Dragonball Fanfiction

To be fair, he'd had the crap kicked out of him by Buu not long before that, and Goku was the one who threw it.

Hopefully some people will get this reference.

Insert poses and we're set!

I just had this stupid idea for a series in which the Buu saga doesn't happen and instead Gohan becomes a full time super hero. Since Goku doesn't participate in the Martial Arts tournament, the only 'strong' fighter involved is Gohan, and he handily cleans up.

The fame of being the 'strongest man in the world' and recognized as such makes Gohan take lessons from Mr. Satan in how to be an idol of the people, increasing the Ham levels of his superhero persona to truly ludicrous levels.

It's the adventures of The Great Saiyaham!

I APPROVE

Excellent. And the internet needs more Gohan / Mr. Satan bonding.

To be fair.

But I see what you're getting at. I'd much rather a scene like the one from Hancock (where the Nigh-Invulnerable Physical God experiments with another Physical God by cracking a rolling pin across the side of her head) than the "temperamental woman with a frying pan" cliche.

long, multi-chaptered post

I had an idea, for that Xenoverse fanfic I want so badly. Basically the same plot, with some revisions, because damn it Trunks, why would you challenge Beerus of all people to a fight?

I like time travel, and because Xenoverse is a video game, I don't think they exploited this trope to its full potential. Xenoverse, and Dragonball as a whole, runs on "multiverse" theory. Going back in time and doing anything to the timeline will create a new, branching timeline - provided you have Bulma's technology, you can go back and forth between that timeline and your own. But Xenoverse, being a fanservice game, has a "good actions, zero consequences" style of storytelling. Fixing the timeline always involves doing the right thing, helping the good guys, etc.

I think you can have a lot of fun by setting up scenarios where being the good guy actually screws things up. Because Towa and Miira are such Punch-Clock Villains with a goal that isn't wrapped in specifics, they can cause all sorts of damage to the timeline, allowing for a number of wild, bizarre scenarios (Vegeta joining the Ginyu Force).

"However, creating additional timelines to a set of infinite timelines is effectively dividing by zero, f'cking up everything. We don't need more timelines Trunks. So either help me defuse these other timelines or die." - Supreme Kai of Time.

Because this is Dragonball, and time travel, prepare for a lot of Hand Wave'ing.

Supreme Kai of Time (SKOT) dictates that Trunks's time travel is a defiance of the natural order, so she guilts Trunks into becoming her lackey, and the two build a power base of time travelers (does this imply that Trunks/Bulma may not be the only person who discovered time travel?) made up of humans, saiyans, namekians, majins, and even frieza's (o_o). I'm not sure how they got Saiyans, but let's move on.

-

So, the fic would start with our villains, Towa and Miira. The time breaches in the start of Xenoverse seem to be out of the ordinary, since Trunks and SKOT are shown reacting to the changes Towa and Miira make, wrecking a multitude of timelines, all centered around Goku's biggest battles. SKOT says "the flow of time is very odd", but since Time Patrollers like Percel are dealing with King Piccolo vs the Android Empire, why are these changes so strange? Let's assume it's because these incidents are happening so rapidly, and Goku's existence is intrinsic to the healthcare of the universe, space and time.

What are Towa and Miira trying to do? Not "kill Goku" like every Z-Villain ever. They actually seem to care little about him. They just want "energy" to unseal the Demon Realm, because that worked in Yu Yu Hakusho and Oni Musha and Ber Serk, so why not Dragon Ball? If we ignore gameplay mechanics and traditional fighting game logic, this means they don't always have to go after Goku.

So, in the first chapter, since they presumably need a lot of energy, they go after the strongest thing they would probably be aware of: Majin Buu.

But since Majin Buu is a tank, a magical, chocolate-eating tank, they don't want to face him head-on. Now, it's implied Miira is strong enough to handle SSJ 3 Goku and Fat Buu on his own, but perhaps it'd be more efficient to just steal all of Buu's energy while he's dormant. They don't know about Buu being a manchild and assume that, while awake, he's a veritable killing machine (and they're not wrong). The method they use to sap energy is never explained, but presumably it's similar to Babidi's and they just leech energy from the surrounding area. Maybe it goes to Miira. Towa can apparently travel through time, so why else would she need Miira around if not just as a boy toy bodyguard?

Towa and Miira arrive in a timeline where Babidi and Dabura are gathering energy for Buu's cocoon. This seems smart. Have Miira stand there and steal the energy that Babidi stole from Goku and Vegeta's battle. They leave. This creates a distortion, where after Gohan fires the Kamehameha at Buu's cocoon, he's apparently destroyed Majin Buu, leaving Dabura and Babidi in dire straits.

This is where it gets interesting. The "timeline" has to be upheld, or else the fabric of the universe will fall apart. This means bending the distortions back into place to match the Dragonball/Z storyline as closely as possible, even if it can't be directly fixed (like in the game, where the Future Warrior steps in and Gohan doesn't headbutt Raditz), as long as the proper course of events follows, the distortion counts as fixed. However, even "good" things can be distortions. The Time Patrol is more of a Lawful Good, though not everyone has the heart or the nerve to be Always Lawful Good.

Trunks arrives, perturbed at the distortion, but arrives too late to catch Miira and Towa. Now, logically, if you have the ability to travel through time, Towa and Miira shouldn't be able to escape ever, because the SKOT (god of all time, time master, doctor Tardis Backtoethefuture Ph D) should effectively be omnipresent, able to jump in at a moment's notice. Obviously, that isn't the case.

• Towa and Miira use a time travel method invisible to the Z-Scrolls.
• Demigra's magic/influence blocks the Z-Scroll's detection.

All of that is to say - Trunks arrives, but cannot avert Towa and Miira's actions.

To fix this distortion, Trunks needs to ensure that Majin Buu awakens. So, he powers up and feeds the cocoon. This isn't enough, since Gohan at SSJ 2 only gave half the needed energy. What saves the day is Goku and Vegeta, fighting for just a bit longer, providing the necessary energy. Majin Buu is released. The day is saved.

-

The game runs with the idea that Trunks and SKOT have no idea who Towa and Miira are. They aren't visible on the Z-Scroll radar. But right after handling the last distortion, three more distortions - you know the ones - pop up. Since these simultaneous attacks apparently overwhelm the Time Patrol, they resort to calling Shenron. We'll call him UPS Shenron, summoned by the Fed-Ex Balls.

Trunks, in classic Dragonball vagueness, asks Shenron to "bring him a strong ally, one with the power to help defend time itself."

Just how literal does Shenron take this wish? Well, Trunks asks for an "ally", so we get a humanoid figure, probably a Saiyan or a Human, strong enough to repel Trunks's imminent sword attack. That puts them at Android Saga Base Trunks levels of power. Yeah. Definitely a Saiyan.

Did Shenron magically create this warrior, or did he pull them from another timeline, or maybe further in the Z-Timeline? Dragonball Online went with the idea that the PC was from a far-off future. But any of these options would work really.

And what's with the PC, the Future Warrior (I will call them Time Warrior/TW), being able to throw down with Trunks, pick up new moves on the fly, and scrap against some of the deadliest Z-Villains in history? Well, Shenron has to have had something to do with that. You can't just train with Cell or Captain Ginyu for twelve hours and boost your power level to Android levels. That'd be ridiculous.

Hand Wave imminent. "Give me a strong ally, one with the power to defend time itself!"

This is UPS Shenron, remember, with an origin and existence different from the regular Shenron. I mean, this Shenron is in the Time Nest, outside of time right? How does he exist here, hell, how do the balls disperse? Where would they even go? How did Trunks and SKOT find them? Why not just wish to know the identity of the Time Rapists?

Anyway, UPS Shenron has the ability to bestow magical abilities based on the wording of a wish. This enables the TW to have a unique ability I think can be an interesting plot device later - his or her strength is magically, gradually adjusted to equal the power level of the strongest fighter in whatever era they're currently visiting. This ability only works once. Trunks and the SKOT are unaware that UPS Shenron did, or even ''could'' do this.

-dodges tomato-

Hear me out, this isn't god mode OP bullshit. In the Time Nest, this is irrelevant, because Shenron's magic can't lock on any specific "era" because all time flows/exists/stops in the time nest, it's the "base" of all time, with no definite coordinates, so it can't define "who" the strongest is at any point in time. Otherwise, prepare for a constantly fluctuating Physical God traipsing around the jade palace that symbolically represents the fragility of time and space. Enter a sea of dead butterflies and gorilla overlords at war with dinosaurs over the right to a space program.

-

To jump ahead a little, the TW agrees to help Trunks fix the timeline. The first three distortions we see involve Frieza, Cell, and Buu, so these are our first missions. In-story, while Frieza, Cell, and Buu are significant threats in these altered timelines, Trunks claims that the TW isn't ready to face them alone. Baby steps if you will.

Now, rather than send an uninitiated whelp into the fire all alone, Trunks agrees to join him/her on their first mission, training. Since we're already familiar with the major battles of Dragonball and Xenoverse, and because this is time travel, I see no reason to follow the obligatory chronological order. In fact, we should deliberately follow the Anachronic Order.

TW and Trunks head straight to the Frieza distortion. Because this is fanfiction and I hate repetition, and because the Xenoverse version didn't make enough sense, this one's a little different.

(to be continued)

edited 17th Apr '15 9:44:45 AM by Soble

If the TW's ability doesn't work in the time nest, is the final arc going to take place somewhere else? Or would his power increase to match Demigra's since he's there.

That's an interesting point, one I will probably review in the next part. Got to get this plot bunny out first. For now I'll say it'd probably be in the same for the sake of Book Ends.

Part II.

The TW and Trunks head to an alternate Namek timeline. Our TW is a Saiyan (why not?). They arrive to find Namek in flames. Great tourist locale, beaches of magma, exploding geysers, and the cocktail bar is only five minutes away. Unfortunately, they don't have five minutes, because Namek is in the process of exploding, and Goku is still on it.

Frieza has been sliced in half, but he's still going, eyes a murderous, bloody shade of red, Goku a little more beat-up than usual. You know what this means. Goku didn't give Frieza shit. Frieza sliced himself in half, and got up, full of Atrocious Energy. And he's been blocking Goku's escape at all costs.

Trunks's thinking was: "I beat Frieza and his dad as a Super Saiyan, so this should be a cinch. The new guy actually blocked my sword attack, so he can probably handle it." This falls apart though, because Frieza is twice The Determinator he was before.

With Goku breathing heavy, Trunks tells him to leave before the planet goes, convincing Goku without ruining future events, but largely reminding him that Goku has to defend Earth and go back to his family, and when this finally gets through, Goku bails, leaving Trunks and the TW to fend off the crazed Frieza. As soon as Goku leaves, they leave, leaving Frieza to endure the explosion on his own.

Mission complete?

TW's bullshit magical power-up (considering you can gain power by sitting perfectly still and reading porn thoug...)

For a brief moment, during this battle, the TW's power level jumped erraticaly, trying to match Frieza's power level, and then Goku's. However, this was before Frieza was infected and amde stronger by the Atrocious Energy. That energy isn't a part of this timeline, it comes from the demon world, someplace else. The TW's ability can't copy strength/energy that's from outside the timeline.

For instance, he'll match Ginyu when Ginyu first shows up, but after Ginyu is Atroci'fied, that's a tier of strength beyond what they can copy.

Now that example's a bit inconsistent. It should match the power level of the strongest person in that era, but since Frieza was on Namek at the time, that would mean the TW would match Frieza instantly while fighting the Ginyu Force.

I thought, "maybe the TW can only match power levels within a certain timeframe", maybe the Z-Scrolls should have a time limit before the Time Patroller is sent back, to prevent time paradoxes, to prevent certain death (like on Namek). But that just seemed convoluted.

I had a few alternatives:

• A Hand Wave, that the TW could only copy power levels within a certain distance, and once its copied, it can't be undone (but then I'd have to edit the last post and explain that)
• Can only copy the power level of the first person they see (but that would lead to hilarious situations where the TW matches Hercule's power level, and again, it just seemed convoluted, even for UPS Shenron)
• Towa and Miira strategize, waiting for the TW to show up, copy a power level, and then increase the enemy's power level (I like this one, but again, I'd have to edit my last post with this)
• Lastly, just bite the bullet and accept that this power means that in a few eras (Namek), the TW will be blatantly overpowered. Get around this by creating a problem that extenuates past having the largest power level (and I love doing that).
• A better example than the Ginyu one would be Frieza. The TW will copy Frieza's power in his 1st/restricted form, but when Frieza powers up, it stops. TW can copy Goku at SSJ, but can't copy him at SSJ 2, so on, so forth.

My last defense of this power would be this: having great power comes with hours of Training from Hell and Required Secondary Powers. Aka, when Ginyu stole Goku's body, just because Goku was a Physical God at the time, didn't mean Ginyu had access to all of that power. Giving a mook-level/run-of-the-mill Saiyan God powers only means he can punch an elephant into bloody chunks. Technician Versus Performer. It'd be like giving a 14-year old the abilities of Pre-Crisis Superman (which probably resulted in the creation of Superboy Prime, but only fellow comic book nerds will get the comparison)

-

Atrocious Energy/Evil Energy/The stuff nightmares are made of.

Is a "blah" plot device that is unexplained and serves to create What If? scenarios. Where do Towa and Miira find this energy? How is it gathered? Why does it make Hercule strong enough to beat Goku to a pulp?

I submit, this is the gathered energy from Z-Villains across time, being fed to Miira to increase his power, used to open a portal to the demon realm, and copied and pasted in different eras. And the reason we see it increase power levels further and further into the game, besides Serial Escalation, is due to Towa gathering more and more from each succeeding villain, and doing so over and over again (because time travel privilege), which is why such a boost can take a human like Hercule to SSJ levels of power.

Towa doesn't care who gets this energy, so long as it eventually comes back to her. The energy, hence it's name, brings out the more atrocious, villainous aspects of a person's personality. I attribute this to it copying the essence of Z-Villains. Take the personality traits of Frieza, Cell, Raditz, Saiyan Saga Vegeta, Kid Buu, Babidi, and you have a mean son of a bitch.

Worst of all, it can affect almost anyone except for people like Beerus, people with "god energy", which would include Goku, the Kais, and the Kaioshin I suppose.

That's one distortion down. Two more to go.

Once they return to the Time Nest, that e-filed power boost from Shenron vanishes, gradually. This concerns the SKOT and Trunks (create problems that extenuate past having the largest power level). I'm sure they don't feel great about a random Saiyan warrior with a power level that's leagues above their own. Should they really trust this guy and let him stay in the Time Nest?

Saiyan distortion's next.

But before that, let's give the TW a personality!

He's a Saiyan. A Saiyan from before Frieza blew up their planet. Wait, didn't he just fight Frieza? Well, at first, he didn't even recognize Frieza, since Frieza's spent forever cruising around in his lower form, probably the only form the Saiyans recognize.

Should Trunks have told the Saiyan TW about this? Would this make the Saiyan TW any less willing to help, if it means facing monsters like Frieza? Probably not. Saiyans love to fight, but they also know when to back down, except when they don't and get Shoryuken'd for their trouble. Perhaps, after learning that the Frieza he and Trunks fought was Frieza, stronger than before, the Saiyan TW would get arrogant and go alpha on Trunks and the SKOT. Perhaps, learning that The Time Patrol is his second chance, since Frieza destroys him and the rest of the Saiyans, he gains some redemptive qualities, because as we know, Saiyans were largely represented as a band of unrepentant, space-faring pirates prior to Goku's time - yet didn't Bardock appear just a little more heroic once he learned that Frieza planned to Kill Em All?

To the next distortion.

Towa and Miira remain at large, and... unrevealed really. Because this is time travel, distortions can take any shape and form. A distortion in the past creates a timeline where Nappa and Vegeta immediately went Great Ape on Earth's mightiest heroes. This somehow results in Yamcha not getting blown up by a Saibaman and surviving until the battle moved into the mountains, so, that needs to be fixed. But with two Great Apes on the loose, Goku is utterly screwed.

The Z-Scroll puts TW right in front of Yamcha as a Saibaman is about to grab him (because time travel is a crapshoot), so the TW backhands the Saibaman, preventing Yamcha's death as well as his own. Whoops. Two distortions in one day.

Trunks reluctantly informs TW that Yamcha has to die before the battle's end in order for the timelines to match. So TW punches Yamcha through the chest Mortal Kombat-style, horrifying the Z-Warriors and immediately putting them at odds.

But, little exploding plant men currently attacking, so Enemy Mine.

The TW's power level syncs with Vegeta's, but then, Vegeta and Nappa don't actively exhibit their power, do they? That's a nifty Hand Wave, but let's press on with TW matching Vegeta and proceeding to beat the everliving crap out of all the Saibamen.

Unfortunately, Piccolo, Tien, and Yamcha are Fated To Die. Vegeta singles out TW as a threat, but since Nappa's The Lancer at the moment, he leaves the job to him.

(Time out, didn't Vegeta and Nappa have Atrocious Energy and immediately turn into Great Apes? I thought the Z-Scroll couldn't immediately avert Towa and Miira's actions? Heh heh, well, creative slip. In the game, you're only able to catch up with Towa and Miira a few times. Time Travel is a crapshoot, so let's say the TW arrived before the Atrocious Energy was used. Also, in-game, the AE seems to "turn off" infrequently. At one point, eyes glow red and their aura turns purple, the next, it's gone. Sometimes, it's their for the entirety of a mission, like with Hercule, because it forms the base of his power, I guess)

The TW, being a callous, evil, nasty, Neutral Good, laughs at Nappa's suggestion of killing the Z-Fighters. Oh, Crap!. So he sits by and lets Nappa take Tien and Piccolo apart.

But wait. Goku hasn't shown up yet. Oh, Crap!, again. Nappa's boot is on Gohan's head. Shitshitshitohshit! TW steps in and bats him away. If Gohan had died, fission mailed.

Cue the Great Apes! Angered, Nappa and Vegeta access their Atrocious Energy once more. Now TW has screwed himself over and has to hold them off until Goku arrives, but even then...

Goku arrives. [insert epic battle where strategy and tactics manage to undo two Great Apes here]. Wounded and bloodied, the TW, disenchanted at the idea of fighting Prince Vegeta of all people, is even more shocked to see Vegeta axe Nappa. [insert second battle where Vegeta's ape form is defused]. Finally Vegeta is down, and TW leaves. Goku's previous head trauma, along with Gohan and Krillin possibly slipping into comas after a series of savage beatings, is enough for them to accept that the TW might have been a figment of their imagination, and that there's no such thing as time travel.

At least for a few more years anyway.

Mission complete.

-

He's grappled with the monster that ended his people. He's fought his own people, and developed a certain distaste for the Saiyans. Saiyan TW, what will you do now? Where will you go?

Licking his wounds, the TW certainly isn't a popular face at The Time Nest. He's performed one of the most callous, sloppy Time Patrols in the unit's history. SKOT gives Trunks a time-lashing about the new guy, but regardless, there are still more distortions to fix.

One involving Goku's alien of a brother'. Why are all of these distortions focusing around Goku and his friends? Once is happenstance, twice is a coincidence. Thrice is a conspiracy. The plot thickens. In this distortion, Raditz breaks Goku's full nelson and 360 noscopes Piccolo immediately afterward. Can't have that.

Who better to take out a Saiyan than a Saiyan? Particularly a Saiyan with an axe to grind.

The TW arrives in the past, but the Z-Scroll has f'cked up once more. He can't stop Goku from taking a Special Beam Cannon through the chest, and the Z-Scroll won't allow a do-over either. It's almost a Shrug of God to the fabric of reality. In order to fix this distortion, Goku can still die and head to Kami's and stop Vegeta and Nappa, but Piccolo needs to be alive to tell a dying Raditz about the dragonballs.

The TW matches Raditz's power level, but this doesn't ensure victory, not to mention that, as the TW arrived, Rditz dodged the Makankosa... po, and fired a blast right at Piccolo. The TW takes the hit, because if Piccolo dies, all of reality dies. Empowered by AE/Evil Energy, the grudge match with Raditz starts anew, without Gohan's surprise attack.

In a most anti-climatic fashion, Trunks realizes that the only way they'll be able to kill Raditz is with another Special Beam cannon. Good luck getting that to work. The Saiyan TW must make a choice. Keep on fighting and get pummeled, watch reality crumble to dust all around him. Or find a way to put Raditz down. Even weakened from their battle, Raditz will outlast them both, and that's if he doesn't try to turn into a Great Ape soon.

He takes a third option, and takes Goku's place, holding Raditz down for a third and final Makankosappo.

Even with this selfless act, Piccolo collapses, on the verge of death himself, unable to utter the words that would bring the Saiyans to Earth. The distortion may still occur. The TW himself tells Trunks and SKOT not to revive him with the Dragonballs, but to use them to wish for something worthwhile. Raditz's Scouter records this.

Bulma and the others arrive, tending to Piccolo and Gohan. As soon as Piccolo recovers even slightly, he backhands Krillin, grabs Gohan, and takes him into the woods. The timeline is saved.

But our Anti-Hero is dead.

(still more) (if there are any blatant Fridge Logic concerns, speak now)

edited 17th Apr '15 10:11:09 AM by Soble

@Soble

The thing with the rock is filler and didn't actually happen.

Part III.

It's easier to summarize what I planned out. A series of distortions largely different from the ones seen in the game, most of which involve "punch the bad guy harder than before until the good guy shows up". The most interesting ones I saw were the Android and Future Trunks distortions, as well as the Battle of Gods distortions. I might've kept those exactly the same.

-

Since Our Hero Is Dead, Trunks and the Time Patrol build him a memorial (not a ritzy one, he was, after all, kind of a dick). But distortions are still occurring, and they're still overworked and losing their salaries, so they secretly agree to gather the dragonballs with SKOT's permission and wish for another Future/Time Warrior to assist them.

This is where I had to split two ideas:

• Since this is fan fiction, a fun way to play with game mechanics is to have Trunks break convention and wish for "more allies who are good-natured", and word it so that Shenron summons a Namek, a Majin, a Human, and a Freeza.
• But, for the sake of drama and suspense, and pacing, he could just ask for another ally - any of the four remaining races to maintain a sense of freshness.

Going with the latter. UPS Shenron summons a new TW, a Majin by the name of Dumplin. When asked why they need his help, they tell him An Adventurer Is You and get him on board. Now up to speed, Dumplin is immediately initiated into the Time Patrol because the Time Patrol is racist because he's far more positive than the Saiyan TW, and because Trunks wants to screen him right away to prevent further incidents.

More distortions occur:

• A timeline where the Ginyu Force accompanied Nappa and Vegeta to Earth.
• A timeline where Frieza suffers some kind of psychic/mental block and can't transform during the battle on Namek.
• A timeline where Freeza blows up Goku first, instead of Krillin.
• A timeline where Goku didn't catch the Heart Virus.
• A timeline where Future Gohan defeated the Androids.
• A timeline where Atrocif'ied Fat Buu didn't listen to Goku.
• A timeline where the Ginyu Force attacked as one.

I've got more than these, at least 3 distortions for every major era (and you thought these posts were long and wordy). I had character sheets for some of the background characters in the game, Calum (another Saiyan), Taino (a Ginyu Force fangirl), Percel (Hero of Another Story), and was thinking about having them fill in the "five-species Custom Character roster".

But I also wanted an arc that showed an Anti-Hero Saiyan redeeming himself, and left these sheets to the wayside. I would, however, want to make some of the Time Patrollers important, and have htem go on missions with the Time Warrior and actually becomes his/her friends/allies. (See 'Cell' below)

But what I want to get to are the Parallel Timeline Distortions.

Xenoverse has different mission types, I can't remember them off the top of my head, but there's Story Missions, Parallel Quests, generic side mission timelines that are Hand Wave'd as being part of separate timelines. That got me thinking.

What if Frieza was supposed to win?

What if the Time Patrol mistook the flow of events? Maybe they looked at the Cell Games and thought things should go one way, when they were actually supposed to go another?

Parallel timelines/parallel realities =/= Altered timelines/distortions. The former allow for even more bizarre events to occur.

An altered timeline is one where a distortion deviates from the Z History. A parallel timeline is one that exists parallel to the Z Timeline. Example, Trunks's timeline. This timeline can exist while not counting as a distortion because it's "stabilized". These realities are just as valid as the Z Timeline, but they can have results that range anywhere from bizarre to absolutely horrifying. A timeline where the Saiyans actually conquer Earth, and Miira forms a distortion so that the good guys win, forcing the Time Patrol to go in and correct this, etc.

Though, this seemed Darker and Edgier, and didn't really need to be part of the fic. Still, I had a list of "Super What-If's" following this premise. I had some wackier ones, ideas that made little sense.

One where Beerus, through Whis, summons the TW to fight the Super Saiyan God. If TW doesn't fight, Beerus will destroy Earth. If Goku loses, he'll destroy the Earth. If Goku wins, he'll have earned the privilege to fight a God of Destruction and a copy of the TW's current garb.

One distortion, the one where Frieza can't transform, would involve the TW defending him. However, Frieza wouldn't accept a non-Freeza TW at his side. So the TW would visit a parallel reality where Guldo didn't make it into the Ginyu Force. (There is a Side Mission in Xenoverse called "Ginyu Exam" or something, where you help Guldo pass the entrance exam) TW would thwart Guldo's efforts and steal the Ginyu Force uniform, then return to the distorted timeline and aid Frieza until Frieza was able to transform again.

The final battle with Demigra.

I was actually okay with this part of the game, since it's "new territory" and what not. Not sure if I'd follow the same route, Demigra showing up in the Future Timeline during the same distortion. I liked the distortion where Future Cell gnabbed the Androids - in fact, I thought this could be a parallel reality somehow, that this Cell could have an Alternate Character Interpretation and become part of the Time Patrol, his goal fulfilled, secretly wishing to understand Time Travel and one day conquer the Time Nest on his own.

-

Cell.

Since a bunch of antagonists became good guys, it seems fitting to give Cell a shot. What would Cell do if he had nothing else to do? Earth's already ruined, it's people cower in fear of the Future Androids, and no one's left that could challenge him. But hey, these Time Patrol guys showed up, they have access to Dragon Balls and time travel technology. I could fight... anyone in history. Maybe I should sign up?

(Really, this spawned off of the fact that Cell can be one of the TW's mentors, and trying to figure out why on Earth they would allow him into the Time Nest)

Trunks would argue that this version of Cell isn't a Complete Monster, having gotten exactly what he wanted and only hurting the Androids to do it. He seems sincere... and we could use an extra hand against the bad guys, we're short-staffed as it is.

-

But anyway, back to Demigra.

After a series of distortions, Demigra reveals himself, hijacking the antagonist chair from Towa and Miira.

Demigra tries to mindjack Beerus, as if that was going to work. After eating Toki-toki, the Time Nest was essentially Demigra's, yes? Lucky for him Beerus decided to take a nap.

With no "strongest" power level to lock onto, the TW has to rely on their wits and their allies to face Demigra. Demira (in typical, video game baddie fashion) summons minions from across the timeline and sets them loose on the Time Nest (and plans to send them back once the SKOT and her Time Patrol are dead, because Demigra actually wants to take her place, not just destroy everything - he only resorts to destroying reality in the game after TW and Goku pummel him a bit).

Demigra has various Atroci'fied Villains on his side, thanks to Towa and Miira - effectively every person they've managed to infect with the Atorcious Energy. Perhaps this energy forms a link to Demigra (he did possess Piccolo afterall), allowing him to influence/control them. Some villains, like Majin Buu, are less effected, but simply go along with it because they get to destroy things.

Demigra has a roster of Z-Villains. The Time Patrol has a Hulk Perfect Cell, who wants the Time Nest for himself and won't let Demigra have it.

[epic battles, epic prose, epic TW doing their darndest not to get killed] (a juxtaposition from having the "magical ability to be As Strong As They Need To Be]], to suddenly having little-to-no power at all)

It's still delightfully ironic that the TW himself would be controlled by Demigra, I'd keep that. But I wouldn't transport them to some random city, and have Goku show up. All of this should definitely take place in the Time Nest, with Time Patrollers like Taino and Percel fighting their own Demigra'd allies, everyone trying to reach Demigra whose just sitting on his throne and laughing. The SKOT even gets a piece of the action (since she's non-playable and I feel bad for her).

The TW would become very ineffectual by the end. Team effort and Power of Friendship, yo. Cue "Cha-La" ending credits.

Time travel Punk'd.

The final battle did provide me with another idea. An idea I desperately wanted to see in Project Almanac, but didn't. Time travelers running into past versions of themselves.

I had this idea originally, but it started to make things a little too complicated. The idea was that, following the obligatory order, the TW would fight Raditz and fix the distortion. However, because he didn't fix it "properly" (Goku wasn't killed by the Special Beam Cannon, TW killed Raditz instead), the distortion remained "open", allowing Towa and Miira to return and create more.

Think of it like "mission parameters", how the Z-Games ask you to finish off an opponent with a special move. I was thinking about that, it could be a nifty way to revisit timelines and create more distortions. Since the distortion wasn't fixed, the Time Patrol would have to go back in and deal with their past selves. This, however, involved:

• Existing outside of time and killing your past self to avert an outcome.
• Arguing with your past self and not creating a time paradox.
• Avoiding your past self and fixing events regardless.

This seemed interesting, because in the final battle of Xenoverse, you die, but the TW gets "re-summoned" by the Z-Scroll just before his death and fixes the distortion. I wanted to see the two TW's in the same scene, but that didn't happen (I mean, he was there on the ground for a bit I guess).

But leaving distortions open and revisiting them and opening new ones would require a map. I mean, the reader would be exhausted and confused after awhile.

I didn't know that.

Though I'd suspect I'm in the majority.

edited 17th Apr '15 3:53:09 PM by Soble

Pretty sure that resummoning thing was something the Supreme Kai of Time explicitly set up with the dragonballs beforehand.

Was it?

Also, looking at that scene again... I suppose absorbing massive spheres of death energy is one of Goku's SSG abilities, isn't it?

She gathered up the dragonballs and did something just before Demigra broke out.

I think that might be meant to be summoning Goku, actually.

Ah. That would make sense.

But then the time patroller's revival makes no sense. Unless it actually was a result of the initial wish for someone to defend time itself.

I think that one was the bird. You can hear it screeching.

I think that the Time Patrols are a thing where Towa, Mira, and Demigra were actually travelling into the main timeline and actually rewriting history without creating a new timeline.

Then there's the parallel quests which are already splintered and fragmented where new timelines are explicitly not created by the time machines the Time Patrol uses.

...I mean, early on it was mentioned that the Time Patrol needed to set things right a certain way so Skot could "split" the scrolls.

But also that Trunks's actions with time travel split the scrolls.

So. I mean.

I dunno. It seems like there's different levels of bad.

Making infinitely new timelines is bad. Fucking up the main timeline and creating a paradox is worse. So I guess they're trying to get time close enough to how it originally was that writing back over it is easier.

...Isn't there a thing where the characters lower their ki to hide their power levels?

And sometimes they power up a lot to gather their energy more?

So.

I mean, I imagine that if Goku lowered his power level enough he could be hurt by an awful lot.

And, I mean, it depends on the woman wielding the frying pan.

Chichi was a fighter. And by the Buu Saga she's been training a Super Saiyan prodigy for seven years.

Skot tells you about Toki Toki's protection earlier.

...I had an idea about the Saiyan-Tuffle War that was basically all about class struggles and shit.

I mean, King Kai acts like the Saiyans were the aggressors, and stuff, but.

It seems like the Tuffles were winning until the full moon happened.

So I'm imagining a story where the Tuffles acted like they took in the Saiyans out of the goodness of their hearts, poor dumb monkeys blowing up their own last planet. But ultimately they end up using the Saiyans as slave labor or enforcers or gladiatorial entertainment and stuff.

King Vegeta the first (and only) would basically be like Saiyan Spartacus.

...The Tuffles could probably have taken over a good chunk of the universe with a Saiyan army if they'd felt like it. Maybe they would have eventually.

...I find myself a little interested in what Saiyan culture was actually like.

I mean. Our Vegeta, Prince Vegeta was considered too bloodthirsty by Saiyan standards and scared everyone around him. So he's one end of the ruthlessness scale. Gine and Tarble were kept out of the action for being too weak/nice. So they're the other end.

So, what were things like in the middle?

edited 24th Apr '15 12:20:02 PM by unnoun

Bardock.

So, the Naruto Fan Dumb trying to justify how "nardo totes stomps goku u gisss" is fucking hilarious.

Case in point.

I saw it and I was like: well, this shit is gonna be amazing. And lo and behold, it was.

........

I may not consider Dragon Ball the greatest thing ever anymore (we've gone over the flaws over and over again)

But Naruto has my eternal disdain. I will never forget what it took from me, and I think anyone who tries to claim anything about it beyond it's total shit should be ignored.

I will however, not be stating this anywhere else, or get more venomous than that to avoid going to far. But fuck, do I hate Naruto now.

I didn't even read it, because if Naruto can't bust a plan, then nothing will convince me he could beat Goku.

Well, ok, even if he could, I'd still refuse to be convinced out of pure spite, but that's neither here nor there.

Oh, but you should read it, because it's fucking amazing.

It's almost as magical as the guy claiming that the Juubi's Bijuudama was more powerful than the Yukatan impact.

Wow. So much conclusion jumping. Just wow.

I like the part where he grabs the weight of a rhino and calculates its density as if it were a cube, then uses it to estimate the weight of Gamabunta (who he also treats like a cube). Where did the rhino even come into this?! Gamabunta is a toad!

And now, because I am unbelievably petty, I wrote a story which details what would happen if a common fanfic premise, "Naruto is a Saiyan", weren't just a stupid way to make Naruto overpowered quickly.

And the only result I can see happening is the end of the world.