Chapter 12: Who Wants to Live Forever

Zenmetsu! Souzousha tai Hakaisha

Music for this chapter…well, just the first scene in this chapter…is Cancelling the Apocalypse, from the Pacific Rim OST.

And I forgot to mention this last chapter, but thanks to Nassif9000, since his designs on deviantART helped me figure out that gold hair with red/brown fur could look pretty cool. I mean, the design I decided on isn't exactly the same as his (his is certainly more bestial/savage-looking than mine), but his artwork is pretty damn cool. (He did the current cover, for instance, which you can also find on his dA page. Or, um, at the top of this page as this story's cover, I guess.)

Wistarion and Alpha Shenron's attacks met again in a storm of fire and thunder. He fell back, red smearing across his vision from a cut over his eye, and threw a barrage of energy in Alpha's direction, but she dodged faster than he could follow, reappearing moments from him—he turned just in time to block her scything strike, grappling with her and trying to force her back.

Grinning fiercely, she lurched forwards, a headbutt breaking his nose and a follow-up knee strike as he flinched with pain breaking his guard. Her hand snaked out, catching him by the neck before he could fall and holding him up before her. "Surrender," she ordered.

"Heh." His body began to heat up, vibrating slightly and lit by an inner glow. "You still don't understand, no matter how many times I tell you that I'll die first…" He let his power fly in all directions, breaking Alpha's hold and throwing a punch that she narrowly dodged, responding with one of her own and landing a solid hit to his face.

"Every being has a survival instinct, Wistarion!" she snapped. "You've spent so long running…you're no exception."

"You should study these mortals closer," Wistarion muttered, wiping blood away as it streamed down his face. "You should know that in many species, when a mother or father is cornered, it will sacrifice everything for the sake of its children." He feinted a lunge to the right, but she didn't fall for it, catching his leg as it swung around for his true attack.

"How is that relevant?!" she demanded, shoving a ball of sparking ki into his chest and blasting him away.

Shakily righting himself, Wistarion stabilised his flight, painfully raising his guard again. "I created every universe you've destroyed. The blood on your hands belongs to my children, every one of them. Now that I've decided to fight…" His fading ki suddenly resurged, rocking the planet around him. "…no force in this world or the next can stop me while I still breathe!"

"Stop spouting that crap!" Alpha lunged in, Wistarion blocking a downwards strike with some effort and shoving her away, launching another energy wave volley to drive her back. She flew in rapid, evasive circles, swooping back around and striking him hard in the back elbow-first, feeling something tear beneath the skin.

Gasping at the impact, Wistarion turned to throw a counter-punch, but Alpha swung away to the side, catching his fist one-handed and shuddering slightly as she struggled to bring it up to a halt. "Hrr…you're…still losing power," she reminded him. "You clearly can't keep this up."

"And you, it seems, can't shut up," he snapped, feeling bones splinter in his hand as she crushed inwards. She swung her arm out, flinging him away and sending a pair of eye-beams lancing after him. He brought his arm up to block, but due to the injuries already sustained to the limb his ki flowed sluggishly up it and her beams bored straight through it, leaving twin instantly-cauterising, steaming holes in his forearm and striking him in the chest, doing less damage now but still leaving burning tracks on his skin.

Wistarion wavered, almost falling, searching for any power he had left. He swiped at Alpha, who contemptuously rose out of his path, coming back down and snapping a downwards-arcing kick into the top of his head, sending him all the way down to the earth's surface in a stream of thunder, his impact crater in the desert below visible to her even from the upper atmosphere.

She followed him, unhurriedly descending to the dry ground and approaching him. Throwing in a lazy stamp down onto his chest for good measure, and feeling something crack, she stepped back, smiling down at him. "There. I think that's enough…get out of this universe, Wistarion. Go about your duties."

"A…Again…" he said through bloody lips, stirring. "…you fail…to grasp…my resolve." His eyes hardened. "My one…duty, now…is to the people…I have failed…for so long."

"And the Hakaishin? Your proclaimed friend?" Alpha snorted. "He is no 'better' than the Eternal; he, and all the rest, do the same on a smaller scale."

"Then perhaps…" Wistarion said softly, "…this ordeal will teach them…the terror of the victim…the artificiality of this cycle you hold so dear. I hope that they will learn to break it…as I have. They are good people…or, I know that they can be." With no warning, he sprang, releasing in an instant the strength he'd been building as they talked and leaping up to Alpha, locking his arms around her shoulders. "And I will show them the way!"

"Wistarion—!" she gasped. "You don't mean to…"

His body hummed with building power. "I will fight you to my last breath, as promised. If we both die, then so be it; my goals will be doubly achieved."

She grasped his upper arms, trying to break his hold as she began to feel the heat of his rising energy. "You're mad! All for the sake of these insects…!"

"I have tried to explain, but you will never understand; the time for talk is done." Wistarion closed his eyes. "Let my actions speak for me."

"N-No…!" Alpha shrieked, sensing fully now the fearsome ki that was accumulating as Wistarion prepared to self-destruct. "Not like this…so close…" She flared up her own power, eyes wild. "I won't let you!" She thrust her hand out, the blow colliding with Wistarion's now-immense aura and clashing in a storm of energy. Gritting her teeth, she pushed onwards, breaking through the barrier with an immense effort and placing her hand against his chest.

"None may oppose us. Not even you." With that, she fired, a wide energy beam puncturing straight through Wistarion's chest and erupting out of his back, tearing flesh and bone to shreds and arcing off into the sky after passing through.

In shock, barely able to process the sensation, Wistarion stumbled two steps away and collapsed in the sand, blood gushing out from the fatal wound and staining the desert around where he lay. He gave a ragged gasp, face turning towards the sky, eyes blank. "I…warned…" He got no further, shuddering and falling limp.

So the creator bleeds and dies just like anyone. Alpha's expression was initially a triumphant sneer, but it quickly turned to abject horror. No…no, no…this was his plan! If he couldn't kill me, he wanted me to kill him! Leaving aside his crap about the mortals defeating me…there may be many universes, but they are not infinite! The Eternal…the Eternal will…

Furious, she kicked Wistarion's body, flinging it away over the dunes. "You bastard! What do you gain from this? Now, we're going to run out of universes! Every living thing—all will be consumed! There'll be nothing left—and then the Eternal will starve—we'll die, too! There'll be nothing!"

Deep space…

The Sorcerer called the attention of the rest of the strike team. "Something has come to my attention. I have been studying the negative energy build-up in this universe—up to this point, it has been irregular…but it's 'smoothed out' now, and accelerated significantly."

"Which means?" the Hunter asked, impatiently.

"We know the energy is being generated by the lead Shadow Dragon," the Sorcerer explained. "My guess is that until recently, the fluctuations in its negative energy output were due to it being engaged in battle. It appears to be at rest, now, and is generating energy much faster…"

"There are formidable warriors on that planet," Bills confirmed. "Likely it was them."

Gohan grimaced. "I hope nothing happened to them…"

The Sorcerer nodded. "In any case, it is imperative that someone engage the dragon in combat again, and soon—by my estimation, we will not reach Earth in time to stop the Eternal's coming if the negative energy build-up continues at this rate."

C'mon, guys… Gohan thought. I'm bringing the cavalry, but you've gotta hold on until I get there…you have to keep her fighting! It's all down to you now…

The third level of the Shadow Dragons' tower was a dimly-lit pathway of jagged rock leading its twisting, winding way up and away to a distant square of light—the doorway out—which formed the only light source. In sharp contrast to Inferno Gauntlet's heat, the cold here was biting, especially to Pan and Raditz, after the damage to their outfits. Ice crystals formed on the ground, snaking along the rocky path that seemed to hang suspended in nothingness; they were surrounded all around by empty darkness, stretching out seemingly endlessly.

"Well, this is different…" Raditz observed.

Goku came to a halt, looking concerned. "Guys…before we go on…there's something I wanna say." He looked down at his feet, unsure of how to phrase this. "I know we've lost people today…people we care about. For good. But if we carry on all depressed like this, I'll go insane."

"You want us to be happy? Now?" Pan asked, incredulous.

"…yeah. Actually, yes." Goku looked her in the eye. "Being sad when they die is one thing, so's remembering them later, but staying down like this—when we're still carrying on their fight—is like giving up." His eyes shone with conviction. "They wouldn't want us to be depressed, y'know? We gotta give it everything we got in these battles, and hell, if we do it with smiles on our faces, I bet those dragons will just hate it, right?"

"I see what you mean." Pan smiled warmly. "Honour their memory…by living like they'd want us to. Even now."

"You're crazy!" Raditz laughed. "Like always. You never stop fighting…even against all the pain we've gone through."

"Are we agreed, then?" Goku asked. "We're gonna get through this and come out smiling—no matter what happens. And we are gonna win. Got it?"

"Whatever you say, granddad," Pan replied.

"Delightful." A pair of clawed feet clacked against the hard ground, signifying the arrival of a Shadow Dragon. "Crushing your happiness once more will bring great joy to me." This one was outfitted in sculpted metallic garments of pure white, inlaid with flawless pale blue gems. Several pairs of gold bands adorned his arms and legs, and some kind of opaque-looking wraparound visor obscured his eyes, sunken into his thin face beneath vertical white spikes of hair. "The name's Glacius Shenron; who do I get to kill first?" He flashed a fanged grin. "I hope you'll save the girl for last. Male screams just aren't—as—satisfying! Don't hit the spot, y'know?"

"Oh, screw you and your introductory monologue already," Raditz grumbled, unslinging his sword and tossing the scabbard aside. "I got this guy."

"Remember how you did against Helios," Goku warned. "Even with your new power."

"Yeah, but this one isn't as tough as Helios, apparently," Raditz replied, grinning.

Glacius chuckled. "Is that what he told you?" He raised his arms at his sides, releasing his ki in a storm of neon energy. Crackling, twisting shards of ice formed out of the water vapour in the air, assembling behind him and forming the outline of a pair of ghostly wings.

"Yeah." Turning Super Saiyan, Raditz's grin widened as he measured his opponent's ki. "And he was right."

Glacius' lip curled into a snarl. "You—!" He jumped, lashing out and aiming to take Raditz's head off, but the saiyan got his sword up in time to block, skidding back with the impact as Glacius continued to advance. Eventually, Raditz ground to a halt, feet digging into the precarious ground, and with a yell of effort, he threw the dragon back. "Okay, popsicle. Let's dance."

The two vanished in an explosive shockwave, reappearing in full-speed motion high overhead, Raditz landing a kick to Glacius' stomach and receiving a punch to the chest in return. They broke away, landing a few metres apart. "Not bad…" Glacius admitted, straightening up with slight difficulty. "I can see how your group has made it this far. My ki is slightly superior to yours, but you have commendable skill and fighting sense, allowing you to keep up with me."

"Didn't figure you for the kind to give compliments," Raditz said, raising his weapon.

Glacius sneered. "I'm not. Allow me to finish: But your raw speed is still slightly inferior to mine. You missed something."

Before Raditz could ask, his body shuddered as sheets of ice rapidly leapt up around his leg, solidifying and freezing it in place. But…that's where I hit him, not where he hit me…so it wasn't his attack? What didn't I see?! As his mind raced, Glacius rushed him again, Raditz exploding his ki outwards, shattering the ice and freeing himself, bringing his sword up and slicing at Glacius' face. Glacius halted, parrying the blade with some difficulty, and Raditz took the opportunity, ducking inside the off-guard Shadow Dragon's defences and slamming a punch into the side of his face. Glacius yelped in shock, crashing to the ground on his back.

However, Raditz's attacking limb, again, was immediately encased in a sheath of ice; he frowned, focusing his energy and breaking free, but as before, it cost him a lot of energy. I saw something this time! I don't know what, but…in the instant I hit him, there was a flash of light…outlining him, I think…he's right—I can keep up with him, but my eyes aren't quite fast enough to see…whatever this is.

What was worse, as Glacius climbed to his feet, it seemed that Raditz's attacks hadn't done any real damage to him for some reason. Before Raditz could formulate a plan—perhaps one of his more powerful techniques—Glacius was upon him again. The dragon landed a pair of jabs, breaking open Raditz's guard, and then a final leaping kick, flooring the saiyan and sending him sliding back over the rough gravel to his allies. Glacius grinned malevolently. "Next, please."

"I'll do it." Pan cracked her knuckles, stepping forwards. "That okay with you guys?"

"Sure, go ahead," Goku replied casually. "Just as long as I get at least one."

"Be…ugh…my guest," Raditz groaned from below.

"Another volunteer so soon?" Glacius asked gleefully. "My, this day is wondrous indeed. I warn you, though, girl," he continued as she strode up to him, "I won't just kill you. First—"

Emitting a sound like a deflating balloon, Glacius collapsed onto his back. Pan unclenched her fist, lowering it. "Let's leave the rest to the imagination," she said. "Nobody cares, anyway."

Glacius dragged himself up and backwards, retreating and waiting for his power to kick in. Any second now…just a moment longer…

"Waiting for my arm to freeze? Don't bother." Pan grinned, waving her arm and demonstrating it to be fully intact. "It's pretty fast, but I saw it. In the instant you're struck, an ice barrier—presumably magical, since normal ice wouldn't stop the weakest saiyan—flashes into existence, so not only do you take no damage, it freezes the opponent's attacking body part." She frowned slightly. "Of course, once I saw it I had to draw back to avoid it—meant I pulled my punch. Never actually touched you…"

"Wha—?!" Glacius gave a start. That…was just the shockwave thrown out by her fist? If she struck me for real…I'd never survive, even if my shield raised itself in time!

He scrambled backwards up the path, crouching low and grovelling. "S-Stop! Enough! I can tell, just by that…you're a lot stronger than I am. I can't stop you…go."

"Right, because I trust you completely," Pan sighed, rolling her eyes.

"What could I do, with the difference in our speeds?" Glacius pointed out. "You could kill me as soon as I tried. No thank you; unlike some, I have a survival instinct."

"I suppose that makes sense, but I am watching you…uh?" She'd gone to walk past him, but found something wrong. "Can't…move…?!" She found, to her dismay, tendrils of ice latched onto her legs and anchoring her to the ground, twisting up her spine now and growing to envelop more of her body.

"A few seconds to focus was all I needed," Glacius explained. "That, and you to stand still. Now pay the price of arrogance!" He raised his hand high into the air in a dramatic, sweeping gesture, and the rate of growth rapidly increased, encasing Pan in a solid, gleaming crystal moments later.

"Pan!" Goku ran up to the prison of ice, hammering it with his hardest punch, but to no avail. Raditz, meanwhile, was propping himself up by digging his sword into the rock beneath him, trying to regain his balance. "S'allright, Goku…I got…thissssssssss" Trailing off, he collapsed, snoring gently.

Melting that ice earlier must've drained most of his power…plus the beating he took… Goku turned his attention back to Pan and Glacius. Maybe I can do the same and get Pan out…she can maybe take him on…

"Don't bother," Glacius crowed, guessing Goku's thoughts. "Don't underestimate my power. There's only one being, short of a god, capable of generating enough heat and power to melt the ice formed by my strongest technique—Helios Shenron! Speaking of which, you killed that fool, didn't you?"

"Nope, he's still alive," Goku replied, racking his brain for the solution to this situation.

"Of course!" Glacius moaned. "Of course you didn't! Aagh, I hate that battle-crazed…" He shook his head. "He's always going on about improving himself, overcoming his limits. Ridiculous! I inhabit Heaven's Bridge, this higher level—proof that I was created a class above of him, no?"

"Actually…he is stronger than you," Goku pointed out.

"Kuh! What do I care what you think? I'm about to kill you, and then the other two." Glacius stretched, lazily beginning to approach Goku.

Goku closed his eyes. There's only one way to free Pan, then…gotta raise my ki…past its limits…and generate an attack like Helios'!

First off…it doesn't usually make me stronger anymore—the power's already in my base form—but we know the potential's in the Super Saiyan forms…so! For the first time in quite a few years, Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan, raising his ki to its natural maximum. And now…have to go…further!

He focused inward, simultaneously forming his Nova Burst attack and preparing to melt Glacius' ice. Where…is it? This potential we're supposed to have…I can't feel anything like it! Doubt gripped him. How am I supposed to do this?

He was tempted to return to base and use the Kaioken, but resisted. That won't be enough…the demigod potential isn't in Kaioken, it's somewhere within Super Saiyan…but… He stared down at the gently-glowing orb in his hand. But…this power…isn't nearly enough!

No, I'm overthinking this. This has to come from basic emotion—like when I first transformed. I'd better not forget—Pan's life's riding on this attack; hell, Raditz's too. My granddaughter, and my brother…I can't let them die when there's even the slightest chance to save them.

That's it! He enlarged the Nova Burst, feeding more ki into it. To produce the desperation I need…I'll stake my own life on this, too! He drew his arm back, concentrating his power still further.

"Are you deaf?" Glacius asked, sounding more than a little bored. "It can't. Be. Done. Focus on your own life; hers is forfeit already."

If I can't generate enough power…the blast will reflect back on me, and kill me. He took a deep breath, steadying his nerves and leaping straight up, arcing back down towards his target. Pan…I'm coming through this with you, or I don't want to live through it!

Glacius jumped back, shielding his eyes as the fury of a star was unleashed upon his creation. There was a great noise as of shattering glass, and he felt his control being wrenched away from his victim. What…but…how?!

He took a couple of uneasy steps forwards, approaching the cooling crater with caution. "Are you insane?!"

"Yeah." Goku staggered through the clearing smoke, breathing hard, right arm pierced by large, horribly sharp ice shards in three places. Not as strong as Helios' attack, but…close! "I'm crazy…" He grunted, pulling a shard out and letting it clatter to the ground, blood flowing freely from the wound. "…a fool…" The second joined it, smashing as it landed. "…and just plain stupid." He dug the final spike out of his flesh, heaving a sigh and straightening up his hunched shoulders. "I don't ever want anybody to die…and I always try and smile through everything that happens. So yeah, that's pretty dumb. Makes me think I can do anything, even if it's pretty much suicide." He looked up, flashing a grin at Glacius and flexing his suddenly-enormous ki. "But I'll still try and live up to that stupid dream-world of mine. Always."

"Your voice…pisses me off." Glacius rushed in, swinging for Goku's head, but the Super Saiyan caught the attack in mid-flight, pulling Glacius in and driving a knee up into his chin, throwing him clean off the edge of the pathway and into the void, where he hurriedly caught himself mid-fall.

Goku was already turning away and walking over to pick up Pan, who stirred and looked groggily up at him. "…cold…"

"Give it a minute. Your ki should be coming back—it'll warm you up." He walked her over to Raditz, setting her down beside him. "Easy, now. I got this one." He stood, sensing Glacius behind him. "Ready for more?"

"You observed my barrier, and timed your attack to counter it…" Glacius noted. "I suppose I'll stop using it, and save on power, then."

"Smart move…" Goku wasted no time, immediately making the first move and making to attack Glacius head-on; Glacius saw through the feint, however, and just as Goku's afterimage faded, turned a one-eighty to block Goku coming up from behind, backing away as Goku pressed his attack, a rapid string of blows driving the dragon further back. Glacius broke away, putting on a burst of speed and dashing around to outflank Goku, who slid away just in time to avoid a downwards-slashing swipe that carved its way through the path at their feet.

However, this last-second dodge put Goku on the back foot, and he was caught off-balance as Glacius reared up in front of him, drawing back to strike. He's got too much momentum…won't be able to stop him with anything less than… He intercepted Glacius' charge, placing both hands on the Shadow Dragon's stomach. "—Kamehamehaaaaa!"

Glacius was knocked away instantly, finding his feet and bringing himself to a halt. "Heh. If that's the strongest blast you can produce…my condolences. You're weaker than I thought."

Goku dusted off his hands. "Save it. I've already won."

"What's that?" Glacius grinned lopsidedly. "Blood loss getting to you? I'm still standing, genius!"

"I'll give you this chance to surrender." Goku stood firm, staring Glacius down for a few seconds before turning away, heading over towards Pan and Raditz. "If you keep fighting, you're going to die. So stop, for your own sake."

"You—!" Glacius hissed, frothing with rage. How dare he ignore me! But…what if he isn't bluffing?

It doesn't matter! I have to kill him! If I do it fast enough, even if he has done something, it won't have time to take effect! And after expending all that energy, he can't have enough left to still be as fast as me!

He flattened his hand, focusing his ki into the tips of his fingers and forming a gleaming, icy blade. I…I cannot be defeated by these…lower-order beings! "Die!" he shrieked, launching himself at Goku's exposed back.

Goku's eyes snapped open wide. You idiot! You made it you or me! His arm whipped out to the side, and a faint glow of energy arced out, reaching Glacius' body and…igniting something. "Times ten," Goku said softly—and a roar of power emerged from within Glacius, bursting to the surface and rupturing his body from multiple directions at once, crushing him under immense heat and pressure. N-No…not this way! Anything but…a mortal…! With a final cataclysmic explosion, Glacius Shenron was no more.

Goku lowered his arm, bending down to help his family up.

"What was that?" Raditz asked wearily.

"Delay Kamehameha. New technique I've come up with." They stood, facing up the dark, narrow pathway. "I can hit somebody with the force of a normal Kamehameha, 'implanting' the rest of the boosted x10 shot and triggering it later. Well…that's just one use of it, anyway."

"Impressive," Pan said, nodding. "Thanks for taking care of that guy."

"You feeling up to fighting now?"

"Sure, yeah. Being frozen didn't take up any energy. But as if I wasn't cold enough already…" She shivered audibly, pressing on in a hurry.

Alpha Shenron sat back on her throne, feet resting on Wistarion's corpse. She frowned as she made a mental sweep of the tower. They made it to Kronos? Really? And there are still three of them?!

Calm, calm. Now I'm not fighting anyone myself, I can focus on generating negative energy. This will be over soon. Besides…of the Shadow Dragons under my command, I only considered two to be 'invincible'.

One of those, Hades, proved me wrong earlier.

How about you, Kronos?

The telepathic reply was instantaneous. Alpha…you have known me longer than any of the others. Your other subordinates have come and gone, but we crawled out of the Pit together, all those years ago. In all that time, have you ever known me to lose a battle?

No, she admitted.

Have you ever known me to leave an enemy alive?

No.

Have you ever known me to face anyone who was capable of striking me even once?

…no.

Then calm yourself. None shall pass me alive. This I swear to you, old friend.

Here's the demigod ki scale again, updated as of this chapter (well, the only change is Goku's inclusion, but whatever):

Class A: "SSJ4" Pan, Helios Shenron.

Class B: Dragon Fist (Ryu-Ken), Goku/Kronos Shenron, Glacius Shenron,

Class C: Pan/Raditz/Hephaestus Shenon (combined with Prometheus)

Class D: Uub (Spirit Kaioken)/SSJ3 Gogeta, Hephaestus Shenron/Hades Shenron/Gaia Shenron, SSJ2 Gogeta

Q: What inspired you to make this AMAZING series? And is the Eternal basically a multiverse Galactic?

A: To be honest, I don't remember too well. I think it went like this: There was a what-if story in one of the DBZ games (Budokai Tenkaichi 2) which had Raditz becoming good, but while I instantly liked the concept and loved being able to briefly play as Raditz on the heroes' side, I felt it relied too much on plot convenience, never quite lived up to its concept/promise, and ended in an unsatisfying way. So I thought, "Now here's how I'd do it." And so I did.

It wasn't the intention, but it was pretty quickly pointed out to me and yeah (assuming you mean Galactus), the Eternal does a pretty similar job. Hopefully some revelations later down the line will make some differences clear.

Q: I like how Pan is NOT deadweight in this fic as opposed to GT, and is actually one of the strongest mortals. Where does she rank on the divine ki scale now, anyway? If at all?

A: Right at the top of the demigod ki range; so if she got significantly stronger, she'd have divine ki, buuuut that's not easy.

Q: will any off the other z-fighters turn up at all ?

A: Uh…maybe…probably…I guess?

Q: Here's a question. Are the transformations like a step ladder where they transform from Base, to Super, to Ascended, to Beyond then to a second Base form? Or is it more like a lateral transformation where SSJ4 is more of a shift from one base to another?

If it's the second than does this mean that a SSJ4 could, in a sense, access the SSJ transformations and further power up? Or is the second base form as far as they can go?

Also, the Eternal. It's immortal right? I mean it's right up there with the gods; the true gods. So simply starving wouldn't really do much but, piss it off and weaken it, right?

A: Well, "SSJ4" is just combining Oozaru with whatever SSJ power you already have. So it's not like it's a new base form or anything. Though having 'broken through' that initial clashing-energies-instability bit, it's probably going to be more stable/sustainable than SSJ3 or whatever.

As for the Eternal…well, it's immortal in that it can't age or get sick or anything. And its power is so vast Wistarion couldn't even dream of fighting it. But it requires life energy, and universes, to keep that huge power sustained. So it can starve to death without that—in fact, it's currently the only known way to kill it.

Q: Brilliant chapter, i like your concept of ssj4 but not sure about the look if that makes sense. I like that its still golden oozaru, just with a different reaction creating a stronger fighter. My problem with the look is that not every1 had pans reddish ssj hair so if more people were to turn ssj4 would their fur be golden. If so then it would make a lot more sense. I guess only gohan can be the only other person to turn ssj4 now. Would be cool if goku and raditz could reach that level, but its doubtful i guess.

Another question is that when pan did the transformation it wasnt 100 percent effective. Is it possible to have a 100 percent effective 'ssj4' transformation where they look the same but all the energy is converted into fighting power?

A: I really don't know how another "SSJ4" would look in BTtL. Lucky for me Pan was first, eh? Gives me more time to think…

Second part: No, there's always gonna be a little energy lost to the physical changes. But it's only a very small amount; Pan used almost all of the energy anyway, so even if it was somehow 100% effective, she wouldn't really be any stronger than she already is.

Q: Well... A fic where PAN of all people is now one of the strongest mortals... Speaking of which, where does she fit on your new scale of power from a few chapters back, if at all?

A: Not really at all, given that demigod ki comes under divine ki; so, being at the top of the demigod range, Pan is just under divine level.

Q: Can Alpha absorb the powers of the other shadow dragons? Or do they not have dragon balls on their bodies? And if she could, would that make her stronger than the Eternal? I'm just curious.

A: No, she can't; her powers are not the same as GT's Omega Shenron's. And no, they don't have Dragon Balls on their bodies. They weren't created by the DBs, remember? In fact, the DBs broke bringing them into the universe.

If she could, though, since all the Shadow Dragons were created from a small portion of the Eternal's power, even with their power added together, no, they wouldn't be stronger than it.

Q: I hope this is not the final saga. If it is, why bother making EFB? I just seriously want another longest, most-divergent-from-canon arc (BTtl chapter 1 reference).

A: Eheheheheh…we shall see…I suppose my plans for just how this is all going to go get more solid and less vague as their time to be put into fruition approaches.

Q: Thirdly, just the looses ends.
1. In the janemba arc, Supreme Kai clearly thinks that the name Janmemba was familiar. So did he read it somewhere or something?
2. Dragon Fist/Ryu-Ken is going to be explained soonish.
3. Tapion. When I listen to the stories Captain Space tells me, I listen very carefully (Kinda a BTtl Baby reference, sorry).

A: Very observant. As for the first point, though, nah, Supreme Kai has no clue what he's dealing with—Janemba tells him as much.

The other two, though…very observant.

Q: Fourth, Um... What was I gonna say? Er... (I really forgo-OH! Each and every saga in this fic has a different theme. But theme isn't really the right word, more like FEELING. I don't know how to explain it. It's on a different dimension that's hard to grasp, like we're 2D and flat (BTtl shifting reference). I mean, the saiyan saga's feeling was like... I don't know... But the countdown saga's feeling was kind of DBGT black star dragonball saga-ish feeling and now this saga has an EPIC feeling. It even made me have a dream about me playing a game based on BTtl/EFB where I was playing the Pan VS Hasphaestus battle! (He's really my favourite shadow dragon) Also, it's actually wierd that the Helios's canon equivalent, Nova shenron is actually not as bad, but here Hasphaestus is not as bad. (By the way, who would be Hasphaestus's canon equivalent?)

A: Interesting observation…Hephaestus has no canon equivalent, really. The only dragons with canon (well, GT, which isn't really canon) equivalents are Alpha (Omega), Helios (Nova) and Glacius (Eis). The opposing natures of Helios and Glacius are my tribute to GT's versions, since the rest of my dragons are completely different to theirs (even Alpha resembles Omega very little).

Q: Lastly, this chapter. I would have to wonder though, Is Pan's fur like GT red, or Lord Slug red? Also will any of the dragon's make trouble for Pan, except Alpha?

A: Well, I wrote that it was almost the same colour as her FSSJ hair, so I guess that it's a little lighter, maybe more like the GT red?

Second question: Certainly seems that way, doesn't it?

Q: But really, how does time work in DBZ. When you time travel shouldn't (for you) time stand still from where you left and you will return at that same time?

A: I seem to remember that the time machine Bulma built has a function where you can enter the time you want to arrive at. So if you want to arrive back at the exact same time you left, you just set it for that time on the return journey. So you can make time stand still if you want. It's a time machine.

Q: The whole soldier thing with Raditz didn't really add anything to the chapter and felt more like padding really unless there's an underlying purpose I missed...

A: Not too much, no. I mean, I had to do something for the return trip, but now people know what's going on it couldn't be too long. I suppose if there is an underlying theme to it, it's Raditz confronting his past again, what with the soldiers being mindlessly devoted to carrying out their mission and killing their target with no reason or purpose.

Q: Will break achieve this state [SSJ4] soon what with trying to combine LSSJ and regular SSJ or is she done trying to do that?

A: She probably isn't done, but that's a different combination of forms so it won't be "SSJ4" if she succeeds.

Q: Like the chapter question what saga will be after the battle of gods

A: If you're reading this, you'll know by now that it's Even Further Beyond, my substitute for GT. Hello!

Q: so exactly how close is the power of a super saiyan 4 to a supersaiyan god?
and cn it be tht goku transforms to a super saiyan 4? also if he does then would his super saiyan 4 be stronger than pan's cause he was many many many times stronger than her before her getting the demigod ki?
and cn a super saiyan with enough training become as powerful as a supersaiyan god?

A: "SSJ4" multiplies existing SSJ power. So since Pan already had demigod ki, she's now got very strong demigod ki. SSJG has divine ki, a step above even that.

No comment on what Goku will or won't do. No tail, for one thing.

(But if he did, yes, his "SSJ4" would be stronger. At least, as of this chapter it would.)

Much as "yes" would be a cool answer, I think no, they can't. At least, that's how BotG seemed to present divine ki to me, anyway. No matter how much mortal ki you have, defeating a god isn't simply about your power level.

Q: where do you get the jokes for bttl kai bonuses

A: I just think of them, which is why it takes me so long to do Kai instalments. And it's also why they're kind of stupid.

Q: Now for some questions...
1. Ok so, assuming Pan runs on demigod ki, does she even have a remote chance at becoming SSG or SSJ4? I know she can't control SSJ Oozaru, but i'm simply just asking.
2. Is there a reason for you naming some Shadow Dragons after the ancient Greek gods and titans?
3. I feel that a Hakaishin's gonna betray Bills, but that may be just me... Close or false?

A: 1. Answered by the more recent chapters.

2. Not really. It just sounded cool, and gave me plenty of opportunities to think of interesting themes and abilities for them. Also, having changed Omega to Alpha, I decided the Greek words sounded good for them, and worked from there.

3. Probably unlikely, I have to say. There's no real reason for any of them to side with a being as totally opposed to all life as the Eternal.