Chapter 6: "Goku Must Die!; The Beginning of a New War"
Play Super Music: "Death Match with Goku Black"
21 was having trouble keeping up with Baby as with every other move she blocked, he managed to hit her with twice the force. As he beat her down rapidly, 21 was quickly becoming tired and couldn't focus anymore before Baby delivered a hard knee to her gut, forcing her to spit out saliva before he did a follow-up kick that sent her tumbling back near the edge of the arena before Baby drew closer to her and formed a dark and purple sphere in between them.
"Previously on Dragon Ball Super, the third and final fight of the Zeno Expo came to a halt as self-proclaimed leader of the Tuffles, Baby, performed an execution."
"Remember, the blood that will spill will be on his hands, not mine. You can blame him for your death!"
With that, Baby fired the blast at point blank range, earning 21's agonizing shriek before she appeared to have completely disintegrated, much to the horror of Goku, who stood with his eyes wide in shock as the blast disappeared, revealing that 21 had perished by his hands, leaving nothing but a small pink puddle above where she suffered her final moments. The other universes' deities began trembling in fear, except for Universes 6, 10, and 11 who stood in surprise while Jiren glared at him.
"The tyrant evaporated 21 to make a statement of his superiority to the multiverse. And as if that weren't bad enough..."
As Baby laughed maliciously at them, Goku tensed his hands as his hair rose up and down turning from black to yellow.
"Curse you..."
Unbeknownst to Baby, who maintained his dark, superior laughter, Goku had now become a Super Saiyan as he darted at the Tuffle.
"YOU'LL PAAAAAAAAAAAY!"
With that, he drove his fist to the tyrant's face, forcing Baby to the air before he teleported in the air and knocked him to the stage before he began firing rapid blasts at him, not caring about Grand Zeno's approval on this. As he looked in the dust, much to his anger, he noticed that Baby was not only smiling, he hadn't taken any damage whatsoever.
"Having watched his friend terminated, Goku declared vengeance upon Baby, but to no avail."
"Blast it! Why won't you die already?!"
"Because he can't."
Goku turned his head from hearing Akamu's voice and saw him, Demigra, Mira, Towa, Roberu, Western Supreme Kai, Xicor, and Ize in the podium of Universe 9, much to that group's surprise and Goku's shock.
"No... it can't be."
"But it is."
Then, he glared at Baby before he spoke.
"Now I get it. He brought you here, didn't he?"
"Of course. And you have no idea how long I've waited to make you suffer, Saiyan."
"What are you talking about?"
"Listen well, Goku. Once I tell you my story, you'll realize that you're the true villain here!"
"The grudge match continues, now!"
End Super Music: "Death Match with Goku Black"
As the other universes watched Goku and Baby glare at each other, Beerus paid his attention to Akamu's group.
"Hmm. So that's his posse. No wonder the Ninth didn't recognize that guy."
Above all, Supreme Kai was shocked to see a familiar face on his side.
"Wait, is that— Western Supreme Kai?!"
Having been noticed, Western Supreme Kai smirked at him.
"In the flesh."
"H-How are you here?! And why are you on his side?!"
"Can you blame me? After what happened to me, I realized that helping those mortals was just a waste of time if you don't get stronger yourself."
This practically shattered his heart as Supreme Kai then crumbled to the floor.
"How could you say such a thing...?"
Then, Ro spoke about Baby to Sidra.
"What a stroke of luck. We have no idea who that guy is, but he's fighting for us! And even better, he's not afraid to kill him dead."
As he snickered, Sidra grew concerned.
"Aren't you worried he'll take this too far?"
With that, Baby took the opportunity to speak.
"Pay close attention, Saiyan. What I did to your friend was just a prelude. What's coming next will be the revenge my people have sought for so long."
Play Super Music: "Regret"
As he spoke, Planet Plant can be seen in flashback before a Saiyan Pod landed and revealed a Saiyan warrior before he walked out of the pod. Following this, they turned into Great Apes before decimating the planet as the Tuffles shot at them to no avail before King Vegeta transformed as well and blasted them to dust before a silhouette of him came over the ruins. After which, it showed a scientist at the table before merging with the creation and being sent away.
"My ancestral home planet was actually a peaceful and wealthy society with a highly developed scientific community. It was you barbaric, evil Saiyans who destroyed it, burning through our planets resources like they were dry wheat!"
This made Caulifla and Kale confused as the former spoke in defense.
"Hey! We didn't destroy nothing!"
"The unrefined killer instincts of the Saiyans rose to a deafening pitch as the Tuffles were slain all over their own planet like insects. And the being responsible for this genocide was none other than your leader, King Vegeta, who, in his greatest moment of arrogance, renamed the planet after himself!"
"Wait, 'King' Vegeta? No offense, but Vegeta's not my king, so..."
"I was talking about his father, you clown. Anyway, having been pushed out of society, we took what little scientific knowledge we had and used it to create a genetically superior parasitic organism. Then, our King Tuffle combined his own DNA with the genes of the parasite's and scattered his creation across the vast reaches of space. And now, I've made it back to exact my revenge."
"That doesn't explain why you're with Akamu!"
"Believe it or not, he piqued my interest. In my time, I've successfully conquered the universe. Imagine my surprise, when he found me. That's when he made me an offer. Why rule only one universe when I could rule all 12?"
That made Goku glare at him before he spoke.
"So, you conquered the universe in your time? What about me in your time?"
"I killed you dead as a doornail. And I'll take great pleasure in doing it again!"
End Super Music: "Regret"
Goku only continued his glare at this before he spoke.
"You want to talk about revenge, Baby? Well, I've got my own to take!"
Play Super Dragon Ball Heroes Music: "Cumber's Transformation (Epic Recreation)"
"I'm no 'hero of justice' or anything, but I'm not gonna let you get away with what you did to 21! I will give her justice!"
As the multiverse murmured, Grand Zeno and Sen supported Goku as they shouted to him in anger for the latter's parr and excitement for the former.
"Yeah, Justice!"
"You give us that justice, Goku!"
"Justice!"
With that, Goku flared his aura before he began doing a flurry of punches and kicks as he spoke.
"I HATE YOU!"
Just as Goku was about to kick Baby, he blocked it before grabbing it and pulling it high up, causing him to scream before he spoke.
"Do you? That's comforting to hear..."
Then, Goku was left no choice but to kick him with his other leg, forcing him to let go before he jumped away and pushed his broken leg back down. After which, he chuckled at this, infuriating the Tuffle.
"Why are you laughing?!"
When he received no answer, Baby growled before firing a barrage of shockwaves at him.
"Curse you!"
As they repeatedly struck him, Goku felt as if he was being hit by Baby himself before Baby appeared behind him and kicked him to the ground before he fired purple energy cuffs at him, holding his arms and legs in place as he then began tightening the bands, earning Goku's screams of agony as Baby snickered.
"That should hold you while I introduce my true power."
As Goku continued screaming with the bands getting tighter, Baby raised his hands to the sky before calling out.
"Attention, subjects! This is your ruler, Baby! This screaming banshee is at my mercy awaiting his death! Give me your spite and malice so that I will wipe him from the face of the cosmos!"
Then, in surprise, the multiverse's Destroyers and Kais began sending Baby the energy against their will as they noticed a dark grey mist coming from them before Towa turned to Western Supreme Kai.
"Oh. I take it Baby's taking in all of the hatred towards Goku?"
"Yes. And he didn't even need to Tuffelize them. This is one of Akamu's gifts to him."
Gowasu, Zamasu, and Kari grew petrified at its size and power as the pupils spoke up first.
"This can't be... what is that power?!"
"It's just so... evil."
"I've never felt such powerful hate like this before."
With that, a black ball hovered above Baby as he laughed while the Saiyan writhed.
"Can you make it out, Saiyan?! Can you see your death?! This is all of the hatred that has built up towards you! This is the day you reap the destruction you've sown! REVENGE DEATH BALL!"
As he thrusted it toward Goku, the ball collided onto him, breaking the bands and intensified his agony a thousand times over as his shirt dissolved while Baby spoke with pride.
"No one escapes my Death Ball! You'll lose your sanity and die in terror long before your body disintegrates!"
As Goku screamed, he began to regret requesting this Tournament of Power as he thought about what he did to 21 and what Baby would do to the rest of the multiverse as he began to shed tears amidst his screams.
"This is my fault... it's all of my darn fault...! If I hadn't asked Zenny about the Tournament, I wouldn't have killed her... nobody would have died... everyone would still be... Everyone, forgive me! I'm so sorry!"
As Baby laughed, he failed to notice Jiren glaring red eyes under the hood before the black ball suddenly began to shrink instantaneously before exploding and creating a bright light, knocking him away while leaving Goku to brave the debris that flew by him.
End Super Dragon Ball Heroes Music: "Cumber's Transformation (Epic Recreation)"
When the dust settled, Baby looked to see that Goku still remained. Judging from the amount of hate stored in that attack, he should've been erased, but it was interfered with. This made him angry before he spoke.
"Alright, which one of you defied me?!"
Suddenly, Jiren glared at him again, landing consecutive blows to him without touching him repeatedly before he fell to the stage swiftly. As Baby got up, he turned to see Jiren who spoke to him.
"Get lost."
This made Baby snarl before Vegetto arrived.
"I'd listen to him. That guy's stronger than any God of Destruction here."
"What?!"
As the deities of the multiverse, excluding the 11th, whispered to each other, Baby then turned his attention to Goku, who was now attempting to crawl off the stage.
"What's this? I didn't say you could leave. No, I don't think you'll be going anywhere!"
He then darted toward him only to be punched in the face by Vegetto, sending him tumbling away before he turned to him and walked over before kneeling down and speaking.
"Well, you've gotta admit. He's right about you being a clown. You let your emotions get the better of you and as a result, you're practically waiting to get squashed."
"Hey, come on. You don't have to be so mean."
"That doesn't make it any less true. Besides, your friend's still alive in case you didn't know."
With that, Vegetto pointed to the pink puddle slowly reforming little by little before Goku remembered something.
"Oh, right. I forgot she had Buu's cells."
"Yeah, and no thanks to your temper tantrum, it's taking her even longer to regenerate."
"Yeah. My bad."
Then, Vegetto extended his hand outward to Goku before sending a wave of blue energy to him and healing him before he got up and limped over to 21 who cradled the pink puddle before using Instant Transmission and talking to Whis.
"Whis, can you help 21 regenerate?"
"As you wish."
With that, Whis pointed his staff at her and the end of it glowed blue before it sped up her recovery in an instant, restoring her recognizable features before she gasped for air, making Goku relieved.
"Phew! Thank goodness, you're okay."
As 21 took a deep breath, Baby glared at Vegetto as he stood up.
"Grrr. How dare you interfere?! What you've done was merely an example of Saiyan arrogance and contempt that you can't even fight one-on-one!"
Vegetto only rolled his eyes as he spoke.
"Oh, stop with the blame game already. You Tuffles were no more innocent than the Saiyans in your little war. For starters, you poisoned the Saiyans by taking their energy and turning them into puddles instead of communicating with them, just like you did not too long ago. And the Saiyans are just as guilty for destroying your people because they couldn't be more than mindless, primal savages. Your words, not mine, by the way."
Then, he turned to the man in charge.
"And as for you, I figured out how you've been alive all this time even after we defeated you in the future and what you meant by your prison."
Akamu then smirked before he spoke.
"And what might that entail, Saiyan?"
"Since you referred to your clones as your trump card, it's not too crazy to assume that you saved one for yourself in a special prison built to house it until your resurrection."
This made Akamu give a big grin before he clapped his hands.
"Congratulations, Saiyan. I expected you to figure out how I came back."
Then, he took a second glance at Baby, who panted his breath before he spoke.
"I believe that's enough for now, Baby. This opponent is matched even with me."
Hearing this, Baby widened his eyes in surprise before he nodded and flew off to his side. As this went on, Grand Zeno grew surprised.
"Wow, what's going on? So much is happening, I can't tell!"
Sen then spoke about her experiences.
"Those guys are my friends, and they helped save Goku."
"Wow, really? So, they're gonna kick Akamu's butt?"
"Yeah."
Then, Vegetto spoke up.
"Hey, Grand Zeno!"
"Huh?"
"Do you mind if you and I have a private talk?"
"Sure. About what?"
With that, Vegetto came up to the Grand Minister, Divine Maiden, and Omni-King before he spoke.
"I actually got a better idea than what Mr. Hates-a-lot had. Instead of terminating them, why don't we include them in this Tournament of Power? But the losing universes shouldn't get wiped out. Instead, they should be assigned to the winning universe to get better."
This made Sen smile wide as she spoke.
"That's a great idea!"
Grand Zeno was stuck on the idea of including Akamu in this Tournament of Power.
"Although... Why should we let Akamu play? He's a big meanie."
Vegetto then spoke to Grand Zeno with a smirk next.
"Yeah, he is. So, this way, you can see those universes work together to defeat him instead of being traitors. Isn't that something you've wanted to see?"
This made Grand Zeno smile before he spoke.
"Wow, you're really smart. It's a deal, just on one condition."
"Well, name your terms."
"You've gotta play in the Tournament, too."
Then, Vegetto smirked before he responded.
"It's a done deal."
With that, the Grand Minister spoke up.
"There has been a change in development. In alteration to Baby's terms, the Tournament of Power shall keep the losing universes intact and exempt from erasure."
This caught Baby by surprise and his chagrin as he exclaimed.
"What?!"
As he did so, Akamu smiled before he spoke to himself.
"I couldn't have put it better myself."
21 wanted to make sure she heard it right.
"Wait, did he just say we're all exempt from erasure?"
Whis then spoke to the android.
"I believe he did, yes."
Then, 21 gave a sigh of relief before speaking.
"What a relief."
Then, she turned to Goku and noticed him with his head down before getting confused.
"Goku?"
Suddenly, tears streamed down from his face before he wiped them away.
"21... I'm so sorry for dragging you into this. If I hadn't asked for this Tournament, you wouldn't have gotten hurt, or worse. I could've made your family without a mother."
"Goku..."
"I never wanted this to happen, but it did anyway. And I'm sorry."
21 then smiled at Goku before speaking softly.
"Apology accepted. I should've known you loved fighting that much, but I know you never wanted this. And... I was mad at you, sure, but what happened to you against Baby was just... cruel. I wouldn't even wish that on my worst enemy."
Just then, the Grand Minister spoke to Grand Zeno.
"Did the expo excite you for the Tournament proper, Grand Zeno? Shall I tell our visitors that we will be proceeding with a change in plans?"
"Oh, yes. That was super in every way!"
"Yeah. It was really awesome!"
"We super-can't wait for the Tournament of Power!"
Then, the Grand Minister decided to lay out the rules.
"Assembled deities from across the Great cosmos, the three matches between the 7th and 6th Universes, albeit with one interruption, has brought much pleasure to the Omni-King and his companion. The Zeno Expo is an unmitigated success. Since that means we'll be moving on to the Tournament of Power, allow me to explain its rules."
With that, he raised his hand and showed a sort of cartoon video, showing the stage in the Null Realm before it showed 21 knocking Baby off the stage before she cheered and then got curious when she noticed him knocked out in the ring.
"The Null Realm will be home to this ring specially built for the Tournament. If you knock an opponent out of the ring, they lose. Rather simple is it not?"
21 then spoke to the Grand Minister about a differing detail.
"What if you knock out your opponent in the ring?"
"Then, push them out to complete the elimination."
Then, he added more details as it showed Baby spraying her with a water gun before the X appeared over him and then Baby killing 21 as it showed her spirit with a halo floating upward before the X appeared over Baby and then finally showed 21 flying only to fall out of the ring.
"Furthermore, now that the Zeno Expo has given us more time to consider, we have decided to add a few other prohibitions. Number one: the use of any outside weapons is strictly forbidden. Number two: you are not allowed to kill any opponents. Number three: any advanced techniques that enable flight will not work in the Null Realm."
Black felt it added more tension into the Tournament as he spoke sarcastically.
"Well, I can tell this is gonna be easy."
"Finally, there'll be a time limit of 100 tacks."
21 grew confused at the measurement before Whis explained.
"100 tacks?"
"Translated to Earth time, that comes out to 48 minutes. That seems like a rather long time for each match. With so many strong fighters, isn't there a risk the tournament goes on for too long?"
"The tournament will not be one-on-one. Every fighter will compete against everyone else at the exact same time. In other words, the tournament is just one match."
As it shocked the multiverse's deities, Akamu only smirked at this while Supreme Kai spoke.
"All those fighters fighting in one place and one time?"
"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of space. The ring we're constructing is quite large. Everyone will fight until the clock hits zero, whereupon the universe with the most fighters left will be declared winner. Of course, in the event one team defeats all others before time runs out, that universe will be victorious."
Supreme Kai knew what needed to be done.
"If we want our universe to win, they have to fight as a team."
Then, Whis giggled while Beerus showed worry.
"Teamwork does not strike me as Goku's strength."
"This thing gets worse and worse."
With that, Goku stood up.
"So be it. I tried to get stronger on my own and look what happened. My own strength wouldn't matter if nobody else gets to pull their own weight. From now on, I'm done doing this solo."
With that, the lights came back on as the video ended.
"The Omni-King looks forward to a valiant fight from each competing universe. Until then, I shall begin preparing the ring for the Tournament of Power in the Null Realm. I'm afraid construction will take some time, so I ask for your patience as we begin a necessary hiatus before the Tournament. And thus concludes today's events. Everyone, please meet back here for the Tournament's official start in day 3,135,500,603 of the Royal Calendar. We'll kick things off promptly at 1:57 o'clock."
Then, Goku spoke up to him as far as the time.
"Uh, question."
"Yes, Goku?"
"What does 'hiatus' mean and when is the arena gonna be done?"
"It shall take five ticks."
"Uh, 'kay,. How long is a tick exactly?"
"If you convert that to your Earth time in the Seventh Universe, it comes up in approximately 40 hours."
"Wait, 40 hours?! It starts in just two days?!"
"Correct."
This made the deities clamor while Gowasu turned to Zamasu and Kari.
"How will we accompany those numbers?"
Then, Kari turned to Zamasu.
"So, do you want to tell him or should I?"
Zamasu nodded before he spoke to Gowasu.
"You have nothing to worry about, Master. As it happens, we've prepared for that."
"Oh! Well, that's great news."
Then, Grand Zeno spoke to Vegetto.
"If you're gonna fight, you need to pick a team."
This made Vegetto give some thought to it as he examined the teams while Champa and Vados spoke about his dilemma.
"So, we have to put together a team of 10 fighters at least? You haven't heard about Hit having nine brothers, have you?"
"Nothings that easy, my lord."
"Hmm... If I were to pick a team, then, I'd pick... the Sixth."
"Alright, then. I shall inform Champa in due time."
"Good. You do that."
Then, Sen spoke up to him.
"What are you gonna do until then?"
"Well, I was thinking about kidnapping the future Zamasu, and Tapion to help, among other things."
This made Sen frown before he spoke.
"Oh, come on! I was joking!"
Then, the Grand Minister spoke.
"Alright, dear friends, we'll see you all again when preparations are done. Good luck."
With that, all of the deities, including Vegetto and his team, as well as Akamu, disappeared while Beerus and the rest of the Seventh were left.
"We don't have anywhere near enough time to prepare. Hey, Whis. How do you think this Tournament's gonna play itself out?"
"Judging from what I've seen so far, I think it's safe to say that Akamu will gang up on Goku to eliminate him first."
"Well, at least we won't get erased."
"That's hardly the issue, my lord. If Akamu gets the Super Dragon Balls, there's almost no telling what he could wish for."
This made Beerus blanch before Black scoffed, catching his attention.
"Oh, that's right. I forgot you were here."
With that, Goku waved to Grand Zeno and Sen, now certain that no erasure penalty would befall them.
"Bye-bye! See you later, guys!"
Sen and Grand Zeno then waved back to him.
"Later!"
Black then scolded Goku quickly.
"Now, speed this along, will you?"
"Alright, alright. Chill."
With that, Supreme Kai then used his teleporting spell.
"Kai-Kai!"
With that, they all went to the World of the Kai's in the Seventh. It was there that Goku gave a sigh before 21 spoke to him.
"Hey, Goku. You can win this, right?"
"I can't know for sure, but with you and Black on the team, I sure do like our chances!"
"Maybe, but I don't think Black's much of a strategist so much as a warrior."
Black heard this and corrected her.
"That's Divine Warrior to you."
"Oh. Sorry. Anyway, maybe Gohan would help with that."
Goku then put on a complacent look on his face.
"Okay. I think we'll be fine, though."
This no doubt made Beerus flustered.
"I thought you said you're done doing it solo! We may be exempt from erasure, but the Antikami's the main reason to take this seriously!"
"I just said we'll be fine. I didn't say anything about doing it solo. We have to win, I get it."
"Yes, obviously, Goku! The question is what's the actual plan for pulling it off?!"
"How can we plan when we don't know who were fighting? There's no use worrying about what we can't control."
"You know exactly who you're fighting; the Antikami! Shouldn't you use this time to train?!"
"Getting that riled up all the time can't be good for ya, believe me. Vegetto even told me so himself."
Then, Whis cleared his throat.
"Alright, you two, that's enough bickering. You should be using this team to form the rest of your team. You just have two days to recruit seven more fighters at least. I'd start asking around if I were you."
Elder Kai could agree with him.
"Whining and taking shots at each other isn't what'll win that Tournament, boys. We know Goku's track record. Let's trust him and the others to get us through this."
Play Super Music: "Universe 7 In Trouble"
Goku then spoke valiantly next.
"That's right. Just leave it to us and it'll all work out."
"Fine. Then we'll reconvene on Bulma's place."
This confused Goku and 21.
"What?"
"Why do you want to go there?"
"We prefer to talk strategy there. So we can eat while we plan. In fact, eating the best Earth foods now is more important than ever before. Because a certain Antikami got resurrected, I probably won't have the chance for much longer."
"Geez. I can't blame you for eating food, Lord Beerus, but with all due respect, do you really need to complain about Destruction when you've been doing it willy-nilly for centuries?"
This made Beerus snap at 21, unable to make up for his comeback at the Expo.
"I do not do it 'WILLY-NILLYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY'! Now listen here! We probably have the second lowest mortal level in the multiverse because they've penalized us for fighters like a certain fool with his cursed mouth that has training weights for brains!"
Goku snapped back at him.
"If they count brains, Gohan's got a big one so it evens out!"
This made Whis snap at the two of them.
"Again! Quiet! If you keep bickering with each other like unruly schoolchildren, then what hope do we have against Akamu and his team?"
"Yep, the angel's got you there."
This made Goku and Beerus blink their eyes before the latter spoke first.
"Good point."
Then, 21 spoke up next.
"Anyway, I'm sure we can put together a team that can stand up to the entire cosmos."
"You bet!"
"Just 39 hours remain until the Tournament if Power gets underway. Can Goku, Black, and 21 assemble a team to defeat Akamu's faction and stop his nefarious scheme? Find out next time on Dragon Ball Super!"
End Super Music: "Universe 7 In Trouble"