Chapter I: The Calm Before the Storm
For a moment, there was a tense atmosphere present in the World of Void. All 80 warriors from the 8 universes had finally set foot on the top-like stage, anticipating the start of their match. The fate of the universes outside of the first, fifth, eighth, and twelfth universes were to be decided in this one match. Failure was not an acceptable outcome in this scenario.
Prior to its start, Gohan and Beerus, among the captains of the other teams reiterated their strategies.
TEAM UNIVERSE 7
Beerus stood his right foot firmly on the rim of the levitating seats circling the arena. "TEAMWORK. Remember to use TEAMWORK!" Beerus shouted. It was loud enough for the destroyer of the fourth universe to hear.
Quitela let out a sinister snicker. "Cute little plan ya got there, Beerus ol' pal. Your coaching skills are just as lousy as your job as a destroyer." Quitela remarked.
Beerus clenched his right fist, gritting his teeth. He stared down Quitela intensely, holding back his rage.
TEAM UNIVERSE 6
"You already know what to do, Hit." Champa stated. "BUT EVERYONE ELSE, just knock 'em out! Don't let your crummy friendship with Universe 7 prevent you from fighting ya hear?!" Champa then looked intently at Frost, "...and YOU." Champa shifted to a more serious tone. "Don't you dare bring shame to me again, especially not in front of Zen-Oh."
"I'll make sure to keep that in mind." Frost remarked sarcastically.
TEAM UNIVERSE 4
"Remember, the big dogs in this tournament will be those 6." Ganos stated, pointing to Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, Hit, Toppo, and Jiren. "Let's refrain from making contact with them until the right time."
Everyone nodded.
"Actually I've got an idea." Nink added. "How about I try taking one of them out with myself? It'll be a sacrifice, yes, but at least we'll have fewer people to worry about."
Ganos hesitantly nodded, giving his plan approval.
"I'll just play dead. And, hey, maybe those muscle-brains from the tenth universe will fall for it." Shosha explained.
TEAM UNIVERSE 2
"Remember everyone, to believe in the power in love!" Brianne de Château exclaimed.
"Yes!" The rest of Team Universe 2 said in agreement with the exception of Hamira and Pran.
"You do that, however Pran and I have already formed a plan to take out fighters from the shadows." Hamira stated.
Pran nodded.
"Say, why can't we just have Jimeze teleport the other warriors off stage?" Rabanra inquired.
"Although this is a battle to decide the fate of our universe, our first objective is to make sure we put on a show for the Omni King. A boring tactic such as that could possibly turn off the Omni King and lead to the erasure of our universe." Zirloin stated.
TEAM UNIVERSE 9
"I don't think revenge is the best idea, Bergamo. We should focus on survival first instead of personal grudges." Oregano stated.
"Sorry, I can't hear you. Did you say something?" Bergamo refuted.
"Neither can I." Lavenda and Basil added.
"Is this seriously our plan? We need to come up with something quick before this tournament starts." Hop suggested.
TEAM UNIVERSE 11
"No need to worry, this won't even be a sweat." Kahseral said confidently.
"We should be a bit cautious about Son Goku, however. Of course, he's nothing compared to Jiren yet his battle power is nearly matched with mine." Toppo said.
"And what about the others?" Dyspo asked.
"They should be easy for the most part. However I just noticed that one of the members has been replaced." Toppo stated, looking at Frieza.
Frieza formed an evil grin on his face, staring back at Toppo with his deadly blood red eyes.
"I sense a sinister energy emitting from him." Toppo stated.
Meanwhile, Jiren observed the other teams. He looked at Goku and Hit for a while, before closing his eyes.
ZEN-OH
The Daishinkan approached the two Zen-Ohs, handing them an interesting tablet device. On the tablets were 12 symbol icons representing the 12 universes. Zen-Oh tapped the 7th icon, loading a page with Team Universe 7's full roster. The future Zen-Oh loaded Universe 6's roster page.
"This is fun!" Zen-Oh stated.
"Very fun!" The Future Zen-Oh remarked, finishing the other Zen-Oh's sentence.
"I am honored by and give thanks for these compliments." The Daishinkan humbly.
"Oh my, it seems we're almost ready to start." He added. The Daishinkan moved closer to the stage, getting the attention of the others.
"Show us the teams, Daishinkan!" Zen-Oh eagerly requested.
"Yeah, show us!" Future Zen-Oh added in agreement.
"Universe 2!" He suddenly announced.
Brianne de Chateau flipped her hair over, posing with the rest of the Kamikaze fireballs, crossing her arms.
Goku immediately took notice of the Yardrat standing next to an orange Frieza-like fighter. "Say, isn't that a Yardrat?" He inquired.
"The ones who taught you instant transmission?" Vegeta asked.
Goku nodded. "We should watch out for him."
Fuwa, the Supreme Kai of Universe 6, also happened to notice the Yardrat. "Oh my, I wasn't aware those beings existed outside of the sixth and seventh universes." He commented.
"What are you concerned about? He doesn't look like much." Champa replied.
"Yardrats seem to have an arsenal of fascinating and useful techniques to make up for their lack of combat skills. One of which is the Instant Transmission, allowing them to teleport to anyone as long as they can sense their ki." Vados explained only for Champa to have a somewhat shocked expression.
"Universe 3!"
Paparoni raised his staff, causing it to create sparks of electricity.
Android 17 eyed Maji Kayo, sensing a potential threat.
"Universe 4!"
Nink stomped on the ground, causing the Caway to flinch and back away. Ganos and Monna then front-flipped, landing in front of the group.
"Hey, uh, I'm not sure if I'm going crazy but am I the only one seeing 8 warriors?" Krillin asked.
"Uh.. Let's see, two, three, four, six, seven..." Goku said, attempting to count. "You're right!"
"Is that even allowed? They seriously can't be treating this competition as a joke, can they?" Android 18 commented.
However, Tien and Hit were able to sense a feint presence within their team. "No, there are two others. Their ki, however, is very hard to detect." Tien explained.
"Universe 6!"
Hit, hands in pocket, walked forward. Kale hid behind Caulifla, shy as usual. However there were two Namekians, Saonel and Pilina hiding from Universe 7's sight.
"Universe 7!"
The team slightly stepped up in unison, while Gohan got into one of his crazy Saiyaman poses. Noticing the others were just standing still, he felt a bit awkward and resumed his idle stance feeling embarrassed.
"Well if there's one compliment I can give that team, their leader sure knows how to pose." Kahseral commented.
"Universe 9!"
Basil flipped back towards his team, while Roselle flapped his wings in the background.
"Universe 10!"
All the members of the team, with the exception of Lilibeu, Jium, and Jirasen struck a fighting pose while Jirasen gracefully twirled into the front, showing off his body.
"And last but not least, Universe 11!"
The Pride Troopers suddenly assumed their signature poses with an alignment of colorful explosions coming from behind them.
Goku got into his fighting stance, smirking.
"Let the Tournament of Power... Begin!"
