Dragon Blog Super #9: What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN? (Sacred World Arc)
a.k.a. The Animeister
and MasakoX Fan
Last time in Dragon Blog Z, the human fighters, Bulma, Piccolo, and the Saiyans worked together to cleanse Vomi, who had taken on a Janemba-like form after absorbing Majin Buu and the evil ki from the Otherworld Check-In Station.
The Earth's population was wished back with the Dragon Balls, their memories of Buu's feeding frenzy and the Earth Extinction Attack were erased, and Good Buu, Dr. Gero, and Gevo were wished back to life, as well.
Some details to keep in mind going forward: Broly is presumably still training on Yardrat; after consulting with Paragus, Vegeta elected to travel to Vampa in search of his own new power; Paragus and Piccolo are training their Ultimate forms; Gero and Vomi are still artificially enhanced, while Gevo is human; Videl is pregnant (it's going to be a boy this time, named Caltrop, after the Water Caltrop, a.k.a. the Devil Nut); and Beerus and Whis are not going to be a part of the Dragon Blog Super era of "What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN?"
Why is this the case? Well, let's just say that, with no consistent Saiyan involvement in the story, Beerus is never awakened by the Super-Saiyan God prophecy, so he gets to keep sleeping for as long as Whis can stand it.
That doesn't mean there won't be any godly involvement here, though. I am calling this the "Sacred World Arc," after all.
We'll begin with a familiar sight for Battle Of Gods fans: a semi-villainous mastermind seeking the Dragon Balls for selfish reasons while Bulma is hosting her own Birthday party on a private cruise ship.
It's not Emperor Pilaf here, though. It's Gero. He's been feeling insecure about his looks when compared to Vomi and their son (he's basically self-directing Toriyama's editor's criticisms of, "really? You want the villains of this arc to be an old man and a clown?"). Vomi is concerned that he's going back to his vengeful ways (as are all present on the ship, regarding this reunited family), but he reassures her, and especially Bulma, that he just wants to use the Dragon Balls to restore his youth.
Bulma (because we all know what she uses the Dragon Balls for in the series...) can totally relate, but as the Dragon Balls are supposed to be a Bingo prize at her Birthday party, she asks him to hold off on making the wish until the festivities are over.
So Gero puts his scheming to good use...sort of.
He's a mechanical genius, so he could easily rig the Bingo machine in his favor, but that wouldn't help his standing with the Dragon Team or his family, so instead, he starts going around the ship and asking everyone if they need help with anything.
This change in the old man is met with suspicion by almost everyone (the kids didn't know Gero's history with their parents, so they just think he's some old clown who Bulma hired for her party), but he persists in offering his assistance, hoping someone might give him their wish if he doesn't win at Super Fun-Time Bingo.
Even more interesting, though, Gero actually embraces the kids' misconception of him, and...remember when Vegeta did that goofy dance to announce Bingo? Vegeta isn't there, so Gero does it instead, and Straps, Bahdo, Bulla, and Marin think it's the funniest thing they've ever seen. Even Caltrop claps and burbles his appeoval of the spectacle. This greatly amuses Piccolo, as well, such that he decides to get a Bingo card, despite his usually stoic demeanor when it comes to frivolous activities.
When the first number is about to be called, however, the festivities are interrupted by the arrival of four beings: Shin and Kibito, someone who looks like a purple-skinned, one-eyed version of King Kai, and a blonde man whom Paragus recognizes from the Otherworld Tournament.
The blonde man, Olibu, exchanges pleasantries with the elder Saiyan, while West Kai grumbles at their camraderie, and that he even has to come to these North Galaxy losers for help. Shin and Kibito simply wait patiently for their chance to exposit.
As it turns out, the unusual concentration of good and evil ki on the Sacred World (from when Vomi was purified) unleashed something that had been sealed there for milennia, and it was currently wreaking havoc on this year's Otherworld Tournament. The one who originally fought against that presence, and helped the Kais seal it away, was Olibu.
So, have you guessed what the arc will be about yet?
Yamcha, Tien, Kumu, Piccolo, Paragus, and Tarble elect to go with Olibu and the Kais, but are told that they must employ stealth, as the escaped force has taken over the Otherworld Tournament for their own amusement.
Sneaking into the arena via some underground tunnels, the group find several competitors, including a yellow, bear-like sumo wrestler in a red mawashi, three Road Warrior-looking grapplers in clown makeup, and a man resembling Earthquake from Samurai Shodown, bound by powerful energy threads in a makeshift dungeon. The sumo-bear, whose name is Botamo, is relieved to see Shin, Olibu, and the others. But the Kai puts a quieting finger to his lips.
Shin and Botamo then whisper back and forth, with Shin introducing everyone and Botamo sharing intel on the current state of the tournament, the villains, and the nature of his energy bindings.
For the third time in two arcs, this gives Tarble an idea: he has Kumu slice through Botamo's bonds, and soon enough, a short man with teal skin, wearing a purple head wrap and white, baggy pants, appears before them.
"Trying to spoil the Master's fun, are you?" says Bujin with an evil smirk.
"Yep," Tarble replies, feigning resignation. "Looks like you caught us." He nods for everyone to raise their hands.
"Let's see how you do in the coliseum...."
They struggle as Bujin binds their arms behind them with his Psycho Thread technique, which also dampens their ki, but with sharp blows to the backs of their necks by a second assailant, they each fall unconscious.
When they awaken, the group find themselves in the center of an arena, with Bujin standing behind them, and four similar-looking, but taller figures before them.
Upon the throne designated for the Grand Kai, there sits a muscular man with long, spiky hair, wearing a black bandana. Standing to his right is a man with a mohawk and beard, and to his left are a woman with long, curly hair, and a spiky-haired man with a sword.
"Huh," says Tarble. "I didn't expect we'd become the main event so quickly; get ready, guys!"
Everyone takes up a fighting stance, but are unable to generate their auras.
"Master is not patient." Bujin says. "You would be wise to stand down. Or better yet, kneel."
With this, coils of blue thread glow around their wrists and ankles, forcing them to their knees.
"Let's have a look at the fresh meat," says the man on the throne, and Bujin drags them closer for his inspection. The leader, Bojack, regards Olibu and the Kais with disgust, but seems interested to find live warriors in the afterlife, including three strong Earthlings, a Namekian, and two Saiyans.
"I'd love to see how strong you really are." Bojack muses. "You are nothing compared to the almighty Hera Clan, but still, you may provide me with some entertainment. Bring out the rest!"
What follows is a Battle Royale similar to the Bojack Unbound Intergalactic Tournament and the Tournament of Power, with the out-of-bounds and submission rules in place, but Bojack announces that the living fighters will also be eliminated if they are killed. Fatal attacks aren't just allowed in this contest; they are encouraged.
The final eight competitors are Tien, Kumu, Piccolo, Paragus, Tarble, Olibu, Pikkon, and Botamo. Tarble goes low with a sweep on Botamo that sends him flying out of the ring. Piccolo fights seriously but honorably with Pikkon, recalling his old sparring sessions with Nail, and eventually wins by pushing Pikkon out of bounds with a Shinsenko (Masenko, but with good guy branding). This leaves Tien and Paragus, and Kumu and Olibu paired off. Tien loses to Super-Saiyan Paragus much like he did to Future Trunks in the movie, and Kumu pulls out a last-ditch victory over Olibu by using Kaio-Ken to drive him into an out-of-bounds wall with a Kamehameha.
But here come some new challengers!
In place of the four defeated fighters, Bujin, Bido, Gokua (because there's no name confusion if there's no Goku), and Zangya jump into the arena. It's still a free-for-all, but the most visually impressive fights are the sword fight between Kumu and Gokua (until the latter activates his Full Power form and beats Kumu senseless), and Ultimate Piccolo vs. Bido (until Bujin once again uses Psycho Thread to restrain him, and Gokua joins in, the two of them go Full Power, and--you guessed it--beat Piccolo senseless). Tarble uses Ultimate (based in Super-Saiyan 2, like Gohan's Ultimate was), but the villains here are much stronger than their movie counterparts, so he is no match for the combined forces of Bujin, Bido, and Gokua, either. Even the last four eliminated fighters, led by Olibu, make a concerted effort against these three Galaxy Warriors. But as expected, they are no match, and the living fighters are killed in the exchange. We even get Bido choking out Botamo (as he did to Doskoi in the movie). Only Paragus seems to be having any luck in his fight with Zangya, whose Full Power transformation (shorter hair and slightly increased muscle mass, but no change in hair color or skin tone) pales in comparison to Paragus' Super-Saiyan 3-based Ultimate form. It takes all four of the Galaxy Warriors using Psycho Thread against him to subdue Paragus.
Meanwhile, Vegeta returns to Earth after his training on Vampa, and learns of the Otherworld threat from Bulma, who seems more concerned about her party being interrupted. But because she is also better versed in ki than in the original, and she can still pull plot-specific tech out of her bloomers, Bulma has the time and resources (with Gero and Vomi's help) to track the Kais' teleportation and build something to get Vegeta to the Otherworld Tournament grounds (Animeister's Note: it looks like the rail launcher that sent the Intergalactic Tournament finalists and Hercule to the "other planet" in Bojack Unbound).
So when the Galaxy Soldiers are about to finish off Paragus, Vegeta's launch pod crashes right into them, disrupting the Psycho Threads and giving Paragus the opening he needs. Paragus pushes his Ultimate form to the limit, punching and kicking Bujin and Full Power Bido and Gokua into dust.
"Thanks for the assist, Prince!" Paragus says with a hint of sarcasm.
"Just don't get in my way, old man!" Vegeta replies, landing and taking up a fighting pose next to him.
"Oh, good; another Saiyan decided to join the fight. It's been so long...," Bojack says, finally getting up from the Grand Kai's throne. "Since I snapped someone's neck."
Bojack rushes in, taking the pair alone because, like in the film, Zangya is smart enough to not want to die. Bojack is strong enough here to take multiple Super-Saiyans at once in his base form, and even handle Super-Saiyan 2 Vegeta and Ultimate Paragus in his Full Power state, keeping Vegeta at a distance while incapacitating Paragus, who is the bigger threat to him.
Vegeta is too proud and no longer vicious enough to use Zangya as a hostage, but he does notice her as a potential number for Bojack, and keeps an eye on her as he engages the pirate with a flurry of blows and ki attacks. He knows that he is severely outmatched since Paragus was defeated, but fights strategically, finding an opening to gain momentum on Bojack, batting him around the sky before axe-handle smashing him to the ground and charging a Big Bang Attack.
Zangya then rushes to drag Bojack out of the way of Vegeta's attack, but when Vegeta fires it, Bojack simply recovers and thrusts Zangya into the path of the blast, killing her in his place.
This brings back Vegeta's memory of when he made Nappa take a finishing blow for him during the Saiyan Invasion of Earth. He surveys the bodies of those whom he previously betrayed, befriended, and held as rivals. His once-useless younger brother, whom he sacrificed himself for against Majin Buu. And like Broly before him, the power Vegeta had trained to achieve on Vampa overflowed. He screamed through the heavens, shaking Otherworld itself. Fury unlike any he had ever experienced washed over him, his body bulked up, his brow grew more prominent, and his hair and aura sparked green (Animeister's Note: This is not the same shade of green as Broly's, but something more akin to the in-between frames when Vegeta went Super-Saiyan in Dragon Ball Super: Broly. His appearance here is like a cross between Blue Evolution and Ultra Ego, but with green hair and a greenish, Super-Saiyan 2 aura; call it Super-Saiyan Green or Super-Saiyan Primal).
Bojack fires everything he has at Vegeta, who just walks dramatically toward him, the furious heat of his aura and ki'ai screams nullifying Bojack's energy blasts on contact.
Falling out of his Full Power state and backing away in fear, Bojack finds himself stumbling and falling into the Grand Kai's throne.
Primal Vegeta stops mere feet away, his arms outstretched and charging ki. "If there's anything I've learned from my short existence, Bojack," says Vegeta; "a leader must know that even those beneath him have value. For that reason, you do not deserve the throne you have usurped. That is your final lesson; and this is my Final FLASH!!!!!"
The attack vaporizes Bojack, the throne, and a sizable portion of the stadium seating behind it, and Vegeta, breathless and sweating, falls out of his new form, unconscious.
With the threat of Bojack and his Galaxy Warriors eliminated, the imprisoned Otherworld fighters pour out to celebrate their freedom.
When Vegeta reawakens, Tarble is standing over him, a halo above his head and a look of admiration on his face. Vegeta had not only gained a new power, he had undergone a level of growth that Tarble (even after what happened in the Buu Saga) thought him incapable of.
Vegeta doesn't get any kind of plot McGuffin, a medal, or a ceremony here because that would be stupid, it was stupid (Goku getting the Zeno Button, for example), and it would overshadow Vegeta's character growth. Besides, he destroyed Grand Kai's throne, and the jazzy old-timer really likes his throne. Let's just say that Vegeta gets to train with Grand Kai any time he wants, and in keeping with the unusual training trope of the series, Grand Kai has Vegeta gather insanely heavy, hard-to-find stones to build him a new one. First, though, Vegeta asks Shin to Kai-Kai him back to Earth.
Meanwhile, back on Earth, Super Fun-Time Bingo is cancelled because most of the contestants are dead, which means the wish prize has to be used to revive them. Vegeta asserts that the wish be phrased to revive "all those killed by Bojack and his underlings" (instead of just "our friends") because he wants to give Zangya a second chance. With two wishes left, Gero requests that his youth be restored (to mutterings of "Broly isn't going to like this" from those who remember what Android 13 looked like), and Good Buu wishes for unlimited pudding.
So ends the Sacred World Arc!
Animeister's Note: My thought with this part was to do something related to the gods of the Dragon Ball Universe without doing Battle Of Gods beat-for-beat. I remembered Masako saying in one of his videos that Olibu was inspired by Hercules, and Geekdom101's Movie Transformations Explained video mentioning that the Galaxy Soldiers were members of the Hera Race (multiple sources on the internet and in print verify these points). Race of Hera? Heracles? This is perfect! But it had been a long time since I watched Bojack Unbound, and it is a mess of a movie. Sure, it addresses the emotional aftermath and the legacy pressures of Goku's death in the Cell Games pretty well, but the setup is ludicrous, the dub makes no sense, the setting looks like someone put five Mario Odyssey kingdoms in a blender with the artists' hangover puke, the villains are stupidly underdeveloped, the power scaling makes no sense, random characters (Goku, Piccolo, and Vegeta, for example) show up only so they can contribute their respective tropes to the fight before getting their asses kicked, and the way Gohan gets Super-Saiyan 2 is an ass-pull in spite of how satisfying the payoff is for it. So I didn't just have my work cut out for me when it came to making a good Bojack story, I had to make my own pair of scissors and cut out the work myself.
It still has some of the flaws of the movie, and others of its very own (Olibu wasn't as integral to the story as I first intended when I started writing this part, which I regret, but not enough to change it). But I think moving the action from Earth to the Otherworld and borrowing inspiration from films like Spartacus and Gladiator for the infiltration and overthrow aspects, while keeping some of the highlights of Bojack Unbound intact and turning it into something of a development story for Vegeta did unltimately make for a superior telling.
Let me know what you thought in the comments below, and if you want to see what I have in store next week, let's go for another five likes and 100 views (which will be harder now that I've been banned from the r/dragonball and r/dbz subReddits for not following the rules that no one reads).
I also had to make my own scissors and cut out my own work to get the Zenescope - Omnibusted review of the Salem's Daughter comics done in time, so Stay Tuned for that on New Comic Book Wednesday, and until next time in Dragon Blog Super,
Animeister, and
MasakoX Fan,
Out!
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