The Gathering of Universe 7
"So... Let me get this straight... We have to fight a bunch of fighters from different universes... With a team of twenty... And if we lose, we get permanently erased from existence? Is that all!? Dad, this is insane!" Gohan yelled at his father.
"Shush! Keep it down, Gohan... We have a year, to gather fighters and train. Beerus wants all the fighters by the end of the week, so we can spend the most time training..." Goku explained to his son.
"How many hours did they spend explaining this to you, father?" Gohan crossed his arms as he glared at Goku.
"... Only six..." Goku smiled awkwardly.
Gohan let out a deep sigh.
"Fine, I'll go with Piccolo, to New Namek, to get Porunga to bring back three fighters... Which am I going to get?" He asked.
Goku chuckled light heartedly.
"I talked with Vegeta, and Whis. Vegeta is gonna go with you two, and you're going to revive my old buddy Pikkon, from Otherworld. Tapion too..." Goku paused, and frowned, looking down, upset.
"And the third?" Gohan raised an eyebrow.
"It's... Your Uncle... That Saiyan, Raditz." Goku answered
Krillin and Goku sparred, as nearby, 18 and Marron sat on the ground, on top of a picnic blanket, with the food basket open, as they munched on snacks.
"So you want me and 18 to help fight in this tournament? I'm down. How about you, 18?" Krillin smiled over at his wife, who raised an eyebrow.
"And why should I?" 18 asked.
"Cause if we lose, everything we know and love will be erased from existence." Goku laughed awkwardly.
"WHAT!?" Krillin screamed, as he stared at Goku, dumbfounded. 18 was taken aback for a moment, before she stood up, looking deadly serious.
"Yeah... We need all the fighters we can get... 18, do you know where Android 17 is?" Goku asked.
"I'm going to call 17." Was all she said, as she turned and ran back inside the home she and Krillin lived in.
"Well that was easy, huh?" Goku looked at his best bud, Krillin, surprised to find him looking at Goku as if he were crazy.
"Goku... Please tell me you have a plan!?"
Goku and Krillin landed at Kame House, the place Master Roshi, Master of the Turtle Style, lived. The old man was on his beach, reading some sort of... Magazine.
"Hey, Master Roshi! Do you wanna..." Goku trailed off, as he saw that his speaking did not get the attention of Roshi, who was giggling to himself as he read what was in his hands.
Krillin let out a deep sigh, before yelling at the top of his lungs,
"ROSHI! JOIN TOURNAMENT OR NO MORE MAGS!"
Roshi immediately closed his eyes, and his mag.
"Who's the opponent?"
"Literally every other universe in existence." Krillin tell him.
"No one gets between me and my mags!" Roshi yelled, shaking his fists to the sky, as blood trickled down his nose, to a giant puddle that had been forming for who knows how long...
"Well that was quick..." Goku commented.
On New Namek...
"So... Pikkon, Tapion, and Raditz." Piccolo asked Gohan, as they stood before the Dragon Porunga, granter of three wishes.
"Yep... Supposedly, dad already got King Yemma to help collect them, so they'll be at the Lookout when we get back." Gohan told his master, the Fused Namekian, Piccolo.
"Alright then... Porunga!" The big green warrior turned to the Almighty Dragon, and began to speak in his native tongue…
A few days later, back on Earth, atop Kami's Lookout...
"Well... Welcome back to life, you three." Piccolo greeted three warriors as he landed on the lookout, Gohan just a split second behind him.
"Umm... Hello..." Tapion looked around, and scratched his head.
"We're supposed to fight for the existence of our universe, correct?" Pikkon, the other green alien, asked.
"Yes... It's a grave danger, but you three are really all we got... So we have to train. We have a year." Gohan told them.
"I still can't believe it myself, honestly..." Tapion sighed, as he slipped his hands into his pockets.
Then, the third fighter spoke up, the one who standing behind Tapion and Pikkon, the one Gohan dreaded to speak to again.
"Well... Then I guess we'd better get to training... Isn't that right, uhh... Nephew... Goten, was it?" Raditz awkwardly laughed.
Gohan frowned.
"No, Goten is my younger brother... My name is Gohan. This is Piccolo." Gohan gestured to his Namekian Master.
"You... You're the guy that killed me, aren't you!?" Raditz demanded, as he stomped over, poking Piccolo in the chest, looking angry, and trying to be intimidating.
Obviously, he was failing.
"And what of it, Saiyan? Do I need to tell you that I've gotten far stronger than I was back then? And need I remind you, your power is literally the basis for the Saibamen, which killed no one." He taunted.
"They killed one fighter..." Gohan muttered, crossing his arms and looking down.
"He doesn't count as a fighter." Piccolo retorted.
Raditz just sighed and backed down.
"So... Can you please train me then?" Raditz asked, poking his two index fingers together.
"No, someone else already demanded to train you." Piccolo told him.
"Who?" Raditz asked.
"You should know him well... He's your old boss..." Piccolo smirked to himself.
"Oh no... Anybody but him!" Raditz called out, frustrated...
Goku, Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien Shinhan stood together, in a desert who knows where, with the Dragon Balls of Earth collected before them.
"So... We're doing this, as Vegeta is getting Future Trunks... And Gohan and Piccolo get those three you mentioned earlier?" Yamcha asked.
"Yep! Thanks for coming along, Yamcha, and Tien. Collecting the Dragon Balls with you guys again reminded me of the good old days!" Goku chuckled, as he held the Dragon Radar in his hands.
"Are you sure we should do this? Bringing these kind of people back..." Tien frowned, not happy with what he was doing.
"Don't worry, they're strong, I'm sure they care enough about existing... And besides, me and Vegeta can take care of them if they go rogue." Goku assured his old friend, and previous enemy.
"Let's just get this over with..." Krillin crossed his arms and sighed, not liking what was about to happen. Goku shrugged, and raised his hands to the sky, chanting the incantation to summon Shenron.
"Mighty Shenron, come forth and grant my wish!" Goku yelled.
A Golden Light exploded, illuminating the area, originating from the Dragon Balls... As Shenron rose forth, and entered this realm.
"Speak your wish, and it shall be granted..." Shenron announced, his voice booming all throughout the land...
"Oh it's just you guys..." Shenron looked down at the group.
"So who's getting revived this time?" He asked. Goku laughed, a bit strained.
"Umm... Could you maybe bring back to life five people we've fought before?" The Saiyan raised on Earth asked.
"..." Shenron sighed, any person with even the slightest, smallest intelligence could tell the Dragon was dead inside.
"Yeah... But it'll take both the wishes I am capable of granting." Shenron said.
"Oh well, that's okay! Please, grant us this wish, Shenron!" Goku cheered.
"Fine! I will, just... Keep it down..." Shenron sighed, and his eyes lit up, then a bright light exploded once more, this time from him.
"Your wish is granted! Five warriors who have fought against you, Son Goku, have been brought back to life, and brought before you!" The Dragon Balls levitated in the air, and shot off, as they turned to stone, and Shenron vanished within thin air...
Then, the villains were brought back.
Meta Cooler, brother to Freeza, and son of King Cold.
"Hmm? I've been brought back to life!?" He looked at himself, examining his metal form...
Cell, the Bio Android that proclaims his own perfection...
"Back to life? Me? Ahh... Perfection returns to exist among the living!" Cell chuckled.
Freeza, Tyrant of the Universe, the Golden Emperor, who killed the Saiyan Race with his own hands...
"It seems I've been resurrected once more... Ha! The Universe shall fear my tyranny once again!" Freeza gloated, in his fourth, and his birth, form.
Then... The Demon Janemba, the one that corrupted hell... And was born from all the evil in Otherworld!
"... Alive... Janemba... Alive!" The devil laughed, as he formed coherent words, looking around.
"Hey everybody!" Goku smiled and waved, as he greeted the villains. They all looked at him, and in unison, became angry, their faces forming expressions of rage.
"Now wait! Before you try to kill me..." Goku laughed, a bit afraid for his well being.
"You dare expect me to hold back, after what you did to me!? I'll kill you!" Meta Cooler growled.
"And if you do that, we'll lose the Tournament of Power and stop existing." Goku put plainly.
"Wait what-" Cell began, before Goku interrupted him.
"That's right. We need you, to fight alongside us, or else the Universe will be erased from existence, by Zeno, the King of All!" Goku told them.
"... Are we really expected to believe this... This propaganda!?" Cell laughed, as he put two fingers to his forehead.
"I think I'll just kill you with the same attack Piccolo did..." He taunted.
"No Cell. Son Goku speaks the truth... It seems we must team up for now... Or risk Zeno's wrath." Freeza spoke up.
"Hmm? You of all people would defend Son Goku... Heh. Maybe this tall tale has some truth to it, after all..."" Cell put his hand down, and sighed.
In reality, Freeza's mind was going a mile a minute. He knew Goku wouldn't lie to him about something like this... So he began to think... Form plans... And idealize how he'd manipulate the Gods...
"Janemba... Doesn't care!" Janemba spoke up, smiling evilly, showing his fangs off.
"Janemba kill all!" The devil screamed, as he powered up.
"Crap... I should've known at least one unreasonable foe would've been brought back... Janemba stop!" Goku yelled.
Janemba merrily smirked at him, as his sword appeared in his hand, materializing out of thin air.
"Janemba... Only listen to pure evil... Because Janemba... Because I, am pure evil!" Janemba looked at Goku, his eyes almost flooding with intelligence.
"Uhhh... Anyone got any ideas!?" Goku asked.
"Janemba! I order you to stop!" Meta Cooler stomped over to the devil, and tried to stand taller than him, with his hands on his hips, to look intimidating... Unsuccessfully. Janemba smiles gleefully, as he stabs Meta Cooler through the gut, making the metallic warrior bend over in shock, and fall to the ground, holding his wound.
"I... I felt that..." He spat out what looked to be oil.
"I'll kill anyone who gets in my way..." Janemba's light, screechy voice, began to be replaced with a deep, raspy, demonic voice.
"Devil... Kneel before perfection!" Cell walked over to Janemba, arrogantly smirking, crossing his arms as he strode-
Then Cell's top half fell on the ground, as his legs remained standing there. Janemba had cut him in half before he'd even processed it.
"... Where is the rest of perfection?" Cell asked, as his head also began rolling away from his body. Janemba had cut him from the waist, and the shoulders...
Janemba then looked at the villain that remained... Freeza. Freeza merely smirked when Janemba's eyes fell upon him, and spread his hands out in his signature pose.
"Well? Are we going to fight? Are you going to serve me willingly?" Freeza inquired.
Janemba began to laugh, as he walked up to Freeza, striding slowly, and pulling back his sword arm, to swing...
Then he stopped. Janemba looked at Freeza, his eyes glowing, and his smile widening... As his arm lowered... And he got on his knees, kneeling before Freeza.
"... You chose the better option. Congratulations." Freeza smiled and pat Janemba on the head.
"I... Janemba... Serve you... Pure evil... Hahahahahaha!" Janemba devolved into laughing, as he groveled at Freeza's feet.
"Well... That fixes that..." Goku looked around, at his buddies, as they were all in fighting poses, ready to battle, scared for their lives.
"But wait... Where's the fifth person Shenron revived?" Tien asked... As the group suddenly felt an overwhelming ominous feeling...
In Future Trunks' timeline...
The Time Machine landed, right behind a building, in a destroyed, ruined city. Out of it climbed Vegeta, who looked around, taking in his environment.
"At least it worked... Bulma's father isn't as old as I thought..." Vegeta chuckled to himself, as he continued looking around, searching for something... Or more accurately, someone.
"The Time Machine was set to drop me near Trunks... Where..." Vegeta trailed off, as he kept looking around, until he stopped by the entrance to an alley... And saw him.
Trunks, his son, laying with his sword next to him, his clothes dirty and ragged, ripped. His hair covered most of his face... But Vegeta could see the streaks clear as day. Dirt, the kind that covered a man who fought with all he had, covered his face... Split only, by the wet tears of anguish that flowed with loss...
"... Trunks? What the hell..." Vegeta muttered, as he approached his son with caution.
"We thought... We thought we could save this timeline... We thought, together... With our other selves... We could finally win..." Trunks muttered, his voice pained and stressed... Ached, even.
"We were so wrong... They became one being again... My other self... Was the first to fall... Then the other Mai... And then..." He choked up, as a new stream began, tears was once more appearing, as they rolled down his cheeks.
"I finally... After everything... Managed to just barely win... But... I hadn't won... I hadn't won at all..." Trunks looked up at Vegeta, his eyes were red, and no longer human... Instead, what would be hope, kindness, or anger... Was gone. Nothing but despair... Nothing but agony remained. It was as if those other emotions- joy, rage, shame- had left. They were just absent.
Vegeta took a deep breath, and looked upward. His face became hidden by the shadows... But Trunks kept staring, as for the first time in who knows how long... His eyes filled with something else. Something worse. They pleaded, begged, for something. Anything. Trunks demanded from his father... He just didn't know what.
Minutes stretched on, as Trunks stared at Vegeta, who just stared upwards. It began to rain, and storm. Tears and raindrops became one... Their splash on the ground echoed in unison.
"Say something! Father!" Trunks yelled. Vegeta did not move, or react.
"Say something, for once! God damn you, you arrogant... You... Prideful..." Trunks leaned, and his sitting body hit the floor, in a fetal position, as he began to worm his way to his father's feet.
"I..." Trunks' eyes flared... Something else, something old, had finally returned. Trunks' greatest ally... Rage. No, much more. Hate. Hatred.
"I hate you! I hate Black! I hate the Androids! I hate Mai. I hate Goku. I hate my mother! I hate..." Trunks panted, as he ripped some of his hair from his scalp, blinding himself with the flow of agony coming from his eyes...
"No. No you don't." Vegeta finally spoke. Trunks looked up at him, his rage glowing through his eyes.
"You're not a man." Vegeta's chin lowered, and he looked down at his son, who was shocked for a moment.
"You want to hate someone? Hate the person who's caused all of this." Vegeta's fists clenched. He grabbed Trunks by the hair, with one hand, and slammed a fist into his face.
"Yourself." The Saiyan Prince spat, as he threw his son out of the alley, and in front of the Time Machine.
"You want to protect, but you fail at every turn... You're a disgrace. A disappointment. Not to me. Not to your mother. Not to Gohan. Not even to Mai. You're a failure to yourself." Vegeta walked over to Trunks, who lay on the wet asphalt, looking up at his father.
"You're lucky. I'm going to give you one last chance... One final chance to prove yourself worthy to be my seed. To be Bulma's child. You're going to help in the Tournament of Power... And if you lose... Then, I'll kill you myself, garbage." Vegeta placed a foot on Trunks' face, holding him down.
"Now go get your sword... You have a Tournament to win, filth."
At Capsule Corporation...
Outside, tables had been arranged, and at one, sat the God of Destruction, Lord Beerus, and his Angel Attendant, Whis.
Already assembled, were Goku, Roshi, Yamcha, Tien, Freeza, Janemba, Cell, Meta Cooler, Piccolo, Gohan, Pikkon, Tapion, Raditz, Vegeta, and Trunks. Majin Buu, another fighter, had just arrived, with Mr. Satan accompanying the fat blob once known as the most dangerous foe the Z-Fighters had ever faced.
They all watched, as a car pulled up, and out stepped 18, in a tracksuit, with her husband Krillin... And then, out of the backseat... Android 17, 18's brother, and previous foe, also stepped out.
They locked eyes almost instantly. Everyone else in the group who knew what happened took a nervous gulp. Piccolo and 17 reunited...
The Namekian moved forward, and met with 17 half way... They stared at each other... For a good minute.
"Thank you for coming, and offering to help protect our existence." Piccolo offered his hand to shake, and 17 shook it gratefully.
"I'd say it's good to be here... But let's be honest, it's not." 17 said. Piccolo cracked a smile at that.
The two walked back to the group, seemingly fine with one another for now. Gohan let out a relieved sigh.
"Finally! Everyone is here!" Beerus stood up.
The group almost seemed to split into three... With the villains on one side, Cell, Freeza, Meta Cooler, Janemba. The Heroes on another, Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, 18, 17, Gohan, Yamcha, Tien, Roshi. Then the people who really didn't care, a.k.a the rest, in the middle.
"Well... We need to work out a training regiment..." Beerus looked somewhat off put by this sudden action.
"Well we still need a twentieth fighter, don't we, Lord Beerus?" Whis questioned. Beerus counted the current present, and growled at Goku.
"We're missing one! Where is the final fighter!?" Beerus demanded. Goku laughed awkwardly...
"Uhh... The fifth bad guy... Didn't really show up..." Goku coughed.
Beerus looked absolutely livid... Until suddenly, a bolt of red energy crashed into existence behind Goku.
"Son Goku... Are you... Trying to escape your job and train!?" Chi Chi, Goku's wife, snuck up behind him, and was currently using the Kaioken technique with no drawback...
"Chi Chi!? Oh dear... Ummm... No, I'm just... Talking with Lord Beerus about food..." He tried to come up with an excuse, but Chi Chi's face only became angrier.
"I-I mean... I have to stop our world from being destroyed, right!? Hahahahahahahaha... Ha... Ha... Haaaaaaaa..." Goku seemingly pleaded with his wife.
Janemba walked up to the two, looking at Chi Chi.
"You's a bitc-" Then Janemba stopped being.
"Make that eighteen fighters, Lord Beerus." Whis stated.
"Huh? The hell is..." Freeza looked down, and saw Janemba attached to his leg, like a terrified child. His expression matched it too.
"Make the mean woman go away, please..." Janemba whined, as he hid his face into Freeza's thigh, pressing against the Tyrant.
"Get off me, you illegitimate, illiterate..." Freeza tried shaking Janemba off, to no avail. He sighed and gave up.
"Alright! Found our twentieth fighter! Chi Chi, you're in!" Beerus announced, and everyone sighed with relief.
"Ah man, with my mother in, no other universe stands a chance..." Gohan sighed.
"Well... Maybe the one with a Mortal That a God of Destruction Cannot Defeat, might be able to defeat us." Whis chuckled. Everyone's head creaked as they turned toward the Angel.
"Oh, did I forgot to mention? Silly me!" Whis laughed to himself.
Then a voice boomed out...
"So this is why I was revived... I was wondering why Shenron would bring back to life his own killer..."
Literally everyone, including Beerus and Whis, turned around in shock, as the fifth villain walked up to them...
Piccolo took a step forward, shocked like never before. Goku looked at the newcomer with rage, as did Krillin, Tien, and Roshi...
"How could Shenron bring this guy back..." Krillin muttered... As Piccolo took to one knee in front of the warrior...
"... F-Father..." Piccolo managed to finally get something out...
"Indeed... I'm your father, you disappointing failure of a tool for revenge..." Said Demon King Piccolo...
Meet Universe 7's Roster for the Tournament of Power!
Son Goku
Vegeta
Son Gohan
Piccolo
Krillin
Android 18
Android 17
Majin Buu
Master Muten Roshi
Yamcha
Tien Shinhan
Future Trunks
Pikkon
Tapion
Raditz
Cell
Meta Cooler
Janemba
Freeza
Demon King Piccolo
Next time on Dragon Ball Super...
A Year's Worth of Training! Time to Meet the Other Universes!