Chapter 77: Mark of the Demon

I'm ahead of schedule, so good times. Started writing this before 76 was even uploaded.

EDIT: Only I'm not ahead anymore, because now it's Tuesday and all I've got is the title and this author's commentary. Well, here goes...

MANDATORY ADD-ON: So we're (no, not 'I'm'. YOU took the time to read this, you excellent people) past 250,000 views, and...

(hushed whisper)

...reviews-wise, we're over 1500, which means...

...we just overtook...

...Honor Trip.

(shifty glance to one side and then the other)

Yeah, seriously. I mean what.

You're all awesome, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story!

Dabura's counterattack was as swift as it was unexpected. He leaned back, then swung his head and shoulders forwards, mouth open wide.

"Careful!" Launch called. "If he spits on you, you'll turn to stone!"

However, this was not what Dabura was planning. A great gout of flame flared out from between his lips, scorching a huge area in front of him. Gohan only just avoided the attack, leaping high into the air.

"...or not," Launch continued. "Huh. Guy's got a lot of tricks."

Gohan, however, had played right into Dabura's hands. As he soared upwards, he found Dabura waiting in his path. He tried to readjust to this new angle his foe was coming from, but his swinging arm passed through an afterimage. Dabura appeared to his left, body stretched out horizontally, slamming feet-first into Gohan and sending him flying into a nearby cliff.

Dabura floated, almost still, for a couple of seconds, watching for any sign of his enemy. "Hm...not much after all."

"Aw, man!" Goku groaned. "He's down already? I hope he's all right...still, at least I get another shot at fighting."

Then, something stopped him—the ground began to shake—a column of yellow light burst directly upwards from the centre of the crumbling cliff, blasting a hole through it—"YAAAAAAH!" Letting out all his ki at once in a violent explosion, Gohan ground the rock around him to dust, throwing his arms out above his head and emitting a determined yell.

As fragments of rock rained down around him and his aura receded to normal, he lifted his head towards Dabura. "Don't celebrate yet."

"No, that'll come shortly," Dabura replied, then stretched out one arm. Without warning, and with commendable skill at quick energy-gathering, he let fly a crackling ball of dark energy, black and red like a dying fire.

It drove into the ground, detonating upon contact, and forcing the less powerful of the bystanders to shield their faces from the shockwave. The backblast blew Dabura's cloak up around his shoulders, whipping back and forth—but due to subtle ki 'pushes' he sent out, never flapping un-seemingly over his face.

He was just about to crack a fanged smile when Gohan, unharmed, Shifted into view behind him, pieces slotting together like a jigsaw puzzle assembling itself. "KAME..."

Dabura whirled, raising his guard and simultaneously launching a gobbet of his deadly saliva Gohan's way. Remembering Launch's warning, Gohan flinched and it hit his belt. Frantically he tore it from his body, hurling it away even as it turned rapidly to brittle stone, smashing to pieces on the ground. "Gah!" Gohan exclaimed. "That was close..."

"Hmm." Raditz frowned. "He keeps barely avoiding these deadly attacks...I'm starting to think you should've pushed him a little harder in his training, Goku. I mean, Dabura's just playing around here."

Goku shook his head. "Gohan has been working on some things. Like Shifting faster to dodge attacks on instinct, for instance...you just saw that one. But that's just one of the tricks he's figured out."

Nail gave a concerned glance at Goku. "Tricks? What d'you mean by that?"

"Wait an' see."

Babidi pounded his head with his tiny fists. "Dabura, you colossal idiot! If you turn him to stone, we won't get any energy! I know it's new to you, but try and think, moron!" Dabura, telepathically hearing this rant, resolved to continue to fight Gohan in a way that would cause him to expend as much energy as possible.

A smile slowly spread over Gohan's face. "Guess now is as good a time as any..."

Dabura didn't have time to ask what he meant. Gohan thrust his arm out to the right, but it blurred and disappeared in mid-air, appearing below Dabura and catching him around the ankle. Swinging his arm, Gohan threw Dabura directly towards himself, withdrawing his arm through its 'portal' and drawing it back in time to land a hard right to the demon king's face, spinning him around.

Babidi's right-hand man growled, feeling teeth chip in his mouth. He came to a halt, reversing his spin to face Gohan. "Interesting technique you've got there."

"Thanks!" Gohan smiled innocently, rubbing his nose. Whoever it was that Raditz was fighting with, or against, a year ago, they were a master of the Shifting technique—I took a couple pages out of their playbook. I much prefer experimenting to normal, repetitive martial arts training anyway...though I suppose repetition is kind of the point. He shook his head, returning to matters at hand.

Just in time, too—Dabura was holding up one hand open-palmed, and in a flash of light a huge-bladed, slightly curved, cross-hilted sword appeared in it. He closed his fingers, levelling the weapon at Gohan. "Well, you're not the only one with a few aces up their sleeve, as you've no doubt observed."

"Hey, I didn't go waving an axe at you!" Gohan said, grinning nervously. "Kinda unfair, isn't it?"

"There is no 'fair' in battle! It is an artificial concept and has no place between true warriors!" Dabura snarled. "Arm yourself if you can, but I doubt you'll have the time. Hyaaa!" He kicked off the air, speeding at Gohan, who hurriedly Shifted. Dabura had expected this, however, and his alert eyes and ears picked up on the half-saiyan's movements, angling towards him. Halfway through Dabura's swing, however, a metallic clang echoed throughout the landscape.

Gohan and Dabura landed opposite each other, puzzled—and behind Dabura landed Raditz. The demon turned in some confusion, seeing the Otherwordly fighter once again in his Super Saiyan form. This time, however, his sword was drawn, now held loosely in one hand with the tip resting on the dusty ground. The hilt and blade were of the purest black colouration, seeming to suck in all light, and all carved out of one solid block of the strange black material.

"True, 'fair' is an artificial concept," he said quietly. "But aren't those all that separate us from animals? Without artificial things like 'fairness', 'equality' and 'loyalty', where would we be?"

Dabura started angrily towards Raditz, but found that as soon as he took a step, another clang heralded a good three-quarters of his weapon's blade falling to the ground, sliced cleanly from the hilt in the same motion Raditz had used to parry and protect Gohan, and only detached now by Dabura's further movement, so fine was the cut.

Raditz faced side-on to Dabura, holding his midnight-black sword up in front of his face. "Katchin. Hardest and strongest metal in the universe, I'm told. Gotta thank Supreme Kai for making this after the Z-Sword broke..."

"I assume, with all your talk of fairness, you have no intent of further interfering with my fight with the boy?" Dabura said curtly.

Raditz sheathed his sword, the strange weapon sliding into its scabbard in complete silence. "Of course not. Until Gohan asks to tag out, this is his fight. But, if you want a sword-fight..." he jabbed a thumb up at himself. "I'm your opponent!"

He powered down, walking back over to the others.

Goku seemed surprised. "I wouldn't really call using a sword unfair, when we can all throw energy attacks and the like..."

Raditz shrugged. "Well, as we said...Gohan's fighting sense is, ah..."

"Pitiful," Nail supplied. "Especially when you consider his immense power for his age. It's a waste, really."

"Yeah, pretty much," Raditz agreed. "He'd have a lot of difficulty if the fight carried over to close quarters, as Dabura would have a big reach advantage, and one hit to the right spot could be fatal...honestly, the main reason was that I didn't think he could handle it."

Goku poked Raditz playfully in the chest. "That, and you were hoping he'd take you up on a swordfight, right?"

"Eh, that too, I guess."

Nail snorted. "Figures."

Launch walked closer to the fight as it resumed in earnest, Gohan and Dabura moving into a rapid blur of close-range strikes and blocks. "I just hope that Gohan can keep his anger under control. So far it's been pretty even, but if he starts losing...well, you guys know better'n me how he gets."

"Right, we'd better watch that," Raditz agreed. "Though, you did that once, Goku...with Cell, remember? Just snapped."

"I'm honestly surprised you've never done it," Goku admitted. "I mean, not to be rude, but what with your background..."

"I like to think I've moved past that, thanks," Raditz growled. "Don't remind me of that time before, all right?"

Locked in combat though he was, Dabura's pointed ears pricked up at these last few sentences. Nail's assessment had been correct; Dabura was still toying with Gohan, holding back a good deal of his power, and the—to him—slow speed of the fight made it easier to listen in.

"Yeah, come to think of it..." Goku laughed, indicating the group with a sweeping hand. "If you count when Launch's good and bad sides were separate, and that time Nail regressed back to Piccolo...we've all got some issues, haha!"

"How did we get on to this topic of conversation, anyway?" Nail said tersely, anxious to get off of it. "The point is, there could be trouble if Gohan loses control."

Dabura repressed a sly smile. Perfect. Now, if I can just get a few uninterrupted moments, I'll be able to return us to the ship, slip away from this one, and consult with master Babidi at greater length than these snatches of mid—fight telepathy allow. He tried a leg sweep to trip Gohan and gain his few moments, but the Super Saiyan intercepted with a kick of his own, sending a jarring pain shooting up Dabura's leg. "Hah!" Gohan shouted, punctuating the counterattack.

Growling bestially, Dabura raised one hand, again forming his blazing coal-fire of an energy ball and firing it off at point-blank range. However, instead of exploding, it vanished into thin air. Gohan was standing unharmed opposite him, hands held up with fingers splayed in front of his face, a warping, shimmering section of the air the only remnant of the 'portal' that he had Shifted the attack down. An instant later, the energy attack reappeared, ramming into its firer from behind.

Then it exploded.

Dabura coughed, his vision swimming, finding himself on his hands and knees with his cape completely scorched off. "What...no..."

Gohan wasn't idle. He may have been showing amateurish tendencies, but he wasn't stupid enough to rest on his laurels when such an opportunity to take the initiative presented itself. He barrelled straight into Dabura, kicking him hard in the head and throwing him up and backwards. Gohan pressed the attack, jumping after him and punching him back down to the ground. Dabura thrust his feet out beneath him to regain his balance, throwing out twin craters as he struggled for traction amongst the fractured rocks. He tried to counterattack, swiping flat-handed at his stubborn opponent, but he was still too dazed for full accuracy. Gohan ducked under it without breaking stride, charging shoulder-first into Dabura.

Yelling in frustration, Dabura kicked out at Gohan as he flew backwards yet again, but Gohan caught his leg and swung him overhead, throwing him to the ground.

Now, Gohan was forced to stop his relentless assault, almost as exhausted as his victim. "Still...huh...taking me lightly?" Is this really what all this fear was about? I spent years terrified of those visions. This guy's no problem.

Dabura climbed to his feet. A single pulsing vein betrayed his inner fury, but he managed to retain his external composure. "You are indeed an interesting fighter. Perhaps I should take this a little more seriously, as you suggest." With the intention of doing just that, he sped forwards, vanishing from Gohan's sight.

Too fast—! Gohan noticed himself collapsing backwards before he'd even registered the pain.

Nearby, Goku grimaced. "Now he's fighting for real...I'm not sure if Gohan can handle it..."

Drops of nervous sweat dotted Nail's expansive forehead. "His speed has increased as much as his power. But I saw no visible change...he's a fighter fully in control of his energy."

Gohan saw the ground rushing up to meet him, rolled with the impact, and stood up, only to find Dabura gone. An impact from behind informed him of his enemy's location, followed immediately by another. He tried to Shift away, but a blow to the head dazed him, preventing his escape. He leapt away, finally catching sight of Dabura and hurling an energy sphere. Dabura, ire aroused, powered through the blast with little damage, smashing Gohan to the ground again. Then, he paused. There. The opening I needed. Master Babidi—return us, please.

Their surroundings warped suddenly back to the ship.

"H...Hey..." Gohan, having lost his Super Saiyan energy, was still conscious. He pushed his head up, shaking his head to clear a trickle of blood from his eyes. "Don't...run...I'm not done..."

Kibito stared with eyes full of admiration. "Such tenacity in one so young...he truly doesn't know when he's beaten..."

Raditz nodded, glancing at Goku. "He may not always act like a hero, but at heart he's his father's son."

"You..." Gohan steadied himself, raising a fist in Dabura's direction. "Get over here...I'm not finished with you!"

"You think I'm running?" Dabura glided over to the door. "Far from it. But I have identified a fighter much more suited to fighting you in this stage than I. Feel free to select a new combatant of your own, or heal this one, since you seem to place so much value on fairness...farewell." Not that they will fare well, of course. With another quick use of magical materialisation, he recreated his cape just in time to dramatically sweep out of the room.

"Odd," Kaioshin commented. "What could he mean by that?"

"Doesn't matter," Raditz replied. "We'd have to fight all of Babidi's servants eventually to get to him, so where and in what order we fight them really doesn't matter to me."

"I suppose that's true." He lapsed back into silence, and other than Kibito healing Gohan's injuries, they all settled into an uneasy wait for their new enemy.

"Trust me, master. I heard it from their own mouths." Dabura's face was lit as from a fire within as he spoke. "Each and every one of them has evil in their hearts, or once did."

"I see..." Babidi cackled with childishly. "Oh, good work, Dabura! With this many, we're guaranteed success with at least one or two! Yes, we won't even have to lift a finger—they'll kill each other for us!"

Dabura coughed. "How much energy did my fight generate for Buu?"

"Well, you made the kid expend a good deal of energy, and did some real injury towards the end. He has incredible power for a world like this...we have nearly half the energy we need! Of course, you showed by the end of the fight that you were superior to him, but on the whole I'm beginning to doubt your claim that you could defeat them all simultaneously..."

"They do possess startling fortitude," Dabura admitted. "I haven't truly exerted myself in battle for quite some time."

"Well, in any case, this will thin their numbers—if it doesn't eliminate them entirely!" Babidi turned to his crystal ball, raising his hands once more. "I can't believe our luck—you have outdone yourself!" His long, thin fingers played rapidly on the surface of the sphere, and the entire thing began to glow with alarming brightness. "HhhheeeeEEEAAAAAHHHH!" Dabura turned his head away, screwing his eyes shut, but Babidi stared deep into the pulsing well of power, power that would soon be his to command.

As one, Raditz, Goku, Gohan, Nail and Launch began to hiss, then groan in pain, clutching their hands to their heads. They staggered off in random directions, doubling over and nearly falling.

The sight would have been almost comical had the Supreme Kai not immediately known the reason. "No! Not all of them, surely!"

Kibito paled. "My lord, what can we do?"

Kaioshin shook his head slowly. "This attack is from within...only they can choose to resist or give in. Everyone, you must fight it! Don't let Babidi in!"

"Grrrh...aaaghhh..." Raditz stumbled past him.

"Resist!" Kaioshin urged. "You, all of you, you're not like those pitiful creatures in his servitude—he has no claim on you! Resist, I beg of you!" However, the more he talked, the more he got the feeling that his words fell on deaf ears. Their battles, as he had said, were now being fought within. Once he had his foot in the door, Babidi could turn your mind on itself. He didn't need to know your past or the reason for the taint in your soul—he could simply use your own knowledge against you.

Raditz

Get out of my head, you bastard!

Ah, so many.

What are you—

So many dead. You think your recent penance erases the pain you've caused?

I've been over this, thanks. The judge of the dead pretty much gave me the Get Out of Hell Free card. Now piss off.

Don't kid yourself. I know all about you. You're far from innocent—you're not like them. They know nothing of the life you lived.

For which I'm glad. I'm never going back.

There is blood on your hands, don't deny it. Why do you think the saiyans were feared throughout the universe?

I don't—I'm not...that's the past—

Can you imagine them? In the afterlife? A chorus of outraged voices. Fear, anger, hatred, confusion. So many futures cut short.

Get out of my head—

For them, the day you 'cleansed' their planet was the end of everything. The walking, one-man apocalypse. You…probably don't even remember it. Why should you? Only one mission, out of how many?

You are a murderer. You are a murderer on a massive scale—you are a monster, and you fool only yourself when you stand tall and walk with the rest of them, preaching your morals. Come back to the dark. Rejoin the rest of the monsters.

I'm no monster, I'm—

Oh? What are you? Go on, finish. Just what are you, really, Raditz the butcher?

...

I think you know. You know all about me, after all.

I'm a saiyan who turned his back on his people.

The legendary warrior, with a pure heart awakened by rage.

I AM...THE SUPER SAIYAN!

"GYAAAH!" Raditz flung his head back, feeling the spell break. "And stay out..." He exhaled slowly, realising he'd powered up to Super Saiyan. The others were in similar states of unrest. "Guys?" The chorus of yells and growls was unnerving. "Don't listen to it! It knows you inside-out!"

Relief broke over Kaioshin's face like sunrise. "Raditz! You're..."

"Still me."

"Then at least one managed to escape. Do you think your friends..."

"They'll pull through." His brow furrowed. "They have to."

Goku

Son Goku. That's your Earth name. The saiyans gave you another.

I'm a human first, sorry.

A touching sentiment. Do you not remember giving in to that side of yourself? Tapping a reserve of power you didn't know you had?

That wasn't me.

You even used 'Kakarot'. You know it's your true nature.

True nature can go jump off a cliff. This is where I was raised.

Only happenstance—random chance caused you to become who you are! But for an accident you would have been just like the rest.

Then I've got to thank fate someday. That was the best thing that ever happened to me.

Your true—

Look.

What?

You're in my head, take a good look. Can you see anything—anything—that would make you think I'd even remotely consider going back to that?

...

Such simple-minded innocence...

...you really are pure...

Get out.

Gohan

What are you doing to me?

Ah, your demons are well-known to all. Your infamous temper. Rage, even.

What's that got to do with anything?

It always comes hand-in-hand with such power! Think...if you gave in to it fully, you could become so much more...

And so much less. What's the point of having power if all you're going to do is destroy?

Your father, your uncle—they look down on you. They've far surpassed you. Show them. Your true potential—you're so much greater than they think.

Earning their respect? I don't care about that.

I find that hard to believe. Saiyans—

I don't care about saiyans either! I'm human first. What I care about is everybody coming out okay—which is not what'd happen if I flipped out and started marching to Babidi's tune just for a little extra power.

You will regret this, someday.

Yeah, I bet. Now leave me alone.

Launch

A fractured soul.

It was. I fixed it.

Oh, you poor thing. Is that what you think?

Does it matter?

What you did was patch it together. Why bother, when your dark side is so much stronger? All the 'nice' you ever did was slow you down. Take orders. Stay home and do the laundry. The 'bad' you had so many adventures...

Let's get this straight. The past is done. I'm one person, and I'm happy with who I am. Which is neither of those two.

You once thought that your 'bad' side was created as a reaction to some trauma. Has it never occured to you that it could be the other way around? Violence comes so naturally to you. It's in your heart.

Look, you.

I think you're confusing 'aggressive' with 'evil'.

Don't be foolish, just because you think you've tamed your darker urges-put them to use. You crave confrontation, aggression. The love of your life is an alien warrior. You spent half of your life as an outlaw and, more recently, devoted much time to breaking mountains with your bare hands.

Whether you admit it or not, there is darkness in your soul-

HAHAHAHAHAAA!

Wh-wha-

Eheh...heh...BWAHAHAAA...!

Haha!

Ha...

Ha.

Uh, yeah.

No.

The recovered fighters leaned on each other for support, sweating oceans. "Huh...hah..." Despite this, Raditz and Launch managed to reach each other and collapse into an embrace.

"Don't ever leave," she whispered.

"I'm sorry...I won't make promises I can't keep." He sniffed. "But I can give you one night."

"I'll hold you to that."

"Just...I need a second...I was wrong, you know." He remained there, head down, arms around her. "I missed…I…don't want to leave you again…"

"Should've thought of that seven years ago," she chided.

"I'm sorry."

She didn't have an answer to that.

Goku nodded to Gohan. "I'm proud of you," he breathed.

"Hey, it was no big deal. There really wasn't anything for them to get ahold of."

"Yeah, me either, I guess. Uh...Nail? You okay...?"

"Grr...rrrghh..." Nail was still half-bent over, hands clawing at the air, aura burning around him.

Kaioshin shrunk back as he noticed. "Wh-Why hasn't he fought it off yet?"

Nail

You think yourself so noble...yet you let evil, pure evil, into you...

No. I fused with the one calling himself Katas. 'Piccolo', the name given to his darker side, was only a small part of him—and since I was the main fusee, that evil vanished with our merging.

You say that, and yet look what happened when your mind was interfered with. Who should appear but Piccolo?

Exceptional circumstances. I don't usually get mind-controlled by arctic robot scientists.

You cannot hide from me. You, Nail, are not the one I wish to talk to.

Awaken, demon.

I...I...won't...

...what's happening-?

I can't—

How—

I—

Piccolo

...many thanks.

You are aware of the offer?

Of course.

Do you desire this power? I would say you must give in to your dark side, but, ah...

...but with me, it's the only side, right?

Or words to that effect. What do you say?

When do we start?

A final explosion of energy, and then it calmed. The Namekian slowly straightened up, facing away from the group.

"N...Nail?" Launch asked uneasily.

Goku frowned. His ki is so...different...what just happened?

Kaioshin flinched away, realising roughly what had transpired. "Oh...oh, no!"

Gohan grimaced—his head was burning, and he was getting the flashes of vision again—incoherent snatches of light and sound. If there was any doubt...not that there was...it's beginning!

The Namek waved his hand, light playing around his fingers, and a white cape and turban materialised on his head and shoulders.

He turned in a leisurely fashion, a grin and a scowl warring on his face. A fresh 'M' mark on his forehead seemed to draw in all light around it, perching over his eyes like a malevolent insect.

Goku drew in a shallow breath. Even if the other clues hadn't been there, he could never forget that leering face, that stern, murderous expression, those deadly eyes.

"Piccolo..."

And now, it's time for:

Dr. Space: Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Power Levels

...Which is just going to be an occasional thing where I, as I sometimes have before, get up and talk a bit about some theory of mine, probably always DBZ-related.

So, today I'm going to talk about the 'zenkai': the power boost that a saiyan gets when they're injured and then recover.

The amount that a saiyan is powered up by a zenkai is never actually defined (which is fine, and stopped Toriyama from writing himself into a corner), but I've heard people say they're basically just plot devices which always just so happen to increase the character's power enough for them to fight the next enemy.

Well, I have an alternative explanation. First, let's think: When does a zenkai usually occur? When a saiyan comes up against an opponent with a higher power level. So what I propose is that the saiyan's biological system (or whatever you call it, I don't know, but not their conscious mind) then registers the gap in powers, and as part of the species' ridiculously-engineered for survival physiology, allows the saiyan's power level to increase exactly as much as it needs to.

Think about the examples of characters receiving a zenkai in the (canon) series. Let's look at Vegeta first:

-Vegeta was overcome by Goku's Kaioken x3 power level of 24,000 (he could only use Kaioken x4 for one blast, the x3 attack was when he actually consistently surpassed Vegeta in hand-to-hand combat). Lo and behold, when Vegeta got to Namek, his power had risen to...24,000.

-Vegeta was next beaten by Zarbon's monster form. After healing, you'll notice that their second match is actually quite even, until Vegeta gets the upper hand by being the superior tactician and finally finding an opening for his finishing attack. Hence, it's pretty safe to assume that their power levels were pretty close, with Vegeta's maybe slightly higher. Vegeta's physiology improved him to Zarbon's level.

-Then, he was injured fighting the Ginyu Force. However, by this point the power increases get bigger; Goku and Vegeta are on their way to becoming Super Saiyans, and have broken down the old limits to saiyan power. So to accomodate these upgrades, it takes a while for Vegeta's increasing power to reach its full potential-he has to rest for a while. Now, by the time he really starts powering up, Goku's already proven he's far superior to the Ginyu Force. In Vegeta's mind, who does he have to defeat? Who's the next big challenge?

Frieza.

Sure enough, when they fight, he's able to keep up with Frieza's first form. Just about.

-Finally, he gets a zenkai before fighting Frieza's final form. Now, it's fairly clear that the power increases Frieza got from transforming to his second and third forms were nothing as great as the boost he got from transforming to his final form (which makes sense, as it's his true form.)

Vegeta seemed pretty confident that he could win, leading me to believe that had Frieza's final form had the same power progression as the others, Vegeta would've won. So as far as he knew, he was powering up as much as he needed.

And now, Goku, who received a zenkai at two obvious moments (others are debatable):

-When he arrived on Namek, his training plus numerous injury + healing repeats were what helped him break down that barrier and begin to become a Super Saiyan, acquiring larger than normal increases.

And who had surpassed Goku? Well, Great Ape Vegeta. Power level 180,000 (at least in terms of strength, though obviously not speed), since it multiplies power by 10 and saiyan saga Vegeta was at 18,000.

And what was Goku's stable power level (as he said he could go higher in short bursts) on Namek? Why, a hundred and eighty thousand, would you believe.

-Second zenkai came before fighting Frieza. He was really approaching the 'Super Saiyan threshold' at this point, so it took a while for the healing/power-up to kick in. But all through the fight, he'd been sensing Frieza's power grow as he transformed, and unlike Vegeta had time to register Frieza's final form's power before fighting-or at least the amount of power Frieza was using to beat Vegeta.

And what do you know, when Goku is fully healed, he can suddenly fight evenly with Frieza, with Frieza using the same amount of power as he did against Vegeta (or so it seems—he certainly didn't show any evidence of powering up).

-Final point: Cell also received a zenkai, putting him in his 'Super Perfect' form, as many call it. Now, this gave him the blue sparkly SSJ2 aura, so perhaps his saiyan physiology registered the need for him to attain that SSJ2-like level of power to survive. Of course, it turned out Gohan had a lot more in him than either of them realised, so Cell still lost, but it certainly seemed like Cell's power-up would have been enough to win at first.

Make of all this what you will; it's just my theory, and seems to be backed up by plenty of evidence. As for the other saiyans receiving a zenkai, Gohan's power fluctuated all over the place, and Bardock wasn't actually surpassed by anyone before getting his zenkai (just caught off-guard by a weaker opponent), so there wasn't really a target or goal-he only got the idea to go after Frieza after being healed.

Anyway, there you go. On to other things which require me to write in italics.

Q: Also, I have a suggestion that might help new readers of BTtL ; would you be willing to consider making a table of contents at the end of Chapter 1 (showing story arcs, chapter titles, etc., like the BoD team did in Chapter 1 of that story) to show where the different sagas are and give readers a general overview of the story? Just an idea.

A: After thinking about this review, I sort of did that. It's not quite a table of contents, though, more of a ramble in my typical style...but it's kind of informative.

Q: Either Gohan goes SSJ2 and kicks Dabura's ass, but loses himself to his rage, prompting Babidi to Majinize him, or Gohan gets petrified due to not knowing about stone spit. Or Dabura petrifies someone else and Gohan goes apeshit in SSJ2, prompting Babidi to Majinize him.

These are my predictions!

A: All good predictions. Wrong, but good.

Q: While fast-paced, especially at the point of rock-paper-scissors, it was a fun chapter. Lots of action and it felt more well-rounded in terms of characters getting to fight. Although I'd think that Babidi's magic would block out Old Kai's crystal ball.

That brings up a question, who do you think would win in a magic battle: Old Kai and Kibito against Babibi ?

A: Old Kai and Kibito, I should think. Kaioshin always seemed pretty confident he could take on Babidi, and Old Kai actually knows what he's doing-probably much more competent in magic than his descendant.

Q: will zarbon play a big role in this saga or atleast train a little

A: A role, yes, but not a big one, sorry.

Q: Guy who avoided your fic (check ch. 57)

The reason is beacause I thought the story was bad. Making some weak-ass dude from the SAYAIN SAGA a main protaganist (sp?)
It actually all in the summary (don't really remember why I avoided it) Keep up the ALMOST-Perfect work (nothing is perfect and nothing should be)

A: Glad you enjoyed it.

...

...Wasn't Goku even weaker than Raditz at the start of the saiyan saga? I find the implausibility argument a little strange.

(Also, since you asked, it's 'protagonist'.)

Q: Was Goku's Kili reading 3000 aswell? I can't remember. If so, does that make Raditz equal to canon Buu-saga Goku, or is his PL different once he fully transforms?

A: Yeah, it's the same...I couldn't really think of a reason to make Raditz stronger or weaker than Goku, so I left it.

On second thoughts, it kind of makes sense. The Z-Sword is undoubtedly a great aid to training, with its weight and all, but Raditz doesn't have quite as much talent as Goku, sooo...it probably balances out.

Q: Majin picollo vs goku ... dabura vs gohan and maybe babidi unlocks raditz's evil :P

u sir are a great writer , keep up the good work

A: There's some interesting thoughts. Majin Piccolo, yeah, vs Goku? Maybe. Dabura vs Gohan, yes, Babidi unlocks Raditz's evil...almost, but no.

And thank you!

Q: Random question, why does Raditz' aura change all the time? Some times it's purple, others it's blue. Is there a reason to that? I know in canon, Vegeta's aura went from purple to blue for whatever reason (good guys can't have purple auras?)

A: I really don't remember, that was a while ago (it's even been red once or twice...). Two explanations that I can think of:

1. It's a representation of his inner turmoil.

2. I couldn't decide which one looked coolest.