251Greetings all. Now, for those who discovered this through my main page and not through browsing, you may be asking the followings question: "Why isn't Anonymaton uploading A Very Bad Idea, or Venom: Resurgence chapters?"
Creativity: Trust me, we're working on them. We already have two chapters for Bad Idea and Resurgence completed (Still early January as of this writing)
Author: Indeed! As for your question, this is a specific type of story I like to call an "I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!" story. A phenomenon of which a story idea floats into your head and starts to bounce around, marinating in creativity and consideration until you can't handle it anymore and need to get it out of your system.
Creativity: Didn't take too long to build to critical mass in this instance. Actually, Resurgence is sort of in this same vein, though to a lesser extent since we literally did this story before.
Author: Also, a quick plug for the Poll I have up for the story that I will be working on primarily after A Very Bad Idea concludes. For those of you who don't know, I'm wrapping up my primary project in Spring this year, and I want feedback on what story I should do next (Aside from this one, though there will be some reference to it in a different story, tied in with something else, and oh my god I've gone cross-eyed). But anyway, please read the stories (They have Sampling in the name) and cast your vote.
Alright, enough with the prattling. Let us present the tentative chapter one of Limit Breaker!
Age 737, two weeks before the destruction of planet Vegeta…
Alphalott, proud member of the Saiyan Royal Guard was in a foul mood. This was the last straw. He'd put up with that infernal excuse for a Saiyan far too long and it was high time he washed his and his family's hands of the whole mess.
Alphalott and his family were all high-class warriors among the Saiyan race and had served their king proudly for decades. But then, there were complications. Complications that bore the name Gula. Gula was his youngest son and had made life difficult for his family the moment he'd been born. Unlike the rest of his family, who had all been born with high power-levels, Gula had been born with not just a low power-level, but the lowest power-level in recorded Saiyan history! Alphalott had immediately hidden all record of Gula's existence from the rest of the Saiyans, deciding that he would train Gula himself to be a high-class warrior like the rest of his family.
Unfortunately, the training didn't exactly pan out. Even with the Saiyan zenkai boost, his growth was absolutely pitiful! He was ten years old now, and his power was only marginally better than an adolescent low-class warrior! And as if that wasn't enough, the exact second he started to show some promise, Gula almost killed his eldest sibling and risked revealing that Alphalott had lied to king Vegeta!
Alphalott had ordered his eldest son, Aikon, to spar with Gula to try and force Gula to overcome his immense shortcomings, and it apparently worked a little too well. Gula had apparently been all but beaten, but when Aikon went for the final blow, Gula struck back with sudden power and ferocity that left Aikon with more broken bones than not, a severe concussion and possible permanent heart damage! Of course, this was on the eve of Aikon being sent out for another planet-conquering mission, which he now couldn't make due to his injuries. This meant that Alphalott would have to report to king Vegeta that Aikon's mission would have to be delayed due to him still recovering from a training exercise gone wrong, which would lead to the king investigating just what had happened. Normally, Aikon would just say that his middle child, Aspera had done this, but she was already off-world on a conquering of her own, and Alphalott didn't have the time to come up with a convincing lie. Either he got rid of Gula or king Vegeta would discover his deception and likely execute him.
He found Gula sitting in his 'room'. The boy had the characteristic black hair (long, but rather subdued relative to other Saiyans) and eyes of the Saiyan race, but was a bit thin, relative to other Saiyans his age. He certainly had more scars than them. He was wearing a traditional Saiyan outfit, colored black and green, with yellow pauldrons. His tail was flicking in a way that suggested agitation. Alphalott could see little remorse in his eyes for what happened to Aikon. Normally, Alphalott wouldn't mind, but not when his position (not to mention his life) were on the line.
Gula's room was sparse, only containing a bed and training equipment so the only thing he could do to alleviate his boredom was get stronger. Not that it mattered now. Over a decade invested in bringing this miserable excuse for a Saiyan up to proper standards was wasted when he should have just jettisoned the liability off planet like the rest of the low-class children. Maybe he'd have come home a conqueror of a planet, or he'd have ended up dead. Both options were happy ones to him. But no, he'd let his pride get the better of him and how he was standing on a razor-thin wire over a boiling lake.
Gula didn't have any time to react before Alphalott delivered a swift open-handed chop to the back of his neck, knocking him unconscious. After making sure he was securely hidden under a cloak, he waited until night fell and flew the prone form of his youngest to the nearest launch site and placed him in a stasis pod. It was a newer model of Saiyan pod that put the passenger in suspended animation while in flight to the destination. Perhaps it was an act of kindness, maybe a lack of patience that he chose this pod, but it didn't matter. He placed his unconscious son inside and began setting a destination. He didn't want this pod found by anyone within Frieza's empire, as that would just lead to it getting traced back to him. After finding a planet outside of Frieza's current reach, he sealed the pod and sent it on it's way. Based on his guess, Alphalott guess that the pod would probably take a decade, bare minimum to reach the planet he'd programmed in. The pod probably had enough fuel to make it there, but whether it made it or not, it wouldn't be coming back.
"Goodbye and good riddance…" Alphalott muttered as he went to return home, only to find other members of the Saiyan Royal Guard at his house. As he stepped inside, he felt his stomach drop as he laid eyes on King Vegeta.
"Good evening, Alphalott. Now, may I ask what you were doing at the launch pads?" the king asked in a well-mannered tone, despite the vicious, angry glint in his eye. Needless to say, Alphalott was sentenced to prison by the king after extracting the truth from him. His stay in prison didn't last much longer, as he was pardoned to assist in battle against Frieza, only to find this but a death sentence, as the Saiyans, along with their planet, were wiped from existence by Frieza.
Many, many years later, just beyond the borders of Frieza's shrinking empire…
A spherical pod puttered through space, on the verge of losing power. Fuel had run out some time ago, but power still had yet to expire. The pod eventually drifted close enough to a planet with a fractured moon that gravity took over and the pod began to accelerate towards the planet. After a few minutes spent plummeting through the atmosphere, the pod crashed into a forest at the base of a mountain range. The pod sputtered and creaked before it began to power down. Within, the occupant began to stir. Eventually, Gula mustered the strength to free himself from the pod and stumble away. All of his joints were incredibly stiff and popped at the slightest movement.
"Ugh, what happened? Last thing I remember is father coming into my room and then… why am I in a forest?"
As the haze in his body and mind cleared, Gula could see his surroundings better. It was night-time wherever he was, with the moon hanging in the air. Immediately, Gula steeled himself for the Oozaru transformation, but it didn't come. Then he noticed that the moon was broken into pieces, probably messing with blutz-wave emission. On the one hand, he wouldn't have to actively keep track of when the moon cycles. On the other, that was one extremely useful ability he didn't have access to. His father never taught him the trick to creating a workable facsimile to induce the transformation.
Immediately, Gula's mood turned sour at the thought of his family. Even by Saiyan standards, it was harsh. Added to that, it wasn't exactly puzzling as to what had happened to him. His father had jetted him off-planet after he put Aikon in a body cast with one hit. He wasn't even sure how it happened. It had been going like every other 'training session' his father put him through, with one or both of his siblings utterly thrashing him until he couldn't stay on his feet, at which point they would lock him in his room and let zenkai take care of the rest. However, in the almost decade that he'd been undergoing this 'training regimen' his power level wasn't up to what it should be, at least according to his father. But then, during his latest fight with Aikon, when he was beaten to a pulp on his hands and knees, he suddenly felt a rush of energy through his body and he threw a surprise punch at Aikon which had knocked him out, while leaving him wounded beyond belief!
He'd immediately been locked up in his room until his father arrived. Gula had expected either a harsh 'scolding' for this, or possibly praise (yeah, right) for beating his elder brother for the first time. But instead, he'd been literally thrown off of the planet!
"GAHHHH!" Gula shouted before launching a red Ki blast at a nearby tree, blowing it to smithereens! After a few deep breaths, Gula started looking around. Priorities. He didn't know how long he'd been in that pod, but it had been for a while and he was hungry beyond belief. He had plenty of wood for a fire, so he just needed to find something to eat. It was a forest, and he could fly, thus reducing the chances that he'd spook any game. He'd picked that little trick up pretty quickly, since he'd dealt with one or multiple members of his family flying overhead, raining blasts down upon him to try and force some strength out of him.
Growling, he pushed the thoughts of his family aside. Survival first, angry brooding later.
His body lifted off the ground and he began floating through the trees, searching for any local wildlife. It wasn't long before he saw something large lumbering through the trees. It was covered in brown fur and looked like a predator, with a long nose and massive clawed paws. One Ki blast later, and he was hauling his kill back to the crash site. After grabbing enough wood for a bon-fire, he skinned the animal and stuck it over a spit to roast before checking the pod to see if it had any emergency supplies. Inside he found the bare essentials, containing one canteen of water, some rehydratable food and a knife. So, basically nothing. Gula wasn't sure whether or not to blame his father or Saiyans in general.
By now, he could smell the meat getting close to ready and after removing it from the fire, began to eat it with Saiyan gusto, leaving nothing but a pile of bones left.
"Okay, food is taken care of, now where am I sleeping tonight?" Gula muttered. For a moment, he considered sleeping in the pod, but immediately discounted that. No way was he getting back in that pod. Although that being said, he wasn't exactly fond of the idea of just leaving it out in the open. Assuming there was intelligent life on this planet, he didn't want to leave it out for them to just happen upon it, and he had a feeling that would only lead to trouble. After some thought, he picked up the pod and flew it off to the base of the mountain before searching for any caves or crevices he could put the pod in. Eventually, he found a small cave, only a few feet deep and large enough to fit the pod inside. He shoved it into the cave and flew a ways back before launching a blast several feet above the cave, causing it to collapse and bury the pod under a few tons of rock. With that cleared up, he flew back to his campsite to retrieve his minimalist survival kit and flew further up the mountain, searching for yet another cave to bed down in. He found one that looked a decent size and slipped inside. It wasn't too cold inside, though he figured he'd want to find something to sleep on other than rocks as soon as he could. As he explored his surroundings a bit more, he accidentally bumped something with the massive pauldrons on his uniform.
"Alright, these are going. Seriously, why do we even have these?" Gula muttered to himself before removing the armor and tearing off the pauldrons before pulling it back on. He wanted to settle in for the night, but he just couldn't get comfortable. It certainly didn't help when the local wildlife started howling. Gula had been trying to sleep for about fifteen minutes, but what sounded like a pack of animals further down the mountain would just not. Shut. Up.
"Alright, that's it. I am not dealing with this anymore." Gula growled before leaping to his feet and rocketing out the cave entrance and speeding down the mountainside! However, the source of the noise wasn't quite what he was expecting.
"You definitely don't look like locals…" Gula muttered as he looked down at the pack he'd come gunning down the mountain to murder. It looked like a pack of part-human part-canine shadow monsters, with large bone plates and spikes on their bodies, particularly emphasized by masks of some kind, a sort of red glow coming from inside their mouths and red-rimmed yellow eyes. They appeared capable of bipedal motion, but they primarily walked on all fours. And they were big, with each one standing a bare minimum of 6.5 feet tall.
It wasn't too long before the pack became aware of Gula's presence and they started snarling at him and swiping. Gula could tell by their body language that they were aggressive by nature.
"So, automatically aggressive. Good to know. Wonder if they feel fear…" Gula mused before a red aura erupted around him and he began to blast the pack to high heaven! Unfortunately, while he was now left with a blissfully quiet night, he wasn't able to find out anything else about the emotional range of the creatures. Oh well. Maybe next time. He returned to the cave and settled in for the night, using the torn-off pauldrons as a makeshift pillow. Better for his neck than just rocks, he thought.
Several days later…
Gula had quickly established a routine of hunting for food during sunrise and sunset while trying to make the cave he currently inhabited more comfortable to live in. Thus far, that had involved experimenting with various natural materials to make a more comfortable bed, setting up a fire-pit near the back of the cave (He also figured out positioning through much trial and error), as well as searching for any signs of intelligent life near the forest. He hadn't happened across anything that looked like a settlement yet. However, he had come across a few of those weird shadow-creatures. It appeared they were not confined to just lupine forms, but also avian, feline and a whole host of others. He hadn't seen many varieties, but it was definitely something worth interest. Notably, one that looked remarkably similar to the creature he'd made a meal of on his first night on this rock. That had piqued his interest. It also proved to be much more resilient than the canine-creatures he'd decimated. He'd spent some time observing them, until they realized he was there and tried to attack him, much to their severe misfortune. He'd seen them interacting with other animals, occasionally scuffling with them, but never eat. Ever. Which was rather unsettling to him.
Gula had started to make a game out of fighting them, setting small challenges for himself, such as only using his fists or feet, or only using Ki blasts, or not allowing himself to fly when he encountered avian variations of these creatures.
Currently, he'd just dispatched a small group of shadow-creatures that looked like some sort of boar. He rolled his shoulders, feeling a satisfying pop before he took off flying again. This was going to be his longest flight yet. He was hoping to finally find something approaching a functioning civilization.
He'd searched around one side of the mountains for a few miles but hadn't happened across anything. Hopefully, the other side of the mountains would prove more fruitful. And it appeared they would, as he came across a proper pathway! He began flying above it, tracing it through the woods until he eventually reached a settlement!
Or at least the remains of one. And based on the damage, scattered weapons and arrows, as well as the general unnerving vibe of the place told Gula that this settlement did not have a happy ending.
Regardless, he set about exploring, searching for anything useful he could bring back to his cave. He eventually found a few blankets that had miraculously survived the elements rather well (Even if they were looking a bit ratty), a few manual tools (Though he doubted how much he'd need them, with his strength) but sadly no food items. He was starting to want something other than the small pool of meat he could get from the forest. He'd discovered a few lakes that covered water, as well as an abundance of fish, but he didn't have a good way to carry a few dozen at a time, and he didn't feel like hauling two or three in one trip, then coming back for more. That was just wasted energy, though it could possibly be a good workout.
He was all set to leave and head back to the mountain when the faintest hint of a voice reached his ears. He immediately flew into the forest and carefully deposited his findings behind a tree before he began to fly stealthily through the trees to try and locate the source of the voice, if that was what he heard.
Eventually, he tracked down the source of the voice to two beings that looked similar to Saiyans or the Ginyu Force's Recoome. While the first was short and scrawny, the second actually reminded Gula a lot of the few images he'd seen of Recoome. He was enormous, probably six feet, four inches. He had short hair and had a rectangular head, as well as enormous muscles. Both men were wearing clothes that had seen plenty of wear and tear. They also carried rather basic looking weaponry. The smaller one had what looked like a machete and a pistol, while the larger had rather complicated, but no less worn-out looking battle-axe.
"Remind me why the leader sent us out here again?" The large one asked in a disgruntled tone.
"Technically, we're supposed to be on patrol for anyone to rob. In reality, it's because you couldn't keep your mouth shut and the leader wanted you out of her hair for a few hours, and I got lumped in because I'm the only one who can tolerate you, as well as make sure you at least try to follow orders. Seriously, how you've not been gutted by the leader is beyond me." The small one responded.
Plus points: Gula could communicate with them. Also plus points: there was intelligent life on this planet. On the downside, given that they were still using such crude weaponry, the state of disrepair the fact that they were apparently not in touch with their Ki (As far as he could tell), they hadn't developed that much as a species so far in terms of technology. Although, this might not be a good comparison. Based on the conversation he'd just heard, it sounded likely that these two were probably from some form of bandit group or other form of organized crime, and their state of dress, coupled with their current weaponry lent more credence to that possibility.
If he had clothes that made him look more like a local, he'd try getting directions from them. As it is though, with his Saiyan armor and tail, he kind of doubted that they would be so accommodating. Not that he was worried about being forced to fight them. A couple of Ki blasts or a good punch and kick and they would be out cold. However, he didn't feel like attracting attention. Especially if Frieza or someone affiliated with him came here and found out about him. That would mean a one-way trip back to planet Vegeta, which he did not want in the slightest. Of course, this was all assuming that Frieza or one of his subordinates didn't decide to kill him on sight.
"What about that 'falling star' that everyone was talking about? Didn't the leader want to investigate it? If it's something not from Remnant, maybe it'd by valuable." The big one mentioned. Gula froze.
"With all the Grimm attacks that have been happening recently, do you really think it's a good idea to mount an expedition around the mountain to see if we can find something that fell from space? Though I did hear a few rumors that the leader was going to go investigate by herself soon. Probably not true, though. Again, with all the Grimm attacks that happened recently, it's not a good idea to go out on your own." The small one responded.
Gula's thoughts began racing, as well as being very glad that he had opted to bury the pod under a few tons of rock. Hopefully they wouldn't be investigating, but he didn't want to take chances. He had to hide all evidence of his presence. After flying back to where he'd hidden his findings, he recollected them and flew a roundabout route to avoid the two men and flew back to the mountain with record speed, just edging the sound barrier. He didn't want to set off an avalanche after all. After making sure his findings were secure in his cave, he flew down to his landing site and completely dismantled his roasting spit before clearing away all evidence of a fire pit. He then proceeded to haul all the bones from his meals to the lake and toss them in. Afterwards, he did another check to make sure that he had disposed of what evidence he could. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything he could do about the crater, nor anything about how suspiciously empty it was. However, he severely doubted that anyone would be able to find the pod. He just hoped that its absence wouldn't keep any potential investigators hanging around. It would make undetected survival much harder. As if having to get rid of his main means of preparing food wasn't annoying enough.
Deciding he'd have to eat light that night, Gula flew over to the lake and went for a dive before retrieving four fish, which he was holding by the tails. After killing them with a mere flick of his fingers, he flew back to his cave and set about cleaning them as best he could before letting them cook on a flat stone. He devoured the fish within minutes and still felt a bit hungry. However, he was also feeling pretty tired, so he instead rolled out his newly acquired bedding and went to sleep.
Or at least that's what would have happened, except for the fact that another pack of those shadow creatures started making noise again. Gula's eyes snapped open. On top of not having a full meal, he was now being kept awake by those blasted things! He slowly stood up and rolled his shoulders before stalking to the cave entrance and looking for the offenders. However, the howls soon devolved to snarls and roars of fighting. This caught Gula's attention. The shadow creatures typically didn't fight amongst themselves or other wildlife. In fact, the only things they did deliberately go after were him, so far. Sneaking out of the cave, he stealthily flew down the mountain, making sure to keep behind rocky outcroppings wherever possible. Eventually he made it down to the bottom and saw someone fighting the shadow creatures with surprising ease! Gula didn't have a point of reference for the rest of this rock's residents, so he couldn't say how good they were, but this one seemed pretty good. The fighter was dressed in red and black and wore a helmet reminiscent of the shadow creatures' masks. Their weapon of choice was a straight, single-edged red sword. Soon enough, all the shadow creatures were dispatched, and the figure moved away from the mountain, heading into the forest. Gula waited until they were further in and floated after them, though he could hazard a guess as to where they were going.
Sure enough, they went to the crash-site. As they began investigating, Gula watched from further into the forest. What should he do?! Well the one thing he had to do above all else was not get caught. And should he get caught, well… well, he'd blow up that bridge when he came to it. Hopefully it wouldn't get messy.
As he peered closer at whoever this mysterious stranger was, he got a better look at the sword they carried. It was in much better condition than the weapons those two men had been carrying earlier. Additionally, he could see that there was a sort of multi-colored stripe on one side of the sheathe. He wondered what sort of function that served.
After a few agonizingly long minutes, the figure eventually left the crater and drew their sword, slashing the air. Much to Gula's surprise, the air distorted as a black and red breach appeared out of thin air! The figure walked through it and the strange energy vanished. Gula let out a breath he didn't realize he was holding and flew back up to his cave before trying to fall asleep. It didn't come easy though. He was still on edge from nearly being discovered. And by the strange phenomenon he'd seen. He hadn't heard of an ability like that within Frieza's empire before, and if the other inhabitants sported this ability, it probably wouldn't be long before Frieza set his eyes on this planet for annexation or destruction. Neither was good for him, not to mention the residents.
Well, that all assumed that Frieza even knew of this planet. It could very well be beyond the current scope of his empire. He just hoped that it stayed that way. He could barely handle taking on other Saiyans for extended fights, and Frieza was on a whole other level. Actually, it was probably several levels.
Shuddering at the thought, Gula checked again to make sure he was alone, then flew back up to his cave and hunkered down for the night. Sleep didn't come easy, but once it did, he was out like a light.
Meanwhile, in a snow-swept military base…
A man dressed in a sharp, white double-breasted tailcoat walked down a hallway, passing other military personnel who looked at him with a hint of awe and admiration. The man looked to be in his mid forties, with black hair with a few gray streaks and a small strip of silver above his right eyebrow. He stepped into what appeared to be a war-room with a holographic display of a large landmass, with a circle surrounding a large mountain range.
"General Ironwood, sir!" One of the few people standing in the room announced respectfully. The General stepped up to the hologram and took a good look at it.
"Any word from Mistral's council regarding the investigation?" Ironwood asked one of the lieutenants.
"There's recently been an uptake in Grimm activity in the wilds around the kingdom has made it difficult to mount a proper investigation. They tried turning to Vale, but they're also stretched thin. Additionally, Mistral feels that we have better equipment for the job." The lieutenant replied smartly. Ironwood nodded.
"They aren't wrong. How long until we can get a team headed there on a Bullhead?" Ironwood asked.
"Well, accounting for the uptake in Grimm activity, we have a team on the Bullhead in about an hour, unless you think we should send some Specialists for extra security." Another Lieutenant responded. Ironwood pondered it for a moment.
"Send two as a precaution, and make sure you send the best equipment you can." Ironwood ordered before leaving the war-room. He felt uneasy about that meteorite that had crashed in Mistral. And on top of it all, the Grimm seemed to have gotten much more active in the short time preceding the impact. Especially since Remnant didn't get meteorites striking it very often.
Ironwood shook his head. He was probably just being paranoid, but he didn't want to take chances. Remnant had enough problems without new ones arriving from outer space.
Alright, and that's this first chapter done! The rest will come out when it comes out.
Creativity: I'm surprised this is happening, considering you typically want significant stakes to a story, and having a Saiyan of any kind sort of defeats that purpose.
Author: Maybe, but I've taken a couple of steps in that regard. Number one, Super Saiyan will not feature until much, MUCH later. Number two, I made Gula literally the weakest Saiyan born in their recorded history, which is for more reasons than just making it so he doesn't disrupt the story completely. Number 3, this story is more of a character piece than it is an action story, though action will feature because RWBY and Dragon Ball. I'm just… Saiyan…
…
I am so sorry.
