There it was, a vile energy boring through the surface of the Afterlife. It beared similarities but was ultimately not the same. Even the denizen of Hell could sense something like this. In the skies of ashen clouds the intense heat of the unforgiving faux Sun of their prison swirled ominously. Atop their mountain home, two warriors were gathered around a fire, limbs of some unfortunate fellow denizen cooking over it like a crude form of chicken.

"You feel that?" The stalwart warrior of Vegeta asked, his dulled emerald armor stained of dust and blood shimmered in the light of their campfire.

"Yeah," Raditz, the eldest son of Hanassia and Bardock, the latter of which sat impatiently waiting on their meal to be cooked.

"Is that all you gotta say? Someone's using your power in the living world. Here I thought you'd be a little-"

"I've got no relation to that life," The long-maned Saiyan replied with arms crossed over his chest, hard eyes glaring back at his scar-faced father's. "Whether they dishonor or praise me, I could give less of a fuck. I'm going to spend an eternity struggling and living in this unending limbo of nearly obtaining a real life. That's the fate of all true Saiyans, after all."

"Guess that's why Kakarot never belonged here, eh?" Bardock laughed sardonically.

"He was going to leave before any of us could win that damned Tournament. It was only a matter of time," Raditz dryly grinned as he stared at the cooking flesh poked on a stick. "Now, the real question is, how long will an energy like mine will last against my little brother or those he brought with him? That's anybody's guess, isn't it?"

"While you ponder that," The Father of two grabbed a cooked limb, biting heartily from it. "I'm going to dine!"

"HEY! DON'T EAT IT ALL!"

"Make me, Raditz!"

A synchronous ignition of golden lights detonated the mountain as father and son fought pettily over their scavenged body parts for dinner. They'd quickly forget their line of topic but never stop sensing that energy; the energy that was a darker reflection of the one spending an eternity in Hell for his transgressions as a Saiyan slaughterer.

Chapter 28 - Our Destiny's Curse

As Daikon emitted a vile aura of purple-black energy, Pikkon and Aosai looked on like they were seeing a twisted image of someone they knew. They couldn't even recognize him with how far gone this effigy of the prisoner of damnation that participated in the Other World Tournaments. In seeing such a menacing figure, Heaven's chosen transported over to the side of Broly whom finished wiping blood from his jawline.

Trunks, much to his chagrin, joined their side.

"I don't need help," Broly growled as he charged up his bright yellow Ki, sending buffeting air waves that lapped at his trio of wayward allies' apparel. Raditz seemed unperturbed by his enemy powering up by the look of a chilling tooth-bared grin.

"You may not think so, but someone like that can't be beaten conventionally," Aosai warned with a soft yet firm voice. Her eyes cast towards the lean muscular Saiyan, his own eye glancing from the side without turning to face her. "Lend us your strength and we'll make sure he's open for a finishing blow."

"She brings up a good point," Trunks affirmed, much to the mutual Super Saiyan's audible chagrin. "If he doesn't get a chance to recover, he won't be able to survive a lethal attack. We have to do this."

Pikkon silently nodded his head, turning his turban adorned head to incline and look up at the floating Saiyan. Noticing he was allowing them to take initiative spoke of his pride as well as his tact for wanting to not show his hand. "Such is the fearsome battle prowess of a pure blooded Saiyan. Goku, I know you just got back, but I don't think I can allow a reunion of your family just yet; not one that possesses such evil Ki."

"None of you get in my way!" Broly howled out, his body leaping forth in a jet stream of trailing golden hue. Eyes closed in on Daikon with his form blistering the space between them in spans closer to a heartbeat. With whirring balls of compressed power, he thrust his palms towards him with a point blank assault-

-only for the equally as large Saiyan to launch his head like a battering ram into his skull, rendering his momentum against inert and his attacks disperse.

"Get lost!" The Saiyan shouted with a spinning kick that sent him crashing into the earth. Raising a hand to gather scarlet light for his follow-up attack, he felt a hand grasp his raised limb. Turning to look he saw the Herasian grasping his wrist, looking at him coolly with a cerulean aura wrapped around her like a gentle quilt of silk. As if she read his intentions to toss her aside, she maneuvered in the air like the wind, twisting him around to send him flying head over heels.

Straight into Pikkon's flying elbow, delivered straight to his nasal cavity.

"G-Gaugh!" Feeling his cranium splinter and his nose mangled, blood spewed from his nostrils and mouth as he was sent reeling back like a missile. Unable to right himself, the white hot burn of Trunks' Buster Cannon folded over him making him careen downward in an explosive trail of smoldering earth and wrecked terrain. With blood trailing down his back and his uniform top eradicated, the burned and beaten Raditz could only turn shakily to see Broly rear his arm back, concentrating an enormous amount of energy into his palm. "...dammit! I can't die...like this!"

Images of his death flashed before his eyes, bloodied and betrayed, left to rot on the soil.

"No!"

"You've been restored to life, Saiyan," A blonde doctor with opaqued lens covering her eyes, adjusting them with a smile while in the company of the Inner Circle's leadership. "But you are no longer a footstool of spoiled royalty of a dead race. Now you are Daikon, the instrument for the future survival of humanity."

"Please be of use to us," Shukun spoke with a low volume and a calm smile on his face.

"If you don't, then you can join the refuse of your kin," Ryukage sneered with arms crossed, eyes glowing red behind his shades.

"I hope you don't die a weakling like you did before, Daikon!" Mellow Dee sang aloud with a giggle.

"I'm...I'm Raditz...and I...I," He began to shout, shakily standing to his feet, his aura bursting to life in a bright purple as he formed a crackling orb of Ki in his hand. Tears formed in his eyes as his bloodied face showed who he really was; a replicate who belonged nowhere but in the hands of his creators. Throwing it in a streak of violet lightning, he howled with finality. "I AM NO ONE'S TOOL!"

"No," Broly countered with a quiet whisper, followed up with his own feral cry as he swung a pebble sized bead of Ki at the lightning streak of his opponent. "You're a monster; just like me."

The moment the two attacks collided, one seemed to swell upon proximity. The once minuscule form of lime light inflated to the point of a meteor. The enormity of it caused the opposing force to coil and crackle against it with futile resistance, the tendril tail being swept away in its approaching velocity. The earth parted like a body of water, flowing forth with enough destructive force that Radtiz's gradual regeneration would be null. His own aura was snuffed out as the attack sped rapidly towards him, his hair flailing like a flag and eyes wide with terror stared back.

He couldn't even scream for help or beg for survival.

Closing his eyes, he squatted and crossed his arms up in a pitiful attempt to brace for impact. Doing so made him unaware of a speeding frame of darkness land in front of him in a quiet tap of soles. A feeling of coldness spread his body that felt unnatural, making his trembling frame unfold his limbs. Looking up he saw the pitch blackness of Entropy ebb like a ungodly flame from the back of a long coat, black haired man with darker than midnight shades. A finger-less gloved hand palmed the attack, forcing the energy into the palm of his hand and defused it in a whining wheeze, leaving nothing but a cloud of vapors before him.

"You don't want to die, right?" Trench queried with a stone faced expression of solemn understanding. Without turning to look at the slowly recovering Saiyan effigy, he balled up his open palm into a fist, eyes staring at the quad of fighters who were surprised at his intervention. "Then I'll ensure you won't die a pawn in the others' game and live as my equal. What do you say, Daikon?"

His savior wreaked of a nihilistic power, one that was bathed in darkness and resembled something closer to a black hole. But of someone who was self centered and full of pride in his own worth, that didn't matter. What did was the fact this was a member of the same organization that wanted to leash and collar him, like some kind of killer pet. Yet his words and mannerisms didn't add up.

"Why would you save a disposable commodity like me, Trench?" The bio-warrior inquired with narrowed eyes.

Turning to look at him over his shoulder, one could see eyes filled with a lonely onyx. They echoed something deep within that only someone like the reborn Saiyan could identify with. An isolation and a feeling of loss, the emptiness that clung to both of their souls just for existing in this world. Words weren't even spoken and he understood exactly why this man stood for his survival.

It was as if he was saving himself.

While everyone watched with indecision, the legend had enough waiting.

"It doesn't matter if there's one or a hundred!" Broly howled, powering up to the max as he launched forth with a cluster of energy spheres aligned near his drawn back arms. Thrusting his limbs forward with a slap of his fist closed wrists, the Eraser Volley fired in quick succession towards the trench coat enemy as well as his main target. A livid look of rage crossed his face even as the light of green overcast the area in a synchronous series of explosions. "JUST DIE!"

"No," A whisper spoke from in front of him, a blur of momentum flowing out of the fire spewing smoke filled crater. Without warning the equally as tall man grappled his face, landing a deafening punch into his sternum with the other. Even as he gaped at the feeling of his insides colliding with one another, it wasn't nearly as painful as what came next. "Reaper Bomb."

Launched like a cannon towards the stratosphere, an ominous darkness elliptically covered the heavens above them. Wiping out visibility the shockwave that returned to the planet's surface made everyone wince save for the source of the attack. With a hurricane of ghastly chilling wind shrieking across everybody's skin and flapping their hair to apparel, the rolling clouds of ash colored smoke gave way to a single figure, falling from the sky. Still possessing gold hair even as he was rendered unconscious, the burned and battered legendary warrior was about to hit the ground...when he was caught by the Herasian warrior in an instant.

"You poor thing," She whispered, holding him close with an expression of sorrow. "To fight for a righteous purpose when you're a newcomer to this place must mean you haven't fought for yourself for a long time. Your time hasn't come, so I'll do what I can to mend your wounds."

Inhaling deeply she'd exhale a purple mist, flowing into Broly's wheezing nostrils and mouth. As she did so the paleness in his skin and the faintness of his heartbeat lessened, his constitution slowly being restored. Flying back, she could only stave away death's door and give him his strength back but not bring him to consciousness.

They'll have to fight their new enemy along with Daikon on their own.

"He took Broly out in a single blow," Trunks gaped, turning to bare his teeth towards Trench as he recomposed himself. "Bastard! Who's side are you on anyways?!"

"This is all for the Earth's survival," Trench replied, his stoney visage turning to a sardonic grin of smugness. "Wasn't he your enemy as well, Trunks?"

"Then what's with you siding with that renegade freak-?!"

"He's my comrade. I was saving him from our invader. Was that really wrong?" He interrupted with a question, again in a coy manner as he kept grinning at the furious time traveler.

"Why you-!"

"I've heard enough," Pikkon retorted with a thunderous collapse of earth as he tossed his weighted turban and gi. Rolling his neck from side to side to relieve tension, the bipedal amphibious fighter settled into a offensive stance. "You smell of death, Earthling. To side with someone with such a vile Ki while projecting one even more wretched paints the color of alignment you follow. Prepare to die!"

"It will be you who's about to die," Daikon declared, lightly landing from a leap to Trench's left. Powering up a bright purple while a dark flame ignited across his new companion's, they both settled into neutral postures of confidence. Even the feeling of the Namekian, having deposited Flare back at the Lookout, coming to join the fray didn't deter him. Not when he had a chance of living. "And I'll live on, as the reborn Saiyan warrior!"

Trunks let out a fierce shout as he became the Ascended Saiyan, his maximum power doubling with a long haired curtain of spiked hair with more defined muscles and crackling tendrils of bio-energy. Raising a fist of his own as Aosai became engulfed in a vivid green aura that made her curly orange hair turn a stark red and her blue skin an emerald hue with Pikkon becoming a translucent white, the half-breed shouted with deadly promise. "I warned your boss, Trench, that if you stepped out of line it'd be the end of you. Not another day where you cause more suffering. NOT ONE MORE!"

Vegeta was beside himself with what he sensed. At first it seemed that the unfamiliar energy was combating Broly's, as if they were the original aggressors. But the moment his son appeared there was a scuffle with the latter until Kakarot's friends appeared. That was when the admittedly dark presence began fighting all of them and his power seemed to incline every other minute. The more beatings it took, it seemed to get stronger.

"Is this a Saiyan or something worse?" The prince queried within as he pretended to be interested in his and his rival's wives' antics.

"...and just like that, there was a mess everywhere! You should've seen what happened to that poor fish," Chi-Chi guffawed as her tale finished, making Bulma hold her stomach as she teared up with laughter.

"Who knew your daughter could be such a troublemaker?" The blue eyed woman asked with a shake of her head, wiping her eyes of moisture.

"Yeah well," Chi-Chi looked over to see Gohan playing Rock Paper Scissors with little Goten and Trunks. As the young man grinned broadly as he kept the two kids engaged, the woman sighed with a turn to look at her husband. "She must take after her father, right Goku?"

"...I'm sorry, she took what?" Goku inquired with a blank set of blinks.

Sighing, the raven haired woman frowned at her beloved, "Goku, are you spacing off again?"

"Uh, well," Goku tried to explain, nervously tugging at his collar while exchanging a look at Vegeta. The Saiyan did nothing ot help as he glared back and crossed his arms. Chuckling sheepishly he scratched his jaw as he pondered aloud how to explain. "I've just been so distracted by all the commotion going on out there. I mean...Broly's back and there's this new power that showed up with one I never felt before. It seems like Big Trunks has to go all-out with Pikkon and Aosai against these-"

"And this is my problem, how?" The mother of two twitched with dangerous annoyance.

"It could be a problem," Gohan piped up, looking innocently over his shoulder as Trunks and Goten continued playing the game without him. "I mean, I think it may be Trench who's causing problems. He's strong enough to fight me at full power and Trunks combined; not to mention we had help back then too."

"I didn't waste money to-"

"How much is that currency for the dead?" Vegeta inquired dryly, earning a look of anger from Goku's wife. Even as Bulma observed for the most part, she turned to look at him as he shrugged. "If the threat is none of your concern, by all means, keep up this drivel. But if Kakarot's new allies and my son can't handle it, you know the three of us are this planet's only hope of survival. So please, by all means, keep up the ignorant act," Narrowing his eyes, a smile tugged at his stoic features for sardonic reasons. "Its your planet's best attribute if your last champion is of any example."

As if on cue, a sudden quaking sensation followed an ominous blackout. The reason for the shaking building and trembling resort's landscape was for the sudden loss of light up in the sky. With the families rushing to look at the sky aflame with darkness, it'd recede after a minute. What was left in the aftermath was the heavens filled with a dreary grey, raining a light coat of ash to the land below.

"Chi-Chi," Goku quietly spoke with a hand gripping her shoulder. She looked at him with worry as she saw him look up at the sky with a serious crease in his brows. "This battle...it's no longer a little scuffle. If they keep this up, our world will be in danger."

Bowing her head, she meekly nodded her head. Grasping her chin he looked at her with a brave smile, full of confidence to reassure her. Planting a simple kiss to the forehead, he turned to look at Gohan.

"Protect them. I don't know how bad this is going to get."

"Okay," Gohan replied seriously, his frown apparent that he was being pushed to the side but he understood why. This was his father's time in fighting for Earth in years. And it'd be the first time in a while that he'd be able to protect his family with his own two hands. "Be careful. Trench isn't somebody you should beat easy."

"Got it," He winked, turning to place a pair of forefingers to his forehead. Before he could disappear entirely, Vegeta's hand reached out and grasped his arm. Blinking with surprise, he saw the crown prince just give him a silent steely glare. Smiling despite his look of disgust, the two would disappear in an instant.

And leave their families, with only their faith in them to hold onto.

In an instant, they'd charge forth and the valley became an explosion of force and light. The collection of signatures sprayed firepower and produced dozens of concussive impacts in a span of seconds. The tangle of limbs and shows of ichor to spewing spit from connecting attacks made it a chaotic connection of attacks. From a distance it'd be like a furious slug fest ensuing with no pattern or rhyme to its motions.

It was anything but.

Daikon was parrying a number of attacks from Pikkon, Piccolo and Aosai. All three of them were pressuring him with their transformed states, making it far more of a challenge for him to simply overpower. But none of them seemed to break through the Saiya-Borg's defenses as he looked for an opening.

Grasping the Namekian's leg, the reborn Saiyan ducked beneath the Herasian and Amphibious fighter's strikes. With a flare of purple energy he swung their comrade into them like a crude bat, sending them sprawling for a handful of meters away. Receiving an elastic punch from the living weapon he was holding onto made him spit out blood with a venomous snarl. With the hand that held his leg he let loose a column of Ki that sent the former guardian's body flying back, covered in smoke and bleeding in several places he couldn't brace against.

Aosai launched forth in a blur of instantaneous motions, each one landing a severe blow to Daikon's unguarded areas. Grimacing and violently sputtering with each attack that landed, he finally had enough as he unleashed an omni-directional Kiai, stopping her in her tracks. Twisting on his heel he'd land an upper cut into her gut, lifting her up with the force of his burly fist. Grinning, the bare-chested Saiya-Borg left hooked her across the jaw, watching her bounce from a rupture of air pressure.

Within the tumble she kicked off the ground and instantly reappeared in his midst with a pistoned punch into his waistline.

"Instant Style: Multitude Moment Mash!" She declared as her arm blitzed in a barrage of instantaneous punches that all struck the Raditz Clone in the torso like a wall of hits. During the last of the connected knuckles she sent his body reeling back a dozen paces, his heels digging into the earth. Seeing his apparent chest cavity ruptured only winded him, the skin returning to normal color as the damage was healed seconds later. "All of that and for nothing?!"

"A nice combo," Daikon praised with a spit of blood, followed by two teeth. "I really felt that."

When Pikkon's halo adorned head shimmered behind him with a mantle of transparent white, the long-haired agent of the Circle turned to back elbow into his chest. When the figure vanished, a blitzing original green skinned warrior was wrapped in orange red outlined flames from the sheer momentum he displaced. Connecting with his jaw with maximum prejudice, Piccolo capitalized on his look-alike's attack and unleashed a quickly formed Makankosappo.

When Daikon barely evaded the drilling lance of light, cutting a chunk out of his right arm, the Saiya-Borg clenched his maimed limb as the corkscrewing technique carved a path across the horizon. Nearby the quad of fighters, Trunks and Trench's fight was underway with a heated collision.

Having taken the Saiya-Borg's only ally away, his electrical golden aura flashed in succinct synchronous motion with every punch or kick connecting with the avatar of death. A single swing of the latter's arm sent an eroding distortion of airwaves that disintegrated the land and turned soil into ash seconds upon contact.

"You've improved, Trunks," Trench admonished with a taunting grin, catching a punch followed by another. With their fingers wrapping around the other he pumped out a ghastly Ki just as Trunks flashed a brilliant light around him. His long coat billowed with his ponytail spiked hair, just as the lights reflected against Trench's dark shades and his own trench coat whipped violently. The earth distended and cracked at their virtual push-of-war, one's power bent on overwhelming the other's. "At this rate, you may become worth killing."

"SHUT UP!" The Ascended Half-breed shouted, his head smashing against Trench's. With his body reeling, the younger man leaped up with a knee crashing into the other's chin, further propelling him up into the air. Rapidly decking his body with electric contact the trench coat wearing agent was sent hurdling across the horizon in his push against the enemy. Just when it seemed he'd regain his senses did the dark shade covered eyes of Trench widen as the aura of crackling bio-energy shifted from golden to stark purple. "GALICK GUN, FIRE!"

Unleashed in a wrathful shout the pillar of energy sent the man streaking across the landscape. Cutting through the canyon walls he'd strike the back of a mountain, tunnel through it and blast out the other side, its foundations atomized by the stretch of destruction. Skidding to a halt, the hidden eyes of Trench squinted and his body laid prostrate on his back. A large scorch mark was displayed over his chest and blood ebbed out of his mouth; one that turned into a smirk.

But as far as Trunks was concerned, he was dealt with for the moment.

"I gave it all I had...and I broke his stride? Damn that monster," Trunks panted, his aura dimming as he released hold of his heightened state. Standard Super Saiyan was all that he could maintain after such a monstrous counterattack. Turning to look at his current allies, he witnessed Daikon deflecting the transformed Aosai, and both the full powered Piccolo and Pikkon's attacks. "This guy...he's getting stronger with every passing second!"

"Did you really think it'd be that easy?!" Daikon crowed out as he caught Aosai and Pikkon's kicking legs simultaneously. Blurring forward he whip them back and over his head, smashing them into the ground. Spinning on his heels he tossed them back, launching a pair of purple electric blasts that they barely endured past. When Piccolo moved to flank him from behind, the Raditz Clone bent forward and reverse kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling in a crouch. With the other pair landing back on their feet with visible bruises and scuffs on their persons, they refused to show their weariness while the Saiya-borg simply laughed derisively. "Just how long are you going to keep playing this game?! You had a shot of killing me before, but without that freak, none of you can come close to me!"

A sudden pair of arrivals in the sound of wind caressing the grass made his statement feel hollow.

"Whoa!" Goku cried out, nearly falling backwards as he saw the gawking Bio-Warrior that reeled at the sight of both Saiyans. "It's Raditz! But, he feels nothing like him! What is he?!"

"A Fake, obviously," Vegeta sternly rebuked, releasing his hold on Goku's uniform front while turning to face the now recomposed Raditz Clone. Arms crossed he glared icily forward. "I see that organization went to any lengths to acquire more power. Even taking the corpse of a useless weakling and gutting it to leave nothing resembling him behind. Other than your appearance, you're nothing like that good-for-nothing bodyguard, are you?"

"Oh, I'm wounded, oh prince of nobody," Daikon spat with a broad grin, devilishly enjoying the visible twitch of anger he got out of the shorter Saiyan. "Laugh while you can, for I am beyond ordinary Saiyans. I have true power! Something that you can only HOPE to achieve, worthless noble blooded whelp!"

"You really are nothing like him," Goku whispered, eyes glaring towards the malicious force that wore his brother's skin. "I met my brother in the Afterlife. Sure, we didn't always get along, but he became proud in the accomplishments of his own merits. You're...no better than Freeza."

"Shut your mouth, Kakarot!"

Those words left his mouth as he launched with hands reaching out to strangle him. But instead he'd find himself choking nothing but an Afterimage, a phantasmal echo of where he once was. The sledgehammer sensation of his pseudo-brother's fist striking his back sent him falling to his fours with a gasp.

"When did he-?!" He turned to prop himself by his hands, swinging his legs to cut him off in a scything motion. Again he saw his faux-sibling disappear before his very eyes, standing simultaneously with a fist thrown into his face. The force unleashed cratered the earth and his head driven into it with his body lurching upwards in shock. "-such strength!"

"You can't beat me the way you are," Goku pulled the replicant by the hair, hanging the disoriented Saiya-Borg in front of him. With a pair of fingers touching his left pectoral, he flexed the pair of knuckles, striking him in an instant. The result caused his heart to explode, and a gaping hole ripped open from his back; the horizon itself shrieked with a warping gale wind from the attack he unleashed. With the Clone spewing blood that stained Goku's Battle Jacket, he fell to the ground with a lifeless look in his eyes, his Ki vanishing entirely as his loosely related brother looked down with pity. "I'm sorry, I can't allow you to hurt anybody else."

Both father and son were left stunned. Goku's power and speed seemed to have increased astronomically since they had last saw him. While Vegeta kept his composure far more than his child from the future did, he felt himself twitch incessantly with frustration. Piccolo was left beside himself as his mouth almost hit the ground with such a quick take down of Raditz's Doppelganger.

Pikkon and Aosai, however, weren't surprised.

"You used that, didn't you?" Pikkon queried in an almost accusatory tone, his power defused just like Aosai's.

"Haha, you noticed?" Goku questioned with a sheepish laugh and a scratch to his scalp.

"Honestly, it was to be expected," He sighed, folding his arms over his chest while eyeing him suspiciously. "You Saiyans are monsters once you find your niche and perfect your skills."

"Hold on, what is he talking about?!" Vegeta gnashed his teeth in confusion, turning with his hands upraised with an angry twitching vein upon his crown.

"That goes for both of us," Piccolo commented with far more composure, his own stalwart frame becoming a statue as he eyed up Goku suspiciously. "For a moment, I swore your Ki exploded every time you connected with Raditz's Clone. Is that Kaioken?"

"Eh, kinda," The Turtle Schooler smiled, his hands gesturing in explanation. "If you think about it, Kaioken takes your maximum to a whole new level. Every time it doubles up, your body undergoes a huge stress each time. However, ever since I unlocked Super Saiyan, Kaioken was just unnecessary. It wasn't until I tried melding the two together in the Tournament that I realized it was far more damaging than it was helpful.

"So I came up with a new solution! Why not multiply the maximum of my Super Saiyan power instead? I don't need to transform and it doesn't hurt my body by tapping into this well of power. I call it, the Super Kaioken," Goku declared proudly, thumbing his chest while placing a hand on his hip as his grin broadened. The look of Vegeta's stark surprise and Piccolo's shock was enough to make him giggle. "Pretty cool, huh?"

"Cool? It's incredible!" Trunks excuded with a delighted expression with upraised hands. "You were the one to figure out how to eliminate stress of the Super Saiyan form. Now you come up with something to multiply its power even higher! You really are amazing!"

"Tch," Vegeta scoffed, his gaze turning aloof as his arms crossed over his chest with his eyes looking away. "You'd do well to remember that it was I who reached a higher form before he even got back from the dead."

An ominous sensation filled the air that brought casual talk to a sudden close. All eyes widened at the feeling of temperature rising, the calm atmosphere becoming riled up with a buffet of wind that roared outward. With every able bodied person turning at once an immense pressure weighed on their shoulders. There a glowing halo surfaced from a perpendicularly rising body. Lean muscles bulged outward and compressed back, a constant inflation and deflation of musculature structure. Eyes blanked with no visible pupils, a sneer breached turned into a hideous smile.

Then a laugh like a demon let loose in a guttural tone, as the jean clad shirtless legend hovered inches above the ground with fists clenched.

"SO MANY POWERFUL OPPONENTS! SO MANY HEADS TO SEND ROLLING!" Broly cackled out with a booming voice, lightning snapping to and fro like serpents in the light of his transformation. Tilting his head to the side, the smile kept broad at the sight of Vegeta's complexion hardening with seriousness just as Goku's did to turn towards him. Pikkon and Aosai he didn't care about, but the transformed Trunks and Piccolo were also welcome sights. "I REMEMBER YOU! YESSSSSSSSSS, SUCH GOOD MEMORIES! DO YOU REMEMBER?! I DO! HOW I BROKE YOUR BODIES AND MADE YOU HURL BLOOD! LET'S RELIVE THOSE, SHALL WE?!"

Goku and Vegeta cocked their arms while bending into squats, readying themselves for the coming battle. What neither noticed ahead of time was what Trunks realized at the last instant. A sound couldn't make it in time, so he put all of his power into speed, rushing in a blur of yellow-

A hoarse scream cut both prime fighters from making the first move. Turning to see with a shock as much as Aosai and Pikkon in a blast of scarlet. There, standing outstretched was the son of Vegeta, his body used a shield against a treacherous sneak attack. With his shirt blasted off to reveal burnt flesh along with his sleeves up his face, the young man grimaced as he fell to one knee, barely conscious.

To their surprise, Daikon's hand was the one responsible for firing the attack; still aglow with rose color Ki.

"Dammit, I almost caught you both off guard," The reborn Saiyan snarled, standing upright as he rolled his neck side to side. "I wanted to suppress my power to increase my chances. That boy is a bit more attuned than I'd like. Let's do something about that, shall we?"

"MAO-KEN!"

Piccolo didn't even hesitate to activate his technique, his body exploding with a pyre of white light. While his allies flinched and blinked away at the bright light, he moved with a fearsome resolve to crush Raditz's look-alike for good. A clawed hand outstretched as he moved over Trunks, between Goku and Vegeta to launch his avenging blow. The sudden sight of revolving steel made him turn a dramatic right, crashing into the earth with his shoulder with a mighty impact as the whole world went black. Biting back the urge to howl in pain, he tried to blink away the dust in his eyes.

The only thing was, he couldn't. As he felt white hot pain throb in his sockets the realization hit him as clung to his face with shame. He had been blinded!

"Whew, that was a close save on your part, Pickle Man," Void commended, the white haired man smiling toothily as he shook his blade free of blood. "To think, I almost cut your head off. It'd be fair, given you made me live in a complete vacuum for God knows how long!"

"Several months, give or take a few days..."

"Really? I thought it was a lot longer than that!"

"Not the time for that, guys," Void muttered to himself, brandishing his weapons in preparation for a follow-up attack.

"Who is he?" Goku asked with a quick turn of the head in a whisper.

"One of those blasted agents from that damn organization," Vegeta hissed, his body instantly engulfed in an effortless transformation of Super Saiyan. His casual clothes fluttered about him indifferently, feeling paper thin with how much power coursed through him. Eyeing his rival, he let low a harsh whisper. "Listen, leave Broly to me. You can have that rejected science experiment of theirs."

"He's all yours," Goku acknowledged lowly, his countenance turning serious as both Daikon and Broly were leaning back on their heels. When both charged, Aosai timely teleported to Trunks and pulled him out of the way just as Piccolo grew back new eyes. Void blitzed forth with a maddening grin as he held two swords, spiraling in the air like a whirlwind of death.

When the two attacking Saiyans connected against their kin's, they'd find both of their attacks halted. Goku with Daikon's and Vegeta with Broly, both rearing their own arms back. When their own fists made contact the pair of enemies were only sent stumbling as opposed to flying away. A pair of complementing sinister grins were shown as they moved in for more, causing the quad of figures to disappear into the air with a crescendo of explosive attacks that left them invisible to all but the elite fighters left on the ground.

"It seems those two have found their enemies to sink their teeth into," Pikkon commented, his body standing upright with arms crossed. Eyes locking onto Piccolo's back as he watched the Namekian handily grasp both blades between his fingers. Even without his volatile form on, the emerald skinned fighter was able enough to lock horns with the schizophrenic assassin. "How do you think we should proceed?"

"Get Trunks to the Lookout," The Former Guardian replied as he slammed his head into Void's breaking his nose. Snapping the blades between his digits, he slammed his right palm into the man's chest, letting loose a Masenko to send the enemy flying back in a vortex of Ki borne flames. Once finished, he resumed debriefing. "Dende's a superb healer. It's hovering above an alabaster tower. Not hard to miss."

"Understood," Aosai nodded, flickering out of view with the wounded half-breed slung over her shoulder as she finished her say. "Be back in a bit."

"And what about them?" The frog-faced Otherworlder inquired, his eyes now set on the trench coat silhouette that walked out of the dust of Piccolo's attack. With him rose up the hunched over, disturbing frame of the white-haired man, now bearing a pair of baseball bats in each hand. The chuckling psycho next to the stoic reaper made the heavenly warrior feel more unease than he had in the Tournament with a gaggle of evil participating in the wings.

"We deal with them," Piccolo declared, slamming a fist into his palm, his body igniting in a translucent white. When Pikkon did likewise, the two rushed forth and began their own battle.

A/N: Not the longest chapter, but the delays for it certainly were. I'd say I'm sorry but, you know, with Xenoverse 2 and all the rage of October, it was bound to eat away at my time. But now I'm finishing it at the WAY late hours of the night/morning, you all have it before November at least, haha! Hope you guys like it.

I know some people may have issues with my own interpretation of "Super Kaioken," but given the way neither of the two techniques can be meshed, this is just more or less clever wordplay on my own regard. If the explanation by Trunks and Goku wasn't enough, I took the Canon observation of Goku's adept manipulation over his Super Saiyan forms in the way of forcefully triggering it (like in his fight with Yakon) and the clear presence of Super Saiyan 3 is honestly a tribute for him being able to control a higher volume of power he couldn't do consciously without the strength of will and training he went through in the Afterlife.

SO, in short, Goku is using his Super Saiyan power LIKE a Kaioken without combining a Kaioken WITH a Super Saiyan transformation. Makes sense? Yes? Good.

Now, with that out of the way, I hope you're all as excited as I am for the upcoming chapters. I believe Chapter 30 will be (don't quote me) the Finale for the Broly Arc. Much like "Earth's Champions" was a compilation of Aftermath sequences, we may get that in addition to the final battle.

And now, a brief response to my faithful Reviewers!

ShadowLDrago:...lol, whoops. Better him going berserk in the wilderness than in downtown West City though, right? Also, don't want to burst your bubble, but my idea of how Broly conducts his power will be showcased in "The Legend of Broly,". Don't expect Muscle Mountain Man to appear in this fight, given how ridiculous and plainly cumbersome that form SHOULD BE instead of what the games, fandom and merchandise has led many other fans astray to perceive it as. Think of it more of a "Pure Saiyan Instinct Mode," with a dash of berserker in it rather than, "I'mma power up to beyond Mega Trunks and move faster than the eye can perceive!"...ya know? XD Hope to still see ya in the next Review, regardless!

SkySage24: Hope the beginning of this Chapter cleared it up for ya. He IS Raditz reborn, but all in all, he's just a husk given life. The Real Raditz is still in Hell. Even now, after years of the Other World Tournament going on. I aim to please you with the development I give him in this chapter, along with a trench coat toting fighter who returns in this Chapter...along with a psychopathic skitso!

The Anguished On: HA! A stern word! I'm fairly certain Shukun will either be too aloof to care about these actions or he'll do more than give her a "firm talk". I dunno, maybe he'll even play innocent with this incident altogether, who knows?! XD

MalikJamalTimberlake: Daikon is only evil if because his attitude was encouraged through years of experimentation, programming/brainwashing and little to no development outside of a lab. Anytime he did, he didn't exactly result in fruitful endeavors. He believes he IS Raditz which makes it all the more saddening when people look down on him now. The only comfort he finds is in battle, bloodshed and proving his worth in becoming superior to everyone else around him.
Also, Daikon's function is to stand up and LIVE against entities like Broly. That is his PURPOSE. The fact he can regenerate even organs and feint death shows how much of a credible threat he is, along with fact that he possesses the Saiyan ability of recovery from near death and getting stronger the longer he fights. He's a dangerous combination, much like the Legendary Super Saiyan that Broly is.
Hope you enjoyed this Chapter! Thanks for commenting! ^^

Mdhunter: Broly isn't a "good guy" per say. He's more like a begrudging ally to the heroes because he felt genuinely upset that one of the few people who's treated him with a semblance of decency was hurt by an outright madman of a Saiyan; a dark reflection of his innermost instincts. So he fights against his own darkness as much as he's trying to battle Daikon. In that essence he's much closer to the alignment (at the moment) of the pure hearts of goodness rather than stained black of evil like Freeza could be. Now, in his purest form, his berserker mode will feel nothing like his conscious state of mind and will feel more like Majin Buu's impulse for wanton murder and destruction; just a tad more coherent, haha.

And that's all there is, folks. Not as many Reviewers this time, but I hope to see more in the future. Until then, I'll see you all next time on The Vegeta Chronicles!