LIKE, SUPER IMPORTANT YOU GUYS: So my new laptop screen arrived! Unfortunately, it doesn't work! Hooray! Also, while putting the old screen back in since it was still a little bit functional, it broke even more! Now I can't use my laptop at all!
I AM HAVING SO MUCH FUN
So while I send the 'new' screen back and wait for a replacement (I'm typing this with my computer hooked up to the TV screen), there will likely be very little writing done. So check back Sunday the 9th or Monday the 10th or something like that, and there'll either be chapter 94, or an announcement telling you when to expect chapter 94.
Chapter 93: Passing the Torch
So apparently the FTL issue really brings out the lecturer in everybody. Oh wow, have I got a lot to respond to at the end of this chapter. EDIT: And seeing as it's Sunday, I won't be able to! Sorry, got to upload it, I'll respond to it all next chapter! Probably! Maybe! Hopefully!
Here's a question: I've just had an idea for a story I could upload here, that I really, really like the prospect of writing. In fact, I was on a bit of a roll with it and I wrote out the whole first chapter. I'd love to occasionally do that alongside Break Through the Limit (don't worry, BTtL would still be weekly whenever possible).
The problem? It's a Saint Seiya story. And the English-speaking fanbase for Saint Seiya is pretty small. So…pretty much nobody would read it. So the question is:
Are you familiar with Saint Seiya? Would you read this story if I published it (the basic plot is that the main cast are killed by the first few Silver Saints, and a group of renegades and B-list Bronze Saints take it on themselves to get revenge on Sanctuary)?
Or, if you're not familiar with the series, would you read it anyway because you know how much you love me? Or would you, well, not? (It's okay if you don't love me; I know you've been seeing other writers, anyway)
I just want to know if there's any interest in this at all, because I would be so happy if I could write this and have anybody actually read it.
Oh! And I've just thought of another story arc I could do for Even Further Beyond. After the Shadow Dragons, methinks. Which hopefully won't be a stretch, given how GT had four story arcs and I'm doing the Shadow Dragons first. It's going to feature the enemy who sealed the Elder Kaioshin into the Z-Sword, and it'll also give some insight into the Gods of Destruction. If I do it, that is.
Anyway! Chapter. Writing. Story. Things like that.
Sacred world of the Kais...
"Hmm…yes, a very interesting trail of psychic residue…" Old Kai was muttering to himself, stroking his chin.
"What are you talking about?" Kibitoshin asked, approaching him from behind.
"Well, it's just…I noticed a rather interesting chain of events, only I saw it in reverse…" He looked over at his successor. "I noticed some strange thoughts lurking around in that Goku's head…they dissipated pretty quickly, but I saw they were a psychic projection, likely unintentional, from his son—leftover from when they were fused." He paused, and it looked like he was about to fall asleep.
"You said it was a trail…?" The younger Shin-jin prompted.
"Right, yes." Old Kai nodded. "So a quick scan of the son's mind reveals the trace signature of another mind—a friend of theirs. The imprint's first-hand on her, and it has a trans-temporal edge to it."
"What do you mean?"
"Whatever sparked the whole thing was sent through the timestream at some point. Not for any particular reason, I imagine—this sort of thing is usually accidental. Honestly, I don't have the energy to pursue it any further, and the whole thing seems to have resolved itself anyway. They're fine." With that, he shuffled off to the shade of a tree.
"Huh." Kibitoshin gazed up at the sky. "Earth is one strange place…"
Near the outskirts of Orange Star City...
"Vegeta…?" Gohan blinked. "Oh! Are you Tarble's kid?" The saiyan child nodded. "Hey, that's cool!"
"You're, uh…" Videl inquired. "…not hurt, are you? Sorry about kicking your pod like that..."
"I'm fine," Vegeta (Vegeta Junior? Gohan wondered.) insisted, shaking dust off his body. "You…" he squinted up at them, then pointed at Gohan. "You're a saiyan. Which one are you?"
Gohan was somewhat startled by his abrupt manner. "Uh, my name's Gohan." He held out his hand. "Nice to meet you—"
"The first half-breed, then." Vegeta nodded.
"Hey, so…you're a half-saiyan, too?" Videl asked. "Your mother's species must look pretty similar to humans and saiyans…"
Vegeta shook his head. "Don't ask me how it works. Saiyan genetics are…strange. I end up looking completely saiyan…my sister, who's only just been born, looks just like our mother's race."
Gohan laughed slightly. "Yeah, I got kind of a mix, but humans and saiyans look pretty much the same anyway, heh…"
"Enough of this chatter. Take me to Son Goku."
"Why?" Videl asked sharply, displeased with his impatience.
"Because not far behind me are two vicious alien soldiers, hell-bent on my destruction, and they won't care about destroying your world and everyone on it to get to me." He glared up at her, though only about half her height. "Now take me to this Goku person—"
"No need." Videl pointed up to a group of rapidly-growing specks in the sky. "Looks like he's on his way."
True enough, within two minutes the incoming group had landed; Launch had fetched Raditz and Break, and with them they'd brought Goku with Chi-Chi and Goten.
"Oh, wonderful," Vegeta grumbled. "The whole merry band." He hid his pleasant surprise at the amount of surviving saiyans. Introductions took a few minutes, but the talk eventually turned back to the briefly-mentioned alien soldiers.
"What's up with them, then?" Goku asked. "And what's it got to do with me?"
"All right, then." Vegeta Jr., as many of them were now thinking of him, nodded. "Their names are Abo and Kado—they're brothers, and two former soldiers of Frieza, but they've been growing in strength since his fall, and are now even more powerful than he was." He scratched his head. "My power is…unprecedented for my planet, and we live in the same region as those two. They began to feel threatened by me…eventually, things came to a head. I fought them, lost, and escaped home—but they weren't far behind, so my father told me to go to Earth." He looked around at them. "Now that I'm here, I'm wondering if it was worth it…but now you know."
"Sounds cool!" Goku was grinning stupidly. "Ah man, I've wanted a real fight for a while!"
"I don't think you're taking this seriously," Vegeta said flatly, sighing. "I've been told you're Super Saiyans, some of you. Fine. But I've risen beyond even that level to defeat these two, and I still failed."
"Beyond, huh?" Goku smiled. "Whatcha mean by that?"
The self-proclaimed prince shrugged. "I was frustrated by how little time I was able to train while transformed…I ended up enduring it longer and longer, until it got to the point where being a Super Saiyan was as easy as my normal state. I don't have time to explain it."
Goku was about to open his mouth to inform the younger saiyan that he knew exactly what he was talking about, but was interrupted by twin explosions almost at the horizon, heralding the arrival of another pair of saiyan-style attack pods.
"Damn!" Vegeta's heir's face contorted with tension. "They're here already?!" Sure enough, two power levels of currently a little above Frieza's level began to move towards them from the new crash site.
They didn't have to wait long—a pair of beings wearing the Cold dynasty's style of armour soon appeared in the sky, landing in a swirl of dust opposite them.
"There you are, kid," said one, a portly, round-faced blue creature.
"You've caused us a lot of trouble," the other, red-coloured but otherwise similar to the first, growled. Each wore a scouter over one ear, and a short horn jutted out of the centre of the top of each bald head.
"Rrrgh…" Vegeta stood up straighter, raising his power to the surface. Damn it all…I never thought they'd be this close behind me! "Stay back, unless you want to get killed!" he ordered the others, keeping his eyes on Abo and Kado as they advanced towards him.
"Haha, don't worry about it!" Goku laughed. "Hey, Goten, why don't you go help him? There's two of 'em, after all, and you should be able to handle one."
"Hey!" Raditz rounded on his brother. "What about Break, huh?"
Goku raised his hands to ward off an imaginary blow, grinning nervously. "Well, y'know, it'd be a bit unfair on those two if she fought…Goten should have a good fight in base form if they're only around Frieza's level, right?"
"Hmph." Raditz folded his arms and turned away, silently conceding the point.
"Hah!" Abo—or was it Kado?—laughed heartily. "You send your children to the slaughter? How cowardly."
"Heh." Chi-Chi's mouth twitched upwards into a smile. "Believe what you want—our Goten's going to turn you inside out!"
"What the hell are you doing?" Vegeta 'Jr.' snapped at Goten. "Are you insane?! They'll kill you as soon as look at—"
"Enough of this!" Kado, or possibly Abo, yelled, he and his brother charging simultaneously. Vegeta jumped out of the way, avoiding a punch that shattered the ground beneath him. Goten, meanwhile, swayed right to dodge the attack headed for him by the least possible amount, throwing a return blow at even higher speed. Whichever one of the alien duo it was that was attacking him, he was smashed to the ground. Vegeta, meanwhile, put on a surge of speed, appearing above his attacker and hammering him to the ground two-handed, landing him next to his brother.
"Huh." Goten rubbed his nose. "They don't seem all that strong. What made you so scared of 'em?"
"I suppose they underestimated us…" Vegeta muttered. "They're not using their full power yet. They're still just playing around."
"Keh…" Abo and Kado were standing up, dusting themselves down. "You've made an interesting friend, Vegeta…" the blue alien said, clicking his neck.
"Oh yeah." Goten turned to his ally. "Is the red one Abo or Kado, by the way?"
"The hell should I know?" Vegeta replied sulkily.
"Mind your language around my little boy, young man!" Chi-Chi shouted.
"Ignore us at your peril," the alien brothers said in unison. As one, they stood stock-still, their power beginning to fluctuate oddly. Their outline shimmered, and then they split—from two into four, and then six, tubby invaders.
"Ah!" Gohan peered at them, surprised. "Is that a kind of Multi-Form?"
"Not as we know it," Raditz answered. "Their power hasn't split—each one's as strong as the original. I'd say it's more likely to be some racial-specific trait, like our transformations."
"Right…"
The fight had begun again, and this time the saiyans' attackers weren't to be brushed off quite so easily. Both kids were quickly driven back, taking significantly more hits than they were giving out. A determined drive by their six assailants finally sent Goten flying back into a nearby tree. Vegeta shook his head. "See? And they're still playing around…this isn't close to their full power." Snarling, he threw out his arms, transforming into a Super Saiyan. "Fine! If they won't get serious, then I will!"
"Hah!" One of the six aliens, now hovering in a circle around him, cackled. "You think that'll let you take all six of us?"
"How 'bout if I handle three of 'em for ya?" Came Goten's voice. The steady shh-shh-shh of a Super Saiyan aura echoed from him as well as he approached.
So father was right, but…Vegeta went pale, eyes wide. …this can't be, his power…it's higher than mine?! "You…you're incredible!"
"Haha, y'think?" Goten grinned happily. "Wait'll you see my full power!"
"Full…?" Vegeta gawked.
"Hyaaaaaaaaa!" The ground cracked beneath Goten's feet, his hair standing up on end, his ki at least doubling.
"Wha—" Abo and Kado stared at him as his power continued to grow. One of them looked at his scouter in disbelief. "Power…class 4! It's still rising! 3…2…"
"No!" Another shouted angrily. "It's not true! Not even this kid Vegeta's that strong!"
"…class 1!" The first shrieked. "And it's still—!" With a shriek of tortured circuitry, six scouters exploded in unison. Goten smiled savagely. "All right. Now try me."
I see! Vegeta was still lost in thought, caught between admiration and envy. I shouldn't have gone by appearances…this Goten must be their strongest warrior!
Goten charged into the squadron of opponents, becoming a whirlwhind of pain, moving from one to the other in a blur of punches, kicks and childish enthusiasm.
Before long, it was over; the six Abos and Kados had landed in a heap, and slowly faded back to two, who picked themselves up out of the dirt, trembling with fury.
"Damn it…!" One of them, who was quite possibly Abo, growled.
"We came here to kill Vegeta, not fight his merry band of playmates!" The other, who may well have been Kado, hissed.
Goten was still laughing. "Haha, sorry! I shoulda left some for you, huh? I guess I got carried away..." The aliens were still conferring, however.
"I guess we have no choice."
"I guess not."
"Huh?" Goten scratched his head, watching the duo shuffle closer together. "What're they—"
"Goten!" Vegeta yelled, suddenly tense again. "Attack now! They're going to—"
"MERGE!" The two voices cried out in sync; it was too late. A column of blue and red light shot straight up into the sky, twisting its way high into the atmosphere, the base completely obscuring Abo and Kado. The red and blue rapidly swirled together, mixing into a bright purple, and shortly after, the pillar collapsed in on itself, billowing away as dense clouds of colourful smoke.
The fused being that stood before them was not quite what they'd expected. Whereas Abo and Kado had been diminutive, only just taller than the children they were fighting, this new creature towered above them all—and it was almost as wide as it was tall. Its deep purple skin was dotted with lumpy, almost spiky protrusions, and its bulging, reptilian jowls combined with this to give it a truly repulsive appearance. It still wore the saiyan-style armour, and the longer head-spike was eerily reminiscent of Majin Buu's antenna.
"All right…" Goten said quietly, gulping. "This is different."
"Their power went up a lot…" Videl noted.
"Yeah." Goku nodded. "It's more than just the originals' powers added together…the whole is greater than the sum of the parts."
"Just like when we fused, Dad," Gohan noted.
"Hmm, yeah…hey. Raditz." Goku tapped his older sibling on the shoulder. "Can we talk alone for a minute?"
"Huh? Sure." With that, they took off, heading half a mile or so out into the wilderness, out of earshot of the others.
Launch frowned. "Wonder what that's about?"
"Probably just comparing fighting techniques or something," Chi-Chi said, shrugging. "They haven't seen each other since Majin Buu, y'know."
"Our name is Aka," the monstrous purple being rumbled. "We will break you."
"You'll have to catch —ohmanhecaughtmeaaaaaah—!" Goten's confidence turned to panic as Aka's swiping hand snatched him up, hurling him into the air. As he tumbled back down to earth, Aka took a step back and punted him into the air.
Vegeta charged from behind it, swinging a punch, but it vanished, moving deceptively fast and appearing above him. Chuckling, it hurled itself down at the young prince, crushing him into the ground with its corpulent belly.
Aka took its time standing up and taking its bearings. Vegeta was coughing and trying to stop his vision blurring, still lying in the crater behind it, and Goten was attempting to stand up, but couldn't stop his head spinning and kept dipping back to Super Saiyan level one and up to two again, struggling to maintain full power.
They're not going to win this, Break decided. "My turn, then." She took a deep breath, preparing to transform. However, Goten stuck an arm out, signalling her to stay back.
"Don't…worry. I…got it." With a determined growl, he forced himself back up to Super Saiyan 2. "I'm not…done yet!" He formed an energy blade around his outstretched arm. "Aka, get over here!"
"As you wish." Aka ran, or more accurately waddled at supersonic speeds, towards Goten. Goten leapt, swinging his blade, but Aka's body jerked to the side and the attack merely sliced off a shoulder-guard. Aka swung its head, knocking Goten away again. "Is that all?"
Vegeta, looking on, was shaking again. "Damn…it's just what I was afraid of! Nobody can stop these two at full power!"
"Hmm…how to finish you off?" Aka wondered, tapping its head. It clicked its fingers. "I know! My ultimate technique—the Wahaha no Ha!" It leaned down towards Goten. "It has three forms. Let's see how many you and Vegeta can survive, huh?"
"Their power increased by quite a bit," Goku noted. "They might be too much for Goten and Vegeta."
"Break and Gohan can handle them," Raditz assured him.
"Right, so…what did you want to talk about?"
"Well…we haven't seen each other since Buu, so I kind of forgot, but…" Raditz grew serious. "The Dragon Fist, Goku. Somehow, we both learned the same technique—more like discovered. We had the same dream, I think."
"A field," Goku recalled. "Strange grass and trees…kind of like Namek. But flat land—not the small islands and lakes I remember."
"Dark skies," Raditz continued, nodding. "No clouds...only a very few stars. Namek didn't have night at all..."
"Then, the golden dragon. Other than the colour, he looked almost exactly like Shenron…"
"He spoke for a long time, but I don't remember what he said. I just remember feeling wiser afterwards, like I'd learned something important…and after I had this dream a few nights running…"
"…I just woke up knowing the move." Goku concurred. "Though in my case, I didn't have enough power to 'trigger' it until I got the boost from the old Kaioshin. Hey…come to think of it, the last dream was different, wasn't it?"
"It was?"
"Yeah, I remembered something the dragon said for once," Goku said.
"Not me…what did it say?"
"Let's see…" Goku rubbed his chin. "It was…'The Shadow falls. The First rises. The Eternal behind.'" He laughed. "No idea what it means!"
"Well, that sounds lovely and ominous…" Raditz grumbled. "Egh…I was hoping to get some answers talking to you, but this just raises more questions!"
Far, far away...
A pair of narrow eyes flicked open beneath immaculately-coiffured hair. A metallic staff tapped quietly on the cold stone floor. The Shadow…the First…the Eternal!
As I feared. The cycle has begun once more.
Only one has survived this before, but...that 'solution' may just as easily destroy us all. No, the Fallen is wrong. There must be another way!
I will not watch the end of everything again. Here, I shall make my stand.
Just a thought. It's actually incredible that J-Stars (the Shonen Jump crossover game) is going to exist, given how all the various anime feel like different kinds of video game, and indeed the best games from those series are often that kind of game. DBZ, for instance, is like a 3D fighter (like the Budokai Tenkaichi or Raging Blast games). One Piece is more like a Dynasty Warriors-style hack-and-slash (like Pirate Warriors). Here is where my knowledge of anime video games end, and some of the series I'm about to mention aren't even in J-Stars, but I'm just going to ramble for a bit so feel free to skip this…(note, not talking about the games that have actually been made for these series, just what the anime itself feels like) Yu Yu Hakusho, more traditional 2D fighter; Saint Seiya, turn-based RPG (what with the emphasis on special moves and such); Naruto, turn-based squad-strategy XCOM-style thing; Trigun, third-person shooter; Fullmetal Alchemist is like a cross between a 3D beat-'em-up platformer and one of those super-creative games (if you're playing as Ed, anyway; somewhat less if you're somebody with less versatility); no idea what Bleach and Rurouni Kenshin are like. There aren't really many sword-duelling games that I know of (Bleach would have elements of Budokai Tenkaichi/Raging Blast too, I guess). Toriko is like Monster Hunter/Shadow of the Colossus crossed with Street Fighter.
Moving on!
Q: haha nice little chapter that's so interesting tarbles had a child but does he even look full sayien or does he have different things about him and also gohan hair you said when he came out the time chamber his hair was shoulder length so how did it go when he went ssj3 and how long isit now ?
and are gohan and vidal in a proper relationship now ?
A: He looks like a saiyan; Gohan's hair was still roughly 'normal' SSJ3 length, and he's had a haircut now anyway (so he's back to looking like he did around the Cell Games in canon, hair-wise); and yes. As of the kiss at the tournament at the start of the Buu Saga.
Q: your AWESOME, AWESOME. bringing Vegeta in the form if vegeta. Jr. by the way what happened to Zarbon, kuriza? vegeta rocks, u rock
A: Don't know…they exist, I guess. Zarbon has at least five pink 'BADMAN' shirts so that he never runs out. Kuriza is still a kid; his species lives a long time, so they grow up slowly.
Q: So I wonder if Vegeta Jr is the actual son of Vegeta (raised by Tarble) or is Tarble's son. I can't wait to find out what the other half of his half-breedness entails with regards to special powers.
Also, how old he is in relation to the rest of the kids.
Are they gonna bring back Piccolo? Will Uub exist?
A: He's Tarble's son, but he was so much like Vegeta Tarble named him that. He's about the same age as Goten, Trunks and Break. Somewhere in that range, that generation. The randomness of genetics made him very saiyan-like (unlike his baby sister, who takes completely after the other species).
No, and you'll see.
Q: 1. Vegeta Jr., Prince of all Saiyans... wouldn't that title technically go to Tarble, being the next in line for, uh... what remains of the Saiyan throne? Or would he be the King, in that case?
2. Genetic dissimilarity would have it that Tarble and Gure couldn't actually produce children (with the side-note that Saiyans and humans are physically nearly identical anyway, which may induce certain arguments for their having similar genetic origins, somehow). On the other hand, this is a series where Goku climbs to the moon with what amounts to a magic stick, as you mentioned, so who am I to say anything on the subject?
A: Tarble's the king, Vegeta's the prince.
And I would say that saiyans have the capacity to reproduce with alien species as a racial trait—though the similarity with humans being a special case is also a valid argument, it's just not the theory I subscribe to. As long as the alien species is similar enough, and to be honest most DB aliens are pretty similar to humans.
Q: Vegeta Jr! I was Defienetly not expecting that! I wonder what is going to happen next! Are you going to include the movie with Frieza's two soldiers? And what about Uub? If you do include him, then you will have to write adventures to take place in the lost decade, right?
A: Yes, we'll see, and there will be stories written in that time.
Q: Also, are we ever going to get a check up on the future events with Break, Broly and Gohan? Didn't you say something like they were going to get their own mini Buu Saga?
A: Maybe. I'm still puzzling about exactly how to do that.
Q: Wow! This was just amazing. You managed to subvert my expectations the whole time and really managed to capture the dragon ball spirit. The Nova Burst, the rest of the fight. It was just spectacular and you are an amazing author.
Q: The Buu saga was really good. I mean really good. Whereas I felt the Cell saga sort of lost its steam towards the end, this one just kept rocketing along. The fights were brutal and spectacular, the humour was great (the image of Tien holding the spirit bomb and not knowing what to do with it was particularly hilarious) and the ending was magnificent. Goku's struggle really came through and his determination to not give up (assisted by a surprise appearance of the voice of Vegeta) was perfect.
A: Awww yeah.
Q: One point I'm slightly confused on though: has Piccolo been revived or not? I'd presume not, but you only mention Nail not being able to come back, so...
A: He has not.
Q: P.S. Just have to check because it's bugging me but Gohan's first note for his book came across as being self-referential (to you) - was that intentional?
A: It was not, but then I did use pretty much my own writing 'voice' for that bit, as Gohan, like me, is in his late teens, and while educated has pretty much taught himself to write. (Though yeah…some of my older stuff is kind of ehhh by my standards now. I don't think it's bad, but then I would say that, but it's…crude? Too direct? Too simple? It lacks nuance.)