IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: Okay, so I've been a bit dumb and tried to carry too many things at once; as a result, I dropped my laptop and the screen is now quite seriously damaged. I'm told a new screen could be £100 or so, and I'm still in my last year of high school (Sixth Form, for fellow Britishers) and don't yet have a job or anything, so it could take me quite some time to get said money and get this fixed.

So the upshot of all this is that it's now very difficult to use my computer, and writing for an extended period of time on someone else's is not going to happen often. So updates will be slow and erratic for a while. I'll get out a chapter whenever I can. Sorry.

(It's also why this is kind of a short chapter.)

Chapter 86: I Am Become Death

Passed 1800 reviews! Woohoo!

Riddle me this: Who is the Red King, and what does he have to do with Even Further Beyond and Battle of the Gods?

(I'm not actually expecting anybody to somehow guess my convoluted, nonsensical, half-formed plans, by the way. So don't worry about it, I'm just confusing you.)

"Now, I am become death, the destroyer of worlds." -Robert Oppenheimer (scientific director of the Manhattan Project)

"Fight seriously?" Buu snorted. "Is that supposed to intimidate me? Look, I know you haven't been going all-out, but whatever reserves you have can't possibly make up the amount of power I've just absorbed."

"Won't know until I try, will I?"

"Rrr...cocky bastard..." Buu growled. You, Goku...you will suffer especially. Never before have I been so comprehensively outfought! And by a simple creature such as he...unthinkable!

Overhead, the clouds were separating into two layers; an unusually low scattering of small, highly mobile storm-clouds, and an upper layer, condensing into a solid black mass, blotting out most of the sun's light and letting through only an unearthly red glow. All over the planet, the seas were being whipped up into a fury, and entire island chains vanished between the swirling waters.

Raditz was sitting slumped against a rock, which Launch was sprawled on top of. Her head, upside-down, peeked down into the top of his field of vision as she leaned over him. "Man, I'm beat," she moaned. "Maybe I shouldn't have given you so much energy..."

"Mmm." Raditz experimentally tried to move his injured arm, and his nervous system told him in no uncertain terms that this was not a good idea. "You'll live."

"More surprisingly, so will you." She dropped down next to him, flipping the right way up and sitting down. "I still can't believe what you did."

"Well, I wasn't really thinking, heh!" He paused, smiled. "But I don't regret it. When this is all over—"

"If it's ever over," she pointed out.

"When," he repeated firmly. "My brother can handle Buu. When it's over, I can't wait to see our little girl again..."

Launch smiled contentedly for a second, then something clicked and she said, "Hold on, what's this 'our'? I raised the little terror for eight years, what did you do?"

"You know exactly what I did," he chuckled, "you were very close by at the time."

"My point exactly! You shouldn't make a kid and run off on them. It's a little thing called commitment." He didn't reply, but she knew what he was thinking: the sheer amount of things about human society growing up a saiyan had left him unprepared for. Saiyan children were immediately taken from their parents, had their power measured, and assigned a planet to conquer. The parents barely thought about them. At some subconscious level, that detachment had remained, and thoughts of his daughter had barely entered his head when he'd chosen to stay dead. "Still," she said tactfully—not to mention honestly—"you came back. You pretty much left Paradise behind for us."

"No." He looked at her, deadly serious. "No, I didn't leave Paradise...I came back for it."

Buu bent his legs, preparing to leap. "I will break you, saiyan." Then, just as he was about to spring, something lurched inside of him, bringing him to a jarring halt. "What the—" His body shuddered from head to foot, as if unconsciously protesting. "What's happening?!"

Pretty simple, a gruff voice said to both Goku and Buu telepathically. You screwed up.

"Piccolo!" Goku laughed. "That is you, isn't it?"

How ever did you guess. Now...Buu! You're pretty smart by now; go on, tell me what I'm doing.

"I...overlooked something!" Buu fumed, twitching and spasming as his ki warred against itself. "Nail's technique...of retaining control of his energy, even when inside an enemy!"

Exactly. And that's my energy you've now absorbed all throughout your body! So...care to guess what happens now?

"You can't be about to...to set it off...?!" Buu practically whimpered.

"A suicide attack..." Goku realised. Would Piccolo really do something so selfless?

Buu echoed his thoughts. "Y-You'd never do such a thing! You only ever fought me to further your own ends—your desire for conquest! If you die, you'll never have that chance! You don't think they'd resurrect you, do you?"

Of course not. But I'm no fool, I know the extent of your power now. There was a pause. You are right. I'm faced with two alternatives...let you destroy everything, or drag you to Hell with me. Either way, I lose.

But...

I've lived on this world—had designs on it, I guess—for a long time now. I've never even been to my 'home planet'. Call me sentimental, but...the thought of losing it entirely, and living on forever within you, sounds even worse than just finishing us now.

"Y-You can't be serious!"

I'm always serious, Buu. You know that. You know me. You absorbed me.

"Don't do it!" Buu wailed, beginning to glow with steady pulses of red light.

Besides...if you're not stopped here, you're unlikely to overlook Namek. And any race that can produce the great Demon King must have some merit.

Goku!

Goku gave a thumbs-up. "Never thought I'd say this...thanks, Piccolo."

Whatever. I would say I look forward to our rematch in the next world...but I'd be lying if I didn't admit that I know we won't be going to the same place.

Goku nodded sombrely.

Buu desperately tried to wrest control of his ki, but it was too late. Piccolo's mental speech grew into a shriek of white noise, then cut out entirely.

Goku dived for cover, and then everything went white.

Majin Buu

Pain. Separated. Scattered. Broken.

Alive.

Grow. Fix. Heal. Together. Brain. Think.

Think.

I. Am. Am, I. I am. Buu. Majin Buu. I am Majin Buu, and I am now whole in mind. My body is still broken. Scattered. A thousand thousand pieces. I cannot currently be measured for height or width, though perhaps 'blast radius' would work.

Surprisingly, I am not dead.

After that, the rest is easy.

When Buu's fragmented scraps pulled themselves together, Goku was already up and facing him.

"Damn..." he said, nervous sweat showing itself on his face. "I should've vapourised the pieces while I still had the chance. I never thought his regeneration would let him recover from being blown completely to pieces..."

"rrrrlllghkmmmMe...either," Buu managed as his mouth reformed. "I had no idea what I was truly capable of coming back from until today, and for that, I thank you all. You've been wonderful sparring partners. But now, even you—the best your planet could throw at me—will fall." He looked just as he had before, minus Piccolo's cape.

Goku said nothing, raising his guard and preparing to re-engage Buu. Buu, however, noticed—a slight slowness in his movements—a sharpness of breath—tiny trembles in his limbs—things he'd tried to hide. I see... Buu laughed inwardly. That threefold Kaioken wore you out more than you let on. No doubt trying to intimidate me by exaggerating the difference in our powers.

Now he reached out with his mind, using the instincts and mental prowess Tien's mind had given him, trying to feel for Goku's intentions and determine his next move. His state of mind will give away the moment he intends to attack...and I will have the initiative.

However, there was no such warning when the attack came. Goku's mind remained at peace, still as a windless ocean. He became a blur of light, red—sheathed fist flying and catching Buu unawares. However, Buu only took one faltering step back before straightening up, nearly unmarked by the attack. "Is that it? After all that earlier?" He grinned as he raised his own hands to attack. "Perhaps you were counting on me having lost Piccolo's power. Unfortunately for you, in the instant he detonated his energy, I countered with the very same technique of Nail's, capturing and absorbing every portion of power in the fragments of my body even as they scattered. Now, Piccolo's energy is permanantly a part of me—I may not have his mind any longer, but his strength is all I will need."

Within Buu, Baby warily stood up, lowering his energy shield. Damn it, Piccolo! I'd almost worked my way up to Buu's head! Now I'm all the way back down in one of his legs...this could take a while. A footstep echoed in the fleshy corridor behind him, and he ran on.

Having satisfied his need to gloat, Buu advanced, throwing quick jabs, testing Goku, pushing him slowly back. Goku responded equally warily, dodging away in quick Kaioken bursts. Buu, quickly growing tired of this, tried a punch at full strength, flooring Goku instantly, blood trailing from the saiyan's nose and mouth. Goku shouted wordlessly in frustration, controlling his fall and bouncing away with a handspring, but Buu was upon him. Goku fired up to Kaioken, raising his arms to block, but Buu was faster, a kick slipping easily past the defence. Buu spun with the motion, following up with an overhead punch down at his falling opponent.

Goku, having remained motionless for a second, again surprised Buu, moving like a spring released. Whip-cord muscles tensed and a roar of building energy filled the air. "KAMEHAMEHA TIMES TEN!" The mighty blast, however, struck only an afterimage, Buu touching down on a small peak behind him. Goku fell forwards, straightened up, swung around to face Buu. His arms stung, shaking from the effort, and he felt drained to the core. I don't think...I can manage that again...have to try something else. He instead reactivated his comfortable x3 boost, building up for a second energy wave. "Kkk...KA...ME..."

"Tchah! Again?" Buu snorted. "And weaker this time...very well, if you insist on continuing..." Buu leapt at Goku.

"HA..."

"Enough!" Buu's fist struck Goku's stomach, and Buu didn't withdraw his arm, pushing forwards and driving the saiyan further into the ground. "What say you now?" he cackled.

"...ME...!" Despite his arms having been smashed out of the attack's familiar position, Goku's power continued to increase.

Buu blinked. What the—

Goku's legs swung up, feet positioned right in front of Buu's face. "—HYAAAAA!" His blue ki blast emerged from the soles of his feet, hurling Buu backwards and bringing him to the ground.

Buu jumped to his feet, trying desperately to heal his hideously-burned face, but Goku was already dashing at him again, throwing his Power Pole into the air in front of him. He jumped, kicking off one end and propelling himself at Buu. He tackled the monster bodily, but his momentum didn't last and Buu backhanded him away into the air. "Power Pole extend!" Goku commanded as he sailed away, and it did; the magical staff, having fallen slightly so as now to be almost horizontal, grew rapidly, piercing right through Buu's stomach and out his back. Goku caught the other end, tugging on it and flipping Buu to the ground again, before retracting the weapon and diving at Buu with it held two-handed.

Buu rolled away from Goku's diving strike, throwing a back kick up at his infuriating enemy and driving him away, giving himself space. Buu stood quickly, focusing on regeneration for a moment. "Enough of your games. I'll end you now..."

Goku raised his weapon in response. A warrior's salute, a challenge: Just try.

Buu flung out his aura, building up his energy. "Prepare yourself! It—ghhaak! Wh...what...now?!" His golden, sparking Super Saiyan glow faded and vanished abruptly, and his power level dropped considerably. "You can't be serious!"

"Right on schedule!" Goku exclaimed, grinning mischievously. "I knew Break's Super Saiyan 3 power wouldn't last forever!"

"You...were playing for time?"

"Yup!"

"Don't be foolish," Buu said, eyes narrowed menacingly. "I'm still far stronger than you, even with only Piccolo's power added to mine.

"Oh, you're stronger'n me, yeah." Goku rolled his shoulders, clicked his neck, then fixed his gaze back on Buu. "But not that much stronger. KAIOKEN...TIMES..."

Buu's face froze. Oh, hell.

"...FOOOUUUR!" Goku's red aura leapt back to life, larger and more intense than ever. The rapidly-darkening skies lit up with the unearthly light.

The next thing Buu knew, he was flying back, his head now adorned by something better described as a dent than a face.

The next thing he knew, he was knocked upwards. A blinking red light was growing larger at the end of his vision.

The next, he was knocked back down.

And the next thing Majin Buu knew, for quite some time after that, was pain.

"Such speed...and intensity...!" Kibito marvelled.

Kaioshin agreed wholeheartedly. "Amazing! I never suspected...that anyone could do this to Buu!"

Old Kai sat for a second, eyes closed, mulling it over. Then, slowly he looked up, and shook his head, instantly silencing the other two Shin-jin. "Sorry," he said. "It's not going to be enough."

Buu reeled from yet another impossibly-strong blow. He'd lost count. His opponent was an unstoppable force of nature, it seemed, and defeat was growing near.

Then, he felt it. A momentary faltering, a slight flicker—mistake. Weakness. Buu didn't wait or think; he struck, catching Goku with all the combined momentum of both of their attacks. They tumbled to the ground together, grappling, clawing at each other and letting loose intense short-ranged energy bursts. Buu's antenna found a hold, tossing Goku off.

Buu scrambled away, putting some distance between himself and this impossible fighter. "You..." he stared at Goku's defiant figure, almost unable to believe what he'd been put through because of this one simple martial artist. "I...will not...stand for this...!"

"What's...the matter?" Goku panted. "You that childish? Can't accept someone who can actually stand up to you for once?"

Something strange seemed to be happening to Buu. "Hrr...rrrgghh...don't mock me! I AM MAJIN BUU!"

"Oh, good point!" Goku blinked. "I forgot to introduce myself!" He waved a cheery hand. "Heya! I'm Goku!"

"You...won't..." Buu said in a loud, strangled voice. "...You won't...get away with this...humiliation!" His eyes began to glow an eerie red, and small electrical discharges crackled around his body.

"Just as I thought," Old Kai said miserably. "Things are taking a turn for the worse."

"Th-Then there is no hope..." Kaioshin sat back, stunned. "No-one can defeat Majin Buu now, not even Goku..."

"Hmm...well." The old Kaioshin sat back and shrugged. "We aren't really supposed to share these kinds of secrets with mortals, but I think Buu is a serious enough threat that we can bend some of the rules."

"What do you mean?" Kibito asked carefully, not yet allowing himself to hope.

"Well, there are still quite a few powerful warriors alive around the Earth..." Old Kai reached up and took off his spherical earrings. "...if they fused with the Potara, I'm sure they'd have the power to beat Buu."

"What are you talking about?" Kaioshin asked, staring blankly. "Fuse...?"

Old Kai sighed. "Oh, dear. You really don't know anything, do you, young one?"

I really can't count the number of times I've been asked when fusion is finally going to be introduced. I was tempted to leave it out completely, just to be difficult.

Question I've been asked a million times:

Why is mystic Goku so much weaker than mystic Gohan?!

Answer:

Well, it was mainly because since they were always going on about how much hidden power Gohan had, so I figured that other people would get less of a boost-especially Goku, whose talent (to me) always seemed to be the ability to improve himself through hard work and dedication. Just my opinion, of course. But that's the reason.

Q: Speaking of, "Goku", means "aware of emptiness", Wu-k'ung means, "awake to vacuity" to be precise. "Sun" is short for Husun, and Husun means "monkey". The Japanese changed pronunciation I don't think means anything in Japanese, it is thus still it's original meaning. Son Goku's full name is thus, "The Monkey Aware of Emptiness", not "child".

A: If you say so. I got the 'child' translation from 'The Dao of Dragon Ball', which is generally a reliable site. I suppose 'monkey' works just as well, though.

Q: That reminds me, what happened in this universe to Vegeta?

A: Died fighting the Tuffles.

Q: another question now goku is as strong when marjin piccolo came to be so now that happen can goku get more stronger than before and he increase his power because you said when gohan and goten made it super sayien 2 they couldn't get stronger they reach there limit which is 1.5 im and they have to some how reach super sayien 3 which is fair but what with goku can he improve now that his potential been unlock ?

A: Yes, he can improve.

Q: Regarding the Spirit Bomb...Wouldn't Buu have the ability to use it since he is TECHNICALLY pure of heart? He is pure evil, so, umm...loophole? I mean, Vegeta was pure evil at the time he turned Ssj so, could Buureakiccolien use it? Oh, and will there be any art on Buu to Buureakiccolien evolution? And there is something I never understood (though maybe it was for the sake of repitition); Frieza vs Ssj Goku destroys Namek comepletly yet Cell and Buu dont? They are both thousands if not millions more powerful.

A: -Possibly, good point. Though I doubt anyone would let Buu have the time he'd need to use it.

-Hopefully!

-Because Frieza directly fired at the planet. Cell and Buu never successfully attacked the planet (until Kid Buu). It wasn't just their fighting that destroyed Namek.

Q: I do recall reading on the Dragonball wiki that Tien's third eye lets him see through the Afterimage Technique. Just saiying

A: Don't believe everything you read, especially on the Dragon Ball wiki. It's full of rumours and lies, I tell you (which doesn't stop me using it as a quick reference.) For instance, it would have you believe that Goten let Pan beat him at the end of DBZ (why they make that assertion I have no idea), and that Tien knows a Kaioken-like technique called the Spirit Burst (no such technique exists; in both 'instances', he was simply powering up. While I'm on the subject, Tien fighting base Trunks in movie 9 is bull).

Q: Wow, so Buu's absorbed Tien, Piccolo and Break... that combination's definitely going to be a tough one to beat. I've been picturing this newest form of Super Buu as basically identical to Buuhan from canon, but wearing Piccolo's cape instead of Gohan's gi. Is that an accurate description of him?

A: Yes. Though he's now lost the cape.

Q: Also, the predicted horrific event so strong that the reverberations of it were able to affect Bulma's mind from seven years in the future hasn't occurred yet, unless it was Buu's eradicating the population of Earth or the havoc that Raditz's teleporting back to Earth without a one-day pass caused. But something tells me that the real event has yet to take place, which makes me wonder how much worse things are going to get...

A: When it happens, it'll be very clear.

Q: I can't help wondering if you're going to include any fusion at all, since Elder Kai never mentioned the Potara Earrings and Raditz hasn't said anything about the Fusion Dance this entire time. You'd think Elder Kai would've remembered to tell Goku about the earrings while they were waiting for the ritual to finish, if not right before he was about to leave; he remembered to suggest them as an option in canon, so why not here? At any rate, if there is a fusion, I'm guessing either Goku/Gohan or Goku/Raditz, unless you decide to pull a trick again and do Gohan/Raditz. Ah, well, I don't care all that much; any of those would be awesome!

A: In canon, as here, he only suggested them when it looked like everything else had failed.

Q: Y r u making tien strong that's the only thing I

Hate about this

[chapter 16 review]

A: That's just the way events seemed to play out.

And out of curiosity, why do you hate Tien being strong?

Q: Needs more salt

A: Only on days without a 'y' in them.

Q: Oooooof course.

A: 'Oof'? Did you get punched in the stomach as you were typing? And what course? The course of history? The course of a river? An economics course at Hull university?

Q: I'd like to use break in a story I'm working on (Best of I've seen so far) and thought I should ask first so anyways I'm done for now so bye

A: Er...sure. Just give credit in the story, mention where she came from and whatnot, and if you wouldn't mind sending me a link to the story when it's done?

Q: First, I wanted too say love the story! It is the first fan fic I have ever read/ been interested in. And you got me hooked from the first chapter the plot and storytelling are amazing. It only took me 3 days to catch up because I was so into it. But, are we going to see some fusion since kaioken mystic goku can't handle super buu... Keep up the great work.

A: Another convert, good, good! Ahahahahaaaa [diabolical laughter] [diabolical acting]

Thoughts on SSJ4: Your responses

TD Master:

"I kind of love SSJ4 including how it is designed with a few caveats:

Reaching it is perfect: SSJ Oozaru, and then merging the great ape into a hairy small form? Hell, yes!

The problems come then; most notably with just losing energy and promptly falling back to standard saiya-jin. It is very much treated as just another SSJ form, which it shouldn't. It should be treated as a new base form, a new platform from which to build. Thus, without removing the tail, even knocked out a Saiyan should stay in SSJ4. Only actively transforming down, or the removal of the tail should mean going down further.

As a new base form; it also should very much act like the Mystic power up. Calm, full control, ability to push the energy down to the barest of minimum, and power up to maximum in an instant.

It would also, of course, there's 7 SSJ forms:

SSJ5 SSJ4 gone SSJ.
SSJ6 SSJ4 gone SSJ2.
SSJ7 SSJ4 gone SSJ3.

With some minor changes here and there; the eyes should probably be red instead of green; to fall in line with the legendary Monkey King's diamond-hard red eyes."

The SSJ4 eyes were red in GT, though, weren't they?

Jokermask18:

"Amazing chapter as usual. I love Super Saiyan 4 BTW. It's one of GT's very few good points."

Shadowblade217:

"And finally, my opinion on Super Saiyan 4; I like the form, it's easily one of the most awesome transformations of the series, but if you're going to include it (presumably in Even Further Beyond), I would suggest finding a way to change the circumstances necessary to become a Super Saiyan 4, since the method by which the transformation is achieved in GT is full of plot conveniences (to become a SSJ4, Goku had to be transformed back into a child so his tail could grow back, then transform into a Great Ape while in his Super Saiyan form - which in itself is a plot hole, since he somehow triggered the transformation into a Great Ape by looking at the Earth instead of the moon). I would love to see Super Saiyan 4 in this story, but I think it would be much better if you could introduce it in a way that actually makes sense, as opposed to how it was acquired in GT."

I've got an idea of how it'd be introduced.

ZeronSama: (Isn't it rude to refer to yourself as 'sama'?)

"SSJ 4 Had a great design and (while some may debate this) a good execution. The purpose was just like any other super saiyan, though it didn't really suffice with dragon ball z standards. The main problem was that it was overly used in GT. It was the only hope when really you had all these fusions, ways to power up, not to mention the enemies were waaaay over powered.

As for SSJ4 in your story...idk. You kinda already made it seemingly impossible for anyone going SSJ3, so SSJ4 would be a LOOONG stretch. Plus without SSJ4 Goku...it seems rather...empty. :l"

Well, SSJ4 is completely different to SSJ3, isn't it? There's a very clear way of getting it.

ImmortalMerc:

"Also with SSJ4, I think it should generally look the same but the fur should be golden or black. It should be the equivalent of the super saiyan Hulk. Should only be able to be obtained through extreme blutz wave exposure. I think they should lose some of their mental function as well, maybe not like LSSJ but maybe have them be prone to burst of anger and they tend to yell?

If you use it, please make it a relevant transformation haha because GT ruined it. If memory serves, it was useful for like one major fight and then it was nothing compared to the rest of the bad guys."

Yeah, it was useful fighting Baby, then both major enemies after that completely outclassed it.

Don't worry, I have an idea for making that work, too.

Thanks for all the feedback! Feel free to continue leaving it.

And now, another teaser thing. Just to be confusing.

Even Further Beyond

Not for minds of gods or men,

Thirteen safe beyond our ken,

The Fallen One shall serve his time,

Forevermore in Svartalfheim.