Chapter 42
With Beby having just fled and Gohan being freed, They now turned around to where Piccolo and Cabba were still fighting the giant Cell Max.
Who was in turn a mind-controlled puppet of Beby.
Vegeta charged up a blast of his own.
"Piccolo, Cabba," he shouted to get their attention.
They both looked around for a short moment.
"I see you have won," Piccolo stated.
With that he stretched out his arms and wrapped them like slings around Cell Max body to hold him in place.
Yes he won, Vegeta thought. Sadly the enemy had gotten away.
Gohan powered up as well. He went beyond his Ultimate Form and to their surprise transformed into a new form with glowing completely white hair.
He and Vegeta then charged and fired a Kamehameha and a Final Flash at the same time at Cell Max.
Their combined attacks pushed back a blast that Cell Max fired from his mouth and then hit the struggling monster and completely disintigrated it... along with Piccolo´s arms that had still been holding it. But Piccolo didn´t complain he himself had fully expected this to happen.
They had won another fight. But not against their true enemy yet.
"Gohan - what kind of transformation is this?" Mirai Trunks asked him flabbergasted. "I thought you said your Ultimate Form brought out your full potential. So how can you go even beyond that?"
"Well - I reached this form a couple months ago," Gohan stated. "My guess is that it is somehow like father´s Ultra Instinct, a result of breaking out of my shell and going beyond my limits. That I am using using God Ki since the Tournament of Power might have also something to do with causing this transformation," he speculated.
"That explains why Beby had been so damn strong when he was possessing you," Vegeta commented. "He must have used the power of this form. We just did not see it, since he changed your entire body."
"Yes he did," Gohan admitted. "I guess it ended up helping Beby, damn it."
"In any case it is a good thing that you had it now," Piccolo stated as he just regenerated his arms. "Otherwise we might have wasted even more time with this monster... while we have other problems."
He looked in the direction where they sensed the powers of the two Demigras.
"Let us go."
xxx
Vegeta, Piccolo, the injured and exhausted Gohan and Future Trunks and Cabba were now flying in that direction.
Eighteen, Beerus and Toppo were approaching from different directions.
But so were a few of the Fallen Angels who were moving to join up with their Master.
xxx
As they arrived a few moments later, they were shocked as they saw Demigra´s bizarre new form.
"What the hell?" Vegeta said.
"What in the world has happened to Demigra?" Eighteen asked, in the direction of Beerus and Toppo who had just appeared beside her.
"I admit I have not the slightest idea," Beerus admitted.
"Something evil must have taken him over," Toppo stated.
"Something evil?" Demigra repeated sardonically and laughed. "You don´t even know how right you are."
Demigra suddenly charged forward at Gogou, aiming a strike right at him. The Fusion blocked the blow with his arms, but the attack was not just physical. He instantly realized that Demigra was using Spirit-Ficcion - not exactly the same attack he had seen from Vegeta, but probably an elder version - but it had the same effect.
Until now had not used this particular technique simply because Gogou had was just too strong and had never given him an opening, constantly moving and attacking from all sides.
But now Demigra was even stronger than before and Gogou had let himself be distracted for a short moment. By Demigra´s sudden transformation, by the fact that he had sensed the defeat of the Grandpriest and the activation of the Super Dragon Balls and finally by the arrival of Vegeta and the others.
All that gave his opponent a short moment where Gogou´s concentration slipped and that Demigra took advantage of.
It was still not enough to instantly undo their fusion, but it severely weakened the connection between Goku and Seventeen.
They would probably separate any second now. Not that there had been much time left anyway.
"What exactly are you?" Gogou asked.
"What? That is a good question," Demigra replied. "You know at the beginning of the cosmos, right before our multiverse first formed, Zeno came into existence - as a physical embodiment of the forces that created existence ifself.
But you also realize that the Cosmic Balance he always talks about - between creation and destruction, between Gods of Destruction and Kaioshin, between Kaios and Local Gods and Demons - is ultimately nothing but a farce.
Because on the highest level, for himself, there was no such opposing counterpart.
But then the cosmos itself created one... inside Zeno´s body," Demigra stated. "The original Forces of Darkness manifested themselves inside him. They pushed him more to the destructive side of his nature and formed a new dark entity inside him.
An entity that grow stronger and stronger and would have eventually taken over his mind," Demigra declared loudly.
"To prevent this the original Zeno had later divided himself into two beings. The first who had taken most of the dark presence inside him, took a Dragon like form and called himself Zalama. And he sealed most of the powers he possessed away inside the Super Dragon Balls, so that they could only be accessed if someone collects and activates them, leaving himself nearly powerless.
The other half, with the mind of an infantile child... is the Zeno you know today," he declared.
Having seen the recordings of the past, they all already knew this.
"All that to hold back the influence of the presence and minimize the power it had access to. Not that this had entirely worked. As you all know being a child has not really stopped Zeno´s destructive impulses completely," he reminded them.
"It staid this way until the Archangel Meadhon decided to not longer accept a child in charge of the Multiverse and rebelled against Zeno.
And many years later, to truly become Zeno´s equal, he absorbed Zeno´s separated half Zalama. Only that Meadhon had underestimated the presence that was still inside him. The darkness that was from that day on part of him and grew stronger and stronger. And still, in a strange way it fullfilled his desire," Demigra explained.
"I am not longer only the Angel Meadhon, I am `Zeno´ - I am his dark half, the incarnation of his drive to destroy everything he had build up again and again."
All of them heard his declaration. They all were unsettled by it. But if they were honest, deep down most of them had already suspected something like this after seeing the recordings. Even Goku, who had more emotionally than intellectually known what the dark presence inside Zeno meant.
One of the spectators however was shocked beyond all others - the Fallen Angel Saek. He had not been aware of this.
Yes - he had known what Lord Demigra´s wish had been. But he had thought it had been to become the dominant part of Zeno´s mind and give the universe an mature ruler again.
But it was just the dark infection trying to corrupt Zeno entirely.
"Goku, Seventeen - whatever," he called out, "he is planning to use the Super Dragon Balls to merge himself and Zeno into one being. If this presence manages to consume Zeno, all universes could be destroyed."
"Oh Saek," Demigra said quietly, "I was willing to let you live in one of the new universes I would create later. But now..."
He raised one hand and fired a blast at the Fallen Angel. But Gogou moved and blocked the attack before it hit him.
"Thank you," Saek said. "But we have to stop him. We - I didn´t know about this."
But it was already too late. In this moment the other counterpart of Demigra had finished his wish.
xxxxxxx
In some distance away from them Kefla and Broly were doing the same thing.
Behind them the two Fallen Angels Rum and Jeffra behind them still attempting to fight off Broly´s crazed counterpart, who was savagely attacking them, growling just one word: "Kakarot."
They finally had enough and, similar to how Towa did it earlier, just opened a dimensional portal and fired two ki blasts to push the superpowered madman through, before they closed it.
Then they followed after their opponents.
On their way however Kefla and Broly saw a heavily damaged body falling towards the ground. It was the Grandpriest.
Broly caught him during his flight. He was alive, but barely.
In this moment Kefla´s body suddenly glowed and separated into Caulifla and Kale.
"Well - it lookes like our time was up," Caulifla commented.
"Yes Sis," Kale replied.
They saw the two Fallen Angels catching up to them.
"Come on," Broly told them. "Lets meet with the others."
The two young saiyan women looked at each other nervously.
"Yes - that´s better," Kale stated.
"As much as I hate to admit it," Caulifla added.
xxx
Not far away Brinka was in the same situation, as she suddenly separated into Ribrianne and Kakunza.
They had however already won their fight against the group of Second Generation Demons and annihilated their opponents.
And had been on their way to join the others as well.
"I see you are back to normal," Cooler stated matter of factly.
"Yes," Kakunza responded.
"It is good that this happens now and not a few minutes ago," Ribrianne said. "These guys were strong, even when they were just Demigra´s foot soldiers."
"You exaggerate. They were strong, but not that strong," Kakunze disagreed. "We could have probably dealt with them on our own, even without the fusion. As Brinka we complete crushed these guys."
"Yes - we could have, but not as quickly. It would have been a long fight and we would not have been able to help the others," Ribrianne replied.
Kakunza´s face fell as he looked in the direction they were flying to.
"What can we do anyway," she said weakly. "We are far too weak and completely helpless. It is just like during the Tournament of Power."
"I have to agree with her," Cooler stated. "I am the strongest out of us and even I am far outmatched here."
"We survived in the Tournament of Power," Ribrianne responded.
"Just because Seventeen, Goku and the others saved us," Kakunza said.
"Yes exactly," Ribrianne replied. "We must trust that they can do it again. And I hope that there will also be at least something we can do to help as well."
xxxxxxx
All that happened within a few minutes.
All that while the second incarnation of Demigra had just stated his wish.
"Make me and Zeno one being..."
..."ni lla senilemit ni noitaerc."
"...in all timelines in creation."
The Dragon... hesitated. As if a wish like that, a wish that affected his own origin and the source of his power, needed a few seconds to realized even for the Super Dragon.
Or maybe the Dragon was simply contemplating the consequences and hesitating because of that.
But ultimately... it happened.
xxxxxxx
As Broly, Caulifla and Kale and Cooler, Ribrianne and Kakunza reached the others, with the Fallen Angels right behind them.
Towa had returned as well, having formed a new portal that had brought her back.
They just came in time to see Demigra suddenly disappeared.
Both of his two alternate selves seemed to have suddenly vanished.
"What happened?" Caulifla called out.
"Where is Demigra?" Cooler questioned.
Gogou in this moment separated back into Goku and Seventeen.
"He got what he wanted," Goku replied.
"He has wished for himself and Zeno to become one being," Seventeen explained.
"What?" Vegeta and Eighteen called out at the same time.
"That..." Gohan said in disbelief, trying to imagine the consequences of such a wish.
xxxxxxx
At the same moment, another tremor was moving through the entire Multiverse and all realities.
In all timelines Demigra´s wish was being fullfilled and he and Zeno were becoming one.
In all these realities these Zeno´s called out for a moment in shock...
... before they opened their now deep red eyes as the black myst of the dark presence appeared around them.
And for a short moment they all lost control of themselves... and everything around them begann to disappear.
xxxxxxx
Demigra´s Planet
They all could sense it. People, planets, stars, entire galaxies were disappearing within seconds.
They knew what was happening. The universe they were being in was getting erased.
This was it. It was over... for all of them.
In Broly´s arms, the wounded barely living Highpriest was moving again.
"Lord Zeno is calling to me," he said quietly. "H-he is weak, confused... and in pain. Everything is disappearing. The darkness has won," he whispered. "Look out, he is..."
Suddenly, just before the planet they were standing on was erased, they all felt themselves being teleported away.
xxxxxxx
And they found themselves...
"We are still alive!" Caulifla called out.
"We are back in Zeno´s Palace," Vegeta stated.
"How?" Cabba asked.
"He brought us here," Broly stated. "Back in the timeline we came from. The Highpriest said, but he was already so weak that you couldn´t hear him."
But they were not the only one who had been brought here. In the opposite side of the room were standing the Fallen Angels and Beby.
Both groups had moved into defense positions as they noticed the other.
"Wait," the Grandpriest said weakly. "It is all gone, all universes. I can imagine, that this was not your plan?" he asked Demigra´s followers.
"Certainly not," Beby commented.
"You mean he has truly erased everything?" Piccolo exclaimed.
But the Grandpriest said nothing anymore.
He was dead. Broly laid his body down to the ground.
All universes, it went to their mind, in every timeline, their families, their friends... everything.
"Marron, Krillin," Eighteen whispered.
"No," Kale called out desperately.
Cabba and Caulifla both moved their arms around her to calm her down. But they themselves were feeling barely better.
All others were looking similar devastated. But none of them dared to let their guard down with the enemies right in front of them.
"Lord Demigra must have gone insane when he had merged with Zeno," the Fallen Angel Jeffra stated.
"That and the presence Lord Demigra had absorbed along with Zalama long ago," Saek added. "There is no telling who or if anyone is in control right now."
"Then I offer that we put our differences aside for the moment, until we find out more," Gohan suggested.
"Fine," the Fallen Angel Rum answered after a few moments.
"We need to find Zen-chan," Goku said.
"`Zen-chan´ does not exist anymore," Vegeta told him grimply. "He is merged with Demigra now."
"But he saved us, right?" Goku responded. "So there must be some control he has left."
"For all we know this might have been the last thing he was still able to do," Seventeen stated.
"But if we could help him regain control, he could bring everyone back," Goku said. "We at least have to try."
xxxxxxx
A few minutes later they found the two Zenos in their throne-room.
They were now taller than before and their eyes were in the same red color like Demigra´s last form.
"Welcome," the Zeno´s greeted them with the two layered voice made of Demigra´s and their own.
The story is slowly coming to it´s end. It follows the final with maybe one or two chapters more