Dragon Blog Super #19: What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN? (New Year's Re-Edited Recap)
a.k.a. A MasakoX Fan
Happy New Year, Ticketholders and Masakists!
Do Dragon Balls help with New Year's resolutions?
Oh, well; while I can't ask the Eternal Dragon to make me a more prolific creative voice, pay off my gambling and college debts, or give me the body of a well-tanned, high school swimmer like I was from 1999 to 2001, I can ask you fine Earthlings to please give me your energy by clicking the Follow button to Become A Ticketholder if you haven't already, commenting at the bottom of this post, helping out my ad revenue as you read, and following me on Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my content.
As I did last year, I thought I'd kick off 2024 with a retconned recap of my long-running take on one of MasakoX's less polished "What If?" stories. You might remember that this whole project began on November 22, 2022, as a reaction piece to said video, titled, "What If GOKU Was NEVER BORN?" Just a personal opinion, but I thought there were some continuity issues and questionable character motivations therein that limited and confused the potential of the story. You can watch it for yourselves here:
That simple reaction piece ballooned into a multi-part story that, at present, has me attempting to take things in a new direction with the less utilized supporting cast members (chiefly, with a focus on the new generation, not unlike Dragon Ball GT or the recently announced Daima series that is set to premiere this year). It's been slow going compared to when I was adapting the more well-tread material, and I could just swap a few characters around and mash up story beats to make things just different enough without losing their familiarity because archetypes exist, but I hope that by going back through those early parts and maybe doing a little retconning and re-editing, I can get some creative momentum back to push myself forward. So, let's get re-started...again:
Minus Era
To start off, Masako sets the scene with Bardock and Gine (Goku/Kakarot's birth parents in the original material) just...never meeting. So not only is Goku never born, but his brother, Raditz, doesn't exist either. This is fine. But even though he says that he's taking the story back to the very beginning of events as we know them (and he sort of does so with the continuity he presents), Masako then jumps to the beginning of the original Dragon Ball, with Bulma hunting for the Dragon Balls on her own so she can summon the Eternal Dragon and wish for...a boyfriend...or strawberries (classic Akira Toriyama subversion humor, and clever wordplay with Ichi-go and Ichigo--"number one guardian," a.k.a. a boyfriend, and strawberry--kanji experts will no doubt get toxic and pedantic about my simple interpretation of a complex, written language, but wordplay is wordplay).
They have a boy named Kumu (named after mushi and kuri, Japanese words for steam and chestnut). He's the "human Gohan" here, idolizing his father and respecting his mother, but scared of combat at first. Unlike Gohan, though, he doesn't have a rage boost, and therefore isn't pushed to fight as much.
Around this time, Mai gives birth to her second child: A girl named Marin (not to be confused with his and 18's daughter from the original, Marron, or Krillin's Bulma-alike filler girlfriend, Maron; this is a combination of Mai's name and the end of Krillin's Japanese name).
What Masako forgets in this--and just ignores later on so that characters (Jaco, specifically) can suddenly be there when the plot he created demands it--is Jaco: The Galactic Patrolman. In that prequel manga leading up to Dragon Ball Minus (Toriyama's retroactive Superman-ing of Goku's origin story), it's revealed that Jaco's entire reason for being on Earth is because the Galactic Patrol detected Goku's Saiyan pod landing there. We also learn that Jaco saves the life of a girl named Tights (Bulma's sister, who was body-doubling for a pop idol aboard a test rocket in Minus), and that the pair encounter a scientist named Omori, who is working on a time machine (a design which would later be perfected by a Future Bulma and used by her son to stop their dark timeline from happening in the main continuity). So no Goku? No Jaco. No Jaco? Tights dies in space when the rocket explodes. Tights is dead? Bulma would not be worried about boyfriends and unlimited fruit; she'd be gathering the Dragon Balls to revive Tights.
Dragon Ball Era
The Pilaf Arc
The actual first hunt for the Dragon Balls ("The Pilaf Saga" in the original) would otherwise progress the same as Masako supposes, but with Bulma being more desperate than selfish in her actions. As such, she and Yamcha (with Puar and Oolong's shapeshifting powers getting them all out of Pilaf's kiln room) would get the opportunity to wish on the Dragon Balls. But there's a problem: the Dragon can't wish back people who have been dead for more than a year, and it's been more than a year since Tights died.
Always the stubborn one, Bulma is undeterred by this news, and asks Shenron if there is another way to revive Tights. The Dragon then reveals the truth about Kami being a Namekian, and that their home planet might be somewhere to look.
21st Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament
Bulma uses a mini-jet to fly up to Kami's lookout, drops the "you're not God, you're an alien" bombshell on him, and Mr. Popo (the polarizing, ethnic caricature/genie who serves as Kami's assistant) shows her to Kami's old ship, much earlier than in the original. While she and her father are making it space-worthy, Yamcha is training with Master Roshi and his new student, Krillin, who clashes personalities with the ex-bandit immediately. Also, they compete in the 21st Tenkaichi Budokai (World Martial Arts Tournament in the English dubs), which a disguised Roshi wins under the name of Jackie Chun when he uses his height advantage against Krillin in much the same way as he defeated Goku in the original.
The Namek Arc
Following the tournament, the Namekian ship is fully repaired, and Bulma, Yamcha, Krillin, and a curious Kami, head for Namek. As the Namekian village elders sense no ill will among the group, and there is no interference by the Freiza Force this early in the story, the Namekian Dragon Balls are gathered without much opposition (Nail and Kami clash a bit at first, but that's all). Not only is there no resurrection time on these, but they grant three wishes instead of just one. So because reviving people in Dragon Ball restores their body at the location of the person's remains, there is some trauma and nausea as Bulma uses the first wish to bring Tights' remains to Namek, and the second wish to revive her (a little tidbit I used from the Resurrection F movie, when the Force is trying to wish Freiza back).
The third wish would be to send the scout party back to Earth, but only Krillin and Yamcha (with Bulma having given them the Dragon Radar) would be teleported because Tights (a budding science fiction writer) would want to get inspiration from Namek, Bulma would want to make up for lost time with her sister, and Kami would want to learn more about his origins and train with Nail. In their time on Namek, the three would make friends with some of the locals (including Dende and his brother, Cargo). In sharing what he knows of his origins with the Grand Elder, Guru (that he was born from a Nameless Namekian splitting in two), Kami learns of Namekian Fusion, which will be important later.
Red Ribbon Army Arc
Back on Earth, Yamcha and Krillin would train further with Master Roshi until he felt it was time for them to travel the world and refine their own techniques. In their absence from Earth, the Red Ribbon Army would have established a strong military presence across the world as a means to their own search for the Dragon Balls, putting them in constant conflict with the wandering monk and ex-bandit. Working together, Yamcha and Krillin are almost able to defeat Mercenary Tao (whom they encounter in the Sacred Land of Korin after he kills a local villager for a Dragon Ball), but the villain uses their underdeveloped synergy against them and leaves them on the brink of death. The villager's son, Upa, helps the duo recover and tells them of the legend of Korin's tower. Once recovered, they climb the tower and encounter Korin, whose challenge to take the Sacred Water from him improves their strength, speed, and stamina (as well as their combat synergy) enough that they easily win their rematch with Tao, who "dies" like he did in the original. Thereafter, Yamcha and Krillin lay waste to the Red Ribbon Army, recover the Dragon Balls, and revive the Army's victims.
"Demon King" Piccolo Saga I
By this time, Kami and the two Earth girls have earned the respect of the Namekian people, and Guru, the planet's elder, has seen fit to unlock their potentials. The trio say their goodbyes and leave for Earth.
On the way back, they come across Yardrat, where Tights gathers more writing material and they each focus on a different discipline of Yardratian training. Kami learns Instant Transmission and improves his Namekian gigantification, Tights learns illusion projection, and Bulma gains an understanding of ki through Forced Spirit Fission training.
While Kami is meditating one day, he senses something back on Earth: a disgruntled Pilaf has discovered the rice cooker holding "Demon King" Piccolo and frees him from it. With no one else to attack immediately, Piccolo grows bored and kills Pilaf before wishing for eternal youth and destroying Shenron.
But what of Mai and Shu?
Well, we know from the Goku Black Arc of Super that Mai can be a badass when things get dark, and she was always the most serious of the Gang, so I'm going to say that she and Shu managed to escape and go into hiding as Piccolo then set his sights on world domination, sending his four mutant offspring to target participants in the twenty-second Tenkaichi Budokai. This includes Yamcha, Krillin, and two new participants named Tien and Chiaotzu, whose master wanted revenge against Yamcha and Krillin for "killing" the Crane Hermit's brother, Mercenary Tao.
Otherworld Training Saga
Originally, I said that I would have Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu participate in the Underworld Tournament for the right to train under King Kai. But I ran through several scenarios with the Tournament, and when you get into details, it doesn't work very well thematically. So instead, I thought I'd have Fortuneteller Baba send the four of them through the plot of the Sleeping Princess In Devil's Castle movie. Why? For one thing, Baba is Roshi's sister, so she would probably know the legend as well, if not better, than him. It's also the perfect plot to take place in the Underworld, it's a rivalry reconciliation story, and Baba likes money. So the awkward buddy stuff happens similar to the original movie, just with Krillin being randomly paired up to Chiaotzu and Tien "getting stuck with" Yamcha. They fight through Lucifer's monsters, bonding all the while, until they discover what the Sleeping Princess really is, and what Lucifer has planned for the gem: he's going to do a Marvel skybeam that tears a hole to the living world and creates eternal night on Earth. While Yamcha and Chiaotzu combine their skills to steal the gem, Tien and Krillin fire a Kikohou and Kamehameha double attack to finish off Lucifer and his eternal night machine. Pleased with their efforts, teamwork, and especially the precious stone, Baba grants them access to King Yema's check-in station, where their recent heroism and teamwork in the face of reality-bending odds grant them access to Snake Way. Along the way, Tien and Chiaotzu teach Krillin and Yamcha how to fly.
There is no Home For Infinite Losers because of this, so let's move on.
Princess Snake does happen, sort of. Yamcha spares everyone from getting digested when he sees the sexy, blue snake women and runs off down Snake Way, screaming his head off. The others have seemingly no choice but to follow.
King Kai, as per usual, will not train anyone without hearing a joke. So of course, Tien starts complaining about having to go on all these wild goose chases just to get stronger, until he gets to the part about Yamcha and Princess Snake's attendants. This has King Kai busting a gut, and he agrees to train them all, in much the same way as Goku would later, if he existed in this story.
Yamcha would learn the Spirit Bomb, Krillin and Chiaotzu would learn Kaio Ken (more compatible with their smaller frames), and Tien would learn both.
"Demon King" Piccolo Saga II
Sensing Piccolo's release and increase in power, Kami uses Instant Transmission to return to Earth. Bulma and Tights stay behind to train more and keep out of danger.
Kami easily dispatches King Piccolo's children, but Piccolo himself is a different story because if he is killed, Kami will also die, as Piccolo is the other half of the Nameless Namekian. Also, Kami does not know the Mafuba/Evil Containment Wave in this scenario. So with Kami being stronger than Piccolo after having his potential unlocked and his Yardratian training, he is able to fuse with King Piccolo and remain the dominant personality in their body. Kami also goes about creating a new Dragon. But there's something different about it than the last Shenron. As Kami is stronger, this Dragon is also stronger. And what's more: the stone cracks away from the Dragon Balls, revealing that the stars on them have turned black. That's right; we're getting the Black Star Dragon Balls in this story!
Z Era
Saiyan Invasion Saga
The way Freiza gets involved in the story is similar to Masako's video, with Jaco finally coming to Earth to investigate the unprecedented amount of space travel and fluctuating energy signatures between Earth, Yardrat, and Namek. He meets Tights and Bulma on Yardrat, and convinces them to serve as his ambassadors on the other two planets, where he learns that the Galactic Patrol's circulating rumors of Dragon Balls are true.
Jaco, Bulma, and Tights return to Earth in Jaco's ship, and learn that Roshi, Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, and Chiaotzu are dead, at which point they gather the Dragon Balls and wish back King Piccolo's victims.
Having been revived, Roshi and Krillin return to Kame House, where they find Mai waiting for them with a sniper rifle at the ready. With King Piccolo out of the picture and Pilaf's castle in ruins, Mai took up residence in the most out-of-the-way place she could find, and that was the Kame House that she and the rest of the Gang tried to raid for a Dragon Ball back in the day. She's kind of filling the Launch role from this point, keeping Roshi's perverted tendencies in check with her sharpshooter skills. Meanwhile, Shu took up residence in Korin's Tower (insert comedic animosity because cats and dogs), where he improved his sword skills and learned to grow Senzu beans. Krillin often comes to Roshi's island to fire Kamehameha beams into the ocean, so he and Mai end up spending a lot of time together.
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| Teen Kumu, AI Art WonderAI |
Fast-forwarding to the Saiyan invasion, Freiza has spies everywhere, so he learns of the Dragon Balls as well, sending Nappa and Vegeta to Earth to scout (and possibly raze) the planet.
Little did they know how powerful Kami had become. Having the Namekian equivalent to the strength of a Super-Saiyan, or at best, an early Cell Saga "Kamiccolo" level of power, Kami can pretty much solo every villain in the series, up to and including Freiza.
Out of self-preservation, Nappa and Vegeta do the "we were only following orders because he killed our entire race and blew up our planet" schtick, and offer up Freiza's current location, to which Kami teleports, taking Freiza by surprise on his own home turf and vaporizing him with the Shinkankosappo (Piccolo, Jr.'s Special Beam Cannon, but with good guy branding).
Nappa and Vegeta attempt to betray Kami and attack Earth while he's gone, with Vegeta using the Moon Burst Explosion to turn himself and Nappa into Oozaru. With the help of some exposition from King Kai, Krillin tries to use the kienzan to cut off Vegeta's tail, but Vegeta jumps it like in the original, making Nappa take the attack for him, and Nappa is simply in pieces about this betrayal. Instead, Shu is the one to cut off Vegeta's tail.
After this, the four revived human fighters hold off Vegeta with relative ease. Individually, they aren't anywhere near as strong as Goku would have been with the same abilities, but together, they defeat Vegeta. And without Goku to temper their impulses with his own desire to fight strong opponents, they eradicate the last Saiyan (that we know of so far...) with a combined energy blast.
Black Star Dragon Balls Saga
Later, Bulma tries to locate the Dragon Balls to revive any collateral victims of the Saiyan invasion, and sees that the orbs aren't registering anywhere on Earth.
Time to go to space again! But first, the four human fighters propose the addition of a gravity chamber on the ship, after training under the increased gravity of King Kai's planet.
The party this time consists of Bulma, Tights, Mai, Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, Chiaotzu, and Jaco. Mai is solidly with Krillin, but she respects Tien's strength, and often begs him to teach her some of his techniques. In the meantime, Kumu is raised and trained by Roshi back on Earth.
When Jaco and the guys aren't training, Yamcha and Bulma have some quality time together, as do Tights and Jaco (yep, I'm doing it!), and Krillin and Mai. In their search across the Universe for the Black Star Dragon Balls, the group have several run-ins with the remains of the Freiza Force (but lack the infrastructure knowledge required to totally dismantle it), as well as some early GT villains like Ledgic, the Parapara Brothers, Tsunama, and the Church of Lud. They even stop on Yardrat for some refresher training, where Mai learns Spirit Control and becomes the only fighter capable of using Multiform without dividing her strength. But there is no Machine Mutant Empire backing the GT villains here, and no connection between them, because with the Saiyans all dead (at least, the ones everyone knows about), there is no Tsufurian revenge plot brewing in the background.
Speaking of revenge, though, as the group are battling through the ranks of the now-Cold Force and low-teir GT villains, Freiza's father, King Cold, lands on Earth with roughly a thousand soldiers (the Ginyu Force included), looking for Kami. The soldiers are nothing to Kami, but King Cold gives him a challenge. And when Cold is forced to go into his third form to get the upper hand, not even gigantification is enough to match him (I know it doesn't work this way in the series, but I'm giving it a negligible strength buff here because of the fusion and potential unlock from earlier...and just because).
That's when a familiar voice from Kami's past halts their battle, and the two turn to see a young Namekian in a purple gi and white robes standing there, brandishing a cane that looks identical to his own. That voice...that aura...how did he get free?
Rooms Of Time Saga
Kami is terrified at seeing Piccolo loose, but King Cold looks unimpressed. That is, until the young Piccolo turns Orange, strikes the huge monarch with a flurry of pressure point blows with his staff, and vaporizes him with a Light Grenade.
The young Namekian reveals that he is indeed named Piccolo, but he is Kami's son from the future (I'm borrowing a bit from another of Masako's stories here). He traveled back in time, using the Room of Ages, to warn Kami of an impending Android threat that would appear in three years' time. The future Androids are the same in this story as in the original, but slightly weaker with less Saiyan data to go on. Also, there is no Future Cell to worry about, either. The embryo in Gero's sub-lab will be a threat later, though.
Back to the conversation between Kami and Piccolo, Piccolo tells him that to beat the Androids, he will need the help of two Saiyans. But it's not Vegeta and Nappa (they showed they can't be brought on-side during the invasion). It's Tarble and Broly!
Piccolo also tells Kami that he should think about retirement. Kami and Guru are getting up there in years, and those new Dragon Balls are more trouble than they're worth. He should let them go inert, and train a few young Namekians to succeed him.
With his time up, Piccolo returns to the Future. Kami immediately heads to Namek to talk to Guru, Dende, and Cargo about what he learned. He also heads to Vampa to pick up Broly (also getting Paragus in the bargain, for better or worse), and then to the unnamed planet where Tarble and Gure are living, and convinces the couple to come with him to Earth, though Tarble is unsure how helpful he will be as a non-combatant Saiyan with less than three years of training.
This is where Kami reveals the Room of Spirit and Time, a chamber on the Lookout that allows one to complete a year of training in twenty-four hours (though he will need to first make some modifications to remove the two-day limit and one-person limit, and to minimize the psychological effects of the Room). While he is repairing it, he takes some time to himself inside, thinking more about his future son's parting words, and when the modifications are complete, he acts on an inspiration to do something he gleaned from the present-day Piccolo's memories: Kami spits out an egg, which soon hatches into an infant Piccolo.
On the outside, Jaco and the humans return from their Black Star Dragon Ball adventure with all seven in hand, and to the tune of many surprises. Vegeta had a nice, kid brother? Killer Androids? Time travel? Kami has a son? Tights and Jaco hooked up? Bulma's pregnant? Mai's pregnant...again? Whaaaaat?!?!?!?!?!?
And then there's the friendly dynamic that develops between Tarble and Broly, in stark contrast to the elder Paragus, who despises the Vegeta bloodline for what Tarble's father did to him and his son. But Tarble reminds him that King Vegeta did the same thing to him, exiling him to a worthless planet. It's all about what you do with what you're given.
Paragus grumbles at this, grudgingly seeing the logic in the younger Saiyan's words.
Kami trains Dende and Cargo, as well as Piccolo, in the ways of being a Guardian; and after some time, Dende is able to purify the Black Star Dragon Balls back to their original form. Piccolo picks up on this skill first because of his lineage, but is more interested in combat training than succeeding his father, and so frequently accompanies Tarble into the RoS&T.
Broly and Paragus enter as a pair on their turns (though Broly finds it easier to rein himself in with Tarble as his partner), as do Krillin, Kumu, and Yamcha, and Tien and Chiaotzu.
Being in mixed relationships, Tights and Gure become fast friends while Tarble trains.
Jaco, being the least interested in the rigors of sparring after all that gravity training he did in space, becomes the frantic nursemaid to Bulma, at Tights'...request.
Androids Saga
When the three years have passed, everyone is stronger, with Tarble and Paragus having achieved Super-Saiyan Grade 4 and Broly having gained control of his Ikari state.
The human fighters are stronger, too, being able to use higher multipliers of Kaio Ken without wrecking their bodies. But the aces here (as Future Piccolo intended) will be the Saiyans.
Right on schedule, the Androids begin their attack on South City. But something is different than the average Dragon Ball fan would expect. Future Piccolo didn't have time to describe 17 and 18 to Kami, so the Z-Fighters are none the wiser to the temporal discrepancy when they split up to search the city, with Yamcha and Krillin running afoul of a mechanically enhanced Doctor Gero, and Tien and Chiaotzu surprised to encounter Cyborg Tao. That's right; instead of the ceramic clown in Hammer pants that is Android 19, I'm finally bringing the cybernetic Mercenary Tao into this scenario! His original reappearance in Dragon Ball's third tournament went unexplained beyond "he's back as a cyborg so Tien can have closure." We still get that thematic bit here, but now his cyborg form has an explanation, and he's a lot stronger; kind of a lowballing of what Android 19 would have been. But in the original, Tien alone was able to hold off a well-fed, second-form Cell after a three-year training period, and here, he has Kaio Ken and the Spirit Bomb on top of that. Chiaotzu is also relevant in this story, and because of his smaller frame, he can handle higher Kaio Ken multipliers than Tien. So even with Cyborg Tao being on Android 19's level in this scenario (effectively replacing him), he stands no chance against Tien and Chiaotzu.
Yamcha and Krillin fare worse against Gero, as they are weaker than Tien in this story, and Gero (unlike Cyborg Tao) can absorb energy from them on contact. They fight him for awhile, but are worn down by Gero's Infinity Engine and energy absorption, and Gero eyebeam's Yamcha through the chest to distract Krillin, so he can escape and release more Androids. Unlike the massive chest wound he received in the original, Yamcha is able to survive the eyebeam wounds thanks to Krillin giving him a Senzu bean (I neglected this little detail earlier, but Korin did introduce these two to Senzu beans during their Sacred Water training).
As Cell is still an embryo here, there's no need for Gero to release 17 and 18 yet, so when he gets back to his lab, he instead activates three others....
Back on the Lookout, the Saiyans, Namekians, and Jaco, Gure, Bulma, Kumu, and Tights are surprised by the sudden appearance of Future Piccolo, who storms up to Kami, wanting to know why he didn't send the Saiyans down to Earth to destroy 17 and 18. Confused by these identifiers, Kami scans the area around South City and says the four human fighters were able to handle Gero and Tao. This is when Future Piccolo reveals that something is wrong; these Androids are different to the ones who destroyed his world. The ones he knows about look like teenagers, and they're too strong to be taken out by mere human fighters.
At Gero's lab, three unusual figures step out of their numbered pods: a short, purple Android dressed in garish, barbershop quartet attire; a muscular, quiet one dressed like a Roman gladiator, and a tall, blonde one in Red Ribbon khakis and a trucker hat.
Androids 13, 14, and 15 (especially 13) look upon their creator with disdain. He locked them away for being defective models, and now here he was, cowering and desperate for their help? Not mighty kind, is it, folks?
Gero saw this animosity in their faces and fumbled for the detonator in his pocket, trying to threaten them with permanent deactivation, but 13 was too fast, crushing the old man's shoulder with one hand and chopping his head clean off with the other (you might say he gave Gero a thirty-dollar haircut...). With that, they exited the lab and began scanning for Krillin and Yamcha's energy. By the time they found their targets, Tien and Chiaotzu had joined them, earlier sensing Yamcha's ki begin to fail. The three new Androids attacked immediately, and unlike with Gero and Tao, not even the humans' continued number advantage was a match for them.
Though the Androids did not have ki themselves, Kami sensed the danger his...friends?...were in. Huh...in all the time he had known these people, Kami had never thought of putting a label on their dynamic. He was far stronger than most of them (not counting the three Saiyans he recruited), and he had watched over them as Earth's Guardian since they were born, but while they weren't equals by any definition, Kami felt no air of superiority over them. After the Black Star incident, it didn't feel right to consider himself a Guardian, either. But he at least cared about them, felt concern for them, and trusted in them to do right where he could not be. Maybe that was friendship? Something else to think about later....
Anyway, before he could even react, Future Piccolo had already gathered Tarble, Paragus, and Broly together and used his own Instant Transmission to take them to the fight.
South City was in a shambles, but even so, it didn't feel right to take on the Androids here (especially with Broly in the equation). Looks like it's off to a frozen wasteland!
Once they are in the new location, the trios pair off as follows: Tarble (in Super-Saiyan) vs. Android 15, Broly (in Ikari) vs. Android 14, and Paragus (in Super-Saiyan) vs. Android 13.
The matchups are pretty even at first, but Broly takes the first victory thanks to his ability to grow stronger as he fights, wiping out 14 with an Omega Blast.
Originally, Dragon Ball's Saiyan characters (without rival chemistry) would respect each other's desire for a challenging, one-on-one fight. But with Broly being momentum incarnate and not having an opponent right now, he would probably head for the nearest conflict. By this point, Tarble would be on the back foot against Android 15 until Broly shows up and takes him out as well. Paragus would last a bit longer on his own against Android 13, using his combat experience and tactical prowess to prolong the fight.
But when the numeric odds seem stacked against him (Broly and a Senzu'd-up Tarble coming to Paragus' aid), Android 13 activates his failsafe, absorbing the processors and bombs from 14 and 15 into himself and becoming the red-haired, blue-skinned behemoth that is Super Android 13.
Super 13 lacks the consciousness of his normal form, and so lashes out violently at the nearest target: Paragus.
With that, all of the mental safeguards that Broly had built up to control himself over the past three years of training crumbled away. He screamed with a fury that could be heard and felt for miles around, even rattling the Lookout itself, and was engulfed in a column of greenish-yellow aura that stretched tens of thousands of feet into the sky. When the pillar dissipated, Broly was still surrounded by the greenish-yellow aura, but his height and muscle mass had increased dramatically, and his hair had changed color, too; Broly had become a Super-Saiyan.
It's too early in this story for Broly to be at the cosmic deity levels that he is in the Dragon Ball Super movies, but he's still Broly. Let's say for Androids Saga sake that his green-haired Super-Saiyan form is slightly stronger than teenage Gohan was in Super-Saiyan 2 against Cell in the original. Plus, he doesn't have the fatigue or injury that Gohan had at the time. So if it was unclear whether Androids could feel fear, Super-Saiyan Broly is your answer.
Also, yes. Yes, they can.
If Broly could kill Super 13 with a look, the Android would be dead now. Not that he would be alive much longer anyway. Super 13 can only try to run and parry a few blows from "the devil" (that was promotional hyperbole used to get the first Broly film over in the 90s) at first, but Broly's genetic quirk quickly overwhelms the Android, and this furious manhandling (he bats Super 13 around like the Android did to Goku in the movie) ends with Broly mindlessly hammering him into spare hardware and scrap metal, only stopping when he makes contact with the three explosive devices, causing them to all detonate in his face simultaneously and knock him unconscious.
Deep in a sub-basement of Gero's lab, a large computer monitor blinks to life, on which is depicted a pixelated image of Gero's face. Standing at the console is a red-haired woman in a lab coat and red-and-blue checkered clothing. She turns to face a massive gestation tank, where an embryo the size of a large cashew can be seen, floating in a greenish liquid.
"In time, my love," says Vomi. "Revenge will come in time...."
This will all play out later. But for now, Earth enters a time of relative peace.
Seven Years Of Peace Saga
Unnerved by his lack of control over Super-Saiyan, Broly has elected to travel to Yardrat for meditative training.
Much like Piccolo, Jr. in the original, Present Piccolo in this story has matured nearly to the physique of a teenager. He has many of Kami's memories, as well, so he can do just about everything Kami can do: Instant Transmission, the Shinkankosappo, gigantification, farsight, and (as mentioned in the last part) he knows how to make Dragon Balls. But as a result of hanging out with the Saiyans, he spends his days figuring out how to use his Guardian abilities in combat, rather than just being a proxy for his father. He's even been to Namek a few times and sparred with Nail. Piccolo enjoys these trips, and unlike Kami's first time on Namek, Nail seems to appreciate Piccolo's visits, as well. It's like they just get each other.
Besides, with Dende taking the Guardian role on Earth and Cargo succeeding Guru upon his passing, Piccolo doesn't need to be a Guardian anyway. He still shares his knowledge on a conciliary basis, but is otherwise content to be a fighter. The only thing that really weighs heavily on his mind is a flash of Kami's memory from when his future self arrived: he wanted to know how to get that Orange form (he isn't going to get it right away, though; there's still a long road ahead for him).
In this time of peace, there has also been new life.
Bulma has given birth to a girl named Bulla, who is scarily good with ki for a baby. |
| Marin, AI Art WonderAI |
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| Bahdo, AI Art WonderAI |
The following year, Tights gave birth to a cute, little alien boy named Straps (yes, it's a play on jockstrap, because his father is Jaco), followed soon after by Gure's daughter, Bahdo (I Googled "grey vegetable," and the first thing that came up was the grey Hubbard squash, so Gure and Tarble's daughter is named Bahdo).
Now, back to the story....
Without a strict academic upbringing beyond what he learned while in Roshi's care, and his martial arts and weapons training, Kumu has gotten a job as a police officer (like father, like son). Thus, he is present for the bank standoff when Videl shows up, and accidentally reveals his true strength to her like Gohan did in the original. There's no Saiyaman weirdness, no Cell Games trauma, no Golden Warrior or anything like that because there was no Ginyu Force influence and he's not a Saiyan, but Kumu plays off his abilities by saying he's part of a special program, testing powered police gear that boosts his strength and lets him fly. She buys it at first, but she decides to follow him one day, and sees him flying...out of uniform. The blackmail and romance dynamics occur like in the original, ending with Kumu teaching Videl how to use ki to fly and enhance her strength. Also, he has to fight in the tournament that's coming up.
25th Strongest Under the Heavens Tournament
Five years after Marin and the other kids are born, it's time for the 25th Tenkaichi Budokai. Much like the original, there is a Junior division and an Adult division now, with the Junior competitors including Bulla, Straps, Bahdo, and Marin, all of whom make the Final Four without breaking a sweat. Marin easily defeats Straps because she's more skilled and Straps (much like his father) doesn't take the fight seriously. Bahdo defeats Bulla thanks to the Saiyan factor, but Bulla still puts up a good fight thanks to her uncanny ki control. This is the case for the final between Bahdo and Marin as well, but it's a much more spectacular fight, with moments that ring of original Dragon Ball fights like Goku vs. Tien 22 and Goku vs. Krillin 23. The "prize" happens much like the original, with Bahdo getting a bonus match against the reigning, two-time champ, Hercule (Videl's father), and comedically owning him with a single punch.
The Adult division competitors are Tarble, Kumu, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Videl, Shin, Kibito, Spopovich, Yamu, and Hercule.
The backstage drama between Piccolo, Shin, and Kibito happen the same, as do the squash match between Videl and Spopovich, with Kumu giving the brute a stunning punch to the gut and flying Videl to safety.
Once at the hospital, Kumu stays with Videl to make sure she is in stable condition. When Hercule shows up to check on Videl, the two men butt heads, and Kumu sneaks her a Senzu bean like Gohan did in the original, the results of which confound Hercule and the doctors, giving Kumu a chance to slip away.
The Tournament continues with Kibito vs. Tarble, where the Kai attendant goads Tarble into Super-Saiyan so he can flush out Yamu and follow the two Majin-ized goons to their destination. The tournament is a wash now; the spectators are traumatized by the events of the last two matchups, and...did all of the competitors just leave? By flying?
Yes, and it's a long flight full of exposition about an ancient space wizard named Babidi and how he brainwashes people into gathering fighting energy for him so he can revive his living instrument of destruction, Majin Buu.
Well, Hercule is still on the tournament grounds, and he hosted and financed the event, so the Champ stays the Champ?
Babidi Saga
As in the original, Spopovich and Yamu spend their final moments learning what body horror is, and Babidi puts the Z-Fighters through a boss gauntlet that serves to both keep them from hindering his plans, and forces them to fight so he can gather their energy for Buu.
On the surface, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha, Kumu, and Kibito try to stall Dabura the Demon King, whose spit turns Krillin, Yamcha, and Kibito to stone. Piccolo gets struck on the arm, but rips it off before the petrification can spread any further, and grows a new one. Then, we get a cool battle of attrition in Piccolo and Kumu vs. Dabura, with Piccolo setting up the Light Zone Grenade (Hellzone Grenade, but with good guy branding) field while Kumu uses his Destructo Sword technique in combination with Kaio Ken to engage the Demon King in a high-speed sword fight. It looks awesome, and continues until Babidi calls Dabura away, saying that he has something more important for the demon to prepare for the other fighters. Unfortunately, Yamcha and Kibito are shattered by Dabura in the exchange.
Meanwhile, Tarble, Tien, and Shin make their way into Babidi's subterranean spaceship.
On the first level, Tien is the one to fight Pui Pui (it was Vegeta in the original), with Babidi transporting them to Zoon, Pui Pui's homeworld, which has gravity ten times stronger than on Earth. But not only did Tien undergo the most effective training on King Kai's planet (which has that same gravity multiplier), he trained under even higher gravity during the Black Star quest. So Pui Pui is nothing to Tien.
Level Two sees Tarble going up against Yakon. I use the word, "sees," quite loosely here, as their fight is transported to Yakon's lightless homeworld, the Dark Star. Which makes little sense because Yakon feeds on light, but the author of one of the best battle shonen manga in history can't think of everything.... Just like Goku did in the original, Tarble cranks up Super-Saiyan, feeding his ki to Yakon until the beast explodes.
But Babidi is only slightly perturbed by this, as he tells the fighters above and below that he has one more opponent for them. Remember that thing he had Dabura put the finishing touches on?
When Tarble, Tien, and Shin reach the bottom level, a door slides open at the far end of the room, and a familiar figure emerges: Vegeta.
Vegeta here isn't anywhere near as strong as he would have been in the original, but considering how Babidi's magic turned Spopovich (once the second strongest normal human on Earth) into an unstoppable mass of flying muscle and savagery, let's say this story's Majin Vegeta gets to a level of Super-Saiyan Grade 4, rather than an enhanced Super-Saiyan 2.
As the only one capable of matching that power, Tarble steps up once again. It's a great, symbolic, brother vs. brother fight, in which Vegeta spouts his old rhetoric about Tarble being weak and useless and an outcast not worthy of the Vegeta family legacy, while Tarble proves him wrong in real time by not only keeping pace with his more experienced, older brother, but getting in a few good shots here and there.
Oh, and Shin is shouting at them to stop feeding Majin Buu. But that goes as well as expected; soon enough, the walnut shell-looking ball that contains Majin Buu cracks open, and pink mist wafts from its interior. The ball appears to be empty, but an ominous ki fills the air, making Tarble and Vegeta stop their battle. Rather than dissipating, the pink mist coalesces in the sky above them, taking the shape of a childish, pudgy, genie-looking thing that starts cavorting around, laughing, and doing a strange ribbon dance with a strip of its own belly fat. The dance is soon accompanied by Buu spitting red energy balls across the landscape.
No one knows what to do. Babidi can't believe this childish fool is the weapon his father left to him. The remaining fighters try in vain to attack Buu with every physical and ki-based maneuver they know, but even when they do manage to make a dent or hole in Buu, he just laughs it off, sucks in a breath, and pop! It's like nothing ever happened. Babidi is thrilled with this development and commands Buu to finish them off, but the pink menace blows a raspberry at him. It's evident now that Buu can't be controlled, so Babidi sends Dabura in to fight him, only for Buu to immediately fire his Food Beam, transforming Dabura into a cookie and eating him. Babidi shouts more epithets his way, but Buu just floats up to the little potato wizard with a dead, menacing look in his eyes, and patty-cake's Babidi's head into a Thanksgiving side with red-eye gravy. Ouch! Eww!
Majin Buu Saga
Speaking of Ouch and Eww, with Dabura having been killed, Krillin de-petrifies and looks around to find Kibito and Yamcha have also de-petrified...in pieces. But Yamcha's pieces have fallen into a certain, memetic pose. So, yay for fans?
And speaking of fan service, now that there's no one to control Majin Buu (if he could have ever been controlled), Vegeta realizes the mistake he made in letting Babidi and Dabura get him out of Hell for petty revenge. He also acknowledges Tarble's growth and "pride" as a Saiyan warrior, hugging his kid brother before knocking him out with a chop to the back of the neck and facing Majin Buu on his own. Like in the original, Vegeta unleashes all of his ki in a Final Explosion, sacrificing himself to destroy Majin Buu. But also like in the original, this does nothing because Majin Buu can regenerate.
With no one left to fight him at the moment, Buu flies off to enjoy himself, terrorizing cities and turning their inhabitants into candy, cookies, donuts, and other treats to inhale en masse.
Sensing all of this, Shin hurries to wake up Tarble, and comes up with an idea: this isn't the same Majin Buu he remembered from those millions of years ago; absorbing Shin's master, the Grand Supreme Kai, changed Buu's appearance and demeanor. So maybe they can stop Buu by appealing to his childish nature?
Tarble shudders at the thought of engaging Buu in conversation. One wrong word, and he, too, could be rendered...narrow-minded...at the hands of Buu. Ugh.... Yes, Tarble had experience with this kind of thing from the time he spent with Broly, but Broly actually made sense; Buu, on the other hand, danced with his own belly fat and turned people into junk food. Not exactly normal....
Meanwhile, Piccolo has also sensed the growing threat of Majin Buu, and he, along with Kumu and Krillin, teleports to the Lookout, having his own plan in mind. But to go through with this plan invites much turmoil upon his soul.
As Kumu and Krillin train together in the Room of Spirit and Time, Piccolo reluctantly approaches his father.
With their differing philosophies, Piccolo and Kami never talked to each other much. It wasn't animous, like the God/Demon dynamic they had in the original; just a simple generation gap between father and son. Their awkward dynamic wasn't the only thing weighing on Piccolo, either. During his trips to Namek, he would often converse with Nail about Namekian history (when they weren't sparring), and one time, Piccolo broached the subject of Fusion. His father had done it to protect the Earth once, and it had made Kami stronger. But to Nail, Fusion was a taboo subject. There were so few of his people left that to allow Fusion could put their race in jeopardy. Furthermore, there was no telling which personality would dominate in a Fusion, or if an entirely new one would replace them both. The existential dread was almost too much to bear.
Thankfully, Kami and Piccolo didn't have to say much of anything because they could read each other's minds. All Kami said was, "Do what you think is best." Piccolo nodded and put his hand on Kami's chest. A bright light surrounded them, and when it faded, only Piccolo remained. He now had all of Kami's memories in addition to his own, as well as Kami's incredible power. Piccolo felt amazing! Great! Wonderful! Stupendous! Thesaurus! Yes! Yes! Yes!
Back on the ground, Tarble went about tracking down Majin Buu, who had grown bored with eating people and was just sitting cross-legged in the dirt in front of his odd-looking house, drawing with a stick.
Animeister's Note: I considered following in the paces of one of Masako's early What If? stories, and just having Tarble go Super-Saiyan and vaporize Buu while his guard was down. But that's not in Tarble's character, and if he did try that, he isn't strong enough to keep Buu from regenerating. If Majin Vegeta couldn't do it with all of his ki, Tarble has no chance of pulling it off.
Instead of that, a shuddering Tarble just approaches Buu, sits cross-legged across from him, and starts commenting on Buu's dirt-art, which is as terrifying and hilarious as that sounds.
Sure enough, Buu soon gets bored with this exchange, and decides he is hungry.
Though he is frightened that Buu might decide to turn him into candy because of the genie's short attention span, Tarble takes the risk of distracting Buu by asking if he really needs to turn people into sweets. Buu says that he likes the taste of real sweets better, but he's always hungry and there aren't enough of them in the world to satisfy him. This gives Tarble an idea, and he asks Buu to wait for him to bring food. Buu agrees, and continues with his dirt art, now drawing still lives of various foods. He is soon joined by Bee, a little dog who had been watching Buu and Tarble from a distance. With Tarble gone, Bee has gathered the courage to approach Majin Buu, and begins eyeing the stick in Buu's hand, then looking off in the distance, then back to the stick, the distance, the stick,..., until Buu gets the idea and throws the stick.
While Bee and Majin Buu are playing fetch, Tarble flies to Korin Tower to enact his plan. Originally, Senzu beans weren't written as the instant cure that they would become in Dragon Ball Z. In the Dragon Ball part of the story, a Senzu bean was more of a dietary supplement, able to keep a person full and energized for ten days. So going off of that, Tarble came up with the idea to disguise Senzu beans as gumballs, malt balls, chocolate-covered nuts, and other varieties of sweets. Sure, Buu wouldn't be satisfied with just one Senzu bean, but if he ate enough, even Buu could be satisfied for those ten days. It wasn't a permanent solution, but it was a smart one.
But back at Buu's house, the play session with Bee is cut short when Van Zant, Smitty, and an unexpected addition to their group set their sights on the playful pair.
As in the original story, Van Zant shoots Bee, and Majin Buu heals the little dog, but is so overcome with fury that steam starts coming out of his...pores?
But unlike the original, the steam doesn't form into Evil Buu; instead, it wafts through the air, like a delicious smell in an old cartoon, as it seems drawn to the third member of Van Zant's group: Vomi, of the Red Ribbon Army.
Majin Vomi Saga
See, back in Part One, I mentioned that Bulma did Forced Spirit Fission training on Yardrat. Because the Saiyan invasion didn't happen quite the same as the original, Dr. Gero's surveillance and DNA-gathering drones survived, and some of them found their way to Yardrat. Since Androids 13, 14, and 15 were destroyed, leaving Vomi and a digitized Gero to continue their revenge schemes, Vomi had taken steps to enhance herself (call her Android 21, if you like), including incorporation of data and DNA into her body and systems that would allow her to use Forced Spirit Fission. She and the Doctor had planned to wait a few more years before striking again when their technology had been more refined (and the Cell Project was fully grown), but the emergence of Majin Buu presented an opportunity too good to pass up: she and Gero had developed ki-suppression bullets that she wanted to test on Buu, and she used this to prey on Van Zant's twisted hero complex; Van Zant could be the one to neutralize Buu and save the world! And if that didn't work, she could simply absorb Buu's energy and dispose of Van Zant at her whim. But Vomi had no idea that Van Zant would target the dog first, or that Buu would have the kind of reaction that he did. Instead, she ended up absorbing the entirety of Evil Buu. This included the original Buu's rage toward Van Zant and Smitty the butler for killing "his dog."
People kept saying that Majin Buu was back. And now? Oh, yeah; I'm thinking Buu is back.
"You did well," said Vomi, concealing her concern as she held her hands up to siphon off Buu's essence.
"You did well," said Vomi, concealing her concern as she held her hands up to siphon off Buu's essence.
"My pleasure, babe!" Van Zant replied with a grin. "Now, about my payment...?"
But the man was so engrossed in fantasies of riches, bloodshed, and false heroism that he didn't notice the woman beside him starting to change form. When he did notice, the woman named Vomi now had dark grey skin, white hair, and was wearing an outfit similar to what that pink blob was wearing. Weird.
But the man was so engrossed in fantasies of riches, bloodshed, and false heroism that he didn't notice the woman beside him starting to change form. When he did notice, the woman named Vomi now had dark grey skin, white hair, and was wearing an outfit similar to what that pink blob was wearing. Weird.
Sexy-looking, but weird.
"Oh, you'll pay alright," said Evil Majin Vomi. "Now that Vomi is hungry." With that, her body began to lose form and turn into a sludge-like substance before crawling down Van Zant's throat.
Unable to control his body, Van Zant raised his rifle and shot Smitty dead.
Inside Van Zant's body, Vomi had eaten all of the man's vital organs, and began to expand until his flesh ruptured and he popped like a balloon.
"Not as delicious as candy," Vomi said, pouting. "Hey, Gummy-boy!?"
Buu looks up, having just healed Bee's wound. "You talking to Buu?"
"Yes. Vomi would like candy. Do you have candy?"
"No, Buu don't have candy...." Then Buu remembered something. "Oh! Buu's new friend said he would come back with candy!"
"Where is Buu's new friend now?"
Buu thought hard, and pointed a yellow-mitted hand in the direction of Korin Tower. "Buu's friend is that way. But really high up."
"Thank you, Buu." Vomi then fired a pink beam from her finger that turned Majin Buu into a gumball, and she swallowed GumBuu in one bite. With that, her body began to change again; still retaining the djinn-like attire and white hair, but a bit more curvaceous and with pink skin. She had become Super Vomi.
Super Vomi flew in an upward arc towards Korin Tower, keeping Tarble's image and energy signature in mind that she had absorbed from Buu.
When she arrived at her destination, Super Vomi saw a strange sight: a talking cat, a dog dressed as a ninja, and a young Saiyan man were rushing around a makeshift kitchen like madmen, churning out all manner of desserts and snacks at an inhuman pace (fitting for two animal-people and an alien), too frantic and engrossed in their task to notice that a pink woman was floating outside the window, watching them.
"Pardon the interruption," said Vomi, stopping the horrified trio in their tracks. "You are Buu's new friend, yes?" She pointed directly at Tarble, who got into a tentative fighting stance.
"Y-yes?" said Tarble with a flinch.
"Well, Vomi ate Buu, so now you are Vomi's friend. Will you give Vomi candy?"
"Ate?" Was all Tarble could manage after processing this flow of information.
The Buu part of Vomi grew impatient at this response, and raised a glowing finger at Tarble. "Look, new friend; Vomi is hungry. You have candy. Will you give Vomi candy, or will Vomi take your candy and eat you all, too?"
This threat unfroze Tarble very quickly, and he gathered a huge pile of sweets on the biggest platter he could find, presenting the smorgasbord to Super Vomi with shaky hands.
Unlike Buu, though, Vomi (the human part of her) liked to savor food, rather than just inhale it. She took a red velvet cupcake (which had been dotted through with Senzu bean nibs and frosted with a Senzu extract buttercream), and ran her finger through the frosting, which she licked clean before taking a bite of the cupcake itself. The look on her face was like something out of Food Wars, and she popped the rest of the cupcake into her mouth before moving on to a sampler of chocolate-covered Senzu beans and Senzu-infused chocolate chip cookies, followed by a few Senzu bean-decorated gingerbread men.
"I'm...glad you like them?" Tarble said with lingering unease. He didn't know how much it would take to keep this female Buu thing full, or if his plan would even work at all. But Super Vomi eventually finished the entire platter of sweets, and something strange began to occur: her aura flashed and she clutched her stomach with both hands. As she did so, her skin flickered rapidly between pink and dark grey, until both colors disappeared in puffs of smoke that then seeped into her skin and she fell to the floor, unconscious. Now, she looked more human: a red-haired woman wearing red and blue checkered clothing and a lab coat with the insignia of...
"The Red Ribbon Army!?" Tarble took a more aggressive fighting stance now, flashing into Super-Saiyan. "I thought we defeated them five years ago!"
Tarble approached the unconscious scientist, reverting to base form only after checking to see if she was feigning her condition, which she wasn't. "What do we do with her?"
"That's your call, bucko," said Korin. "Just get her outta here before you wreck anything!"
"Okay," Tarble said sheepishly. "Thank you for your help, Master Korin." With a bow, he scooped up the unconscious Red Ribbon scientist.
Hey, Tarble! Piccolo's voice barked in his mind. What's going on? What happened to Majin Buu?
That's a long, weird story; I'll be up in a minute to tell you what I know. My...guest...can fill in the rest.
With that, he flew up to the Lookout, carrying Vomi over one shoulder.
When he reached the Lookout, everyone present was shocked to see Tarble carrying someone wearing Red Ribbon attire, but he assured them she wasn't a threat...for now...maybe?
Tarble and Piccolo exchanged pleasantries and big developments (Tarble's tenuous exchanges with Buu and the Red Ribbon woman, and Piccolo's fusion with Kami).
When Vomi regained consciousness, she found herself on a cushy day bed inside a solid marble gazebo. Two people were watching her with cautious but concerned looks on their faces. She knew from available data that one was a Namekian (though she couldn't identify him because at the time of the Android 13 incident, Piccolo was still a child) and the other was a Saiyan named Tarble.
She glared at Tarble and lunged from the bed to attack him. "Your friends killed my dog!" But no sooner did she utter those words than she was gripped by a terrible headache, her hair flashing white, and she slumped to the floor, her fist inches away from connecting with Tarble's face.
Tarble was confused. This woman, who worked for one of the worst threats that the Earth had ever seen, was attacking them over a dog? It didn't make any sense.
"Let me talk to her," Piccolo said, to Tarble's surprise. "I can feel something about her that I can...relate to."
Tarble recalled his recent conversation with Piccolo, and nodded.
"One more thing; I think it'll be safer for what's left of the world if we go in the Room of Spirit and Time. If we don't come out after two days, blow up the door."
Tarble looked shocked at this, but nodded in understanding. "See you in a few days, Piccolo. Good luck!"
Piccolo grunted, carried Vomi into the Room, and shut the door.
Awaken. Vomi heard the Namekian's voice in her mind, and a wave of awareness washed over her, causing her to bolt upright. "Where are we?"
"Remain calm...Vomi, wasn't it?"
"Yes." Vomi took a deep breath. "Can you answer my question, Namekian?"
"It's Piccolo;" he corrected her. He then proceeded to tell her about the properties of the Room, which she took with much suspicion.
"So, are you planning on keeping me prisoner here?"
"Nah," said Piccolo. "I'm not the Guardian type. I just wanted to talk to you on neutral ground."
"What about?"
"First of all, what was that about us killing your dog?"
"Did I really say 'dog'?" asked Vomi, a hand on her forehead. "No, that's not right; that maniac sniper I hired was the one to kill the dog."
"Then why is your organization still trying to kill us?"
"When those two friends of yours attacked Muscle Tower back then--Yamcha and Krillin--my son, Gevo, was killed in the collapse. I've been planning my revenge ever since!"
"That's stupid," said Piccolo flatly.
"How dare you?" Vomi screamed, powering up and launching herself at Piccolo.
Piccolo, who had grown ridiculously strong since absorbing Kami, dodged her easily and restrained her with a Dragon Ball classic: the full nelson.
"Revenge is stupid, Vomi," said Piccolo. "Think about it; instead of wasting all these years and resources to send instruments of destruction against us, you could have just collected the Dragon Balls and wished your son back to life."
Vomi stopped struggling, now hit with the full weight of her error in judgement, and slumped forward, staining the ground with her tears.
Though it wasn't exactly in his nature to do so (maybe it was the Kami in him), Piccolo put a comforting hand on Vomi's shoulder. But in the instant he touched her, Piccolo felt something that made him recoil: a dark sadness and emptiness was building inside her.
"I didn't know what would happen!" Vomi said through her tears. "It wasn't supposed to be this way! All the planning, the Androids, that stupid sniper, all this power, and it got me nothing!"
"Why?" Vomi asked no one in particular. "Why?" The Room of Spirit and Time began to shake more and more violently with each repetition. "Why do I feel so empty!?" She screamed this last, a smoky ki seeming to emit from her pores, staining her skin a dark grey; the Evil Vomi persona had returned.
Tarble! Piccolo shouted with all his mental strength. Blow the door! NOW!
An instant later, the living quarters that marked the inside exit of the Room wavered and disappeared around them, leaving Piccolo and Evil Vomi trapped in the white void.
"What did you do?" she screamed.
"I made a choice to protect the people I care about," Piccolo said. "From the biggest mistake of my life. Now, we're both trapped in here together; forever!"
"Now, Vomi is empty! Hungry! Let Vomi out or Vomi will eat you!"
"You can if you want, but then you'll be stuck here, and with three more voices in your head!"
This thought, this perpetual, maddening emptiness and hunger, was enough to terrify even Vomi. She screamed into the void, louder and louder, making Piccolo dizzy with the increasing volume, and now there was a pink mist coming from Vomi's pores. She soon transformed back into Super Vomi, and her screaming continued, becoming ki as much as it was sound, such that (just like in the original) it tore a hole in reality: a hole to the outside world.
Upon seeing the architecture of the Lookout once again, Super Vomi leapt through the spatial tear, with Piccolo just managing to follow her before the hole repaired itself.
When he next laid eyes on Super Vomi, she was standing in a triumphant pose, her hand raised and gathering a ball of pink energy.
"Vomi will do you a courtesy," she said. "You," Vomi pointed at Tarble, "were kind to the one who gave Vomi this form, and you gave Vomi delicious, filling sweets.
"As for you," now pointing at Piccolo, "You tried to trap Vomi, but you also tried to help Vomi. Vomi also needs Dragon Balls, so Little Green will be spared, too. As will your loved ones. The rest of humanity must die!"
Fusion Saga
Locking onto the life force of everyone on Earth whom she did not promise to spare, Super Vomi unleashed billions of pink energy blasts. Everyone who could sense ki felt the near-instantaneous cessation of all human life on Earth, but none so much as Piccolo, who had inherited the Guardian sense from fusing with Kami, and he felt fully responsible for Vomi being in this state.
As such, it was his responsibility alone to stop her. But he wasn't strong enough, even after fusing with Kami, to defeat her as he was now. He combed through Kami's memories from when he was Earth's Guardian, and hit upon an idea.
Shin and Kibito exist in this story, and Vegeta and Paragus are both in the Otherworld. So it stands to reason that both Metamoran and Potara Fusion would exist here. Furthermore, because the Kai heirarchy exists in this story, an underutilized power from the original Buu Saga can be put to better use, too.
So, Piccolo uses his telepathy to communicate his plan to King Kai, Fortuneteller Baba, and everyone he can sense on Earth, then uses Instant Transmission to take them to the Sacred World Of the Kais. By the time he has gathered everyone safely, he's surprised to see that Vegeta and Paragus are also there.
As with Goku in the original, Paragus has been the one to participate in the Otherworld Tournament against the likes of Pikkon and Olibu, and has tapped into Super Saiyan 2 and 3 and learned Metamoran Fusion. I did this because Vegeta hadn't been dead long enough, he hates the Fusion Dance, and I thought it would be funny if Paragus was the one to teach it to Vegeta and Tarble. Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Kumu and the kids pick it up, too, but the real draw for comedy and irony here is Vegeta and Tarble. With most of the world dead, this needs a bit of comedy....
Meanwhile, Shin and Kibito lead Piccolo to the Z-Sword, and his strength training goes about the same as Gohan's did in the original, with Piccolo eventually able to swing the sword with such ease that he accidentally breaks it on a large stone and releases the Old Kai. Old Kai offers Piccolo something more powerful than mere strength training, but says he won't share it without certain perks. This leads to Piccolo risking Instant Transmission back to Earth to pick up some of Roshi's...reading materials from Kame House, which catches the attention of Super Vomi.
Now, we know that Vomi knows Yardratian techniques, but the Z-Fighters don't. So they are taken by surprise when Super Vomi teleports in right behind Piccolo.
"You shouldn't have left Vomi alone, Piccolo! You shouldn't have taken Vomi's new friends away!" She attacks with a flurry of blows that Piccolo is able to block more easily than he could before the Z-Sword training, but he can tell by her ki that he still isn't strong enough for a finishing blow.
Meanwhile, the Old Kai is just sitting and drooling over Roshi's magazines.
"You want friends, Vomi?" Piccolo says during one exchange. "You can have plenty of strong friends to play with. And when you're done playing, you can take the rest of your frustrations out on me; how does that sound?"
"Are you crazy, Piccolo?" the Z-Fighters shout in unison.
"Vomi accepts," she says, sounding impatient.
Piccolo assures them via telepathy that he just needs them to stall her until the Old Kai does his thing.
With that, the Z-Fighters pair up to perform the Fusion Dance, with Yamcha and Krillin forming Yamurin, Tien and Kumu forming Kushinhan, and Vegeta and Tarble forming Tarjita.
Yamurin creates a giant nyoizan (basically a Power Pole made of stacked Destructo-Discs that he drops on the opponent like SonSon's hyper in Marvel VS Capcom 2), Kushinhan grows two extra arms, each brandishing a kienzan sword, and divides himself in three before surrounding Super Vomi and chopping her to bits. None of these work, however, as Super Vomi quickly regenerates, only leaving behind enough scraps of herself to absorb the two fusions and take on the form of Meta Vomi (just picture Majin 21's regular design, but with a puffy vest and some conglomeration of their hairstyles). Tarjita attacks next with a Final Galick Gun, even going Super-Saiyan 3 to make the move stronger. But between the transformation and charging the attack, Tarjita defuses and the attack fizzles out.
"Vomi is bored now." she says. "Hungry, too." And with that, she teleports away, leaving Vegeta and Tarble exhausted, and Piccolo impatient about the Old Kai's progress. All he's done is drone and chant nonsense while waving his arms in Piccolo's general direction. What is this old man's deal?
More importantly, where did Vomi go?
Well, her hunger drew her to a place near the Otherworld Check-in Station, where a certain machine was chugging away in the wake of so many new souls arriving there. With a wave of her finger, Super Vomi turned the purification machine's attendants into sweets and ate them before setting her sights on the main course. Using her Forced Spirit Fission powers, Super Vomi began to absorb the evil energy that the machine had collected. But as when she was merely an enhanced human, the evil consumed her instead, causing her to take on a third form: one that looked like a feminine version of Janemba.
Animeister's Note: I cannot draw consistently well, nor can I draw anything of quality in a crunch, so I looked online for existing images, tried several prompts in WonderAI, tried Photoshopping something together, and tried using assets from HeroMachine to piece together a "Vomemba" design, and nothing clicked with me. Until I Patronized the Dragon Ball Fusion Generator. It's free, but for a modest three dollars a month (cheaper, if you're a yearly Patron), you can get an even wider variety of characters and fan creations to fuse together, stage with various backgrounds and particle effects, and share online.
Vomemba Saga
Meanwhile, Piccolo can sense the massive gathering of evil energy and snaps at the Old Kai to hurry up.
"I'm done," says the elder.
"What!?" Piccolo exclaims. "But, I don't feel any different."
"You will. Once you try powering up. You'll find that your ki is more unified than it was before."
Animeister's Note: For this, I consulted many Dragon Ball sources online to get a better understanding of how the Ultimate/Mystic form works. Since I can't use Super-Saiyan as a basis like the source material did (Piccolo is not a Saiyan, despite what whatever terrible, Westernized, censored dub you grew up with says), I went off the fact that Piccolo in this story has absorbed Kami, who is fused with Piccolo. I'm also employing a bit of a technicality here in that, while Piccolo has access to their memories and abilities, his ki up to this point has been compartmentalized; that is, he can access their fused strength, but the tiered nature of the fusion makes it feel almost like he's borrowing from someone else. Old Kai, in this case, has literally unlocked Piccolo's potential, such that all of that ki can be available to him at once, and more efficiently. I hope that clears things up.
Now better able to gauge and tap into his full strength, Piccolo teleports to the concentration of evil energy, and is taken aback by Vomi's new form.
He powers up into Ultimate, which has a more intense white aura, turns his skin a more yellowish shade of green, and curls his antennae slightly downward.
Vomemba chuckles at this and beckons him to attack, but quickly regrets her bravado when she finds herself doubled over in pain from a gut punch that she couldn't even track the movement of, and Vomits up the four human fighters she previously absorbed.
However, she still has Buu's regeneration in this form, and the dent in her abdomen pops out of existence. Now, she would get serious.
Standing and smiling once more, Vomemba wipes the remaining spittle from her mouth and disappears in a collage of red and blue cubes, only to reappear behind Piccolo, who senses her attack just in time to Instant Transmission out of the way and gain some distance. His fingertips began to spark. This was one of the attacks he'd been refining to work in conjunction with Kami's abilities. It took a long time to charge up, and he would need to put even more ki into it than normal if he was to secure victory, but he had a lot of defensive options at his disposal in the meantime.
The next ten minutes of the fight consisted of both Piccolo and Vomemba teleporting around each other and trading physical blows; Vomemba using cube portals to punch and kick from a distance, and Piccolo doing the same with his stretchy limbs.
Then, it was time: "Shin..."
A disembodied fist appeared on his left, and Piccolo blocked. "Kan..."
Teleporting to avoid a kick from the right, "Ko..."
And with "Sappo!", Piccolo appeared point-blank in front of Vomemba, and fired a massive, drilling spiral of energy that vaporized her from the waist up.
What remained of Vomemba's body fell backward on the ground, seemingly lifeless.
But Piccolo can sense this is not the case, and quickly evacuates Krillin, Kumu, Tien, and Yamcha back to the Kais' world.
"What happened?" Tarble asks when they arrive.
"My attack wasn't enough, and she won't fall for the same trick twice. Anyone have any other bright ideas?"
Though he knows how intelligent she is, Piccolo is surprised under the reality-ending circumstances, when Bulma is the first to speak up. "You said she got this way by absorbing energy, right?"
"Yeah?"
"So what if I just pull it out of her?"
Piccolo had honestly forgotten that she had Forced Spirit Fission. "No offense, Bulma, but you're not strong enough. Besides, what would we do with that much evil ki afterwards?"
With Roshi being there, he briefly pondered the Evil Containment Wave, but his memories of the other Piccolo led him to dismiss that as a temporary solution.
Shin then proposes the idea of Piccolo and Bulma fusing with Potara. The fusion would be stronger and more effective than a Metamoran Fusion, and combined with Ultimate, the Forced Spirit Fission would be more powerful as well. Though, it's never been tested on mortals....
Meanwhile to the team's brainstorming, Vomemba regenerates and teleports to the Sacred World Of the Kais, where she uses a cube portal to grab the broken Z-Sword, turning it into Janemba's classic weapon.
Having recovered with Senzu beans in the meantime, the Z-Fighters and Tarble and Vegeta fuse once again into Yamurin, Kushinhan, and Tarjita, and Paragus transforms into Super-Saiyan 3. Mostly, they are there yet again to buy time, but Paragus and the fused fighters will play a bigger role once they've served that purpose.
Using the Potara, Piccolo and Bulma combine to form Piccolma, and just as planned, the others hold Vomemba off long enough for Piccolma to tap into Ultimate and start using Forced Spirit Fission on her.
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| Created using the Dragon Ball Fusion Generator at https://japeal.com/dbfg/ |
Once the technique starts working, everyone but Paragus backs off from the fight. Kushinhan begins gathering ki from the World Of the Kais itself, Yamurin charges a Spirit Kamehameha, and Tarjita (in Super Saiyan 3) once again goes for a Final Galick Gun.
With Buu and the evil energy fully extracted from her body, Vomi collapses to the ground, unconscious, and with a combined Genki Kohou, Spirit Kamehameha, and Final Galick Gun, the threat of Majin Buu and the Otherworld's evil energy are wiped from existence.
For their assistance with ending said threat, the Saiyan and human fighters are granted Ultimate training as well (though Vegeta declines, viewing it as a handout; after what happened with Babidi, he resolved to gain power by his own merits), and Old Kai gives his life force to revive Vegeta and Paragus, fading away as their halos do the same.
Peaceful World Saga
Of course, there is the aftermath of the battle to repair.
Like in the original, the Earth and its inhabitants are restored, and their memories of Majin Buu are erased with the Dragon Balls. With two sets of Namek-level Dragon Balls in this story, though, there are three more wishes to consider. Strangely, Tarble sort of enjoyed the time he spent with Buu (when his life wasn't in danger), and wishes for the good Buu to be reborn.
Piccolo (having defused from Bulma because the concentration of evil ki damaged the Potara) kept tabs on Vomi in the weeks after the battle, to make sure she wasn't doing anything shady, and to monitor her recovery. When it came time to summon Shenron and Porunga, Piccolo insisted that Vomi accompany him. He then used the remaining two wishes to revive Gero and Gevo, for which Vomi was speechless and weeping with gratitude.
And with her family reunited and the world at peace once more, this is where the Z portion of the story ends.
Super Era
As we enter a new era of the story, here are 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 Super proceedings just yet.
Why is this the case? Well, let's just say that, with no consistent Saiyan involvement in the story, Beerus is not yet awakened by the Super-Saiyan God prophecy, so he gets to keep sleeping for as long as Whis can stand it.
There will be some godly involvement at a lower level, though.
Sacred World Saga
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 approval 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 camaraderie, 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.
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 approval 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 camaraderie, 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 millennia, 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 Bosumo, is relieved to see Shin, Olibu, and the others. But the Kai puts a quieting finger to his lips.
Shin and Bosumo then whisper back and forth, with Shin introducing everyone and Bosumo 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 Bosumo'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 Bosumo. Tarble goes low with a sweep on Bosumo 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 Bosumo (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 Saga!
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 ultimately make for a superior telling.
Vegeta and Zangya are going to ship at some point, but for now, it's just them not trusting each other, her struggling with the Hera Clan's "superiority" to the Saiyans versus her terror of Vegeta's Primal strength, Vegeta coming home totally worn out (he shares a duplex with Tarble, Gure, and Bahdo in West City) like a hard-working man of the house, her poking indignant fun at his disheveled, "royal countenance," and her slowly developing big sister dynamic with Bahdo, who looks up to the strong, beautiful stranger living in her uncle's house and does the comedically blunt kid thing where she asks "Auntie" Zangya inappropriate things about her relationship with Vegeta, all but matchmaking the two of them like the meddlesome friend in a rom-com anime.
Meanwhile, despite the long-standing animosity between Capsule Corp. and Red Ribbon, Dr. Briefs and Bulma have been collaborating with Gero and Vomi on various projects (like the Kai Kai Rail from the Sacred World Arc, keeping tabs on any emerging Red Ribbon-related activity, and that book on ki that Gohan wrote in the Dragon Ball Online/Xenoverse/Super Dragon Ball Heroes continuity? It's a joint effort by Bulma and Vomi in this story, with Tights' new company, Bookstrap Publications, handling the distribution). This leaves Gevo spending a lot of time with Bulla, who bonds with him over their shared love of cars and mechanics. The age discrepancy here is too vast for any kind of romance between them (with the exception of Caltrops, the kids are about seven or eight by this time, and Gevo is most likely of legal age, considering he has an established military service record); they're just a pair of grease nerds hanging out and repairing old cars together.
The ki-control book and the slice of life stuff with Bulla and Gevo are fun little touches, but the important thing to note out of all of this is that when Gero and Vomi begin to feel comfortable with telling Bulma about Gero's lab, and the sub-lab beneath it where Vomi and the digital Gero were developing the Cell Project, the three of them travel there to investigate (and possibly deactivate Cell and digital Gero), and discover that the entire complex has been stripped bare. This will become important in a future part.
Second Coming Saga
The real focus of this arc comes about with Kumu and Videl, who are taking Caltrops, Marin, and Straps camping in the woods near Mt. Paozu.
One night, a streak of light crosses the sky, followed by an impact explosion that is close enough for the group to see and hear, but not close enough to be a danger to them.
Unlike in the series, no one is stupid enough to just assume it's a meteor. Everyone in the vicinity of Earth who can sense energy knows what--or who?--it really is, including Kumu.
"What is it, Kumu?" asks Videl, seeing his reaction to the impact.
"Get the kids to safety; I'm going to check it out!"
"Be careful, okay!?"
"I will, Videl; Love you!" With that, he blows her a kiss and waves before leaping away through the forest.
When he arrives at the crater, what remains of the forest around it is destroyed or in flames. He generates an energy sword and uses it as a fan blade to choke out the blaze before addressing the crater itself. Though the cause was as he expected, one question persisted in his mind:
Who would be able to do this to Broly?
The imposing young man was on his back in the impact zone, unconscious, his armor broken and ripped all over, and a fresh stomach wound could be seen, which was still smoking from being cauterized in the fall.
Kumu is about to heft the unconscious Broly into a fireman's carry when he senses four sinister powers heading his way.
He stands ready to fight, facing in their direction, and waits for their approach.
"Just who are you guys?" Kumu asks when the four beings arrive.
"We," says a short, blue-skinned alien with coiffed yellow hair. He strikes a Sentai pose, and two of the others quickly follow suit: "Are Salza!
"Dore!" said a tall, muscular alien with green skin.
"Neiz!" a reddish, frog-like alien announced.
And finishing in unison: "Lord Cooler's Armored Squadron!"
The fourth was a stoic, purple-skinned figure in a black trenchcoat, who remained still and silent but for a disapproving look in their direction.
"Hey, Ketch!" Salza hailed him. "Why aren't you posing with us?"
"I am paid for kills, not theatrics."
"Suit yourself, zen!"
"Are you the ones who did this to my friend?" Kumu asked angrily.
"No," Salza replied in a fluid, guttural accent. "Zat was ze work of monsieur Cooler himself." Salza then tapped a button on his scouter (something that Kumu had never seen firsthand, so he didn't make the connection between the device and the name of their leader), and read Kumu's power level before smirking. "But, we can make your condition match his, if you'd like."
With the mysterious "Ketch" still taking an observant role, Salza, Dore, and Neiz rushed in to attack Kumu in unison.
Kumu immediately went into Ultimate, making the Squadron's scouters explode. They flinched for an instant, making their companion take notice, and that small delay was all the opening Kumu needed to close the distance between them and go on the attack. However, the trio soon found an opening of their own, when Kumu threw a punch at Neiz, who withdrew his head between his shoulders just in time to avoid the strike, throwing Kumu off-balance and allowing Salza and Dore to hammer him to the ground, followed by a flurry of ki blasts. Dore landed, picked up the injured Kumu by his scalp, and began to squeeze (what the dub calls his "Can Opener Attack"), eliciting screams of pain from the young fighter.
This was when Piccolo transmitted in and blasted Dore in the back, knocking Kumu from his grip.
"That was dirty, you back-shooting slug!" said Dore, rubbing the smoldering spot where Piccolo struck him. "You'll pay for that!" The brute takes a swing at Piccolo, who dodges the punch with ease and incapacitates Dore with a flurry of pressure point attacks (something he had been practicing since gaining full access to Kami's memories, especially those surrounding his future self's encounter with King Cold).
This also caught Ketch's attention (puns!), though he still did not get involved in the fight.
Piccolo then tended to Kumu, giving him a Senzu bean and learning of the Squadron's true nature.
"That tracks with what they're wearing," he said acerbically. "Looks like the leftovers from a Freiza Force bargain sale. You good to fight?"
"Yeah," Kumu replied, standing back-to-back with Piccolo. "Now that I know what we're up against."
"Good." The duo took up their respective fighting poses, both going into Ultimate, and Kumu stacking Kaio-ken on top of it for good measure.
Without their scouters or the ability to sense ki, the two remaining members of the Armored Squadron rushed in to attack, with Salza focusing on Piccolo and Neiz trading blows with Kumu. Neiz's turtlenecking technique led to him landing a few good strikes on Kumu, but despite his larger frame, weird powers, and speed, the frog-man was the weakest of the Squadron, and when Kumu got serious, summoning his kienzan sword and increasing his Kaio-ken multiplier, Neiz couldn't dodge or fire ki blasts fast enough to keep up with his movements, and was soon reduced to a finely pureed salad spread that drifted away on the wind.
At his back, Piccolo was having trouble with Salza, despite being able to sense that the Space-Frenchman was weaker than him. It was like Salza was predicting his moves and dodging them. What's more, the continuity of their fight didn't make any sense, like there were gaps and jumps in the flow of battle. Piccolo could do nothing but use Instant Transmission to gain some distance between them.
"Kumu!" he shouted. "Get Broly out of here!"
Kumu did as he was told, hefting Broly over his shoulders and flying away. Neither Salza nor Ketch pursued him, as their focus remained on Piccolo.
As in the Cooler's Revenge movie, Kumu took Broly to a nearby cave (in the original, it was Krillin and an injured Goku) to keep him out of sight until he recovered. This did not keep Kumu from sensing the arrival of a terrifying new power, however.
Though he was unconscious, Broly's mind swirled with images and flashes of memory. Training on Yardrat. The arrival of a large, saucer-like spaceship. An army pouring out, led by a lean, imposing figure with a tail. The deaths of the Yardratians. Broly engaging with the leader and being outmatched. This sequence played in his mind on repeat. But then, something else began to creep its way in; something he had not experienced for himself before. His memories flashed with a reddish aura that grew to an infernal intensity until it replaced his cycling thoughts altogether. The aura dissipated, revealing a hulking, Saiyan form wearing animal skins, who bore a striking resemblance to Broly himself.
"Are you Broly?" asked Broly.
"No," the primitive Saiyan replied. "I am ancestor. Genetic memory. First Saiyan God. My name, Yamoshi."
Animeister's Note: I took inspiration for this from Goku's vision on Namek, the Super-Saiyan 3 and 4 transformation sequences, and the dub line about the Super-Saiyan God speaking to Goku in the anime, just with less Goku and more clothing.
From the cave's entrance, Kumu can see a large, circular shadow washing over the land, as well as feel the numerous powers on board. He can also sense some undefinable change happening within Broly, and the weakening ki of Piccolo.
Having also sensed the arrival of these sinister powers, Tarble, Paragus, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, Roshi, Jaco, Mai, Shu, Vegeta, and a reluctant Zangya fly at top speed toward the landing site, where they find Salza and Ketch standing over a nearly unconscious Piccolo.
From the ship, a thousand soldiers emerge, all wearing armor similar in style to that of the Squadron, and at the head of the army is a figure that strikes fear into Piccolo's heart; his appearance and ki aren't identical, but they are close enough for the Kami in him to make the connection.
"Frei...za!?" Piccolo says, his voice thready and hoarse.
"Not quite, Namekian," a deep, pompous voice replies. "But many thanks for dispatching my brother all those years ago. When I heard the news, I just had to prepare myself for the day when I could thank you properly. Now, here I am! Men‽ Give these primates my thanks, would you?"
And so, the Thousand Soldier Battle commences, proceeding much like it did in the Resurrection F movie and anime arc, with the less-utilized Z-Fighters (including those active in this scenario, like Mai, Shu, and Jaco) getting a chance at the spotlight, each taking out multiple grunts at a time, dodging ki blasts and lasers as they fly through the woods like Speeder Bikes on Endor, and showcasing every technique at their disposal (Mai re-teaming with Shu and sniping goons in multiform is pretty badass).
But when the weakest minions are dispatched, it comes down to the Z-Fighters against Freiza's brother, Salza, and Ketch, the latter two of whom still have Piccolo hostage.
Of course, they can all sense that only the Saiyans have any hope of winning.
Tarble and Paragus go Ultimate, while Vegeta transforms into his Primal state. This last visibly shakes Ketch, who releases Piccolo. Piccolo takes this opportunity at freedom to pop a Senzu bean and Instant Transmission to safety.
"You back with us, Piccolo?" asks Tarble, not breaking eye contact with their three opponents.
"Yeah. Watch out for the purple guy. I think he has some kind of time-manipulation power."
"What about the leader?"
"That's Cooler; he's Freiza's older brother."
"Wait...," Vegeta says in shock. "That's Cooler? I thought he was just a rumor!"
"Didn't you also think Super-Saiyan was just a legend?" Paragus quipped.
"Shut it, old man!"
"Are you monkeys going to stop arguing," Cooler interjected. "Or do I have to...break you up?"
Ever eager to prove himself and test the results of his "training," Vegeta rushes in first against Cooler, leaving Paragus to tangle with Salza, and Tarble and Piccolo teaming up against Ketch, who easily incapacitates them with his Timeskip ability (because if there's a Hit in Universe Six, it stands to reason that Universe Seven would have a similar character). Paragus easily finishes off Salza and joins Vegeta against Cooler. They have a strength and number advantage at first, but just like in the movies, this member of the Freiza Clan trained himself into a fifth form, and now slightly overpowers them such that strategy will make all the difference.
As uninteresting as the main Resurrection F fight's choreography was, things here proceed similarly to that original source, up to and including Vegeta going for the finishing blow on Cooler, who goads him into hesitating so a hidden minion can blast him through the heart. Cooler then charges a Supernova and begins to drop it on the Earth.
Despite herself, Zangya, who had fallen back after the Thousand Soldier Battle, burst into tears at Vegeta's apparent death.
What happens without Whis there to rewind time after the fact? Well, that's what Ketch is for!
Instead of the rewind happening after the Earth is destroyed like in the original, Ketch is able to foresee Cooler's actions by skipping ahead, and trap Cooler and his attack in his Time Prison technique.
"Dishonorable tactics," Ketch says. "As expected of my target."
"Who are you?" Tarble demands. "Explain yourself!"
"Yeah," adds Jaco, shakily brandishing his ray gun. "On the authority of the Galactic Patrol!"
"Well, if it isn't the 'Super-Elite' himself! Still associating with primitive species, eh, Jaco?"
"Huh? Do I know you?"
"No, but I'm well-versed in you." The purple alien flashed them a badge. "Agent Mis, Galactic Patrol Special Forces. I've been undercover with Cooler's organization for years."
"Why didn't you stop him before, if you have this kind of power?" Tarble asked, enraged over the loss of his brother and the collateral damage to Earth.
"No opportunity," Mis said coldly. "Even as his fourth, I couldn't get close enough to capture him." He then put a glowing hand on Vegeta's chest wound. "Thank your brother for the distraction when he wakes up."
"What will you do with Cooler?"
"I'm sure I can find a hole deep and dark enough to keep him from being a problem. Oh, yeah; while I'm here, a planetoid will pass through your system in the next month or so. Its negative energy readings are off the charts." With Cooler in custody and the warning delivered, Mis boarded Cooler's ship and departed, hopefully never to be seen again.
"That guy was scary!" said Krillin.
Everyone else agreed in unison before bursting into awkward laughter. The Saiyans were the first to stop, however, as Mis' warning hung heavy on their minds. An evil planetoid passing by Earth in around a month? Even Tarble, who was the pacifist among them, was overcome by the instinct to train and get stronger.
Vegeta woke soon after to find himself in the care of a relieved Zangya, and was also driven by his own defeat and the news of another impending threat.
Meanwhile, having sensed the end of Cooler's revenge (for now?), Kumu emerged from the cave with a still-unconscious Broly on his shoulders. In the light of day once more, Broly's eyes shot open.
Animeister's Note: As with the previous saga, I tried to introduce Universe Six-inspired characters into the story in unexpected ways (making a version of Hit that was an undercover Galactic Patrol Agent serving as the Guldo of the Armored Squadron), adapt some of the early movie highlights into a Beerus- and Whis-free version of an arc of Super (here, combining elements of Broly: Second Coming and Cooler's Revenge with Resurrection F), and give some page time and development to characters that I previously neglected. Is it still the Saiyan Show? Yeah. Was Mis' reveal a bit too convenient and deus ex machina? Yes, but I thought it was also more interesting than "Broly shows up and beats Cooler to a pulp," and it's better for ongoing storytelling than how I left the last part. We've got Broly back, Cooler has the potential to return, Zangya got some (rather quick) character growth, and there's Gero's empty sub-lab and that evil planetoid to contend with.
Cursed Planet Saga
We resume after Broly has awoken. Kumu makes sure Broly is able to stand, and Broly reveals that while he was unconscious, he had a dream where he spoke to a Saiyan named Yamoshi who claimed to be the spirit of his ancestor. Yamoshi warned Broly that an ancient enemy of his would return soon, and that Broly would need to get more powerful in order to defeat it.
When they reunite with the others, Kumu shares this information with them, and learns in turn of the evil planetoid that Mis warned them about.
"Do you think they could be connected?" Asks Tarble.
"Given our luck with ancient evil lately," Krillin says with a shudder, "It wouldn't surprise me."
Yamcha then calls Bulma, who passes the news on to the space exploration division of Capsule Corp. With the progress that she and Vomi have made on long-range energy detection, they should be able to track the planetoid's movement and get a firm deadline on its arrival.
While they waited for a response from Bulma, a red stain began to reappear on Vegeta's chest, and Zangya shouted for help. "I thought that Mis person healed him!?"
Piccolo came to the rescue with a Senzu bean, and Vegeta's wound began to scar over. "I don't think he had that kind of ability; he probably just reversed time to before Vegeta was wounded. He should be fine again in a few minutes."
Zangya was visibly relieved at this, but then remembered herself and feigned disgust that Vegeta had gone soft in the heat of battle.
(Stop it!!!)
"We should all train to prepare for the coming threat." With Vegeta out of commission for the moment, Paragus was the one to make this suggestion, to which everyone agreed.
Vegeta must have heard "the T word" (it doesn't matter which; "training" and "threat" are both enough to get a Saiyan's blood pumping) because he bolted upright, unaware that his head had been resting in Zangya's lap for some time now, and said, "I want to train with him!"
To almost no one's surprise, Vegeta was pointing an adrenaline-shaken finger in Broly's direction. He had been trying to keep his composure at the mention of Broly's Yamoshi vision (yet another name of legend from the tales he was told as a young prince) before he blacked out from his wound catching up with him, but the rush of the Senzu bean's effects and the zenkai they provided relieved Vegeta of his self-control.
Zangya, in the heat of the moment, called Vegeta an idiot and karate-chopped him on the top of his head, rendering him unconscious for the third time in a span of minutes. Her face beet-red now, she simply shouted at Broly to remove the idiot prince from her sight before she changed her mind. What she would change her mind about? She refused to elaborate.... Tsundere waifus, am I right?
True to what Mis had told the Z-Fighters, Capsule Corp. also estimated a time of arrival of one month. In that time, almost everyone took multiple turns in the Room Of Spirit and Time. As I usually do, here are the pairings that go in:
Broly and Vegeta go in first and most often (with Broly carrying an unconscious Vegeta in for the first round),
Krillin and Mai (training as a couple like he did with 18 pre-T.O.P. in the original),
Tien and Chiaotzu (because they're practically joined at the hip),
Piccolo and Paragus (the aged strategists with Ultimate),
Yamcha and Bulla (father-daughter sparring),
Tarble and Buu (I'm smacking my forehead because I omitted Buu from the last two parts; let's just say he was asleep the whole time, okay?),
Zangya and Bahdo (remember what I set up at the beginning of this?), and
Kumu and Marin (brother-sister sparring).
The adults also go in as pairs for serious training, and the kids get to spar with each other, but I wanted to give some of the familial relationships, couples, and less conventional pairings time to develop. Roshi opted out because he felt he was getting too old and too far behind the others, especially after Cooler's invasion. Jaco being Jaco, he claimed "important Galactic Patrol business" (which was only partially true because he wanted to dig up dirt on Mis) and noped out of training, leaving Straps in the care of Videl.
Videl is still a housewife in the story at this point, as she is taking care of Caltrop, but with her father being less famous, she has less fame and fortune to cushion her lifestyle, and so still pursues martial arts and practices her ki control, and has taken over the re-named Videl Castle Dojo from Hercule, hoping to improve its reputation. So rather than babysit the lazy, charismatic Straps, she keeps him in line through the rigors of martial arts training and Toriyama-esque physical comedy.
A month passes, and Piccolo is training on his own in one of the many, barren wastelands of Earth when three shadowy figures attack him. He handles them easily until they transform into bulkier states and overwhelm him.
 |
| Sichuan/Sancho, Cinnamon/Nikki, Ginger |
Not even Ultimate is enough to contend with them, and Piccolo is beaten unconscious and taken to the Lookout, where five more beings wait to greet him.
 |
| Vinegar, Mustard, Spice, Garlic, Jr., Salt |
A short, red-skinned man wearing a cross between Saiyan armor and Russian garb waves something in front of Piccolo's nose, shocking him awake (smelling Salt pun!).
"The centuries have been kind to you, Kami," says a shrill, sinister voice. "No, that isn't right; I sense Kami within you, but you are not him entirely."
"What are you doing here, Garlic, Jr.?" Piccolo asked, though the time of his and his underlings' arrival answered that question for him. Just as the original Piccolo did with Cell, this Piccolo is goading Garlic into a villain monologue to buy time. While Garlic, Jr. was expositing, Piccolo telepathically contacted the Z-Fighters for backup.
The villains here are scaled up in power compared to their original versions to pose a challenge to the Super-era heroes, and I'm combining aspects of the Dead Zone movie and the anime filler arc with the Goku Black/Future Trunks Arc of Super, so Garlic, Jr.'s origin is pretty much the same, but he was imprisoned in the Dead Zone following his rebellion against the "original" Guardian of Earth, which involved him wishing for immortality (though he omits this last, and a couple of other trump cards, from his exposition dump). And just like in the filler arc, the "evil planet" Mis warned of here (Planet Makyo, a.k.a. the Makyo Star in the dub) allowed the Dead Zone to re-open, freeing Garlic, Jr. and his seven Makyan underlings.
With the villain monologue delivered, Garlic aimed a Death Impact at Piccolo. But the Z-Fighters arrived just in time to make the save, including the Saiyans. Sensing that there is more to Garlic than his small size suggests, Tarble, Vegeta, Broly, Paragus, and even Zangya and Buu, team up against him, while Kumu, Krillin, and Mai (who has learned to use Kaio-ken and developed her own signature ki attack, the Sniper Cannon--it's charged like a combination of the Kamehameha and the finishing shot Granolah used against Gas in the manga--from her RoS&T sessions with Krillin) engage with the buffed-out, blade-weilding trio of Nikki, Ginger, and Sancho. Of course, this features the obligatory swordfight sequence with Kumu, a family Kaio-ken activation, and the villainous trio being reduced to hot garnish and party favors. Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, and a Senzu-recovered Piccolo square off against Mustard, Vinegar, Salt, and Spice, respectively, doing the Ultimate/Kaio-ken stacker that Kumu used in the previous arc to finish off the Spice Boys. Yamcha was a competent fighter here, unlike his original portrayal, combining his hand-to-hand skills, Spirit Ball attack, and the Power Pole to overwhelm his opponent, and the Chiaotzu vs. Salt fight was brief but pretty entertaining from a strategy, badassery, and comedic perspective.
With all of his minions defeated, Garlic, Jr., who had been holding his own against the Saiyans thanks to his immortality and superior ki control and magic power, now chose to activate his own empowered state.
In their RoS&T training, Tarble had learned to tap into Super-Saiyan 3, using his Tarjita fusion from the Majin/Vomemba Saga as a base, and so improved the well of potential that his Ultimate form could access. Paragus, who had already grown accustomed to a Super-Saiyan 3-based Ultimate form, chose to work on the stamina drawback, achieving something akin to Grade 4, such that he could remain in Super-Saiyan 3 naturally. Vegeta and Broly's training mostly consisted of Yardratian meditation and image training, with some physical sparring for practical testing purposes. As such (and using his experience of mental conditioning for Oozaru back in the day), Vegeta was better able to think rationally while in his Primal form. The big surprise--one of many to come in this part--that only Vegeta was privy to was the change in Broly. Not only had he learned to calm his mind in his Super-Saiyan form, he was now also able to keep his power from "overflowing" and bulking up his body (similar to how Kami was able to Gigantify without pain after his Yardratian training, but with the opposite application), thus improving his mobility while transformed. Zangya's form remained unchanged, but during her times in the Room, she learned to attune her body to the energy of her Heran jewelry, strengthening her base form and letting her access her Full Power state without relying on her accessories. And of course, we also get Crossfit Buu like in the anime before he decided to sleep through the potential Destruction of all Reality. With Base 3 Ultimate Tarble and Paragus, Primal Vegeta, Controlled Super-Saiyan Broly, Full Power Zangya, and Skinny Buu to contend with, Garlic, Jr. can do nothing but tank hits and heal with his immortality.
At one point, he shouts and erupts in a ball of energy that pushes everyone away. "It's time I even the odds; come forth, Evil Saiyan!"
Garlic, Jr. uses this reprieve to open a small portal, out of which steps a bulky, dark-haired Saiyan with an oppressive, dark aura that stirs something ancient yet familiar within Broly.
Yes, because I'm following my Super-era convention of combining arcs of that series with old movie villains, this Dead Zone/Garlic, Jr. Saga/Goku Black Arc has its immortal deity candidate villain, but it needed a dark mirror Saiyan character and a Black Water Mist parallel, so I decided to borrow from Super Dragon Ball Heroes and bring in the Evil Saiyan, Cumber!
Zangya, Piccolo, Buu, and the Saiyans try to attack Cumber physically, but Paragus, Vegeta, and Tarble are infected and driven mad by Cumber's Evil ki, and turn against Zangya, Piccolo, Buu, and Broly. Based on what lore we get in the Super Dragon Ball Heroes promotional anime, Zangya and Buu aren't affected because they aren't Saiyans--though in the game itself, any character can access an Evil form, including the Galaxy Soldiers. But why isn't Broly affected?
To answer that, you'd have to go back to an interview with Toriyama about the lore behind the "Super-Saiyan God" (just called Saiyan God in this story because I like making people happy with logic slightly more than I like using logic to piss people off), where he dropped tidbits about Yamoshi defeating a group of Evil Saiyans by performing the ritual we see in the Battle Of Gods media and gaining the red-haired form. And because Broly is alleged--via community head canon and a few fan manga--to be a direct descendant of Yamoshi, I've decided to draw inspiration from My Hero Academia (specifically the legacy nature of the One For All Quirk), and say that because of Broly's lineage connection to Yamoshi, he is genetically immune to the Evil Saiyan aura.
So only Broly, Zangya, Piccolo, Buu, and the human fighters are left to battle an immortal Garlic, Jr., Cumber, and the three Evil-infected Saiyans. Buu has his own regenerative powers to fall back on, but it takes Piccolo and the humans pushing their multipliers and power-ups to their limits just to keep even with their opponents, and they are severely limited by not wanting to use lethal force against their friends. Yes, the Dragon Balls will be available to reverse any collateral damage, but it's best to not be over-reliant so they don't make reckless mistakes in battle.
Broly is able to pick up the slack in this battle because of his ability to gain strength and muscle memory as he fights. He is stronger than any of their individual transformations in just his Controlled Super-Saiyan state, but eventually grows to where he can hold off all five of them by himself. The tide turns, however, when Zangya volunteers to draw Vegeta away from the battleground, and does the "beat me up until you feel bad about it while I express my true feelings" trope you see in a lot of magical girl series where one of the heroes gets brainwashed. The two of them share their first, genuinely sweet moment (that they're both aware of and doesn't end with Zangya giving him a concussion), and they rejoin the others in combat, with Vegeta now keeping his distance and using stun blasts to incapacitate Tarble and Paragus.
Yet again outnumbered, Garlic, Jr. reveals his next trump card: he had a set of Potara earrings!
He passes one of the earrings to Cumber, who puts it on his opposite ear, and their two hulking bodies are flung together.
(Stop it!!!)
The resulting flash of light fades, revealing an even more massive form with dark, bluish-green skin, pointy ears, long, spiky, black hair, and an Evil Saiyan aura, which I'm calling Curlic.
As with Fused Zamasu in the original, Curlic here unleashes a variety of inexplicable but deadly attacks while monologuing about how he's perfect and majestic and powerful and "I will never die!" and he's going to use the expanded power of his Fusion to blanket the Earth in Evil ki so he can turn everyone into demons and rule the Universe, blah, blah, blah. And just as he says, he shrouds the planet's surface in Evil ki, resulting in a familiar sight to those who remember the filler arc from the anime: everyone not currently on the Lookout being turned into vampire-like demons and running rampant across the globe.
Our heroes can sense the widespread change in ki polarity, but none is affected by this more than Broly. That feeling from when Cumber was revealed, that genetic memory that stirred within him, had been fully awakened. His very DNA sparked and burned with a fiery intensity, and in his mind's eye, he saw his entire ancestry, going all the way back to the man he had met in his dreams: Yamoshi. He could feel those generations of power speaking to him. History would not get a chance to repeat itself again. Earth, Vampa, Yardrat, Namek; none of them would suffer the same fate that Planet Sadala had so long ago. The fire raged through Broly, though the feeling that came with it was not rage as he knew it, but something pure that transcended his understanding. The flaming aura erupted from him, sculpting him into something that looked like his base form, but with softer features and red hair. Like his ancestor, Broly had become a Saiyan God.
Now, to rattle off some other cool moments:
Buu shapeshifts into the shape of Tarble (nod to the Potafu Arc) and they do the Fusion Dance, turning into Tarbuu and teaming up with Saiyan God Broly against Curlic, which is absurd and cool and thematic.
Being only half-immortal now, and having his focus split between Broly and Tarbuu, Curlic begins to deform and mutate on one side, melting into what looks like a half-Garlic, Jr./half-Bio-Broly abomination. Tarbuu begins to charge a Candied Galick Beam (ironic or appropriate?), planning to defeat Curlic by eating him. But just like with Vegito Blue's anti-climactic finisher in the anime, he defuses before the attack can hit, and it fizzles out.
The Corrupted Curlic begins rampaging, mindlessly batting Vegeta through several nearby walls. This enrages Zangya, who then transforms into her True Full Power form (in the Bojack Unbound movie, she does not have a form like Gokua, Bido, and Bojack; instead, her hair shortens and she gains a bit of muscle mass with no change in hair or skin color), which looks similar to Berserker Kale, but with the greenish-yellow skin and reddish hair of a Full Power Heran. True Full Power Zangya relentlessly attacks the deformed villain, doing noticeable damage to him, but not slowing him down much because Curlic's immortal half is still putting in work. Not even Broly, with his new Saiyan God form and inherent real-time zenkai boosts, can leave a lasting scratch on Curlic.
But not all scars are physical. While his body may be fighting its degeneration, Curlic's mind fractures more and more with each passing instant, until he decides that Universal domination can go screw itself, and so can the Earth. Raising his arms, he shouts from the Heavens to the even higher Heavens, shaking the Lookout to its core. A massive hole, similar to the portal that Cumber emerged from, appears in the sky and begins sucking in everything.
"If I can't have the Universe under our command," Curlic rumbles in a dissonant voice, his fractured mind changing pronouns at random, "we'll take you all to the Dead Zone with me!"
That's right; the Dead Zone. This gets Piccolo thinking, and he sends a telepathic broadcast to the Z-Fighters. Aim for the planet!
Everyone responds in the affirmative, and we get several more cool moments to finish off the Cursed Planet Arc.
First, Broly. He's had extensive Spirit Control training on Yardrat, and through his visions of Yamoshi, he knows the basics of the Saiyan God ritual, so: "Father! Tarble! Vegeta! Join hands with Broly!"
Broly allows his God ki to overflow, but instead of releasing his energy like he had learned to do, he channels it into Paragus, Tarble, and Vegeta (essentially using Spirit Control to perform the God ritual in reverse), and standing at the front of the group of Z-Fighters, there are now four Saiyan Gods.
Kumu, Krillin, and Yamcha fire combined Kamehamehas, Tien and Chiaotzu fire Dodonpa Rays, Piccolo fires a Shinsenko, Mai launches a multi-form Sniper Cannon, Buu shoots an energy beam from his mouth, Zangya shoots her Spark Laser, Tarble and Vegeta perform a brotherly Galick Gun, and Broly and Paragus throw father-son Omega Blasts, all aimed at Planet Makyo, vaporizing it on contact.
Curlic screams, "No! Noo! NoOoOoOo!!!!" as he is sucked back into the Dead Zone, never to return...whoever he was.
Moving on....
With Curlic and Planet Makyo gone, the Evil aura quickly dissipates, returning the Earth's population to normal. When the Dragon Balls become active again, the team use them to finish restoring the planet's infrastructure and revive the Yardratians killed by Cooler and his army. I would say that the world enters another time of relative peace, but that is not entirely true. There are still threats on Earth, among the stars, and beyond, who are plotting their next moves.
Also, the Makyo incident did not go unnoticed.
In the farthest reaches of space, on a certain planet with strange trees and an inverted pyramid, a gaunt-looking cat-man with purple fur stirs in his decades-long slumber, stirs again sometime later, then again with greater disquiet, and finally...Beerus, the God of Destruction, awakens.
Thus ends the Cursed Planet Saga.
Animeister's Note: I tried not to include Beerus and Whis in the Super portion of my story, but if you compare the ending of the previous arc to Broly's progression, you'll see that each time Broly had a vision of Yamoshi, or regained consciousness, or attained or shared the Saiyan God form, it caused Beerus to toss and turn in his sleep, until finally, he awakened.
Beerus Awakened Saga
With regard to the Saiyan characters, things progress very similar to the Battle Of Gods and Resurrection F material, just with Broly, Paragus, and Tarble standing in for Goku, and there still not being enough pure-hearted Saiyans to perform the ritual. Plus, Vegeta showed in the original that the ritual isn't really needed to attain Saiyan God...that we know of (by the time of this posting, Geekdom101 will have dropped an episode of Dragon Ball Unseen that gives an informed assumption about how it happened), so that's what I'm going with.
Also, the appeasement with food is handled by Gure and Zangya (who insist on accompanying Vegeta and Tarble to Beerus' planet), with Tarble handling desserts. The stakes are higher than when he was feeding Majin Vomi, but Tarble is much more respectful and composed in Beerus' presence. Buu is also here because Whis took an interest in his hybrid God/Magical ki, and Bahdo is there to hang out and train with her family and "Auntie Zangya." Thankfully, there is no "pudding incident" here, as Buu has a more solid, respect-based friendship with Tarble than what we got with Mr. Satan in the original (and Buu wished for unlimited pudding earlier in the story). Whis also seems quite interested in Zangya's unique powers, as well as Broly's fighting style. His destructive power is intriguing for a mortal, and he can already fight on impulse alone; could Broly be the rare mortal to do what even Beerus could not?
But this is pretty much what happens for quite some time: trade Earth food for training, rinse, repeat. The planet isn't in danger as long as the Saiyans and their companions keep proving their epicurean worth, so it's basically peace time for the rest of the team.
Gen-Z Era
I set up the kids' training in the last part as well because they'd been background characters since the last Budokai, and there are all kinds of slice of life, training, and wacky adventures that they could participate in to keep them relevant. Not even the human fighters have done much beyond fighting lackeys, and Piccolo has developed something of an Owned Counter over the last few parts, so I thought it would be cool to explore some of that.
The Baseball Episode
Let's start with Yamcha, who is being a good dad and taking Bulla to his baseball games, with Gevo providing chauffeur services in one of the trucks that he and Bulla repaired (even though everyone can fly), in between her schooling and martial arts training.
Because the Kais are mostly incompetent and get their jollies from watching competitions of all kinds, and because there is apparently television in the afterlife, The Grand Kai gets an idea (spurred on by West Kai's grudge against King Kai--instead of mocking him for being dead because Goku doesn't exist and Cell doesn't exist yet, he constantly ridicules him for daring to beat Beerus in an auto race and losing half the mass of his planet) to challenge Team Yamcha to a game of baseball, with the likes of Pikkon, Olibu, Earthquake, the Clown Brothers, Bosumo (I called him Botamo in the original posting of the Bojack Arc, but I decided to change it here and above because something Multiversal could still happen now that Beerus is awake, and having two Botamos later would be confusing), and West Kai playing for Team Otherworld. Yamcha manages to scrounge together Tien, Krillin, Kumu, Chiaotzu, Mai, Piccolo (who is training in Kai techniques with Shin and Kibito), Shu, and King Kai himself, to fill the rest of his roster. There are no real stakes here; just bragging rights for the winning Kai, and just like in the original, it comes down to Yamcha diving into home for the winning run, and the two Compass Kais roll off in a cloud of curses, limbs, and onomatopoeia sparks before Grand Kai separates them and drags them back home by their ears. The Otherworld fighters thank their opponents for coming to the rescue againsr Bojack, and for sharing a modern Earth custom with them. Naturally, Bulla totally idolizes Yamcha after this, and vows to one day be strong and cool like him (this will change later, after she grows up a bit). In fact, there's a little something she and Gevo have been working on that might help her get there....
Barry Kahn Saga
Another day, Kumu finds out that he has been selected to be a consultant for the upcoming police drama, "Super-Elite," a grounded adaptation of Tights' (who is on-set as a source consultant) Galactic Policeman novel series, starring Barry Kahn and Cocoa Amaguri. Of course, Barry gets jealous of Kumu and coerces Cocoa into a blackmailing scheme against him, which Videl (who is touring the studio with Caltrop, Marin, and Straps in tow, and engaged in blackmail herself early in their relationship) is too smart to buy into, driving Barry into a rage that draws the attention of a recently escaped Galactic Patrol prisoner from Planet Watagash. The usual beats of the Super filler ensue from there, but with no Mr. Satan there to take credit and the Great Saiyaman not being a thing, Marin and Straps are the ones to bring down Watagashi. Straps has matured as a character thanks to Videl's training, and he and Marin have sort of a teenage crush thing going on, such that they're embarrassed to do the Fusion Dance. After much blushing, they fuse properly into Maraps, who is goofy and cocky like Straps, but a disciplined fighter like Marin (like Gotenks, but less of a comic relief). They use Forced Spirit Fission to separate Watagashi from Barry Kahn and trap it with an attack they made up, called the Galactic Chestnut, until Jaco arrives to take it into custody (with no one the wiser that his dirt-dive against Mis inadvertently led to Watagashi's escape in the first place...oops).
Barry Kahn is fired from the production and sent to prison, and the Director convinces our heroes to let him do a Super Sentai children's show (let's call it something like "Fusion Sentai Patrollder") using Marin and Straps as his inspiration.
It's also important to note here that with Bulma and Vomi's book being publicly available, the Director doesn't think that it's all special effects; he knows the flight and Fusion and energy attacks are real, and is grateful to have so many...budget-friendly human resources at his disposal. He also knows that if he appears too greedy, they can all kick his ass, so everyone is appropriately credited and compensated for their work on the show.
Years later, a chubby, gothic-looking young man in a purple unitard is sitting in his cell, eating his weekly commissary pack of Twice-Filled Qreoz and watching the latest episode of "Fusion Sentai Patrollder." On the bunk across from him, an unshaven and sunken-eyed Barry Kahn says, "Turn that off, you privileged little bastard! Don't you know it cost me my career‽"
Hedo shoots him a piercing, sidelong glance while deliberately using one half of his cookie to scoop the cream filling from the other half and scrape it clean with his teeth. "Do you know the difference between you and myself, Mr. Kahn?" He asked. "It isn't a matter of privilege. Nor of wealth. Not even the vast and obvious gap in our intellect."
Hedo muttered something that Barry didn't quite understand, and a golden-yellow antenna array formed at the young man's wrist.
"Wh-what the hell is that?" the disgraced actor stuttered, suddenly afraid of what Hedo might do, and with good reason. "You can't have stuff like that in here! Guard! Guard!"
Ignoring Kahn's outburst, Hedo continued: "the difference between us is not what we have, but what we deserve. I worship heroes, Mr. Kahn. If you can't tell by my attire, I'm something of a justice advocate, myself. As for you, I've done my research: blackmail, destruction of property, conspiring with alien invaders, attacking women and children,..not a great plan."
Even more terrified, Barry Kahn tries to defend himself, shifting blame to Watagashi for his actions, but Hedo is having none of it.
"Bottom line, Mr. Kahn: you are a villain. You deserve to be in here, while I do not. Do you have any idea how much that stings?"
Before he can even process the young man's words, Barry Kahn feels a sharp prick at the base of his neck, and shortly after, feels nothing more in this dimension.
When the medics arrive sometime later to collect the body, Hedo simply slips out of the room and walks out the front door, casually taking out several attacking prisoners and non-lethally subduing the guards as he goes, and tosses a high-yield IED inside the prison when he leaves.
There is no Red Pharmaceuticals in this story, and I have different plans in mind besides doing Super Hero beat-for-beat, so Magenta and Carmine don't pick Hedo up here. Instead, I'm going for a bit of a convoluted revenge take.
While marathoning "Fusion Sentai Patrollder," Hedo noticed several familiar names in the ending credits, including the officer who arrested him a few months ago: Kumu. Perhaps it was time to pay our favorite steamed chestnut a visit?
Trouble At the Neo-Crane School
But around the time of the baseball "episode," Hedo's arrest, and the filming of the "Super-Elite" pilot, Tien was dealing with the logistics of establishing a Neo-Crane School (because dub Tien was all about making things "Neo" back in the day) in partnership with Master Roshi and Chiaotzu, but also...women troubles. Thankfully, that doesn't also mean urine troubles this time around because this is the perfect time to bring Chi-Chi into the story! It's a little bit of Yurin's motivation crossed with a little bit of the original Chi-Chi, but also borrowing from Masako's Z-Fighter Chi-Chi story. She and Tien were childhood friends and he rejected her after she got kicked out of the Crane Hermit's school for being too soft, so she vowed to get stronger and learned magic from Fortuneteller Baba. Now, she's back for revenge.
Yes, I realize that's a lot of revenge motivation over these last parts, but don't most Dragon Ball villains want revenge on someone?
Roshi at one point hits on Chi-Chi and asks to see her...Chi-Chis...for which she magically bull-kicks him through several of the nearest wall. Her fight with Tien goes much the same as when she fought Goku in the original, and follows many of the "forgotten childhood friend" and "tsundere" trope beats in terms of dialogue. But of course, Tien is stupidly more powerful than her, and shows that he has changed as a person by dodging her, rather than the brutality he would have displayed in his pre-King Piccolo days (before his death). He also slowly comes to remember Chi-Chi through the course of their...fight?...and something of a chemistry begins to develop between them. It won't be instant romantic cheese, but the foundation is there to build something more.
Dr. Hedo Saga
Back in the present (after Hedo escaped from prison), Straps, Marin, and Bulla have their morning classes interrupted by the announcement of a new transfer student calling himself Tosu (a pun on Otto-suru, one of the Japanese words for "puke," so, yeah, it's Hedo using an alias). Unlike his movie version, though (where he "did his research" on Carmine and Magenta, but then took their words and doctored videos at face value like a moron because comedy and money), or his manga version (where he acted like a villain despite claiming to be a hero), this Hedo actually did thorough research on our heroes, and is acting more like a creepy Stan than a straight-up villain. The son of his favorite author, the granddaughter of his grandfather's greatest rival, and the sister of the man who arrested him, not only attend the same school, but are friends with one another? It's too surreal!
Speaking of surreal: "Hey!" A female voice snapped him out of his thoughts. "You're Tosu, right?" Hedo looked up to see a blue-haired girl smiling down at him. He grew flustered upon recognizing her, and snapped, "What do you want, Bulma‽"
"No!" She laughed and said, "Bulma is my mom's name. I'm Bulla. People say we look a lot alike. Honestly, I'm embarrassed by it. Can you believe she makes herself look younger with the Dra.... I mean, dry-based cosmetics she makes?" Bulla laughs off the fact that she almost revealed the Dragon Balls to a virtual stranger. "Talk about vanity, huh?"
Hedo gives her a bored look.
"Anyway, I noticed you don't have much for friends, and you're smart, and I'm smart, so...wanna be friends? Maybe even go to the school dance this weekend?"
This makes Hedo blush unexpectedly, though he quickly composes himself and remembers that he has a tactical purpose here. He needs to get closer to the group; plus, it would save him resources if he didn't have to build Beta-8. "Fine, Bul-la; I shall accept your friendship." He extends his hand for a formal shake like the awkward nerd that he is, and Bulla takes it.
"Great!" She shakes his hand, forgetting her strength in the moment and waggling him in the air like Goku shaking hands with Zeno, and then runs off. "Pick me up at Capsule Corp, 'kay‽ Nine PM Saturday or bust!"
"Very well, then, Miss Bulla!" He calls after her. Then, quietly: "Tentomaru!" The little ladybug droid appears and follows, attaching itself to Bulla's clothes.
Later that day, Hedo called up his wrist-mounted antenna array and watched Tentomaru's surveillance feed. Most of it was mundane, slice-of-life stuff that he fast-forwarded through out of boredom (and occasionally, out of embarrassment and propriety), but despite his extensive research on his classmates and their families, there were some things that managed to escape public knowledge. And when Hedo saw those secrets captured on film, he spat Qreoz crumbs halfway across the room. Right there, before his eyes, were his grandparents. Not only was he shocked to see them alive after all this time, but they looked just as he remembered them from his parents' old family photos. How did they still look so young?
Since he had no point of reference for the Dragon Balls, the only conclusion Hedo could draw from this was that this Kumu person who arrested him all those years ago was a plant by Capsule Corp. to steal his Alpha technology (the Zombie Androids he was using to staff his convenience stores when Kumu arrested him) so they could refine it and revive the Red Ribbon science team as Androids under their control. The corporate espionage! The brazen hypocrisy! The injustice!
Hedo's blood was boiling as he tromped down to his lab and continued his work on the Beta Series Androids. He would make Saturday a night to remember!
The next day, eight new transfer students joined the ranks of Blue Hal High School, and in the days leading up to the school dance, there was a lot of the usual, "creepy, new students that the audience suspects are evil, but the characters can't prove it" social warfare stuff (think Ken from Digimon), like "Tosu"'s change in demeanor towards Bulla, the new kids being suspiciously friendly and obedient towards him, the occasional cold stare or suggestive threat, their lack of ki.... None of the kids have a real reference for the Androids, not even Bulla, so they know something is up with the Betas, but have nothing concrete to act on, so no real fights happen.
At least, not until the night of the dance.
Though he had been cold towards Bulla for the last few days, Hedo had to keep up appearances, and it wasn't honorable to break his word to a girl, even if her parents were thieving, hypocritical corporate scum. So as he had promised, Hedo arrived to pick up Bulla from Capsule Corp in his best tuxedo (which made him look a bit like a short, rotund Gomez Addams). He was in for several shocks, however.
Not only did Bulla answer the door in the most beautiful dress he had ever seen in his life, his perspective on matters got even more complicated when she dragged him inside to meet her family. Bulma and Dr. Briefs were so kind and acommodating to him (though that Yamcha guy seemed like a freeloading jock) that he blew his cover five minutes into their conversation.
"Cut the sweetness act, you corporate frauds!" Hedo yelled, cutting off Dr. Briefs in the midst of an amusing anecdote about his wacky friend over in Penguin Village. "I know you stole my technology and used it to turn my grandparents into your mindless slaves!"
Naturally, this takes the garment family by surprise. Bulma, Bulla, and Yamcha look about ready to kick his ass for various personal reasons, but Dr. Briefs, being the calm one in the family, simply offers Hedo a tour.
"Would you like to meet them, Young Hedo?" Briefs asks him.
Confused by the sudden openness, and struggling with hesitation and haste in equal measure, Hedo agrees.
Shortly thereafter, he comes face-to-face with not only Gero and Vomi, but his Uncle Gevo, as well. Given the last information he uncovered about his family being die-hard Red Ribbon acolytes who gave their lives for the organization, Hedo doesn't immediately burst into tears at the sight of them, especially not his uncle. But it's clear from their behavior that they are neither mindless slaves, nor operating with any villainous intent.
Vomi even reassures her grandson of their status by sharing the story of their redemption, including the restorative powers of the Dragon Balls that allowed her to be reunited with her family. "And now, it seems," she says, looking on Hedo with tender awe, "that our family has grown once more."
Okay, this gets Hedo in tears.
But, you know that feeling you get when you're tens of miles away from home before you remember you left the stove on? Yeah; Hedo gets an "oh, crap!" moment when he remembers that he was going to have the Betas attack Capsule Corporation, and forgot to call it off.
An explosion rocks the outer walls of the building, shaking its foundations.
Beytah Saga
Bulma reacts immediately, turning on a view of the outside surveillance feeds, where she sees...a bunch of teenagers and a guy in a mech suit?
Hedo smacks his forehead. "Damn! I forgot the Betas were coming!"
"You forgot!?" Yamcha and Bulma shout at him in unison. Yamcha and Bulla gather their auras and glare at Hedo once more, who frantically waves his hands for them not to attack. "Wait! Wait!" he says. "I'm not your enemy anymore!"
"Oh, yeah?" says Bulla, feeling the most betrayed. "Then why are your goons attacking us?"
"I'm sorry, Bulla, all of you; I was planning to attack this place; to--I don't know!--rescue my family? Bring Capsule Corp. to justice? But I was wrong, and I just...in all this emotion, it slipped my mind to call them off."
"Whatever;" Bulla says. "We'll deal with...whatever this is later." She rips off the bottom half of her dress, causing Hedo to blush and turn away. "Uncle Gev?"
"Yes, Miss Bulla?" Gevo responds.
"Would you get me that project we've been working on?"
Gevo smiles. "Right here, Miss Bulla." He hands her a briefcase (name puns!), and with thanks, she presses a button on its side. Instead of hinging open like a normal briefcase, it tessellates apart, taking on a vaguely humanoid shape (think the Iron Man 2 armor from the racetrack fight), and Bulla steps into it.
When the armor closes, it looks similar to Bulma's first Z-Fighter armor from one of Masako's What If series (which sorely needs a continuation, by the way!).
Bulma looks varying degrees of proud and jealous, Yamcha is shocked stupid, and Hedo thinks he just might actually have a crush on Bulla now.
"Dad?"
"Huh?" Hearing his daughter's voice booming authoritatively from the mech suit knocks Yamcha back to reality. "Y-yeah?"
"Lets go kick some Android butt!"
"Right!"
"I'm coming, too!" Hedo interjected. "Maybe I can get them to stop."
Bulla hesitates before agreeing, and the three of them head outside, with Gero, Vomi, Bulma, and Dr. Briefs following close behind.
"What's going on, Doctor?" asks Beta-1. "Conspiring with the enemy for the sake of some girl?"
"No!" Hedo responds. "My information was wrong, Beytah; you and the others need to stop now, before anyone gets hurt!"
Something sparks in Beytah's eyes as he processes this information; a logical inconsistency that conflicts with his programming. See, unlike in the manga, where the Beta series were fully autonomous, but loyal to Hedo, the ones here were a rush job with basic personality facades and a single, scheduled attack directive, all based on Hedo having been correct about Capsule Corp. being a villainous organization. So with the basis for their directive being categorized as false by their creator, who is never wrong....
Gero remembers this look all too well. It was the look of something murderous and mistreated and used, which is done being a tool for its maker.
"Hedo, look out!"
Beytah quickly raises a hand and brings it down in a chopping motion against Hedo's neck, and to everyone's surprise, the short-statured scientist tanks the blow with little effort.
"What...the--?" Beytah manages to vocalize through his faulty programming.
"Subdermal, nanometal enhancements," he explains. "I may not be physically strong, but did you really think I wouldn't prepare for my creations to turn against me? Now, go! Tentomaru! Hatchimaru!"
Despite the danger presented by being in close proximity to Beytah, Bulma practically drools over Hedo's shoulder at the sight of the antenna array manifesting from his wrist.
Bulla, on the other hand (who is trading blows with the Uncanny Valley Girl knowm as Beta-8) recognizes Tentomaru because it had been flying around her room a few nights ago. "You pervert!" she shouts in Hedo's direction, exploding with such rage that she crushes Beta-8's hands and flings her into orbit, the atmospheric boundary incinerating what remained of her body.
Hedo again waves his arms frantically, swearing on the name of "Fusion Sentai Patrollder" that he never peeped on her.
"You better not have!" Bulla threatens him. "Or not even your transdermal metallic whatever will be able to save you!"
"Uh, kids?" Yamcha says. "I'm kinda in a bind here!" Which he definitely is; Betas Three through Six are attacking him all at once, and though they don't seem that strong individually, four against one is too much. But....
"Dad? Don't you have Ultimate and Kaio-ken?"
"Oh, yeah. Duh." Yamcha powers up and immediately turns the fight around, blowing the four Androids back. He starts to charge a Spirit Ball, but Hedo has already activated his drones' Gattai Mode, combining them into Tenchimaru and sending it to deactivate the four Betas in a flash.
The only ones left now are Beytah, Battle Jacket Two, and the Elvis-inspired Beta-7, who looks All Shook Up at having seen five of his band members retired so quickly. He tries to make a run for it, but Beytah casually shoots him in the back with a ray blaster before leveling it at Hedo. "No...more...deserters. No...more...betrayal. No...false...justice!" Before he can fire, though, Bulla steps in and knocks the gun from his hand, allowing Hedo time to deactivate him and Two with Tenchimaru.
"That was close!" Bulla says, looking down at Hedo with a relieved smile.
"Agreed...and again, I am sorry. And...thank you." He smiles back at her, trying again not to blush at how beautiful and smart and cool he thinks she is.
Just like at the end of Super Hero, Bulma geeks out about Hedo's nanometal skin enhancer and offers him a job at Capsule Corp. But also, there is the matter of the deactivated Betas, and Hedo asks if he could possibly use them and Capsule resources to build the Gamma series he's been conceptualizing.
"Heroic Androids, huh?" Bulma thinks. "That'd certainly be something new. Okay, kid; you got a deal!" They shake on it. "By the way, don't you owe my daughter a dance?"
Hedo blushes, twiddling his thumbs and trying to conceal it with an excuse: "but...the dance will be over by the time we get there."
"The place doesn't matter," says Bulma, pulling a remote out of her pocket. "It's the mood that counts." She pushes a button, and suddenly there's a disco ball hanging from the ceiling and romantic music emanating from the surveillance center speakers. Bulma also gives Hedo a push, and he stumbles awkwardly towards Bulla, who is still wearing her powered suit.
"Miss Bulla?" Hedo asks tentatively. "May I have this dance?"
Bulla looks over at her mother and father; the former grinning like an overly optimistic idiot, and the latter giving Hedo that "I wanna show you my gun collection" glare. "Nah."
Hedo looks at her, as relieved as he is disappointed.
"I have a better idea." Bulla continues: "how about we go up to my room and watch 'Fusion Sentai Patrollder' instead?"
Set Hedo's face to dumbfounded.
"I know it's kinda vain of me cuz we consult on the show, but--."
"No!" Hedo exclaims, clearing his throat. "I mean, yes; it's actually my favorite show...."
"Cool! Let's go!" As she has made a habit of doing, Bulla takes Hedo's hand and drags him off behind her. "Mom! Dad! Hedo and I are gonna 'Shout & Chill' in my room, okay!?"
Hedo can hear a fading, "Like Hell you are!" from Yamcha, but thanks to Bulma's stubborn streak and self-identified matchmaking skills, she is able to talk her husband out of his lunatic impulses. He still goes upstairs to "bring the kids some snacks" (a.k.a. spy on the boy), but the evening ends with everything coming up Hedo.
He has been reunited with his family, gotten a job he enjoys, and spent time watching his favorite show with his new crush.
Animeister's Note: It took longer than expected, but I managed to kick off a new Era of the story with the Generations Saga: a collection of mini-arcs based on some filler episodes of the Super anime, like "The Baseball Episode" where this version saw Yamcha and the Z-Fighters faced off against the Otherworld Tournament warriors in America's/Japan's passtime, the "Gohan Goes Hollywood" episodes with Kumu filling the Gohan role and Straps and Marin inspiring Dr. Hedo's favorite Sentai show, and a magic-powered Chi-Chi taking Yurin's spot in Tien's dojo episode because the triclops needs a healthy romantic relationship. And speaking of healthy romantic relationships, Bulla and Hedo will get there eventually now that a modified pre-Super Hero manga arc is behind them.
Everyone who was training with Beerus and Whis offscreen last time are still out of the picture for the next arc, too. That means no Buu, Zangya, Vegeta, Tarble, Paragus, Broly, Gure, or Bahdo. Also, Piccolo will not be in this arc, as he is training with the Kais in pursuit of new deity-level techniques he can use in battle (and still chasing his Future self for that Orange power). Also, Jaco is away on important Galactic Patrol business (probably taking pennance for the Watagashi incident).
That leaves Bulma and her parents, Yamcha, Videl and baby Caltrop, Kumu, Krillin, Mai, Tights, Bulla, Marin, Straps, Tien, Chiaotzu, Roshi, Chi-Chi, Gero, Vomi, Gevo, and Hedo on Earth to begin the next Saga.
Odyssey Saga I
So what would a Super arc be without Bulma inviting everyone to party on her yacht...again? The reason behind this party is that it's Valentine's Day, and she wants to celebrate all the new couples. She invites Vegeta, Zangya, Tarble, and Gure to come, but Beerus won't just let his two favorite cooks go, and Vegeta and Zangya are too engrossed in their training (Vegeta even says he'll be damned if he lets "the old man and his feral brat" surpass him with some kind of "God ki bargain sale").
Bulma lets this go, and the couples' cruise begins. The food, drinks, and desserts are delicious (what the gods don't know won't hurt them, right? Right...?), but things go awry when Straps gets bored and starts scanning the nearby islands with his enhanced vision (a trait he gets from his father), and spots an alien ship hovering above one of them.
If you've seen the anime, you know where this is going. 17 and 18 are still podded up somewhere, and Goku doesn't exist, but this is going to be where Monster Island comes into play.
Thinking that whatever is going on over there could be infinitely more fun than pacing around the yacht while the grown-ups schmooze it up and get all yucky with each other, Straps plays on his mother's sci-fi fixation to get her permission before securing Bulla (with her Bulla-ZR--a play on "brassiere"--armor in a Capsule), Marin, and Hedo to go with him, with Kumu and Gevo (armed with hand-mounted blasters that are a cross between 16's Hell's Flash, Iron Man's Repulsor Blasts, and Rhinox's gatling pistols, which he calls "Gevo-Mits") acting as chaperones at their elders' "request."
Upon their arrival at the island, the air is split by a thunderous roar, followed by a chorus of surprised shrieks, howls, and growls as the alien craft begins pulling every creature on the island into its depths.
Just like in the original episode of Super, the group Instant Transmission aboard the ship to rescue the animals (with Bulla doing the technique and everyone grabbing onto her, including a blushing Hedo). They easily handle the Gladiator/Last Order Elite knockoff guards and confront the head poacher,
Bulla tries to regain control and return to Earth, but it's not like she can just mash buttons or plug in R2D2 or say, "Popo" to get it to do what she wants, so by this time, the group are well and truly lost...in Space! All she and Hedo can do now is have everyone search the ship for tools and try to tinker it into submission.
Thankfully, this is not yet a horror movie (though the group is trapped on an alien spaceship with Earthly monsters and extraterrestrial beasts), so they pair off as follows to cover more ground in the search: Gevo and Straps, Bulla and Hedo, and Kumu and Marin.
The latter pair don't really know what to look for, so the brother and sister stay by the console in case anything of importance happens. Bulla and Hedo are more mechanically inclined, so they go in search of the engine room. Gevo has a lesser degree of technical aptitude, but is buoyed along by Straps' youthful curiosity about the menagerie onboard,
A bit later, in the cargo bay, three whispering voices can be heard in one of the cages.
"Did you catch all that ruckus earlier?" Asks a mostly white-furred, cat-like being with one brown ear.
"Yeah, Mike;" says a second cat-being with dark blue fur. "Whaddya think that was all about?"
"I dunno, Mix; maybe rival poachers? Got any ideas, Mazi?"
Silence from the third cat-being, Mazi, who looks almost identical to Mix, but leaner and with pale blue fur.
"Mazi?" Again, nothing. But the pair then notice a bubble expanding and contracting at their brother's mouth, and sigh. "How could he have slept through all of that?"
Mike forms his hand into a karate chop above Mazi's head and nods at Mix, who grins mischievously and sharpens his index claw between his teeth.
Mix pops the bubble, jarring Mazi out of his slumber such that he cracks his head on the edge of Mike's hand.
"Hey!" Mazi shouts at his brothers, rubbing the sore spot on his head. "Wha--?"
Mike and Mix quickly shush him.
"What'd ya do that for?"
"You slept through all the action, dummy!" They whisper at him in tandem, which is weird because Mix and Mazi are supposed to be the twins in the family.
This gets Mazi excited. "Like, a fight? Why didn't you guys wake me up?"
Again in tandem trope subversion, Mike and Mix smack their own foreheads.
A deep voice from down the hall: "Straps, did you hear that?"
"Yes, Uncle." said a second, more nasaly voice. "It sounds like there may be other intelligent life on board."
"That is highly unfortunate," said the deeper voice. "Can you locate them?"
"With my Super-Elite eyesight?" the one called Straps says, aping Jaco's bravado in the face of the unknown. "Of course!"
"You were too loud, dummy!" Mike scolded.
"And whose fault is that?" Mazi retorted.
"Yours!"
"Will you two please shut up before we get spotted?" said Mix.
"There you are!" exclaimed the young, nasaly one.
The three cat brothers jumped at being discovered, and retreated to the shadows at the back of their enclosure.
"There is no need to be frightened, little ones," said the owner of the deeper voice, who was of such an imposing size that his assurances fell on distrusting cat ears. "We, too, are prisoners aboard this vessel."
"Oh, yeah?" Mazi stepped from the shadows and challenged him. "Then why're we in cages and you two're walkin' around free? That ain't very prisoner-like, 'Uncle'!"
Using the power-insulation and strength-enhancing features of his eponymous Mits, Gevo then bends two of the bars, creating an opening for the brothers to escape. "There; is that more to your liking?"
Mazi balks at this feat of strength and eyes the large man suspiciously. "Yeah, I guess so." He then steps through the opening, with Mike and Mix reluctantly following suit. "So, mind telling us who you are?"
Gevo then introduces himself and Straps, and relates the circumstances that led our six heroes to this point, with Straps sure to include that it was his idea to go to Monster Island in the first place.
The cat-brothers are amazed by the story and believe that the pair are telling the truth (less so with Straps' embellishments, but Mazi has grudging respect for Gevo's strength and is grateful for his and his brothers' relative freedom). But when it comes to telling the story of their own capture and the nature of their race, the brothers are reluctant to do so. The last time an outsider learned of their secrets, it led to the collapse of their entire society.
Animeister's Note: The brothers here are based on Z, Mike, and Mix from the Nekomajin [Z] gag manga, reimagined as the last survivors of the planet Nekomajin, which was once inhabited by creatures resembling terrestrial cats, until it was visited ages ago by a Namekian elder named Leopa (after the leopard slug), who created a large set of Dragon Balls called the Majin-dama, which were divided evenly among the Neko population, evolving them into their Nekomajin forms upon consumption of the orbs and granting them various magic-based powers.
Or will it?
Elsewhere on the ship (shortly after Gevo broke the brothers' enclosure), Bulla and Hedo are searching for the engine room when Hedo notices a strange buzzing coming from Bulla's pants.
"Umm, Bulla?" Hedo asks.
"What's up?"
Hedo points at the origin of the sound, blushing profusely. "Is there something you'd like to tell me?"
"Yeah," Bulla replies. "'Get your mind out of the gutter!'"
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out the ZR Capsule. "See? It's just my armor." Then her tsundere reaction wears off and she realizes why her armor is buzzing.
Hedo is confused at the new look of excitement on her face. "What are you suddenly so happy about?"
"Dragon Balls!" Bulla squeals with delight. "There are Dragon Balls on this ship!"
She starts to run off, but doubles back to lay a big "thank you" kiss on a fully flushed Hedo (like, he's on the verge of a totally wholesome nosebleed right now, and the subsequent POM! of the Bulla-ZR Capsule opening almost sets him off completely) before stepping into her armor and dragging him along in search of the possible Dragon Balls. If you've read the previous part, you know that's become kind of a thing with her....
Moments later, Bulla and Hedo find themselves in the cargo bay, where Gevo is watching Straps play-fighting with...three cat-children?
Gevo turns to the young couple. "Did you find any tools, Miss Bulla?"
"No, Uncle Gev," she replies sheepishly. "I think we were getting close, but my armor Capsule started buzzing."
"So there are Dragon Balls onboard?"
"Yep! Three of them; and the suit's Dragon Radar says they're right...there!" Bulla points a finger directly at the three cat-brothers, who freeze in mid-fight, such that Straps lands an accidental blow on Mazi's face. Little Nekomajin can't catch a break, can he?
So, yeah; the jig is up already. The cat-bros have seemingly no choice but to tell the group (later including Kumu and Marin) that they are Nekomajin.
"Interesting," says Kumu, recognizing that last part. "We have a Majin friend back on Earth. A set of those dama things, too."
The brothers are invigorated at the possibility of more of their kind being alive on another planet, until Kumu tells them that Buu isn't a cat and their Dragon Balls work differently.
But come to think of it, they do know a crazy-strong cat.
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| Credit: KCruzer on Twitter |
They still need to get the ship off autopilot somehow, but returning to Earth is no longer their end goal; merely a pit stop on a grander journey.
"Listen;" Bulla announces, looking the Nekomajin brothers in the eyes. "Mazi, Mike, Mix? We're going to get this ship under control, take the creatures that were stolen from our planet back where they belong, and when that's done, we're going to help you three defeat that Usagi creep and restore your people. I promise."
Hedo takes Bulla's hand and says, "Agreed."
Gevo: "As am I"
"On my honor as the son of a Galactic Patrol Super-Elite!" Straps throws his hand in as well.
"I'm in, too!" Marin adds her hand on top of Straps', blushing at the public, physical contact.
"Count on it!" Kumu tops it off, stifling a chuckle in Straps' direction.
We close on a tribute to that freeze-frame moment at the end of the first episode of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers,
If you liked this recap and want to read more to find out what happened to the poacher, if our heroes will get the ship fixed in time to avoid being sold on the intergalactic black market, where the next stop on their journey will be, and the answers to many more questions, please Become A Ticketholder if you haven't already, comment at the bottom of this post, help out my ad revenue as you read, and follow me on Tumblr, Reddit, Facebook, and LinkedIn to like what you see and receive the latest news on my content.
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