Chapter 75: Best-Laid Plans and All That
I am unbelievably impatient for the chance to write my take on Battle of the Gods. That's going to be amazing.
Also, the view count just keeps going up; I guess you guys are spreading the word, or now I'm on the first page of DBZ stories people are just finding it more often (or through fanart and TVTropes and random browsing and the usual ways people find stories I guess). Thanks, everybody! Don't hesitate to leave a review of any chapters—I love hearing your opinions! And I'm happy to answer questions.
Aaaaaggghhh damn it, I forgot the punching machine. I guess in canon it was Hercule's idea, or one of his flunkies, but here he isn't running the show, so I guess they just held more preliminary matches to thin down the numbers or something.
"Spopovich...is that really you?" Hercule asked as the hulking fighter flexed his fingers, arms spread wide. The world champion edged forwards warily. "What's with the new look?"
"Eh...eheheh...hrrrg..." Spopovich breathed.
"Not goin' to dignify me with a response, eh?" Hercule grinned. "Well, anytime you feel like speakin' up, feel free ta surrender." With that, Hercule made a dash at his opponent. Spopovich lunged, but he wasn't fast enough and Hercule neatly jumped over his swinging arm, spinning in the air and landing a two-footed kick to Spopovich's face, downing him. "Hah! You got faster since last time, but you wouldn't believe the kind of training I've been doing!"
"Spopovich is down already!" the announcer cheered. "This is starting to look like their last match! I don't think he's going to be getting up any time—oh." He trailed off as Spopovich climbed mechanically to his feet, glaring with barely-restrained fury at Hercule. He rushed, and Hercule swayed out of the path of his attack, jumping and delivering a chop to the back of Spopovich's neck. The mountain of a man toppled again, Hercule landing neatly behind him—though his breathing was now visibly heavier, and he took longer to recover his stance than last time.
The announcer risked a comment. "Is this the true final blow? Has Hercule truly vanquished Spopovich for a second time?" Spopovich stirred again. "Er...it appears not..."
"Gaaaagh!" Spopovich gurgled, charging Hercule again. The champion grimaced, leaping wearily to attack.
The strange scene replayed itself three more times—Hercule easily outmaneuvered Spopovich, taking him down again and again, but his unique opponent was completely unfazed, easily picking himself up and continuing the fight. As Hercule continued to tire, he was forced more onto the defensive, just barely blocking several surprisingly rapid blows. What's with him? Don't tell me he's got ki powers too! But how...?
Spopovich's fist swung by Hercule's head, so close he felt the breeze of the moving limb, accompanied by an unnatural heat. Too close...I've gotta finish this now!
"Interesting..." Goku observed, leaning on the wall as he watched the fight. "The big guy has really strong ki for a human...of course, your dad does too..."
Videl stood next to him. "I don't get it. Where did these two ki fighters we didn't know anything about come from?"
"Don't know," Goku admitted. "Maybe Crane Hermit trained 'em? Haven't seen him in a while...or maybe Tao?"
"Whatever it is...I'm getting a bad feeling. I'm worried about him...I just hope he hurries up and wins soon!"
"All right, you!" Hercule somersaulted towards Spopovich. "This is gonna take you clean out of the ring!" He launched a spinning kick at his enemy, who unexpectedly neglected to dodge. Hercule had planned for the impact of his attack on Spopovich's guard to launch the enemy fighter out of bounds, but in this case it landed right on the man's neck. Spopovich toppled like a felled tree, his head twisted at an unnatural angle. Hercule landed a short distance away, going pale. Aw, crap! Still don't know my own strength! I broke the poor guy's neck...what am I gonna...huh...?
Spopovich was standing up again.
Slowly, as the crowd watched in horror, he reached up, taking hold of his head and snapping it back into position. He stretched his neck left then right, then straightened up and began approaching Hercule.
The smaller fighter resisted the urge to back away, trying to keep his attack up in the face of his monstrous foe. He jabbed at Spopovich's face, but his fatigue was starting to truly take its toll, and he was too slow—Spopovich dodged and responded with a flying knee to the face. Hercule skidded to the edge of the ring on his back, breath knocked out of him, nose probably broken. What...the...I was knocking him around a minute ago!
He rolled out of the way of Spopovich's next attack, springing up and ramming home a barrage of quick strikes to the seemingly-indestructible warrior's exposed flank. Spopovich barely seemed to notice, and after initially being staggered back, recovered in short order and punched Hercule in the stomach, grinning viciously. He didn't speak; he didn't need to. Hercule saw the glee in his eyes—this was simple revenge.
So...this is about last time. Figures. Fighting past the pain, Hercule jumped away, bounding acrobatically into the air and flying above the ring.
"Wha...Hercule is flying! It looks like what he said a minute ago wasn't an idle boast—what kind of training could he possibly have been doing?" the announcer shouted.
"Ha!" Herculed jeered. "Can't get me up here, idio—" He was cut off as Spopovich appeared above him, kicking him back down to earth. He bounced twice before pushing himself up to a sitting position, to avoid being counted out. He winced, trying to open his eyes and seeing through a trickle of blood. "Uuugh...ghh..." He heard footsteps approaching.
"Something's not right!" Videl insisted, hands clenched into fists. "I can feel it...!"
"Well, the object is to beat the other person up..." Gohan pointed out.
Goku shook his head. "No, Videl's right. That guy's fighting to kill."
"You sure?" she asked, surprised.
"Yeah...I hope your dad will have the sense to throw in the towel sooner or later, if he can't pull a win out of the bag somehow."
Hercule Satan. You humiliated me.
You laughed at me.
Now, you will die for it.
Another blow crashed into Hercule's body, but he stayed on his feet. He struck back, but Spopovich didn't feel it. He stepped in, wrapping the fingers of one gigantic hand around Hercule's neck. The formerly-boastful fighter groaned, trying to mount some sort of defence.
"That monster's going to kill him!" Videl growled. "I'm already out of the tournament, Dad's lost—disqualification doesn't matter. I'm helping him!" She took a step towards the ring, but Gohan jumped in front of her.
"Hold on! We don't know the extent of this guy's power. Let me—"
"I can handle myself against a human, Gohan!"
Gohan grimaced. True...and yet, that M...I get the chills just looking at it... Before one or both of them could intervene to rescue Hercule, a sharp voice cut through the air.
"Spopovich!" The brute's smaller ally, Yamu, stood behind Gohan and Videl, arms folded, glaring at his comrade.
"Hrrr..."
"Release him. He is not sufficient for what we are seeking."
Reluctantly, Spopovich nodded.
Soon.
He let Hercule fall to the floor. Free to breathe again, Hercule rolled over onto his back, spluttering. "Okay...okay! I ain't stupid, I know when I'm beat. Damn it!" His fist pounded the already-battered ring, making another small crater. "I...I...give up." His voice cracked slightly.
"Oh...!" Videl put one hand to her mouth, eyes widening with shock.
"What is it, Videl?" Gohan turned back towards her.
"I've just realised...he's never said that before." Videl gulped. "This is the first time...that he's ever had to surrender to anyone."
Launch made the first move, feinting with an attack to the right, then revealing that to be merely an afterimage and coming around from the left. Pui Pui, unfazed by the deception, blocked her opening knifehand strike, dodging the next few attacks and striking back with a barrage of punches. Launch struggled to defend, and a couple got through, knocking her away.
"Don't you think you should help her?" Kaioshin asked Raditz. "She's already at a disadvantage."
Raditz grinned. "Don't kid yourself. She's just warming up."
Pui Pui followed up, leaping after her and swinging both fists down to smash her into the floor. Before he could make contact, though, she sprung into motion. "Kaioken!" In a blur of red light, she was gone, coming around from behind him and landing a flying kick to his head. He skidded away, just managing to keep his balance. He looked up, and with a start saw her already sprinting towards him, trailing flares of energy. "What? This power...where did it come frooooofff!" This as Launch reached him, her elbow cracking bones in his face.
Slowly, Videl helped her father limp back into the competitors' area.
"Take it easy, champ," Goku said, without sarcasm, patting Hercule's shoulder. "You fought well. Something's just not right about that guy."
"All right..." Videl let Hercule sink into a chair, sitting next to him. "Are...are you okay, Dad?"
"I...don't know..." he sniffed. The pain didn't seem to be bothering him at all—only his pride. "I...Videl, I had to..."
"I know. It's okay. You lasted a lot longer than anybody could've expected."
He nodded, holding back tears. "I just can't believe...I've lost before, but I've always hung on 'till I couldn't fight no more..."
"Hey." Goku stood in front of them, smiling. He held out his hand. "Part of being a great fighter is knowing when fighting would be pointless. Right?"
Hercule hesitated, then shook Goku's hand with all the strength he could muster. "Right you are!" His bravado seemed to achieve a kind of second wind. "Plus, if you count the preliminaries...I won a lot more'n I lost today, huh?"
Videl beamed. "You said it."
"Damn it, we missed the preliminaries! Now it's too late!" Trunks moaned.
"Sorry, sorry!" Goten laughed. He held up an empty packet of doughnuts. "But I found this great—"
Trunks knocked it out of his hand. "Why are you always eating?!" He yelled, exasperated. In his other hand, Trunks clutched part of the concealing outfit of the would-be world tournament fighter Mighty Mask. The unconscious body of the real Mighty Mask was lying face-down in the corridor behind him; the plan had been to use the age-old trick of concealing costume enabling one child to stand on a second's shoulders to impersonate an adult; and thus enter the adult division of the tournament. However, the plan had run into a slight hitch.
"But they were really good doughnuts!" Goten retorted.
"Yeah, well..." Trunks had to concede that his friend had a point. "Well...you could have saved me some..."
"Hey. What's going on here?" The duo turned, alarmed, as Break approached.
Crap, gotta think of a cover story... "Uh...nothing! We were just—" Trunks began.
"We knocked out that guy, and we were gonna steal his clothes and fight in the adult tournament by pretending to be him, but then I found doughnuts and we were too late," Goten explained matter-of-factly, in that rushed, slightly-too-loud way of speaking a child has when trying to get through a long story.
"You were..." Break saw the costume, saw Mighty Mask's feet around the corner, saw Goten grinning and Trunks staring in disbelief at his friend's naiveté. "That's so cool..." she whispered.
"What?" Trunks blinked.
"Uh...that's stupid! Why would you bother? Your parents would just beat you in the finals!"
"Because we get to fight more?" Goten said, as if this was obvious.
"Well...yeah, but...you're so childish!"
"I'm eight years old," Trunks, wise beyond his years, pointed out.
"Pah!" Break swung on her heel and departed.
"...Just remember, Spopovich, the spiky-haired one...the one that beat the girl. That was the kind of power we've been searching for. You'll be fighting him in the semi-finals...try and hold him so I can drain his energy. And watch these next two matches—some of these four fighters may display more power than they have up until now. Got it?"
"Damn it!" Babidi hissed, watching Launch smack Pui Pui around via his crystal ball. "She's putting out plenty of energy, but Pui Pui isn't landing any hits anymore! We've only got a tiny amount for Buu! This won't do..."
"Master, what planet does Pui Pui hail from?" Dabura asked, an idea occuring to him. "Perhaps there, he'll have the home field advantage."
"Yes, I see," Babidi said thoughtfully. "His home was, let's see...Zoon, I believe. Yes, that was it." The dimunitive wizard began waving his hands, manipulating the fabric of reality with ancient words of power.
The group in Stage One paused to look around as the environment shifted, becoming rocky, open terrain and dark skies. The ground had a reddish tinge, up to the point where the centre of the Stage One room—the hatch leading down to Stage Two in the centre of the floor—was inexplicably placed, in the same place in relation to the group as it had been inside the ship. It was evidently night-time, as twin crescent moons were visible in the sky.
"What the..." Launch paused, giving Pui Pui a moment to catch his breath, but didn't lower her Kaioken.
"I see," Kaioshin said quietly.
Kibito nodded. "Babidi used his magic to transport us to a new location, in order to give his fighter an advantage...but what?"
Pui Pui knelt, picking up a small rock. "This, Earth-person, is my home planet, Zoon. Which means it's all over for you."
Launch frowned. "What are you talking about?"
"Notice the difference?" Pui Pui let the rock fall to the ground—despite its size, it left a deep crater. "It's the gravity. Ten times that of Earth's! Hehehe..."
"Oh, so that's what that feeling is," Launch said. "Well, whatever. Come on!" She leapt at him, but stumbled, overshooting and allowing him to land a precisely-timed energy blast to the back of her neck, bringing her down.
"What?" Raditz exclaimed. "Surely she's much stronger than I was even when I learned to handle a hundred times Earth's gravity!"
"That may be," Nail said gravely, "but she's never experienced higher gravity, has she?"
"Er...no..."
"While it's true that at a certain point, one can be so strong they can handle the increased weight...and she's definitely past that point...there's still a strange effect, a disjoint between the brain's instruction and the body's reaction, when you move that little bit slower, and fall that little bit harder. You see?"
"Right..." Raditz clenched his fists. "Still...she can recover. I'm sure there's no need to step in yet..."
"...Seven...eight...nine...ten! Contestant Gohan is the winner!"
"I know it was never gonna be much of a contest," Krillin complained as he walked away from the ring at Gohan's side, "but didja have to just stand on me for ten seconds? Damn, even with Kaioken I couldn't budge you..."
"Well, I know you're a clever fighter," Gohan said, shrugging. "I figured if I gave you a chance to run around and plan, even for a couple of seconds, you'd use your Solar Flare or your Kienzan or something, and force a ring-out."
"Heh heh..." Krillin grinned. "It seems my power is known and feared throughout the world!"
"What are you blabbering on about now, honey?" Eighteen asked as she walked past him, on the way to her match.
"Oh, nothing much, I'm just out of my mind is all," he replied with a smirk.
"Some things never change, then."
Gohan coughed politely. "So, uh...speaking of change...you grew your hair out?"
"Oh, yeah!" Krillin laughed, running a hand through his thick black crown of hair. "I know the bald look was kind of my signature, but Eighteen asked me one day if it was natural or if I shaved. I said I shaved, she wondered what I'd look like with hair...I got wondering too...I just got used to it, I guess."
Gohan nodded. "It looks good. More mature."
"Hey! You callin' me old, kid?"
"Never."
Eighteen shifted into a combat stance, facing Yamu across the ring. "So. You're friends with the walking meatball?"
"Funny." Yamu raised one hand, palm facing towards her. "You're not sore about the fool Spopovich beat up, are you? Well, the poor man did hand Spopovich quite the beating last tournament...it's understandable that there might be some pent-up anger." His face twisted into a fierce yell, and he let fly a full-strength energy blast.
Eighteen sighed, slapping it away into the sky. "Fascinating. Shall I try?" She began to form an energy ball in front of her hand.
"What...but...no energy?" Yamu frowned, casting an aside glance at the small ki reader on the device Spopovich, standing by the sidelines, held, currently reading zero—he was unaware that he was facing an android with an artificial energy source.
"Heh heh..." Krillin nodded to Goku. "That's Eighteen. Always on top of things..."
Videl grinned savagely. "I hope she kicks the crap out of that guy."
"See, this is how it's done." Eighteen fired, sending her beam right into Yamu's chest. He fell to his knees, hissing with pain. She slowly approached him, leaning down towards him, speaking in a childish, mocking voice. "Aww, did I pierce oo's widdle ribcage? I'm evuh so sowwy."
As she neared, Yamu tensed up, then sprang into action, grabbing Eighteen around the neck with one hand, twisting her arm behind her back with the other. "You fool—you've already forgotten that we don't feel like you do!" The reader must have been broken, that's all! There was a lot of power in that blast... "Spopovich-now! Her energy!"
At that, Spopovich barreled out into the ring, leaping at Eighteen. A strange white stone-like device, spherical with a needle-like protrusion, was held javelin-like in one hand.
"Er...illegal interference!" The announcer declared. "Yamu, Spopovich, cease this at once or you will both be disqualified!"
Eighteen smiled. "Did you really think I'd let you grab me like that? Or that my friends wouldn't stop that moron?" She twisted out of the hold, hurling Yamu into the air. "All we were doing was drawing you out—so it's our energy you want, eh?" She kicked the incoming Spopovich into the stadium wall, shattering it. "Well, here—have some!" With that, she fired a barrage of energy beams Yamu's way.
Bulma sat rooted to the spot in fear. The great pale-skinned brute had just smashed down the wall, inches from her face. Now, his eyes opened, staring directly into hers. She could see the wheels turning inside his head, but couldn't bring herself to run. Those eyes...like inky black voids. Deceptively quickly, a high-speed glacier, he stood, resting his fingers lightly over her head. With a start, she realised the seats around her had already emptied as people fled for their lives.
Yamu staggered back under the onslaught. "W...Wait!"
Eighteen paused, ready to deliver another punch. The ring was devastated, the stands in chaos. "What?!" she snapped.
"You might want to...stop attacking me...unless you want an innocent death on your conscience!"
Slowly, Eighteen turned, seeing the giant and his hostage. "Bulma!"
"Ah, someone you know. Even better." Yamu took a deep breath, trying to recover his stamina. "Now, you're all going to let us walk out of here. No-one is to intercept us, or do anything to..."
Hearing his words, knowing Eighteen wouldn't risk it, Bulma shut her eyes, fighting the fear. No, you're stronger than this. Focus. This is it. This is why you've prepared. Just need to activate it...hope he doesn't notice...
Trying to keep her hands from shaking, she began to fiddle with the settings on her watch (though the 'watch' part was, in fact, merely a disguise). Spopovich paid no notice—what was the human with no ki going to do? Breathing steadily now, she primed the device. Okay...okay...calm. This will work. The simulation worked...most of the time. I mean, only three percent of the scenarios resulted in explosive removal of the arm.
That's...decent odds.
Oh God, what am I saying? Three percent chance that I lose a limb. I should have done practical tests...so little time... she felt the grip on her head tighten. They were about to take off, make their escape. Now or never. And I want to live. She bit her lip. Trunks...! She flipped the switch.
The feeling was instantaneous. How to describe it? A rush of...energy, of life, flowing through her, escaping her, filling the air around her. The ground cracked beneath her feet. Spopovich's hold felt like a child's. Oh, wow. Is...
Is this what it feels like to be Goku?
Focus!
This isn't the explosive-evisceration three percent. But...it didn't go perfectly. The world was moving in slow-motion; she had plenty of time to think. A strange sensation was travelling up her spine. In about two seconds, it would become pain as her normal human body failed to cope with the sudden surge of energy she'd forced into it, and ripped itself apart.
No such thing as a free lunch, then.
Still, two seconds was a long time right now. She was no fighter, of course, and didn't have time to just flail around trying to learn. So instead she swung her head and shoulders forwards, effortlessly slipping free of Spopovich's grasp. Confusion began to spread across his face, with—to her—geological slowness. She took a step back, feeling the solid rock underfoot give way like sand.
One second left.
Here's hoping the simulations were right—this doesn't mix well with an existing ki source. Taking a deep breath as Spopovich started to turn towards her—a surreal slow-motion dance, face now mostly contorted with anger—she placed both hands on his back, and shoved. Not as hard as she could, but certainly more than he could resist. The ease with which the giant began to tumble away was frightening.
How long now? She'd lost track. The almost-pain had reached her head. Her vision was blurring. Well...here goes...there's supposed to be about half a second's residual charge, so even after I take it off I should have time to... She slipped the wrist-mounted device off, took a step towards Spopovich, still glacially hurtling away from her, and fastened the thing onto one of his fingers (the smallest of which was as wide as her wrist).
Then, it ended.
Just as suddenly as her hyperreality had came, it left, and suddenly her body felt heavy. Movement wasn't effortless. The ground was too hard. Everyone was moving too fast.
Once Bulma was free, Eighteen could have intervened, being the closest, and much faster than Spopovich. But seeing Bulma move with such speed, and send Spopovich flying like that, had rooted the android, dumbstruck, to the spot. "What...?"
"What just—" Yamu began, but Eighteen silenced him with a kiai that drove his crumpled form into the ground.
Spopovich, growling, lifted his head, then suddenly stopped. He began to twitch, his ki aura beginning to change in a wave, spreading outwards from the small machine now attached to him, energy changing from white to a dirty grey. His body jerked, then spasmed, and he screamed in pain.
Bulma stamped over to him as he continued to flail around, beginning to foam at the mouth, and retrieved her device, slipping it into her pocket before heading over to the other competitors.
Eighteen had nothing to say but, "What...?"
Bulma leant against the wall as the fighters carted off Yamu and Spopovich for holding and eventual questioning. The normally-peaceful scientist closed her eyes, putting a hand to her forehead.
Okay
okay
I'm fine
Oh God
feel terrible She hissed, trying not to throw up. Pains lanced through her body. She sank down to a kneeling position against the wall.
How
how do they do this? I
could hear his breath, if he'd flexed his fingers I'd be
gone, so fragile
"Are you all right?" Zarbon sat next to her.
"Uh?" She nodded, forcing a smile. "I...I'll be okay." She took a deep breath. "You all probably want to know what happened..."
"That'd be nice, yeah."
"So, essentially, it's based on the principles of the Spirit Bomb—gathering energy from around the world-and the Kaioken's focusing energy within the body."
Goku nodded. "So that's why you've been asking about those techniques lately..."
"Yeah. It's been continuously absorbing tiny amounts of energy from its surroundings for the last few years. Since it's a constant drain, it doesn't take nearly as much at a time as the Spirit Bomb, so you'd still never notice the effect. As such, even years of absorbing only gave it a tiny charge—it was meant as a last-ditch sort of thing. It's got about a minute's charge left, not that anybody'd be able to use it that long."
"Right, it only worked briefly. Will you be able to make an improved model?" Gohan asked.
"Well...the laws of physics being what they are...I'd have to say no," she admitted. "I don't think I'll ever be able to build something that's essentially artificial superpowers...a human body can't cope with the strain, whereas someone who's already ki-capable experiences similar trauma as two energies clash within them."
"Kind of like why I can't fully use Kaioken when I'm in Super Saiyan?" Goku suggested.
"Exactly like that, actually." I think I need to sleep for a week now. Still...it worked, right? After Cell...I didn't want to go through that again, that was the purpose of this project. A+. She looked over at the corner of the room. "Hey...they're waking up."
Yamu opened his eyes, immediately surprised that he was still alive. Then he looked up, to see Eighteen, Videl and Zarbon standing over him, glaring. "Uh..."
Eighteen cracked her knuckles. "We have a few questions for you."
"...but we need more energy to revive Buu! So we were sent here to drain power from this world's greatest fighters."
Videl sighed. "Apparently you didn't realise the slight hitch in your plan. The thing about attacking 'this world's greatest fighters' is that they are the world's greatest fighters."
Zarbon tossed the energy-draining device from one hand to the other. "Interesting. I would say this is all Hercule's fault for being a braggart and humiliating the gorilla here, but if it wasn't him, this Babidi would just have enslaved someone else." This drew a growl from Spopovich.
"Quiet, you," Eighteen snapped.
"What are you gonna do to him?" Yamu chuckled. "I mean, I'm tough, yes, but as you proved just now, even I have a breaking point. Spopovich, though...he doesn't feel pain at all."
"No, but I don't think he can regenerate," Eighteen reminded him. "I can always start removing things that aren't easy to grow back." Spopovich paled, and fell silent.
The information was quickly relayed to the others, some of whom were currently maintaining a ki barrier around the room to fend off the press, the announcer, hordes of martial arts fans, the police and other assorted interlopers.
Krillin folded his arms, pacing. "Hmm. Wizards and monsters...it had to be today, didn't it?"
"We just need a couple of our best to go in and take this wizard out quickly," Eighteen decided. There was a slight pause.
"...Oh!" Goku smiled, placing a hand on Gohan's shoulder. "You mean us!"
"Yeah. You two—" she indicated Babidi's servants, "—take them back to your boss. I'm not asking."
"Uh...right!" Yamu took off, Spopovich following, with Goku and Gohan close behind.
"I guess those two will get the job done," Krillin said.
Eighteen grinned. "More importantly, if we can get the tournament back on track quickly, I won't have to fight either of them! That prize money's mine!"
"You mean ours, dear."
"Yes, yes, all right."
Okay, I think I've got it to the point where the two plot-lines are going to intersect at the point I want them to. Don't worry, all the stuff that's been built up will pay off, give it time.
Q: THIS IS DBZ NOT DW NO DW!
A: Woah, calm down.
Q: 1. Videl, you ruin all the fun.
2. You had to face Goku due to being a party pooper.
3. Hercule's in for a beating, I wonder how he'll match up.
4. Break is craaazy! What's up with her personality, did Launch make her uber overconfident?
5. Goten's still fun, yay!
6. Keep it up!
A: 1. How so? 3. Not well! Seems he hasn't been taking Videl's lessons to heart. 4. More on this as time goes on! 5. Yes, he is. 6. I shall!
Q: Do you ever think you can surpass Bringer of Death? It is a pretty extreme read, but do you think you can ever top it? It's often stated they strive for the 'Best Dbz Fanfiction of all Time', do you go for the same goal, and do you a little rivalry going on (even a friendly one)? And I realise how that sounds...but still, never hurts to ask.
A: Well, I don't know what you mean by 'surpass'. If you mean in quality...that's a subjective thing. In reviews? Unlikely, given how they're at 4,500 and going up last time I checked (though I gotta be honest, getting to over 1,400 reviews myself was awesomely unexpected). I mean, I'm not striving for 'best DBZ fic ever'...more 'best DBZ fic I can possibly write'. Or maybe 'a lot of fun'. Rivalry? Nah, not really. I haven't really spoken to them since they went on their summer hiatus (when are they supposed to start back again? It's nearly October! I kid, I kid, they can take as much time as they need), but when I did speak to them, it's been more friendly and less rivalry. As you might remember, I got some help from them, checking over some chapters and ideas.
I was actually going to be involved in their summer-special-chapter-extravaganza thing, but for some reason that never happened. Honestly? I have no idea why. I wish it had, we had some great ideas going (which I can't tell you about in case they decide to do it after all at some later time).
Q: [continued from previous question] DBM2 would be awesome if Vegeta faced Raditz. Battle of the Saiyan Gods!
A: So I'm guessing either you mean 'god' as in just the 'main character/awesome' sense, in which case that would be pretty cool, yes (though DBM2, IF it ever happens which will not be for a LOOONG time anyway, will be awesome whether that happens or not)...or do you mean Super Saiyan Gods, like Battle of the Gods? Because nobody ever said either of them would become the Super Saiyan God in their respective stories. I mean, they might. But they might not. Who knows?
Well...I know what will happen in Break Through the Limit's Battle of the Gods. As for Bringer of Death, not a clue.
Q: Some really nice work here and I enjoyed the fight, but the outcome seemed a bit unfair. I think its sort of a mix between the build up of Goten, Break's attitude, my preference of Goten as a character and the sheer amount of Break we've had to deal with. Don't get me wrong, Future Break is great and all, but at times it seems like you're a bit too much of a fan towards her with battle ability and transformations. I do realize she has faults, but I would perhaps ease back on how much she gets and how little she gives.
A: Some of it is intentional. The attitude part, at least. I'm trying to write her as kind of a jerk, an antagonist even. Gives Goten something to work for. The rest...Your Mileage May Vary, I suppose.
Q: Also, Goku sort of bragged about being stronger than Gohan, and that doesn't seem like Goku. Maybe something along the lines of "You've seen how strong Gohan is right? Well you could say I've been training a bit harder than him."
A: I concede that. That'd have been a better, more Goku-ish wording. Sorry.
Q: I was thinking, this is different - the three going into the ship are less powerful as a group than having Goku, Gohan, and Vegeta in canon.
But then... This time around... All three have a dark side.. Crazy launch, evil Radditz, evil Piccolo. Plus, if Babidi already found Vegeta out in space... You got 4 possible majins there... Holy crap...
A: Um, Vegeta's dead.
This, by the way, is just one of the continued spree of Wild Mass Guessing that continues over who will be Majin-ised...people have guessed Launch, Raditz, Nail, Goku, Gohan...
Q: What's vegeta doing back in hell? Strong evils fighters were with bodies...
A: He isn't pure evil. His dying moments brought that out.
Q: And
Wass wondering if u know y bod isn't updates since 2 months...
A: They were on hiatus, but they were going to start back after the summer, and they haven't yet, so...I don't know.
Q: so little break can already go legendary super saiyan? while technicly not suprising her adultself achieved it by luck. i hope you didn't go the goten and trunks (canon) route with giving them ssj without earning it for break with lssj.
A: This is something that will be elaborated on, don't worry.
Q: Launch should own Pui-Pui once she goes full power.
I'd like to see Nail vs Yakon just to see the Namek in action.
Dabura vs Raditz (Possibly) is pretty obvious. Raditz should own him, but I doubt they'd fight. A weaker Saiyan might be his opponent.
A: Interesting predictions. Remember them, and we'll see how right or wrong you were!
This last series of questions are by one person, I just thought I'd split them up so I could easily show what exactly I'm answering:
Q: Hey my man, I think your stuff has been getting better and better. It seems like you're hitting closer to home with the personalities better because I think you lost your way a little with goku earlier on. Remember, he is a gentle giant. He only killed 2 people in the series, yakon and kid buu, and gave every other bad guy a way out because he is merciful and remember he is an idiot but a genius when coming to moral character. Please keep that in mind. He is not a genius and almost any genius thing he does is by accident, even if other characters think he has done something genius he still admits to not knowing why he did what he did haha.
A: Agree on most of that, you're right about Goku on almost every count...but one thing.
Enemies deliberately killed by Goku:
-Bunch of Red Ribbon Army guys.
-Buyon (the big monster in Muscle Tower)
-Tambourine
-Drum
-King Piccolo
-Yakon
-Kid Buu
Enemies he believed he'd killed (i.e. tried to kill but later it turned out he failed), again intentionally:
-Tao
-Vegeta
-Frieza
-Cell
People he contributed to killing:
-Raditz
People he killed accidentally:
-Grandpa Gohan
People he killed in the future timeline:
-Frieza
-King Cold
And that's not even counting movies and GT. Especially the movies, in which most villains usually die by the end, and a lot of that is down to Goku.
Sooo...yeah.
Q: Because we haven't seen raditz develop you have lots of room to work with him. Like a cross between piccolo or vegeta and goku. He can be the tactician that vegeta and piccolo were. Also, I strongly hope you take my advice and not make raditz ssj god. Please give it to gohan and make either goku or raditz ssj3 and mystic. That way you spread the wealth of power so that your get isn't all raditz and goku. The lack of relativity of other characters is why gt sucked in my opinion. It was the goku show and a little vegeta.
A: Don't worry, I'm not going to give one character all the powerups and let everybody else just spectate like a bunch of useless idiots WHY HELLO TOEI ANIMATION DO YOU LIKE GOKU BY ANY CHANCE
Q: I'm curious what you're planning for goten and gohan. Please do not fuse goten and break into a muscle head hermaphrodite. That would just be weird.
A: I've said multiple times that I'm not going to do that.
Q: And the new trunks is way too weak. An interesting idea might be to add a new female character that is strong like break or goten. Maybe the daughter of vegeta that is out in space somewhere that is looking for revenge or something. After all vegeta was unaccounted for for a long time and with no Burma to accept his donations, he may have found another to feed his need. Then you have the first female fusion. Just some food for thought.
A: That is an interesting thought.
Q: Thanks again for the good job. If you'd like to talk ideas with me or curse me out cuz you think I'm telling you what to do, which I'm not at all cuz it's your story, I'd be happy to give you contact info such as an email. Thanks again for the good work
A: You could always get an account on this site and leave reviews from that, allowing me to reply to them via private message...
Q: One last thing, a future broly daughter could also be an interesting idea. Just gotta find a reason why break and broly wouldn't be able to come back in time with her. One is absorbed by buu and the other is protecting the daughters escape? Interesting?
Vegeta daughter scenario could also give new powers since she'd be half alien.
A: You're a veritable font of ideas, aren't you?