smile crossed the scheming Namekian's face. "Yes, you'll be very helpful...either as a powerful ally or a valuable trophy. I might even let blondie there escape with his life if you join me. What'll it be?"
"Heh." Kuriza grinned. "You're so used to calling the shots, it doesn't even cross your mind that you're not in control of the situation anymore..."
"What's that supposed to mean? You're not seriously trying to stage some kind of coup here...you're mad if you think you can challenge my power! I'm even stronger than your father was, boy!"
"Well, that makes two of us, then." Kuriza nodded to Gohan. "Three, actually. Gohan? Want to show him?"
"Right." Gohan flared up his ki a little, powering up to over 50% of his maximum. "Yaaah!" The stone walls cracked as shockwaves rolled out from the half-saiyan's body. The power level sensor in the corner of the room crackled, stuttered and finally exploded. Slug staggered back, in awe of Gohan's incredible power.
"What...who are you? Are you...a god?" he whispered.
"Almost. I'm a Super Saiyan."
"No...no...no, it can't be true!" Slug wailed. "I never believed...why me?! Of all the injustice...why me?!"
"Injustice? Injustice?" Gohan seethed. "You want to talk about injustice, you waste of oxygen?" He grabbed Slug by the neck, flying back up through the roof and throwing the tyrant to the ground on the streets above. "Look around you, Slug. The streets are empty. Why do you think that is?"
"Why should I care?" the Namek snapped. "I don't concern myself with the masses! A higher being like you should understand that!"
"It's because of you!" Gohan trembled, trying to keep himself under control. "They aren't leaving their homes anymore...they're afraid you'll kill them on sight for amusement. With reason, I assume."
Slug snorted. "You've sure got an overdeveloped conscience, haven't you? You think you're some kind of hero? Heh...you had me going there. You're no Super Saiyan! The bloodthirsty warrior of legend...this self-righteous kid? Give me a break! Haaah!" He leapt up from the floor, launching himself at Gohan, but the child's hand shot out, catching his punch mid-swing with minimal effort.
"You know, that'd be slightly more intimidating if I hadn't heard the same from the other guy. Now, answer me one question...did you think you could just get away with this forever? Did you honestly think nobody would care?"
"Why should they? It's not their problem."
"Well, it's about to be yours." Gohan raised one fist to shut Slug up, but Kuriza put a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey, Gohan. Let me handle this one."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. You go check how the others are doing. I'll clean up here...a few years back, my race were the oppressors and his were the heroes...I can't help seeing a bit of poetic justice here. I'll be fine...keep your ki sense sharp, and I'll show you the results of my training."
Gohan nodded, powering down and taking off back towards Turles' half of the planet. Kuriza is kind of strange...sometimes he talks like someone a lot older, then the next moment he's a kid again...must run in the family, I guess...
Kuriza turned back to Slug. "All right, let me make it plain to you what's happening. Your rule is done. You're through, and you're leaving. You don't have a choice in the matter. But I can beat you up first if it makes you feel better."
"Why...you..." Slug leapt at Kuriza, the young prince blocking his first punch. "I'll never surrender!"
"If you say so." He winced as the shockwaves rolled through his body, shaking the ground beneath him. "Let's go." The fighters vanished, racing up into the air as the battle began.
Gohan maintained his course away from the fight, despite his misgivings. Kuriza must know what he's doing...but I can tell he's outmatched against Slug. He must have some kind of plan, or he wouldn't have been so confident. Wait...ah...that's it. He could just about feel it at the edge of his senses, buried within Kuriza's energy signature. Clever...wish you'd told me about it. Ah, well. No need to worry, he's got it won.
Kuriza crashed to the ground, tumbling head over heels and melting a parked hovercar with his high-speed passing as he skidded to a halt.
"Well?" Slug hovered a few feet away, tossing his helmet to the ground, revealing the antennae beneath, and stretching his neck one way, then the next. "Where's all that bravado from a minute ago? I think you said you were going to beat me up. But let me tell you, I wouldn't be here if some random group of self-righteous vigilantes could just barge in and depose me. I am Namek's lost son! No fighter can match me!"
I guess his ego's interfering with his memory... Kuriza noted. He wasn't so confident when Gohan powered up, but then maybe he just assumes that I'm the stronger of the two... "So, tell me," he said, rubbing a bruise on his face, "what happened to the kind, peaceful Namekian race?"
"Kind...peaceful? Is that what they were like on Namek?" The ruler shrugged. "I wouldn't know. I don't remember the place...I was sent to another world in my infancy."
"I see...just like Kami...they must have sent you both out to escape the cataclysm the elders spoke of..."
"From what I've been able to gather, they sent away two children destined to become great warriors—Super Nameks, if you will. Apparently, that power was supposed to have a corrupting influence on me, but I don't believe that. You might see it differently, but that's just a point of view." Slug cracked his knuckles. "Now, I've lost a lot of soldiers today, so I'll give you one last chance to join me before I kill you."
That explains a lot, actually... Kuriza realised, lost in thought. Why the corrupting influence of Piccolo ever existed in Kami—he was a Super Namek, too. And that must also be why they grew in power so much when they fused...
"Hey...don't you ignore me!" Slug growled, thrusting one arm forwards. It stretched out, extending unaturally to close the distance to Kuriza, grabbing the young warrior and pulling him towards Slug.
"Oh! Crap!" Kuriza squeaked as a foot impacted with his face, knocking him flat on his back. "Right. Fighting now. Thinking later." He bounced back to his feet, hopping from right to left. "Okay, then...prepare to be—" Yelping, he jumped away as Slug fired narrow yellow energy beams from his eyes, chasing Kuriza away down the street. Putting on a burst of speed, he reappeared standing on top of a water tower on the roof of the building behind Slug. "Hey! Don't interrupt me when I'm introducing my ultimate technique!"
"Surely that's the perfect time to interrupt you," Slug reasoned.
"Quiet, you! I'm doing something cool over here! Hrrrrrg..." Kuriza's scrawny frame burst out into a bodybuilder's, armour plates sprouting over his head, chest, shoulders, lower legs and forearms. Bony spikes and blades emerged from the armour, glistening in the light of the setting sun, as his eyes took on a red glow. Finally, an armoured facemask slid across his mouth and nose, obscuring his mocking expression. "Well, how do you like me now?"
"Gah...!" Slug choked, recognising the change from the file on Cooler. "The...fifth form...!"
"Right. Pretty cool, don't you think?" Proper ki control made it a lot easier to accomplish, of course...as well as reducing the collateral damage and fireworks that usually accompanies my transformations...though I don't transform very much anymore, anyway. Another benefit of ki awareness is being able to fully control my energy in my natural form, rendering the first three pretty much useless unless I suddenly develop a burning desire to bump my forehead on doorways...I'm doing it again. Fight time now. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. "Where was I...oh. Right." He looked up to see a gigantic Lord Slug barelling towards him, having taken the opportunity Kuriza's mental tangents provided to transform into his giant form, an ability seemingly shared by all evil Namekians for some reason. Avoiding the temptation to drift off on another tangent about why this might be, Kuriza instead leapt into the air to avoid Slug's massive fist, which instead pulverised half a mile of road. Spinning in mid-air, Kuriza delivered a roundhouse kick to Slug's face that knocked the monstrous tyrant flat on his back. Slug landed in the river, instantly flooding it as he displaced about as much water as a good-sized steam liner.
Kuriza grinned, rolling his shoulders as he tried to get used to his bulked-up form. "I already gave the speech to the other guy, so...I'll just focus on kicking your ass, all right?"
All right, I'll get this out of the way: This chapter was late. And that is relevant, because...eh...Break Through the Limit is going to slow down for a while, and there's a reason for that. Let me make it clear, it's not ending, it's not on hiatus, it's not undergoing a permanant schedule change. That's what isn't happening, here's what is happening:
I have exams.
I have just had an 'oh crap' moment, realising how close they are and that I really need to get my ass in gear and revise.
That does not leave me much time to write this story.
So, until the summer holidays begin, I will still be writing Break Through the Limit, but slower. Chapters will come out whenever I finish them, there's no fixed schedule, sorry about that. I guess you'll get notified if you follow or favourite me or the story? Or something? Or you can check the Dragon Ball Multiverse comments, I quite often link to new chapters there.
Exams start in 4 weeks. They finish a few weeks later. When they're done, I'll tell you guys that it's over and either I'm back on normal weekly schedule, or I'm going on holiday and then two or three weeks later I'll be back on normal schedule, because I will be back on it sometime during the summer, and that's a promise. I may even do a couple of weeks of sped-up updates to make up for it, I don't know.
And without further ado:
Q: If Even Further Beyond is your GT, will a replacement for Baby be used?
A:A version of Baby will be in regular Break Through the Limit. In the vaguely near future.
Q:(People disagreeing with me about power levels last chapter)
A:(PM debates which remain unresolved)
Q:I also noticed you are now referring to Cell as 'it' I don't know where you got that from but it might be from a review I left on BoD (if you are a review reader that is). If you got it from that, I just wanna say I was surprised when I did see how they referred to Cell like that.
A:I refer to Cell's first form as 'it' and the others as 'he', as I always have.
Q:I missed the release of the last chapter, but I will say I was surprised Videl could reason with Gohan in SSJ2 when canon Goku couldn't do it with Gohan. Surprised, but not in a bad way.
A:I figured as it's not his first transformation, he'd be slightly less, well, mad.
Q: And the dragon's names are based off greek gods, right?
A:Gods, titans, yeah. Incidentally, thanks to everybody for the positive feedback on the Even Further Beyond preview!
Q: Do I detect a ghostbusters reference?
A: Bulma's anti-Cell device was inspired by Ghostbusters, yeah.
Q:I don't recall seeing any fan art of Break, is there any? I would love to see her in base, original unstable super sayian, FPSSJ &her legendary equivalent, please tell me something like this exists!
A:There is one, of her in base form, by thrubardockeyes on deviantart.
There were a couple other questions that I've already answered in previous chapters, so I won't repeat myself, mainly because I'm out of time right now (revision for those exams, y'know).
Here's a thing I just thought of, after watching one of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series' videos, and you can probably guess which one if you've seen it: What if I used Google Translate and translated chapter 1 into Japanese...and back into English? It's hilarious. Go try it. I'm not going to post it here, because the grammar looks like it's been put through a blender, and I don't want people to glance casually at this chapter and think that's how I normally write or anything.