[Doomed planet]
As Beerus and Gohan were fighting above the broken, lifeless planet, the gem embedded in Whis' staff reflected the weak light from the neutron star. The angel looked at the staff curiously, then made a small motion. Goku appeared next to him, surprised. The saiyan warrior used instant transmission to appear next to his son, who was fighting Beerus farther out in space, but for some reason Goku found himself floating high in the atmosphere, right next to Whis.
"I'm sorry, Goku," the angel said calmly, "but I can't let you interfere in this fight."
Goku looked grim. "What's going on? Why are they fighting?"
A particularly powerful kick from Beerus connected with Gohan's thigh, and Goku winced as he felt his son getting hit.
"Beerus believes your son interfered with his plans." Whis looked into Goku's eyes. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
Goku sighed. Sure, over their recent training sessions he learned Gohan had an intense dislike for Beerus, but nothing more than that. "I don't know anything about any plans, I just don't want Beerus to destroy my son."
Whis nodded, apparently satisfied with Goku's sincerity. "Beerus won't destroy him," the angel started, "but he will get punished in another way."
Goku nodded, repressing his frustration. The saiyan from Earth remained hovering next to the taller angel, waiting for an opportunity to act. To his dismay, Beerus was still powering up massively as he fought, while Gohan was constantly losing stamina. At this point Goku could see Beerus had a clear advantage in terms of power, but Gohan fought aggressively while his divine opponent was holding back. In addition to that, there was something very unsettling about the destroyer's ki, something sickening and familiar.
[Somewhere in the depths of space]
Two figures materialized out of the void. One portly and catlike, the other tall, thin and elegant.
"Lord Champa," said Vados, "please reconsider your actions."
"I told you already, I don't care," Champa said angrily. Vados told him about the rising mortal level of universe 7, and he reacted badly. "I'm not going to allow Beerus to upstage me again. If I can't bring my mortal level up, I'll bring his level down!"
The destroyer's fists clenched angrily. "Now, take us to Earth!"
Vados raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure, Lord Champa?"
"What do you mean, am I sure?!" Champa shouted. "Of course I'm sure, take us there right now!"
"Lord Champa," Vados began patiently, "I must warn you that Earth in this universe has some extremely powerful fighters living in it. You saw them at the Omni-King's tournament, did you not?"
Champa's face turned red with rage. "Are you implying that they're more powerful than me?"
"Of course not," Vados smiled, "but you have been slacking on your training, my lord." Looking at his rounded belly, she added "perhaps you should come back later?"
Champa's red face turned purple. "Earth! Now!"
Vados sighed. "Very well."
The two beings vanished, speeding towards the unsuspecting Earth.
[Doomed planet]
Gohan was prepared for battle mentally, so he didn't feel fear or despair, but intellectually the young half-saiyan knew he stood no chance. Beerus was now stronger and faster than him. The feline god dodged most of Gohan's attacks, and the few that connected were either parried or simply ineffective.
With a fury unseen since the tournament of power, the two fought in the void above Gohan's broken planet, space itself bending with the shock of their titanic strikes and blocks.
A change was happening as Beerus powered up. The god's angry and leering expression became more neutral and serious. His taunts and threats stopped. Beerus' purple aura contracted into a thin layer around his body. The destroyer's eyes slowly lost their pupils and started glowing with a menacing, purple glow. Gohan struggled to understand what his senses told him, but it didn't even feel like the same Beerus anymore.
It doesn't matter, Gohan thought to himself. Time to act, now. Punching with his right hand, Gohan extended himself slightly too much. Beerus ducked down and to Gohan's left, aiming a kick at Gohan's ribs. The kick connected, there wasn't much Gohan could do about it. Pain flared up throughout his torso, perhaps from a broken rib, but Gohan grit his teeth, grabbed Beerus' leg and threw the surprised god away.
It took Beerus a moment to regain control, but that moment was enough to prepare an attack. With the neutron star behind him, arms raised to the sides and bent at the elbows, splayed fingers in front of his eyes, Gohan silently shouted "SOLAR FLARE", pouring an immense amount of ki into the move. Beerus turned his eyes back to his opponent only to get hit with a blinding flash, more bright and powerful than the light from all the stars in the galaxy combined.
Farther below, Whis raised an arm to shield Goku's eyes from the absurdly intense light.
"Interesting," Whis said to Goku, "if Beerus wasn't so powered up, he might have been permanently blinded by that."
Overwhelmed, the god of destruction hovered in place for a few moments before regaining his senses. In those moments Gohan managed to speed away farther out into space, towards the tiny but incredibly deadly star.
The god shook his head in annoyance, cleared his mind and started chasing his enemy.
[Earth]
Back at the entrance to Capsule Corp., the tired and bruised Vegeta tried to enter his home, but a telepathic cry from Dende stopped him in his tracks. "Vegeta! You need to come to the lookout right now!"
"What is it, can it wait?" the saiyan said in annoyance. Trunks was playing in his Room, and Vegeta could sense Bulma's ki in her lab, along with her minions. Right now he wanted nothing more than to see her.
"I'm afraid not," Dende replied, "it's a matter of life and death. The entire world is at stake."
Sighing, Vegeta shut the door and flew away towards the lookout. On his way there he could sense Gohan and Beerus continuing their titanic battle among the stars, with the calmer energies of Whis and Kakarot nearby.
As the saiyan prince landed on the white tiles of Dende's lookout, he saw Krillin, Tien and Mr. Satan were already there, although it was Buu in Satan's body. Dende and Popo stood next to them, Krillin looking scared and the normally stoic Tien looking more anxious than usual.
"Well, I'm here," Vegeta said, nodding to the others.
"I just got an urgent message from Piccolo. God of Destruction Champa and his angel guide are on their way to Earth," Dende said weakly. "You're the most powerful warrior here, so I thought you should know."
Vegeta's mind raced. Why would Champa come to Earth now? Nothing good. This could only be an attack. The prince's face grew grim as he extended his senses outward, eventually detecting the two divine beings out in space. They were masking their energy somewhat, but were too close to disguise themselves from him at this point.
"I see." Despite the seriousness of the situation, he couldn't help but feel the old, familiar excitement.
Krillin sighed. "We're all going to die, aren't we," he said sadly, "despite everything we've been through. Just like that." Tien said nothing, but the taller man's expression reflected similar thoughts.
"Quit your whining," Vegeta said harshly, snapping Krillin and Tien out of their scared state. Only Buu in Satan's body remained morose. "You," Vegeta looked at Dende. "I need healing, now. We have less than a minute." Grabbing the surprised Dende, Vegeta flew as fast as he could straight into the room of spirit and time. "This should give us some breathing room."
Dende nodded breathlessly, extended his arms and started healing Vegeta. While the saiyan wasn't close to death, he could still feel a slight boost in his power. Will it be enough to make a difference? If Champa was anywhere near as strong as Beerus as he was now, Vegeta knew he didn't stand a chance.
Still, there was nothing more that could be done. They would either fight or they wouldn't. There would be victory or there would be defeat. The only thing he could feel right now was lust for battle, tempered by the knowledge that the lives of Bulma, Trunks and Bulla depended on the outcome.
His fear of the gods of destruction was long forgotten. Vegeta didn't even notice it was gone.
*** ***
[Doomed star]
Gohan and Beerus flew towards the neutron star, Beerus reducing the distance quickly despite Gohan's head start.
"I have to thank you for giving me these few moments to think, brat," Beerus said telepathically, "I chose the perfect punishment for you." Gohan could feel the god's malice in his mind, but continued flying towards the star in a well-practiced trajectory. The god's overconfidence would be his downfall.
"I'm not going to destroy you, you see," Beerus continued, still gaining. "Sadly, that's impossible right now. But don't worry, Instead, I'm going to imprison you somewhere."
Ignoring the god's threats, Gohan flew closer and closer to the star's furious surface. At their current level of power, the neutron star's destructive forces were no threat, and hopefully Beerus wouldn't notice the true danger it represented.
Too fast for Gohan to dodge, Beerus finally caught up to the half-saiyan with painful kick. Sickening pain spread throughout his back, causing Gohan to convulse. Something shifted in his left shoulder, and he could no longer control his left arm properly. "Time to suffer", the destroyer's telepathic message was brimming with hatred.
Overcoming the pain, Gohan went on the offensive. Before Beerus continued his assault, the god felt something grab his extended leg. Gohan was with his back turned towards Beerus, so it took the destroyer a moment to realize what was happening. A tail! A saiyan tail, thin but enhanced by ki, grew out of Gohan's lower back and looped around Beerus' leg in a crushing grip. When did Gohan regrow his tail? How did he do it? Beerus didn't know, and had neither the time nor the inclination to ask.
While Beerus was still surprised, Gohan launched the god towards the star with all his might. Without pause and fighting through the nauseating pain, The young warrior extended his right arm and shouted soundlessly, launching an invisible spear of telekinetic force towards the destroyer.
A moment of surprise was all it took for Beerus to hit the star's surface and be pushed further into the unbelievably deadly depths. Laughing despite being embedded deep inside the star, Beerus started shoving against Gohan's telekinetic burst. The crushing, burning energies of the neutron star were as nothing to him.
With a growing feeling of despair, Gohan realized Beerus was too powerful. The God of Destruction began to slowly push his way out of the star. "I'm enjoying this far more than I should," Beerus said telepathically, "can't even remember the last time I had to use all my power like this. You should feel proud, you know." As if to prove his superiority, Beerus continued to rise out of the star's depths slowly, at a steady rate, forcing Gohan to expend more and more effort.
[Doomed planet]
Goku and Whis watched the battle from afar, their ki senses extended.
Suddenly, Gohan's desperate telepathic message reached Goku. "Dad, I'm in trouble. I'm sorry I dragged you into this, but I'm running out of energy. I need to push Beerus down into the star and then expend a lot of my remaining energy for a special attack, but right now he's fighting my push and I can barely slow him down. I need help!"
Goku looked at Whis. Time was running out, he had to get involved. He could sense Gohan's wavering will and failing body. "Whis, I'm sorry, but I have to help my son".
Whis shook his head. "I can't let you interfere, Goku. That was an order from Beerus."
"Please,Whis," Goku said with a grim expression. "He's my son, I don't want anything bad to happen to him."
Whis merely shook his head again and said nothing. Goku lowered his head in defeat, but then raised it again, defiant. "Okay, so If I can't save my son, nothing matters anymore. I won't let Beerus do this."
Whis' eyes widened. He could sense Goku's intention and an insane spike in the saiyan's ki, but couldn't really believe what his own senses were telling him. Goku's aura flared as the saiyan warrior transformed into his blue ascended form, sparks of lightning crackling and arcing around his body.
"Goku, you can't be serious," Whis said in a pleading voice. The crazy saiyan was going to self destruct! At Goku's current power level, this attack would annihilate the entire universe and possibly harm Whis himself! It was too sudden, too surprising, there was no time to do anything to Goku, the only option was to create a barrier around Whis' own body and hope for the best.
"Goodbye, Whis," Goku closed his eyes, "you were a great teacher".
A massive explosion engulfed the angel, but it was much weaker than expected. His barrier easily prevented any damage to himself. Whis quickly dispersed the smoke left behind, only to see Goku back in his base form, smiling at him weakly. It took Whis a moment to realize what happened, and that was a moment too late. Goku had tricked Whis somehow, expending all his energy to create a small blast and send the rest to Gohan. By the time Whis sensed Goku's revitalizing energy burst, it already made contact.
"I don't understand," said the astonished angel. "How did you trick me? I sensed your intention, it was as clear as day! Your body language, your expression, your ki, everything!"
"Acting without thinking," Goku nodded, "means I can act while thinking the wrong thoughts and doing the wrong things." Goku smiled while his consciousness was fading. He had expended all of his ki in that one moment. "I was always good at pretending, you have to be if... you want to turn super saiyan... without losing... yourself..."
Whis gently caught the unconscious warrior, who had started to fall towards the broken planet below.
With Goku held safely in a telekinetic grip, Whis went back to watching the fight. His mind was racing, though. Goku could somehow use ultra instinct without transforming, similar to the way angels used it. How long was he in that state without revealing its power? Not only that, Goku used ultra instinct to act without conscious effort, not without thinking at all, but while thinking the wrong thoughts! Whis was highly perceptive, borderline telepathic, but he never suspected this could be possible, and thus Goku managed to surprise him. Goku found a way to use ultra instinct as a perfect tool of deception. Of course, beings such as Whis could only be fooled once in this way. Could angels do it as well? Could Whis himself act even against his own nature?
*** ***
[Doomed Star]
Goku's energy hit Gohan like nothing he had ever felt before. The half-saiyan's wounded arm was still unusable, his rib probably still cracked or broken, but all his pain, all his fatigue, were completely gone. The young warrior's aura expanded around him in an unbelievable rush of power.
Now, Gohan thought. He pushed with all his might, halting Beerus' progress for one precious moment. Meanwhile, another part of him visualized the star growing larger than it was. Too large for it to continue existing. Gohan's eyes shut tight with the mental effort of visualizing the burst of creation. King Kai's lessons guided his actions.
And now! Awakening the entirety of his power, Gohan's white aura flared purple and red, his hair turned vivid pink. The fingers on his extended arm clenched into a fist. The star suddenly grew much larger, its surface coming close to where Gohan himself hovered. For a moment he observed the stunning view with its confusing colors and tightly confined cosmic fury, and then flexed his creation power to its fullest: Collapse! BLACK HOLE!
The neutron star vanished, along with Beerus, replaced by a sick sensation of the universe itself groaning in protest, then calming down. All was quiet, all was dark. The bright presence of the neutron star was gone, replaced by a black... absence in space, much smaller in diameter than the dead star which preceded it, and impenetrable even to Gohan's ki senses.
