EDIT: No chapter this Sunday (the 21st), sorry! Stuff came up. You know how it is. Chapter 63 coming following Sunday (the 28th).
Chapter 62: Only Human
I've finished the first part of the special! On to part 2! You guys had better appreciate this, I'm pulling double time here (note: please ignore that whiny sentence, I'm doing this of my own volition).
Thanks to the Trigun soundtrack for getting me through this chapter! It took me a while, but I enjoyed it.
"Time to die!" Dr. Wheelo's huge mechanical claw, pointed straight at the group of heroes, began to hum with power.
"Get ready!" Tien yelled, raising his hands. Can't guarantee everyone will dodge that...gotta deflect it! "TRI-BEAM!" His ki beam shot forwards, colliding in mid-air with Dr. Wheelo's high-power laser. He felt the immense pressure crush down on his body as his attack was almost instantly forced back by the stronger force.
"DOUBLE KAMEHAMEHA!" Thinking quickly, Krillin and Yamcha had formed their hands into a large circle and combined their ki to produce a single, stronger beam. It joined Tien's Tri-Beam, crashing head-on into Wheelo's attack and combining their force.
"It's not enough!" Yamcha realised. "We have to use the Kaioken!"
"No good..." Tien said grimly. "At this point, we wouldn't be able to sustain it for longer than a few seconds...or raise our powers high enough to completely stop that attack in that short period of time..."
Just as the oncoming attack was beginning to gain momentum, their ki blasts starting to roll off it like waves off a ship's bow, Launch leapt up from beneath them, darting towards Wheelo's robot exoskeleton while he was distracted. Firing up her Kaioken aura, she pointed a finger at him, yellow ki gathering around it. "Dodon Ray—HYAAAH!"
The Dodon Ray struck Wheelo a glancing blow on his transparent brain capsule, throwing him off-balance. His beam lurched upwards, lancing away harmlessly into the air, and Tien, Krillin and Yamcha's combined power hit him full-force, blasting him away before he could raise his defences.
Tien fell backwards into a sitting position. "Whoa...thanks again, Launch...but be careful from now on, I don't think he'll overlook you again." He realised Nail hadn't taken part in the attack. "Nail? You okay?"
"In a manner of speaking." The warrior Namekian was standing protectively in front of Dende and Mr. Popo. "I didn't have enough energy left to help you, so I decided to shield them in case you failed...thankfully, it didn't come to that." He turned to Dende. "Why did you come here?"
"To warn you..." Dende pointed to Dr. Wheelo's receding form. "I observed you fighting...you thought you'd won...I tried to warn you Dr. Wheelo himself was a serious threat. But it looks like I was too late." A thought struck him. "Hey, quickly! Everyone come here; I'll heal you!" he shouted. "Hurry, before he recovers!"
"Right! We're in no condition to fight him like this!" Tien ran over to Dende, the others following close behind, and the Earth's Guardian worked his restorative magic on each of them in turn. "Thanks, Dende! I don't know what we'd have done if you hadn't shown up..."
"We'd better go..." Mr. Popo said, nudging his young charge. "He appears to be returning. We can't risk you and the Dragon Balls being destroyed in the line of fire."
"Right." Dende stepped onto the genie's enchanted carpet. "Good luck, you guys!" The two flickered out of sight, magically returning to the Lookout in an instant.
"Okay..." Yamcha looked over towards the approaching robot scientist. "You guys ready?"
"As we'll ever be," Launch replied. "Let's do it!"
Dr. Wheelo powered his way through the frigid air towards the ragged group that composed his enemies. How did things get so out of control? Everything's been destroyed because of these interlopers! He saw them now, five tiny dots soaring towards him. He increased power to his leg thrusters, making straight for them. The Earth's fighters scattered to avoid his charge. "Damn you all!" He growled. "Everything was going perfectly...and you had to interfere! You've ruined everything!"
"Well, excuse me for saving the world," Krillin grumbled, wheeling around to attack. A Kienzan flew out from his outstretched hand, slicing through one of the spiked ridges on Wheelo's back as he banked left to avoid it.
"Interesting turn of phrase...but you haven't won yet." Wheelo swung an arm around, smashing Krillin into an icy peak, but just as he was doing so, Nail shoulder-barged him from behind, knocking him forwards. Tien and Launch rose up from beneath him as he swerved around, both crashing into him feet-first and bowling him over.
The gigantic robot collapsed back into the water below, floundering around with all four limbs flailing. For all the power of his mechanical body, Dr. Wheelo was no fighter, and his skill disadvantage was starting to become painfully clear to him. Still, he thought, at least their attacks aren't having much effect. It's hard to stop them hitting me, but my armour's too tough for it to make much of a difference...I'll wear them down eventually.
He rose from the water. "Are we done playing? Have you realised yet how futile your efforts are? You haven't even made a dent."
Krillin jumped back up to join the others in the air. "Oh, we're done playing, all right. Let's just go all-out straight off and get this done, guys."
"Sounds good to me!" Nail quickly powered up to maximum as the humans each raised their Kaioken to its current highest level. "HYAAA!" He fired a two-handed energy wave straight at Wheelo as the rest of the fighters swerved around to attack the mad scientist's flanks.
Such a huge power increase in such a short time... Wheelo observed. Activating reserve power supply. His aura grew even larger, drowning out their tiny-seeming ki with its immensity. "I didn't want to use this body's full power—it's still untested—but you're forcing my hand, it seems." He smacked Nail's blast out of the way, swivelling to face the other four. They twisted and soared towards him, leaving trails of burning air in their wake.
Wheelo's swiping claws knocked Launch out of the air. Yamcha, changing tactics and coming in from behind, was struck full-force by the robot's snake-like tail. Krillin overshot his target slightly and was sent flying as Wheelo barged into him. Tien, however, made it through the doctor's myriad counterattacks, unleashing a barrage of punches and kicks that scratched and dented Wheelo's armoured carapace. "There's more where that came from—Tri-Beam! HAAA!" The close-range blast was devastatingly effective, blasting Wheelo half a mile back, carving a huge chasm into the frozen ground. Tien didn't relent for a second, firing a whole volley of energy-draining Tri-Beams. "HAAA! RAAAH! YAAA!" As each one hammered home, he felt his strength leaving him. Too fast—I'm losing power too fast! I can't keep up an intense attack like the Tri-Beam with this level of Kaioken power! He gritted his teeth, trying to block out the pain. No, I have to keep going! He's down but not out! "AAAH!" The energy beams became a repetitive thud, each sending up a corona of steam as the ice melted and the underlying sea boiled. Over a minute later, he finally lowered his shaking arms, fighting to keep his eyes open, to sink slowly to the ground and not just fall uncontrollably. "That's all...I've got," he gasped, taking in heaving breaths. "I hope...you enjoyed that...bastard..." Why's there always have to be someone with a god complex? Especially now, with our strongest fighters off-planet...! Hopefully, though, that did the... He felt the enormous ki approaching again, barely diminished. "No...no, it's impossible!"
And yet, Wheelo floated through the air towards them, a flickering energy barrier encircling his hulking frame. It blinked a couple of times, then dissipated. Can't leave the shield on for too long... he reminded himself. It drains too much power. Then again...they don't know that. He hadn't activated it instantly, though, and wasn't exactly unharmed. Scorch marks covered his body. Cracks were visible in a couple of places, and sparks hissed from exposed wires. However, nothing major was damaged, and his power was as overwhelming as ever.
"D...Damn it..." Tien pounded his fist into the ground. "I put all my energy into that attack...and for nothing!" He looked up, hearing Nail's feet tap against the ground as he landed next to the exhausted fighter.
"Hey, you!" The Namek called. "Doctor Willow!"
"It's...Wheelo..." the robotic menace grumbled.
"I don't care!" Nail growled. "You clearly have the upper hand in this battle...why do you want to move to one of our bodies if we can't beat your robot there?"
"Fool...you think I enjoy inhabiting this ugly metal shell?! I want to walk, feel, breathe as a human being! Then my dominion over the planet will be truly fulfilling!"
"Wait...you want to be human...and yet you want to take over my body?" Nail scratched his head. "You blind or something?"
"Do not mock me," Wheelo snarled. "You're close enough. And your power is unchallenged by all save myself...you'll make the perfect host."
"That's pretty funny, actually..." Tien chuckled. "He actually thinks he's going to win. Hey! Even if you beat us, Goku'll be back soon! And let me tell you, you or I'd be nothing compared to him! You won't stand a chance!"
"Small consolation to you if you're dead," Wheelo retorted, not really believing that there was such a person.
Better not tell him about the Dragon Balls... Tien decided, merely smiling confidently. "Well, I wouldn't be too sure."
"Still." Nail shifted to a combat stance. "All things considered, I'd prefer not to die. Any ideas?"
"Nothing coming, but if you need any help, we're here." Launch landed behind them, Krillin and Yamcha by her side.
"I've got one idea..." Tien stood up shakily. "A Spirit Bomb."
"What?" Krillin frowned, sceptical. "That was only barely enough to beat Vegeta the first time we fought him! What, exactly, is it gonna do to somebody stronger than Cooler?!"
"This one's gonna be different," Tien promised. "Trust me. But it'll take time..."
"All right." Nail nodded. "I'll be the first line of defence...I'll keep him busy as long as I can. You guys stay around Tien. If I go down, hold him off. Got it?" Nods of assent. "Good. This had better work, Tien!"
"Trust me." Tien raised his hands to the sky as Nail took off, closing all three eyes and trying to calm himself. Only when you are at peace with yourself can you form a Spirit Bomb...King Kai's words echoed back to him. Purity of heart is paramount! Any taint, and the energy will reject you. Clearing his mind, he began to gather energy into the attack; first what little energy he had left, then working outwards, scouring the entire planet, taking a tiny amount of energy from every human, plant and animal—and not just living things. Even the ocean, the rocks and the wind had a basic but vast supply of spiritual energy.
Planet Earth, please...share your energy with me!
Nail made the first strike, a glancing blow that staggered Wheelo back, but the scientist struck back with deadly force, his elbow driving the breath from Nail's lungs. Wheelo made another lunge, but Nail flew over his head, aiming a spinning kick at a vulnerable joint. He hit dead-on, completely severing Wheelo's whip-cord tail, but even before it splashed down into the ocean Wheelo was spinning around, kicking Nail away. The warrior Namek's head span, but he fought to stay in the air. This is no good...I can't keep taking these hits or I won't even last a minute against this guy! He began to whirl around Wheelo like a one-man swarm of bugs, trying to keep him off-balance with hit-and-run strikes.
All right... Tien smiled, satisfied. I've drawn energy from the planet Earth...but like Krillin said, this just won't cut it anymore...I just hope this works. Stretching his arms out, he expanded his mind's eye, visualising other worlds—planets near Earth, stars in solar systems adjacent to Earth's. The stars! So much energy in them...it's incredible! And yet normally, we can't sense it at all! But I've got to be careful not to take too much from anything. Just a tiny proportion from each...every living thing, every planet, every star... He grinned, feeling the rush of energy. Yes! That's it! Give me the power to beat this guy!
"Gah!" Wheelo made the latest in a series of unsuccessful swings. "Enough of this! I can see you're trying to stall me...whatever those four are up to, I'll put an end to it!"
"No!" Nail shouted, eyes widening as Wheelo raised both arms, energy building around each. He began to fire a barrage of energy beams, smashing through the ground and into the ocean floor, carving a line towards the human fighters below. Nail raced to intercept, just managing to reach a blast aimed at the glacier his friends stood on in time. He crossed his arms in front of his chest, pushing all his ki to the front to form an impromptu shield. The impact was vicious, but he withstood it—then realised there was one final beam, already shooting past him, aimed straight at the group. He appeared alongside it with a desperate burst of super-speed, swinging his leg around and hoping to deflect the attack with a kick. No time to re-concentrate my ki...just have to hope I'm tough enough! "Ahh!" The beam detonated, going no further. However, when he looked down, his stomach lurched—his leg was gone. Completely destroyed! My body might be going into shock…I don't even feel ay pain yet!
Dr. Wheelo hovered towards him. "Impressive. You saved your friends...but lost a limb. How unfortunate. I guess you won't be able to fight anymore."
"Don't count on it!" Hissing with pain, Nail regenerated his leg, the new limb bursting messily out of the stump of the old. Regenerating, unfortunately, always hurt even more than losing the body part in the first place, and in this case both pains hit him at once as his brain finally registered the injury.
"Interesting...but it seems like that took a lot out of you. You can't have much fight left."
Nail scowled. "We'll...see."
"Hey, uh, Tien..." Yamcha asked. "You were glowing with power at first, but it's stopped...where'd it go? Where's the Spirit..." he glanced up. "...the, uh, the...the..." he looked up again, blinking. "...Spirit Bomb..."
"Wow!" Krillin gaped, noticing the ball of twinkling blue energy floating high above their heads. "That thing must be 50 metres across! Nothing could survive that!" He looked anxiously over at Wheelo. "Hey, it doesn't look like Nail can last much longer...Tien! Throw it!"
"No!" Tien grunted. "It's...not enough! I need more time!"
"Yeah, well—woah!" Krillin spun around as a heavy impact heralded Nail's half-conscious body hurtling ungracefully towards them. Krillin jumped to intercept, caught Nail, and laid him on the ground next to Tien. "All right, looks like it's up to us...Yamcha, with me. Launch, you be our last line of defence. If you see Yamcha or me make an opening, though, take it."
"Got it." Launch grinned. "Kick his ass!"
"Oh, because that's likely," Yamcha moaned, following Krillin through the air towards Wheelo. "KAIOKEN, HAAA!" They shouted in unison. Yamcha went straight for the transparent brain-covering, firing a ki blast from each hand as a distraction, then drawing back his fist in preparation to try cracking the weak point. "Wolf Fang—"
"Wolf Fang nothing!" Wheelo spat, surrounding his body with pulsing red energy before activating his thrusters and powering forwards into Yamcha, knocking him aside as easily as swatting an insect.
"Okay, here goes..." Krillin twisted under Wheelo's defences, planting a two-handed punch in his abdomen and throwing his energy out around him to send the doctor reeling away. "Gotcha!" Now, while he's off-guard! He focused all his boosted power into his hands, then released it in one blast. "KAIOHAMEHAAAA!" The light outshone everything for a brief moment, then vision flooded back, revealing—
"He dodged it?!" Krillin moaned. I guess that's the weakness of only powering up the technique...if my body doesn't have the same boost, I lose speed! He must have taken advantage of that...
"Enough of you..." Wheelo lunged, grabbing Krillin around the waist in one huge claw. "I've had enough of all of you!" Arcs of electricity surged down his arm, passing into Krillin and wracking his body. After a few seconds of the punishing attack, he tossed the small fighter away, floating down to the ground and facing Tien. Launch was nowhere to be seen.
The three-eyed warrior stood resolutely, hands raised. I've gathered all I can from the surrounding planets and stars...but it still isn't enough! His power's enormous...
"What are you doing?" Wheelo wondered aloud. "Raising your arms like that...what are you hoping to achieve, I wonder?" He paused his implacable advance. "Something stupid, no doubt. Whatever it is, you don't have much time...I'm not a patient man. Or are you surrendering?"
Tien stared down the gigantic robot, trying to stay calm. Nail...Krillin...Yamcha...Launch...whatever energy you have left, give it to me now! Lend me your power!
"Just how long are you going to stand there?!" Wheelo demanded. "Are you frozen to the spot or something?"
"Heh heh heh...just wait." Tien smiled. "You'll see..."
"I have no time for this foolishness!" Wheelo roared, raising an arm and charging up energy. "Once you're dead, there'll be nothing to stop me transferring to the green one's body...I know he's still alive."
Crap! Tien winced. Can't dodge it without losing control of the Spirit Bomb—and if that happened, it could destroy the whole planet! "Do your worst!"
"If you insist." Wheelo fired, and Tien shut his eyes, bracing himself. But before it hit home, Launch darted out from behind cover, throwing herself in the path of the attack. With a monumental effort she managed to block it, but the impact sent her sprawling, most of her energy spent. "Heh..." Wheelo chuckled. "I knew she'd be around somewhere...I reckoned that was the most effective way of drawing her out. Now you've got nobody left to help you..." he paused. "You still haven't moved! What kind of strategy do you call this?"
"Why...so impatient..." Tien chided, feeling a sudden flow of energy from his friends. Nail, Krillin, Yamcha, Launch—all were just awake enough to pour their last reserves of energy into the Spirit Bomb. Just a few more seconds! Please, give me that! "Don't you like surprises?"
"Don't play games with me!" Wheelo whipped his arm around at high speed, sending a shockwave through the air that hurled Tien away like a rag-doll. He bounced painfully, rolled and managed to land upright, leaving skid-marks on the ice. Slowly, he stood again, raising his arms.
Wheelo shuddered with anger. "Stop...STOP DOING THAT! I WILL NO TOLERATE..."
Tien's eyes snapped open wide. Now. "You want me to stop? Want to know what I'm doing?"
"What...?"
"YOU'RE DONE!" Tien shouted, swinging both arms down and letting the Spirit Bomb fly down towards Wheelo's robotic body.
"What are you talking about, waving your arms around like..." Wheelo paused, noticing that the area around him was getting considerably brighter. Slowly, he looked up. "That's...that's not the sun..." He realised with a jolt of surprise the speed with which it was hurtling at him. "D-Damn it!" He quickly immersed his body in red energy, releasing it all up at the Spirit Bomb. There was a brief struggle between the two opposing energies, but the Spirit Bomb finally overwhelmed Wheelo's counterattack, colliding with his arm and detonating.
Tien threw himself to the ground, shutting his eyes against the brilliant flare of light. Earth's energy...more from the surrounding planets...and ours, too! This has to work!
Slowly, the light faded. The smoke began to clear. Those still able to stand—only Tien and Krillin—slowly approached, warily reaching out with their ki senses. Suddenly, Tien took a step backwards, fear clouding his face. "No...it can't be!" And yet, though it was less than half what it had been before, Dr. Wheelo's ki was still very much there.
"Oh, come on!" Krillin moaned. "We've thrown everything we've got at this guy...what gives?!"
Wheelo now stood fully revealed. His raised blocking arm had been completely destroyed, loose wires hanging from the empty shoulder socket. Cracks ran up and down his body. But, damaged as he was, he was in a much better state than his enemies.
"What I want to know..." Tien said wearily, "...is how some random scientist out of nowhere can build a robot that's more powerful than we are." He noticed a small figure, energy masked, rising slowly up behind Wheelo and stealthily gliding towards him, and decided to keep the doctor talking for a while.
"I keep my eyes and ears open," Wheelo said as he approached. "I've observed many things, and your battles were among them...they haven't exactly been easy to miss. I've salvaged technology from battle sites, scanned your abilities and figured out the source of your elusive 'ki' powers...it's all thanks to you, in fact. My bio-warriors that you encountered earlier were previous attempts to create a being that could defeat you...it seems, with this robot body, I have finally succeeded!"
Dr. Gero called, he wants his shtick back, Tien thought glumly to himself. Still...that does explain the Saibaman-looking things...and the guy with Instant Transmission... "Well...I wouldn't say that." For one thing...the Spirit Bomb made an opening in his armour...that shoulder's now a massive weak point. Cracks cobwebbed out from the stump.
"Oh, really?" Wheelo gloated. "Well, even that last attack failed to finish me...though I am surprised that it managed to overpower my Planet Geyser weapon...I was going to save that to just wipe out the planet if all else failed, but I was forced to use it just to survive. In any case, though...you've failed. And I've won. And with that..." he raised a foot, aiming to crush Tien. "...goodbye."
"Uh, I think someone wants to have a word with you," Tien said.
"W...What? Word?" Wheelo paused, totally confused. "What are you..."
"KIENZAN!" Krillin, just now hovering silently inches away from Wheelo, let loose the very last dregs of his energy into forming one final attack, throwing it directly into the weak point on Wheelo's shoulder. It carved into the mass of wires, slicing deep into the robotic body and causing the cracked segments to explode outwards. Uncontrolled electricity hissed and spat up and down Wheelo's body, his limbs twitching and jerking. Krillin wasn't done, though. "Heh...Guess who picked up a trick from Cell?" He swung his arms upwards, remotely directing the disc, sending it up towards the brain compartment. The robot's inside, nowhere near as well-protected as the outside, was no defence; the Kienzan flew up and up, inevitably slicing through into the section that housed Wheelo's disembodied brain.
"N-No! You can't do this to me! NOOOO! N—" At this point, his screams of protest stopped, as Kienzan and brain met. The result was extremely messy, and it was fair to say the Kienzan won.
All his strength gone, Krillin sank to the ground, falling onto his back. "We...won..."
"Yeah..." Tien sat down next to him, exhausted. "Who needs Super Saiyans, eh?" They sat for a minute or two in silence, enjoying the peaceful quiet. Then, however, a loud creaking noise emanated from Wheelo's robot's legs...and it began to fall.
"Say...is it just me," Krillin said slowly, "or is he falling towards that mountain there?"
"Yeah..." Tien agreed, nodding. "And would it be fair to say that the impact is going to—" THUDD. "—to disturb that quite unstable-looking mountainside of snow?"
"It would, it would." Krillin sighed. "Let me guess. You're not in any state to fly either, huh?"
Abruptly, and just as the avalanche began to roll towards them, Dende and Mr. Popo appeared again. "Hey, you did it!" Dende cheered, oblivious. "You won! I'm so glad!"
Ignoring him, Tien answered Krillin's question. "No...no, I am not."
Krillin sighed again, closing his eyes and resigning himself to a cold and wet few minutes in the near future, as the wall of snow crashed into them. "Wonderful."
...And that's how we got to where we were at the end of chapter 59. Don't worry, I will have a scene next chapter where Tien says pretty much that, but I'm just reassuring you that yes, this mini-arc is done now. Really.
Next up is Fusion Reborn. Then, finally, the Buu saga. But in the immediately near future...there might actually be character development next chapter, instead of more fighting! What is this heresy?! (Seriously though, there'll be a bit of a pause, but I don't know if it'll be long enough to last a full chapter, or if the opening acts of Fusion Reborn will be the end of the next chapter. Hopefully, I'll be able to fill an entire chapter with the various other things I'm planning to include between this and that...after all, there's a long time period to cover, as Fusion Reborn will take place not too long before the Buu saga, so there's several in-story years to get through. Though quite a lot of that will be timeskipped, there's still some significant events I need to include.)
Q: Oh man, does that crazy doc not know how to just give up? on second thought, never mind, if he did, there wouldn't be much story. Anyway, what's that horrible joke you mentioned earlier? And one question, are the Saiyans still with Myuu and you're using this mini saga to let the humans have their time to shine?
A: No, not telling you, and yes.
Q: Dear God, your skills have increased tremendously from that half-plotted mess you started out with. But I must know what this joke was! I've explored one of the greatest comedy sites known to man, so I've seen epic fails, but what could this one be?
I'm tempted to create a picture with the caption :"Super 17 out of f****** nowhere!" Just in honor of that insane twist. Its even more unexpected than Vegeta's sudden hero-bump in BoD.
A: That'd be a pretty funny picture! As long as it didn't give the impression that the actual BTtL plot is that stupid...
And no! I'm not telling anyone the joke!
Q: I don't understand how Piccolo was able to affect Nail's power and personality. Wasn't he Katas? How did he defuse?
A: Katas did say something along the lines of still being able to feel Piccolo's evil inside him, remember? "Katas" was just the name taken by the person who was, in essence, the original Nameless Namek. He was restored to that state—i.e. mostly good, but with an evil taint (Piccolo) in his heart. When he fused with Nail, he hoped to eliminate Piccolo...evidently, it didn't work.
Q: Oh my God, your own comments on what you wrote was hilarious! But, I still want to see the heart virus joke, as Raditz once said to Goku "Pretty please..." let us see it?
A: Not a chance.
Q: Its a nice chapter. Not too much story-wise, but a really good fighting scene. Although, if you're giving away all these previews for Even Further Beyond, isn't that basically just giving away tons of spoilers?
A: Which should leave you wondering about the sheer magnitude of the stuff I'm not telling you...
Q: The original story sounds AMAZING! Haha it had some decent concepts. Actually about the spirit bomb that attacked Vegeta.. In Canon that was a severely under powered spirit bomb because Goku lost most of the energy when he got hit. So if Tien used the spirit bomb straight from gathering it he should have killed Great Ape Vegeta.
A: Eeeehhhhh...I don't think it had many decent concepts that I didn't carry over, no. However, about the Spirit Bomb, Goku said it was half-power. So a full-power one would have been not quite enough to kill a Vegeta at 2x power. Great Ape Vegeta was at 10x normal power...
Q: Also, was the joke horrible as in bad like Action 52, or horrible as in Hitler and Frieza's bastard son?
A: Horrible like the live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender movie. But not like its fellow live-action adaptation of a beloved animated show, Dragon Ball Evolution. Nothing is as bad as that.
Q: Another week without some important stuff. SmH oh well who cares. Oh and raditz dies and he gets to become Ssj3? Wtf!
A: If you're referring to the EFB preview...well, I never said he was dead...just that Omega thinks he's dead...and who said anything about SSJ3?
Q: Please, don't use the fic to respond the questions from the readers, use the reply links you receive in your mail.
A: I try and use the Q&A for general questions so I don't have to keep answering the same questions over and over again. I use the reply links for personal questions ("Will you review my story"/"Will you give me a spoiler if I ask nicely"/"Want to collaborate on a story about the Ginyu Force that will manage to go for months at a time without updating because Captain Space is useless with nonspecific deadlines") (P.S. NinjaGin, if you're reading this, that doesn't mean we should set a regular schedule or anything...please, not that...however, I will get back to you on BSC chapter four soon!)
Oh, and if you don't like the Q&A, just...skip...the Q&A section...? It doesn't reduce the quality or length of the rest of the story at all...
Q: "Welcome...to die"?...b...ba...BWAHAHAHAHAHA! That's (giggle) freakin hilarious! You, my esteemed Captain, are a bonafide genius and don't let anyone ever tell you different. Thank you for brightening my day and filling my head with memories of the arcade! (giggle)
A: Somebody gets it!
Q: This is one of the best dbz fics I've ever read but the title confuses me. Why "break through the Limit?"
A: Two reasons:
1. DBZ is all about overcoming your limits. This is especially true of Raditz, who never really amounted to much in canon.
2. All that stuff I said above 'clicked' in my head when I saw an item in the DBZ game Budokai Tenkaichi 2, called "Breakthrough the Limit".
Q: Interesting to see Piccolo back, although I don't know if he's completely gone just yet... he may still be laying dormant for the future. That also means that when Nail was fighting Cell(on the islands), had Piccolo not locked away some of Nail's power, Nail would've won. Seems Piccolo's being playing more cards than I suspected...
A: Indeed, astute observation...although would it have been enough power to make a difference? We may never know...
Q: Anyway, it'll be interesting to see how you have just a team of humans(and Namekian) take down Wheelo. The only way I see a possible victory is through Nail—you might surprise us, though. You're good with that.
A: Yeah? How was this?
Q: While I don't have much to say on the "reflection of past BTtL" segment, I have to say it was very amusing. It really was. And now I'm just dying to know the joke. I really am.
A: Never!
Break Through the Limit Kai: Perfect Cell...uh, Saga? Arc? Collection of a few Chapters? Whatever
(Note: The author has not actually watched Gurren Lagann...)
Broly is defeated! Our heroes return to Earth!
Paragus: I'll get you next time, Gadget!
Raditz: Yeah, sure. Now piss off. Go on, off you trot. Shoo.
Paragus: Looks like Team Superfluous is blasting off agaaaaaaain!
Raditz: Enough with the cartoon villain quotes already! Well, anyway, he's gone. Hmm...Hey, Break.
Break (idly shooting in random directions in heavily populated area): Yuh-huh?
Raditz: ...I think you have issues.
Break (drinking blood from a skull): I don't know what you're talking about.
Raditz: Shut up, I'm teaching you the value of human life!
Break: Awww, don't wanna!
Raditz: Hush now. Okay...see this bird?
(Long character development scene)
Raditz: ...So, do you understand now?
Break: Yes! I must always protect birds!
Raditz: Er...it was meant to be symbolic...deep and meaningful...
Break: What are those words? Can I kill them?
Raditz: ...Okay...Let me try and explain. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in the you that believes in the me that believes in the Kamina that believes in you!
Break: ...
Raditz: It's not who you are underneath, it's what you do that defines you! Because you're the hero this story deserves...but not the one it needs right now. Or...you're the hero it thinks it deserves to need...not the one it needs to deserve to...where was I?
Break: Something about believing? Or being a hero? I really wasn't listening.
Raditz: Right, right. Always remember...you are the hope of the innocent; the protector of the darkness, the light in the universe! Wait, no. How does it go?
Break: You're making noises with your mouth but I can't discern anything remotely comprehensible.
Raditz: Er...USE THE FORCE! (Vanishes)
(More crap happens, I can't remember, fast forwards a few days)
Cell: And now, foolish fools, prepare to die foolishly! Or should I say welcome...to die!
Goku: Actually, we already used that joke in the main story.
Cell: What, seriously? I'm actually surprised it took us this long, but we finally jumped the shark.
Goku: Hush. Anyway, why didn't you just kill us all when we got back from fighting Broly?
Cell: Fighting who now?
Goku: Didn't you sense us all get really beat up and weakened at one point?
Cell: Crap, I must've fallen asleep! Uhhhh...I...it...it wouldn't have been a challenge! Too easy! Right. That.
(The rest of the Z-fighters arrive)
Nail: You fell asleep, didn't you.
Cell: Did not!
Nail: Did too!
Krillin: Ladies, please. You're both pretty.
Nail: Ooh, really? Thanks so much!
Krillin: I'm surrounded by morons.
Cell: I know the feeling. Also, I have a Dragon Ball, the heart medicine, and the time machine.
Raditz: ...Why?
Cell: Eh. Got bored waiting for you guys, found Dr. Gero's scavenger hunt list, gave it a go. New best time, too.
Goku: Wait, you mean Gero's done this before? And we didn't notice? Somebody screwed up.
(Pause)
Goku: Damn it, Gohan, you're supposed to watch these things!
Gohan (back home): I currently have the vital signs of a small kitten.
Goku: Always with the excuses!
Break: Imma fight you!
Cell: 'K.
(This happens.)
Break: Aah, with the losing!
Cell: It was always inevitable, you see...
Krillin: Do I detect another quotestorm incoming?
Cell: Why so serious? After all, you were made to be ruled...human beings are a disease, and I am the cure. If you strike me down, I'll be back, more powerful than ever before. Once you have danced with the devil in the pale moonlight...then, you have my permission to die.
Goku: Do you honestly expect us to find this funny?
Cell: No...I expect you to die.
Goku: Okay, enough! My turn!
Cell: Yeah, whatever, I win. You Super Saiyans are nothing to me! I am a god—
Goku: ROCK-PAPER-SCISSORS ATTACK!
Raditz: Instant Transmission! (Doesn't actually need to yell this, but doesn't want to be left out)
Goku: SOLAR FLARE! Okay, now let me finish him—
Krillin: KIENZAN!
Cell: Aah, with the decapitation!
Krillin: Puny god.
Goku: Friggin' kill-stealer.
Cell: Well, maim-stealer would be more accurate. Also, regeneration.
Goku: Oh hey, Cell.
(Long pause)
Raditz: You dumbass!
Goku: Hey, Krillin isn't that stupid!
Cell: Bored now, full power.
Goku: Krillin, do you feel that?
Krillin: I think my ears are bleeding. Also everything else.
Raditz: Okay, you guys distract him, I'll go to Africa! Be right back!
Nail: Africa? Dare I ask why...?
Raditz: Well, Launch said that if we're in trouble, we should just use the elephant of surprise...
Nail: Oh my vaguely-alluded-to gods. Let's just all rush him at once, okay?
Raditz: (sigh) Fine. But in a minute, you'll be wishing we'd gone with the elephant!
(Predictably, this fails.)
Break: My turn! Again!
Cell: Oh, come on, this is like when Mass Effect made me play through every mission again backwards to escape...
Break: Hey, just who the hell do you think I am?!
Cell: Hold on...are you...
Break: There's only one way to win...go beyond the impossible, and kick reason to the curb!
Cell: Bitch please, this episode has more than enough quotes as is.
Raditz: Of course! The only way to defeat Cell's inecessant quotes is with our own!
Goku: That, or the author just got really lazy...
Raditz: This is a Kai segment. I think we can just assume that.
Break: Row! Row! Fight the powah!
Cell: Of for f***'s sake.
(Break transforms into the Legendary Super Saiyan for reasons that are somewhat tenuous in the actual story anyway, and cannot be expressed in a concise, comedic form)
Break: Raah.
Cell: Blargh.
(Cell is defeated...)
(OR IS HE!)
Cell: Nope.
Goku: Who are you talking to?
(Wait, can he hear me?)
Cell: Yup.
Goku: What?
(Oh crap, he can hear me, I gotta get out of—)
Cell: DEATH BEAM!
(Blargh.)
Cell: Well, that's quite enough of that narrator. Maybe we'll have a new one by next time, but at least for now, we're good. Now, let's see...more powerful than ever...oh yeah, you're still here...
Break: C'mon, let's fight!
Cell: What's this, the third time? Fourth?
(Beats Break)
Cell: Wow, that was quick. Does he have narrators on speed-dial or what?
(We're kinda like redshirts, more of us always seem to be hanging around, no matter how many die...)
Cell: Anyhoo. I win.
Bulma: Nope. Who ya gonna call?
(She traps Cell in a machine.)
Cell: Oh, the irony!
Goku: How is that ironic...?
Cell: Because...I was created in a machine? And I'm kind of a machine myself? And now I'm being trapped in a machine?
Raditz: That's...not how irony works. Do you have a dictionary?
Cell: No...
Bulma: Nope.
Krillin: Not me.
Goku: Nuh-uh.
Nail: Sorry.
Break: Me either.
Raditz: Seriously, nobody has a dictionary...? Right! Gather the Dragon Balls!
(They do so...wait, when did this happen?)
Raditz: I wish for a diction—
Cell: I WISH TO CONVENIENTLY KNOW INSTANT TRANSMISSION! (Escapes Bulma's machine)
Goku: How didn't we see this coming?!
Raditz: Damn you, hindsight!
...
Did I just quote myself? Kinda?
(Cell kills Bulma.)
Goku: Wha...I...no...
Cell: I guess you could say all that work made her dead tired. Eh?
Goku: You...bastard...
Cell: Don't you mean 'drop dead', heh heh?
Goku: She was...my oldest...friend...!
Cell: Come on, your jokes are going a bit flat here. Dead in the water, so to speak, eh? Eh? C'mon, lighten up, this is Kai!
Goku: Stop making fun of me.
Cell: Uh...where's the, uh...the joke...
Goku: Go on. Say 'dead'. Laugh about it. One more time. See what happens.
Cell: Hey, man, sorry if I've offended you, I was being dead serious-oh-crap-didn't-mean-to-say-that-
Goku: RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!
(Cue Super Saiyan 2 music.)
Cell: Uh...where's the funny...?
(Cue asskicking)
Cell: This is bad! Time for the ultimate technique! Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, start!
Goku: No! The one technique that can defeat me! Damn it, I bet his AI has Very Strong difficulty, too!
Break: Tag-team mode, go!
Cell: And now it appears that I'm dead.
Dark Souls Announcer: You Have Defeated!
Krillin: And the references just keep getting more and more obscure...
Captain Space: THE REFERENCES WILL NEVER END!
More on the Hero Archetype Thing
Here's what NinjaGin87, co-writer with me of Best Served Cold, has to say on the issue (my responses in italics):
I know this may be a bit late but I would like to try and give my views on the hero archetype. You place Goku and Superman in the same category, and rightly so. The 'hero' ideal changed at some point (I am not great hakes at history, but let's say modern era) from extraordinary people with incredible abilities - Hercules strength, Odysseus' cunning, Orpheus' love and prodigious musical ability to name a few Greek heroes - who had flaws that all mortal men had but due to their abilities and link to the 'divine' they suffered far worse punishments. Examples from above would be Hercules penchant for drink and wild rages that led him to kill his first wife and child, for which he was forced to perform the famous "Twelve Labors of Herakles" as penance; Odysseus hubris and arrogance caused him to taunt the cyclops Polyphemus as he escaped the monster's island, which allowed Polyphemus to call a curse down from Poseidon, which lead to the events of the Odyssey; Orpheus was so stricken with grief at the death of his love that he put all his pain and love into a melody that forced the ground to give way before him so he could travel to the very heart of the Underworld, where he first calmed Cereberus then managed to strike a deal with Hades when Persephone was moved by his lament: he could save his love if he could make it out the Underworld without looking back at the form of his beloved though she drew no breath and made no sound behind him. In the end he had turned a moment to soon, she was still just inside the tunnel and he lost her forever. He lost hi will to live and was brutally murdered not long after by some three monsters I can't remember for his bitterness.
That may seem tragic. Indeed heroes were often tragic in the past. It showed the people that even if you were somehow better or stronger or wealthier you would simply face a different set of challenges that were even greater. If these great men could suffer so heavily with all their talents and gifts then clearly the average man could handle the burden of everyday life? That's not to say all the legendary heroes ended up tragedies. Perseus had a happy life after overcoming his quest to save a maiden from being sacrificed to a sea serpent. But the general feeling was that for every man who lived after his exploits another score died either for or because of their quests or "mortal weaknesses". While they are generality morality tales they also were to inspire people to carry on through their lives and be the best they could to others around them.
Modern Era heroes are generally over-exaggerated versions of these heroes who were already embodiements of certain flaws. Take Superman, the iconic hero of fifty plus years. He is an alien who grows up suppressing his powers and ashamed of being different. He is, I believe at that point, supposed to embody the turbulence of youth, of trying to find your place in the world when you feel like you just don't fit. Of growing up different and ashamed of either yourself or those around you or your situation or where you came from. Now eventually he overcame these emotional issues and decided to use his great power for the betterment of the world, thwarting diabolical world destroyers and the petty criminal as well. He became the unattainable ideal: A man with few flaws, who had restraint and was able to only use what force was necessary, a man with unshakeable morals who never killed unnecessarily, a man who rose above the squabbles of society and pressure of the everyday man. He became someone so absurdly powerful that he eventually becomes a "god" in future timelines. All from humble beginnings, as though any child orphaned or not could be raised in obscurity and rise to be that man. Inspiring, but different. Personally, I find Superman to be a bit TOO perfect. He triumphs over death, he needs no food or water, he is essentially the ultimate Gary Stu in terms of personality.
Hmm...I'd agree with you that Superman is somewhat different to the tragic heroes you mentioned above. However, there are plenty of modern fictional heroes who die during, or because of, their quest. I won't list them here, because by their very nature it'd be spoiling some story or another, but I hope you know what I mean...
Anyway, Superman. Superman is a very difficult character to write well. A lot of writers do not succeed, and make him a boring, invincible Gary Stu, as you say, or go too far the other way and have him be the subject of much mockery, making him almost irrelevant to the story in an effort to justify the other characters around him. Now, if writen well, Superman can be one of the most interesting characters out there. If they really get into the mindset of someone trying to make himself into the ultimate ideal-someone already affected by the loss of one home, daily doing his best to preserve another. Some good stories simply say "well, there are plenty of powerful beings around to challenge him; it's no big deal" and avoid just always resorting to random people with Kryptonite. Others say, "well, yeah, most of the time nobody can really challenge him. What's it like being so powerful? Let's explore that godlike feeling," and there are some great stories dealing with both of those approaches (Kingdom Come being an example of the first, since the main adversary is other superheroes, and All-Star Superman the second, in that it's a really great, gripping narrative, despite there being few physical challenges that really concern him for much of the story.) For examples of the bad stories...look to the worst excesses of the sixties and nineties (though to be fair, the sixties superhero comics could be fun sometimes. Just not all the time.)
Granted, I only know a bit about Superman. He was overly fluctuating when I was a kid: one day fighting robbers and getting hit by them and reacting to them as though a regular guy, the next fighting a killer robot the size of the Empire State Building or catching a falling plane with engine failure. It irritated me. Thus I turned to Marvel, whose characters I feel are more in line with the shall we say "Classic" interpretation of heroes.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure that no longer happens. I hate it when you get contradictions like that...
True, Marvel heroes are more down-to-earth.
The X-Men of the nineties were all outcasts, hunted down for existing despite their daily struggle to just live their lives in peace. It reflected the real world issues of segregation, fear of that which wasn't understood, civil rights, and the ideal of peace being the fragile balance that is maintained by the many blaming the few or using them for their own ends (the Weapon Projects that created Wolverine and Deadpool, Mutant Registration intended to primarily be a way to find and either capture or kill mutants).
Right...that's always been the X-Men's thing, their "hated and feared" shtick. They do it pretty well.
Granted you had the Brotherhood, akin in a way to the Black Panther organization to Xavier's Martin Luther King Jr. approach. They stood their ground and fought. I felt in later life that it really represented the truth of the situation. Think about it, one side wants peace at any cost including subjugation while the other wants peaceful coexistence with the world. And then the others not even in either group, those who are hunted or use their powers to terrorize the world, or even pretend they don't have them. Of course I'd be truly remiss if I didn't point out the flipside of the Brotherhood being it became less about mutant freedom and more about human the oppressor being usurped. About their evolution heralding the new age of mankind. This is the idea of twisting sonething good into something evil. I believe it is also a modern idea.
Of course there is always a villain to be overcome in any story or legend, usually one who has some exaggerated want or misgiving or flaw like a hero but who turned on society and people instead of rising. King Minos, who had the inventor Daedalus create his labyrinth in which he placed the Minotaur, was a man of great greed and pride who staked much of his fortune on nobody surviving his labyrinth or killing his monster. He stood opposite Theseus, a young man who thought what Minos had was conquerable and who outsmarted the king by having the princess Ariadne help him through the maze by giving him a spool of string that he affixed to his starting point so as to tell where he'd been in exchange for freedom. He later repayed her by marooning her on his way home to Athens and then forgetting to signal his father he survived and causing the old man to commit suicide, but that's all irrelevant to the point. Anyways, in modern times you have The Vulture, a man so obsessed with aging that he invented a way to steal the life force of others instead od trying to find ways to help his fellow men live longer. He squared off against Spiderman, in my opinion the most satifyingly "human" character I've every been exposed to in comic books or cartoons. Again, Superman turned me off of DC at an early age, so I am definitely speaking from my own views. There may be others who embrace the emotions and struggles and duality of superhero archetypes than Peter Parker. Again, tangent control...
Spider-Man is one of the best 'relatable' heroes, yeah. I'm sorry you got turned off DC by some morons who didn't know how to write Superman, or happened to pick up a comic that just didn't have the kind of character you were looking for. Because there are some brilliant DC stories out there, both cosmic epics and human dramas (as with Marvel).
You notice, though it may be me, that men who do evil are often not redeemable in the Superhero Archetype. Lex Luger, Superman's arch-nemesis, is spared time and time again, faces justice, does it again. Same for Doctor Octavius in Spiderman, Magneto's minions or Magneto himself against the X-men, not counting all the human threats they constantly suffer without retaliation of similar magnitude. The Supervillain is an embodiment of negativity to extreme degrees. Some do reform, but the majority do not. The new age of villains are the human equivalent of the monsters of the mythology era in my opinion. They continue to be evil despite being defeated or shown the error of their ways or sometimes are unrepentant to their last breaths.
Lex 'Luger'? Sorry, sorry, I just found that pretty funny.
Although, especially in the X-Men, since it plays out like a superpowered soap opera (even more so than most superhero comics, which...let's face it...much of the time, they do...not that that's necessarily a bad thing), you get a lot of characters, Magneto himself included, switch sides more often than 20th-century Italy (apologies to all Italians, I couldn't think of another joke).
I know in lore that many of the villains are also over the top. Tantalus, the king who fed the Gods his children when those Gods refused to let him take their Ambrosia and Nectar from Olympus and his children agreed with the Gods. Minos, who imprisoned Daedalus and Icarus when Theseus bested the maze and forced them to make him new wonders as penance for failing him. They did things that were disgustingly horrible to people who had no way to fight back. But it was far more localized. I feel like with modern technology if the threat isn't an entire city or state or country or the Earth it isn't enough. Did you hear about that time Superman stopped the plot of Jim Bob trying to steal Joe Blow's car in the middle of nowhere Iowa? No, because he's above that. He's needed in Russia to take the nuclear stockpile and burn in it the sun.
Eh...he does a lot of street-level crime fighting too. He just does it really quickly. Many heroes, like Wonder Woman or Thor, do that. Although, moving off of superheroes, a lot of manga heroes and adventure heroes (Tintin, Indiana Jones, John McClane?) end up fighting localised threats ("please save our village!").
I suppose I should actually state my meaning. I feel like Mythology and Lore evolved with mankind's everchanging morality. Where honor and your name once meant more to the common man now that same man would be able to have a clear conscience skimming profits off the top of his business instead of rewarding his enployees for their extra work. There's no need for honor or integrity to the common man because modern technology allows us to see the depravity of others and say "I'm not doing as bad as him, so I must be good" or "So what if I pocket the extra? I didn't kill anyone!" It has created a heightened sense of moral disconnect.
I'd argue that's only some people. I'd like to think that it's only the people who would do that kind of thing anyway...it's just thanks to modern technology they're capable of doing it on a grander scale...and that many people can still have morality and honour regardless of how advanced our society is. Maybe I'm just an optimist, but I always think of people as generally just about good, when you get down to their true nature.
How does this relate to heroes and myths?
Simple: Heroes used to be the flaws in us that we strove to overcome and helped us be aware that even if life itself is hard we can persevere. That immorality could lead to death or loss of loved ones. That selfishness and pride were precursors to ruin even if your Hercules. That to be as human as possible, to feel and laugh and cry and struggle and triumph and fail, was the point of living. In contrast, with the advent of global communications and social networking I feel like morality is more subjective. It shows in our heroes. We put all our "missing" morals into our fictional heroes, making them the Superheroes. We see them as unattainable avatars of our long forgotten honor and aspirations. Men wouldn't aspire to be Hercules, but would attempt to have "Heeculean Strength". Now people see heroes as something of a joke, a story for children or adolescents. Not anything more than that, nor do they have the positive effect their forebears had.
1. I saw somebody on the bus with a tattoo saying, "It's not who I am underneath; it's what I do that defines me." (Dark Knight quote).
2. There's a Church of Goku in Spain.
3. Superheroes and anime are more popular than ever. (the continuing rise of superhero movies...the DBZ 'revival', with continuing TV specials, video games and now a new movie...)
I'd dispute both of your points; that we no longer aspire to be like heroes (I do*), and that heroes are seen as a childish joke (look at the Dark Knight series. Look at it. Seen worldwide as not just a great superhero movie, but a great example of storytelling. A true epic. Quoted all over the place. Not a kid's movie at all.)
*It's exactly as you say...people wouldn't aspire to be Hercules, but to have Herculean strength. Now, I don't aspire to be a badass wandering pacifist gunslinger, but I often find myself asking, "what would Vash the Stampede do?"
That aside, I would like to comment on the similaritiies between Superman and Goku. Both are good in their essences, though Goku has killed major foes in vengeance (Dragonball, Tambourine and King Piccolo) I am not sure if Superman has. Both aliens, both unaware of their heritage, both conflicted by it. Both pass every test, meet every challenge. Where I feel Superman blew through, Goku struggled and scraped and worked for his strength. Both are true champions of good, but Superman is basically the invincible ideal where Goku is the fruit of hardwork and talent combined. Similar certainly, but not identical.
Rant end, feel free to discuss or disagree.
Hmm...good points about Goku putting more hard work in. He did. Superman did struggle growing up, of course; but these were mental and emotional challenges, not physical ones. Whereas, while Goku's had to fight and grow stronger his whole life, his worldview has remained unchanged and unchallenged (until the Frieza saga, at least, but I'm talking about as he grew to adulthood). So while one of them had to grow physically, the other had to develop emotionally, until he was ready to accept and put to use the great power he had all along.
And, of course, you could hardly call them invincible, seeing as they both regularly go up against creatures as powerful as themselves, sometimes even more so.
Hmm...it'd be nice if more of these internationally recognised heroes weren't white males, eh? Some variety would be nice...
Then again, is Goku white? Think about it. The art style is pretty ambiguous...most characters could be either European or Oriental.
It's a Japanese series...is he Japanese-looking?
Then again, the first few chapters were based on Journey to the West (a Chinese tale...Son Goku is a translation of the Chinese name Sun Wukong), and much of the early series had a Chinese aesthetic...is he Chinese-looking?
The saiyans were aliens, though, and Vegeta had English names for all his attacks, even in the Japanese version (well, Engrish names anyway), not to mention the saiyans' (and other aliens') pun-based names often being based off English words, including Kakarotto/Kakarott/Kakarot...so is Goku European-looking? And even if so, would growing up in the China-like area have affected his appearance?
Does it matter?
...
Not really, but it's an interesting thought. Just re-reading the first few DB chapters...I think, say, Yamcha would be Chinese-looking, having come from that starting China-like area, but what about Bulma? She comes from West City...is that like Japan? America? What?
Anyway, that's all from me for now. Thanks to everybody who's shared their thoughts, it's been a really interesting discussion so far.