#two big says pony ‘literally has his head in the clouds’
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i swear ponyboy growing to be taller than darry is my favorite hc like i need your guys inputs, it’s literally my fav thing to hear about
#tall pony is just so funny#especially in an au where dally and johnny live because pony’s towering over dally like a dumbass#two big says pony ‘literally has his head in the clouds’#the outsiders#ponyboy curtis
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Boomlord weird adventure
Chapter 8 what time is it?
It was early morning in the omnispace void. Boomwood had gotten to the kitchen to start brewing coffee as the footsteps of a yawning purple hair woman enter the room."morning Twilight."Twilight mearly gave him a wave before sitting down. Looked at her noticing the look on her face. To be honest she looked exhausted.'ah shit'he quickly poured a shot glass of the Cuban coffee and handed it to her. She stared at the coffee for a minute."I appreciate the gesture but I doubt this is going to do much for me."good Lord gave out a chuckle."Twilight trust me this is Cuban coffee any more than this and you'll be wired."He gave out a chuckle before Twilight downed the shot, unsurprisingly her face scrunched up. This was probably the most bitter thing she ever had."bleh! Why would you drink something so bitter!"Boomlord shrugged."honestly I only drink it for the caffeine. If it helps I think I have some orange juice in the fridge."Twilight just looked down rubbing her head . Not long after the other girls walked in each of them heading into the fridge grabbing various fruits mostly apples. Pinkie pie was the only one who grabbed something else, looks like she found the flan and was in heaven."oh my Celestia this tastes so good!"At least she wasn't breaking the fourth wall again.
2 After everyone ate they all headed to the living room again."ok girls this is it we are heading to the next world. Now before I go this mission is not meant to be dangerous however the world we're entering can be a bit chaotic so be prepared for anything."The rest of the girls nodded they likely had assumed as much from the previous conversations."so where are we going anyway"dash blurted out as boom pulled out his pen."yeah I'm with Dash partner id hate to go in blind."Aj took a step forward to make her point."we're going to a place called ooo I spent a lot of time there and it's the only place I can really say I have friends anymore...."booms voice got deep as a sorrowful look overtook his face for a minute. This was enough to make Applejack back off. Twilight in particular took a mental note of this.'guess friends are a touchy subject for him.' boom grabbed his notepad An drew another circle, in the center he wrote °adventure Time 1°as always the golden electrical ring formed with a blackened middle. Boomlord jumped into the portal and when he landed his feet were on solid ground. Solid green grassy ground. He surveyed the area around him noticing he was in a grassy clear field however the ends of what looks like old nuclear bombs stuck out overtaken by the grassy plains. The girls enter next each of them still in their same outfits however 4 of the girls had notable changes to them . Twilight and rarity each had a sword at their side. Twilight sword with a sleek and purple short sword with her cutie mark on the hilt. Rarity sword on the other hand looked as if it were made of blue crystal with a white metal hilt her cutie mark also on it. Fluttershy and rainbow Dash had also had the return of their wings which Dash took this opportunity to fly up into the air a bit doing a few loops and swirls."Hell yeah I missed this!"boom couldn't help but smile."Real fly girl up there."a few of them awkwardly smile."so where's our destination?"Twilight asked giving him a quick grin knowing that he's trying his best to make everyone feel better about being in a strange world."we're going to see princess bubblegum at the Candy Kingdom."and just like that he found himself lying on the ground being pinned by pinkie pie."DID YOU SAY CANDY KINGDOM! A KINGDOM MADE OF CANDY IS THIS PLACE PARADISE O.M.C O.M.C."Twilight practically had to pry pinky off of him ."yes the entire Kingdom from the trees to the ground is made of candy including the people."He started to brush himself off as pinky smile only widen."but please don't eat the Candy people or I will probably have to stop you"pinky reluctantly nodded.
3"rainbow do you mind taking an aerial view try to find the place that looks like it's surrounded by Pink cotton candy trees.... Well because it is surrounded by Pink cotton candy trees."boom called out before stopping looking at the ground a large Shadow now loomed over them. It was Spike. All the ponies turn to look back in both shock and horror. Spike mostly remain the same with one slight difference... He was absolutely Giant. His whole body in total was about the size of a two sorry house and his wings could probably cover all of them with ease."oh yeah I forgot dragons are huge here but at least he still looks different from them normally they're just Giant tube dragons with big ass butts."The ponies/girls stared for a moment but in silent agreement they chose not to address it not that Spike would mind he was too busy checking himself out."oh crap I'm HUGE you guys look so small from up here!" It was the most adorable giant grin in the world. Rainbow decided now was a good time to take him to the air as she being flapping her wings disappearing above the clouds. Surveying the land below she was able to make out what looks like pink trees and a large structure that looked somewhat like a castle."guess that must be what I'm looking for."she kept looking around noticing in One direction was a rather large tree that almost looks like it had Windows in it and in the opposite direction she noticed tall mountains made entirely of ice."heh heh heh what do we have here"a voice from nowhere stated in a malicious tone from behind her. Is she turned to look behind her she saw a giant monster with a bat like face and long blue limbs with crooked nails.'OH SHIT'at this point rainbow Dash started nose diving down towards her friends with the creature in pursuit who was maliciously chuckling the entire way down. The rest of the group saw the creature and the girls had various reactions. Applejack rarity and Twilight look like they were getting ready to fight with rarity and Twilight pulling out their swords. Fluttershy and Pinky had decided to stick near Spike who is now using his wings to shield them.Then there was boom standing out in the open as dash passed him and he just smiled. Apon seeing him the creature stopped a look of surprise on our face."hey Marceline it's been a while"the creature began to shrink taking on a human form she had pale white skin and incredibly long black hair which reached down to her feet a simple jacket and jeans and her ,guitar-axe strapef to her back and a nice big floopy hat which covered her in a shroud of darkness. She give out a wide smile revealing her fangs before wrapping her arms around boom giving him a hug."holy glob dude!your back it's been like 4 months!"he returned the embrace from his old friend as the rest of the girls started to calm down noticing that whatever that thing was it seemed friendly at least now it did."oh that's right."he turned to the girls and dragon."everyone this is my old friend Marceline... The vampire queen"a few of the girls jaw started to drop."your freinds with a literal blood sucking vampire?"Marceline shrugged at Twilight comment."actually it's just the color I'm after."Marceline started floating on her back around them."so boom what brings you and your new friends back to ooo."Boomlord got quiet."I found it Marcy.... I found the Rose fire and they're here because Twilight here"pointing at the slightly flustered purple pony girl."is the key to everything."Marceline stopped moving for a moment the words settling in her mind."oh we need to get to the Candy Kingdom right away then."then without word Marceline started floating off towards the direction of the Kingdom and boom followed along with the girls and the giant dragon...... Yeah that might be a problem.
4 After a few hours of walking they all managed to reach the candy kingdom with Spike deciding to hide in the trees to avoid unwanted attention. Pinkie pie look like she was about to go crazy or more crazy."o.m.c so m-much candy!"she was practically foaming at the mouth."look pinky just eat the sidewalk or something just please don't start eating random people I don't want to deal with any drama today especially because we need the princess's help."the pony started walking forward into the rather nice town and to boomlord credit every building and every person was made of candy, And many candies citizens passed by. Mr cupcake crunchy punch bowl guy."wow this is actually really fascinating I can't help but wonder what they're DNA is like how do candy people procreate do they need to breathe or eat its quite fascinating"Twilight then begin rambling about a whole bunch of science jargon that boom did not know but he found himself listening to every word she spoke it wasn't until arsenaline tapped his shoulder that he snapped out of his trance."I see you found a real good friend~"she whispered in a teasing tone."w-what no she's just um cool you know for someone who was a horse the other day."Marceline rolled her eyes."horse or not you always did have a thing for a Smart ones~."boom felt his blood pump. "Oh you're one to talk."Marceline then backed off she knew how far she could go before boom would made her regret it. After a while of walking the group then found themselves at the castle as a pink cared and pink skinned princess in a long pink dress noticed them."oh my! Boom you have returned and with.. many female companions huh"princess bubblegum gave a smirk."oh don't you start now too!" Boom was probably going to say more before pb gave him a warm hug."so I assume this has to do with the rose fire."bubblegum look down at him and while she kept a smile her face was full of worry."yeah Twilight here um it's kind of a long story."bubblegum nodded."it always is."about an hour had passed after this meeting and boom had explained to Marceline and bubblegum how we came to meet the girls and discover the fire leaving out the parts where he burned himself or threw a skillet at Twilight."interesting I'll probably have to run a few scans on Twilight then with her permission."Twilight nodded."good we'll start by using the rejuvenation tank to monitor your body and vitals while I conduct a few scans"boom notice that she was pointing to the large tank filled with water and knew that this meant that Twilight was going to have to strip down which he then took his cue to leave. "I'll be back soon gonna check on stuff."and before anyone could say anything he left the room.
(oh and before I forget I'll be opening asks for boomlord and Friends so if they appear in the story feel free to ask them a question ask box is officially open)
#mlp fandom#adventure time#fanfic#writing#pinkie pie#twilight sparkle#applejack#rainbow dash#fluttershy#comedy#slightly saucy
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“Discord’s heroic sacrifice: An Analysis”
If you haven’t seen Season 9 of My Little Pony-EP 1 and 2, there is going to be massive spoilers below.
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I am going to focus on the scene in episode 2 of Season 9, where the mane 6, have lost all of their confidence in trying to stop King Sombra after he destroyed the elements of Harmony. King Sombra had already taken over the minds of the ponyville citizens and infiltrated the castle in Canterlot, and had also mind controlled the guards and the Canterlot Citizens as well. So once Discord pops in to see how they are doing, the mane 6 basically beg him to help them stop King Sombra. Solely relying on Discord to take care of the problem.
Now, Let’s just do one quick reminder on Discord’s character and growth throughout the show.
In season 2, he was manipulative, a trickster, egotistical, and overly confident because he is the literal “Lord of Chaos” who can bend reality in a single snap or thought. He is the most powerful creature in all of Equestria and in the universe.
Sure, there is Grogar (the new big bad), the “father of monsters” but compare to Discord? he is nothing. Discord could create monsters as well with his chaotic magic but Grogar has his magic bell, his magic goat-ball and his necromancy to back him up.
There is Tirek, who has to rely on his ability to consume magic to get bigger and stronger as seen in Season 4. If given the chance to consume magic and manages to get Discord’s power then he is unstoppable but what is the chance of that happening twice? Its pretty slim. Also consider that Discord just snapped his fingers and he was already in a jail cell and cuffed. So Tirek? Not that big of a deal.
Queen Chrysalis, the master of disguise and consumer of love. What does she really have to offer against Discord? She could easily disguise herself as Fluttershy (considering that it already been establish that Fluttershy is his weakness) and incapacitate him but for her to do it up close, to a chaos master? who can do anything? without the throne of her empire (which negates all magic) she is powerless against him.
King Sombra (Now totally and forever deceased) “The would-be King” (Discord’s words not mine) who couldn’t even land a single shot until Discord was taken off guard (where I will get into later on in the page) and even then! that was nothing! it didn’t do any damage! nothing at all! King Sombra is just a shadow going straight through Discord.
Cozy Glow.....is...is she really a threat? like...Discord would just basically laugh at her.
Overall, Discord is one powerful being. Without the elements of harmony, he could take over whenever he wants. Thank goodness he is reformed but it was a process from him being an evil tyrant to a lovable and weird goofball.
Season 2- Evil trickster and manipulator
season 3- Trickster but secretly longing to have a friend to “understand” him
Season 4- New to friendship, he is still up to his trickster ways. 1. Pretended to be sick to ruin Twilight’s day. 2. Selfish because he betrayed Fluttershy, his only friend, to be back into power and how he thought she was replaceable. Once he realized Tirek was not his friend, he experienced regret and sorrow and admits to Fluttershy “that he would give up his magic for her” once he realized how important she and the mane 6 are.
Season 5- Obsessive. After the events of Tirek, he is very, very close to Fluttertshy, especially to Fluttershy as he wanted to maintain his relationship with her and saw Tree Hugger as a threat and in the same season “What about Discord?” he spent time with the mane 5, excluding Twilight out but having fun with them either way. He is also very sensitive on how he is treated by them.
Season 6- Self-conscious. He is very self-conscious on how other sees him. When he invited to by Big Mac and Spike, he thought it was because he was cool even though he didn’t want to hang out with them. He rather be with Fluttershy, because he was more comfortable with her but learning to have new friends was a challenge. Especially since Fluttershy asked Spike and Big Mac to invite him so he can learn on his own how he could have “Different friends for different things” call back to Season 5 “smooze episode.
Season 7- Consideration and self-analyzing. He is finally noticing what is going on around him and taking other ponies’s feelings to heart. When he proposes to have the next tea party at his house, to fluttershy, he realizes that his chaotic ways might put her off. Not only that, but the “shopping” scene, he treats every pony well. He pays with large amount of bits, he saved one pony from falling, he didn’t destroy anything and he thought changing his home and look might be more appealing. He also states that he knows how “different” he is and if Fluttershy thinks about it she might not want to be his friend anymore. (totally wrong by the way lol) and at the final episode of season 7, he wanted to rescue Fluttershy, not hesitating to find out where. He is visibly angry when he finds out Chrysalis took her. He also participates in the group and also acknowledges Trixie as a great magician.
Season 8- Selfishness but understanding. He is still learning, in the valentine episode. He follows Spike and helps Big Mac with his love problem. Even when he shows no interest, since they ask for help. He will help but with a cost. He wants something out of it, like playing a game or an apology, like what happened with Starlight Glimmer, he felt left out and had a need to express his anger in making Stalight’s job as hard as it can be but once he got the apology, he turned everything back.
Season 9- Wise to Friendship.
Finally,we are here. From what I have seen in the first two episodes, I can conclude that Discord does in fact have an understanding on what the mane 6 is capable of. He is a goofball, yes, but not a trickster anymore. In a way. Everything he did, was to teach the mane 6 to lead in a dangerous situation, especially Twilight. He wanted them to learn how to handle a large threat without Celestia, Luna, or him. He didn’t want them to lean on him for help. Because he knew that if they did, they’ll rely on him again for the next big threat and the next and so on and so on. He didn’t want them to go that route. He wanted them to be self-sufficient and rely on each other for help and guidance. He admitted to Twilight that he “knows” she can be a good leader. That he “knows” Fluttershy will always be kind, Rainbow Dash always loyal, Applejack always honest, Rarity always generous , Pinkie always laughter and Twilight has the embodiment of magic and friendship. He knows that they are capable to do great things without the princesses and without him. He didn’t want to help because he was being selfish, he knew that he could do it. But he also knew that it will be easy and he didn’t want them to take the easy route. He respects them too much.
How did he show this? In his little self-sacrifice stunt.
The mane 6, afraid and out of options, desperate for a quick outcome ask for Discord to help and take out Sombra. What I will do is break down the scene with captured screenshots from episode 2, leading up to the confrontation with Sombra.
We will start right after he takes out the mind-controlled guards. The mane 6 gave out their thanks and Twilight exclaims “What will we do without you?” and he gives out this face.
He is visibly upset by that. It was a great compliment from Twilight! but Discord knew that he shouldn’t be relied on. I have two theories as to why he gave out this face.
1. This might be a shock but, it might be because Discord plans on leaving. I don’t know, it’s just a feeling. I might be wrong but the line “What will we do without you?” followed up with this? might be foreshadowing something that we will see by the end of the season with Discord saying that he leaving or going somewhere and might not be back for a long time. In his absence, the mane 6 is on their own and he didn’t want them to feel lost.
2. He wanted them to be confident in their own power and not on his own. I am leaning more not his one because he knows he could do anything. He could take out any big bad but he didn’t want to be the “protector of equestria” he is the spirit of chaos and wants to stay that way. He also doesn’t want the mane 6 to just rely on his powers to win in everything fight and to solve any solution. Celestia and Luna anointed the mane 6 to become leaders, not him. They can’t lead with just shoving Discord up front and asking him to solve it. What will they learn from that?
I believe it was in this moment, that Discord decided he needed to convince them to believe in himself and knew he had to “fake an injury”, to get the mane 6 to believe they can defeat Sombra with their power of Friendship. (Sounds corny but here we are). But his plan didn’t go as smooth as it did in his head.
He goes face-to-face with Sombra and with Sombra blasting him with magic, Discord just transforms it into random things. But is it random? Did you notice it represented the mane 6?
1. Applesauce-Applejack
2. Cloud of smoke-Rainbow Dash
3. Ballons- Pinkie Pie
4. Butterflies- Fluttershy
5. Glitter-Rarity
6. Sparkles- Twilight Sparkle
Even with dispelling Sombra’s magic, he is still thinking about them. He is confident in his ability, the mane 6 is confident in his ability and Sombra is not a match. Discord showed a bit too much pride in himself but shared that with Fluttershy as he said “friendship” made him who he is today. But Fluttershy deserved all the credit. In this moment, he was sincerely telling them that Fluttershy was the one who changed him, who gave him frienship, who understood him and stood by him. That’s why she is “his favorite”.
*note: Look at how precious this is, he is literally puttering on a pedestal and worshipping her by telling her and everyone, out loud, how she is his favorite! his favorite! her! no pony else! and look at that blush! also the mane 5 seems to be in agreement lol Fluttershy is everyone’s favorite*
What he did not expect is Sombra taking that information and targeting “her” instead of Discord. I slowed down the scene and took screenshots. Discord DID NOT planned to use Fluttershy as bait, he DID NOT planned for Sombra to target her and Discord DID NOT prepare himself for that outcome.
The moment after Discord said that Fluttershy was “his favorite” this little jerk shadow unicorn, took her as his weakness. He knew that if he took her out first then he can get him off guard and thus take him out. Discord really wasn’t expecting that. I think it was because he thought while he was saying that to the mane 6, Sombra will take the chance to shoot at him but instead, shot at Fluttershy. He is visibly surprised as you can see below.
His brow his arched. You can see that he is actually following the beam of magic and noticed how “off” it is.
Then realization that it isn’t coming to him but coming towards Fluttershy, you cans see the pupils of his eye, dart down, right onto where Fluttershy is standing.
Here it is, a little bit closer.
see? quick dart down, right where he knows Fluttershy is.
This is where I concluded that Discord did a split second decision. He didn’t have time to snap. In fact, I don’t think he was even thinking about it. I believe he saw the beam, saw it was on Fluttershy and reacted immediately by trying to protect her. So you see him run up....
and put his arm out, to absorb the blow. He is actually gritting his teeth to take the pain. (Was there pain? maybe like a punch or a blow in the gut but nothing life-ending) but he knew it would have seriously hurt Fluttershy.
Even Twilight and the others did not react as fast as Discord did. They stood there in shock, slow to react and Discord was quick enough to make the decision to use himself as a shield. That is bold.
Then the blow, everyone was bracing for impact. Not knowing that Fluttershy would have taken the full blow.
Also Fluttershy was the first one to scream out his name and cry out like that. The only one! that is a lot of emotion going on right now.
Look how shocked they are! Especially Fluttershy. She was the only one crying! and she was crying hard! like really hard. She was freaking out, because she thought that he was really gone.
*What are you doing to me, Hasbro?*
*Like seriously, Hasbro!*
Just look at this, how she is holding him super close and hugging him tight saying “please wake up, please wake up” and freaking out. Look at Rainbow Dash! She is supporting his head to make sure if he is conscious! Fluttershy even shakes him in desperation.
*Hasbro made everyone have heart attacks while watching this premier*
and then he wakes up. In my own opinion, I think he did got knocked out here. Just a short black out. It might have be equivalent to a sucker punch and you black out for like a few seconds before coming back around.
Sweet relief. Awww that’s nice
*Puts it as my phone background*
alright so after he wakes up, Twilight asks him one more time to help them. And now, he takes the chance to say the speech that they don’t need him and that they have each other. They are each other’s strength and their friendship is powerful. More powerful that they realize. He took the opportunity after he got shot to say this. Again split second. Saving Fluttershy, making sure she is okay, and giving her a smile indicating that he is “fine’ and then telling them the speech. He saw the opportunity and took it.
His “take the bullet” save is a legit “Heroic sacrifice” because 1. he did not plan for Sombra targeting Fluttershy and ran to shield her. 2. He used his sacrifice to tell the twilight and her friends that they have the power to overcome adversity and 3. Gave Twilight and her friends the confidence they needed to rely on each other to beat Sombra.
Without Discord, they couldn’t have accomplish that on their own. This is the peak of Discord’s character growth. He actually took a step back, and believed they could do defeat Sombra without him and the princesses. He gave Twilight his respect, and he knew what their strengths are. They just need a little shove in the right direction.
#Discord#fluttershy#flutttercord#mlp#my little pony#sombra#tirek#cozy glow#season 9#final season#analysis
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😍😍😍😍 how about making a small talk with him??? like there is no one inside, just him, so you have a small talk while you fix his coffee??
he’s there before the shop even opens but you left the door unlocked for this reason. it’s eerily quiet without customers trying to talk over each other or the sounds of the coffee machine running constantly. it’s still a little dark out and it feels like he’s breaking into high school after hours.
he cautiously walks up to the counter, still unsure if you’re expecting him or not. he hears humming and instantly recognises it as your voice. it sounds like a tune you’re making up along the way and yet, bucky thinks it’s the prettiest song he’s heard.
“oh! hey bucky!” you say as you pass through the door connecting the back room to the front.
“hey y/n,” he responds, placing both hands on the counter in front of him, tapping his card against the hard material.
“so, what can i get you this bright and earlier day?” you ask and then looked out the window. you both giggled at the darkness still about.
“just the usual,” he says. you don’t even type his order or ask for his card, he tried though.
“you know, you should really spice things up,” you say as you grab a brown bag and air it open.
“maybe,” is all he can say. bucky watches as you grab a small pastry with tongs and placing it in the crinkly bag, the only noise in the shop.
“here ya go,” you almost whisper, putting the bag by the cash register before swiftly moving towards the coffee machines.
“they do say variety is the spice of life,” you continue as you started on his drink.
“it might be, but routine is also nice,” he says but in the back of his mind he thinks that maybe he should spice things up and actually ask you out instead of coming down to the shop whenever he can.
“don’t you have enough of that already?” you ask without looking at him, to ingrossed in the task before you.
“depends though,” he says. you know what he does. he’s the only one that comes in here wearing a crisp suit and tie and looks like he’s about to go into another meeting.
“yeah office life must be exciting,” you tease, finally looking up at him with a smile.
“oh, and being a barista is so much better, huh?”
you stop what you’re doing and look at him with squinted eyes before saying, “touché”.
it’s back to silence and bucky thinks it’s both parts comforting and awkward. he feels like he has to say something.
“making deals is always a great time,” he says a little too sarcastically. you chuckle and brush back a piece of hair that came loose from your pony tail.
“what deals do you make? some with the devil?”
bucky lets out a soft laugh and looks down at his feet before looking back at you.
“in some ways it feels like i’m dealing with the devil.”
“must be tough,” you say, imagining him in a big meeting room, standing there authoritatively with everyone’s attention on him as he bargains with another person in a crisp suit.
“yeah, well, it’s manageable because of-” he stops mid sentence. was he really going to tell you that the only reason he can go on with meetings is because the small ten minute break he has where he spends it in a crowded coffee shop just to see you for two of those ten minutes?
you snap the lid onto his cup and slide it onto the counter to him “because of what?” you ask. part of you wishes it has something to do with you but he’s the ceo and you’re just a barista, what do you have to offer?
bucky leaves his drink standing on the counter and shoves his hands into his pants pockets. looks like he will be confessing.
“because of you,” he says honestly in a low voice, almost afraid that someone might hear or he might burst the bubble that always surrounded the two of you.
“m-me?” you ask, even pointing to yourself.
“yeah, you’re quite literally a ray of sunshine.” and as if heavens were grateful he finally said something, the clouds parted and the sunshine from the sunrise flooded the coffee shop, illuminating everything. the metal machines sparkle in the light.
“you make my day too,” you say shyly, tucking the same piece behind your ear again.
“that’s good,” he says and you both chuckle. you want to say more but the sound of the early customers coming interrupts you.
bucky picks up his cup and tilts it towards you in goodbye before heading out the door, holding it open for everyone with a smile.
#bucky barnes x reader#bucky barnes fluff#bucky barnes one shot#ceo!bucky#mywords#the sweetest thing
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“OC asks that reveal more than you think”
...part the first. From here. I decided I will do this for everybody, so I will not get too carried awa--oh, what am I saying? I mean that I did want to do Laura after all, but I also want to do some others, and doing them all at once should help deter depression that might result from analysing the darkficcier-than-darkfic stuff. And since this will be long, I’ll just post a few answers at a time. So, here we go.
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1. Do they sleep with a stuffed animal? If they have multiple, who's the favorite?
-Laura: She sleeps with a living sex panther. I expect she had LOADS of toys as a kid (Lars-Erik in the movie is drowning in tons of fancy, expensive toys, the pampered little nipper he is). But I don't see her being that much into playing with traditional dolls--except for those fucked-up bondage/dark ritual games she bonded over with Birgitte.
-Fadl: I bet he slept with several as a child. And gave them swords made of stix. His favourite was a stuffed horse. When he has to spend nights in tents, he sleeps next to his horse, in true nomadic Arab warrior fashion. (The reason they kept the horses in their tents were because tribal raids were rampant, JYSK. All those "oh, those curious foreign customs!" anecdotes never tell you that bit.)
-Zainab: she sleeps with several soft, warm living lesbians she has been stuffing with dildos beforehand. If it's too hot to share a bed, she just hugs a big pillow so she won't suffocate on her own tits and stomach during the night. The pillow quite likely has embroideries of naked ladies, too.
2. Can they take care of a plant? What about a pet? What about a child?
-Laura sucks at plants. Torsten is an avid gardener and faps over his orchids (probably literally. Improves the alkalinity of the soil). Pets? I don't think she really is a pet person, even if she probs had the token pony all little rich girls have. But she had stable hands to take care of it. Torsten, weirdly, would get along with animals, I think, and would be all cuddly and not at all evil in his interactions with them. He strikes me as the sort of person who hates most humans but loves animals, and that pet-owning is one of the few things about him that he does "normally," when the rest of him is batshit insane. It's not an unusual pattern with mental people (the cat lady said somewhat defensively). A child?! Well. If you've read the fic, you know how they deal with children. Don't ever let them near them... please. Especially Uncle Torsten.
-Fadl: I suspect he's actually a really good gardener when he puts his mind to it! Perhaps, in his old age, that's what he starts to fill his days with at Thousand Suns--after all, the house was named after the orange trees growing in its gardens and courtyard. So maybe he decides to make it a matter of personal pride that the oranges turn out as smashing as possible. (Omg, I need to use this in a fic! Jaffar shows up and juggles with the oranges; Salsabil and her mother develop a press, Anwar glugs the juice to fuel his dance practice :3) Animals-wise, he is really, really, really big on those horses, as previously established. As a youth and in his early adulthood in Raqqa and Baghdad, he would go to the horse races with Jaffar and cheer at the Barmakid horses he had himself brought up and co-trained. And kick everybody's arses at polo, likewise with horses he'd helped bring up. Children? Don't bring it up with him if you value your life (cf. The Earth's Turning--you'll have to read that one to know why).
-Zainab: sucks at plants, abhors kids, only just gets along with animals, but doesn't really form particularly deep bonds with them. She only has domestic/work animals like horses and camels and donkeys and chickens and hounds and cattle, and has, at some point, had at least one elephant to show off with.
3. Ask them to describe their love interest.
-Laura: “My Daddy is mad, bad and dangerous to know. And I love him; I don't know what I would do without him. And he most certainly wouldn't know what to do without me, either, the aimlessly drifting cad that he is.”
-Fadl: “Zainab is a heathen goddess. And just as capricious and cruel. But I cannot help it--the marvels of her soft, ample curves, golden hair and Hyperborean blue eyes hold me captive. This Viking bitch has well and truly conquered me, and I might as well admit it. But not to other men besides my brother; God, no. A man has to retain at least a façade of dignity, even if in his mistress's bed, he may be as a slave.”
-Zainab: “Lina? She is my little mouse-mouse, my little golden pearl, my everything! She completes me, in possessing all that I lack: a calm and steady temperament and a head for numbers and books. She keeps me sane, cheers me up, is a good conversationalist and on top of that, she is insatiable in bed. I never grow tired of lapping at that delicious little cunny of hers until my mouse-mouse squeaks--what's that? Oh, you wanted to know about *Fadl.* Well, he has his uses, does my bold stallion. But he needs a fair amount of training still. But I am nothing if not an expert at the art of breaking in unruly colts...” *cracks bejewelled, plump little knuckles*
4. Do they look good in red?
You know, at first I thought I'd Photoshop these, but then I realised it'd take me an entire week. So you just get quick and dirty (literally) doodles doodles I ended up fixing in Potatochop for two fucking hours because fuck the messiness coloured pencils engender :P
Laura:
(She doesn‘t wear her hair like that for most of the time in the fics, but I still love drawing her with Bunny’s ginormous Nancy Drew/The Beloved Brat-era cloud of golden curls. And unlike Bunny, she has Torsten’s nose.)
Fadl:
I... kind of got carried away by what Clone Brush/Burn Tool could do, there. He ended up looking as colourful as a medieval European jester. Well, he is a fucking clown, though, so... what the hell.
Zainab:
Glorious red frock over sapphire-blue, diaphanous shalwars! I reckon the belt and the trim on the sleeves is actual gold. Because she could afford it.
But, yeah. I think the girls win this round. Maybe I’ll ‘shop Fadl in red if I find a good bodyshot of the right kind of chap in the right kind of red sherwani or something. But now, I’ve definitely done my arms and hands and back in for the day as far as Photoshop goes, so that’s it for tonight, folks!
#meme#doodles#ocs#fadl#zainab#laura erika barring#of roses unfurling#devilry#writing#meta#sort of#laura'd be ravishing in that jessica rabbit getup wouldn't she?#bonita granville#basil rathbone
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The Namibia/Panama Crossings Part Two: The Desert, Day 1.
DAY 1: Namibgrens to the Erongo region - 28.5 miles (AKA ‘The Naivety of the British Runner EXPOSED’)
I love 5.30 am starts, which is lucky because that’s basically the deal for the next week. Yes reader, 5.30am is a time. A real time. That people get up.
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Kit on and bags packed, and it’s off for breakfast for musli and yoghurt and then straight into the car for me and Darren. Jim and Danni get on their bikes for the first leg of the bike ride. They are starting 100km behind us. We will drive 100km to the edge of the desert and start the run there. We won’t see Jim, Pete and Danni for 2 days now. It’s emotional, but we deal with it. If they want to cheat it’s up to them. They have to live with that decision. And boy, does Jim live with it…. (TBC)
After an hour in the car we get to the edge of the Namib-Naukluft Park and the giant NO ENTRY sign. There’s a gate, but one of the team has left the key to the padlock at the office 200km away in Walvis Bay. So we do what we always do, and knock the fence down. We put it up again. It’s all good. The government said we could do it. What are the laws on guns here again?
Seems legit.....
Darren and I have had a brief discussion about running together. It’s hard when you don't know someone that well - or when you do, and know that they are faster than you (which is what I know about Darren). I say 10 min miles are my jam, which they are for these longer back to backs and Darren agrees he can deal with that. I am talking about 10 min miles in the UK on trails in about 12 degrees. Our 10 min mile plan lasts just that. About 10 mins to a mile.
We start running on a gravel path - it’s pretty runable, soft in places, and it’s a cool morning - cloudy and not too hot - so we manage about 6 miles in about an hour - a pretty good pace. With one support vehicle in front of us and one behind, we have access to our kit and fresh water and food pretty much all the time. It’s great! I am still running with a small pack and a bladder - I am obsessed with running out of water.
First part of the day looks do-able....
We trot on through the never ending gravel plains and then, suddenly from nowhere there is a big group of animals running as a pack. They look like ponies BUT THEY ARE ZEBRAS! Wondrous mountain zebras, stampeding along and crossing in front of us. A literal Zebra crossing. Amazing. There are some big cats in the area, so we keep and eye out to see if it’s a chase, but don’t spot anything. Seeing these animal up close like that, just doing what they do is astonishing and we don't take it for granted.
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Zebra Crossing!!!!!
Also out on the plains that morning were Oryx’s - great big deer type creature with huge spiked horns and long fluffy tails. They’re very shy and they can run FAST. We also see a couple of little sidewinder snakes and some fun new crickets we’d not seen before. Our “taking photos of everything” habit is slowing our pace, so we try to crack on.
Snake holes.....
New Pal......
We keep running, with more walk breaks now. It’s getting hotter - it’s becoming obvious that we can’t keep up a flat 10 min mile pace for the whole day. The clouds clear and the sun comes out with a vengance. It’s 9am and boiling.
Our first hill appeared in front of us, a long, slow rising dune made of red sand. There’s a burnt car - the remains of a poachers vehicle left in the sand; a reminder not to break the rules. An eerie sight in a beautiful landscape. At the top of the hill we get our first view of the red dunes. And what fun they were. Soft and fluffy - these are the small guys - we power up them and speed down them.
Views..... (get used to this....)
As we cross, we also get our first high view of the desert sprawling in front of us. It was magical and terrifying. At the top of the hill, under a tree lay the remains of a Springbok, bleached white by the sun. Possibly left in the tree by the triumphant cat that caught it, with the carcass dropping as various animals made the most of a good meal. It was a very real reminder of what happens when you are left alone out here.
That’s what dehydration can do to ya.....
Danny and David realised the ‘road’ they had plotted was now no longer passable, as the dunes had moved and were too soft to drive on. This was highly amusing for myself and Darren, who got to watch them attempt to get the cars up the new mega deep, fresh dunes. Those guys are some of the best drivers I have ever seen. What they do with those cars is MENTAL and they never (well barely ever) get it wrong. The tracks from the support trucks lead the way for us to run - but running IN the tracks of the cars is difficult - they make the sand soft and moveable. The tracks serve only to show us the way-ish - we can run alongside them or cut across plains. As long as we have the trucks in sight it’s cool. And losing them actually freaks you out a bit.
We decide to run off road and do an explore - trotting over dunes in the general direction that Danny and David pointed us in while they sorted truckgate. This meant negotiating spiky bushes, snake holes. lizard guys, big cat prints and dunes, not necessarily in that order, in rising heat. We kept on pushing and pace was good for the terrain. Darren though he saw some ostriches but it because clear these were actually a steel posts. Heat brain was setting in.
Spot the car.....
Lunch was served at about 14 miles, in a small makeshift tent that Danny, David and Johnny had erected on the path for us - cold water down the back and on the head, bread, meat, cheese and GERKINS YES GERKINS were on the menu. I took a second to take in what was actually happening here. A picnic in hell or heaven? I dunno. It was one of the best lunch spots I’ve ever stopped at though…..
Lunch - doesn’t look that hot. Was fucking boiling.
After the refuel, we set off again. It was getting really tough now, with heat peaking in the late 30’s between 1 and 3pm and zero wind. It was also getting sandier, which sounds stupid when you consider where we are but it WAS getting sandier! Elevation was also on the up. It’s easy to decide try and give everything to the run in these conditions, but I was constantly reminding myself that we had another 3 days of this and we had to respect the distance. Oh yeah, then we had a good 250-300km to do in Panama. We ran and marched through another 15 miles of beautiful but essentially non-descript hill dunes. We ran past a small dune filled with big holes, and out popped a desert jackal (possibly one of the cutest things on earth) He should have been asleep really, and he couldn’t believe his bulgy eyes. I imagined him running back down into the maze of tunnels to tell the other jackals what he’d seen outside and them saying “go back to sleep Dave, you’re drunk”.
Hello little pal!
Eventually we saw the trucks had stopped at the top of a huge dune - we were 28 miles in to what was supposed to be a 30 mile day and we were all knackered. Doing that distance is one thing, doing it in sand and heat, without a rest day after 24 hours travel is another. We decided as a team to add on the extra couple of miles to tomorrow and try an get out heads down for the night. At the top of the dune, we downed tools and took in the the view of the valley below. Zebras and oryx’s were grazing as the sun set. It was Lion King beautiful.
I’ve camped in worse spots.....
Tent life.....
Our crew set up camp as we dealt with the important issue of re-hydration with a beer, a sit down and foot check. The make-do camp shower looked out across the plains. The toilet took in some of the most beautiful views on earth. We were so lucky to be there.
That night as we settled down for a bolognese dinner, an huge owl flew over camp and drew our attention to something larger sloping down the hill. To the amazement of Danny (who has been working in the desert for over 25 years) it was the extraordinarily rare brown mountain hyena. He was trotting down the dune towards camp. We could just about make out his distinctive shape and he was obviously curious about the smells and sounds. He had probably never seen human beings before. It was mesmerising. In his 25 years Danny has only ever seen 4-5 of these creatures and we get him on the first night. I swore it was because I was a dog person, and hyena guy could tell.
After dinner we sit round camp and chat and then it’s bed. First day done, feet looking good and bellies full. Onwards to day 2.
TBC
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1000 Words for Rain
I awoke this morning, as I do most days, with my body a ticking time bomb. I stalled as long as possible in bed, listening to the light pitter-patter of rain on the roof of my car until it was almost too late. Suddenly there was no time, not even to wipe the steam off the inside of my windows as I threw myself behind the wheel and made a mad dash for the McDonalds and it’s waiting bathroom.
With my windows a dripping mess, it was almost raining inside my car as much as out, where yet another new storm had rolled in the previous night. As I peered out the small patch of visibility in my windshield, I considered the words said by my friend Cody the night before: “If I can see the chief tomorrow, I’ll consider going climbing.” I couldn’t see the chief through the rain. There was a literal “rain warning” for the amount of precipitation we were supposed to receive today.
[[“Squamish sucks, don’t go,” says my car in the rain]]
It wasn’t the first time a thought crossed my mind-- not “what am I doing?” but “what the fuck am I doing here?”
Of the near month I’ve spent in Squamish, it’s rained almost half the days, mostly consecutively. September is usually a pretty dry month in the Pacific Northwest, so when I arrived on the 1st it was swarming with climbers ready for perfect fall temperatures. It didn’t take long for the first storm to roll through, promising day after day of constant rain for as far ahead as modern meteorology could predict. Sitting at Zephyr, the cafe that provides a home base for many dirtbag climbers seeking internet, coffee, and shelter, plans were being thrown left and right.
Skaha? It’s only 5 hours. We’ll come back after the rain. Leave tonight, get out of here ASAP. Some people waited a day or two for the first scouts to test the waters, find camping, confirm bluer skies, but after a few days there were almost no climbers left in Squamish. I thought about it too, but I had just arrived and my business here was unfinished.
I came to Squamish with a fantasy ticklist of hard fingercracks, ambitious multipitches, and line after line that I knew would challenge me in new and different ways. Weather aside, I knew the answer to the question I asked myself on more than one rainy morning: what the fuck I was doing here was trying to work on every possible weakness I could find in my trad climbing: Hands, fists, chimneys, offwidths, slab, sustained cracks, roofs, long days, etc. Everything that defines Squamish hard climbing was everything I was bad at, so this was where I needed to be, rain or shine.
After living in the Pacific Northwet for the past 8 years, I knew that the rain did not mean the end of climbing, it just meant you had to be flexible with your objectives. Since stepping outside my comfort zone was already my goal, it was just a minor obstacle to overcome. As one of my regular partners and good friends Louis said in his French Canadian accent, “when it rains, we just go harder!”
We climbed at the monastery in a full on cloud, we climbed on the Zombie Roof in a downpour, we climbed slabs in the smoke bluffs when it stopped raining for brief chunks of the day when the wind would dry the rock quickly, we climbed on projects when they were completely wet except for the crux holds. One of my proudest rainy day climbs was My Little Pony, the 5.12+ inverted roof offwidth/fist crack that presented a style of climbing with which I had ZERO experience.
[[Entering the crux on My Little Pony]]
It was an adventure, trying to find what was dry and accepting that so long as we could climb something it was still fun, even if we had to let go of many aspirations. We were kept going by perfect weather promised at the end of the storm, yet every day it seemed to get pushed farther and farther back. The words of my friend Pat echoed in my head with dismay, “Sometimes when it starts raining it just never stops.” Soon even things like My Little Pony had started to seep, and bigger multipitches would take weeks to dry.
Friends in Skaha would text that the rock was dry, sun was shining, and that I should head for Valhalla immediately, yet in Squamish I remained. There were so few climbers left that we banded together, forming close friendships and enjoying many a board game, movie night, karaoke party, shared meal, or van circle to block the wind.
[[Tanager, Cody, Jared, and I sharing memes on our phones at Zephyr. Notice that the cafe is otherwise empty.]]
At times I would continue to ask myself that question, “seriously, what the hell am I doing here,” because objectively speaking, it was a ridiculous place to be. If you tried to describe this September as a Squamish selling point to someone who had never been, staying here as long as I have would sound insane. Subjectively speaking however, the strange opportunities presented by the bad weather have collectively made me the happiest I’ve been in a long time.
Despite the precipitation, there have been dry days, and I was able to send some projects that weren’t roof cracks as well. Favorites included an onsight of Polaris, P2 of the Calling, and Big Daddy Overhang, and redpoints of Flight of the Challenger, Hypertension, Sunny Days in December, and a few various sport climbs. I have accomplished everything I came here to do. I got on almost all the lines I wanted to try. I sent the ones that were within my current ability. I tried things that made me scared and slowly watched that fear turn to confidence as I learned the style. I watched strangers become close friends. I felt my fingers tingle with excitement and my heart race with adrenaline and my spirit overflow with passion for the life I have. Objectively many things I do may seem crazy, but nothing about a climber’s lifestyle has ever been status quo anyway. We follow the calling, rain or shine. Besides, you can never grow if you turn tail and run at the first sign of a storm.
[[Some tasteful outhouse graffiti at Cheakamus Canyon]]
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The Outsiders is Gay(tm), an academic study:
Some of these quotes are 100% serious and meant genuinely, especially in regard to Dally and Johnny. Other quotes are absolutely us being pedantic, entirely because of how much of a hissy fit Hinton threw for the mere suggestion that there is a possible queer reading of this book. So if some of these seem like reaches… they are, and that’s what makes it so much fun.
Chapter 1:
WHEN I STEPPED OUT into the bright sunlight from the darkness of the movie house, I had only two things on my mind: Paul Newman and a ride home. (Paul Newman, a bisexual icon.)
I have light-brown, almost-red hair and greenish-gray eyes. I wish they were more gray, because I hate most guys that have green eyes, but I have to be content with what I have. (Ponyboy has a type.)
Darry is six-feet-two, and broad-shouldered and muscular. He has dark-brown hair that kicks out in front and a slight cowlick in the back--- just like Dad's--- but Darry's eyes are his own. He's got eyes that are like two pieces of pale blue-green ice. They've got a determined set to them, like the rest of him. He looks older than twenty--- tough, cool, and smart. He would be real handsome if his eyes weren't so cold.
Soda is handsomer than anyone else I know. Not like Darry--- Soda's movie-star kind of handsome, the kind that people stop on the street to watch go by. He's not as tall as Darry, and he's a little slimmer, but he has a finely drawn, sensitive face that somehow manages to be reckless and thoughtful at the same time.
Soda merely cocked one eyebrow, a trick he'd picked up from Two-Bit.
“I'd just as soon tease a full-grown grizzly” (The biggest and best reach of all.)
They came running toward us now--- four lean, hard guys. (They were hard, guys.)
Steve Randle was seventeen, tall and lean, with thick greasy hair he kept combed in complicated swirls. He was cocky, smart, and Soda's best buddy since grade school.
(The entire description of Dally that lasts three paragraphs.)
If it hadn't been for the gang, Johnny would never have known what love and affection are.
Dallas lit a cigarette and handed it to Johnny. (Historically a queer symbol, just saying.)
Two-Bit cocked an eyebrow. "Nice-lookin' bruise you got there, kid." I touched my cheek gingerly. "Really?" Two-Bit nodded sagely. "Nice cut, too. Makes you look tough."
I can understand why Sodapop and Steve get into drag races and fights so much, though--- both of them have too much energy, too much feeling, with no way to blow it off. (Heh.)
In a moment his breathing was light and regular. I turned my head to look at him and in the moonlight he looked like some Greek god come to earth. I wondered how he could stand being so handsome. (Why would you even think that?)
Chapter 2
I felt my ears get hot. Two-Bit or Steve or even Soda would have gone right along with him, just to see if they could embarrass the girls, but that kind of kicks just doesn't appeal to me. I sat there, struck dumb, and Johnny left hastily to get a Coke.
I grinned with pride--- I don't think I look one bit like Soda, but it's not every day I hear Socs telling me they think my brother is a doll.
Dallas scowled for a second. If it had been me, or Two-Bit, or Soda or Steve, or anyone but Johnny, Dally would have flattened him without a moment's hesitation. You just didn't tell Dally Winston what to do… But Johnny was the gang's pet, and Dally just couldn't hit him. He was Dally's pet, too.
It had taken more than nerve for him to say what he'd said to Dally--- Johnny worshiped the ground Dallas walked on, and I had never heard Johnny talk back to anyone, much less his hero.
I looked at Two-Bit admiringly. He sure put things into words good.
"Get Johnny some, too. I'm buyin'," he added as Johnny started to reach into his jeans pocket.
I don't like to go on weekends because then there is usually a bunch of girls down there flirting with Soda--- all kinds of girls, Socs too. I don't care too much for girls yet. Soda says I'll grow out of it. He did. (COME ON.)
I quit worrying about everything and thought about how nice it was to sit with a girl without having to listen to her swear or to beat her off with a club. I knew Johnny liked it, too. He didn't talk to girls much. Once, while Dallas was in reform school, Sylvia had started hanging on to Johnny 32 and sweet talking him and Steve got hold of her and told her if she tried any of her tricks with Johnny he'd personally beat the tar out of her. Then he gave Johnny a lecture on girls and how a sneaking little broad like Sylvia would get him into a lot of trouble. As a result, Johnny never spoke to girls much, but whether that was because he was scared of Steve or because he was shy, I couldn't tell. (Harold, he’s gay.)
Chapter 3
Dally--- wild, cunning Dally-
I looked at their clothes and realized for the first time that evening that all I had was a pair of jeans and Soda's old navy sweat shirt with the sleeves cut short. (Fashion.)
Two-Bit took a long drag on his cigarette, Johnny slouched and hooked his thumbs in his pockets, and I stiffened. (Heh, pt. 2.)
I only wanted to lie on my back under a tree and read a book or draw a picture, and not worry about being jumped or carrying a blade or ending up married to some scatterbrained broad with no sense. (He just wants to deal with normal stuff, not weird stuff like gang violence and women!)
"Shoot," I said, startled out of my misery, "you got the whole gang. Dally didn't slug you tonight 'cause you're the pet. I mean, golly, Johnny, you got the whole gang.
Chapter 4
"You could use a bath, greaser. And a good working over. And we've got all night to do it. Give the kid a bath, David."
Bob, the handsome Soc, was lying there in the moonlight, doubled up and still. (He’s dead, Pony. You don’t need to describe his looks right now.)
I knew Buck, and the only way you could get anything from him was to bully him. I guess that's why Dallas could handle him so easily, although Buck was in his mid-twenties and Dally was seventeen.
He appeared in a few minutes, clad only in a pair of low-cut blue jeans, scratching the hair on his chest. (Fashion, pt. 2)
It would be a miracle if Dally loved anything. The fight for self-preservation had hardened him beyond caring. (IMPORTANT)
"Oh, shoot, kid"--- Dally glanced contemptuously over his shoulder--- "I was in the bedroom." He suddenly stared at me. "Glory, but your ears can get red, Ponyboy."
Dally walked us back to the door, turning off the porch light before we stepped out. "Git goin'!" He messed up Johnny's hair. "Take care, kid," he said softly. (He’s in love. Source: Chapter 10.)
I stretched out and used Johnny's legs for a pillow.
"I'm sorry. Why didn't you wake me up?" "That's okay. I didn't want to wake you up until I had to."
"I guess I look okay now, huh, Johnny?" He was studying me. "You know, you look an awful lot like Sodapop, the way you've got your hair and everything. I mean, except your eyes are green." "They ain't green, they're gray," I said, reddening. "And I look about as much like Soda as you do." I got to my feet. "He's good-looking." "Shoot," Johnny said with a grin, "you are, too."
Chapter 5
I pushed off Johnny's jeans jacket, which had somehow got thrown across me…
I propped myself on my elbows and grinned up at him. "Hey, Johnny. Fancy meetin' you here." He looked down at me over a big package. "I swear, Ponyboy, you're gettin' to act more like Two-Bit every day." I tried unsuccessfully to cock an eyebrow. "Who's acting?" ( ಠ◡ಠ )
"A paperback copy of Gone with the Wind! How'd you know I always wanted one?" Johnny reddened. "I remembered you sayin' something about it once. And me and you went to see that movie, 'member? I thought you could maybe read it out loud and help kill time or something."
"Things have been happening so fast..." I put my arm across his shoulders to warm him up
He slumped down beside me. "I didn't mean it like that, Ponyboy. Don't cry, Pony, we'll be okay. Don't cry..." I leaned against him and bawled until I went to sleep.
I woke up late that night. Johnny was resting against the wall and I was asleep on his shoulder.
That was the first time I realized the extent of Johnny's hero-worship for Dally Winston. Of all of us, Dally was the one I liked least. He didn't have Soda's understanding or dash, or Two-Bit's humor, or even Darry's superman qualities. But I realized that these three appealed to me because they were like the heroes in the novels I read. Dally was real. I liked my books and clouds and sunsets. Dally was so real he scared me.
One morning I woke up earlier than usual. Johnny and I slept huddled together for warmth
"You know," Johnny said slowly, "I never noticed colors and clouds and stuff until you kept reminding me about them. It seems like they were never there before." (Literally a cliché from every Disney movie ever made.)
Johnny shrugged. "Yeah," he said with a sigh. "I guess we're different." (!!!)
"Hey, Ponyboy!" He grinned down at me. "Or should I say Sleeping Beauty?"
Chapter 6
"Johnny," Dally said in a a pleading, high voice, using a tone I had never heard from him before, "Johnny, I ain't mad at you. I just don't want you to get hurt. You don't know what a few months in jail can do to you. Oh, blast it, Johnny"--- he pushed his white-blond hair back out of his eyes--- "you get hardened in jail. I don't want that to happen to you. Like it happened to me..."
Chapter 7
Darry and Sodapop were in the pictures too; Jerry Wood told me that if Sodapop and Darry hadn't been so good-looking, they wouldn't have taken so many. That was public appeal, he said. (Everyone has a hard-on for Darry and Soda.)
They slammed the door, of course, and Two-Bit came running into the kitchen. He caught me by the upper arms and swung me around, ignoring the fact that I had two uncooked eggs in my hand.
"Hate to tell you, buddy," Steve said, still flat on the floor, "but you have to wear clothes to work. There's a law or something."
Steve followed him and in a second there was the general racket of a pillow fight. (Why would you follow your naked friend into his bedroom?)
Chapter 8
"Tuff enough," he managed, and by the way his eyes were glowing, I figured Southern gentlemen had nothing on Johnny Cade.
I knew Johnny understood what I meant. We had always been close buddies, and those lonely days in the church strengthened our friendship.
Chapter 9
Darry had on a tight black T-shirt that showed every muscle on his chest and even the flat hard muscles of his stomach. (Fashion, pt. 3.)
"Welup," Two-Bit said cheerfully, cocking an eyebrow, "I see we are in prime condition for a rumble…
“That big guy with y'all, you know him pretty well?"
Then Paul said, "I'll take you," and something like a smile crossed Darry's face. I knew Darry had thought he could take Paul any time. (I bet he could…)
Steve lay doubled up and groaning about ten feet from me. We found out later he had three broken ribs. Sodapop was beside him, talking in a low steady voice.
Several people yelled at us, I think because we were pretty racked-up looking, but Dally had nothing on his mind except Johnny…
Johnny's eyes glowed. Dally was proud of him. That was all Johnny had ever wanted.
Dally swallowed and reached over to push Johnny's hair back. "Never could keep that hair back... that's what you get for tryin' to help people, you little punk, that's what you get..."
"Damnit, Johnny..." he begged, slamming one fist against the wall, hammering it to make it obey his will. "Oh, damnit, Johnny, don't die, please don't die..." He suddenly bolted through the door and down the hall.
Chapter 10
How can I take it? I wondered. Dally is tougher than I am. Why can I take it when Dally can't? And then I knew. Johnny was the only thing Dally loved. And now Johnny was gone.
Steve stumbled forward with a sob, but Soda caught him by the shoulders. "Easy, buddy, easy," I heard him say softly, "there's nothing we can do now."
Chapter 11
Yeah, he was good-looking even then, with a grin that reminded me of Soda's, a kind of reckless grin. He had been a handsome black-haired boy with dark eyes--- maybe brown, like Soda's, maybe darkblue, like the Shepard boys'. Maybe he'd had black eyes. Like Johnny. I had never given Bob much thought--- I hadn't had time to think. But that day I wondered about him.
I knew he liked to pick fights, had the usual Soc belief that living on the West Side made you Mr. Super-Tuff, looked good in dark wine-colored sweaters, and was proud of his rings.
Chapter 12
You know a guy a long time, and I mean really know him, you don't get used to the idea that he's dead just overnight. Johnny was something more than a buddy to all of us.
It was too vast a problem to be just a personal thing. There should be some help, someone should tell them before it was too late. Someone should tell their side of the story, and maybe people would understand then and wouldn't be so quick to judge a boy by the amount of hair oil he wore. It was important to me.
#personal post#meaghan liveblogs literature#historical shitposting#not actually gonna tag it because of reasons but.... h o n e s t l y#modernmissbennet
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Equestria isn’t what it seems. Ask anything. And you will get the entire truth. No questions asked!!
To read a bit more of my backstory, keep reading.
Hoofington is a seemingly pleasant little town. Located on a pristine beach, just a little ways north from the shining star of Los Pegasus. On the outside, a sweet and simple villa for scholars and aspiring writers, and escapees from the hecticness of the outside world. However, its isolation did not spare it from the influences of the Equestrian aristocracy, albeit that seemed harmless enough, if not more secure. Of course, the reality was much, much darker.
Equestria was a rickety house of cards that managed to rebuild itself pretty quickly when knocked over, but it was a house of flimsy cards, no less. A world of chaos almost completely governed by four goddesses and their families, not to mention the various other atrocities that controlled the world beyond, in addition to the very elusive racial divide between the the four equestrian races and the two other sovereign species, gryphons and dragons. What a mess. But who was to acknowledge it? Meet Crimson Cardinal. A skinny, tall red pegasus with a long and flowing purple mane and tail, a journalist of ill-temperament and an extreme lover of conspiracy, cider, and revolution. A proletariat of cynicism and pride with an extreme hatred for dark magic, corruption and aristocracy. And finally, not much a flyer, but a strong adherent of pegasus pride and a shameless destroyer of alicorn supremacy. Though seemingly sour, Crimson greatly enjoyed his little town and the ponies who inhabit it. His full-time job (journalism being more of a freelance job and anti-fascism being more of a hobby) was a bartender at everyone’s favorite salon downtown, “The Bubbly Mare,” owned by an equally gleeful little stallion, Bubbling Cider. Crimson―a lover of conspiracy and writing is also a great, great lover of alcohol, almost more than pen and paper. In truth, his best rhetoric was born from the bottle. But the townsfolk flocked to his side drunk or sober. The political views of Hoofington were slightly varied, but there was one thing in common―The town was mostly Earth ponies and Pegasi. Farms on the borders of town were hard workin’ folk who prided themselves in tending the soil with their own hooves, criticizing the unicorns for laziness. The pegasi, whose job was to beat clouds into submission and maintain the weather likewise berated the unicorns for using their powers to whip up a storm or chaos anytime they pleased. On the flip side―those small-town earth ponies and pegasi were shunned by the elitist unicorns of the big city, and it was remarkably difficult for a non unicorn to have a profession other than a farmer or cloud-kicker. And it wasn’t just Hoofington that held this belief. This distrust of magic wasn’t seen by those who visited the shining capitals and paragons of Equestria. Canterlot, Ponyville, the Crystal Empire and other big cities that portrayed the unity and magic that the country prided itself on and preached had shiny, posterless walls. But elsewhere, every alleyway in almost every small town, hidden from dignitaries and diplomats, was marked with cynical graffiti alongside the tyrannical Celestia’s infamous “Obey” posters. Now, Crimson himself wasn’t a hater of unicorns per se, or at least that’s what he contended. His roommate and ‘special friend,’ Regal Pen, was one and a rather magically inclined one at that. But did he appeal to the collective distrust of magic in the town? Oh yes he did. …
The day was searing hot, the sun was beating down on the coast and the streets were fairly empty. The dark alleyways, however, were flooding with quietly chattering ponies, but they weren’t there for the shade. They crowded around a soapbox, placed in front of a fresh, untouched, massive propaganda poster, Celestia’s image glaring down at the crowd in ominous shades of dark blue, tan and red, below the stark blue OBEY. There was a hanging uneasiness and tension within the crowd, starting at the poster which they had been specifically instructed not to brutally desecrate by no other than Crimson himself. However, they also knew that the crafty pegasus would not leave it untouched for long. The dark red pony in question stepped over to the soapbox, sitting on his haunches with his chest puffed out. His eyes were dark and sunken as ever, but there was a glimmer of pride and deviance within them too. He opened a prepared sheet of paper and cleared his throat, grasping the ecstatic attention of his listeners. “I would like to start off by thanking everypony for attending this meeting, especially under such short notice, but I declare this a matter of emergency. As you may have noticed, military presence has increased within our borders in the past few months, which is obviously a reason for concern―But it wouldn’t be so problematic if it wasn’t for the plague that they bring with them―Nationalism!!” Crimson gave a quick gesture to the poster behind him, riling murmurs and cries of affirmation from the crowd. “What you see here is the tyranny of the equestrian aristocracy! To many, it is no more than a frail piece of paper. But we, as the enlightened and intelligent ponies we are, know that it is so much more. My moral is that the pen is mightier than the sword, and this extends to a picture that speaks a thousand words. Be it a thousand and one words of celestial corruption and militant authority!” Crimson violently stomped his hoof against the podium, initiating more whinnies and shouts. He waited patiently for the crowd to cease, preparing for an obligatory remark. “Now, my animosity towards Celestia does not necessarily extend to the other princesses, her devout subjects, nor the blindly following, and I obviously harbor no contempt towards those who are simply unaware. However, I can say that the first three are the willing pawns of Celestia’s every bidding! However, I would be remiss if I did not clarify that I revere Princess Luna, and I do not believe she is a pawn nor an ecstatic aide to her sister’s reign. She only does not resist because she is trapped in the guilt that her sister has has bestowed upon her. I also don’t deny Twilight Sparkle as a heroine, a luminary and the paragon of unity and friendship. And Cadence…well, I don’t believe I need to state my opinion on that airheaded sparkling celebrity…On the other hoof, the honorary ‘Princesses’ Twilight and Cadence, and their extended aristocratic families combined represent all that is reprehensible with Celestia’s reign, including her sloth, her gluttony and her incompetence! They are the perfect plastic pawns in Celestia’s games. They are shining public icons, used to preach the alleged solidarity and morality of Equestria! What’s worse, the great and powerful Celestia sends them to solve her problems! What deity would allow the gods of chaos, the dreaded changelings, and abominations from Tartarus itself to wreak havoc on our country, and send her neurotic, monumentally less powerful slave to fix her own faults? And what if these were manifestations of her own magic, as a means of oppression?” The crowd was riled up, shouting and waving their hooves aggressively. And there was still one last note. Crimson took a breath. “In conclusion, I have a little treat for all of you. I’ve instructed you not to desecrate this lovely, lovely poster, but I’m sure you all knew that I would never leave such a thing standing proudly on the walls of our town for very long.” Crimson turned around and tore the poster clean off the wall and held it up. The crowd was practically snapping at it, as if Crimson was holding a slab of meat over a pit of manticores. He hushed the crowd and puffed his chest out. “DISOBEY.” He threw it into the mud. Every pony in the crowd went at it like a feral animal, grabbing each corner and ripping it at the seams, stomping on Celestia’s ominous muzzle into the disgusting brown mud, saturating it and making the frail poster just that much easier to tear apart. Crimson’s usually cold maw curled into a smirk. He shouted with an undertone of malcontented laughter―DISOBEY!! CRUSH IT!! DESTROY IT!! The desecration persisted for several minutes. Crimson caught his breath and stepped off the stand, looking back at the very happy crowd with a sense of pride. The horde eventually dispersed with adrenaline to fuel a day of proletariat’s labor. The poster laid in the mud in literal shreds, but left just barely recognizable to proudly display the desecration of Celestia’s image. Crimson’s younger sister, Emerald Paint was waiting at the end of the alleyway. A bouncy green pegasus who didn’t quite understand Crimson’s near-obsessive immersion in political discord. She was a painter instead of a writer―A painter who secretly wished to paint the revolution with strokes of blood instead of the written word. “Shit, when did you become so inspirational?” “Shut the hell up. It took me two fucking hours to write.” Crimson opened his satchel and grabbed a flask, taking a quick swill of the sweet nectar that fueled his anger and creativity. “Does it look like I give a shit? Anyways, it’s insane how you made destroying that poster seem so important. I mean, it looked like fun…” “Symbolism. One of the greatest literary strategies. It’s kind of like burning an effigy or some books, although it doesn’t quite have the same effect as tearing the thing itself to shreds and leaving it to rot in the mud.” “The fuck you talking about? Why wouldn’t you just destroy the real thing?” Crimson shot a sarcastic glance at his internally violent sister. “I don’t think that’s a very…realistic…solution, Emerald. Besides, I’d much rather have Celestia rot in Tartarus for eternity next to the monsters she created.” “Do you really think this is gonna end peacefully?” Emerald cocked her head. Crimson sighed and averted his eyes. “Well, not exactly…Regardless of how it ends, Celestia and her pawns can’t condemn us for rebelling when she has been slaughtering, imprisoning, and banishing for centuries, if not millennia?” Emerald shrugged. “I don’t know, I don’t feel like it’s worth it. Talking doesn’t get anything done, plus you can’t just beat Celestia!” Crimson huffed and narrowed his eyes, taking another aggressive swill of vodka. “How could you say that?! Haven’t you ever heard the saying ‘The pen is mightier than the sword?” “I don’t fucking know. I’m going home, going to work to make MONEY, unlike you.” Emerald said snarkily, flipping her hair and trotted away. “Journalism is a noble and well-paying profession!! And bartending is just to pay the bills!” Crimson growled and flipped his sister off with his wing. He was glad that the rest of the town didn’t share the same ironically bourgeois sentiment. He would show her. … Crimson sat as his desk, continuing on his endeavour to create the perfect combinations of letters that would convince the most stubborn sheep to awaken from their comatose states under the shades of fascism. “That is a great fucking sentence.” Crimson mumbled. Thank Celes- Thank god sheep were too stupid to read and too weak to be of any use to the revolution (He thought with gratuitous disregard of his own hypocrisy). Stamping the last word with his typewriter, Crimson fell back in his seat. The town was on his side, and with the beautiful ink on paper, many others would trot alongside him. But where to go next? Los Pegasus was close, but going into a such a big city with Hoofington’s small population was, well, a really bad idea. Revolutions don’t start overnight. It must be slow, methodical, covert… But it would happen. That was for certain.
#mlp ask blog#mlp ask oc#mlp#mlp:fim#fim#pony#ponies#brony#bronies#grimdark#ask blog#ask oc#ask oc blog#fandom#pegasus#oc#celestia
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Fanfiction: Super Dragon Ball Heroes! (Rights to Bandai Namco and Akira Toriyama. No copyright intended)
Part I: Prison Planet Saga
I. The beginning
The Prison Planet Saiyan let out a low groan as his red eyes slowly opened. He turned his head and observed his surroundings. He appeared to be on a bed in a small room with wooden walls. From outside the window to his right, the sky was a bright blue, decorated by a few puffy white clouds. Green grass and a forest spread out as far as the eye could see. The place appeared to be a cabin in the middle of nowhere.
“How in the world did I get here?” Cumber thought. “Was this some sort of afterlife?”
He lifted himself out of bed…literally, hovering a few inches off the ground. His head nearly touched the ceiling. He spread out his thick fingers and a ball of dark energy appeared.
“Good, my powers and energy are restored.” He was still alive, even after his defeat at the hands of Goku. Resisting the urge to release the energy, Cumber closed his hand and the ball disappeared.
Cumber gazed at his reflection in an ornate gold-trimmed mirror nearby. For the first time in months, he could see large chest, covered by a red muscle shirt. He was wearing loose blue pants that had somehow been repaired. His white boots were placed in an open box by the front door in the other room. The only thing that was the same was the metal restraint that obscured his mouth.
It felt weird not being in a metal straightjacket 24/7. Not too long ago, he served as an experiment subject for Fu, a curious kai with mischievous plans. Cumber still remembered his light purple face, pointed ears, white hair in a large pony tail, and round black glasses upon his face.
“I have been preparing for this moment for a long time,” Fu had said. “Now that Goku, Trunks, Gohan, and Vegeta are trapped here, it will be the ideal moment to test their powers. I’m also fascinated by the interactions between Super Saiyan Blue Goku and Super Saiyan 4 Goku! Believe me, it wasn’t too hard to bring them to my battle ground…I do have some good plans up my sleeve as a Time-Breaker.”
“Will this guy ever stop talking?” Cumber thought with hatred in his eyes. He sat on his hard bunk bed, looking at the screen above him with Fu smiling down. He was tempted to roll his eyes up at the ceiling but also knew that the kai scientist watched his every move. Even a powerful ancient Saiyan like himself could not easily break through his straightjacket and the metal door of his small cell. With a snap of Fu’s fingers, Cumber was transported to a cavern cell surrounded by boiling lava below.
II. The Prison Planet Battle
Whis, the angel happily dodged Goku and Vegeta’s attacks and kicks as they trained on the God of Destruction Beerus’ planet.
“You two are in fine form,” he mentioned. Lounging on a chair in the shade was Beerus himself, taking a snooze.
“Quite quick on your feet!” Whis called. His staff appeared in his right hand and he knocked both Saiyans to the ground in one swipe.
“Goku! Vegeta!” called Mai, a black haired girl who was running to them in a hurry. Her voice sounded urgent.
“Hey, Mai!” said Goku in greeting as he sat up.
“Please come with me! Trunks has vanished!”
“What?!” both men asked.
“Vanished?” asked Goku.
“The future Trunks was supposed to come to this world for training,” mentioned the Supreme Kai.
Just then, a figure stepped out of the shadows. “I’ll fill you in.”
He was a lavender skinned Kai who wore big round glasses and had white hair. “My name is Fu. I’m a friend of Trunks.”
“His friend?” asked Vegeta, not believing a word.
“Trunks has gotten mixed up into something terrible,” Fu stated. “Right now, he’s on the Prison Planet.”
“Prison Planet?” Goku asked.
“How do you know that?” asked Vegeta, crossing his arms.
Fu smiled. “Don’t look so angry! My friend’s in trouble! Naturally, I investigated. They say that dangerous criminals from throughout the whole universe are gathered on the Prison Planet. If we don’t hurry, Trunks will be in danger!”
Fu raised his finger and vanished.
Vegeta scowled. “Trunks can sure be a nuisance! Let’s go, Kakarot!”
“Yeah!” Goku agreed, his fist hitting the palm of his hand.
Whis stared at the Saiyans with a far-away look in his eyes. “That ‘Fu’ fellow concerns me.”
The Supreme Kai nodded. “Indeed. Mai…”
“Yes?”
“I have a favor to ask of you.”
He walked up to her and placed two Portara earrings in her hand.
“If things go downhill, give these to Goku and Vegeta. It may be your only hope if the enemy’s too powerful.”
Mai bowed in thanks. “Thank you, Supreme Kai.”
Soon enough, the heroes arrived on the Prison Planet, which was actually a group of seven large planets connected by a large chain with a lock around them. One of the planets looked like Earth. Another one was covered in lava and several others looked like Venus, Saturn, and Jupiter. Large chains held the sky in place and the landscape was rocky and rough.
“What huge chains!” Goku exclaimed as Goku, Vegeta, and Mai appeared on a cliff.
Vegeta noticed unfamiliar energy nearby. “Hey, what’s this ki?”
Goku sensed it, too. “Yeah it’s…”
They were interrupted by a figure flying toward them. He was a man who looked like Goku, but was wearing a red cape and had a pole strapped to his back. His sash was blue and his muscle shirt was black. He landed in front of the trio, who all gasped.
“Goku?” asked Mai in disbelief.
Fu hovered in the background with an evil smirk on his face.
“Found you!” the new Goku yelled and powered up into Super Saiyan 4 in an instant.
At once, Goku turned Super Saiyan Blue and both Goku’s fists made impact.
“I see…” said Xeno Goku. “You’re the me from over there…”
“Over there?”
“Are you in league with him?” he growled, glaring at Fu.
He shot a ki blast, which Goku dodged.
“What?” he asked as the blast struck a pillar of rock behind him.
Xeno Goku fired another blast, which Goku jumped over.
Goku flew up into the air until banging his head painfully against some kind of barrier.
“Argh!”
“Huh?!” asked Vegeta.
“The sky!” said Mai.
“It’s no use,” Xeno Goku explained. “Seems this is a fully sealed space. Escape is impossible!”
Goku rapidly rubbed his head in pain. “What?!”
Xeno Goku smiled. “That’s it…”
Getting the same idea, Goku powered up a Kamehameha at the same time as his counterpart, both blasts impacting.
The smoke cleared, but not a dent had been made in the invisible field.
Xeno Goku looked up. “No good huh?”
“What do you mean?” asked Goku.
Goku looked down to hear Fu laughing out loud.
“Fu?” Mai asked.
“That’s the Saiyans for you!” he exclaimed. “Two Son Gokus! I’ve got my hands on a pair of super interesting specimens!”
“Cut the crap!” yelled Xeno Goku, firing a blast at Fu. He casually swatted it aside and it exploded behind him.
“I know what you were thinking,” he said.
“What?!” yelled Xeno Goku.
“You were trying to break through this space with both of your Kamehamehas, right? But it’s useless, useless!” He wagged his finger at them mockingly. “Still impressive of you to think that up on the fly. I’d expect no less of the Time Patrol!”
“Time Patrol?” Mai wondered.
Xeno Goku turned to his counterpart. “I’m the Son Goku from a different dimension than yours. My job is catching dimension-crossing evildoers.”
“Wow, you’re a good guy!” beamed Goku.
“You seem quite knowledgeable about this planet,” mentioned Vegeta to Fu.
“Naturally. The Prison Planet is a testing grounds I created. I gather strong warriors from various times and places and have them battle…forever!”
“Strong warriors, huh?” said Goku.
“Red guy,” called Fu to Xeno Goku. “You got captured on purpose so you could investigate this place, right?”
“You lied to us!” declared Mai. “Is Trunks really here?!”
“Trunks has done the unforgivable. Though a mere mortal, he travels freely through time and space! That’s why I’m making him pay the price! Besides, I knew that if I brought him here, I could use him as bait to draw you in, too!”
“You’re terrible!” shouted Goku.
Fu wagged a lavender finger with a childish grin. “Wrong! I’m not terrible; I’m amazing!”
“Where’s Trunks?!” Vegeta demanded.
Fu rose into the air. “Find him yourselves! Oh, but even if you do, you’ll still need to gather seven special Dragon Balls to escape from here!”
“Dragon Balls?” Goku asked.
“This,” said Xeno Goku, pulling out a one star ball from his pocket.
“You’ve got one?”
“He gave it to me.”
Fu continued. “The remaining six are in the hands of other prisoners. They’re all strong, so it won’t be easy! Now, let’s start the experiment!”
“Fu!” Goku yelled as the trickster Kai vanished.
Trunks lay down on a bunk bed in a cramped dark cell, wearing green clothing. He sat up and clutched the side of his head. He stared at a restraint on his wrist.
“What’s this?”
Two metal doors opened in front of him, trunks briefly blinded by the white light shining through.
“What’s going on?”
The area was revealed to be a city-like landscape with spotlights moving in the distance and tall buildings everywhere. Trunks ran down the street, glancing at a figure in the air. It was Cooler.
“Hand over the Dragon Ball!” he demanded.
“Huh? Dragon Ball?” panted Trunks, backing up.
In a lab, Fu was lounging on his floating chair, observing the battles on a large domed holographic screen. Several other monitors showed Trunks, King Cold, Goku and Vegeta.
“Well then, the actors are all assembled,” Fu said with a grin, his glasses framing glowing white circles in place of his eyes. “The most interesting experiment in the universe can finally enter its main phase!”
“Enough of this nonsense,” Cumber thought. Sparks of black energy scattered from his body, making their way outside. Fu turned around and grinned evilly, his eyes as red as Cumbers.
“Oh, your turn won’t come until a little later…Evil Saiyan.”
Cumber powered up, his eyes a blank white.
Inside the rock walls, Cumber folded his arms and stared at a floating Dragon Ball in front of him. Another Dragon Ball floated next to him, but he couldn’t grab it since both his arms were restrained in his metal straightjacket. Chains held him in place by his feet and legs. IXI was written on one of his restraints. His hair was long, spiky and black, reaching down to the middle of his back.
Listening to Fu’s cocky attitude and lectures was torture enough. There was only one thing he wanted to do…the one thing he was born to do.
“The time has come, Evil Saiyan!” Fu said on another screen that was hidden in Cumber’s cell. “It is time for you to defeat those Saiyan warriors out there. They are Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and his human friend Mai.” Small images of the warriors appeared on the screen. “Based on your blood sample and DNA, your power should be more than enough to challenge all of them.”
Cumber remained silent, obedient. The urge to fight and corrupt the Saiyans stirred him to the core. It was a feeling as strong as hunger, perhaps even more prominent.
“You know what to do from here.” Fu said. “Perhaps I will send you back to your time if you manage to succeed in your mission. Or will you let Goku and his friends defeat you? That would surely please Yamoshi.” The screen went dark just before Cumber let out a murderous scream.
How dare he mention that name! Yamoshi, the original Super Saiyan God from his time. A stubborn rebel who led the fight against him and the other evil Saiyans. Unlike Cumber, Yamoshi was a righteous man, always believing in fairness, harmony, and not destroying every civilization they came across.
To Cumber, he was nothing more than a pathetic weakling. Though he did put up a good fight, thanks to the energy given to him by his five comrades. However, the transformation didn’t last long. Then, Cumber was more than happy to finish the young rebels off with a red fiery blast from his mouth as a Great Ape.
He vaguely remembered being pulled off into space, and his body stretching excruciatingly painfully in various directions. Once he woke up, the first thing he saw was Fu standing above him, holding a Super Dragon Ball and saying, “Welcome to the future! You will do nicely.”
He opened his eyes, which were completely white with rage. “I’ll show him! I’ll show all of them!” he raged in his head. “They don’t know who they are messing with!”
He powered up in a flash and a burst of red and black energy shot out from the top of the volcano prison. In an instant, the boulder on top exploded, his prison, no more. Fu watched the scene from his monitor and laughed while clapping his hands.
“Evil Saiyan, you’re the best!” He then leaned back and said, “I’m glad I brought you here!”
Vegeta led the way across the field, followed by Goku and Mai.
“Hey Vegeta,” said Goku. “Who are these strong guys Fu was talking about?”
“Cut the crap and help look for Trunk’s ki!” Vegeta responded. “Huh? Kakarot?”
He noticed something in the distance.
As soon as Cumber spotted the group of Saiyans, he flew toward them at top speed.
“His ki is massive!” exclaimed Goku.
Surrounded by dark energy, Cumber landed on top of a cliff.
Goku turned to Mai. “Mai, it’s too dangerous! Go hide somewhere!”
“Yeah!” Mai said with a nod and ran off.
Without moving, Cumber shot disks of dark red energy at Goku and Vegeta. The two Saiyans dodged the blasts.
“Is this guy a Saiyan?” Vegeta asked as he swiped a blast to the side. “I’ve never felt such evil kai before!”
Goku punched a disk aside and went Super Saiyan. Goku rushed at Cumber and raised his foot to kick him, almost touching his face. Seconds later, dark energy spread around Goku’s hand and he cried out in shock. His golden aura quickly turned dark and he grimaced in pain. Black tendrils of lightning cracked around him as his thoughts went blank. Then Goku went still and his eyes turned white.
“Get him,” ordered Cumber through telepathy.
Goku let out a deafening yell and charged at the prince. He landed a punch, which Vegeta blocked. Vegeta landed down to the ground for stability as a corrupted Goku followed.
“What’s the matter Kakarott?!” Vegeta asked in surprise.
Vegeta dodged Goku’s punches aimed at his head. Vegeta slid back, careful not to get too close to Goku.
As if Cumber was working through Goku, the Saiyan fired dark discs of energy at Vegeta. Vegeta punched through the blasts in quick succession, the blasts increasing and moving faster toward him.
From behind a rock, Mai watched the battle with concern. A blast flew toward her and she flinched. Thankfully, Trunks teleported in front of her and swiped it away.
“Trunks?!” asked Mai in surprise.
“Mai, why are you here?” Trunks asked. She was supposed to get to a safer place.
Vegeta interrupted the moment. “Trunks, you handle Kakarott. I’ll beat this guy!” Vegeta flew off toward Cumber.
“Got it,” said Trunks, going Super Saiyan and fighting Goku.
Cumber watched as Vegeta flew toward him, only for a yellow blast to hit him to a halt.
Vegeta turned around and saw…
“You’re Cooler!” he exclaimed, shocked to see his rival’s older brother on the scene. Sure enough, the lizard, like alien stared with contempt at Vegeta with his red eyes behind his mask. His skin was dark purple and his armor was white.
“Everyone had better watch out!” Fu called with glee in his voice.
“Fu!” Mai yelled in anger.
“He’s the evil Saiyan ‘Cumber.’ His evil ki snaps the minds of whoever it touches!”
“At least he finally said my name,” Cumber thought.
“Cumber…the evil Saiyan?!” asked Vegeta.
Trunks punched Goku away and called to Vegeta: “Father, Cooler is on our side!”
The dark purple armored lizard crossed his arms. “We simply share a common goal,” he stated.
Corrupted Goku slowly got up, his body shaking. His head turned with a twitch toward Cooler. He jumped through the air for an attack, but Cooler blocked his fists with his strong purple hands. The two opponents strained to get the upper hand and shared angry looks. Goku grinned evilly. One thing that Cumber and Fu had in common: they enjoyed watching the show.
A capsule was thrown into the air with a boom, and Trunk’s sword appeared in Mai’s hands, wrapped in a red cloth.
“I’ve brought your things,” said Mai. Trunks thanked her with a nod and carefully took hold of his sword.
Cooler shot a yellow blast from his hand which forced Goku back.
“Fu, you said Frieza surpassed me by becoming Golden Frieza, right?” asked Cooler. His red slanted eyes stared through his white battle helmet.
“But if my little brother can do something, then so can I!” Cooler declared.
The ground shook and little pebbles floated up as Cooler clenched his fists in front of him. He powered up and his aura turned golden. His armor and long tail, previously white, was now golden in color. “I think I’ll call it…Golden Cooler!” he said, amazed at his new powerful form. He hoped Frieza would be jealous.
“Now then, shall we begin?”
He charged and attacked Goku once more. The forceful blow knocked Goku to the ground. The ground below him cracked. Cooler raised his hands and formed a large sphere of golden light. Using both hands, he thrust his energy bomb forward toward Cumber.
“Well this is unexpected,” Cumber thought. The ground shook violently and the bomb burst into white light.
“Goku-san!” called Trunks, racing toward his friend who had lifted his head from the ground. His orange gi somehow remained intact and his hair was its usual black color.
“Goku-san! So you’re back to normal?” Trunks asked. Cumber felt his mental control on Goku collapse.
“Yep!” said Goku, his left eye squinted. “Trunks, you OK too?”
“Certainly! Sorry to worry you.”
The ground shook once more and the two Saiyans looked toward Golden Cooler. Apparently, the energy bomb did no damage to Cumber. Cumber was now hovering in the air surrounded by rocky debris.
“I like you guys,” Cumber spoke out loud for the first time. Now…fight me!”
His red eyes opened wide and alert. His dark energy rays pointed through his straightjacket. The straightjacket and the restrains exploded, freeing his arms. His red muscle shirt was revealed. More dark discs of energy spread out and destroyed nearby rock structures. Mai, Trunks, and Goku covered their eyes to shield themselves from the surrounding smoke.
The smoke cleared and Goku asked the question that was on everyone’s mind. “Who is this guy?!”
Vegeta landed in front of them and answered: “He’s Cumber! The evil Saiyan!”
“What?!” asked Goku.
“That’s right!” Mai said from behind the rock wall. She reached into her blue dress pocket and pulled out a pair of yellow porta earrings.
“Goku-san! Vegeta-san!” she called, tossing the earrings to them. They both caught them in their left hands.
“Porta!” exclaimed Goku.
“Kaioshin-sama gave them to me!” said Mai.
“I’ll draw his attention!” said Trunks. “And while he’s distracted…”
Trunks went Super Saiyan and charged at Cumber. He unsheathed his sword, only for Cumber to grab hold of it with his hand.
“Annoying pest,” Cumber thought.
Cumber’s thick hand gripped Trunk’s throat, hard. He pulled Trunks closer into a chokehold. Trunks gasped in pain as dark energy spread across his body, his sword falling to the ground. His Super Saiyan power faded but another blast from Cooler hit Cumber in the side. Cooler fired a series of more blasts.
When the smoke cleared, Cumber was standing in the same place, unaffected by the attacks.
“That brats done for,” Cooler deadpanned.
“That bastard!” Vegeta exclaimed. “Kakarott, let’s do this!”
“Yeah!” Goku agreed as both men put on the earrings, Vegeta’s earring on his right ear, Goku’s on his left.
Cumber was still holding Trunks when he noticed a light from below. In a black gi, a blue sash, white gloves, and boots stood a single different person. The man was wearing both earrings and his hair was bronze instead of black. He raised his left gloved fist.
“Cumber! The fight is on!” he said in a mixture of Goku and Vegeta’s voices. He was now Vegito, a fusion of the two Saiyans.
“Okay, that’s a lot of power I’m sensing here!” thought Cumber. “Looks like they aren’t weaklings after all.”
Vegito powered up and his hair and aura turned blue. Sweat formed on Trunks face as he struggled to free himself from Cumber’s grasp. Cumber raised his left arm and oriented his palm to the sky. A black ball of energy appeared and grew redder and larger by the minute. Vegito flew at Cumber just as Cumber released his dark energy sphere. He flew inside the bomb toward the purple center. The power briefly tuned the whole sky red. The ball then exploded in a great flash and the ground below burst apart.
Back inside his lab, Fu watched with fascination and amazement. “It’s really heating up now. Their fight’s great!” He clapped his left hand on his knee and chuckled.
Both Cumber and Vegito stood in a crater, facing each other. Cumber held his left arm, and grimaced in pain. “Damn you!” he cursed.
“Are you okay, Trunks?” Vegito asked, turning his head toward his friend.
Trunks slowly stood up. “Yes.”
“Stay back!” warned Vegito.
The fused Saiyan powered up once more and charged at his enemy. The two fighters punched and dodged each other’s attacks at lightning speed. They appeared and teleported to different spots in the area.
They both punched each other and appeared back in the crater. Vegito yelled and aimed his fist at Cumber, who blocked it with his arm. Cumber landed a punch of his own, which Vegito blacked with both his arms crossed. Vegito was forced back against the incline, but was still stable on his feet. Cumber’s bulging muscled arms were visible, the red sleeves on his shirt nearly torn to shreds.
“I’m amazed to find so worthy of an opponent,” said Cumber through his mask. He raised his right fist. “Destroying someone like you gives me joy!”
He raised his right hand up to the sky and blood red energy snacked out from his palm. The energy morphed into a clawed hand.
“What the…” began Vegito.
Cumber sliced through the air before Vegito barely dodged the attack. The dark energy swirled through the air, matching Cumber’s arm movements below. The dark energy soon hit Vegito in the chest. The fused warrior was knocked into the rock wall. He closed his eyes, trying to fight through the new sharp pain in his back.
Cooler stood on top of the crater, observing the scene. “This is starting to get interesting.”
In a flash of light, Vegito’s aura changed into blue and dark pink. He was planning on going kaio-ken, increasing his power further.
“Kaio-Ken!” he called, before flying at Cumber once more.
Mai carried a hurt Trunks to safety as the two Saiyans teleported and fought in the distance.
“Trunks, hang in there!” Mai urged.
“Yeah,” Trunks answered with a pained groan. He turned his head. “Still, that’s an incredible ki.”
“Will Goku and Vegeta be alright?” Mai wondered with worry.
Meanwhile, the Kaio-Ken Vegito landed a punch, which Cumber dodged. With his knee, Cumber retaliated with a kick to Vegito’s side, which he blocked.
Golden Cooler calmly watched as the force waves from the fight caused a crack to appear in the gigantic chains holding the nearby planets in place.
“More, more!” exclaimed an ecstatic Fu. “Take it even higher! This is the mightiest energy, higher than the highest!”
Both Vegito and Cumber fought and briefly were pushed back.
Cumber formed another sphere of black and red energy in his right hand. A shocked look appeared on Vegito’s face and he flew several feet backward.
Cumber smirked from under his mask as his ball of energy grew larger. Black electricity flashed around the dark sphere in purple auras.
A familiar ball of blueish white light appeared in Vegito’s hands. He cupped his gloved hands together and spoke the combined attack: “FINAL…KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!”
“Take this!” shouted Cumber.
The two blasts of energy collided. Vegito’s Final Kamehameha had the blue appearance of Goku’s attack and the yellow lightning of Vegeta’s. Vegito yelled and struggled to push Cumber’s energy back. Cumber leaned forward and his energy started to push Vegito’s blast back. Vegito closed his eyes, then opened them as he screamed. He pushed Cumber’s blast back toward him, causing the dark energy to disappear. The force of the blast caused one of the large chains holding up the artificial sky to crack.
A stunned Cumber quickly recovered by slashing dark energy across the sky in frustration. A dark clawed hand appeared, made from his energy. It slashed through Vegito’s blast and knocked Vegito back. The fused Saiyan quickly recovered and faced his opponent.
“Scum!” Cumber yelled. “I shall bury you with my own hands! Consider it an honor!”
In his right hand he formed another ball of energy, though this time it was smaller and whiter. He threw it into the air, not aiming at Vegito.
When Vegito figured out what he was doing, a feeling of dread came upon him. “Don’t tell me…” Vegito said with worry.
“Burst and mix!” Cumber commanded, clenching his fist closed. The ball exploded in a flash of white light.
Everyone covered their eyes while Cumber stared wide-eyed. The light gave off the appearance of a really bright full moon…
In an instant, the evil Saiyan turned into a Golden Great Ape. His eyes glowed a demonic red and fur grew over his body. Golden hair extended from his head, halfway down his back. His arms and legs grew more muscular in an instant. With a large thud, Cumber landed on the ground, his white boots breaking the ground apart on impact. His long golden tail swished back and forth and smashed a hole in the ground. His hair was now golden.
“Not good,” thought Vegito.
Despite being inside the large prison world, Cumber felt free and truly powerful in his beastly form.
“Damn, he transformed,” said Vegito.
“He’s so huge!” exclaimed Trunks.
Seeing the fear in his opponent’s eyes made Cumber smile.
Cumber launched a stream of dark energy at Vegito from his mouth like a stream of fire. Moments later, Goku and Vegeta broke apart from their fusion. The blast hit the glass barrier disguised as the sky.
“Damn, so we’ve used up all our power?” asked Vegeta in frustration.
Cumber turned around and shot the beam of dark energy from his mouth, further destroying the ground in a semi-circle.
“Damn monster,” spat Cooler.
“Mai!” Trunks called under a dark red sky. He shielded her from the impact behind a large boulder.
More cracks appeared in the chains and a large crack appeared in the sky.
Goku and Vegeta weakly got up from the ground and turned to face the monster towering in front of them.
Meanwhile, Fu was clapping in his observing room, enjoying himself.
“Excellent, Saiyans!” he cheered. “I’ve been waiting for such an incredible fight! More! Fight More!”
Cumber smashed a rock to pieces with his tail and let out a ferocious roar showing rows of sharp teeth.
“Vegeta!” called Goku.
“I know! No need to tell me!” replied Vegeta.
“Let’s cut off his tail!” said Goku.
“Don’t tell me what to do!” Vegeta yelled.
Mai stared at the Portara earrings in her hand, disappointed that the fusion didn’t last too long.
Cumber fired another blast from his mouth and the two Saiyans teleported away before it hit. Goku and Vegeta went Super Saiyan and flew toward Cumber.
“What?!” cried Vegeta.
In a quick motion, Cumber swatted Vegeta aside with his tail.
“Vegeta!” cried Goku. He yelled again and raced forward.
A dark foot hovered over Goku and he gasped in fear. “H-He’s so fast for a big guy!”
Goku flew around and barely dodged Cumber’s giant boot.
“Goku-san!” cried Trunks.
When it looked like Cumber had stepped on Goku, Trunks charged at Cumber, only to be knocked aside with his fist and then his tail. He crashed into a rock wall. From underneath, Goku strained under Cumber’s boot and struggled to lift it up.
“Trunks!” called Vegeta.
Trunks nodded.
In union, Trunks and Vegeta fired yellow blasts at Cumber, who blocked them with his hairy arm. In anger, Cumber turned toward them. Cumber shot more blasts from his mouth at the Saiyan father and son. Trunks and Vegeta shielded their eyes from the flying rocky debris.
“He’s really cutting loose,” remarked Cooler, still watching the fight.
He jumped in the air before Cumber’s blast could hit him.
“Don’t get cocky,” remarked Cooler, firing blasts of his own at the Great Ape. In response, Cumber fired another red blast at Cooler, pushing him back.
“What is he?” Cooler asked in stunned shock.
“More, fight more!” Fu said, in a frenzy. Just then a red light flashed on the warning system and a beeping sound rang through the room. His monitor showed the sky nearly broken and the chains with deep cracks in them.
Fu frowned and seethed. “I didn’t tell you to go so far!”
He smashed his fist at a screen in anger. “You guys only need to give me energy.” He pushed up his glasses and he glared with his red eyes. “Guess I’d better teach you that.”
“You bastards,” taunted Cumber, back on the battlefield. “You can’t even touch my tail.” He stomped hard on the ground, Mai, watching in horror.
“Goku-san!”
“Goku-san!” cried Trunks.
“Kakarot!” Vegeta chimed in.
Then, from underneath his boot, Goku fired a blast of blue light, allowing himself to break free. Goku was standing with his arms spread out in Super Saiyan Blue. He shot himself at Cumber, the Great Ape leaning back slightly.
“KAIO-KEN… TIMES TWENTY!” Goku yelled.
His aura changed to blue and pink. With a scream, he landed his fist between Cumber’s eyes.
Cumber raised his arm to slap him, but Goku teleported away. He tried to grab Goku, but Goku disappeared first. He shot a blast from his mouth, but Goku vanished yet again. The blast caused more cracks to appear in the sky.
“This is getting annoying!” thought Cumber. “Stay still, you bastard Saiyan!”
Goku landed on the ground and wordlessly fired his Kamehameha. It had no effect on the Great Ape, who had raised his hands to block the attack. Cumber raised his right fist at Goku as Goku flew forward… only for a blast of purple light to intercept the fight. Goku slid back and took heavy breaths.
Fu was hovering in the air with his arms crossed. He looked like a disappointed teacher about to discipline a bunch of troublesome kids. His skin was lavender and his white hair was tied back in a ponytail. Yellow pants covered his legs and a black muscle shirt covered his chest.
“You’re…” Goku started.
“Fu!” Vegeta finished.
Fu landed on the ground and stared at Cumber.
Cumber growled and some glass shattered, revealing a hole of outer space.
“Hey, don’t break it!” scolded Fu.
Cumber growled louder. “Don’t bark orders at me!” “You, huh?” he spat.
“I’ll rein you in,” said Fu.
A purple wand of energy appeared in Fu’s left hand. Fu’s irises turned yellow, his pupils white, and sclera red. In this stance with a black aura of ki surrounding him, he looked demonic.
“What?!” yelled Vegeta in shock.
Fu flipped his purple energy weapon in the air. “Mix and bound!” Fu chanted.
The white sphere of light turned into tendrils and flowed into Fu’s raised wand. Fu landed safely on the ground, crossing his weapons.
Blinded by a searing pain, Cumber felt himself shrink and his power wane. Without the appearance of the “full moon,” his Great Ape form shrank. Soon, he was back in his base form.
He launched himself at Fu, but missed. Cumber grew a shadow tail where his tail used to be.
“Wow!” breathed Goku.
“How did he do that?” asked Trunks, referencing Fu.
“Okay, resume the fight,” stated Fu.
“Then I’ll fight you!” exclaimed Cooler, aiming a ki blast at Fu. Fu vanished before Cooler could hit him. “No way!” he spat. “You guys are the only ones who are fighting!”
“What’s that bastard planning?” asked Vegeta suspiciously, referring to Fu.
Cumber powered up and this time, two shadowy claws appeared behind him.
“I’ll take you on!” declared Goku, getting into a fighting stance. Goku then turned super Saiyan God; complete with magenta hair, and a fiery gold aura. His eyes were now red.
Cumber’s shadow claws flew at Goku, but he jumped out of the way.
Cumber stared intently at Goku.
“That red hair…”
He leaned forward, his eyebrows shaking. “So you’re…”
“Yamoshi’s reincarnation? That’s impossible! He’s the new Super Saiyan God to replace Yamoshi? How does he look just like him?”
He was definitely going to kill this warrior!
Soon, the two Saiyans were fighting yet again though the smoke and debris. Ki blast after ki blast exploded against the ground and walls like mini atomic bombs.
Goku shot out his fists twice, while Cumber avoided the blows. Cumber flew backward into the air and Goku followed. Cumber grabbed hold of Goku’s oncoming foot and kicked him toward the ground. He went flying and crashed hard into the ground. Goku weakly stood up and faced him again, catching his breath.
Goku looked up to find that Cumber had already formed a gigantic ball of red energy from his hand. He threw it down. Goku held the sphere back as the ground shattered apart, rocks flying in the air. This time, the chains completely broke apart.
Large cracks spread across the ground, Fu looking on in fear. His lab was now demolished, his monitors broken and the room in disarray.
“I can’t do my experiments like this, can I?”
He noticed something metal on the ground and picked it up.
“Who…who did this?!” he demanded, crushing the metal object in his hand. There was no way he would let his hard scientific work go to ruin.
Goku was back in his base form, panting on one knee. A drop of sweat fell from his cheek. Cumber could tell that Goku was getting exhausted.
Goku stumbled forward and raised a fist, only for Cumber to easily catch it with his left hand. He twisted Goku’s arm and Goku fell to the ground. He lifted his boot and stomped onto Goku’s head. The Saiyan yelled in pain as Cumber mockingly rubbed his boot against Goku’s head.
“Now this is more like it!”
“What’s the matter? Finished already?” Cumber taunted. He continued roughly messing Goku’s head, causing more pain for the Saiyan. He removed his boot to reveal an unconscious Goku. Well…momentarily unconscious since he slowly opened his eyes.
“Now that he’s defenseless, it’s time to finish him off!” Cumber thought.
He rose up in the air and formed red energy from his hand. “Become dust!” he shouted as he released the blast.
The blasts hit the ground and exploded. He first several more blasts that hit the ground where Goku lay. The smoke cleared to revel debris on top of the unconscious Goku.
“Now to finish you!”
He shot another blast, but this time, it was intercepted by Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta.
More surprising, they were both Super Saiyan 4!
“What?!” Cumber yelled.
“You’re fighting us now!” yelled Xeno Goku, his pink hairy arms at the ready. He stared defiantly at the villain with golden eyes. Both men had bare chests and pink tails. Apparently, Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta were the counterparts of the regular Saiyans from the future.
“I don’t know who you are,” said Cumber, “But you’ve got guts! I’ll take on all challengers!”
Indeed, it was a new exciting moment for him. Like all Saiyans, he loved pushing himself beyond his limits. Super Saiyan 3 was a great form to use.
Cumber landed on the ground as Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta also landed, standing protectively in front of Goku.
“There’s two dads?!” exclaimed Trunks, who couldn’t believe his eyes.
“The Time Patrol?” guessed Mai.
“You guys! Take that Kakarot and get away!” ordered Xeno Vegeta, turning to Trunks and Mai.
“Come on! I want to cut loose some more! Fight!” shouted Cumber.
Cumber powered up with a loud scream, as rocks rose up. Cumber’s hair was now the golden color of a Super Saiyan.
“What?!” asked Xeno Goku in shock. Both Saiyans teleported away from Cumber’s dark shadow claws at the last minute.
“His ki is incredible,” said Xeno Goku.
“Guess we’ll have to use these!” mentioned Xeno Vegeta, pulling out the pair of Porta earrings.
“I thought you hated fusing?” asked Xeno Goku.
“This time’s an exception,” Xeno Vegeta replied as both men attached their earrings.
They leaned into each other, their bodies bathe din golden light and instantly became…
Super Saiyan 4 Xeno Vegito!
Cumber’s shadow hands closed around him, but the energy was soon broken and pushed back.
Xeno Vegito yelled and charged at his enemy, his eyes now blue.
The men’s two fists collided, causing a large explosion. More chains snapped apart in succession. Cumber fired blasts at Xeno Vegito, only for the fused warrior to walk right through them and leap at him through the dust. He landed a hard uppercut to Cumber’s chin, pushing him into the stone wall. He teleported away, dodging another ki blast from Xeno Vegito.
Cumber formed his signature dark energy bomb and released it.
Xeno Vegito powered up an attack of blue light, “KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!” Yellow flashes of lighting sparked randomly around the blue Kamehameha beam.
The two beams of energy clashed once again. Both warriors were evenly matched for a while.
“Uh oh,” thought Cumber as he watched his blast get smaller and Xeno Vegito’s Kamehameha get bigger and closer. He was blinded and hit by the blast in an instant. And man did it burn like hell!
Cumber felt himself being pushed hard against the glass roof.
The fusion then ended and the two men separated.
“Did we do it?” asked Xeno Goku.
Fu appeared and looked at the red sky and a red shadowed planet in anger.
“So the seal’s come undone?”
“Fu!” called Trunks.
Fu looked down at the Saiyans. “You guys, huh?” The pieces of the chains floated in the dark sky.
Fu rounded on them in anger. “You’re the ones who smashed my laboratory!”
He powered up and his eyes turned black.
“So you’ve come huh, Fu?” asked Xeno Goku. “Well you’re plan’s all over!”
“You guys have gone too far!” replied Fu, putting his hands on his hips. “Now my plan’s kaput!”
He pulled out a staff and his purple energy weapon.
He crossed them into a red glowing X. His sclera turned red and his power rose up. “Here’s your punishment!”
He shot a blast of black light at the Saiyans, both of them getting into defensive positions. The other Goku was still unconscious.
Goku’s white hand twitched. The Super Saiyan 4 warriors protected themselves by crossing their arms, then turned to face Fu.
“You can still move?” asked Fu with a crazed grin.
“Capturing you…” said Xeno Goku as he powered up,
“…is our mission!” added Xeno Vegeta.
Yellow lightning flashed across the blood red sky. Columns of volcanic magma shoot out of the rocky landscape in several places. Fu avoided the Saiyan’s attacks while Xeno Goku dodged a swipe from Fu’s staff, which sliced in a red arc. Xeno Vegeta dodged Fu’s purple weapon.
Fu stood posed to fight, with a red moon in the background. In the distance, a shadowy figure came into view. It was Cumber. He wasn’t finished yet.
Xeno Goku stared in surprise. He was certain that the Kamehameha had finished him. Vegeta, Trunks and the others covered their eyes from the dust.
“Haven’t you had enough yet?” asked Golden Cooler.
“Fight…” said Cumber. “Fight me!” As a Saiyan, Cumber could never have his bloodlust fully satisfied.
“What?” asked a stunned Fu.
The heroes, Cooler, and Fu blocked the dark energy discs that Cumber fired.
Fu looked at the red moon and grinned. “Well that’s great. Looks like I achieved my objective. They will revive soon. Things should get even more fun from here! You have my thanks, Saiyans!”
Fu sliced his weapon and staff at the same time, creating a purple tear in the fabric of reality. Fu disappeared through the X shaped portal.
“Why you…you’re not getting away!” Cooler yelled, racing after him.
But the clever demonic Kai already had.
“Oh no!” cried Xeno Goku as the portal closed after Cooler had just made it through.
“We’ll deal with Fu later!” said Xeno Vegeta to Xeno Goku. “First let’s get Trunks and the others out of here!”
Cumber stared at the Saiyans with a murderous look in his eyes. He held a ball of evil red energy in both hands. He thrust the energy ball at Xeno Vegeta and Xeno Goku. The two Saiyans held it back together. The muscles in their arms felt like they were on fire from the strain.
“Kakarot! How long do you intend to stay asleep?!” Vegeta yelled at Goku’s still form behind him. “Wake up already!”
Finally, Goku opened his eyes…which were now silvery gray. At once, a fiery blue-white aura surrounded him.
It was the power of Ultra Instinct. Goku briefly closed his eyes, walking forward while sensing the energy around him. Goku’s hair and eyebrows turned silver once his opened them again.
“Y-you…” stuttered Xeno Goku.
“What’s going on?” asked Xeno Vegeta.
“That’s…” said Mai.
“It’s Ultra Instinct,” stated Vegeta, jealously tinged in his voice.
“Ultra…Instinct?” Trunks asked.
For the first time, a hint of fear appeared in Cumber’s eyes. He had never heard of a form like that in his life. In the blink of an eye, Goku appeared in front of him.
“What in the world are you?!” Cumber shouted. He raised his fist but Goku dodged it effortlessly. A swipe of Goku’s arm caused Cumber to crash to the ground.
“So strong!” exclaimed Xeno Goku.
Cumber shot discs of energy at Goku, all of which he avoided. Goku pummeled into Cumber.
“Now’s our chance! Let’s use teleportation!” called Xeno Goku.
“Ah! Right!” said Trunks.
Xeno Goku safely teleported Vegeta, Xeno Vegeta, Trunks and Mai away just in time before three thick pillars lava burst out from the ground.
No matter how many times Cumber punched Goku, he always ended up missing. Anger flared in the dark Saiyan’s eyes. He was an ancient Saiyan God for crying out loud! If he could beat Yamoshi, why couldn’t he beat his opponent right in front of him?
This time, Goku was the one who easily caught Cumber’s fist in his hand.
Goku’s fist make hard contact with Cumber’s face. He fell backward and steadied himself on the ground. Goku wordlessly fired a gigantic Kamehameha at Cumber.
“This is nothing!” Cumber shouted, even though he knew there was no way he could win this time. The searing light covered his hands and blinded him. The attack enveloped him and he felt like his whole body was on fire.
“What?!” he yelled in disbelief.
The blast knocked him to the ground and his world turned black.
Cumber’s reflection stared back at him. “Curse you Kakarot!” Cumber yelled, now in the present in the strange cabin. With one hand, he blasted apart a hole into the wooden wall.
“That is hardly proper behavior, young warrior,” said a voice. Then the voice lowered. “Then again, I would expect nothing less from filthy Saiyans.”
Cumber turned around and saw a man with green skin, pointed ears, and a metal patch over his right eye. He wore an elegant black gi with a red sash on it. His hair was spiky like a Saiyan’s hair but was white. One part of his green face was covered with metal.
“Who the hell are you?” Cumber asked.
“That’s no way to speak to a god,” the man replied with disapproval.
Cumber yelled and thrust his fists forward, but the Kai easily avoided the blows. A blade of purple energy formed from his hand and he stabbed Cumber right in the chest. Cumber gasped in horror. The pain felt like a hot white knife had gone through his body. Furthermore, this strange power seemed to be paralyzing him.
The man raised his hand and in a flash of light, the hole in the wall was repaired. “I can’t let anyone destroy my home nor this land. It needs to be purified to be of use to the gods.”
The man cleared his throat and paced back and forth. “You’re wondering who I am, yes? Well, I am Lord Zamasu. Well more like fused Zamasu as I am the fused version of my past and future selves.”
Even being frozen, Cumber still looked confused. Zamasu waved his hand and Cumber could move. With great restraint, he forced himself to remain still.
“I am from another time period…two time periods in this case. My future self used the Super Dragon Balls to switch bodies with Son Goku. I became Goku Black and I sought to rid the world of all mortals. They are corrupt beings who destroy the world and themselves in their greedy ways. I would have made thus world a better place…if that troublesome brat Trunks hadn’t arrived and sliced me in half.
“That’s harsh,” Cumber thought. “Guess I’ll have to endure another lecture from a Kai.”
“Eventually, I did destroy all mortals and even became one with the universe itself! But then out of nowhere, the Omni King Zeno appeared and made my beautiful world disappear, myself along with it.
Cumber finally gathered the courage to ask a pressing question. “Then how are you still alive?”
“Let’s just say that a fellow purple Kai traveled back through time and took me with him before I could get erased. He offered me free rein of this universe as a part of his so called “social experiment.”
“Fu!” spat Cumber. “He’s up to no good, again!”
“I figured that you two were connected,” Zamasu mentioned.
Cumber scoffed. “Yeah, sure. More like I was a subject used for his own gains.” Cumber hated to admit one of his weaknesses to a stranger.
Zamasu observed Cumber some more and the Saiyan found himself feeling uncomfortable. “You’re not from around here, are you?”
“No, I was brought to Fu’s Prison Planet,” Cumber replied.
“No, I mean, you’re not from this time period.”
“How…”
Zamasu interrupted him with his hand up. “I am a god. I know things like that.”
“Fu brought me to the Prison Planet and used the Super Dragon Balls to bring me to thus universe. So what?”
“So that…means…we have something in common,” said Zamasu. “I, too, was brought back into the past by an ally. Unlike with you, it was a good thing for me. Although, I had to use this metal mask because the fusion didn’t quite go as planned.”
“What are you playing at?!” Cumber demanded.
“Show some respect, mortal, and I might tell you!” Zamasu barked back.
Cumber went silent. He lowered his head in apology. “Why not just let me die on that planet?”
“Because I can sense great power and potential in you,” said Zamasu.
“You were knocked out after son Goku defeated you…”
In a flashback, Goku stood next to Cumber’s unconscious form. Time suddenly stood still, and the moon turned from red to a bright purple. A small white crack on the moon froze in place. Five shadowy figures appeared against the purple light.
“Zamasu?!” Goku cried in shock.
Zamasu smirked and raised his arm. His pointed finger pointed up toward the sky. The unconscious Cumber gently flew toward Zamasu as he was moved into the air by Zamasu’s purple energy. Finally, Cumber, Zamasu, and the figures teleported away.
The moon turned red once more.
“What’s going on?” asked Goku. He powered up and screamed as the Prison Planet exploded in a flash of light.
“So you were the one who brought me here?” asked Cumber.
“Correct. You are an enemy of Goku as am I. Usually, I have no desire to work with mortals…but due to a certain ruler…it’s time to move forward with a new plan.”
Cumber connected the dots. “You want to destroy this Zeno freak?”
“Yes,” he replied. “But we won’t be working alone.”
He grabbed onto Cumber and they both found themselves transported to somewhere else.
Zamasu looked to the side and mentioned for more people to arrive. The first individual was a woman with long braids, a white battle shirt, dark pants and white boots. The second person was another Kai with light skin, wearing a dark robe, and dark pants with a belt. The last two individuals appeared to be android twins. The boy and girl wore identical dark battle suits and both had white hair and white faces. Their eyes were light blue with red stripes arching from above their eyes toward the sides of their faces.
“This is Hearts,” said Zamasu, mentioning to the Kai warrior who was also the leader. He nodded to Cumber.
Hearts introduced the alien woman as Lagss, an individual who could control large crystals of glass. “Lagss,” she stated. “The last survivor of the Glass Tribe. I was the one who restored the Saiyan.”
“And these are Oren and Kamin,” said Hearts, referring to the Tuffle-like mutants.
“Cumber,” Cumber said to them, not feeling like getting involved in a social gathering.
“I defeated Hit along with my brother,” Kamin bragged. “We also attacked Super Saiyan Kefla from Universe 6. Harm us, and you’ll regret it.”
“Am I supposed to know any of these people?” asked Cumber.
“The only thing you need to do is join us,” said Zamasu. “Zeno has been playing God for far too long. His angel children have done nothing to balance the universes. The low mortal level of Universe 7 is all because of the inhabitants polluting their world like beasts. It is time to overthrow Zeno once and for all. With him gone, my world will remain intact and I will merge with the universe once more.”
“What’s in it for me?” Cumber asked.
“Well, I suppose I can spare you, despite you being a Saiyan. You can get your revenge on Fu and son Goku. I could even use the Super Dragon Balls to return you to your time when all is said and done.”
Cumber was hesitant about these people, but then again, he didn’t have much of a choice. If this was a way of getting revenge on his enemies, then he would be willing to take the risk.
The Saiyan and the Kai god lightly shook hands. “Looks like we have a deal, my lord,” said Cumber, grinning from beneath the restraint.
“I’m in charge, though,” said Hearts. “We shall travel to other universes to gain energy and cause fear in our opponents.”
“You sure this plan is a good idea?” asked Oren to Hearts. “Can’t we just manipulate the population ourselves? It’d be more fun that way.”
The alien woman rounded on him with a sharp point of glass she formed in her hand. “Don’t you question Heart’s plans if you want to live.”
Oren sighed, mumbled an apology and walked off with his sister.
The sooner Cumber could achieve his goal, the better.
Part II: Universal Conflict Arc
I. Invasion of the Core Area Warriors
Back on Beerus’ planet, Xeno Goku and Xeno Vegeta exchanged farewells.
Xeno Goku placed his two fingers against his forehead, preparing for an Instant Transmission. “See ya. I hope everything will turn out okay in your world.”
“Goku-san is on it, so I’m sure it will be fine,” Trunks replied with confidence.
Xeno Goku nodded. “Right.”
Xeno Vegeta placed his hand on Xeno Goku’s shoulder, and together, the two Saiyans vanished.
“Tch,” scoffed Vegeta.
The Supreme Kai from Universe 6, ran along the path, teleporting forward. “We have an emergency!” he cried. His skin was pale yellow and white hair crowned his head. He wore blue pants and a maroon colored fancy top. The Kai stopped to catch his breath.
“Kaioshin of Universe 6,” Vegeta stated. “What happened?”
“An unknown enemy has invaded Universe 6 and now were in the midst of a war!”
“What?! What happened to your God of Destruction?”
“Staring with Champa-sama, we’ve tried contacting all the Gods of Destruction to come to Zeno-sama’s, but we haven’t been able to get through! F-Father!”
Vegeta walked toward the stomping frantic Kai and grabbed hold of the Kai’s shirt with his gloved hand.
“How could you treat a Kaioshin like this?”
“I’ll take care of those enemies,” Vegeta stated.
“O-okay,” the Kai stuttered. Vegeta let go.
Vegeta raised his fist. “I’m ready to go on a rampage.”
The Saiyan Prince and his son, Trunks, left Beerus’ planet and headed for Universe 6.
The former city in Universe 6 lay in ruins and flames. Smoke curled like dark tendrils into the green colored sky. Rubble and exposed pipes protruded upward on the ground, decorated by thick black cracks. The apocalyptic scene looked eerily similar to the future city Goku Black had destroyed. Several explosions shook the area, sending more debris to the ground.
The smoke cleared to reveal several warriors fighting in the air. The purple assassin and time breaker, Hit, shot purple ki blasts at a white female android like individual. She appeared unaffected by the attacks, and simply barreled through the smoke to attack her opponent. From the ground, the young Saiyan Cabba weakly stood up, clutching his arm. The other Saiyans, Kale and Caulifla were both busy fighting the woman’s twin brother.
Both Saiyans were in their Saiyan forms, Caulifla’s spiky hair golden, and Kale’s hair green. They both wore the same loose pants and sports bras they had worn during the Tournament of Power. Kale wore red clothing and gold gauntlets on her wrists, while Caulifla wore her signature purple pants and pink top.
In union, the two warriors charged forward, only for the Tuffle mutant to block both their attacks. His blue eyes gleamed mischievously, his face and hair completely white just like his twin sister’s. A red and yellow stripe was positioned over both of his eyes like eyebrows.
“Is that it?” he asked. “Not doing it for me.”
“Hoo!” Caulifla exclaimed. “How could you say that?”
“Don’t take us lightly,” warned Kale.
The Tuffle vanished before the Saiyans could kick him.
Meanwhile, the Tuffle woman continued to fight Hit. She was gradually pushing him back, while he went on the defensive. Hit launched a hard kick, but she had vanished beforehand. She displayed a series of graceful backward flips in the air.
The twin brother smiled and looked up at his sister. While he wore a blue jacket, she wore a red one. Both wore skin tight black suits with a circuit shaped design along the center.
“Sis, that guy seems pretty tough,” he called out.
“We can switch if you want,” she suggested.
“Okay, I’ll take you up on that.”
The brother teleported in front of Hit and punched close to him. Hit landed a few hits on the Tuffle, sending him back.
“Nice. He’s strong; I like it.”
Meanwhile, the Tuffle sister sent pink ki blasts at kale and Caulifla. The Saiyans blocked the attacks as they impacted. Moments later, they swiped the smoke aside and continued their way toward their new opponent. Kale fired her green ki blasts at the woman, who gracefully dodged each one.
The sister stopped in front of Kale and leaned around. Catching the Saiyan off guard, the Tuffle launched a hard kick at her, sending Kale to the ground.
“Kale!” called a concerned Caulifla.
“So weak.” The Tuffle deadpanned. “This isn’t even a fun way to kill time.”
“Damn you,” Caulifla growled.
Hit spread out his palm, using his ability to freeze time to his advantage. When it looked like the Tuffle brother was frozen, Hit teleported forward, only for the Tuffle to teleport behind him.
“What?!” Hit gasped, stunned that anyone could escape his power. He soon found himself locked in a tight chokehold from the Tuffle.
“Is that Time Skip?” he asked. “It won’t do any good. I’ve been input with information about you.”
In anger, Hit rammed his fist into the Tuffle’s gut, spit flying from his mouth. Hit grabbed hold of the enemy’s head and roughly flipped him over. After getting hit by Hit’s purple blast, the Tuffle hovered in the air, smoke coming from his arms.
“Ouch. Not bad.”
“Take this!” Caulifla shouted, firing a fury of red ki blasts at the Tuffle woman. She fired pink blasts in response and the impacts caused mini explosions in front of them. From the ground, Kale stood up and steadied herself. Kale shot her green ki blasts at the Tuffle, who blocked the attack, firing her blasts from her other arm.
The Tuffle grinned, but soon gasped as Caulifla launched herself in front of her, fist raised.
“Got ya!” she called, launching a large red blast into the Tuffle’s face.
“We got her!” Caulifla declared. Kale gave a thumbs up in response.
The smoke cleared to reveal that the Tuffle had blocked the attack, though smoke flowed from her arms.
“That was sort of effective,” she stated.
Caulifla growled in frustration.
The two Tuffle siblings rose together in the air. A pink aura shined from the sister and a blue aura shined from the brother. Their bodies were engulfed in the light for a brief moment. When the lights faded, the scratches and burns on their bodies had disappeared. Even their hair was back in place.
“They restored themselves!” Caulifla exclaimed. Hit let out a stunned gasp. It was at this moment that the heroes realized they were dealing with formidable enemies.
The two Tuffles moved toward their enemies together.
“Crash Break!” called the sister.
Her body was enveloped in a pink sphere, which blew Caulifla back in a bomb-like explosion. Caulifla crashed into the ground in the distance.
“Sis!” cried Kale.
“Smash Break!” called the brother.
His body was surrounded by a blue sphere, which forcefully pushed back Hit in a blinding explosion.
Hit skid back and was resting on one knee. Cabba looked on in fear.
“You seem to be enjoying this fight,” Hit seethed at the Tuffles.
“Let’s keep it going,” the brother encouraged.
“We’ll make you kneel to us,” the sister added.
The Tuffles fired a blue and pink blast at the group, only for two yellow blasts to intercept. Kale, Cabba, and Hit turned to see that Vegeta and Trunks had arrived.
“Universe 7!” Hit exclaimed.
“Master!” Cabba called with glee and admiration to Vegeta.
“Don’t get distracted, Cabba!” Vegeta chided.
“Yes sir,” Cabba mumbled. He looked at Trunks. “Who’s that boy?”
“My son,” Vegeta replied.
“Look sis, some new guys showed up,” said the brother.
“I hope they’ll make for worthy time-killers,” added the sister.
Vegeta turned Super Saiyan, as did Trunks, who unsheathed his sword.
The Tuffle twins were excited to take on new opponents. They calculated that the Saiyan men were pretty powerful. Sure, they could fight them in their regular forms…
But why not fight Saiyans…with Saiyans, instead?
“We’re taking you on!” Vegeta yelled.
II. Evil Forces at Work
In another dimension, the fight was displayed on a hovering glass cube from multiple angles.
An evil Kai, by the name of Hearts, grinned as he watched the battle. He wore a fur coat, and golden glasses over his eyes. He put his red gloved hand against his chin in thought.
“We weren’t planning to hunt down those from Universe 7 until a later date but…”
The revived fused Zamasu marched over to Hearts from the shadows. “They are…”
“Hm? Oh yes!” Hearts replied. “You know them right?”
Boy, did the self-proclaimed god know them, alright. The Saiyans had foiled his plan to eliminate the universe of mortals. From his perspective, mortals were selfish and inferior to the Kais and other deities. He had fused with his alternate self, Goku Black and merged into the divine being. The worst parts? When Trunks cut him in half with his Spirit Sword…and then Zeno-sama, the Omni-King, erased him from existence.
Zamasu did not exist for a while…until a strange purple Kai brought him back to life with the Dragon Balls.
“You’ll do nicely for this new group,” Fu had said. “I have gathered warriors from across multiple eras. With my chosen warriors working together, you’ll be able to gather energy to create a new universe.”
Naturally, Hearts was thrilled with the idea of creating a new world of his own, free from the rules and incompetent natures of the deities. Freedom to mortals and criminals! Hearts didn’t hesitate to take the role of the mind-reading leader.
Lagss, the member of the Glass Tribe, also joined the Core Area Warriors, being sent to the specific timeline by none other than Fu. Like the others, she was thrilled at the prospect of gaining power over the universe. Plus, it would be nice to have her special glass bending abilities be recognized.
The Tuffle Twins were known as Oren and Kamin. They had been created by the Tuffles long ago as part of their AI experiments, just like Baby; even having the ability to take over the bodies of others. However, when the twins became too smart and powerful, their creators tried to destroy them instead. For Oren and Kamin, the actions were unforgivable. Rebelling against their creators, much like Androids 17 and 18, they killed them off.
Strangely enough, they eventually found themselves transported to another time in the far future.
“Show the world how powerful you truly are,” said Fu. “Feel free to have some fun. After all, it’s what I enjoy doing. You are more than just someone’s experimental subjects. For you two…are the most intelligent, powerful warriors of the universe.”
Enraptured by Fu’s words and Heart’s leadership, Oren and Kamin joined up.
Cumber, of course, joined, on his condition that he would get to kill off all his rivals, and cause destruction like he had done in his time. He especially wanted to erase the remainder of those soft, weak-hearted Saiyans, who ignored their true primal nature. Destroying the Omni king and authority was just a bonus.
As for Zamasu himself?
He only joined the group to get revenge on the Omni-King for erasing him, and the Saiyans for ruining his Zero Mortal Plan. One thing was for sure…he didn’t like the fact that he wasn’t in charge of the whole operation. Like with the others, he had given in to Fu’s suggestions. Since the Kai had brought him back to life and given him a metal covering to protect his purple distorted side, Zamasu decided to spare Fu’s life.
“But you must refrain for now.”
Heart’s words brought Zamasu back to reality.
“Damn mortals,” Zamasu scoffed.
“Just be patient,” Hearts explained. “Wait until after the Omni-King is defeated.”
Zamasu scoffed in response, not liking the fact that he had to take orders from someone else. Why not just finish off the mortals and be done with it? After all the trials he had been through, it was hard for Zamasu to be patient.
III. Universe Six Battle Continues
Back in Universe 6, the battle was still going strong. The area filled with black smoke and forceful explosions from every direction.
Oren and Kamin were pushed back from the explosions, but both had smiles on their faces.
“Now this seems fun,” said Kamin to her brother. Both of them were taking pleasure in toying with their opponents.
“Yeah, it’s finally gotten interesting,” Oren agreed.
Vegeta and Trunks stood their ground, black smoke rising from behind them.
Oren turned his head toward Kamin. “Isn’t it about time we did our thing, sis?”
“I was just thinking the same thing, Oren.”
Vegeta narrowed his eyes. “What are you up to?”
“Don’t get careless, Trunks,” warned Vegeta.
“Right, Dad!” he replied, holding his sword.
The Tuffles grinned from above.
“I’m thinking about using that girl…” mentioned Oren.
“Good idea. So will I,” Kamin replied.
Both their bodies glowed in auras, Kamin’s pink, Oren’s blue. They exploded into energy particles of their respective colors. The pink ones entered Kale’s body through her arm, while the blue ones entered Caulifla’s body through her chest. Kale and Caulifla struggled to resist, but to no avail. Just like Baby’s victims, the Saiyan’s hair turned white and red lines appeared on their faces.
“These guy’s bodies…” said Kamin.
“…are ours!” finished Oren.
“What in the world is going on?” asked Cabba.
“Watch out,” warned Hit. “They’ll be coming after us.”
Sure enough, Kamin rushed forward and called, “Crash Break!”
Her body became surrounded by a pink sphere, knocking Cabba back.
“Smash Break!” called Oren, knocking Hit back with a blue explosion attack.
Using Kale’s body, Kamin rushed at Vegeta, the two of them attacking each other.
Oren used Caulifla’s body to attack Trunks.
Trunks dodged a kick from the Tuffle. “Dad! What should we do?” he called.
“Don’t worry about it! Just beat them!” Vegeta answered, turning his attention back to the fight. Kamin landed a punch, which Vegeta blacked, and Vegeta punched her hard in the side, sending her skidding back with her arms crossed protectively. Trunks threw Oren back with a shove, sending him skidding back as well. The two siblings were now by each other’s sides.
“These bodies sure are useful,” mentioned Kamin.
“They are Saiyans after all, sis,” said Oren, rubbing his chin.
“What a ghastly ability,” stated Vegeta.
Kamin explained their backstory. “We were created by Tsufruian super science. The ultimate artificial lifeforms.”
“Right,” Oren added. “We were input with all of their battle programs. However, those Tsufruians feared our power.”
“Awful, isn’t it?” asked Kamin. “Creating us, then trying to destroy us. That was unforgivable.”
Then the Tuffles had destroyed their own creators.
Vegeta clenched his fist. “We’re taking those bodies back.” Vegeta, Trunks and Hit all shot blasts at them around the same time, but the Tuffles teleported away.
Vegeta and the others avoided the blue and pink blasts flying at them from above.
Vegeta looked at Trunks, who both had the same plan in their minds.
“Dad, now’s our chance!” Trunks called.
Hit followed Trunks into the air. Trunks landed punches at Kamin, while Hit fought Oren.
Vegeta yelled and powered up, the ground shaking around him. Cabba looked on at his teacher in amazement. Vegeta leaned slightly forward, spread out his hands and then brought them together.
“I get it!” Cabba exclaimed. “While they’re both distracted…”
A bright golden ki blast formed from Vegeta’s hands and grew larger.
“Now!” called Trunks.
Hit grabbed hold of Oren’s arms and pinned him against him. His right hand held Oren’s hand back, while his left arm wrapped around his neck. Oren struggled to break free, Caulifla’s face scowling. Trunks held down Kamin with both of his arms going around her shoulders.
“TAKE THIS!” screamed Vegeta as he fired his signature Final Flash.
The Tuffles figured out the Saiyan’s plan too late. If they remained where they were, Vegeta’s attack would kill both of them…while also killing Caulifla and Kale. Oren and Kamin needed to survive to carry out their mission. Thus, the auras glowed and the twins left their hosts in particle form.
The real Caulifla and Kale screamed as the blast headed towards them. Just before it reached them, Hit and Trunks teleported them away to safety. Vegeta’s blast disappeared off into space and exploded in a supernova.
Cabba ran over, just after Kale and Caulifla landed on the ground in a heap.
“You two! Snap out of it!”
“R-Right! I’m okay.” muttered Kale, turning her head toward her ally.
“Dammit…!” Caulifla said in anger, lifting her head.
Trunks and Hit landed on the ground. “A-are you okay?” Trunks asked.
Hit nodded. “What about you?”
Trunks nodded in response.
Oren and Kamin hovered beside each other, back in their regular forms.
“Too bad for you,” Oren taunted.
“It was fun. Seeing you all desperate like that!” Kamin added.
“Dammit, how dare you mock me!” yelled Vegeta, getting ready to attack.
Out of nowhere, a circular gold force knocked everyone, except the Tuffles, to the ground, pinning them down. Oren and Kamin looked up to see a crystal star shaped device from overhead. Six spikes surrounded the crystal structure and a red circle shown from the center, like an ominous eye. A ring of a dozen small green gems made a circle around the crystal.
Standing at the top of the crystalline structure, stood Hearts himself, both of his hands out and yellow energy emitting from them. His aura glowed indigo around his body. From underneath his fur coat, was a golden belt below a white well-developed chest with a prominent X shaped scar.
“The Universe Seed…is now brimming with energy!” he declared.
“Who the hell are you?!” Vegeta demanded under the pressure.
“I am the man who will take down the Omni-King. Hearts! With this Universe Seed, I will crush the Omni-King, the Kaioshin, the Gods of Destruction, underfoot!” Malice shown through his red eyes.
“Absurd,” said Vegeta, struggling to push himself up. “You could never pull that off.”
“Oh, but I can. And only me. And then I’ll bring true freedom to all mortals. Isn’t it the best?”
“You call this freedom?! You hypocrite!”
“Indeed, I am!” Hearts answered, embracing Vegeta’s remark.
Hearts then raised both of his red-gloved hands and conjured a large glass cube that rose into space.
“What the hell is he doing?” asked Vegeta.
The cube flew in space until it came across a small orange-brown planet. The cube slowly crashed into the planet, causing cracks to rapidly appear. The planet then seemed to explode from inside the cube. The cube then diminished and faded out of sight. The Universe Seed was, in fact, the crystal structure that Hearts was on top of. For every planet…or living thing the cubes touched, it transferred energy to the Seed. Fu’s grand plan? Apparently so.
Hearts conjured five more glass cubes that hovered over the six heroes on the ground. “All of you will now become nourishment for the universe!”
Just then, the twins flew up in front of Hearts.
“Those guys are ours!” Oren argued.
Kamin chimed in. “They’re really strong. We can still play with them some more.”
“Very well. If that is what you wish,” Hearts replied.
He snapped his fingers and the glass cubes vanished.
“Dammit, how dare they mock us?!” scoffed Caulifla.
Hearts smiled. “Now, shall we head to the next Universe? Zamasu, come with us. We’ll see our dreams fulfilled together.”
Zamasu hovered up to him. “Very well. But I will only say this once…don’t order me around, mortal.”
“Zamasu?!” cried Trunks in disbelief.
“Him again?” Vegeta asked.
Hearts turned to face Hit. “You there. Who is the strongest man in all the universes?”
Hit remained silent.
“Aha! So you believe the strongest man in the universe to be Jiren of Universe 11!”
Hit gasped in shock. “Did he read my mind?”
Thoughts pounded in Vegeta’s head. “One after another, they’re brushing us Saiyans aside! It’s pissing me off! Just what are you doing, Kakarot?!”
“The strongest mortal…” Hearts began. “Perhaps we should pay him a visit.”
Meanwhile on a distant planet, Goku was wearing an identical blue uniform to what the Grand Minister was wearing.
“Are you ready, Goku-san?” the angel asked.
“Yeah,” Goku replied, excited as ever. “Ready when you are.”
It was the perfect time for Goku to train under one of the most powerful individuals in the multiverses, even more powerful than Whis and Beerus. While on the training ground by Zeno-sama’s palace, Goku learned how to control his new godly power, Ultra Instinct.
IV. Enter Universe 11
The city in Universe 11 lay in ruins and smoke under a dark indigo sky. The lake nearby was still and dark. From down on the ground, Topo fired purple destructive blasts at Cumber, which seemed to have no effect. Using his claws of dark energy, he grabbed Topo in a chokehold and slammed him hard into the ground. Topo went still and unconscious. Jiren stared menacingly at Cumber, wearing the same black and red Pride Trooper uniform he had worn during the Tournament of Power. The wild Saiyan had just knocked out one of his comrades. Now he was going to face justice at Jiren’s hands.
Trunks and Vegeta teleported to Universe 11, looking around at the wreckage.
“Trunks, this is Universe 11.”
“Right. It looks like they’ve run rampant through here.” Their clothes and hair swayed in the night breeze.
“Seems so,” Vegeta said darkly as he noticed the enemies approaching and the Universe Seed in the distance. The device glowed bright white, forming an eight pointed illuminating star. Oren floated through the portal, his aura glowing blue. Trunks and Vegeta covered their eyes from the light. They were so blinded, they didn’t notice that Oren was nowhere in sight.
“Dad, what in the world was that light?”
He turned to his father. “D-Dad!”
Vegeta’s body hung limp like a rag doll, eyes closed. A blue aura outlined Vegeta’s body. Like moving clay, Oren’s blue outfit, face, and appearance molded over Vegeta’s. The yellow circuit designs appeared down the center of the battle shirt. Sharp yellow shoulder pads emerged from his back, while the red and yellow stripes appeared over the Saiyan’s eyes. Vegeta’s face was soon covered by Oren’s white face and blue eyes. Now in complete control of Vegeta’s body and mind, he cackled loudly. He powered up, sending waves that knocked Trunks back.
“Dad!” Trunks yelled.
Oren, sent a blue ki blast into Trunks. He looked the same, save for Vegeta’s spiky hairstyle that was now on his head.
Trunks broke through the smoke. “Damn you! How dare you take Dad!”
Soon enough, Zamasu, Hearts, and Kamin had arrived on the scene.
“The surprise attack was a success,” stated Kamin. She turned to her brother. “Oren, how’s that body?”
“It’s the best! It’s bursting with power!”
In anger, Trunks went Super Saiyan and charged toward him. Oren gave a sinister grin and called “Smash Break!” His sphere bomb attack knocked Trunks backward. Trunks screamed out loud in pain and crashed into the lake below.
The red gem on the Universe Seed, blinked several times, the device humming with power.
“Take this, Universe 11!” yelled Cumber. He extended his arms, and dark energy claws snaked their way toward Jiren in arches. Jiren blasted them apart with his orange ki blasts. Cumber barreled through the smoke and thrust his fist forward, Jiren dodging the blow. Jiren ducked to avoid his feet and blocked another fist with his arm. Jiren yelled and punched the Saiyan in the face. Cumber returned with more ferocious attacks.
From the ground, Topo slowly lifted himself up. “Beat him, Jiren!” he called out.
Jiren held Cumber’s fists into place, and both men struggled in a sort of hand wrestling match. Cumber glared at Jiren with his red demonic eyes.
“Seems were evenly matched,” said Cumber through his mask. “But you can’t beat me.” He powered up to Super Saiyan and knocked Jiren to the side. He fired dark blasts at Jiren which he blocked as he moved through the smoke. Before he could land an attack, Jiren was pinned to the ground by Heart’s force attack.
“Nice job, Jiren,” Hearts taunted from atop the Universe Seed. He turned to his ally. “Oren, give him a try.”
“Leave it to me,” he responded, before teleporting in front of Jiren. Hearts released his hold on Jiren and the warrior stood up. Oren and Jiren began attacking each other in the air.
Cumber looked up in anger. “Hearts! He’s my prey.”
“You’ve done enough here. Cumber, go to Universe 3 now.”
He snapped his fingers and the evil Saiyan vanished.
Cumber was transported to the technology-filled Universe 3 to gather more energy for Hearts. He went on a rampage, destroying robots that tried to attack him with pathetic blasts. Sure, it felt good to have more power working with another group, but still…he was so close to defeating his opponent and Hearts had to ruin the fun of it. Oh well. It was time for him to complete his mission to destroy Zeno and gather energy for the Universe Seed.
Jiren and Oren continued to duke it out until a pink blast intercepted them.
Kamin pushed her short white hair back. “Let me join in on the fun.”
Both Tuffles fired blasts at Jiren, who crossed his arms, shielding himself. Jiren landed on the ground, his opponents doing the same.
Landing in front of the Tuffles, facing Jiren was none other than Zamasu.
Zamasu yelled and charged at Jiren, who blocked several of his attacks. Both men glared at each other, evenly matched. Jiren thrust his fist forward, sending a few white hairs of Zamasu’s away.
“Don’t you dare touch a god who those filthy hands!” Zamasu said his tone, condescending. Oren and Kamin landed on either side of Zamasu.
“Zamasu!” screamed Trunks, slicing his sword down at the spot where the usurper god was moments before.
“Don’t interfere!” said Oren, blasting Trunks back into a rock wall. His sword landed with its hilt up, blade in the ground. Oren grabbed Trunks by his hair and formed a blue blast in his other hand.
“You’re done for.”
A light nearby made him look to his left. “What?!”
Arriving via a great column of light were none other than Goku and the Grand Minister. Both of them wore blue clothing with an orange downward pointing triangle on their chests. Both wore red belts with a gold Chinese symbol at the center.
“Son Goku!” Jiren gasped, remembering his former opponent. Even Zamasu was shocked to see him. Even more surprising, Zamasu could sense Goku’s incredible new power.
Goku-san?” asked Trunks, turning his head to look.
Goku had a serious look on his face, which was usually uncommon to see. In a flash of light, Goku knocked Oren off of Trunks, sending the Tuffle crashing into the rock wall.
“Oren!” Kamin cried.
A silver aura outlined Goku’s body as he carefully held Trunks in his arms. He looked at the Grand Minister who nodded with approval.
“Oh? Well then, take care of this as you see fit.” The Grand Minister vanished in golden light.
“I-I knew it!” Trunks declared. “You’re still alive!”
“That power…it can’t be!” Zamasu exclaimed.
“So it’s godly then?” Hearts asked, confirming the situation.
Having a mere mortal…and rival surpass him in power was enough to make Zamasu go mad. He raised his fist and prepared to charge, only to be blocked by Jiren.
In one swift motion, Jiren punched Zamasu backwards.
Oren scowled at Goku, frustrated at his new power. “What is your deal? You’re pissing me off!”
He flew head-first toward the Saiyan, but Goku sent him flying backward with one punch. Goku moved slightly, avoiding all the blue ki blasts that Oren fired at him. Goku charged up his fist, which glowed in a blue ethereal light and rammed it into Oren’s gut. The Tuffle gasped and the force of the impact knocked the Tuffle from Vegeta’s body. Oren crashed hard into the ground, his sister racing after him. Goku sent her back with another ki blast.
Vegeta woke up and stood on one knee, already jealous of Goku’s new power. He couldn’t even sense Goku’s power level. Goku’s silvery eyes glimmered, ready for battle.
Hearts watched the city burn below him, feeling like the emperor of the universe on top of the Seed device. His plans were one step closer to fruition.
Goku slowly lifted himself up to face Hearts.
“So you’re Hearts, huh?”
Hearts smiled and said “You have a scent of danger about you,” in a mocking tone.
Goku suddenly vanished before Kamin and Oren’s blast could hit him.
Both Tuffles looked up at Goku, awestruck. “When did he…?” Kamin began.
“…Do that?” Oren finished.
Kamin whisked her fist forward, only hitting air. She kicked Goku’s leg to no effect. Goku turned around and kicked her hard in the gut. She flew back into her brother, who held her protectively as they both crashed into the rocky ground.
“Oh?” said an intrigued Hearts, watching Goku go Ultra Instinct and dive down toward the fallen Tuffles. He dodged the pink and blue blasts, despite the smoke in the air. Both siblings attacked Goku at once, Goku blocking all their attacks. Goku landed a punch to Oren’s face and a kick to Kamin’s stomach.
Vegeta held his wounded left arm, (always the left one) as Trunks landed near him.
“Dad, are you alright?”
“Yeah,” Vegeta replied.
Jiren threw a gigantic orange energy bomb at Zamasu, who got hit with the blast.
“You did it,” said Topo.
But Jiren wasn’t so sure. “Something is stirring.”
As the smoke cleared, Jiren was stunned to see Zamasu appear, unscathed.
“What?!” gasped Topo. Jiren’s mouth opened.
“Are you surprised?” asked Zamasu with a grin. “I am invincible.”
“Invincible?!” cried Topo.
“Now then, I’ll make the next move.”
Goku dodged more of the ki blasts fired by the Tuffles. He appeared between them, landing hard uppercuts to both of them with his fists. They both crumpled to the ground. Kamin opened her blue eyes and looked at her brother.
“Oren, let’s do it.”
Oren grinned and looked at her. “I guess we’ve got no choice, sis.”
Both of them clasped each other’s black gloved hands together. Blue and red light from their hands merged into purple.
A tall fused mutant figure was revealed. The fusion’s right arm and leg were red, left arm and leg were blue, and the rest of the chest was white. Blue and red gemstones were embedded in various places, along the hips, hands and one purple stone in the center. The figure’s eyes were blue. Red and blue stripes framed either side of their white face. Flowing white hair spread slightly upward from their head.
“Th-They merged!” Trunks exclaimed.
“Surprised?” said the figure in a combination of Oren and Kamin’s voices. “So, since we’re Kamin and Oren, you can call us ‘Kamioren.’”
“Kamoren…Orenami…all these fusion names are confusing,” Trunks thought.
Kamioren leaped at Goku, the Saiyan dodging all their hits. Goku landed a hard kick at the fusion, who was pushed back, but didn’t fall.
“Not as much impact as before,” Kamioren chuckled. Goku stood and glared.
Hearts grinned and floated down to the red center of the Universe Seed. “Lagss! Lagss!” he called, searching around.
A giant group of crystals appeared in front of him.
“I need your power again.”
“I’m pleased,” she replied from inside.
Kamioren looked up. “There you are, Lagss.”
Hearts moved his palm forward, and a purple aura outlined his body. His right hand turned yellow as he manipulated the large crystalline mass downward. All the sharp points aimed at Goku and the mass lowered to the ground.
“Goku-san!” Trunks cried.
Letting out a yell, Goku held onto the crystals with both his hands, fighting against Heart’s force. Goku pushed forward with more energy. Soon, small cracks began forming around his hands. The crack grew larger and snaked up the surface of the glass.
“Dad, let’s go!” called Trunks. The two Saiyans flew forward to help Goku, but were both knocked back by a large purple blast, sending them to the ground.
“We’re taking you on,” said Kamioren.
“Damn you!” cursed Vegeta.
Finally, Goku unleased the rest of his energy, spreading light blue cracks against the glassy surface. To Lagss’ shock and disappointment, the crystal structure shattered.
“That silver aura…” Hearts said to himself. “It seems he’s not perfected it.”
Goku stood up and panted heavily.
Lagss appeared from among the floating glass shards. She was an alien with light blue skin, and long white hair, done in two waist-length ponytails. She wore a light blue dress that trailed behind her, decorated with gold trim along her hips, under her arms and around her neck. She glared at Goku with icy eyes. Dark purple gloves covered her hands and weighted bracelets were on her wrists.
“My glass…slice him apart!”
The shards rained down on Goku in yellow slants of light. The shards pierced through Goku’s outfit and skin. He screamed in pain as a million cuts spread across his body.
“Who…Who are you?” he asked weakly.
“I am Lagss.”
She pointed two fingers upward, and the shards pierced through Goku again. The Saiyan collapsed to the ground.
“Stand back,” Vegeta told Trunks. “They made a complete fool of me. I’ll take them.”
Kamioren charged at Vegeta, their aura purple. Vegeta yelled and charged at the fused being, in Super Saiyan Blue. He dodged the purple blasts and rushed at Kamioren. Their powers clashed as they shared punches and kicks. Vegeta knocked Kamioren back and fired a yellow blast from his hand. Kamioren shoved Vegeta down to the ground with a mighty punch.
But the Saiyan prince was not done. He rose from the ground and flew into the air. Letting out a high pitched scream, he powered up and transformed. His muscles bulged and grew, and a godly light shined in his blue eyes. His hair, formerly light blue, had turned a dark royal blue. He charged at Kamioren.
“Dad’s evolved again!” exclaimed Trunks.
Vegeta had transformed into Super Saiyan Blue Evolution.
Meanwhile, crystal spears of glass stuck out from the ground at various angles, giving off a faint mystical glow. Goku’s entire body shook violently as he strained to push himself up. Goku watched as SSB Evolved Vegeta fought the fused Kamioren in the night sky.
Kamioren dodged Vegeta’s attacks just as fast as Vegeta initiated them. Swinging his leg forward, Vegeta landed a hard uppercut to Kamioren’s chin, briefly knocking him back. The fusion barely had time to recover before being punched hard in the gut by the Saiyan prince. A punch to the left cheek added to the attacks.
“We’re counting on you, Vegeta!” Goku encouraged from below.
Lagss rose into the air, gathering the glass shards into the air. The two dozen glass shards in the air would have been a beautiful sight to see, if they had not been pointed toward Goku.
“Glass, cut him up!” Lagss commanded.
The shards turned yellow and plummeted toward the Saiyan.
Sweat formed on Goku’s face as he braced himself for another painful impact. He closed his eyes…
…only for the shards to explode in midair. Goku looked up as the smoke cleared. Trunks in Super Saiyan form, had teleported in front of Goku, blocking the attack.
Trunks glared at Lagss. “I’m going to fight you. Here!!”
“Thank you Trunks,” breathed Goku.
Trunks powered up and leaped from the ground.
The yellow shards of glass shot at Trunks, who maneuvered around them. Ignoring the painful pricks in his skin, Trunks conjured up a yellow ki blast in his hand and fired it at her full force. Lagss flew backwards, arms crossed in front of her, steading herself on the ground.
Up in the air, Vegeta fired ki blast after ki blast at Kamioren for several minutes. He hoped that the being wouldn’t fly through the smoke and charge at him. Fortunately, he seemed to be holding them back.
Vegeta briefly stopped, then dove into the smoke. Kamioren had just removed their arms from across their chest when Vegeta kicked them hard across their face. Kamioren spun in the air before crashing back first into a rock.
“This person, he’s still got more power to fight,” they said.
Kamioren barely dodged the next punch from Vegeta, which completely broke apart the rock. Kamioren turned back to Vegeta, only to be met with a kick to the face. The two of them punched and attacked on the ground, sending debris into the air.
Hearts stared down at Goku and grinned at his helpless form. Jiren landed a hard punch to Fused Zamasu’s chest. Saliva flew from his mouth as he gasped. With a flick, Jiren sent the fused god into a rock in the distance. Orange ki blasts shot at Zamasu from Jiren’s fingers. Through the smoke, a wounded Zamasu approached his opponent. His cheek was swollen and his clothes were torn. Tendrils of dark magenta energy crisscrossed around him, and in seconds, his wounds and clothes were restored.
“No effect?” Zamasu asked with a grin. “Thanks to my immortality power, I will always regenerate.”
“Immortal?” Jiren asked in disbelief. Jiren had prided himself as one of the strongest warrior in all 12 universes. They say he was a mortal with a power that could surpass the gods, but now here he was, facing an evil one.
Vegeta showed no mercy, as he cupped his gloved hands together.
“FINAL FLASH!”
A burst of blinding yellow light shot from his hands and hit Kamioren head on. Kamioren screamed in pain in two different voices until finally, Oren and Kamin separated.
Both Tuffles stopped to catch their breath.
“What power!” Kamin breathed.
“He’s got an amazing power,” Oren agreed.
“Come,” said Vegeta with a grin, using his hand to mention them over.
Lagss knelt down and placed her palm on the ground, her aura glowing light blue. Glass shards rose up from the ground, quickly surrounding Trunks. Goku leapt forward and rammed Trunks out of the way. The glass shards cut into Goku, pained screams ejecting from his mouth.
Trunks looked on and glared at Lagss who increased the movements of the glass shards.
Her attacks soon stopped and Goku panted heavily. Even with sharp pains all over his body, Goku grinned.
“Your power is astonishing.”
Lagss stood up to face Goku and Trunks once more.
Lagass glanced over to see Fused Zamasu move toward the Universal Seed device.
“All this power is now mine!” Zamasu declared, reaching forward.
In an instant, Lagss shot both hands forward and encased Zamasu in glass. The weight caused him and his glass prison to plummet to the ground. Bits of glass shattered and Zamasu managed to free himself, his cuts already mending themselves.
“I’d eliminate you for your treachery if I could,” she stated coldly. “Heart’s ambition is my reason for living.”
“Not much of a life then,” Zamasu spat. He vanished before she could say anything more.
Lagss then looked up at Hearts.
“Let me finish them,” she called, referring to her opponents.
“Go to Universe 3,” he ordered, “and fight with Cumber.”
“You’re really giving me charge over this?”
“Of course.”
Lagss nodded. “Ok then.”
She then vanished in a flash of teal-white light.
V. Brutal Battle of Universe 3
In universe 3, Cumber was busy punching a group of large metal robots that were guarding the city buildings. He rammed his thick fist into the asphalt, causing thick cracks to appear and spread. The ancient Saiyan grinned as Universe 3 citizens were hurled into the air by the force of his attack. A cannon blast from a flying tank hit Cumber in the chest, sending him flying backwards. He landed hard on the ground, quickly surrounded by robots pointing their ki guns at him. The robots posed to attack, only to be impaled by sharp glass shards. Sparks and wires flew out of their chests, giving Cumber enough time to stand up and swipe the bots aside with a powerful kick. He conjured his black clawed energy hands and threw the remaining bots out into the distance.
He turned around. “Lagss.”
“Looks like I made it in time,” she said.
“I could’ve finished them.”
“I bet,” she said with no emotion. She briefly imagined that Fu would have the time of his life with all the science and technology from this universe.
“Hearts sent you here too?” asked Cumber.
Lagss nodded. “I was just about to slice that Saiyan to bits, but Hearts sent me here to fight with you.”
Lagss moved her hand, sending shards to the ground toward the unlucky civilians below. The screams she heard from them were music to her ears.
“Any word from him?” asked Cumber.
“It looks like he has gathered enough energy from Universe 11. He and Zamasu and the twins will probably meet us here in Universe 3 soon.”
“I wonder how many more Universes he’ll want us to conquer,” said Cumber, intrigued.
“All of them, I imagine,” Lagss replied. “One he has enough power for the Universe Seed, then Heart’s grand plan can be put into place.”
“What is it, exactly?” asked Cumber, firing a red blast that took down two buildings at once.
“We’ll find out soon enough.”
Lagss led Cumber over to a large slender device hidden behind a corner. The top of it had a reflective satellite dish aimed straight up in the air. It was supported by strong metallic pillars holding it in place. The center of the device had a red sphere that pulsed, similar to the one on the Universe Seed Device.
“Me and Kamin made this machine to provide extra power to Hearts,” Lagss explained. She mentioned to two figures guarding the device nearby. One of them was a tall imposing figure with a white face, light purple muscular legs, and a black muscular chest. Two horizontal white horns jutted from his head, serving as his ears. He was fitted with red gems from his wrists and a green gem in the center of his chest.
“That is Agnilasa,” said Lagss.
The second figure wore a glass visor over his face and wore a white battle suit with a large red P on the front.
“And that is Catopesra. Paparoni, the scientist helped build this for us. He also brainwashed those warriors into joining our cause. By pressing this button when the meter is full…”
Lagss pushed a red button and a band of white energy shot from the uppermost point into the air.
“…Hearts gains extra energy for the Universe Seed! Hopefully, the energy gathered here will reach him in Universe 11. For now, we await his commands and continue to fight.”
“I take orders from no one,” Cumber grumbled. “Don’t you forget that.”
Sensing strong ki close by, the Saiyan raced off into the distance.
VI. Heart’s Ascension
Back in Universe 11, Hearts turned back to Goku.
“Available to fight me?” asked a tired Goku.
Hearts and Goku stared unblinkingly at each other for several seconds, contemplating their next words or moves.
“I’ve got a glimpse of you,” Hearts explained, seeing into Goku’s head. “Your shining aura power still has more to give. It’s not fully evolved.”
“What?!” Goku yelled in disbelief. He had evolved this far, how many more transformations did he have to go through to beat this new enemy?
“I will make it re-emerge,” Hearts claimed. “And after that, you will lose your battle with me.”
Goku bared his teeth together and clenched his fists. “Alright, let’s do this.”
Goku powered up to Super Saiyan and flew toward Hearts. Hearts grinned and held out his hand, palm glowing yellow and an evil purple aura surrounding his arm.
Goku felt his whole body weighed down, like the last time he tried to overcome the gravity in the training chamber. The powerful force glued him to the ground, his yellow hair turning to black.
“Goku!” yelled Trunks, before he too, was forced down.
Even Vegeta, who had previously flew toward Hearts, was also knocked down to the ground, his hair turning back to black. All three men struggled to lift themselves up, but it was like trying to get up from underneath a full truck.
Goku’s arm shook and one of his eyes was closed. He slowly moved his shaking hand, fingers curved.
“It’s not over yet!”
A yellow ki blast flickered on and off in his cupped hand.
“Just like that, keep trying,” Hearts said. Was he actually trying to make Goku stronger, or was he merely toying with him?
Goku didn’t know how much more he could take.
Then, a shining beacon of shimmering blueish light rained down in a column from a hole in the dark sky. Hearts glanced at the light in surprise.
A comforting light purple hand rested on Goku’s shoulders. Goku looked up to see the smiling face of Shin, Universe 7’s Supreme Kai.
“Goku, use teleportation.”
Goku groaned under the strain.
“Who is that?” Hearts asked, releasing his grip.
“Quick!” Shin urged Goku.
“Yes,” Goku said.
He placed two fingers to his forehead and the tow of them appeared next to Trunks and Vegeta. Shin placed his hand on Trunks’ shoulder, while Trunks grabbed hold of Vegeta. The four of them appeared, standing on the ground, facing their enemies. Then they were lifted into the sky by Shin’s powerful light. The light soon vanished and the hole in the sky closed.
“That guy,” Zamasu told Hearts. “He’s Universe 7 Kaioshin.”
“I see,” said Hearts. “Then let’s move to our next destination. We collected enough energy from Universe 11.”
“Stop!” Jiren called from below, powering up a ki blast.
Hearts grinned. “That guy has a tremendous amount of power. He’ll do nicely.”
He lifted two of his fingers and a glass cube enclosed around Jiren.
“Jiren!” called Topo, looking at his trapped companion and the two enemies. “What’s happening here?”
The villains smiled and vanished in teal-white light.
Meanwhile, Fu was enjoying himself in his new lab; a beige round building hidden in foliage near a waterfall. He sat in his chair and glanced at the screens, replaying the battles in Universe 11.
“So great! Everyone is part of my experiment, I don’t want this to ever stop!”
He pushed up his glasses, mischief gleaming in his red eyes. He looked at another screen. “Now…you will enter the game.”
The screen revealed the metallic face of Metal Cooler, his eyes red, and black sclera surrounding his left eye.
VII. Universe 7 Decisive Battle
Over the city of Universe 7, a spiral of gray clouds parted to reveal the Universe Seed arriving and hovering in the air. The sky was a dull dark gray overhead. One by one, the Core Area warriors appeared around the crystalline device: Oren, Kamin, Zamasu, and finally, Hearts at the pinnacle.
“Finally, we are here! Universe 7!” Hearts declared. He spread out his arms, looking down at the gray buildings and grass far below. Apparently, this was the universe where the Saiyans and all his opponents were from. A sinister grin formed on his white face at the thought of obliterating their home world and seeing their horrified reactions. Plus, he had a feeling that Universe 7 held tremendous power that the Seed could use.
“It’s time to destroy it!”
“We won’t allow it!” Goku declared, standing with Vegeta, Trunks, Piccolo, and Android 17.
“Come!” said Hearts, making a “come here” motion with his red gloved finger.
Goku, Trunks, Vegeta, and the other Z Fighters all powered up and charged at their foes.
“ZAMASU!” Trunks bellowed in rage, speeding forward.
“Trunks, wait!” shouted Vegeta.
Oren and Kamin appeared in front of the Saiyan prince, blocking his path.
They launched their fists at him, which Vegeta blocked with both hands.
“You’re fighting us!” said Oren.
“We’re gonna get our revenge,” added Kamin. “You have humiliated us in Universe 11.”
Vegeta yanked hard on his enemies’ arms, causing them to briefly run into each other in a stumble. He kicked the twins aside before Oren fired a big blue blast toward him. Android 17 created a green barrier that protected Vegeta from behind. Kamin was about to shot pink ki blasts from her hands, only to be kicked away by Piccolo.
“Go, help Trunks!” Piccolo urged Vegeta.
“Hurry up,” 17 added.
“Don’t let them take control of you!” warned Vegeta, before speeding off toward his son.
Trunks swiped his sword down while dodging yellow blasts from his foe.
“What are you saying?” asked a confused Piccolo, though Vegeta had already left.
Piccolo jumped to dodge Kamin’s blasts.
“You, there, who are you?” Kamin asked the Namekian.
“You’re strong, right?” asked Oren to 17, while they stood off, facing each other.
“Well…I hope this fight will at least entertain us!” said Oren. A light blue aura surrounded Oren before he charged forward through the air. He launched a kick at 17, who blocked it with his left arm. They shared some punches before 17 grabbed hold of his wrist.
“You’re an outsider,” 17 scoffed before kneeing Oren in the gut and pushing him away.
Piccolo dodged Kamin’s fast punches, before stepping backwards. He launched his flexible arm forward and grabbed hold of Kamin from a distance. Just then, Kamin morphed into a silver liquid, escaping Piccolo’s grasp. Retracting his arm back Piccolo stared in shock. “They’re androids.”
Kamin soon merged back into her natural solid form.
Meanwhile, Goku was thrust downward by the strong gravitational force of the Universe Seed, crashing into the ground and sending a nearby crowd running for safety. Goku flew back up, but was soon forced down again by Heart’s power. Heart’s hand glowed bright yellow and he let out a brief cackle. Goku yelled in pain at the impact.
“Universe 7 is giving you trouble, Hearts,” Fu mentioned while in his darkened lab. This will be the perfect place.” He glanced over at another screen. “Oh look there…Universe 3 will be entertaining too.”
Universe 3 was a technologically advanced place, with sleek gray buildings from every direction. The sky was an indigo color and no stars were visible. Lagss and Cumber were busy scaring off the robotic citizens when another enemy approached them. Without hesitation, Lagss fired huge shards of glass at the enemy, but the figure was too fast. The glass warrior soon found herself being thrown back into a building, the impact making a dent in the structure. Lagss stared at her foe with shaking eyes: it was Metal Cooler.
Metal Cooler slapped his metallic tail against the side of a building, staring at his opponent with calculating red eyes. A beam of crimson light emerged from his finger, before the building he was on started to rapidly crumble from the bottom up. A sphere of ki had formed in his hand before Cumber burst through the rubble and grabbed his wrist. He head butted him hard and landed a hard punch to Cooler’s face. Charging full speed at his enemy, Cumber turned Super Saiyan, following the flying fiend. Cooler thrust his fist forward, as did Cumber. Cooler kicked and punched at the Saiyan, while Cumber blocked his attacks. They flew through the air and battled intensely for several minutes.
Fu grinned as he observed the battle. “I wonder who’s gonna win between the giant Saiyan and Cooler. Let the fight continue.”
Cumber landed several hard punches to Cooler’s face, which seemed to not have any effect. They punched each other some more, and soon, Cooler launched a yellow ki blast at Cumber. He retaliated with a dark red blast of his own. Both blasts exploded on impact, the thick smoke soon clearing up. Cooler fell down toward the ground, Cumber diving down after him. Rocks and rubble rose from the ground as the impact was made. Cumber soon had Cooler pinned to the ground, grabbing both of his hands.
“How foolish!” Cumber declared. “Turning yourself into metal!” Strangely, his eyes were sky blue instead of red.
Cooler, instead, had a trick up his sleeve. “Actually, I’ve obtained a new power.”
Cooler slapped the Saiyan with his tail and teleported into the air. In rapid succession, he pummeled the Saiyan toward the ground, reappearing in different spots, and landing attacks. Cumber was thrown into a building, but soon recovered. A gold outline glowed around Cooler as he avoided Cumber’s red ki blasts. Cumber barely had time to think before Cooler thrust his head against Cumber’s chin in a hard uppercut. The impact sent black spots before his eyes and he felt himself stumble. He righted himself by dragging his boot covered foot in the ground and fired more blasts. Cooler blocked the attacks as he was pushed back into the air. He let out a yell and faced the Saiyan.
“Playtime is over.”
He let out an earth-shattering yell and powered up to a higher form. His aura glowed bright yellow and darkened into a bright gold. His silver metallic skin turned golden.
“See…this is Golden Metal Cooler! Amazing!”
He marveled at his new power and strength, opening and closing his hand.
Cumber shot a volley of dark blasts at him, only for them to harmlessly bounce off.
In the blink of an eye, Cooler flew through the blasts and appeared close to Cumber’s face. Cumber’s eyes widened in pain as Cooler punched him hard in the gut. Cumber flew backwards while Golden Cooler followed him. He landed an upper punch to Cumber’s face, sending him flying through the air. Cumber flew back and thrust his fist forward but missed. Cooler’s gold foot impacted Cumber’s groin and he gasped in pain. Cumber tried to elbow Cooler but missed again. This time, Cumber managed to land a punch to Cooler’s face, but a ki blast had already formed in Cooler’s hand. With a blinding flash, Cumber was sent plummeting to the ground.
“What’s this strength?” Cumber gasped, wincing in pain as he lay on his back.
Cooler’s eye flashed red and he powered up once more. He raised his hand and three orange spheres formed in the air above him.
“Well, I can’t believe this is it,” Cumber thought.
Suddenly, a short circuit fired off in Cooler’s left side of his face and he yelped at the sharp shocking pain. Wires were exposed on the outside of his face and he covered his left eye with his hand. Still, he was able to launch the spheres at Cumber with his other hand. The three spheres hit Cumber head on, and he braced himself for the pain.
Cooler, still grimacing in pain, powered up and fled the scene.
Frustrated, Cumber smashed the ground with his fist. “F-fight me…” he groaned, his body stumbling every which way. Finally, his body couldn’t take it anymore and he slumped hard to the ground, face first, his hair returning to black.
“Hmm, Cooler overheated?” Fu guessed. “But at least we were able to collect useful data.”
Back in Universe 7, Zamasu swiped down his pink energy blade, which cut through the space between Vegeta and Trunks. Zamasu fired more energy blasts at the duo, while Piccolo and 17 held off the Tuffle twins.
“Sis, let’s do it!” called Oren, dodging a curve of yellow ki blasts.
“Sure, Oren!” Kamin called.
Both twins flew into the air, Oren glowing blue, Kamin glowing dark pink… and fused into Kamioren.
“They merged?” asked Piccolo.
Goku tried to stand up, but Heart’s power was too strong.
“Damn these gravity powers…I can’t stand up,” he said in exhaustion.
Hearts noticed one of the red circular parts on the Seed blink twice.
“Perfect timing.”
He pulled off his fur jacket and tossed it aside. His white muscular chest was revealed, complete with a gray X shaped scar across it. Smiling widely, he powered up, with a dark purple aura surrounding him. The aura turned into a column of dark ultraviolet light and soon, the Seed started to descend. Using wind energy, Hearts blasted Vegeta and Trunks away, and then did the same thing to 17 and Piccolo. Hearts stood with one leg forward, knee bent, on top of the device. He bent down and placed one hand on top of the crystal surface.
“Soon, the Universe Seed will be complete. You will see, I will accomplish it!”
Goku and his allies stood up, ready to face their greatest threat to themselves and their universe.
Hearts stood up from his knee, clenching and unclenching his fingers from inside his red gloves. He couldn’t wait to test his new power against this Saiyan opponent. With his hair the golden of a Super Saiyan, Goku stared hard at his enemy and rose up vertically into the air. He was not going to let this man destroy his world, kill his friends, or defeat his buddy Zeno-sama. For several moments, they stared at each other, anticipating any next moves.
Hearts charged at Goku in the blink of an eye, but Goku was equally fast to react. Down below, round white buildings blew up in several places at the force of the fight. Goku blocked Heart’s punches, both of his muscular arms crossed in front of him. Both of them used Instant Transmission to appear and teleport to different spots in the air. It was so fast, it was hard for the observing eye to see what was occurring.
“Goku-san!” Trunks called from nearby, holding his sword in his hand.
“So this is Heart’s power?” Vegeta asked in curiosity and concern.
Fused Zamasu charged at Trunks, clashing his magenta energy blade from his hand against the metal of the sword blade. Vegeta barely dodged a dark ki blast from the fused god.
Zamasu grinned manically at Trunks. “Is this the best you can do?”
Further away, Goku let out an ear-splitting yell and powered up to Super Saiyan. Moments later, his hair and aura turned bright blue. Hearts was only briefly pushed back. He smirked with satisfaction as he observed Goku’s more powerful form. After a stare down in the air, it was Goku who initiated the fight this time. Hearts blocked Goku’s elbow with his own, and each took turns blocking attacks…two punches, a fist and a foot…the two of them used instant Transmission several times.
Teleport…teleport…teleport…teleport…
Finally, Hearts managed to grab hold of Goku’s muscular arm in a strong grip. He leaned his white face close and grinned.
“I’ve read your mind. You seek out strong opponents, and always hunger for more. I can satisfy your need.”
With that, he used his power to knock Goku down into a roof of a building. But the Saiyan retaliated with a swarm of yellow ki blasts. Hearts held out his hand and the blasts froze in mid-air. After bending one of the orbs and tossing it back at Goku, Hearts moved his arms in a flurry. Soon, Goku’s ki blasts rained down back at him, though he managed to dodge each one as he flew. Goku swiped one of the blasts aside and charged at Hearts, who blocked his fist with his left arm. They exchanged kicks and punches at lightning speed once again.
“Are you satisfied?” Hearts asked as he attacked.
“Not enough!” Goku replied.
Hearts held out his hand and it glowed yellow. A strong gravity force caused him to fly backwards, almost impacting the building behind him. Powering up and righting himself, he slowed his decent by digging his fingers into the building’s surface, leaving deep marks.
“You’re not going all out yet,” Goku mentioned.
“Neither are you.”
There was one thing that Goku and Hearts had in common: their thirst for battle and disappointment at their opponents holding back their power.
A purple blast spiraled out of Heart’s hand, destroying the building that Goku had been next to. Goku flew through the smoke, hopping and flipping from one slab of rock to another. Goku could sense more of Heart’s attacks, and thus he dodged Heart’s energy cubes. Three of them chased Goku through the air. Through graceful loops and dodges, Goku singlehandedly broke all the remaining cubes with a long blast of golden ki.
The Saiyan then moved side to side, dodging Heart’s purple blasts. The blasts harmlessly bounced off Goku when his aura turned blue. Hearts fired a larger purple and white energy blast, but Goku turned around, grabbed it and threw it back.
For a while, Goku kicked at Hearts, who blocked his attacks and was slowly getting pushed back. Goku appeared below him and kicked him into the air. Goku had wordlessly formed a Kamehameha attack, while Hearts had already shot out a dark attack of his own. The two blasts collided…and then the Kamehameha pushed Hearts back and down across the ground. The blast broke several buildings, then went off with a loud boom. Goku paused to catch his breath, his hands still cupped.
Meanwhile, Piccolo was busy fighting off Kamioren. Kamioren fired dark purple ki blasts at Piccolo’s back. Fortunately, Android 17, formed his green energy shield, protecting himself and the Namekian. They were evenly matched…until Kamioren yelled and pushed harder into the attack. 17 held the shield, even as it began to crack. With a final burst of power, Kamioren’s blast shattered Android 17’s shield.
Kamioren responded with an evil laugh, but was soon stunned and silenced by piccolo’s special beam cannon.
“Sorry. This attack needs time to charge,” Piccolo stated, revealing their plan. Kamioren screamed and fell to the ground. A purple hole formed in their chest and soon shrunk and healed. Kamioren stood up in anger clenching their fists.
“There’s no way I could be beaten by you.” They lifted their head. “I’m the strongest!”
“What?” Piccolo asked stunned, as Kamioren released a devastating dark purple blast of energy, similar to Vegeta’s final attack against Majin Buu.
Trunks held his sword aloft, and swiped it down at Zamasu, who blocked it with his arm.
“Zamasu!” Trunks declared in rage. “After trying to exterminate all mortals, why would you join forces with one now?”
“As if I would answer you,” he replied. He slashed his energy at Trunks who dodged it and flew off. Zamasu chased after Trunks, while Vegeta followed from below.
Goku watched as Hearts pushed two large boulders, setting himself free. He casually brushed off his chest, as Goku’s attack didn’t faze him. His hand glowed yellow and he made a “come here” motion to Goku. Goku was pulled toward him against his will.
“Is that all?” Hearts asked.
He lowered his hand and Goku was held in place on the ground. Hearts smirked and rose up into the air.
“Gravity Fist!” he yelled. Transparent energy cubes surrounded his hands and feet. Goku powered up and broke free from Heart’s hold. He pushed Goku back with an attack, but Goku broke free of it again with a mighty yell. Streams of ki blasts flew from Goku’s hands, while Hearts dodged them all. Hearts flew through them and drop-kicked Goku into the ground.
“Tremble at my power,” Hearts declared with a grin, before his aura glowed dark purple and black. Goku seethed and stood to face him again.
Hearts grinned evilly at Goku from the air, his dark aura surrounding his body. A dozen small transparent cubes surrounded his hands and feet, four around the three areas. They soon glowed with a magenta aura. At the speed of light, Hearts rushed at Goku, who blocked the attack. Hearts flew straight up into the air, Goku soon following at Super Saiyan Blue. They both collided at an angle in the air, and with a powerful punch to Goku’s gut, Hearts sent the Saiyan plummeting to the ground with a tremendous crash. An explosion shook the ground and air, leaving plumes of smoke behind. The smoke cleared, revealing Hearts pinning Goku down with his foot on his chest.
Goku winced and then yelled in pain as Hearts sank his energy charged fist deeper into Goku’s stomach.
“More…you can’t make this more exciting?” Hearts mocked at Goku’s helplessness.
A crazed look appeared in Heart’s eyes as he increased his power, causing a purple explosion to destroy more of the surrounding city.
Meanwhile Kamioren stood in the air and laughed at Piccolo and 17. “So how was that? Did you see my power? I’m THE STRONGEST!”
Android 17 created his green energy barrier around himself and Piccolo. They rose into the air, where 17 made the barrier vanish. He glared coldly at his opponent, Piccolo behind him.
17 launched a swift kick at Kamioren who blocked it with their arms.
17 rapidly kicked the Tuffle, but missed each time, the Tuffle kicking 17 to the side.
“Makankosappo! Special Beam Cannon!” cried Piccolo, as he fired his signature attack at Kamioren’s face.
17 and Piccolo fired yellow ki blasts simultaneously at Kamioren, pushing them around, causing them to yelp and their skin to crack in several places.
Hearts glanced over to his right at Kamioren, his foot still on Goku. “Geez…I didn’t expect this from you, Kamioren!”
He looked at the Tuffle in disapproval…then came up with an idea.
“If you want to be the strongest, you need more power.”
Hearts held out his hand, which glowed yellow. His body surged with a lavender aura. Miniature cubes formed near the Universe Seed.
With a curl of Heart’s fingers, the miniature cubes merged together to form one giant transparent cube, enclosing the device inside it. The device shrunk and collapsed within itself, until it became a small speck of light.
Hearts smirked, held out two fingers and flicked the speck rapidly downward.
From within the smoke, Piccolo noticed the speck and dodged it. The speck moved toward the beaten Kamioren and entered inside their central purple orb in their chest.
“Dad!” Trunks called.
“What the hell is going on this time?” Vegeta asked.
Zamasu looked at the bright rays of light and gave a small smile.
Kamioren roared loudly as white power surrounded their body. They dug their hands by their chest, trying to diminish the pain within their core. In a flash of light, Kamioren’s body grew many times bigger…until their body resembled a large Hulk-like boulder. Long horns extended from their head and their eyes glowed a demonic red. Their formerly purple orb was replaced with a newer red orb in their chest, with six black curved spikes around it like a sun. Golden orbs decorated their body in several spots.
Dark indigo light crashed down onto the ground as Kamioren’s new form was revealed: a Tuffle hybrid Great Ape!
Well, Kamioren wasn’t hairy like an ape, nor did they look like one…but they now had the power and strength of one.
Kamioren shot a volley of purple energy from their mouth into the air, their sharp fangs revealed.
Hearts looked impressed. “Well, not bad.”
Kamioren roared and punched the ground with their huge right red fist, causing the ground to crack. 17 and Piccolo looked down with concerned expressions.
“He fused with that huge energy?!” Piccolo exclaimed.
“Begone!” Kamioren roared, firing a purple energy blast from their mouth.
“Oh no! Get out of the way!” Piccolo yelled as he and 17 dodged the blast.
Like other Great Apes, Kamioren could move and aim his destructive blast around him…which destroyed a great chunk of the city and buildings in a flash of explosive light.
Zamasu grinned. “Oh so this is the power of the Universe Seed?”
Piccolo and 17 flew up in front of the giant and fired more ki blasts, to no effect. Kamioren’s face was revealed as the smoke cleared. Piccolo was knocked to the side by Kamioren’s right fist, Android 17 got knocked away by Kamioren’s left fist.
Then, Trunks and Vegeta arrived on the scene, facing the monster. Piccolo and 17 flew up shortly after, 17 clutching his arm.
“What have you done?!” Vegeta bellowed. “Your time ends now!”
He kicked the mutant in the face, briefly making them stumble. Kamioren conjured up another blast, which sputtered out after Piccolo kicked them in the chin.
At the same time, the Z Fighters fired ki blasts at Kamioren. They stopped when the smoke obscured their face.
Foolishly, all four of them stayed where they were…and as the smoke cleared, Kamioren’s purple blast hit them straight on!
Hearts grinned as he watched the scene. “Oh, the Universe Seed is almost complete!”
Kamioren grinned at the sight of Piccolo, Vegeta, 17, and Trunks, hurt on the ground, smoke still fuming from the newly made trench.
Vegeta shakenly stood up, much of his armor ruined. “Damn it!”
Kamioren stomped forward and raised their fist, only for Goku to appear out of nowhere to block it.
“Kakarot!” Vegeta exclaimed.
Though still beaten up, Goku focused on his new opponent.
Kamioren grinned and flicked Goku away with his fingers. Goku soared through the air, before turning around to face them again. He yelled and rapidly kicked Kamioren in the face.
With their right large hand, Goku was slapped away. Goku then found himself grabbed by Kamioren’s blue hand. Kamioren put both of his hands together, squeezing Goku hard. He winced and tried to escape, to no use. He then took a deep breath and let his mind go blank.
Kamioren then gasped in surprise as Goku broke free from their grasp. Kamioren fired another blast from their mouth, but Goku emerged from the smoke, unscathed.
The Saiyan had turned Ultra Instinct once more.
Goku stared down at the monstrosity below him. Kamioren stomped with one giant foot toward him, staring up and seething. Goku stared at them with serious eyes. The Ultra Instinct power made him calm and collected, unfazed by Kamioren’s snarling face. He wasn’t going to let them harm his friends and destroy Universe 7.
“Take this! I’m invincible!” Kamioren boasted, suddenly. They thrust their red right fist forward but Goku vanished before their fist made contact. Kamioren formed a purple blast in their mouth and aimed at Goku, who promptly vanished on the spot. In the blink of an eye, Goku slammed his foot down on their forehead, causing them to stumble back and the blast to explode in a cloud of smoke.
Goku landed on the ground and walked forward, eyes unblinking. The rest of the Z Fighters heaved themselves up from under the rubble. From up above, Zamasu and Hearts watched the battle, glaring down.
Kamioren fired another purple blast straight at Goku. He raised both his hands, holding the energy sphere in place. With a loud yell, Goku pushed the blast right into Kamioren’s face. Goku then dodged their fists in rapid succession. A swift kick to the cheek made Kamioren yelp slightly. Goku appeared above the Tuffle fusion and slammed both fists hard into their head, sending Kamioren to their knees.
With ease, Goku avoided their antennae swiping at him. Kamioren launched another blast from their mouth, this time hitting Goku.
“Goku-san!” Trunks cried from below.
Kamioren snickered evilly, their sharp teeth showing. Then they let out a bellowing laugh. “Serves you right!”
The villain paused when they saw flashes of blue light shine from the smoke. In a flash, the smoke was blown aside…and there stood Goku in the air, his hair platinum in color, without a scratch.
“What?!” they gasped.
“The power of a god,” Hearts murmured from above, impressed.
Before Kamioren could blink, Goku appeared in front of their face and fired a yellow blast straight into their face and eyes. Furious, Kamioren fired several more purple blasts wildly. Five blasts impacted the ground like bombs.
Goku dodged their gigantic fists and grabbed hold of their antennae. Kamioren was flung into the air. Kamioren screamed at the top of their lungs, landing with a crash on the rocky ground.
“Amazing!” Trunks exclaimed as Goku stood up.
Eyes blaring with rage, Kamioren stood up and swiped at Goku once more. They momentarily grinned, thinking they had caught him in their fist. Then he opened it and saw nothing. They then felt the heels of Goku’s feet rapidly strike them in the face. They even had to cover their eyes at the sudden force.
Kamioren tried to swipe at Goku again, but the Saiyan was too fast. He fired several ki blasts at their legs, chest, and arms. Kamioren was then hit with a volley of more powerful yellow ki blasts in four different areas.
“Son’s power is waning!” called Piccolo. “Finish them off at once!”
At the same time, Piccolo, Vegeta, Trunks, and 17 shot ki blasts from all their hands, keeping the Tuffle Mutant in place. They moved to the side as Goku prepared his signature attack.
“KA…ME…HA…ME…HA!”
The blue blast struck Kamioren right on. The force of the attack caused the red seed-like gem in the center of their chest to crack. Seizing the chance, Goku rushed forward and pummeled his fist right into the gem.
The fatal attack resulted in cracks rapidly spreading all over Kamioren’s body, their screams ringing through the air. Fourteen beams of light shone from the cracks and then…
Kamioren shattered into pieces.
Goku and the Z Fighters covered their eyes as the debris flew outward in every direction.
Piccolo uncovered his eyes as the dust cleared. “Did it work?”
Goku phased out of Ultra Instinct and to his base form, exhausted and out of energy. He started to fall, but Trunks and Piccolo held him up from underneath his shoulders.
“Hang in there!” Piccolo urged.
“Yeah,” Goku weakly replied.
Trunks pointed down at the orange flames in the pit. “Look, over there!”
Rising from the flames was a small speck of light. The small sphere rose up right into Heart’s gloved hand.
“What the…?” Vegeta asked, puzzled.
Hearts grinned. “Behold! This is its completed form! At long last, all this power has been condensed into the Universe Seed. Beautiful, is it not?”
The Universe Seed glowed with an ethereal power, glowing in transparent colors of blue and magenta, yellow waves moving inward.
Hearts continued. “Kamin. Oren. I won’t let your deaths be in vain.”
Hearts raised his hand and his body took on a white aura. Dozens of transparent cubes surrounded him as he merged with the new power source. The Z Fighters were knocked away into the air.
Zamasu looked on with a grin, admiring the tremendous new power. “Hearts, so it’s finally time for your wish to come true? How I’ve waited for this.”
Hearts let out evil laughter as the cubes grew larger and his power increased further.
Groups of transparent cubes flew in place in the air, then moved into place together like a puzzle. Below, the wind caused debris to dash across the ground, creating more dullness in addition to the dark gray sky looming above. Piccolo, Trunks, 17, Vegeta, and Goku slowly pushed themselves up from the ground, hurt, but anxious to get a better look. Goku seethed at the flying materials forming a sort of barrier. The condensed cubes flashed colors of dark green, lavender, and teal as it grew. At last, it began to form and take shape, the lines soon disappearing. The surface became smooth and in a wave of light, the color turned golden.
The Universe Seed hummed with ethereal power from inside a giant golden transparent cube. Eight green spheres hovered around the outside.
From inside the Universe Seed, Hearts was bathed in tremendous power. It was the all-consuming force of black holes…the energy of exploding supernovas, the churning of galaxies, stars, planets. The entirety of the universe…of all 18 universes flowed through him.
The five Z Fighters lifted themselves off the ground, standing beside each other. Goku’s shirt was almost completely ripped off.
“What’s that?” Goku asked.
Vegeta dashed forward as if saying “Let’s find out!”
“Vegeta!”
He rose up and formed a yellow ki blast with both hands. He launched it forward toward the cube, only for Zamasu to appear and knock the blast away.
“Zamasu!” yelled Vegeta.
Goku and the others fired ki blasts, but the kai god batted them all away.
“I thought you wanted to kill all mortals?” Trunks asked. “So why are you protecting a mortal like Hearts?”
Zamasu grinned. “Hearts will defeat the Omni-king. And with him gone, there shall be none to stop my Zero Mortal Plan.”
Trunks clenched his fists and seethed.
Zamasu raised his hand into the air and chanted, “Hammer of Judgement.”
Little dark red blasts rose up into the air. Zamasu lowered his hand in a swipe. The red spheres turned into blades of energy, which rapidly rained onto the fighters. All of them protected themselves by crossing their arms together and ducking their heads. Just when they thought they couldn’t bear the sharp pains any longer, the blasts faded.
In the blink of an eye, Zamasu appeared in front of Vegeta and rammed his fist hard into his gut. Vegeta gasped painfully, saliva flying from his mouth. Zamasu kicked 17 in the gut, then moved on to swipe Piccolo out of the way. He fired yellow/green ki blasts at Vegeta and Goku, further blinding them with smoke on the ground.
Goku turned around and spotted his opponent. He rushed at him and began to fight. Goku launched his fist, but it was blocked by Zamasu’s hand. Zamasu blocked all of Goku’s punches as they flew. Goku pushed Zamasu back, then he did the same. Zamasu blocked Goku’s fist once again, holding it in his hand. Goku tried to land another hit, but the kai easily blocked his arm. Holding the Saiyan down, Zamasu pressed his white boot hard into Goku’s back. Goku bellowed in pain, with no way to escape.
Zamasu chuckled as he watched his helpless opponent. “What’s wrong, Universe 7? Is this really the best you’ve got?”
“Goku-san!” Trunks yelled.
Back inside the Universe Seed, Hearts realized that he could be the new mortal stronger than the gods…even more than Jiren, as those in Universe 11 claimed. Zamasu’s immortality had proved very useful. But even immortality couldn’t compare to this new power. While Zamasu tried to become the universe and killed off mortals in Future Trunk’s timeline, Zeno had appeared and erased him. Hearts knew Zamasu only joined him because both of them hated the Omni-King. Zamasu wanted vengeance against Zeno for ruining his victory. He wanted nothing to stand in his way during his second chance.
Hearts, however, wanted Zeno killed for different reasons. Tired of the incompetency and laziness of the gods, kais, and angels, the warrior wanted to create a new world in his own making. A world where he and the strongest fighters could conquer and experience newfound freedom from Zeno’s rules. Indeed, he shared characteristics, and even somewhat an appearance to Fu. Both wanted to rule the world and take control in their own ways. Could he be distantly related? He brushed the thought aside. Hearts shared the power-hungry personalities of King Piccolo, and Moro, a planet-eating goat entity.
Next, Hearts wouldn’t admit this to anyone else, but he was deeply devastated at the erasure of the other six universes by Zeno. The Omni-King had wiped entire worlds from existence… for what? Because he was bored? Dissatisfied with lives so different and less divine? The six angels were left dormant in space, but everyone else was gone.
The power coursing through his veins and the thought of giving Zeno a taste of his own medicine filled him with more confidence and glee.
Back outside, before Trunks could make his move, a figure appeared in a flash of light.
With a hard kick to the head, Zamasu was knocked off Goku.
“You’re…” Zamasu gasped.
The savior was none other than…
“Jiren,” said Goku as he stood up.
“How’d he get here?” asked Trunks.
“Universe 11’s Kiaoshin must have sent him,” Piccolo replied.
Indeed, the Kaioshin’s power had also freed Jiren from his cube prison and transported him to Universe 7.
“Resistance is futile, Universe 11,” said Zamasu.
He formed a magenta energy blade surrounding his right arm.
Jiren fired orange ki blasts and Zamasu swiped them away with his ki blade.
A white halo appeared behind Zamasu and his raised his arm again.
“Take this!”
Before he could attack, cracks appeared in space and time. Through the white gap came another figure.
“You’re…” Zamasu began, rooted to the spot.
A familiar purple assassin answered with a mighty hit.
Zamasu was pushed back and wiped his mouth from the blow.
“Scoundrel, how dare you strike a god?!”
“Hit,” said Goku.
“Universe 6,” Jiren began, mildly surprised to see him.
Hit turned to them. “Kaioshin hired me…to take them out.”
Goku smiled. “That so? Glad to hear it. Let’s go!”
Together, the strongest warriors from Universes 11, 6, and 7, charged forward toward Zamasu, their rivalries from the Tournament of Power forgotten.
Suddenly, all the heroes were all pushed back by waves of energy.
“Its ki is rising,” warned Piccolo.
Zamasu looked eagerly at the cube. “Come out soon! I can’t wait!”
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” stated Vegeta, uneasy.
Goku sensed energy building up rapidly, like a volcano or earthquake. “Something’s coming!”
The Universe Seed pulsed with a white light. Purple cracks appeared on the cube’s surface. It grew smaller as more cracks appeared.
Then it grew rapidly, bursting out of the cube. Shards of yellow energy flew in every direction like glass.
The seed vanished to reveal Hearts…now surrounded by a golden aura. His hair was golden and spiky like a Super Saiyan, his formerly white chest was now golden as well. His arms and figure were now muscular. He bent down and six transparent spikes emerged from his back, curved and almost metallic. A dozen green spheres flew toward him and stopped in place, surrounding the spikes in a circle. Heart’s red eyes were even more pronounced through his golden eyewear. The Universe Seed was nestled at the center of his chest just above his white X scar.
He moved his eyes toward his right, glancing at the beaming Zamasu. He turned around, his hand in a fist, and opened it. A faint white aura glowed around his body.
Zamasu was thrust forward and held into place when Hearts spread out his arm. Zamasu’s arms were spread out and held by Heart’s power.
“You’ve done a good job so far,” Hearts remarked. “I appreciate that immortal power of yours.”
Zamasu stared in shock, opened mouthed, unable to move.
“But unfortunately…” Hearts grinned. “I wish to destroy the gods.”
He closed his fist and let out maniacal laughter. The cubes quickly merged in on Zamasu. The cubes condensed and enclosed him. He saw Hearts through an opening in his prison one last time before the last cube locked into place. Hearts held out his arm and the cube began to shrink. It shrank more and more until it vanished in a sparkle of light.
Goku looked on in horror.
“He’s gone!” cried Trunks.
From the divine realm, the Grand Priest looked on the events with concern.
“Gentlemen of Universe 7! Behold!” Hearts declared.
He spread out his arms and a wave of purple energy shot from him. Like a nuclear bomb, the blast wiped away the city, though nothing was left except empty ground.
“What?!” cried Goku. He looked up at Hearts in anger.
Hearts grinned. “I am the ultimate…Godslayer!”
Hearts stood proudly, his aura glowing light golden. Hit, Jiren, and Goku stood off in the distance, staring him down and anticipating his next move. Piccolo, Vegeta, 17, and Trunks also stood together. The Z Fighters all had a single goal in mind: to protect their universe at any cost.
“Feel my power!” Hearts declared.
Goku gasped as the dozen green spheres from behind Hearts shot forward like a hailstorm. They flew in every direction around the heroes…then they stopped in the air. The spheres were soon surrounding all of them in a wide circle.
“What does he intend to do?” Piccolo wondered.
Hearts grinned. “The show starts now.”
With a snap of his fingers, the spheres glowed and spun faster in the circle. Then, they rapidly raged through the air at the warriors. Goku, Hit, and Jiren dodged several of the spheres. Vegeta fired a blast at one of the spheres…which sailed right through his attack! Having no other choice, Vegeta held his arms in front of his face and blocked himself from the impact. Smoke obscured his vision.
“Father!” called Trunks in concern.
Piccolo also tried to dodge the spheres, but one of them also exploded in front of him.
From a distance, the spheres surrounded Heart’s opponents like wild emerald electrons.
Vegeta and Trunks bumped into each other’s shoulders.
“You’re in my way, Trunks!” yelled Vegeta.
17 and Piccolo stood back to back. Hit and Jiren used their arms to try and block off the oncoming spheres. Goku flew backwards between them.
All the spheres suddenly changed course and flew at the warriors straight on. The volley of spheres each impacted the warriors straight on target, each exploding in smoke. Using the cover provided, Hearts charged forward and hit Goku hard in the gut with his knee. Jiren, then Hit, Trunks, Piccolo, 17, Vegeta…all were rapidly knocked to the side with hard punches. One by one, the fighters plummeted hard to the rocky ground. Smoke and dust rose from seven newly formed craters. New green spheres appeared behind Hearts, ready for use.
Hearts let out a loud arrogant laugh. “This is the best!”
Vegeta pushed himself up with some effort. “Damn it, with just one attack!”
Piccolo pushed a block of rock from over him to the side.
“So this is the power of the Universal Seed…”
17 and the others stood up, still ready for round 2. Goku stood up, eye twitching, battle garb mostly torn off at the top. Goku leapt into the air, charging toward his enemy. In a flash, he turned Super Saiyan Blue…but Hearts just sneered. He held out his hand and his aura glowed light blue. The force from his hand was enough to hold back Goku. The Saiyan strained against the force holding him back, trying in vain, to reach him.
Hearts smiled at Goku. “I can see everything. Your movements, your heart…”
With a yelp of pain, Goku was pushed back by the force. His feet scrapped the ground as he tried to slow down the powerful backward push. Jiren and Hit launched themselves at Hearts, but even the expert warriors were also held back by Hearts.
“Both of you…this is useless!”
Jiren and Hit were stopped in mid punches, Hearts only using one hand to hold them back by a gravitational force. Both of them were thrown back forcefully.
Hearts called out a signature attack: “Gravity Finale!” following with a spread of his hand.
Goku stared down at the ground, which was now glowing with more transparent cubes. Vegeta and Piccolo gasped and spoke, but were soon cut off.
Hearts flipped his hand upward and the cubes rose from the ground. Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo yelled in pain as the cubes shot upwards, hitting them hard in their faces and bodies like hard rocks. Hearts rose his hand into the air and the cubes disappeared into the dark cloudy sky. From the center of his chest, the Universal Seed glowed white and released flashes of blinding light which spread in every direction.
The clouds soon parted and then lowered in a funnel to reveal a giant orange cube. The cube came crashing down onto the warriors below, each of them struggling to hold it up. None of them could run, as the gravitational force held them in place. The super-powered villain laughed again as the glowing cube pushed the warriors further down into the ground, the cube creating a larger crater in the ground and then fading away.
Any regular human would’ve been crushed to death, but all the fighters were still alive…but badly hurt. They lay sprawled on the ground, trying to catch their breaths and comprehend what just happened.
But Hearts wasn’t done yet. He launched more light and power out and caused the ground to crack and debris to fly. The attack ended with a flash of yellow lightning followed by a nuclear explosion of force.
The fighters strained to get up, Piccolo even taking off his white robe and turban, clutching his head in pain.
“We can’t run! This power. It’ll destroy the entire universe!”
Everyone knew Piccolo was right.
Jiren stood up and glared straight ahead. “I won’t let that happen!”
After he leapt forward, Hit followed. “This is my job!”
Hearts played around with the two warriors, dodging their attacks and knowing their every move. A flurry of fists flashed through the sky, Goku staring up. If Ultra Instinct and his attacks wouldn’t work…
…maybe he would need the help of someone else’s…
He gasped and looked at Vegeta, a familiar idea forming in his head. He flew over to Vegeta, who was hunched forward in exhaustion.
“Vegeta!”
Vegeta clutched his left arm…it always seemed to be his left arm. “What is it?”
“We need to combine our powers!”
Vegeta gasped, then seethed. “Are you talking about fusion?!”
Goku stared at his hands. “I don’t know when Ultra Instinct will be available to me again. We need to combine our powers like that time!”
Vegeta wasn’t sure whether Goku was referring to the battle with Janemba, the battle with Fused Zamasu, or the battle with Broly. Fusing before fighting Broly had been particularly embarrassing…it took them three ties to get the dance right. He knew there was no other choice, but he still didn’t like doing it.
Without a word, Vegeta got into position, Goku following. Both men held out their arms, Goku to the left, Vegeta to the right.
Piccolo gasped. “They intend to fuse?!”
He turned to Trunks and 17. “They’re going for fusion. Let’s buy them some time. Let’s go!”
“Yeah!” Trunks agreed.
The three warriors charged at Hearts, fighting him as a distraction.
“Fusion-ha!”
Goku and Vegeta’s pointer fingers met, their bodies glowed and they vanished into a sphere of golden light.
Hearts swiped all the fighters out of his way just as the light and golden aura faded.
Hearts glanced down at the new warrior: white battle pants, light blue slash, a black sleeveless jacket with two yellow coverings on either side. A man stared back at him, eyes black, hair spiky and black, with Goku’s hair style in front, Vegeta’s toward the back.
Hearts grinned with excitement at fighting his new opponent. “You’re interesting. What’s your name?”
The man spoke in two voices: “Goku and Vegeta, we’re Gogeta!”
Hearts lifted his head back and laughed. “Do you think you can defeat the Ultimate like that?”
Gogeta smiled with confidence. “Let’s have some fun, Hearts!” They lifted themselves into the air, both enemies staring down the other.
Hearts grinned again. Both of them charged at each other at the same time. Both dodged each other’s fists and feet at lightning speed. The other fighters could barely see what was going on. Gogeta flew back and shot out several blue blasts from their hands, Hearts avoiding them with flips and turns. Hearts held out his hand and Gogeta fought against the gravitational force. Though Gogeta struggled, they were not pushed back.
“Impressive,” Hearts thought. “So this is what is called a fusion. Still useless, though!”
Hearts flicked Gogeta away into the distance. Gogeta did a flip and landed safely on the ground. Gogeta teleported themselves behind Hearts, aiming their fist at his head. Hearts blocked the attack with his hand and for a moment, the two struggled in a hand-wrestle. Soon, both of their hands were fighting for domination.
“This is a fun way to warm up!” Gogeta mentioned. “Though we have yet to see what you’re truly capable of.”
“A pathetic being like you could never comprehend my true power,” Hearts replied. “I will destroy the Omni-King with the Universal Seed, and then each of the universes!”
“You’ll have to get through us first,” Gogeta stated. “And we won’t go easy on you!”
“Come at me then,” said Hearts.
Both of them yelled and Gogeta managed to punch Hearts hard across the face. He used his arms to block Gogeta’s other attacks as Gogeta pushed him back in the air.
Hearts glanced down below him and held out his hand. The green spheres from behind him shot out in arcs. Just as the spheres were about to make impact with the Z Fighters, Gogeta teleported in front of them, dodging the spheres and swiping several away. The spheres exploded around Gogeta and smoke obscured their vision. Gogeta jumped out of the way just in time…Hearts had almost landed a hard blow on them.
“Your tricks won’t work this time, Hearts!” Gogeta called out.
Gogeta rushed off into the distance, as Hearts sent a shower of transparent cubes after them. Gogeta expertly dodged every one as they flipped and flew.
Hearts formed a large orange cube in his hands, the energy expanding more and more. Hearts yelled “Take this!” and threw the large cube at Gogeta from above. Excited about another challenge, Gogeta landed on the ground and used both hands to hold the glowing force back. Debris, dirt, and rocks blew off into the air, the ground shaking from the impact.
Gogeta’s arms started getting tired and they began to strain under the effort. They felt their body slowly inch down from the gravity. No, they couldn’t give up. They would not be crushed this time. Gogeta stood their ground, not even daring to blink. After several moments, the fusion warrior yelled and powered up into a Super Saiyan. Gogeta’s hands thrummed with blue energy, and blue cracks started to form across the orange surface of the cube. The crack increased more and more until, finally, the orange cube shattered into neon pieces. Hearts vanished before Gogeta’s attack could make impact.
Hearts appeared behind Gogeta, launching dark purple blasts, which Gogeta narrowly avoided. Gogeta swiped some of them away, being careful not to hit any of their allies. At the same moment, both of them punched each other in the guts, sending each other back with tremendous force. The impact caused the other fighters to cover their eyes from the flying dirt.
Hearts and Gogeta stood up once again. Gogeta wasted no time and launched into the air, forming a blue sphere cupped in both hands.
Hearts leapt after the fused being and formed another cube of dark destructive energy.
“Kamehameha!”
“Gravity Ultimate!”
They shot out their attacks at the same time, and the energies clashed in the sky. The purple and black energy battled the pure blue energy, each trying to push the other back.
Piccolo gasped as the black stream of energy started eating away at the blue. “This isn’t good.”
“We have to help him!” Trunks cried.
“Wait,” said 17, pointing upwards. “Gogeta’s still holding his own.”
Sure enough, Gogeta was still yelling and using their power to shove some of the dark energy away.
17 had a plan and teleported not too far away behind Hearts. He shot out several green blasts at his back…which were blocked by the green spheres shooting out. Hearts narrowed his eyes, looking at 17 from the corner of his eye.
Seizing their chance, Gogeta powered up further and pushed the blue energy further ahead. The blue sphere was now close to Heart’s face. He found himself being pushed back from the impact…being carried away by the Kamehameha. The attack exploded in the distance and the ground was split apart where the attack moved over it.
A thick cloud of smoke appeared moments later and all was silent.
Gogeta panted and then spoke in triumph.
“Ha! How was that, Hearts?”
“He did it,” breathed Trunks.
But a concerned Vegeta and Piccolo knew better than to assume victory so early. For not a minute later, Hearts rose up from the ground in the distance and flew over to Gogeta again before stopping short.
“Huh. That one actually hurt a bit.”
Everyone gasped in surprise, while Gogeta calmly stood, waiting for their enemy to make a move.
“Is that really the best you’ve got?” Hearts asked.
“Wanna find out?” Gogeta asked, powering down to base form, their hair now black. “Let’s have some more fun!”
Gogeta landed down on the ground.
“Honestly,” said Hearts with another laugh, “Do you really think you can beat me with this transformation?”
“Shall we enjoy ourselves, Hearts?” Gogeta asked.
“What are we waiting for?” Hearts replied.
Hearts then glanced over at Piccolo, 17, Hit, Jiren, and Trunks.
“You don’t understand. You’re in my way.”
He lowered his hands rapidly, palms spread out. Gravity waves shot from them and made impact with the warriors. The green orbs glowed from behind him, firing forward and exploding against the fighters in clouds of smoke.
Getting the message, the other heroes lowered themselves to the ground.
“Come at me!” Hearts yelled to Gogeta. In response, Gogeta powered up, their aura a bright blue. With a yell of two voices, Gogeta powered up further. They rose into the air, and their current form crumbled away into blue specks of energy.
Gogeta was now Super Saiyan Blue.
Gogeta rose up to Heart’s level in the air, the blue column of energy vanishing.
Hearts spread out his arms and spoke in a mocking tone, “That’s so nice. Feel free to attack.”
So that’s what Gogeta did. They rushed forward and delivered a powerful punch that caused the ground to be torn apart, rocks thrust into the air. The other warriors covered their faces as the debris flew in their direction.
Hearts had grabbed hold of Gogeta’s fist. For a moment, they were locked in another stare-down. With a smirk, Gogeta yelled again and pushed his arm forward. Hearts moved out of the way before Gogeta could reach him. Hearts was momentarily pushed back, but he soon recovered. Hearts wiped his mouth with his hand and bared his teeth. He was done fooling around. A golden aura surrounded his body as he screamed. Little transparent cubes formed around his hands, which rapidly spun around his hands and arms. It looked like Heart’s hands were inside violet twisters.
Unfazed, Gogeta smiled and signaled for him to come over.
Gogeta first dodged one of Heart’s fists, moving out of the way. Hearts turned around and tried again. His second attack missed and the wind energy spiraling toward the ground with a crash. Gogeta dodged a third attack, then a fourth. The next one blew on the surface, dangerously close to where the warriors were. Gogeta held Heart’s fist in his hand, glaring without a word. He pushed his attack forward, the cube energy blowing across Heart’s shoulders. With a pained gasp, Hearts was sent tumbling through the air.
Recovering, the villain fired energy blasts of white, purple and light blue.
SLAP, SLAP, SLAP. The three blasts were swapped away by Gogeta.
Hearts fired more blasts, but Gogeta expertly dodged them all, keeping a steady eye on his opponent. At last, Gogeta was able to land a hard hit across Heart’s face.
After being pushed back, Hearts flew forward and through Gogeta’s yellow blasts. Both of them gripped each other’s hands. In a flash, Gogeta lifted their leg and knee, and got Hearts square in the gut.
“Argh!” he cried out, spit flying from his mouth. Wincing in pain, he flew back up to Gogeta. The two men held their fists at the ready.
“You’re pretty good to be able to keep up with me,” Hearts mentioned.
Gogeta didn’t respond.
“But I don’t understand,” he continued, a crazed look in his eyes. “With that amount of power, we could even defeat the Omni-King. Join me, and let’s fight together for the true freedom of mankind!”
There was no way that Gogeta would let themselves be influenced by this powerful rebel god. Even if they did join him, they would eventually be thrown to the side when they were no longer needed. Besides…Goku’s part inside of him was pleading to not let Zeno-sama, his new buddy, be defeated. And as much as Vegeta disliked the Omni-King and the deities in general, he would do anything to not let another villain harm his family and the universe.
“You still don’t get it,” Gogeta stated. “I’m already free.”
“So much for gaining another powerful pawn,” thought Hearts.
Then, thinking of an evil idea, Hearts broke into malicious laughter. “Well, is that so? Then why don’t you try and stop this?”
He rose higher and higher into the sky. He raised his fist, which glowed with the fiery golden aura. The ground shook and the gravity held down the other warriors.
“What’s happening?” yelled Trunks.
Even Jiren wasn’t faring well against Heart’s power. He yelled as he strained to stand up. “Is he trying to destroy the planet?”
Jiren’s question was soon answered…
Hearts lowered his arm and the clouds parted. From up in space, a giant meteor hovered ominously like a giant sun. Dark tendrils of energy slithered along the sides of the rocky surface like shadowy snakes. The waves on Earth rose and fell rapidly from the force. The meteor fell down fast, breaking the sound barrier. Then, it appeared from behind the gray clouds, descending further and further.
“What?!” Piccolo cried in shock and terror. He hadn’t witnessed anything that powerful since Super Saiyan God Goku fought Beerus. Beerus had summoned a fiery sun-like Sphere of Destruction that was similar to this attack.
Even more reminiscent, Gogeta was standing there, eerily calm, like Goku had done when faced with the Earth’s destruction by Beerus. Hit and Jiren stared skyward in shock.
Heart’s aura and spikes glowed in a bright light. The meteor glowed brighter and hotter.
“Now, disappear once and for all!” Hearts cried out, teleporting to the side out of the path of the meteor. “Disappear! Take this!”
He thrust out his hand and the meteor lowered further. Gogeta powered up once again.
“What is he planning to do?” Piccolo asked from below.
Gogeta stood at the ready, forming a golden ki blast in their hand. The blast grew and grew, purple electricity flashing around it. Then it rapidly expanded into the size of the moon. Gogeta yelled and fired it forward. It impacted the flaming meteor and held it in place. Inch by inch, the ki blast pushed the meteor back. Debris flew around Gogeta, but the warrior remained focused. The ki blast briefly closed in and shrank, while the tendrils of electricity streaked over the scorching surface. Down below, Piccolo, 17, and Trunks watched with worry.
“He’s holding it back,” Hit commented.
“No, not yet,” Jiren replied.
“You don’t get it,” Hearts boasted from above, his aura and spikes from his back, golden. “Resistance is simply futile!”
With a yell, he lowered his arm and curled his hand into a fist. The meteor wobbled and pushed back against Gogeta’s ki blast. The ki blast vanished and the meteor slowly descended.
“Go!” Hearts cried, shooting out his hand. “This is the end!”
But it wasn’t the end for Gogeta.
“YAHHHHHHH!”
Gogeta’s bright blue aura rose higher and higher as they powered up.
“He can’t stop it?” 17 asked, concerned.
“The Earth is done for at this rate,” Trunks stated.
“We can’t let that happen!” Piccolo added.
The Namekian flew into the air.
“Piccolo!” Trunks cried, but he ignored him. Jiren and Hit also flew alongside Piccolo.
Gogeta cupped their hands, preparing Goku’s signature finishing attack:
“KA-ME-HA-ME-HAA!”
The circular blue blast shot like a cannon from Gogeta’s hands, hitting the meteor. The ground burst open below and waves crashed against the separating rocks.
Hearts moved his mouth slightly in a crazed grin. “You just don’t get it…I’m Ultimate Incarnate! I am the very Universe itself!”
Trunks was strongly reminded of Fused Zamasu.
“Hit?” Gogeta asked, as he stood beside them.
“Jiren?” Gogeta asked as Jiren took his place to Gogeta’s right.
Both warriors held out both hands. Gogeta grinned at his new backup allies. “Alright! Let’s do this!”
The three warriors yelled at the same time, yelling their signature attacks. Hit’s purple blast and Jiren’s orange blast curled around Gogeta’s blue blast, infusing it with power. Gogeta’s blast turned from blue to a much thicker column of white energy. Their combined power was enough to make Heart’s eyes go wide.
At last, large white cracks rapidly spread across the meteor’s surface until the cracks filled the whole sphere.
“What?!” Hearts gasped in disbelief.
Beams of white light shot out from the widening gaps in the rock. The meteor soon exploded into dozens of chunks. Hearts screamed and was flung back.
“Leave this to us!” called Piccolo. Piccolo, Trunks, and 17 fired ki blasts of their own, destroying the remaining debris from the meteor.
“Hearts!” Gogeta screamed, bursting through the smoke into the air.
Hearts still stood, confident as ever. “Do you guys not have any limits?” Hearts powered up as his aura turned golden. “Incredible!”
The two men yelled and charged at each other straight on. Hearts shot his fist forward, but Gogeta’s fist blocked it. Gogeta pushed their fist forward and heard the small sound of shattering.
Hearts yelped in pain and closed his eyes…his golden visors were now shattered.
Angry, Hearts turned on Gogeta, but Gogeta dodged Heart’s punch. Gogeta yelled and in their right fist formed a sphere of sparkly rainbow light. It was the same attack that Gogeta had used to defeat the demon Janemba. Gogeta’s fist landed right into Heart’s core…and the Universal Seed shattered into green-teal pieces.
Hearts could do nothing but gasp in pained shock as Gogeta’s attack shot through Hearts and out his back. Heart’s golden spikes shattered and dissolved. Yelling in agony, Heart’s leaned back, hovering in the air, head tilted upward.
A rainbow aura formed from his body and rays of energy rose skyward from his body. Gogeta’s eyes widened as Hearts flew lower. Even as he lowered, Heart’s still smiled, his red eyes never blinking.
“Zeno could destroy the universe in a single thought. I just wanted to liberate you all from that lack of freedom. But you have shone and surpassed your limits. That’s why I adore you mortals…”
Hearts had the pompous, superior attitude the Zamasu had. Ironically enough, he looked proud in the moment…just like a Saiyan after a satisfying fight.
Hearts smiled peacefully, closed his eyes and his illuminated body vanished in sparkles.
Gogeta had saved the world.
Even the sky cleared up after the battle was over. Rays of sunlight shone from the clouds.
Back at Zeno’s palace, the Grand Priest sensed the end of the fight and the heroes’ victory.
“Well done, everyone,” he praised, before walking back inside. In the throne room, Champa and Beerus stood with their backs against the hovering marble pillars. One of the Zeno’s was on his throne, closing his eyes. The other Zeno happily floated in place.
“96…97…98…99…100,” counted the sitting Zeno. “Are you ready?”
“I’m ready!” answered the second Zeno, from behind another pillar.
The first Zeno flew from the throne and soundlessly teleported around the room.
“Where are you? Where? Where?”
The second Zeno laughed and evaded his other self.
“Not there…” said the first Zeno, floating around the spacious chamber. “Where…where?”
The second Zeno appeared behind the throne, smiling.
The Grand Priest smiled genuinely. “Looks like Zeno is still immersed in hide and seek.”
As the sun began to set, it turned the sky a brilliant beautiful orange. Gogeta stood with Jiren and Hit in midair.
“My job is done,” Hit stated.
Jiren turned to Gogeta. “If you guys can do that, why not use it during the Tournament of Power?”
“That is because…” Gogeta began before diffusing in a flash of golden light. Goku and Vegeta separated.
An annoyed look crossed Vegeta’s face. “That’s because, I never want to fuse with this guy!”
Goku merely grinned. “Then next time, I’ll deal with it myself!” He giggled. 17, Piccolo, and Trunks stood happily beside their friends, thankful to have saved Earth once more.
Back at Fu’s lab, the scientist lounged in his revolving chair, happily. With his hands behind his head, he stared at the many screens before him.
“Hearts, thanks. The results for the Universe Creation Experiment were quite interesting.”
Fu pushed up his glasses and grinned evilly. “Now, for the next experiment…let’s begin…
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So in My Little Pony... there was a reference to Rainbow Dash's feathers that kind of implied more than her wings... Then in the episode in season 2 about making the tornado to lift the water up to Cloudsdale? There's that sickness that 9 Pegasi in total get: the Feather Flu. And it's not just, like, a sickness of the wings. It causes coughing and such. It's basically implied to be the regular flu by our standards, but also implied that only Pegasi get it. So why call it the Feather Flu instead of the Pegasi Flu, unless Pegasi are entirely feathered? So... i think the implication here is that the Pegasi are completely covered in feathers. So now i have this mental image I'm trying to work out of Rainbow Dash in a more realistic image... but covered in feathers. I almost can't wrap my head around it. 0.o But it makes sense. Not only are there a considerable number of references that imply it, but realistically as well. There's a reason birds are covered in feathers. It keeps them warmer by repelling moisture, useful both in the rain and in higher altitudes where you may be passing through clouds, as Pegasi are frequently portrayed doing. They are also incredibly smooth and interlocking, providing a much more aerodynamic surface than loose fur. And it's already fairly clear that the various types of ponies have incredibly varied biology. Aside from the obvious that one type has wings (and is apparently feathered?), one has horns and magical abilities, and another type has neither, there's more subtle things that I've noticed. The Earth Ponies are incredibly strong. This is supposed to be obvious, but it's a bit too subtle at times. They're supposed to be so much physically stronger than the other two that it's an equivalent trait to magic or wings. I'm also fairly certain that Earth Ponies and Unicorns have drastically different life spans. In the episode where Apple Jack organizes the Apple Family reunion? Granny Smith mentions that they have the reunion every 100 moons... so every 100 lunar months. A lunar month is 28 days. 28×100=2800/365=7.67 years. So about every 8 years, they have a reunion. In the photos and flash backs, Granny Smith was portrayed as being about a young woman equivalent age. No children yet. So in eight years, she had children that have already grown up enough to have their own children and is now so old that she's lost all of her natural teeth, has a bad hip, is hard of hearing, and has gone grey. I just looked up and ponied generally love longer than horses, sometimes still considered in good health and working condition at 30, with ponies and horses occasionally living in to their 40s, although the oldest horse ever recorded was 52. Also noted is that larger breeds such as work horses tend to have shorter life spans. Which lines up here since Earth Ponies are supposed to be strong, working animals and Big Mac is even portrayed as clearly being a work type horse/pony, looking very much like a Clydesdale. Biggest conundrum here is the implications of how long Ponyville has existed, which Granny Smith and her immediate family started. Despite the implications that Granny Smith is only about... maybe 20 years old? There's not many clues as to the lifespan of Pegasi, but there's several references hinting that Earth Ponies have a fairly short lifespan and also that unicorns have an abnormally long one. There's references to Twilight's childhood that are several years previous, already making it longer than Earth Ponies. Spike mentions on his birthday that he "usually" gets only one gift - a book from Twilight. His wording implies that this has occurred for several years now. Then there's references to Star Swirl the Bearded... placing him in several different eras. Including references to him already being published and well known before the establishing of Equestria in their "ancient history". (See the first Hearth Warming Eve episode) The life span of princess Celestia is also a matter if great curiosity. It could be indicative of the life span of Unicorns, or it could be indicative that becoming an Alicorn makes them immortal - for all intents and purposes. Another thing with their odd biology is that the bone structure of the Pegasi must be incredibly different than anything we're used to in the real world. For their wings to support them in flight and provide enough lift at their portrayed size, the bone structure of the entire pony must be as lightweight or more so than that of real world birds. But yet we see Pegasi undertaking incredible feets of strength, and Rainbow Dash crashing through *literal piles of boulders* without breaking every bone in their body. This would seem to say that their bone structure is even stronger than even that of a health human. But to be that strong *and* that lightweight, it would have to be made of a completely different material than any normal skeleton. In short i liked My Little Pony *before* i started babysitting my tiny little niece so is obsessed with them and I've been watching them too much and thinking too much and over analyzing it. Have fun picturing Rainbow Dash with feathers. :) Have i mentioned I'm sleep deprived?
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The Unicorn by Ilunibi
There’s little else in this great big world that can make a little girl in the ‘90s more excited than goddamn stickers. Glittery Lisa Frank nonsense by the roll, bought in needlessly pricey gift sets that peppered the caps of the pink aisles, princesses and My Little Ponies; hell, I used to get excited about the stickers that came on the fruit my mom brought home, or the foil stars my kindergarten teacher stuck to my spelling tests. I was a goddamn ferocious sticker collecting machine, and nothing made me or my friends more needlessly excited than badly printed cartoon characters on shitty adhesive paper.
Nothing.
In fact, the pecking order of my childhood group of friends was usually decided by who had the largest, most unique, most vibrant collection on the whole block, in the same way that some of the boys used their trading cards. She who had the newest set of rainbow dalmatians and sparkling pink horses was essentially the alpha female, and the more glitter and holographic film we had to show off, the better. We’d pile together in our living rooms with shoe boxes of treasures and try in vain to compete with the reigning champion in the neighborhood: my cousin, Rebecca.
Rebecca was different than the rest of us. She wasn’t a resident of that impoverished corner of town, but she was a frequent visitor. My aunt and uncle had barreled their way out of the slums through a combination of hard work and luck (which they’d never admit to), so Rebecca had a lot more at her disposal than a bunch of first and second graders who scrounged together their allowance to buy a couple of sheets of stickers from the drug store. No, she was the cool, older kid with literal boxes of untouched sheets and rolls of Disney characters and multicolored unicorns and cute puppies and fuzzy kittens. And, while she wasn’t in any way mean or unkind to us, she was an absolute scrooge with her collection. I suppose I would be too if the situation were reversed.
We could marvel at her recent acquisitions, but we couldn’t actually touch. Trading with her was like talking to a brick wall, because she was more there to gloat than to take part in our mad scramble. Occasionally, if the wind blew in exactly the right way and the sun was aligned properly with the planets, she’d bestow upon us a gift from her hoard, though I could never peg whether it was goodwill or showing off. It doesn’t matter. She gave me a rainbow shark for my birthday and I still have it stuck in my drawer of sentimental junk.
Additionally, she was very particular about her stickers. I can’t think of time when, at the end of our sessions, she didn’t comb the entire room just to make sure that everything was in its place. I’m not sure how an eight-year-old girl manages to memorize exactly how many sheets of identical Casey and Caymus stickers she has, but it never failed that she would always notice if something was missing. Sometimes, things got mixed up and we’d have to sort through our own piles to find the errant stickers, and sometimes we’d spend half an hour looking under furniture until we found where it fluttered to. She was anal about it.
Which is why it shocked me when she left for the day and I discovered she’d forgotten one.
It was a regular day of our swap meeting, sitting beneath the picture window of my mom’s living room, the only anomaly being that Rebecca seemed more than a little under the weather. The other girls who could make it wrapped up early because their moms needed them home from lunch, but Rebecca lingered until well into the evening until her parents finally picked her up. She counted out her sheets, we spent way too long looking for a missing dragon she’d got from a fifty cent machine, and once she was satisfied with her inventory, she packed up everything and left.
Only, as soon as she was out the door, I noticed something sitting where she had just been. It was on white wax paper and was the size of a Skittle, but it was a fluorescent yellow that caught my eye immediately. I dove on it out of curiosity and a weird sense of first-grade desperation. I didn’t care that, technically, it was stealing. I just cared that Rebecca had somehow missed one of her treasured stickers--probably because she was too sick to notice or care--and I could add it to my own collection.
It wasn’t anything impressive: a yellow circle with the tiny, awkward silhouette of a unicorn on it. In any other situation, I’d think it was the dullest thing I could ever cram into my pile, but it was Rebecca’s. That made it special.
As I shuffled it into my shoe box of wonders, I justified it to myself by repeating the mantra that, if it meant that much to her, she would have noticed it was gone regardless of how ill she felt. Maybe it wasn’t even her who dropped it. Maybe it was Cathy or Ashley or a girl from a previous get-together, and I know all of my friends wouldn’t mind if I kept something as insignificant as a teeny, tiny, pinkie-nail sized sticker with a poorly drawn unicorn on it. If they did bring it up, I’d just give them one of my gold stars or weird, bug-eyed smileys from the doctor’s office. In my mind, it’d balance itself out.
Predictably, after half an hour of gloating to my stuffed animals, I did what any kid would: I completely forgot about it. That unicorn sticker was lost in the fog of dressing up a Beanie Baby in doll clothes so he could have a lovely night out at Pride Rock with his girlfriend, bootleg Hello Kitty. By the time my mom forced me to take a bath and ordered me into bed, the unicorn sticker was barely a blip on the radar, at least until Rebecca finally called me out on my theft.
Or, normally that’s how it would go, except for the fact that I barely could sleep that night. I was plagued with nightmare after nightmare, waking up to stare at the glow-in-the-dark stars on my ceiling, feeling like something was glaring at me. I’d always doze off again, but the dreams would go on like a sick, twisted clip show: finding Rebecca eating my neighborhood friends alive in the kitchen, watching my dog get slowly crushed by a car, drowning in the river beside my house. And it just went on and on.
And on. And on.
For days.
To say my mother was concerned by my night terrors was an understatement, but less of one than to say I was scared when I realized she would react to smells and glimpses of something dark that seemed to ooze around in our peripheral vision. You see, as the days marched on, the nightmares seemed to persist in small, strange ways once I woke up. I’d catch a whiff of vinegar and sulfur out of nowhere and watch, horrified, as my mother’s nostrils would flare and her brows would furrow in confusion. I’d see strange shadows slink around the wall, always bolting out of sight if I looked to them and, eventually, I’d watch my mom whip her head around to seek out the culprit, too.
It took almost a week for me to put two and two together, my house gradually becoming more and more unwelcoming and my sleep becoming less and less restful. I probably would have never figured it out if I hadn’t knocked over my box of stickers while staggering tiredly across my room. Amidst tears of frustration and kid-friendly curses that wouldn’t get me grounded, I started putting everything back into place and stumbled across that goddamned unicorn.
It was just as boring as I remembered it, lemon yellow with a awkward silhouette like some kind of girly Batman logo. I stared at it, it stared back, and then I got a whiff of something sour that was so strong that my eyes watered. I blinked and looked down, only to see a blank yellow circle staring back from my palm.
I screamed. I was too young to really register how crazy it sounded and too trusting in the idea that my mom would believe me, and she opted to chalk it up to sleep deprivation. She practically manhandled me to force a Benadryl down my throat, telling me it was for my own good, that I needed a nap, that she’d find a way to get me to the doctor within the next couple of days.
I fought valiantly, but was out like a light within a few minutes.
And I awoke in a nightmare, huddled in my bed, the floor stretching for miles and miles and the walls climbing up to the stratosphere. The only source of light was an ethereal ball of what looked like fire but, somehow, less substantial. It ebbed and flowed and glowed and the shadows seemed to dance with its erratic undulations, twisting and squirming like snakes and monsters. Some of them seemed to have faces, but they burned away in the light.
Fire or no, it was cold. I huddled beneath my blanket, breath creating clouds in the air as I stared, transfixed, at this strange ball of energy. Something dark began to grow inside of it, a shadow that wouldn’t melt, and as it expanded, the orange light grew brighter and more golden, almost radiant. I squeaked and tried to run as I saw four spindly legs, a long and crooked neck, and a jagged horn, but my body was paralyzed when it let out a horrifying scream.
Have you ever heard a horse when it’s angry? It’s petrifying. Terrifying enough, actually, that it was the basis for a dinosaur roar in many films. Loud enough that it makes your ears pop and your head throb. I clapped my hands over my ears and felt blood pool in my palms as it grew louder and louder and louder and louder. I screamed back and it drowned me out, one voice becoming two becoming three.
Though there was only one solitary creature standing in front of me, one twisted and deranged unicorn that jittered unnaturally and bent at weird angles, its voice came from everywhere. In its screams, I began to hear whispers, then words.
Threats.
Threats spoken in languages a six-year-old shouldn’t know, yet somehow I understood. Threats of what would become of me and my family, and lists of everything it knew I cared about. It detailed what it would do to everyone from my favorite toy to my family dog to my best friend to my long-dead grandmother who it shrieked, triumphantly, it could reach even though I would never see her again. I saw flashes of white walls and cups of medicine and a woman, with hair and eyes and skin like me, hanging listlessly from a pipe by her bedsheets with a toppled chair beneath her feet.
“This is what happens,” it told me. “This is what will happen. This is what I am. I am your worst nightmare.”
The screaming only stopped when I felt a horrible pain. I awoke on the floor in my room--my real room--with my mother at the bedroom door, pale-faced and hoarse. My face was sticky and warm, my left eye wouldn’t open. As I tried to push myself up, my mom screeched in a way that would have put the unicorn to shame.
She got me to the doctor that day.
The official story was that I’d fallen out of bed, and maybe I had. Cracked my head on the nightstand and nearly gouged my eye out, but caught my brow instead. They gave me a little clamp because it was too swollen for stitches and, as per usual, a sticker to help me feel better. I stared at it on the ride home, knowing what it was that I had to do.
When the weekend rolled around and we had our little trading party, Rebecca came to gloat, as always. The neighborhood girls clamored around her most recent additions, like a whole new set of glow-in-the-dark aliens and a few sheets of Disney heroines. They ooh-ed and aah-ed and thankfully paid no attention to my bruised and battered face as I sat there, fist clenched around that fucking unicorn as I struggled to force a smile. I couldn’t help but notice how much more alive and refreshed and energized Rebecca was as she flittered around, grinning and happy.
Not like she was when she made me scour the living room for that goddamn dragon sticker the day I found the unicorn.
She had done it on purpose, hadn’t she? She’d left that thing in my house trying to get away from it and look what it had done. Anger was my fuel as I waited for her to turn her back, grabbed a box of her stickers, and chucked the unicorn in. I shook it for good measure, so the tiny thing would settle somewhere in the bottom where she would probably miss it.
And she did. Somehow, despite every odd against me, she missed it. When she left for the evening, she only did a quick check for anything that could have fallen, packed her boxes under her arm, and left with a cheerful wave. I couldn’t even feel remorse as I watched her go; in my mind, it was justified. In my mind, I was playing tit-for-tat. If she was willing to throw her little cousin under the bus, then maybe little cousin had every right to dish it right back at her.
I slept very soundly that night, and the night after that, and the night after that. A miracle, my mother called it, though I knew the truth. I still know the truth.
And I think Rebecca does, too.
I visit her sometimes, out at the ward. She’s not very responsive and more than a little prone to falling asleep mid-visit, but sometimes when she looks at me, there’s a glint of hate and fear and disgust that I can catch in her eye, and envy and spite hidden deep in her voice. It’s like she wants to tell me that I should be in her place, that it should have been me whose childhood was robbed from her.
She wants to tell me, but she can’t. She won’t. She’ll never admit what she did, because she wants me to feel like she is the victim in all of this, that she never once tried to sacrifice me to whatever the fuck that unicorn really is. She doesn’t want to admit that I won.
Or maybe, just maybe, she’s guilty. She knows what she did and I’m a constant reminder of it, the only family member who ever visits and the only one who stays to talk. Maybe she hates me because I remind her of what a monster she is, perhaps even worse than the unicorn ever could be.
And maybe? Maybe that’s the worst nightmare of all.
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