Dragon Ball GT: Maximum

by Kensh3h

GT is bad, goes without saying. Not nearly as much as Granolah, but still a work of very poor quality that's cemented itself as a contentious topic. To rectify this, in 2021 I decided to rewrite GT to a better standard of writing quality, hopefully living up to the quality of the original manga, with an expanded universe. Constructive criticism is welcome. 17 chapters remaining.

20. Redjic's Battles Past and Present

Chapter 20: Redjic's Battles Past and Present

The time was centuries before the present day, on the planet Styx. Their planet a gateway between dimensions, the Styxxan people were the greatest warrior race to ever live, created in specific by the Kaioshin 75 million years prior to the present day for the purpose of protecting the delicate balance between realms, between worlds that were not meant to interact… worlds tied together and yet meant to be kept separate in the endless web woven of time and space… This is a story of a lone warrior named Redjic.

"A-Another invasion from outer space?! This is the third time just this year!" yelled a villager amidst a huge fire that plagued the humble village where an elderly Styxxan woman, who by all accounts should be long since past the age one would expect to be able to give birth with the additional pain of injury and illness, was in the middle of labor.

"E-Elder! T-This village will at this rate be the first to fall in this wave of invasion! And once our stronghold falls, I fear that the assailants will make their way into the heart of the King of our great Planet Styx, and the River of Time and Space will fall into their hands! W-We must evacuate this place at once and inform the King and his Royal Styxxan Army, or I fear the worst will happen!" yelled a loyal but distraught follower of the village elder, husband to the elderly woman in the midst of labor.

"W-We cannot afford to evacuate this place in such haste," said the village elder, "before my wife reached the final trimester of her pregnancy, we both shared a dream… that the child that is to be born soon is to inherit the power of the River Styx, and unite all the worlds in perfect harmony as the one great protector of all of existence! What was separate for so long must become one again, and a proud and just warrior must be the one to maintain the delicate balance between worlds… The stars, the prophecy of the Oracle… It all points to my premonition that my child is to be destined to be something great, greater than any other warrior to have taken steps in the history of this universe!"

"T-That will all be for naught if we're all killed now, sire! I-I shall protect madame elder with my life, please entrust in me the life of your child!" yelled the loyal servant as he was then struck down by a Ki-charged harpoon through the base of his neck and died immediately. Left with no choice, the elder took hold of the harpoon and aimed it precisely at the assassin who killed his right-hand man, killing him with a precise blow to the heart. He then seized the assassin's other weapon, a pair of identical twin blades strapped to his waist, and then gently put his ailing wife in a horse carriage before generating a magic barrier around it.

"I-I probably will not survive this battle, and I fear that our prophetic dream also indicated that you are to lose your life in childbirth… But I still hold hope that our child is the destined one who is to inherit the vast power of the souls of all the late ancestors of the Styxxan race… and save us all from the war between worlds that is to come! For that to happen, you must escape this hellhole alive… and entrust to a reliable caretaker the future of our child! Can I entrust you with such a heavy burden?!"

"My life isn't to last long even if I were to survive childbirth… I am old and weak, by all accounts our baby is a miracle child... I have long since been prepared to lose my life, dear. B-But before that happens, I have a request. P-Please, I cannot bear to leave our child behind in this world without a name. Please… Please, give him a name. It's the least we can do as such horrible parents, leaving a child alone in this wretched, rent world to fend for himself, cursed with the heavy burden of such a grand destiny… Give… Give our son a name!"

"Very well. His name shall be… Redjic. Our son's name is… REDJIC! It means in the ancient tongue of the native language long since forgotten by most Styxxans, 'honorable and noble.' Because only a man of such flawless character and self-respect can be entrusted to protect the balance between all the worlds."

"R-Redjic… That… is a good name. I'm so glad… that we can leave behind such a fitting name for our only son."

"There is no time! The second wave of assassins is almost here! Run! Run and before you, too, expire, leave behind my last words…."

"Yes, I shall. Tell me of your last will and testament, I will tell it to our son even if it is the last thing I will ever do, dear."

"Your life even before you were born was fraught with nothing but misfortune, son. We believed for a long time after seventy years of marriage that your mother was barren, cursed to never deliver a child. And yet, even after she fell victim to an illness brought and spread to us by invaders, the gods of the Kaioshin-kai blessed us with a child who is destined to be the grand protector of all of existence. I know that not only are you destined for great things, but even in your infancy you will no doubt carve these words into your earliest memories. You are a man of both great intellect and strength, strength both physical and emotional. Mortals, even those of our warrior Styxxan race, are beings with limitations imposed upon us at birth. The true meaning of pride and freedom is to struggle, contend and wriggle within those boundaries and achieve all you want of life. Redjic! You must set your mind out to achieve greatness, become the greatest warrior of all! The task of protecting the balance between worlds, and connecting the web of space and time together is the burden imposed upon you. But I believe in you, son. Forgive your weak and incapable father for not being with you to watch you grow."

"A little on the long-winded side, but it is a great message… Farewell, my love! I will… follow you soon," said the wife of the elder as she whipped the horse and took off into the distance. Not long after, the village elder fought bravely against the army of assailants and died an honorable death. The carriage carrying the widowed woman took off into the distance, headed for the Royal Academy of Army Cadets, the place where she willed for Redjic to learn how to fight.

"T-The magic barrier that my husband cast on this carriage with his dying breath… Even with his strong will, it will not last much longer as we cross this desolate wasteland… Please, please… Please, my body, I beg of you, please do not give out on me before we reach the Royal Academy!"

The barrier broke hours later, still a thousand miles short of the Royal Academy. The laboring mother, struggling with massive dehydration and near death from the strain of holding back the widening of her cervix until she was sure Redjic would be safe from potential assailants, nearly passed out in exhaustion when suddenly, dark rainstorm clouds appeared in the sky above and rained water down upon the carriage, saving her from dying prematurely of dehydration.

"M-My love… You really were in the right, the Gods themselves wish for Redjic to be born, born into greatness… If you won't give up even in death and the Kaioshin's will protects us still, I won't give up either! A thousand miles or ten thousand miles, I will survive yet and give birth to Redjic in the safety of the King's court!"

Seven hours of unbearable pain took a toll on the desperate widow, until the light at the end of the tunnel shined upon them at last. The Royal Academy of the King's army cadets was finally within sight. Sighing in relief, the elder's wife nearly lost consciousness before willing herself back into clarity and then spat blood from the strain she'd been under for what seemed like decades. Nearly expiring from the strain, she kept herself in the thin line between the last moments of her life and death's door and then finally delivered Redjic at the very moment that the horse reached the golden gate of the Royal Academy. Wrapping the newborn Redjic with the top of her dress, she wrote with her blood the word "Redjic" in the Styxxan alphabet, before security guards stationed at the gate began questioning her motives.

"E-Elderly woman! Y-You're in terrible shape! Fear not, we shall bring our best doctors right away! If you can last just another thirty minutes, we should be able to restore you back to full health!" said a concerned guard.

"N-No. Healing powers alone cannot restore my savagely wasted, disease ridden body… I beg of you two, please take in my son, his name is inscribed upon the cloth I wrapped him in with the last of my strength… My final regret is that I no longer even have the strength to nurse him with my breast… He is destined for great things, so please… Please… Raise him into a powerful warrior. R-Redjic, I-I…"

Try as she might, Redjic's mother failed to tell him that she loved him with her last breath and died, and Redjic, as if aware of his parents' sacrifice even in his first moments, let out a cry that could be heard for hundreds of miles. The king of the Planet Styx, hearing his cry, muttered to himself, "Now that is a child with pluck. Perhaps the prophecy was true… Very well, I shall entrust in him the grand mission of protecting our world. But it shall most likely be a life more painful than the most painful of deaths. Be prepared for that, child…"

And so, fifteen years passed. Redjic had grown into the finest warrior that the King's court had ever known, yet having been traumatized with the unforgettable yet faint memory of his parents' painful demises, he could not bring himself to ever kill his enemies.

"Haaaah!" yelled the second-best student in the Royal Academy, who considered himself Redjic's rival of sorts, an assessment shared by no one else. Redjic, who had grown into an athletic but thin and innocent-looking young man, easily subdued him by knocking his spear out of his hands and then sliced the spear in half and used the halves to pin his "rival" down, prompting the latter to demand, "Redjic! You insult me yet again?! W-Why do you always fight me and win so easily, and refuse to finish me off?! I-I even tried to kill you in ambush many times! Just end me already, I cannot live bearing the shame of defeat any longer!"

"Life isn't so lacking in value that you should throw it away over a trivial reason like a loss in battle. In fact, these are not even life or death battles, we are merely sparring. If you want an honorable death, the Gods will grant you that gladly on the battlefield. You are an invaluable asset to this academy, I will not kill you or any of my comrades," said Redjic.

"Y-You disgust me! The code of a proud Styxxan warrior is that the moment a battle comes to an end, is the moment where life or death is decided! D-Do you really want me to kill myself in shame?!"

"I don't want you or anyone else to die, if I do kill anyone it will be in defense of this planet. My parents gave their lives for me and entrusted in me my honorable name. In their memory I won't kill a fellow member of my race."

"Y-You are disgustingly soft. With your meek personality, you'll likely not even kill even when you're finally deployed into the battlefield!" yelled Redjic's defeated foe.

"I suppose we'll see that soon enough. I feel a spaceship heading this way…" said Redjic.

"What? I don't feel any Ki signatures headed for Planet Styx…"

"It isn't just Ki, I sense the presence of several magical foes, the evil hearts they have allowed to be brainwashed by an even more sinister mastermind. You must steel yourself and free yourself of any sort of selfish, envious or evil thoughts. If you don't…"

As soon as Redjic said this, a massive spaceship with an "M" insignia landed on the King's courtyard and a crystal ball appeared in front of it, behind which was the wizard Babidi. He then said, "Paparapapa!" as all of the warriors of the King's court but Redjic began grabbing their heads in intense pain.

"Oh no… They arrived faster than I thought! Please, my dearest comrades, empty your minds of all thoughts of darkness! That small wizard is preying upon the darkness in your hearts, you must empty your minds of any and all kinds of selfish or entitled thoughts – "

Just as Redjic was about to warn the members of the Academy, the second-best warrior whom Redjic constantly defeated yet deep down respected fell victim to Babidi's spell, with veins emerging all over his body and an M tattoo appearing on his forehead. He then punched Redjic in the face with speed he never knew he had, knocking Redjic right into the golden gate of the Royal Academy and briefly stunning him. The rest of the Academy's recruits too quickly fell victim to the darkness in their hearts, the constant jealousy they felt of Redjic's talent and success in becoming the King's favorite. They all charged at Redjic with intent to kill, forcing Redjic to use a Zanzoken to escape into the sky.

"HAAAH!" yelled Redjic as he let out a massive Kiai with both hands, knocking out the inferior foot soldiers. However, his brainwashed rival, who had now tapped into power beyond his original limits, took advantage of this brief opening and broke Redjic's arms with a massive swing of Redjic's own spear, which he'd let go to fire the two-handed Kiai.

"I-I can't tell you how long I've waited to do this… You die here, Redjic! How ironic that in becoming Babidi-sama's loyal mind slave, I finally have the freedom and agency to surpass and kill you!"

Redjic's life flashed before his very eyes as he suddenly remembered his father's last and long-winded words, words of wisdom he could never fathom until this very moment. Redjic mustered the deepest wells of his strength and headbutted his rival, forcing him to let go of Redjic's spear. He then took hold of the spear with his mouth and sliced off his corrupted rival's head, before then grabbing hold of two knives strapped to the unconscious bodies of his other comrades and stabbing them into his broken arms to serve as splints.

"M-My dear and hated rival and friend… It must be a cruel joke of the hands of fate that the first man I ever killed was not an enemy, but a man I respected as a peer. Although your death ended up being in complete shame, I will remember the memory of your original, uncorrupted self in fondness. May we meet in Heaven when and if I ever were to die," said Redjic, as he was then ambushed by Babidi's other minions, PuiPui and Yakon. Redjic defeated the both of them with a mid-air dropkick that broke their necks, after which he sliced off their arms and legs, expecting magically enhanced creatures to be able to survive an injury to their necks.

"Quite sharp you are…" said a third warrior in Babidi's midst, who turned out to be an invisible man. The man quickly stabbed Redjic in the stomach with the two halves of the broken spear that Redjic snapped in the earlier spar against his defeated rival, crippling him.

"C-Cough!"

"Fuhuhuhuhu… I may not be as powerful nor as valuable in a head-on battle as Yakon, who can absorb all forms of light energy… but because warriors inducted into Babidi-sama's forces have a Ki that cannot normally be detected, my ability to mask my presence from sight makes me the perfect warrior to defeat the undefeatable in an ambush."

"Y-You dishonorable piece of trash…" said Redjic in frustration, as he found out to his horror that the comrades he thought he'd defeated also rose on their two legs, showing a resilience that was to be expected only of zombies. They all threw their spears at Redjic, forcing him to block them with a barrier. However, due to Redjic's injuries, the barrier cracked from the force of the attack, and his comrades them began a diaspora into the rest of the Planet Styx, clearly intent on slaughtering all of their own people. His reason now overridden by pure desperation, Redjic charged at them and broke through is own barrier, unlocking the ability to materialize weapons for the first time. With a long, wide sweep of a seventy-foot long broadsword he generated in his reckless abandon, he sliced all of his former comrades and the invisible man in half before nearly collapsing.

"W-What have I done… I-I took with my own hands the lives of my own countrymen, comrades who drank, slept and shared with me a decade and half of their lives…" said Redjic as he nearly cried tears of pure grief, at which point Babidi suddenly appeared above him with a barrier protecting him in case of Redjic were to retaliate against him. The evil wizard then said, "Fuhuhuhuhu… Everything has gone exactly as planned, we only had to lose the invisible man I'd brainwashed on the Planet Earth, there are many more who can take his place, with the same ability! And in return, we've managed to cripple the Styxxan King's most powerful warrior, and we've bought time to induct into our forces the ultimate recruit… I introduce you to the mightiest superpower of the Demon Realm, the Demon King Dabura!"

"D-Dabura?! The fabled King of the Demon Realm has been brainwashed by a mere wizard?!" yelled Redjic.

"That I have been. I am now Babidi-sama's most loyal henchman, the battle you waged against the lesser warriors of our team was merely a distraction to allow Babidi-sama the time to infiltrate the Demon Realm and recruit me. I must say, had it not been for your injuries you may have presented a fine challenge, so in recognition of your great power I will allow you a swift and painless death."

"He's right…" thought Redjic, "With my injuries I stand no chance against the Demon King, powered up by Babidi's magic… But if it is in order to protect my King and my home planet, I will give my life! With the last of my strength I will behead Dabura with my new weapon generating ability. I am sorry, mother… My great father… This is it for me."

Redjic closed his eyes and swung his broadsword at Dabura blindly, allowing the evil foe a chance to quickly dodge it with an afterimage and stab Redjic with his own magic-generated blade. However, such an action was predicted by Redjic, who generated a harpoon out of his mouth and stabbed Dabura himself in the forehead, resulting in the latter's defeat.

"D-Damn it! Even Dabura has failed?! B-But this isn't over, with Dabura's demon vitality and my own warlock magic, he can survive this yet! T-This isn't over!" yelled Babidi as he prepared to evacuate the planet with the corpses of Redjic's comrades and the unconscious bodies of Yakon, PuiPui and Dabura in tow, causing Redjic to finally snap and yell, "DO NOT INSULT THE MEMORY OF MY FRIENDS! YOU SHALL NOT DISHONOR THEM IN DEATH BY CONTINUING TO CONTROL THEM!"

Finally letting go of the chains of his logic and reason, Redjic blew up Babidi's spaceship before destroying the bodies of his fallen comrades with a mouth blast, although Babidi managed to teleport himself and his minions into safety. Upon realizing that he had lost them, Redjic went on a rampage that destroyed the entirety of the King's court, heedless of the severe injuries he'd sustained which were killing him slowly. Left with no choice, the King sniped Redjic in the head from a watch tower and knocked him out. He then said, "Redjic… I understand your pain all too well, you have always been like a son to me. Forgive me for having to put you down, but with your vitality I know that you'll still survive this yet. B-But I am afraid that there are no more healers left after that rampage to heal you. My remaining servants! I order you to put Redjic's body in a freezing capsule at once! Even if we cannot heal him with magic at the moment after all our healers were killed, I hold faith that in two or three hundred years, our medical equipment will have advanced enough that they can revive Redjic from suspended animation and restore him from the verge of death! It will be the hardest thing we've ever had to do, to protect this planet for so long without your help, Redjic, but I haven't lost hope! The Planet Styx and the gateway between dimensions and worlds must never fall!"

And so, two hundred and seventy years passed. A new threat was looming upon the horizon, the powerful "creator" of the Machine Mutant army, Dr. Mu and his right-hand man Rild.

"M-My king! I-I inform you in utmost shame and indignity that the last of the Royal Army has fallen… A-And the new strain of the Styxxan Plague that we thought we'd contained through quarantine has broken loose in the invasion led by Rild and the Sigma Force!" yelled the current King's Grand General, the man who had led the Royal Army for the past forty years.

"S-So it is as I feared… Ever since the days of our great ancestor, the great King who repelled the last great invasion two-hundred years and several decades ago led by Babidi, we have worked tirelessly to expand our army and defeat any invasion we could, but finally the last of our defenses have fallen. N-Now I can only do as my great ancestor instructed, I must reawaken the warrior Redjic!"

"R-Redjic?! Do you mean the berserk warrior who killed his own comrades to protect our planet?! If the stories I heard are to be believed, he went on an unthinking, mindless rage before he was finally subdued and frozen! W-What if he ends us first of all in his rage, sire?! A-Are you sure that this is prudent?!"

"Even if that happens, it would happen either way if Mu and Rild were to find their way here. And the Styxxan Plague has already affected most of our population. Their souls are now one with the River Styx, Redjic is our last resort, and the good news is that we can now restore even the gravely injured and near death to full health in five minutes, as our great ancestor had hoped! Put enough anesthetics in Redjic's bloodstream that he will remain still for five minutes, and upon healing he may be willing to hear us out!"

"Y-Yes, sir! I will carry out your orders right away!"

And so, the tragic warrior Redjic, who by all rights should have died nearly three centuries prior, was revived into a world of centuries past his time.

"Uhhhhh….." moaned Redjic as the anesthetics he was put under after being freed from his centuries-long hibernation wore off and granted him full consciousness in an eternity that felt like instant to the traumatized warrior.

"R-Redjic-sensei! I-It is a great honor indeed to be graced with your presence! You have been in hibernation for the past two-hundred and seventy years! As the Great King of your time decreed, you have been awakened in the face of a new crisis, one that surpasses even the dire threat of the wizard Babidi and his forces!"

"Y-You… You bastard!" yelled Redjic as he grabbed hold of the current King's general's neck and choked him, continuing to yell out, "I-I had no desire to escape the impending death that was granted to me… W-Why have you restored me centuries after everyone I knew and loved have passed…? I-I wanted to never again feel the pain of losing people dear to me again, eternal hibernation, free of guilt… free of the pain of loss… It was the only salvation granted to me! My last wish… My last wish as I fell into a deep sleep was to never fight again… So why?! Why must I reawaken in this accursed, sinful world?!"

"I-I understand more than you'll ever know how you feel, great warrior! B-But surely you must know the pain of losing everything, the Styxxan race has been reduced to a fraction of what it once was, at the hands of the Machine Mutants of Mu, a threat that eclipses even Babidi's forces! Y-You're the only one who has a chance to stop them! Y-You alone have the power, and with advancements in restorative technology we have healed each and every one of your injuries! So please, please, just this once, please follow your destiny… And put a stop to those who are on the verge of stealing everything from us! The River Styx must never fall into the hands of evil!"

"T-To hell with my destiny! It has brought me nothing but pain, the burden that my parents imposed upon me at birth… It was etched into my memory all my life, why… Why should I be forced to bear that burden again, after I've lost everything?! By my own hands I had to kill everyone I knew and loved, how can you expect me to enter battle again after that – "

"BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T, THEN THE WILL OF THE ANCIENT KING YOU SERVED WILL BE BETRAYED AT YOUR HAND!"

Redjic gasped.

"A-And not only that, your parents believed in you until the bitter end and went through a pain unimaginable to give birth to you on the courtyard of the ancient King. Will you let all of that be for naught?! All because of some emotional trauma of centuries ago?! You let your soul hibernate in oblivion for centuries, you let yourself become weak! But unlike the confusion of your weak soul, your body has grown stronger still from braving death again and again! And it will continue to stand back up on its own two feet! So please, please…. YOU MUST FIGHT!"

"…."

Finally convinced, Redjic generated a broadsword once more and smashed the capsule that had kept him in captivity for so long, after which he then said, "Fine. Have it your way. However, not even I could manage to possibly fight Mu's general Rild and an army of abominable robots by myself, now that most of our countrymen are dead as you say. Surely you must understand that even I have limits?"

"T-That's where you are wrong, sire! We have discovered an ancient ritual, one that allows you to become one with the souls inhabiting the river of time and space that connects worlds, the River Styx! You will be reborn with the power to heal your own wounds and a power beyond imagination! And the souls of those who passed on this planet will empower you forever… And grant you unlimited potential!"

"So to defend this planet from crisis, I must entrap in myself the souls of many innocents and take a shortcut to power… Is that what you are saying?!"

"Y-Yes, but it is a last resort that is worth it! Their lives have already ended in this never-ending cycle of life, death and rebirth, but the lives of the remaining Styxxans must go on! For the safety of your people, you must infuse into yourself the power of those who passed… You must do it to protect the balance of all the worlds and dimensions!"

"A disgraceful way for a proud warrior to gain power. But in return, you must not interfere in this battle. From this point onward, I will always fight alone. That dedication to protecting the last vestige of my pride, after having lost so much and yet having risen time and again… That alone is my conviction. As soon as I transform with the souls of so many millions of those who passed, you must flee this planet at once, you and the remaining Styxxans, all of you. Understood?"

"Y-Yes! The current King, myself and the other survivors will build new lives on another planet if we have to! Our race will live on, and you shall carry in you the will of our history and those who no longer walk among us!"

"Enough idle talk. Just lead me to the River Styx."

And so, Redjic infused in himself the powers of all the Styxxans who passed over seventy-five million years, and managed to repel Mu's invasion. However, the fact that he had defeated Rild but had not truly won, for Rild could not assume his Meta-Rild form on a planet that was not M2 continued to haunt him. Knowing that he had not truly beaten Rild, he spared his life and then destroyed his own planet to seal the gateway between all dimensions forever from Mu and anyone else who would try to abuse it for their own selfish purposes. With the collapse of his home planet, Redjic buried deep in his heart the memories of his fallen friends, his struggles against Babidi, and the horrible memory of the tragedies that the Styxxan Plague and the Machine Mutant invasion inflicted on his people. And for thirty years, Redjic continued to wander the universe in search of a powerful foe that could defeat and kill him to free him of his pain, knowing not where Rild and Mu hid in wait to commence their next attempt to take over the multiverse…. And now, it was he who found himself in defeat, weeks after the fall of Mu and the Planet M2.

"G-Gotenks… I-I am humbled by your power. I admit, I did try to attack you from a distance and take advantage of your Super Saiyan 3 form's huge power consumption, but in the end your speed and power exceeded mine."

"Heh, you at least managed to hit me in the chest a few times, and I'm a fused being with my potential unlocked! I don't really know the secret behind your rapid power growth myself, but ya got no reason to be ashamed of losin', pal. It was a good fight."

Gotenks reverted to his base form, at which point Pan landed next to him and collapsed to her knees, moaning "W-Wow… That was the most intense battle I've ever seen. I-It took all I had just to not get shocked right out of my Super Saiyan state…"

"Which is an effort I'm gonna give you some credit for," said Gotenks, "but it'll take more practice than that to master the Super Saiyan state. From this point until we set off for Planet Earth to fight Baby, you'll keep sparring with my unfused halves while staying Super Saiyan at all times except when you sleep. We can't have anyone weighing us down, you gotta get stronger too!"

"Yes. We must all grow stronger. I said that I would disclose the secret behind my power once you show me that you are worthy of my faith that you have a believable chance to defeat Baby, and having tasted defeat, I must concede and keep true to my word," said Redjic.

"This sounds like it'll be a long story… Don't go gettin' shocked or anythin' when my Fusion splits in the middle of it, 'kay?" said Gotenks.

"Now, where shall I begin… Yes, I know…."

And so, Redjic explained his entire background and history. Gotenks, who defused back into Goten and Trunks in the middle of the riveting tale, and Pan were all floored by the kind of traumas Redjic had gone through. They finally understood why Redjic was so stubbornly obstinate in clinging to his pride, and wanted to always fight alone.

Only about three months remain before the fated battle against Baby and his minions…

To be continued…