Chapter 2: The End Begins
Mezame, Gokuu! Shi no Setogiwa ni!
Music for this chapter: Protectors of the Earth by Two Steps from Hell.
Explanation attempting to clear up any confusion about demigod ki is in the Q&A, under a bold heading thing. Though there is some, more plot-relevant, elaboration in the actual chapter.
Thanks to Ryu no Ohi for title help and Supersaiyaninfinitygohan for story help.
By the way, the title is not a reference. I Googled it and there are some slightly similar names of other things, but I'm really just calling back to the chapter called "The End of the Beginning" (plus since this is now getting into what is probably the last story arc). I mean, that one was a reference to a famous quote, but this one isn't...ah, you know what I mean. Uh...where was I...oh, chapter! Writing! Words! Yes.
"Gaia Shenron…" Eighteen said to herself, pacing around their unmoving foe. "That would explain all the greenery."
"How observant," Gaia replied evenly. Her voice seemed slightly off, as if echoed by many voices speaking in unison, almost musical.
Goten's voice cut across the calm. "Can we cut the crap? These Shadow Dragons just killed my brother and my father!" He pointed a finger at Gaia. "Get ready for an ass-kicking, lady!"
Vegeta took a step in front of his friend. "Easy. Let's not charge in without knowing anything about our enemy. We don't know they're dead—"
"We don't know they're alive, either!" Goten shoved Vegeta aside. "Besides, in a couple of hours we're all gonna be dead—so what the hell are we standing around for?" He transformed up to Super Saiyan 2, raising his fists. "Don't try to stop me."
"They took my father too," Break added, assuming the same form. "So no arguments here." Vegeta's blue-gold aura burst to life next to them as well, completing the trio.
"So be it. Let's see how this dragon handles three Super Saiyans." Cracking his knuckles, he took off moments after the other two, rocketing straight at Gaia. Three limbs struck out at once, but swung only through an empty cloak of elaborate blue and green.
Gaia, now bereft of the cloak and revealed as a reptilian humanoid of patchy black and white colouring, reappeared a few feet above them. She swung an arm downwards, launching a wave of force that hurled the three of them back. They regained their balance, skidding to a halt in the tall grass several metres apart, Gaia settling to the ground between them.
"Let's go—" Uub began, but Eighteen held him back.
"Wait," she commanded. "Could you keep up with her movements just now?"
"I'll be honest…no," Uub admitted. "Her ki is enormous…none of us are even close."
Eighteen nodded, releasing him. "Then there's no point charging in trigger-happy. But if we let those three work off their anger on her by doing the trigger-happy bit for us, she'll focus on them…we can catch her off-guard. If there's as much of a gap between our powers is as it seems from that first exchange, a surprise attack may be our only shot at victory."
"Damn…" Uub muttered. Just have to hope that she's not an indication of the rest. Maybe they put their best—or second-best, if Alpha really is the strongest—out to guard the door.
Break was the first to lunge back in, Gaia catching her fist and stopping her attack effortlessly. The other two demi-saiyans were quick to follow up, firing simultaneous energy blasts, which Gaia leapt into the air to avoid, arcing towards the wall and dragging Break after her. She brought her arm up, slamming Break face-first into the wall before letting her drop, then disappearing again into a blur of speed. Accompanied by a pair of dull thuds, she materialised behind Goten and Vegeta, and a second later they dropped to their knees, coughing blood.
Eighteen, deferring to Uub's faster reflexes, glanced over to him; he shook his head. Still no openings…she's incredibly skilled.
Break climbed to her feet, almost falling but managing to remain stable. "Tch…that stung. Hey…couldn't help noticing when you were pulling me along…what happened to the eye?" One of Gaia's eyes was indeed clearly damaged from some old injury, milky white with the faintest hints of a faded scar around the socket. "Cut yourself on all these sharp flowers?"
"Humour is a poor way to express denial, or to deal with loss," Gaia responded. "You cannot distract your mind from the issue. Your father is dead."
"YOU SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" Break exploded, speeding at Gaia, who dodged a jump kick nonchalantly, sliding away through the field.
Gaia shrugged. "But since you asked, it was this universe's God of Destruction who took this eye from me." She raised a hand to block Goten's punch, aimed at her from behind, catching it without bothering to look around.
"Bills?" Goten asked even as he pulled back, circling warily. "Wait, you've been in this universe before?"
"I have," Gaia replied. "I am the Shadow Dragons' scout; whereas it takes a huge negative energy build-up, such as some of you witnessed earlier, to create a breach wide enough for the seven of us, when alone I can enter with only the ambient negative energy that exists in every universe." She smiled. "And that is because…I am the weakest of the Shadow Dragons."
"Wh-What?!" Vegeta, poised to attack, stopped in his tracks. She's handling three of us like nothing…and she's the weakest?
"Yes, now the full futility of your fight dawns on you," Gaia continued. "I can see it, you know, in your eyes. You're realising that it would take a miracle to defeat me—and even if you get your miracle, there are six more of us, all stronger even than I. In fact, the tower is set up in order of power; the opponents become more powerful the higher you climb."
"So I guess that's why Alpha was sitting on top," Uub muttered. "Now?"
"Almost," Eighteen hissed. "She's getting more careless. Feeling less threatened by us. That's the only reason she's even been talking and not fighting for this long…ah, never mind." For before she'd even finished her sentence, the Super Saiyans had attacked again.
Gaia was slowly walking back, hands moving in a blur, blocking the three attackers' barrage of strikes in a seemingly-impenetrable wall of defence. Nearing the wall, she ducked away, coming back around and launching a counterattack, beginning with a low kick that took Vegeta off his feet. As he scrambled for balance, she struck him to the ground with her elbow, then caught Goten and Break by their necks as they lunged in to help. The Shadow Dragon kicked Vegeta back into the air and away across the room, throwing his allies after him and landing them all in a heap in the centre of the field.
"Rrrgh…" Goten growled. "Damn it…"
Gaia lifted herself into the air, one hand splayed out to the side and rapidly building up energy. "I'll end it with this!" she declared. "No matter how many mortal warriors you send, you'll never compare to a single one of us!"
There was no verbal signal; it was obvious this was the moment Eighteen and Uub were looking for. Uub brought his hands down to his side, focusing his ki between them. "Ka…Me…"
Eighteen, meanwhile, had sprinted under Gaia until the dragon was between herself and Uub, then leapt straight up at her. Gaia might have noticed her coming but for two important factors: first, thanks to her damaged eye the cyborg was right in her blind spot, and second, Eighteen had no detectable ki at all. The first notice Gaia had was a pair of steely fists crashing into her face, sending her tumbling back towards the ground, energy ball extinguishing as she lost focus. What just—
"Ha…Me…" Gaia glanced around, startled, to see, again too late, Uub swinging his hands forwards and releasing a massive energy wave. "…HAAAAA!"
"What—" She shrieked before being engulfed in the blast, voice drowned out by the titanic explosion of noise.
The Council of the Hakaishin existed in the First Universe of the twelve, which was probably meant to symbolise the centralisation of power or something nebulous like that, but Bills always thought it was there because Cadmus was too lazy to go to anybody else's universe—to be fair, one did sometimes get travel-sick using the portals—and no-one was really qualified to argue with him. Well, no-one but the Dreamer, but getting so much as a full coherent sentence out of her was always an uphill struggle.
Acting out of this kind of laziness or self-interest was not uncommon among the twelve gods, which was one of the reasons they all held a great dislike for these meetings. The other being that arguments inevitably broke out, and sometimes arguments lead to fights, and they all remembered that fight; the one that left a universe devastated and its Hakaishin driven to insanity with grief.
"Egh…they're not gonna be happy I dragged 'em all out here…" Bills grumbled. "Hell, I'm not gonna be happy to see most of them either…"
Whis shrugged. "Needs must. You, and they, will have to get over yourselves and work together for once."
"Yeah…" Bills nodded. "But, man…convincing the whole Hakaishin council to organise a combined assault on one universe, when they can barely be bothered to meet up in the first place…that's gonna take some smooth talking." He scratched his head. "I mean, something like this has only ever been organised once, when…well, you know." He hopped down from the raised platform containing the portal, taking a proper look up at the palace for the first time since their arrival.
It was a truly magnificent building, swooping and curving up towards the sky in an array of spires and towers, pristine and graceful. Bills had never liked it. He didn't really approve of curves in architecture. Straight lines, pyramids, cuboids, and geometrically standard things of that ilk had always been more to his taste. Whis usually said he was too narrow-minded. He usually ignored this.
"Hey," Bills said as they traversed the gargantuan causeway leading into the main structure, "give me a refresher on everybody, will you?"
"You don't remember them? They're your kinsmen, Lord Bills." The 'Lord' was back; they were in public, after all, and as far as anyone else knew, Whis was but an attendant.
Bills snorted. "My kinsmen who I haven't seen for several thousand years. Nobody's perfect."
Whis smiled. "All right, but I only have the full datafile; I won't be able to pick and choose the parts you can't remember."
"I'll skim-read it. Just show me the damn thing before we get in there and I have to admit I don't remember who anybody is."
Beyond the borders of possibility…
"Vegeta?" Goku repeated. "I remember you. You…you're an adult—so why am I—"
"Shut up!" Vegeta snarled, fist snaking out and shattering the ground, Goku only jumping back at the last moment and avoiding a quick death.
He jumped back at the prince. "All right, I don't know what's going on, but if it's a fight you want—" However, he was smacked out of the air with ease.
Vegeta spat. "Is that all, Kakarot? The Earthlings have made you so weak. You're a failure, like the rest of your low-class family!"
Goku growled, pushing himself to his feet. Wish I could remember my family right now…or anything… "What's all this about, anyway? You're not making sense! You just show up and start insulting me, then try to kill me!"
Vegeta darted in, striking like a snake and plucking Goku off the ground, lifting him into the air by his neck. The young fighter coughed as Vegeta's grip tightened. "Wrong, Kakarot. This is all wrong. You're not using your ki! What's wrong with you?!"
"L…Let go…" Goku hissed. "Gotta find…Dragon Balls. Outta my way…" He tugged on Vegeta's hand, trying to pry himself loose.
"Feh. Still nothing," Vegeta continued. "All that effort will do nothing for you with mere physical strength; what good is all that power in your body if you don't use it? Do I have to spell everything out for you, clown?!"
Goku was beginning to black out. Power…in my body? More than physical strength…
"You're not using your ki!"
Another memory surfaced.
Slowly, painfully, Goku grinned. "…right. Y'mean…" His foot shot upwards, infused with an otherworldly energy, catching Vegeta's grappling arm at the elbow and wrenching it away. "…like this?" Freed, he twisted in the air to land on his feet, spinning to face his momentarily-stunned attacker and throwing as hard a punch as he could manage, forcing all his newfound spiritual energy into the attack.
"Gaaah!" Vegeta was hurled away, feet tearing up the ground as he skidded back into a boulder, cracking it and stumbling a couple of steps away. He looked up, smiling. "Yes, that's it. Now killing you might actually be worth—eh?" Something seemed to catch his attention; he glanced away, narrowing his eyes. "Hmm…seems somebody's going to save me the trouble. Come to think of it…if you can beat all of them, and your level keeps improving at this rate, you might actually be a legitimate challenge by the time we meet again."
"What the hell are you talking about?!" Goku yelled. "I remember a Vegeta now—he didn't pull mysterious crap like this! Who are you, really?"
The prince didn't reply, turning away. "I'll be seeing you, Kakarot." He took off, speeding away through the air faster than Goku's eyes could follow.
What was up with him? Goku wondered. "Eh…whatever." He had more important questions right now. Questions such as, why am I a kid? Why am I in a warzone? And why can't I remember anything except these flashes I keep triggering? He unslung the radar device from his belt. This's about the only thing I've got right now. I don't know what happens when I gather 'em all, but I get the sense it's something good. One wasn't far from here, so he set off, running at a steady pace over the ruins of what he might once have recognised as a very Earthlike civilisation.
It didn't take long to hone in on the signal; within a couple of minutes he was standing practically on top of it, if the flashing blip on the radar was to be believed. A rummage around revealed something glinting beneath a pile of rubble; he tossed it aside, unearthing the object he instinctively recognised as a Dragon Ball.
Barely a second after he picked it up, a strange pressure in his mind alerted him—someone's coming! Someone strong… He ducked into cover through a ruined doorway, pressing his back to the wall.
"K…Kakarot…Kaka…rot…" a gravely voice was saying. "Where…I'll…kill…" A hugely-muscled, shirtless saiyan was trudging his way down the road, stepping oblivious through still-burning patches of ground and emerging unharmed. His eyes seemed clouded, vague, indicating that his mind was completely unfocused.
Goku took a deep breath, then stepped back out into the street. "Vegeta called me that, too. If you wanna fight me, I won't hide!" he shouted. "But first, tell me why!"
The man froze, turning slowly on the spot. His eyes fixed on Goku, the haziness vanishing, replaced by pure rage. A wall of ki erupted out of his body, throwing Goku to the ground as a massive green aura blazed to life around—Broly. That's his name.
"KAKAROOOOT!" Broly roared, leaving craters beneath his feet as his massively bulked-up form advanced on the building Goku had fallen back into. Goku tried to escape, but a giant hand crashed in through the wall, picking him up and slamming him into the ground, what was left of the building tumbling down around them as Broly's aggressive movements pummelled its damaged foundations. Goku felt blood rising in his mouth, his vision blurring. "Why…does everyone…wanna kill me today…?" Acting on instinct again, he formed an energy sphere in his hand, throwing it directly up into Broly's face, but the juggernaut barely noticed, grimacing slightly at the impact.
"RRRRYAAAAGH!" Yelling incoherently, he threw Goku high into the air. The young saiyan managed to regain his balance right about at the top of his arc, holding both fists out and rocketing straight back down at his monstrous opponent. Inches from impact, Broly grinned and casually sidestepped, backhanding Goku away across the street. Goku bounced, skidded, rolled, and came to a halt covered in dirt and scrapes. "…ugh…" He pushed himself up on trembling hands, gasping for breath and hearing heavy footfalls growing louder. Damn it…don't even know why this is happening…this whole thing is crazy…if only I was stronger…!
Broly was standing over him now, swinging a lazy kick Goku barely dodged, damaged muscles screaming. He didn't let himself rest, kicking off and darting behind Broly, bouncing and coming up behind the titan, ramming home a spinning kick directly to the back of his neck. Broly lurched forwards a step, but no more; his elbow shot up and backwards, catching Goku in the stomach before he could react, grounding him again. This time he did blacked out, even if only for a second, shaking it off and coughing in the settling dust cloud that had formed upon his latest impact with the road. If only I was…stronger…!
"That's a pretty crazy technique you used back there, Tien! So you're, what, even stronger than yourself now?"
"Well, that's kind of a weird way of putting it, Goku…"
The now-familiar rush of a lost memory unearthed flashed through Goku's mind. His eyes snapped open wide. "Stronger'n…yourself…" Shakily, he sat up, seeing Broly looking curiously over at him.
"You're not dead…" Broly muttered, seemingly having worked through some of his insane rage and gaining greater coherence as time went on. "It shouldn't have taken me this long…!"
Goku forced himself up on one knee, then planted one foot on the ground, then made the final push through to fully-standing. Blood ran down his face. His chest heaved with every breath. "C'mere," he growled.
"If you keep standing up, I'm just going to kill you quicker!" Broly hissed, thundering forwards, charging an energy blast in each hand.
"Yeah, whatever." Goku wiped one particularly quick-flowing stream of blood from his mouth and nose, then clenched his fists. "I'm never gonna stay down 'till I'm dead, y'hear?"
"My point exactly!" Broly laughed. "After all these years, traitor, I'm finally going to kill you!"
Goku's ki began to rise alarmingly quickly, his body vibrating with a sudden surge of power. "Sorry. You don't have what it takes. Hhhhhh…hkkkk…" An aura of his own sprung up around him, blowing a gale in all directions, outstripping even the force exuded by Broly's. "…kkkk…K-KAIO…KEN!"
"What—" It was like running into an immovable wall; Broly found he couldn't move even a single step further forwards. Goku, at the centre of the crimson storm, leaned forwards slightly, then vanished.
The next thing Broly knew, something struck his abdomen with more force than he could comprehend—beneath the single, explosive punch, the Legendary Super Saiyan's defensive aura shattered, his skin tore, his blood boiled and evaporated, and the base of his spine liquefied. He remained still for a few seconds as both fighters' auras melted away, then he pitched forwards, vomiting blood and collapsing in a lifeless heap.
Goku took a step back, lowering his steaming fist, feeling worse than ever. "…man…whatever that was…it nearly killed me…" Stay awake, Goku. Have to get those Dragon Balls. Stay awake. Stay… He made it three steps before falling unconscious next to his defeated foe, the city falling silent but for the flicker of dying fires.
Council of the Hakaishin…
"I hope you have a damn good reason for all this, Priest," the Pilot grumbled, settling into her chair. Bills nodded, doing his best to remember Whis' file.
The Pilot. God of the Tenth Universe. In love with the concept of speed. She drives from one end of the Tenth Universe to the other in progressively larger, faster and more outrageous magically-powered vehicles, and when called on to destroy a world as part of her duty she simply rams straight through it in her latest contraption.
Whis had even included Bills himself in the file, under "The Priest"—named for his peculiar dress sense; true names had power in the hands of another divine being, so each Hakaishin went by a pseudonym among their kin, which each had to come up with themselves. Some were imaginative enough to come up with something impressive, others not so much, which lead to some rather unthreatening titles. Who, Bills sometimes wondered, would cower before a god who went by 'The Fisherman?'
Anyway, Whis had filed Bills supposedly for completeness, but Bills suspected it was more just to annoy him. He rolled his eyes, then turned his attention back to the Pilot. "Trust me, I know how annoying it is to be dragged out here at all. This is serious."
"If you say so."
"Go easy on him, Pilot," the god seated next to Bills said lazily—the Hunter.
The Hunter. God of the Fourth Universe. This one's an old friend of yours, Lord Bills; I hardly need to jog your memory here, I hope. So much for completeness.
The Hunter—his rough outfit of animal furs a sharp contrast to the Pilot's large goggles, bomber jacket and grease-stained flight suit—was currently making an inordinate effort to appear relaxed, to the point where he was so sprawled he was practically upside-down in his chair. "Don't worry about old Priest here…he's hardly ever serious, but when he is, he means it."
"If you say so," the Pilot repeated, sighing. "Just how long is he going to keep us waiting?" Indeed, one space, a larger and more ornate seat than the rest, was conspicuously empty, as several of the Hakaishin were beginning to mumble.
After a few more minutes of idle bickering and empty small talk, the Knight, the armoured god of the Third Universe, stood, clearing his throat. "I have received word," he declared, tapping his head and indicating a telepathic message. "The Red King will now join us."
Cadmus, 'the Red King' (he long ago revealed his true name as a display of his supreme confidence in his own power), was something vaguely approaching the leader of the Hakaishin; an actual ruler would not have been able to manage such individualistic and ill-tempered subjects. He had risen to this position of leadership partially through being joint in the running for strongest of the gods, but also because the others grudgingly had to admit that he was good at it. Management, counsel, wisdom; he excelled in these fields far beyond any of them.
When he strolled in through the arched doorway, he appeared as a great lion carrying a burning, miniature sun in his mouth, padding over to the still-standing Knight. Cadmus was a peculiar creature, and required a particular ritual to appear in his true form for an extended period of time. For this, he relied on his lieutenant, Mercury the Knight—the only other Hakaishin with a known true name among the others, the revelation of which was the requirement for his assuming the position of second in command; a sign of trust and assurance of loyalty. After another unseen signal, Mercury began the ritual—and in a move that would have shocked any who had not witnessed this process before, plunged his sword down into the lion's back, piercing through it and out of its body beneath.
Taking a step back, the Knight bowed, letting the rest of the ritual take place: The lion swallowed the sun in a quick gulp, even as its body began to turn into a formless mass of green liquid, starting from the point the sword had impaled and spreading outwards. Soon the creature had fully melted, and before long the sword too vanished into the seething puddle of primordial matter. A second or so later, a crowned head broke the surface, a humanoid figure slowly rising from the pool, the liquid swirling around him and vanishing, transfigured into the biomass that formed his body; a regally-robed man with a stern expression; the true form of the Red King.
Bills yawned. "Ah man, that takes forever…"
"Impressive—and kind of weird—the first time, a little repetitive since then," the Fisherman concurred.
The Fisherman. God of the Fifth Universe. Seriously, that's the name he chose. At least it seems accurate. That's pretty much all he does. Comes here much more often than the rest of you, often hangs around with the Dreamer. Extremely lazy. I have to wonder if he ever actually does his job…
Bills chuckled. "All you do is sit by a lake all day. I would've thought repetitive would be fine with you."
The Fisherman shrugged, but said nothing; the Red King had taken his seat, and was about to speak.
Eden Palace…
"Do you know why that attack failed to kill me?" Gaia Shenron asked. She waved the smoke trails away from herself, emerging completely unharmed. "It was an impressive attempt, I'll grant you. A perfect plan—to catch me off-guard, knock me off-balance, then hit me with your best shot at close range. But, of course, doomed to fail from the start."
"Damn it…" Eighteen growled. Her arms ached from the blow she'd struck; she got the sense her punch had hurt her more than it had hurt Gaia.
"Okay…I'll bite," Uub added, lowering his arms from the Kamehameha position, beads of sweat forming on his forehead—he'd put a lot of energy into that blast. "Why didn't it work?"
Gaia nodded. "Are you aware of the concept of mortal, demigod and divine ki?"
Goten blinked. "Huh…yeah…those are all the same words Gohan used…but Bills didn't tell him all of those…how come you know Gohan's word for it?"
"The one who created your universe took a few shortcuts," Gaia answered. "Certain concepts like that are subconsciously associated with those names in your brain, even before you're aware of them."
"How do you know all this?" Break demanded. Wait…she said Bills gave her that scar… "Hold on, don't tell me Bills created the universe? He's the God of Destruction, not creation!"
"That he is," Gaia replied. "The creator was not Bills. But back to my original point…you are, all of you, possessed of varying levels of mortal ki. We Shadow Dragons, on the other hand, have demigod ki—aside from Alpha Shenron, who is on the full divine level. And the level I've been fighting at up until now isn't even close to my full power. Do you understand now?"
"Hmm…quite a challenge," Eighteen conceded. "But there's something you should know…aside from me, none of these fighters have used their full power yet."
"Interesting." Gaia scanned the room. "Care to demonstrate?"
"Hell yes!" Goten stepped up. "Vegeta! Ready?"
"Of course." Vegeta positioned himself next to his ally. "Let's start straight in Super Saiyan 2, huh?"
"Right! Fuuu—"
"—sion—"
"—HA!"
The dance was performed perfectly—Gogeta, electric sparks flying through the air surrounding him, was formed in front of Gaia, the fused warrior looking serious for once. "And now, Shadow Dragon, here's the ass-kicking Goten promised you!" Wasting no time, he leapt, sliding a punch around Gaia's attempted block and snapping her head to the side before sidestepping her counter-punch, but she got her arm up in time to block his return strike.
He's matching me! She realised, parrying a few rapid kicks Gogeta threw as he broke off, jumping away. He actually already possesses some level of demigod ki! Did he awaken the Super Saiyans' hidden potential for it through an emotional crisis, like the other half-breed shortly before his ascension to godhood? No…it's their fusion technique that gives them their enormous strength. That's the most common way of achieving demigod ki, after all…simply pushing mortal ki past its limits and into that higher realm…
"Wow, Gogeta…" Break said, whistling. "That's some awesome power you've got there. You've really grown up."
"We don't have any time to waste," Gogeta replied sternly. "You guys go on through…I'll deal with this one and catch up."
"Quite the bold statement," Gaia taunted. "But my duty is to guard this level, and I won't just let—" Gogeta's hand shot up, and a constricting ring of ki formed around her, immobilising her.
"I can't keep this thing up forever!" he warned. "Go, now!"
"Right!" Uub gave a thumbs-up to Gogeta, before turning and running for the opposite end of the room alongside Eighteen and Break.
"You'd better win!" Eighteen warned as they passed through the small door.
Alone with his opponent, Gogeta grinned lopsidedly. "That won't be a problem."
Gaia merely narrowed her eyes—then was gone, leaving Gogeta's energy ring surrounding nothing but air. Gaia appeared a few metres behind Gogeta, fist raised. He dived forwards, avoiding the punch, and rolled to his feet, delivering a back kick as he spun to face her. She ducked backwards under it, throwing a close-range energy blast, which he deflected away into the ceiling.
"Huh…huh…" he breathed, wiping sweat from his forehead. "Pretty good."
"You too," Gaia replied. "Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to kill you."
"You're going to try."
Gaia said nothing, merely raised her hand. There was no energy build-up; with frightening speed, a pure-white energy bolt emerged, rocketing forwards. Gogeta twitched to the side, watching it pass millimetres from his face, then continue on past him, detonating against the seemingly-indestructible wall behind and throwing out a blast wave that almost knocked him flat. That was fast! He paused, suddenly recognising the unique energy signature and staring at Gaia with new respect. "Was that…a Spirit Bomb…?"
This entire arc, like Battle of the Gods, I have been so happy to finally be able to write.
One criticism I got a couple of times from last chapter was that it seemed a bit too casual, so I tried to make the scenes with the Shadow Dragons more serious this time around (I mean, the Hakaishin scenes aren't on the front lines for now, so they're going to be less serious, but everything else, yeah). No reason not to go for drama now—it is building steadily towards the climax of the story.
Q: oh, and i noticed that the story's plot now is different from those small glimpses you put up while BTtL was still being done, you think it would be good that you'd elaborate on the differences when you reach a point that explaining them wouldn't be spoiler-y?
A: I suppose? I mean, I've pretty much reworked the entire thing from square one since then, so it's more like the entire concept is different, with a few superficially similar elements.
Q: Goku at least has survived but you've managed to do the he's a kid again thing from GT but via a different mechanism. I assume due to what the big bad did that this isn't a mind trip and Adult BTtL/EFB Goku's mind really has been transferred into an alternate, younger him in an alternate reality. How/why is Vegeta there so early though? Did the Kakarot he jumped into ever get the bump on the head or was he purging the planet before this Goku jumped into his mind perhaps?
A: No comment on the reality, or lack thereof, of Goku's current situation is available at this time.
Q: wow interesting chapter this has set the stage now and I cant wait to read more but hasn't vegeta jr got his tail aswell because I swear when u came in to the story u describe him having a tail ?
A: Did I?
Q: This is getting weird how can you be outside the universe
A: Well, there's more than one universe in the Dragon Ball Z story, right? So I'm assuming there's some kind of empty inter-universal 'void' outside, between them as it were. If that makes sense.
Q: Well, the Shadow Dragons are seriously epic so far. Though wasn't it Kronos, based on your description, that was supposed to have the ability of teleporting anyone to anywhere? I mean, he's the one with the space/time powers, so it would make sense. I'm curious to see what exactly Alpha's powers are.
So, based on the order of the kanji on the Shadow Dragons' tower, I'm assuming that the order they fight the Z-Fighters in will be: Gaia, Hades, Hephaestus, Helios, Glacius, Kronos, Alpha. Am I right?
A: Kronos has time powers; Alpha just happens to have that one special ability.
You are indeed correct about the order.
Q: Gaia Shenron to take on 5 opponents who are SSJ3 level and beyond (bar #18, who is midway between SSJ2 and SSJ3)? Either the Shadow Dragons are just that strong, or our remaining heroes are being severely underestimated.
A: Kind of both.
Q: If Whis and Bills (who single-handedly took on every fighter and a SSG when he 'invaded' Earth) couldn't defeat the 7 TOGETHER, our heroes will need some severe powering up. Although I guess you meant that they would lose against all 7 at once, rather than a one on one showdown (which is what the Z-fighters are currently doing).
A: Yeah, Whis was saying if the pair of them fought all seven at once the outcome would be anybody's guess. And this really isn't the kind of thing you want to leave up to chance.
Q: I remember from a shit load of chapter back, there was a short scene going something like: "One does not simply walk through the sixth (?) universe. Who are you?" And the being that answered was Prometheus Shenron. I suspect (unless you scrapped that scene) he has something to do with the Eternal and he caused it so the other gods would reject Bills and Whis calling for aid.
A: That was a canon scene, yeah, don't worry; it was part of the main chapter and not a bonus or a preview or anything.
Q: Hey Captain, is it alright if you explain demigod ki for me '? I'm kind of miffed about the concept, and you said that the amount of demigod ki is maximized when you have a sufficiently-mastered SSJ form, and that SSJ2 and 3 had no bearing on it. Does that mean that only a regular Super Saiyan can access demigod ki?
Good question.
Demigod Ki: What Even Is This Eh
Basically, this sprung from me thinking "okay, so narratively saying 'mortal ki can't beat divine ki' is a good device, but what about when a mortal comes close to matching a god, like Vegeta in the movie...and what about Vegetto, or a Super Saiyan 4? Surely they've simply got so much normal ki they wouldn't be completely useless against Bills or whoever."
So I created this level between mortal and divine ki. In essence, the main/most common way of achieving it is to push one's normal power so ridiculously high it forces its way past mortal limits and becomes something able to almost match a god (depending on the god, and on the level of demigod ki achieved, anyway). This is what Gogeta did in this chapter (his power's pretty much equivalent to movie-Gogeta at this point, and he's gone SSJ2 on top of that), and probably what Vegetto, SSJ4, etc., did in canon and GT, but since they never ran into gods, nothing other than 'I'm really powerful' ever occurred to them.
The other way is through tapping into the hidden potential for demigod ki that lies within the Super Saiyan form. This is a special case, and requires one to have already mastered the basic form to a very high level (like android or Buu saga level of mastery), and then to experience a moment of extreme emotional distress, in the presence of a being, for instance Bills, who is impossible to fight with mortal ki alone. Otherwise you just unlock SSJ2 or something, or if you already have, you just...get angry. Speaking of which, while it's possible to increase one's power with SSJ2 and 3, they're basically like improved versions of USSJ; forcing more power into your body. They don't have a speed disadvantage, but they do have a large energy drain, and as Goku observed in the Cell saga, it's more efficient in the long run to train the normal SSJ form to a greater level of mastery, and make use of the massive amounts of energy that you'd normally waste transforming into and maintaining those forms. Of course, at android or Buu saga levels, it is a lot easier to use SSJ2 and 3 to power up quickly than it is to do the years of training it'd take to get SSJ1 up to the level where it can replace them, hence why Goku used SSJ2 and 3 at all in canon...but the advantage of being more energy-efficient becomes greater, as I said, in the long run.
Getting back to my point, SSJ2 and 3 are basically superior versions of USSJ, more sub-forms than anything, so it is possible to unlock the demigod ki potential if you simply have a huge level of mastery with SSJ1. It's just that usually by the time someone's done that much training in SSJ, they've usually found out how to go SSJ2 as well, at some point during their training and battles.
Q: Though I joined the game pretty late I've enjoyed reading this story and following it over the last couple months. I won't deny that I've had my issues with it, just minor things relating to plot development, but out of faith I let those things go. When I started reading DBZ fanfiction again a few months ago this story along with others like npberryhill's "Bringer of Death" and Mr. Arkham' "Guardian" to name a couple were a big part of my decision to continue with the genre. As I read this newest chapter I had one major concern though, that as I read it there were a couple times where I stopped and thought to myself "Am I still reading" Break Through The Limit? "" or am I rereading JXT1000's "Dragonball AF: The Room of Spirit and Time Saga" your shadow dragon design was just eerily reminiscent of his Vicis and their master Chrome. I don't doubt that they're completely different when it comes down to it, but still if I noticed that then I'm sure others have as well so it might be good to address it to avoid accusations of plagiarizing anothers work. I don't have an issue with taking inspiration from his story if you, there's no better teacher for an author than another author after all, I just thought I'd mention it.
A: Er...nope, just you I think. I've never even heard of the thing you're talking about. Sorry.
Q: Here are the things I like to see in Even Further Beyond:
to Kuriza being a good guy, Kuriza must unlock 6th form and I want the forms power to be strong as or perhaps rival to a Full-Power Super Saiyan 2.
2.I want you to introduce Super Saiyan 4 during Shadow Dragon Saga.
3.I want Goku to achieved Super Saiyan 3 in Even Further Beyond.
4. I want Raditz sword to be upgraded in order to take down the Shadow Dragon. I want Raditz upgraded sword to generate lightning and have a stronger cutting power and can fire and generate sonic wave. Also, I like Raditz upgraded sword to have some similarities to Leonardo's Ninja Tek Katana that was used in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Fast Forward season 5.
Note: Due to BTtL Raditz being far more powerful in canon because he acts like canon Goku and is a swordsman, I wish BTtL Raditz would appear in Dragon Ball Heroes alon with Break, Future Break, and Vegeta jr. (The son of Tarble and Gure).
A: You're scaring me with all these wants and musts...
1. Seeing as Cooler barely scratched the surface of the fifth form, I really don't think there's any need for me to just randomly invent another one. Kuriza's already a lot stronger than any other member of his species we've seen.
2. That does seem likely, doesn't it?
3. Since he can access all his power in base, there's really no point to Goku getting SSJ3, is there? He could increase his base to that level...hell, it's been twenty years, he probably already has.
4. Don't know the sword you're talking about, sorry.
Any fanfic characters appearing in an official game is highly unlikely...I mean, I can dream, but...yeah, chances are slim to none, and Slim's gone out to lunch.
Q: Hi, great chapter as usual! But, I think you missed something in the Buu saga. The fat Buu was good, and since the Spiret Bomb only kills evil beings, wouldn't fat Buu survive, and only Kid Buu dies? Just curious. Maby you forgot. But, who cares now, after all, what's done is done, right? Out!
A: I would assume that there would be a violent reaction between Kid Buu's evil energy and the Spirit Bomb; caught so close to that, fat Buu would die too.
Q: nice chapter! i don't know exactly what's going on with goku, raditz and gohan but i like it because it gives some space to the next generation to do give it a try. I don't know how i feel about pan becoming super sayan 4 especially without fighting first, sayans are not tactical like that.
A: She's more human than saiyan, really.
Q: I like the new take on the Shadow Dragons. The Eternal reminds me of Galactus of Marvel comics, the Shadow Dragons being his heralds.
A: I was more going for Lovecraftian-eldritch-horror being, but I see where you're coming from.
Q: I give up trying to read this story. It's terribly written. Far too much dialogue and not enough scene. The established characters are massively out of character. People's motivations and actions are ridiculous compared to what they were in the original source. Everything is ridiculously paced as well. Jump-Jump-Jump. No real flow. I can't believe this crap fanfic has such rave reviews on TVTropes.
A: Given that you only got to chapter 12, that's probably because the rave reviews come from people who've read the more recent stuff, and there's a big difference in writing quality between me almost two years ago and me now.
(So tempted to say something snarky like "2500 reviews say otherwise", but that's not really a reasonable response...)
Q: Well I only began this chapter. Never finished it and never will. Trunks is a half saiyan not half Zarbon! :(
I dont care at all! that this is an AU, but Trunks is Vegeta's son not Zarbon :L
A: It's not even a major part of the story...just an afterthought since I wanted Vegeta to be a villain and not part of the Earth group of characters...and yet a few people get really hung up on it...
Q: I forget, what happened to Vegeta?
A: This was a review of chapter 50, so where you are...he fought Raditz and Meta-Frieza on New Namek, then went off the radar for a bit, was briefly heard of making a terrorist strike on the first attempt at post-Frieza galactic government, before re-emerging to accept Dr. Raichi's challenge to the saiyans.
Q: Or they could wish for the Saiyans to forget what they heard, or wish for the Saiyans to be transported to another galaxy, or inside of a star, or an infinite number of other things that would prevent the battle on Earth. I realize you wouldn't have of much of a plot if you did that, but I found it strange you would point out such a huge plot hole in your own story.
A: They addressed this in canon, the dragon can't affect an unwilling being more powerful than its creator, which is why they couldn't destroy the saiyans in canon, or bring Goku back to Earth after Namek...in both cases, beings more powerful than Kami or Guru.