Author Notes: This is detailing where everyone is currently at with their preparations for the Tournament of Power.

Chapter 13: Preparations for the Tournament- Philia

Room of Spirit and Time

Guldo and Burter were in the Room of Spirit and Time, another dimension located within Dende's Lookout. Its entrance in its center was located in a central building with two side wings with housing, food supplies, bathing quarters and sleeping quarters. What was odd about it was that is was perpetually in a state of constantly bright iridescent white aurora. Its white, reflective floor was of undefined area, and it seemed to stretch into infinity, but had a definite atmosphere. That said, as one went further into the space, the air becomes denser and the temperature fluctuates drastically from -40 °F and 122 °F. While it was yesterday outside, in the Room, it had been a year, a long, grueling year for the former two Ginyu Force members. In order to tell the time difference, there was a pair dual giant hourglasses of emerald sand adorning the sides of the building that counted down a year within the Room. A clock on the dome roof of the main part of the building told the applicable time in the real world.

They had also discovered that talking in the chamber creates an echo that vibrated into the ever-expanding distance until it fizzled out.

Unusually, they had decided to go further and further into the space.

Damn this heat! Damn this cold!, Guldo thought as he continuously held his breath as he continued forward into the ever expanding distance.

"How long does this place go?," Burter complained as he continue to fly at increasing speeds through the changing temperatures of the room.

"Hey...do you miss the others?," Guldo asked as he stopped to take a breath.

"Yeah, I do.," Burter replied as he thought about Jeice.

The two continued to go deeper into the Room of Spirit and Time, not stopping to return to the entrance just yet.

Isolated Mountain Ranges

Piccolo and Gohan were training on the cliffs with the latter becoming a Super Saiyan...and not doing as well. He was wearing an orange Gi similar to his father.

"What is this, Gohan?!," Piccolo asked with a disappointed tone of voice.

"I can continue...," Gohan pleaded as he breathed heavily.

After a pause, Piccolo's expression became more serious.

"I remember when we started training and with the fight against Nappa...you froze up due to your insecurities.," Piccolo told Gohan as he stretched his arms for a punch in the gut, causing Gohan to gurgle spit.

"You would get brief bursts of angered boosts against stronger enemies...until you fought Cell and your insecurities once again prevented you from unlocking that hidden power...and he had to die to convince you to let it all out.," Piccolo continued as he fired a Masenko at Gohan. Quickly, Gohan managed to flick it away in time.

"And once you did, you got your major flaw- overconfidence. You toyed with him and later Buu's evil self and both times led to the situation getting worse.," Piccolo added as he fired a Light Grenade at Gohan, who then proceeded to fire his own KI blast and cancel out the attack.

"And when you're not fighting, you're letting yourself get weaker in order to focus on your normal life. That's fine if you're just a normal person, but our lives aren't so fortunate.," Piccolo said as he kicked Gohan from behind.

"We got Father...and Vegeta...and holding off until they get here is alright isn't it?," Gohan replied, only to get blasted in the chest.

"It's alright for a normal fate of the world fight- since they're usually too proud to fight as a team unless the situation demands it. But, this is a tournament, you have to shape up because these guys you'll be fighting aren't the type to go straight for a head on kill or a challenge. They're going to use every dirty trick in the book in order to kick them out of the fight and they're going to think that once they're done with them, they can bulldoze over the remaining fighters of our team. We each have to play our part in making sure we stay till the end? You understand?!," Piccolo ranted as he unleashed a flurry of kicks and punches at Gohan, who was slowly beginning to predict and block them.

"I understand!," Gohan screamed as he turnt Super Saiyan 2 with electricity surrounding his body.

Piccolo then sped away and unleashed his Hellzone Grenade all around Gohan.

"Your father cares about your mother and Goten, but training's always going to be the first thing that matters to him. You have Videl and Pan. You don't have to throw away your normal life to become like him. But, its not good to throw away strength when another demon, science freak, alien warlord, god, whatever comes around when they're not here and you might be the only one who can do something! If you don't like fighting and you don't want to see people get hurt because of your weakness then you need to find a balance between a normal life and fighting to be able to have things the way you want!," Piccolo yelled as he had the KI blasts home in on Gohan.

Gohan in a state of panic, tried to block as many of the blasts with his own KI blasts or hand flicks, but the barrage continued. As the barrage hit him, he regressed from Super Saiyan 2 to Super Saiyan and finally his base form. With a last burst, he generated a final burst that caused him to resemble his state against Super Buu to Piccolo's delight, but it quickly faded away as he continued to be bombarded by the blasts.

I guess we have to be the strategists for the team...I'm sorry, I'm going to cancel the blasts once its clear you're knocked out., Piccolo thought with disappointment

What do you want to do Piccolo?! I'm not sure anymore. Every fight I've been in has been one failure after the next. I'm too hesitant, too proud, or too weak. I'm not like he is..., Gohan thought as he became unconscious.

All there was left was the teachings that he had been taught by Piccolo and his father built into him and those lessons caused him to repeat what he had always been taught, even if he wasn't aware of it.

A burst of unfamiliar energy occurred as Gohan underwent a transformation that he wasn't consciously aware of.

Unclouded by thought, suddenly, his body began to instantly react, dodge and counterattack the blasts. As he did so, his hair became spiker with a silver-grayish outline at the ends of the hair, his more stern, defined shape, sporting silver-colored irises and visible pupils. He was surrounded by an aura of silver, purple and blue aura consisting of rippling, fire-like energy, complete with sparkling particles.

Piccolo looked astonished as his technique was completely nullified by Gohan's sudden change. Quickly, he charged a Makankōsappō and fired it at Gohan. Without uttering a word, Gohan moved with a flowing, mirage like movement and closed in on Piccolo, punching him into a nearby plateau.

After a few moments, Gohan returned to normal as he was confused on why Piccolo was now against a crater wall in a plateau.

He then looked above as he saw that Beerus and Whis were looking at him with wide eyed astonishment, dread, bewilderment and excitement.

"You truly do take after your father!," Whis said with a tone of excitement, more emotional than his usual monotone, flamboyant voice.

"Do you have an idea what you just did?!," Beerus asked in a tone of absolute seriousness.

"Lord Beerus...I blanked out and suddenly Piccolo was down...I don't know what's going on!," Gohan answered honestly.

"Whatever you've been taught has remained with you until you stripped down to your core and it finally burst out. That state was called Ultra Instinct. It's a state that not even the Gods of Destruction can master so easily.," Beerus explained.

"Come here. Vegeta is likely busy with keeping Freeza in check and Goku is likely going to connect with the Saiyan woman who's more connected to him than he realizes.," Whis said as he offered his hand as he smiled at Gohan.

"We can drop off Piccolo in the Other World. There's people that can truly help him overcome the gap of power that the Tournament will likely muster.," he added to a surprised Gohan.

Initially shocked, the two nodded and followed Beerus and Whis to their respective locations.

Beerus' Planet

Cell was busy improving on himself when he heard a voice in his head.

"Oh, its you...The one who helped me to achieve this power...don't worry...they'll be indebted enough to consider my request...even if I don't become the MVP.," he said to the voice who remained inaudible.

"Oh, I felt that power as well...it seems that Gohan has achieved a new power and Goku is likely to pull an entirely new transformation for this tournament. Vegeta, Freeza, the woman, the pink infant and those two clowns are likely training to get better, but to be honest, they'll just be in the way.," he added.

"I'll make sure its wonderful show...for everyone to see.," he concluded.

Mr. Satan's Mansion

Majin Buu was busy training and avoiding overeating as he focused on improving himself along with the other team competitors from previous tournaments that Mr. Satan had gathered to help him improve.

As he glanced at Mr. Satan having to sit in a wheelchair, he felt ashamed that he wasn't able to protect him. Using that motivation, he proceeded to spar with Giran, Nam, King Chappa, Jewel, and Killa. Understandably, he held back against such people.

Giran spat out a pink gum like substance that restrained Buu as Nam leapt up and prepared a Cross-Arm Dive and King Chappa used his Eight-Arm Fist in order to attack from the ground.

Buu then kicked upwards in order to block Nam's strike and then used the space between the arms to toss Nam down. He then proceeded to dodge King Chappa's many blows before kicking him. All while still restrained. He then tore through the bindings with ease to Giran's shock.

Jewel and Killa looked shocked at the sight with nervous expressions of dread.

"That man in a costume must've had a trick to shoot out a science-y thing to restrain him. Must be under the tongue.," Jewel explained.

"Yes! What an amusing trick...," Killa agreed to convince himself.

This caused Giran to snarl in response to this statement. Hercule sweated a little.

That's what I thought too, but the universe- no, the multiverse is filled with unexplainable phenomena. Better apologize for making him out to be a fraud later., thought Mr. Satan as he looked on, slightly feating Giran's wrath, even though aside from Bulma and her parents, most of the people he now hangs out with could destroy him with ease.

"I want to continue to get better till tomorrow. I want to try again.," Buu said to the shocked Giran and King Chappa. Nam smiled with gratitude.

"Thank you, being able to train with a student of your reputation is a delight sir.," he said with humble respect.

Buu then turnt to Jewel and Killia who were readying to head out the mansion.

"Why aren't you helping?," Buu asked.

"Um, stomach ache...," Jewel replied with sweat going down his brow.

"Then, I heal you.," Buu replied.

"Sorry, its bad and I think I better take him to a doctor!," Killa said as the two ran like hell from the building.

Some people lack the integrity to do the noble thing., thought Nam.

What cowards., thought King Chappa.

Well, its their loss. More money for me., thought Giran.

Buu continued to train with the three.

Capsule Corps

As Freeza entered the training room, he caught a glimpse of Vegeta's newest transformation. The hair and eyes took on a darker coloring of royal blue as well as growing bigger and spiking outwards, the eyes having visible black pupils. His aura had a larger and denser nature to it, including light particles that display a stronger glint, taking the form of four-pointed stars. He also had a noticeable increase in muscle mass and definition. And oddly, his armor took on a darker blue hue than usual.

"It seems like you've evolved.," Freeza remarked on the sidelines.

Vegeta grunted at this comment and scoffed as he went back to his usual Super Saiyan Blue, which was more cyan colored with no visible black pupils,

"Look closely, if you manage to pull anything against us. I'll use this to stop you."

"Oh how terrifying, showing me your hand in order to get me to fold.," Freeza mockingly replied.

The two then proceeded to duke it out in the training room.

Elsewhere

The Saiyan woman eventually arrives at a round house in the rural aura after tiring herself out.

Out comes a woman with a red ribbon in her hair, with dark blue hair and big, blue eyes. She wore a trucker hat, jacket and denim jeans.

"Oh, hello there. I'm Launch.," she said cheerfully.

Next Chapter: