Chapter 92: Heir to the Throne

For those of you who read chapter 91 within a couple of hours of it coming out, sorry that it originally mentioned android Seventeen. He's dead, and I forgot. So I edited him out pretty quickly.

So yeah, my profile page actually has stuff now.

Orange Star City, by the way, was renamed Satan City in canon, after Hercule Satan in honour of his 'defeat' of Cell. Here…it was not.

This chapter was originally going to be called 'Pause for Breath', which is a better descriptor of the first half, but the current title, in addition to describing the second half better, sounds more interesting. I mean, you know, this is a written performance act. That's what happens when you release something weekly rather than as part of a longer book. Every chapter has to sound exciting. Hence, this.

When the light and noise had died down, the Spirit Bomb was gone, and Goku lay face down in the dirt at the end of a half-mile furrow of earth. Spluttering and shaking his head, he stood up, only to be immediately floored again by a group tackle-hug of epic proportions.

Of the rejoicing that followed not much needs to be said; such pure relief is difficult to put into words, and hopefully you can imagine the joy that was shared by all when they knew that the terrible evil they had faced was finally gone from the world. It is probably important to mention that only two of Porunga's wishes had been used, and the third restored Korin Tower and the Guardian's Lookout to their proper places—the Hyperbolic Time Chamber was difficult, however. It was restored, and the door recreated, but moving an entire dimension was beyond the power of the Namekian elders, and therefore beyond the powers of the dragon as well. The Chamber was now permanently running on normal, unaltered time.

And there followed many meetings—friends and family reunited, separated only a day for some, a lonely year for others. The reunion was not entirely a happy one, either. In addition to the loss of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber as a valuable resource, Nail was still gone. Even the Dragon Balls could not bring him back separate from Piccolo, and there was much mourning for the fallen warrior. It was a sullen Raditz who had to deliver the news to Nail's Namekian kin. Kibitoshin was also prone to bouts of depression in the days that followed, wondering—since Kaioshin was the dominant fusee—if Kibito was gone, or simply part of him, and whether it might have been better had he not come to be at all.

Eighteen, too, had to work at keeping up a smile. But she chose to endure in silence, for the sake of the happiness she saw every day on the faces of her husband and daughter. Involving them in her inner melancholy regarding her humanity (or lack thereof) seemed pointless—best to act as if nothing had changed.

Royal Intelligence HQ, 28 hours after the defeat of Majin Buu

The office door slammed open, and a seething General Ripper swept in, stomping up to the desk of Intelligence Chief Reynolds and slamming both hands on her desk, the impact spilling several precariously-balanced energy drinks.

"Can I help you?" she monotoned.

"As a matter of fact," he growled, "you can tell my what one of your goon squads was doing at the World Martial Arts Tournament, trying to intimidate a walking weapon of mass destruction with semiautomatics!"

"We learn from our mistakes, General," she replied evenly. "We thought, on balance, if we took him by surprise he would be unable to employ his superhuman abilities. We were wrong—next time we will know."

"There will be no 'next time'! This is not an enemy here…oh, for—" He slumped into a nearby chair. "Did you even read the file on this guy? Age—what, twelve? Whatever—almost single-handedly takes down the most powerful terrorist organisation on the planet. Just strolls into the Red Ribbon Army base, headbutts a few missiles, and tears the place apart. Not long after, kills the Demon King Piccolo—the one who took over the world a while back, if you remember."

"All right, I get it—"

"Almost a decade later, plays a pivotal role in fending off an alien invasion before the authorities are even on the scene. A few years back, he kills Cell. And now this Majin Buu thing." He sighed, rubbing his temples. "And your grand plan for taking down this man was four guys with guns."

She was sitting back in her chair, arms folded, waiting for his rant to end. "I acknowledged it was a mistake, General. Are you finished?"

He stood up, turning to go. "I'm not going to debate the morality with you. You're a spy, it's your job to be paranoid. But—" He glowered back at her from the doorway. "—if you ever approve an operation as monumentally stupid as that again, I will personally fire you."

"You don't have the authority to—"

"From a howitzer!" The door slammed.

Reynolds sighed. In future, then…investigate technological countermeasures. At least until superhuman fighting techniques are publicly available…then incorporate into standard field-agent training course. Alternatively, just don't bother because these people seem perfectly happy to save the world time and again without even a word to us…

To make a long story almost as long, things went back to normal, more or less. They had gained much and lost much, but the world carried on turning and their normal lives took precedent. Amidst all the panic following Majin Buu's attack, the world news frenzy, one or two religious cults forming, and a sudden boom in the counselling business, it took a little while for the world to notice that Groundbreaking Science had finally been published, appended with two notes at the beginning.

1. Sorry this took so long, everyone. A lot of the raw material was written when I was just a kid, and it needed rewriting. I'm still probably not a professional-standard writer…but I'm one of the only people who knows this stuff, so I guess you're stuck with me for the moment.

2. Seeing as it's only just happened at the time of writing, no mention of Majin Buu's attack is in this book*. I mean, I could've added a section about it, but then this would've taken even longer to write…!

(*P.S. Hi, newspaper publishers. Yeah, I'm talking to you. Stop sending journalists to bug me about Buu and the story around that. Especially when I'm at school. I'll get my thoughts in order and write you a letter or something, but right now I don't really want to think about it, okay?)

It was an instant bestseller, naturally, but Gohan in his own words, didn't "have any idea what I'd do with that much money!" Thus, he declined any royalties, which was a popular decision as it allowed the book to be sold at an overall lower price, spreading the life-changing knowledge to as many people as possible. (Chi-Chi insisted that he accept an advance, though, because how do you think we're supposed to pay for your degree course, young man?)

A distant planet...

Tarble stood by the launch-pad in the early morning, shivering in the bitter cold and watching the saiyan attack pod blast off and disappear into the sky. "Hmm…we'll all miss him, for all his faults. But I suppose it's safer for everyone this way. Even he couldn't protect us on his own…"

His wife Gure, a small, pale, round-headed alien, came running up to him from their house, holding a glowing PDA. "I've calculated it…he should reach Earth in about three months."

"Thanks," Tarble said. "They'll notice him soon, and follow him."

She saw the worry on his face. "Hey, don't worry. If these other saiyans are as strong as you say they are…"

"Yeah…I suppose so…I hope so."

Three months later...

"Mom!" Break yelled, clutching at her head. "Where did all that money come from—wait, stupid question. Where did you steal that from?!"

"Huh?" Launch looked up from her video game with a vacant expression. Slowly, her head turned to the large heap of bags of money that occupied one corner of the living room (they'd finally set up their own capsule house near Orange Star City, not far from Mount Paozu and Goku and Chi-Chi's home). "…huh. Yeah, that. Sorry, old habits die hard. I don't really remember where it was this time."

"You don't—!" she spluttered. "Is this why you were home late yesterday?!"

"Oh yeah!" Launch grinned over her shoulder, continuing to mash the buttons furiously, vapourising waves of digital spaceships. "I took a nap when I thought I'd found a good hiding-place, but I woke up in jail, so I guess not. Still, it was just some metal bars and rock walls and stuff, so it wasn't that big of a deal."

Raditz, having overheard the conversation, strolled in munching on some kind of large portion of smouldering meat on the bone. "Hmm? Another one already? Hahaha, how much d'you get this time?"

"Only a few thousand," Launch said, shrugging. "Don't wanna put anybody outta business."

Break glowered at her father's nonchalance to the theft, then a thought hit her. "This time—are you still thieving full-time?"

"You didn't know?" Launch asked, raising an eyebrow. "You need to pay attention, kid."

"Where'd you think our money came from after you guys moved out from Tien's place?" Raditz laughed.

Break slapped a hand into her forehead. They're crazy. They're both crazy. How am I related to these people?

"Now c'mon!" Raditz said, leaning down towards his daughter. "Let's have a sparring match! Let's see who's the strongest Super Saiyan 3, huh?"

"Hey! What, am I not here?" Launch snapped, swivelling back around and cursing as her lack of concentration on the game lost her a life.

Raditz gave an innocent grin. "Well, y'know, I can't fight a human in Super Saiyan…wouldn't be fair!"

"Then fight me in your normal form! It'd still be a workout!"

"Awww, come on!" he complained. "I haven't gone all-out for ages—it's been months since Buu!"

Who's the adult here…? Break wondered. On the other hand…"Hey, Dad."

"Hmm?"

She raised a fist towards him. "You're both crazy. But…I'm a saiyan too. Can't say I don't want to really hit something once in a while. Let's go!"

"That's my girl," he beamed.

"YOUR girl?!" Launch shot.

"Er…right." Raditz straightened up, standing military-style and speaking as if reading from a rehearsed script. "That's your mother's girl, who I have recently decided to finally care about and will endeavour to be a much better father to in the future, in particular not up and leaving for several years." Launch gave a satisfied nod, and Raditz's stance slumped, a relieved sigh escaping his mouth.

"…anyway…" Break said slowly, deciding not to even pay attention to this. "Can we fight now?"

"Hell yes!" With that, they vanished, a distant chain of crashes and explosions signalling their progress up and away from the house. Launch, within a minute or two, was so deeply 'in the zone' that when the phone rang, she nearly jumped out of her skin, snapped the controller in two, spun and blasted the phone to pieces, then spent the next ten seconds rummaging around the house at super-speed searching for the second phone connected to that number, grumbling to herself.

Finally, she found it. "Hello?"

"Hey, Launch. Bulma here."

"Oh, hi!"

"Just thought you might like to know—Capsule Corp sensors're picking up some incoming object—small, but there's a life sign on it. Gonna land pretty near your city in about half an hour."

"Aright…" Launch began to head for the door. "Right, I'll grab my folks, and Goku's, I guess, and we'll head on over and check it out. Thanks for the heads-up. See ya." She frowned. Hmm...don't feel any ki yet, so it's a good ways away yet…which means, if it's only half an hour off, it must be going pretty fast. Anyway.

Just outside Orange Star City...

Gohan and Videl reached the shade of a tall tree, and Videl stopped by it. Gohan turned. "You tired?"

She smiled. "No. It's just…" She broke off, biting her lip.

"What?" he asked. "Hey, you've barely said anything since we met up today. Is something wrong? What's up?"

"I, uh…well, not wrong…" She grew more nervous, tapping her feet together. "It's, uh…hmm."

"C'mon, what's the matter?" he laughed, running a hand through his hair and leaning back against the tree. "If it's supposed to be a secret, I can keep it, don't worry!" His tail wagged (there was really no better word for it) with enthusiasm.

She smiled at his optimism. "Well, it's…uh…" She took a deep breath, standing up straighter. "Gohan, I—"

She was cut off by a rush of howling air and the sight of an incoming saiyan attack pod, making straight for them. Frowning, she turned and swung a leg up to intercept, punting the ship away. An angry shriek carried over to them from within, and the pod tumbled away over the field, leaving a trail of fire and high-pitched curses until it finally ground to a halt.

Gohan and Videl approached warily. "We good?" Videl asked nervously.

"Yeah." Gohan nodded, but his voice was uneasy as well. "Yeah. Sure. Somebody's in there, and they're strong…but I'm pretty sure I'm stronger."

"They don't feel evil, either. But I might have pissed them off."

"Right." They stopped a few feet away as steam jets heralded the door opening. A scraping, scrabbling sound came from within. A small, humanoid figure scrambled out and dropped to the floor, shaking his head.

"Hold on…" Gohan said, taking a step back and blinking. "You…you look exactly like…"

"So I'm told," the child replied, shaking himself off. "In fact, I got more from my uncle than just looks." He pointed a thumb up at his face. "You may call me Vegeta. Prince of all saiyans!"

Because how else was Vegeta Jr. going to be a thing.

I don't really have time right now, I've got to get this thing uploaded, but next week I'm going to talk about the speed of light, and who (if anyone) can and cannot move at it, in relation to DBZ characters especially. I'm being deliberately vague about my views here, because I want to hear what you think, without any pressure from what I say. So, if you want, go ahead and tell me. Do you think DBZ characters can move FTL (faster than light)? Or can they not? If yes, when in the series do they first become able to? Why/why not?

Not that you have to answer. I'm just curious as to what people think.

Q: I can't believe Goku didn't know that the Spirit Bomb wouldn't kill him - isn't that a plot hole? King Kai would have to have told him that when he was learning it.

A: Only in canon—here he never trained under King Kai.

Q: As for the on-going debate on the kanji used for Goku's name...I have little to no knowledge of Chinese, so I will concede that I am at a disadvantage here. As much as I distrust Wikipedia, looking at the page for Sun Wukong reveals the kanji used for his name as 孙悟空 - the last two kanji are the same as in Japanese, & are the ones that mean "aware of emptiness". The first kanji, however, is purely Chinese, & I cannot read it, nor do I have a translation plug-in on my computer that can elucidate it. It's got similarities to the Japanese 'Son' that serves as Goku's surname, though, & doesn't look anything like the kanji for monkey, or its derivatives. HOWEVER, on the Wiki, if you scroll down to the info box, it says that that's the simplified Chinese kanji. The alternative kanji given is... 孫, which is the same kanji as 'mago/grandchild', that I argued for before. So, in my estimation, unless that simplified kanji has a radically different meaning, my analysis is correct, & Son Goku's name is translated to "Descendant/grandchild Who Perceives the Void", if you wanna get poetic. Interestingly, you may want to check out the Names & Titles section of that page, as it lists the surname 'Sun' as a PUN on the kanji for monkey, which differs from it by a single stroke. That's probably where the confusion springs from. Ah, kanji, such a challenging written form of meaning & words...

A: And a swift return—Guest is up to bat now (I'm probably mixing sports metaphors here).

Q:So will it be possible for Mystic Goku to reach SSJ4? Theoretically? Or will it just sort of be him training his body up to the point that it has the same strength as a SSJ4, but never actually transforming?

A: I think he could, but he might not get as large a boost from it.

Q: I am glad to hear you got your screen fixed (replaced?) and I'm genuinely impressed that you continued to produce quality work on your regular update schedule. I hope to see more limits broken in the future!

A: I still haven't fixed it, actually. But I will! Eventually! Probably! Soon!

Q: Hmm interesting chapter. I don't quite think you could make a sun that way but we're talking about a universe we're people can transform and shoot lasers out of their appendages so it's whatever haha. Not everyone has the science background like the co-author of "Bringer of Death". Now that Kid Buu is dead...what is next for the Z fighters? Has the tear in the space time continuum been fixed?

A: Hahahahahaaaa

Q: Nice ending here with Buu finally being killed. Although won't the explosion have enough force at this rate to fling him so hard into the ground it could kill him? Or fling him into space since the explosion goes off in a 360 degree radius? I personally can't see Goku or the others generating enough power to equal that of a sun and then having it go supernova within a second in that short amount of time. Maybe Gohan since he probably studied about the galaxy, but it would probably take years of training and only focusing on that one subject if they wanted the exact effects of a star. Although where he could pull of the radiation it gives off without killing himself would be a head scratcher without the use of Dragon Balls. I'm glad that Goten was the one that convinced everyone to donate their energy. I'm surprised there won't anymore skeptics when Goten's voice came up. Wouldn't someone question how the imaginary voice switched from a grown man to a child? Anyway glad to see that Buu is done and we can move on.

A: Most of the explosion went into Buu, since it went off inside him, so Goku didn't get thrown that far.

Goku is more powerful than an SSJ2, and SSJ2 (arguably, let's please not get into this debate now) has the power to destroy a solar system, which is equal to or greater than the power of a supernova.

(Answered this one via PM already, the reviewer reread and agreed) They'd already switched people a few times before Goten tried, they'd been trying for hours, the population had the idea that there was a group of people talking to them already.

Q: I notice you really want to do a comic for BTtL.

As hard as such a thing may be, I've Bren drawing dbz art for years, and I truley love this story! I'd be willing to help make such a thing possible if it ever comes down to it.

Q: I'd draw it with ya and great chapter

A: YES

(I'll PM you, Zeron. Trent, get an account and I can PM you.)

Q: As for this chapter...not the greatest conclusion in my eyes. I see some plot holes starting to form here and there due to lack of explaination, (though no serious plot holes mind you). I do like the comic relief part after Buu's supposed death. Goku whining, the z fighters not knowing what to do with the spirit bomb, made me chuckle. XD.

I think a better ending would've been after the door was shattered you could have taken a different approach to Gohan's thoughts.

New form, higher power. Have Goku fight to the very end, have Vegeta's confrontation about Goku being the strongest of their race ,and then that dedication could've become something more.

Have Goku rise slowly like Bardocks first SSJ transformation (because badassery) with the blaze of the kaioken around him, then all of Gohan's thoughts start to make sense. Have Goku come to the conclusion that his son meant he needed a high pressure heat wave of energy and the only way for him to do that was to convert his own life source into energy and have it erupt around him. Have a subtle roar of the oozaru giving a small hint of a 'higher power' as they both exploded.

After, have Goku do some comic releaving after he miraculously survive his own detonation (because main character logic), open the portal by "HOOOOOOOOOOOOO-" and end the chapter with a confused tien not knowing what to do with his spirit bomb and Goku making the wish to Porunga. Also, maybe have Bulma give him a mechanical arm like future Gohan (but that's only because the thought that a ripped arm can be reattached by magical healing...urks me.)

My interpertation was pretty vague, and I'm not sure if authors like reading other ending opinions from fans, but I figured it would save you from putting "DB Power pole to the moon logic".

Great story as always, even if the 't as climactic as I hoped. I do look forward to their adventures into further sagas!

A: That's a good suggestion!

Q: DAMN.

That was... well, epic is such an overused term nowadays, but honestly, what else would fit?

Vegeta comes back with a vengeance, Goku invents a new attack and then SCREAMS HIS WAY HOME, Tien builds a monster of a spirit bomb... hell, every single person on Earth too.

The Power of Children's Tears.

Did. Not. Disappoint.

Fantastic work, Captain.

A: Thanks!

Q: It could hypothetically be possible to create a star that way but I don't think it is.

Also the star goku created could not have made a supernova as it was too small to do the level of fusion that leads to the iron core necessary for a supernova to take place. It's hard to judge what would happen because the star goku made is in no way natural, at it's size it shouldn't even exist.
However it would most likely form a white dwarf star after it finishes fusing hydrogen... Of which there is none in the chamber...

Congrats! You just created a situation that's borderline paradoxical!

But good chapter anyways

A: This one did have a lot more energy than even a full-sized star. I don't know if that helps or if it still wouldn't go off, but whatever. I put the science disclaimer.

Q: Btw, would kaioken work with ssj4 if you follow the new base idea?

A: I don't think so. It's still very much based on the SSJ power, which is nearly incompatible with Kaioken.

Q: 8- Would Super Buu have reacted the same to being trapped in with Goku?

9- How the hell did he have enough energy left to break out?

10- Would Go-Buu even have enough power and knowledge to use Goku's energy and the kaioken? I mean, he was drained, beaten and missing an arm.

11- Did Gohkan have normal ssj hair? Many fan arts I've seen have his transformations as normal, black hair.

A: 8. Base Super Buu, probably.

9. Because he's Goku.

10. Knowledge, yeah. Power would come back eventually, I guess. (I said via PM that base power would be too high to use Kaioken anyway, reviewer pointed out that Buu could multiply only Goku's power…yeah, that'd work)

11. Yeah. His base had Goku's mystic boost, and then he had Gohan's SSJ forms on top of that.

Q: 14- Would Broly/Break's ssj4 form be special in any way?

15- Didn't the dead and weakened fighters appear at the lookout too? I mean Zarbon and 18, and maybe Trunks.

16- Does Tien have any memory of his time in Buu?

A: 14. No, SSJ4 and LSSJ are completely different things.

15. I…guess? Eighteen was there already, she was mentioned a couple of times.

16. No.

Q: I loved goku's constant acts of sacrifice. and i also had some goosebumps that almost made me cry when goku was about to die, and at goten's speech.

A: I am so happy you got that depth feeling at my writing.

Q: i'm also hoping to see goku's new attack in action...lets just hope he uses it against a certain dragon who has that certain ability of freezing certain stuff..

A: Interesting guess.

Q: I've been reading this for the past 10/11 days and i have to say i'm hooked man! I loved the Zarbon/Bulma relationship and the fact you've actually kept the human fighters (up to this chapter anyway) significant both in combat scenes and character devolpment, the kai segments are pretty damn funny too. I have one question though, is vegeta going to return in some significant way in Even further beyond?

A: Not in the way you're thinking. But, uh…be looking forward to next chapter, I guess.

Q: I guess this means Battle of Gods in a few chapters.

Q: I cannot wait for what happens next. I'm looking forward most to the Battle of the Gods (you are doing that, right?)

A: Oh yes.

Q: Just realized, Vegeta s gonna come back in the buu saga as majin vegeta, i m sure of it hehe [chapter 31 review]

A: Um…if you say so.

Q: WOOT! This chapter was phenomenal and a true work of art that blows so many other stories to the wayside in just a few sentences. Once again, thank you so much for writing this story as it not only is fantastic in quality and substance, but is also inspiring in the real world and in every day occurrences.

With that, I would like to clarify something and ask a couple questions.

1) Awhile back when I asked what you thought the name of a fusion between Goku and Gohan would be, I recognize now that you pretty much answered that in the next chapter. But what I meant by it was what would the name be for the Fusion Dance counterpart? It's been a point of confusion for me.

2)I've also asked this before, but it's just something I need to know for sure: you really didn't have anything planned for it in Chapter 43 (or so) when Raditz eliminated the last vestiges of doubt and guilt in his sub-conscious and made that "like to fight you again wish"...that Goku just made actually...question mark...?

Thank you for you consideration.

A: 1. Hmm. Maybe Gohku?

2. Uh…not at the time. I kind of forgot about that.

Q: Jeez, Severed arm? Compressed Energy/ Sun creation? (Kinda reminds me of Gogeta) Suicidal and heroic actions that are shocking and use hindsight? What the hell happened that this story suddenly just SKYROCKETED in awesomeness? The chapter with Vegeta's Death was definatly my favorite (I don't know which one it was, here we are on chapter 91, and he died around, what 30? I think it was Lion's Den) But now this is a close second (I still have to give Cell Pikkon Raditz vs Jamenba some props, it is another favorite of mine) I sorta lost track of alot of stories as I have been watching the CRAP out of Fairy Tail, an anime I just started and have seen 1/2 of already, but somehow BTtL still somehow finds it's way into my schedule, and this chapter just reminded me of why.

A: It's starting to look like I'm blowing my own trumpet here, but these are some of the most awesome reviews I've ever received. Thanks for all your support, everybody!

Q: Eh, Raditz's self-destructing space pod feels very forced and heavyhanded. Of course, it has been established that such a function does exist and that Launch sneezes a lot, it is one big coincidence after another at 'opportune moments'.
Perhaps either having the controller destroyed in battle and/or the craft tampered with enough by foolish humans to activate it's self-destruct could be a reasonable alternative?
After all- he did guard the pod personally last time, so without him around, someone could sneak up - and if you use your god-given power of authorship - that unlucky human could be that same old farmer who was once killed. He accidentally makes it blow up (killing himself, preventing the potential rise of a terror more terrible than any seen in the history of DBZ). [chapter 10 review]

A: Yeah, the main reason for that happening in that specific way was to set up the Raditz-Launch relationship. It was hostile, but it was the beginning of some kind of interaction.

Q: Wow, this chapter was fantastic! Probably one of your best actually! I just found this story and had to finish it in like 3 days, it's just that great! I'm glad that you brought in the whole Vegeta talking to Goku when he's about to give up thing. It was one of the best moments in all of DBZ, in my opinion. Also, a couple chapters ago you said that Super Saiyan 4 was going to be a fusion of all a saiyan's super saiyan power and the oozaru form. I was wondering if Goku could do the same, sort of combine his Mystic state with oozaru for his own unique Super Saiyan 4 form?

Q: I have read through this story for three days, and i THINK that even the great and powerful akira toriyama MAY like this this what-If story of DBZ. i hope your laptop gets fixed soon so that you can continue this EPIC story. -This is coming from a 15 yr. old american who does NOTHaveAJob.

A: (SSJ4/Mystic combination question answered above) More newcomers…good…goooooood…(Gendo Ikari pose)

I also like "The great and powerful Akira Toriyama"…I guesss he's basically the Wizard of Oz now.