Beerus facepalmed. "Ohhh," he groaned, "already, half our fighters have tossed aside the plan."

Whis wore a carefree grin. "Well, maybe some of the team splitting up is a good thing. They can't eliminate very many competitors if they all stay in the same spot."

"The goal isn't to eliminate everyone else," Beerus said, pinching his temple. "It's to avoid getting eliminated yourself. I understand they're going to have to fight, but running around picking fights all by yourself is a good way to get yourself knocked out."

"Still," said the Elder Kaioshin, "I think our strategy is better than some others. Did you see what Universe 10 just did?"

"Yeah," Shin replied. "They split up completely. Is their plan to just-"

"Go in and wreck shit!" Methiop shouted in the distance as he made his charge.


Universe 9's Rozel and Universe 10's Lilibeu had Universe 2's Zirloin in their sights. Their flight paths met as they converged upon the target. Hostility set in on both their faces.
"Ah!" Lilibeu cried. "Trying to attack me?" She was surrounded in an energy aura she had set up.

"Oh, sure," Rozel said, "I bet that's not what you were doing, right?"

Zirloin didn't notice either of the flying fighters, who forgot about him and engaged each other. Rozel flew in a wide path, arcing back to Lilibeu and slashing at her with his claws, but her aura absorbed most of the blow. Lilibeu did a flip and kicked Rozel, decreasing his altitude somewhat. "If I can keep the high ground like this," she said, "I'll beat you easily!"

Rozel fired a few beams up at Lilibeu, which fizzled away as they hit her aura. Things weren't looking good, he thought. His attacks weren't piercing her aura. Making sure his team had the advantage when it came to flying fighters was an important part of his strategy. He wanted to stay in the ring so he could harass enemy combatants from above, and eliminating other flyers would ensure other teams didn't have this same advantage. His special attack would probably get through her energy barrier, but he wouldn't have time to charge it. However, he noticed Lilibeu kept talking instead of swooping down to attack and this gave him an idea. Rozel was never one for talking much during a fight, but distracting this opponent with conversation could buy him some much needed time. He focused and his third eye shifted from red to orange.

"You know," he said, fluttering up to Lilibeu. He looked around for something to talk about and saw Zirloin was busy fighting. "Uh, don't you feel non-flyers always assume you're weak?"

Lilibeu was about to deliver a punch, but stopped to think. "Yeah," she replied, looking indignant, "they always go 'flying won't help if I can just overpower you.' It's like, hello, I can both fly and be strong!"

Rozel put on a look of distaste and shook his fist. "The arrogance of some people!" His third eye was now yellow. "I bet they're just jealous."

"That's what I think!" Lilibeu shouted in agreement, raising a finger. She paused for a moment and remembered she was supposed to be fighting. She threw a punch, which Rozel swerved to avoid. "Besides, we have to fight in three dimensions, not just two, which takes-" she glanced at his forehead. "Did your eye turn green?"

Rozel had the world's widest grin on his face. "Yes, it did!" he said, and blasted Lilibeu with a wave of green energy from his eye.

The attack shattered her aura with ease and sent her flying into the distance, then off the edge of the arena. Once she realized her barrier wouldn't hold up she screamed and shut her eyes, only opening them when she heard Rumsshi yell "So much for not letting us down!"

Lilibeu looked around to discover she was in the stands and hid her face in her hands. "This is so disappointing," she whined, "being the first to get eliminated."

"Yes," Rumsshi agreed, "you have disappointed me!"

Gowasu put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't be too hard on yourself," he said, "you fought well. Think of it as still having 9 fighters who can win the tournament."

Rozel's eye shifted back to red. After taking a moment to enjoy his victory, he descended and took a closer look at Zirloin. The Universe 2 warrior was already engaged with Hyssop, so the flying fighter decided to target someone else. He hoped to find another combatant from Universe 2 because he trusted his teammate to deal with Zirloin and figured if Team Universe 2 had one fighter roaming the arena on their own, they probably had a few more. He ascended again and set off, scanning below him for any easy pickings. At one point Freeza spotted him and fired off a few beams which Rozel avoided without difficulty. Luckily for him, Freeza seemed more interested in something else and didn't engage him further. Eventually Rozel found Team Universe 2's Vikal, who was circling around somewhat below him. A great opportunity, he thought, to eliminate yet another flying combatant! He positioned himself directly above her, waited until she was far enough away, dropped down and flew towards her in a tight curve. He prided himself on this strategy; it allowed him to flank her and was more stealthy than just flying straight to her back.

It, however, did not work and Rozel found himself getting slapped in the face quite harshly by Vikal's wing. It was a little embarrassing and he thought it stung a good deal more than it logically should have. She turned around, smirking at him. "That was a nice maneuver you pulled," she said, "but I saw you before you even did it, which is why it didn't help much."

Rozel rubbed his face and Vikal continued talking. She was saying something about making him hurt, but he wasn't paying much attention and was lost in thought. He wouldn't say it aloud, but he'd always found female fighters to be chattier than male ones. This wasn't true and even if it was it would not play to his advantage this time, because unlike Lilibeu, who wanted to have a conversation, Vikal was talking to hear herself talk. With that thought, however, Rozel reminisced about his childhood days in the slums of his home planet and his friendship with the girl who taught him how to fight. (She was a bit of a tomboy and in later years Rozel realized she had been his first crush. Sadly, they were separated when she was sold to work in the mines. Such is life in Universe 9.)

"OK," he shouted, snapping back to reality, "enough chit-chat." He flew up and punched her in the face.

Vikal was knocked back a bit, but she laughed. She went straight for Rozel and he prepared to defend, but at the last second she swerved to the side and grabbed his wing. Despite his resistance she was slowly managing to lift him up. This filled him with a fury; he was in no mood to be tossed about. He brought his other arm back and slammed his fist into her stomach with a meaty thud. Vikal's eyes widened in surprise and spittle shot out her mouth. She even blushed a little, but maintained a shaky smile.

"Mmmmhh," she took a breath. "That was a nice punch." More determined than before, she swung Rozel behind her back and sent him crashing to the floor.

Rozel picked himself up and was prepared to fly back up, but he developed a plan instead. He readied an energy wave in both hands, aiming towards the floor, and hid his arms behind his back. He waited as Vikal came down to him, giving him time to ponder her baffling reaction to getting punched. When she was nearing ground level he activated both attacks, propelling him above her. He threw his head down and fired a wave from his mouth. He would have liked to use his eye wave again, but it needed more time to recharge. Vikal jumped out of the way and managed to escape the blast area for the most part, but her wings got badly singed. The shock of this made her inhale and clench her fists. She squinted, biting her lip, and an odd little squeak escaped her mouth. This seemed to provide an opening for Rozel, so he descended upon her, grabbed her wings from behind, and lifted her up.

He then was overcome with agony in his arms. Vikal snickered and expected him to let go, but he had realized at this point what her ability was, and so he fought through the pain. He squeezed harder and twisted her wings, to which she curled her toes and began drooling.

"Y-You fool, let go!" she demanded between embarrassed laughter, "L-let go, I won't..." she made another 'mmmmhh' sound, involuntarily this time. Her legs were shaking. "...give up because of pain! But I'll go ahead and increase yours..."

She allowed herself a few moments before acting and closed her eyes. Her comment had only encouraged Rozel, who still endured the pain and continued to wrench her wings sideways and upwards. Her blush deepened, but she reminded herself she had a job to do and it wasn't time for indulgence. She tensed up and increased the level of pain caused by her wings. It was too much for Rozel. He let go and fell to the floor. The pain faded quickly, but it gave way to discomfort and fear as he realized what he was dealing with.

He had encountered sadists and masochists before. It just didn't occur to him earlier because he didn't think anyone would entertain such pleasures during a tournament which decided the fate of their Universe. (In hindsight, it was foolish of him to think there was a limit to how depraved people can be.) Frankly, he didn't understand why anyone would enjoy causing pain in that way, much less receiving it. As the realization dawned on him as well as the realization he was outmatched, terror filled his eyes.
Vikal landed next to him. "Pain and love go hand in hand, you see," she said. "When someone is heartbroken they say love is pain, but the truth is, pain is love. There can be no gentleness without tough love."

Rozel got up and ran for the edge of the arena. Vikal watched him leap off. "Our fun is over already?" she asked. "What a shame."

Rozel appeared in the stands, took a deep breath and turned to Sidra. "Phew," he wiped his forehead. "She was crazy, I had to get out of there."

Sidra looked at him calmly, then suddenly snapped into a rage. "Idiot!" he yelled. "You threw yourself off intentionally?!"

Rozel looked to Roh, who seemed to be even angrier. "A man can't catch a break," he said, sighing.


Goku ran across the arena, batting aside anyone who tried to fight him or got in between him and his destination. "Jiireeeen!" he screamed upon seeing his target, "I'm comin' for you!"

Team Universe 11 was still in their formation, denying anyone who tried to approach them. They watched with horrified interest as Goku leapt over their defenses and towards Jiren. Before he could land, however, Toppo backhanded him and sent him flying back outside the formation. "No," he said sternly, looking down at the Saiyan who was now sprawled out on the floor, "you cannot rush in here and demand to fight Jiren."

"He's not here to entertain you," Dyspo stated, "he's here to deal with the big threats. We don't need you distracting him."

Goku picked himself up and dusted himself off. "So," he said, "you think I'm not a big threat?"

"To our patience, maybe," Cocotte said, sneering.

Goku contemplated this for a moment. "Why not let the guy speak for himself?"

Toppo's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"

"Well, you all keep talkin' for Jiren, deciding who he does and doesn't wanna fight," Goku said with an innocent look. "I'd just like to hear it from him."

Toppo clenched a fist. "Alright," he roared, "that's enough of your arrogance. It's time for your elimination!"

Cocotte cackled in delight. "Enjoy the humiliation of being eliminated this early on!" she shouted, and turned to the members of her team that weren't too busy fighting. "Get him, boys!"

Dyspo, Kunshi, Kettol, Tupper and Vuon split off from the formation and pounced towards Goku, surrounding him.

Dyspo was the first to rush at him. "Because of your little crush on our Jiren," he said, smashing Goku in the cheek with a sucker punch, "you've focused only on him and ignored the rest of us!"

A coiled up thread of ki appeared in Kunshi's hand. He formed a lasso with it and threw it at Goku, catching him around the neck. "You must think the rest of us aren't capable fighters," he said and tugged at the rope, sending Goku crashing to the ground. "Insulting us like that was a mistake!"

As Goku tried to get up, Kunshi wrapped more ropes around him. The Saiyan struggled in the restraints before going into the familiar, golden state of Super Saiyan. He swung his arms out, tearing apart his restraints and got to his feet. "Alright, if I have to beat you guys to prove I can fight Jiren, I'll do it."

"You'll prove nothing." Kettol stated and ran at Goku. He swiped at him a few times and Goku managed to keep dodging, but a jab to the stomach took the Super Saiyan by surprise. Kettol called for Dyspo to help him out. Dyspo kept Goku busy for a few moments, appearing in unexpected places and kicking him around. While this happened Kettol created numerous energy balls and stealthily arranged them above Goku. Kettol called Dyspo back, the swift Pride Trooper sped away, and Kettol dropped the energy balls on Goku, detonating them.

Tupper jumped into the ensuing plume of smoke, landing on top of Goku. "Hey, you know" he said as he increased his weight, gradually crushing his opponent, "it's funny you thought I was Jiren earlier, because him and I are actually pretty different."

Goku growled, straining as the weight brought him to his knees. While this was happening other members of Team Universe 11 were engaged in combat. Since they were the only team who stuck together completely, few competitors were foolhardy enough to initiate a fight with them. Those who didn't quickly get out of the team's way used hit-and-run tactics, taking potshots at the Pride Troopers and running away before they could retaliate. One of the robots of Team Universe 3 showed up, analyzed the situation as too risky, and promptly left to find some easier targets.

Tupper continued. "Jiren's pretty quiet, but you could tell that, right? I like to talk to people, though. And Jiren doesn't smile a lot, while I'm always flashing a huge grin."
The floor beneath them crumbled and Goku sank down into the rubble. He groaned loudly in frustration, trying to push up against the overpowering weight.
"Also," Tupper went on, "Jiren hates the banjo, but I think-"

Goku's eye twitched. His muscles were screaming out against the abuse. He squeezes his eyes shut, threw his head back and screamed "Stop talkin', dude, I don't care!" as he went Super Saiyan Blue. The Pride Troopers marveled at the display of power, but Tupper felt a little hurt. Goku threw him off and panted heavily.

"Alright!" Vuon cheered, running up to Goku from behind. "That means it's my-"

Goku swung his fist up behind him, hitting Vuon square in the face. "No!" he shouted, and leapt back into the Pride Troopers' formation. "Jiren!"
He kicked his leg out in mid-air, aiming for Jiren's shoulder. The latter, however, took a quick step sideways and the Saiyan managed to stick a landing without making the attack.

"Son Goku," Jiren said, turning to look at him. The other Pride Troopers watched with fascination. Jiren did not seem angry, but the look on his face was one of utter seriousness. Goku listened intently, and he continued, "You are a halfway capable fighter. You've shown that."
A look from Toppo suggested this was a pretty big compliment coming from Jiren. "So, do you know why I don't consider you worthy of fighting me?"

Goku scratched his head. "Because you think I'm a hick who plays the ban-"

"No," Jiren interrupted. "Everyone here is fighting to protect their Universe. If someone challenges me or anyone from Universe 11 it is because they want to defeat us, so their own Universe has a better chance at survival. That goes for everyone; everyone except you. To you this is a game. You want to fight me because you want to have fun. You caused this tournament with your careless actions, and now because of your selfishness you are putting your entertainment above the lives of everyone you know."

"I can save my Universe and have fun at the same time," Goku defended.

"No," Jiren insisted, "you can't, because our team is going to win."

"Are you sure?" Goku asked, smiling. "Maybe you're scared?"

"I am certain of our victory, yes. As for being scared, the only thing that scares me is the thought of someone like you running around, upsetting everyone's lives and causing disasters across the Universes."

Goku frowned. "So, you really don't wanna' fight? Well, this is a tournament. You don't have to agree to it, I can just attack ya'!"

Jiren took a breath. "I don't expect it to be a fight," he stated, "but come back later, when the time is right, and I will gladly eliminate you."

That was all the Saiyan needed to hear. "Great!" he cheered and took off. "You bet your butt I'll return."

Jiren tried to not get angry. He had already decided Son Goku was a person who couldn't be reasoned with. He thought of Universe 11 and how it will be nice to get back home, because he had nothing but absolute confidence in his victory.


Universe 3's Narirama lifted himself up with his arms and retracted his legs. The heels of his feet stuck out the bottom of his torso and meshed together to form the rounded point of a top, on which he landed and balanced flawlessly. It wasn't a matter of even weight distribution; if that were the case the moment he took any damage and a bit of metal chipped off he would fall over. His sensors allowed him to skillfully adjust his weight, but he wouldn't really need that when he started spinning because of the gyroscopic effect. Koitsukai stood next to him and made an inquisitive bloop. A small door slid open on Narirama's chest, revealing a hole. Koitsukai jumped up and into the hole, the door slid shut again. The larger robot made a quick series of beeps, began spinning and droned "Spinning Survival Mode activated."

Koitsukai waited with patient excitement, templing his fingers. His surprise attack would provide an opportunity to score eliminations, and on top of that it was going to be really cool. Narirama set off, adjusting course with the thruster on his back, knocking over anyone who got in his way. When he encountered anyone nearby but out of immediate range he extended an arm to get a quick punch in and went on his way. Despite having a very real consciousness and personality, his programming didn't account for the social aspect of this, which was if you keep punching people and running away, sooner or later some of them are going to hunt you down. His goal right now was to find and eliminate some of the warriors of Team Universe 10.

The robot stopped when he happened upon Carl, who was standing alone with a look of dismay. Most everyone the creature had approached and challenged so far had fled, and he was starting to take it personally. Perhaps he'd have to challenge that little bald man from Universe 7, he looked raring to go. (Carl used 'little' and 'bald' merely as descriptors. It would never occur to him to make fun of someone. He was not one to judge by appearances.) When he saw Narirama his face brightened up and he cheered "Alright, the first battle! The first of many, I hope."

Narirama beeped something that could be translated as "You look like you've already seen one too many, pal." From inside his hiding spot, Koitsukai snickered in binary.

"Let's go!" Carl shouted, entering a battle pose. "On guard!" He moved towards Narirama, who started spinning again. Carl's reflexes were quick enough and he managed to leap over the robot's arm. At the apex of his jump he kicked Narirama in the chest, pushing him back. Narirama stabilized himself and moved up to Carl again, but the creature spread apart his legs and lay flat against the ground. He was too low to be hit by the Universe 3 fighter's arms and for a few seconds both fighters stayed where they were.

Once it was apparent neither of them were going to move, Narirama carefully tilted himself forward, dipping his arms down so they could strike Carl at the bottom of their swing. Before his arms got too close Carl jumped onto one, extending his tentacles and sticking to it.
"Woaaahhooah!" he yelled as he spun around faster than anticipated.

Narirama made many beeps in annoyance. He was working to readjust his balance, but Carl made this difficult by crawling up his arm. The robot tilted back and forth in an attempt to shake his opponent off. Carl had traveled the length of the arm and was trying to stay stuck while kicking Narirama in the head.
Narirama beeped thrice and said "Disengage!" He stopped spinning nearly at once and Carl was flung off by the sudden stop. The Universe 10 fighter said 'woah' again as he flew past.


Universe 9's Trio de Dangers were running after Narirama, having not taken too kindly to getting punched earlier.

"Robots," Bergamo spat, "I never liked 'em."

"You've only ever met one," Basil pointed out.

Bergamo sneered. "And that one put my friend's shop out of business!"

"This story again?" Lavender asked, sighing. His brother glared at him for infringing upon his right to complain, and he changed his tune. "I mean, they should only use those things for dangerous work, not assembly lines." He looked ahead. They were closing in on the target.

"Dangerous work?" Basil repeated. "What other kind of work is there in Universe 9?"

Textiles, Bergamo thought! He mourned the loss of the fabrics factory. Dave and him had had a fine system set up before that machine came in and ruined everything. Clothing is important but Basil wouldn't understand, he didn't wear pants. Before he could vocalize any of this, the flying Carl, who was still saying 'woah,' smacked into him and knocked him down.

"Sorry," Carl said, standing up.

Bergamo dusted himself off. "What's the big idea?!"

Carl pointed to Narirama. "He threw me."
Narirama looked at the Trio de Dangers and made one, long beep.

Lavender shook his fist. "Just the robot we were looking for."

"Ah," Carl smiled. "You want in on the fight?"

"No," Basil said, swallowing. "That asshole punched us in the face and ran off!"

Hit was limping up. He tried to maintain his stoicism but was wincing a bit. "He punched you in the face?" he said. "That was lucky for you."
Carl didn't understand why getting hit in the face was lucky, but Basil winced along with Hit. "You mean he got you in the-" Basil asked before Hit raised a hand to silence him.

"I'm going to be fighting this Universe 3 machine, too," Hit said.

"Great!" Carl clapped his claws together. "But, 5 against 1's a bit unfair, don't you think?" 5 against 2, Koitsukai thought smugly.

Lavender scrunched up his face. "Unfair?"

"Yeah," Carl said, "maybe a couple of you guys could fight on his team?"

The Trio de Dangers looked baffled. Offended, even. "Team?" he repeated. "I'm fighting on no team but Team Universe 9!"

Hit shook his head, so Carl said "OK, I'll fight with him and you guys fight together." He went up to Narirama who charged an energy blast and pointed it at him.

Carl raised a claw and said "Hey, man. Same team!" Narirama beeped in confusion and dissipated the blast. He turned his attention to his new opponents.

Basil jumped up and went for a kick to Narirama's head. The robot grabbed his leg and slammed him into the floor. Carl climbed on top of him and readied a beam in each of his front claws, but Basil sat up and punched him in the mouth. Carl unhinged his jaws and swallowed Basil's fist. The wolf was disgusted by this and shook his fist around in Carl's mouth, causing the creature's fangs to scrape against the flesh and fur of his hand. Enraged, Basil sent his other fist into Carl's thorax, who then spat out the hand and gave a primal howl. Basil threw him aside, stood up, and fired a barrage of blasts at Narirama. The Universe 3 fighter began spinning once more and deflected the attacks with his arms. Basil watched closely to get a feel for the speed at which Narirama's arms spun.

Lavender blew some poison onto his hands and snatched up Carl as the latter was getting up. He chuckled as the toxicity spread throughout his opponent's body. "Stop screwing around and get out of here," he demanded, "or we'll make you suffer!"

Carl smacked what would be his lips if he had any and said, "Mmmh, delicious poison."

Lavender blinked in astonishment. Carl was now scratching at him and squirming in his grasp. The wolf wordlessly clutched the creature to his chest, took a hand off and poked Carl in the eyes with poisoned fingers. He screamed in pain, shot out a claw and pinched Lavender's finger, causing him to scream as well and let go.
Bergamo got behind Narirama and clawed at his back. It didn't do as much damage as he'd hoped, but it tore away some of the metal allowing him a peek at some clear plastic inside a compartment. Narirama heated up his thruster to defend himself, and Bergamo jumped away, escaping with singed feet. Boosting his thruster, however, sent Narirama rolling straight for Basil.

"Allow me," said Hit, springing into action. He used his Time Skip and, from his perspective, the environment crystallized. He pushed Basil out of Narirama's way and with his remaining time decided to see what would happen if he grabbed the robot's arms and, with all his might, turned them in the opposite direction they were spinning.
When time resumed, Basil was surprised to find himself having moved, but he sensed an opportunity and recovered.

Narirama's arms slowed briefly, and that was all the time Basil needed. He jumped into the air and sped his descent with a kick. Upon landing he smashed an arm, stretching it out of its socket a little. "How do you like that, Extendo-Arms?" he taunted.

"Oh no," Carl gasped dramatically, "will my ally be able to spin anymore?"

Narirama wouldn't be able to use this arm for anything but grabbing with his hand, and he couldn't spin with only one arm. His claws, however, could still save him from elimination in a pinch, so the arm wasn't completely useless. He beeped something in frustrated tones translating to "I'll get it repaired after I defeat you and win."
He then angled his thruster downwards, floated up into the air and extended his legs again. Still in the air, he lifted his good arm and charged a blast, which Bergamo ran in front of. This turned out to be a bad idea, as he failed to absorb the energy.
He only suffered a bruise and some minor burns, but was stunned. "Artificial energy..." he groaned in realization, and Narirama landed.

Carl ran for Bergamo but was kicked away by Hit. Bergamo looked at the Universe 6 fighter and said "Keep the robot busy!" He then turned to his brothers and said "Fuel me!"

Basil and Lavender understood at once. They unleashed a flurry of ki attacks on their older brother, increasing his size.

"I guess I take orders now," Hit said to himself. It was going to be tricky to know where to strike. Robots didn't have 'vitals' in the same way organic beings did. They had sensitive spots, sure, but punching a man's circuit board didn't have the same effect as punching his heart. Also, no doubt this robot had been designed to be as durable as can be all over. He shot a few beams, hoping to make an opening.

The door hiding Koitsukai slid open and the tiny robot leaped out, beeping "Order this!" He extended his arm to give Hit another punch to his 'vitals' but the assassin predicted the attack and plucked the Universe 3 fighter out of the air.

"No," Hit said, lifting Koitsukai to eye level. This earned him a beam to the face from the robot's eye. He dropped the robot and wiped a layer of ash from his face. Koitsukai scanned the fighters in the area, transmitted the data, and took off knowing he was outmatched and required for Plan X.

Hit was about to perform another Time Skip. Before he did, Carl snuck behind him and pinched his ankle while laughing an annoying, insect-like laugh. Hit yelled and stomped on his attacker. Carl's hard shell protected him from any damage. He wrapped his legs around Hit's, then signaled for Narirama to attack.
Bergamo, satisfied with his size, went over to Carl, picked him up and chucked him into the distance. He then tackled Narirama to the floor. Basil leapt up and fired his Shining Blaster at the prone robot. Each of the brilliant red orbs hit its target and after the cloud of smoke cleared, Narirama was in pretty bad shape. Both arms were damaged now and he was covered in dents and scratches.

"Should we finish this off with a Dangers' Triangle?" Lavender asked excitedly.

"That'll work," Bergamo said, shrinking back down.

Narirama tried to right himself with his better arm, but Lavender blew the hand apart with a blast. The persistent Universe 3 fighter was now trying to pick himself up with the stump of an arm and the brothers formed a triangle around him. Carl, who had caught himself on the edge of the arena with his tentacle, was traveling along the rim to get back into the fight.

Narirma made a long series of loud, rapid beeps. He floated up with the use of his thruster and attempted to fly away, but Lavender summoned an energy orb and smacked it into the robot, pushing him back down. He managed to land on his feet and tried to run away. He was unable to manage this as he was constantly being pummeled around from all angles. Hit stood by as the Trio executed their attack. He wanted to eliminate Narirama himself, and still planned to. He had caught a glimpse of the suction cups Bergamo exposed and had an idea of how this would end. Greatly worried, Narirama began charging his last resort attack.

Basil's legs glowed red as he hopped back and forth, striking Narirama's legs from many angles. Soon one leg had broken off at the knee and the other was twisted around.
"Don't underestimate the Trio de Dangers!" he shouted. "We survived in Universe 9."

Rays of yellow light shone from Lavender's fists. He beat in Narirama's head mercilessly, severing his antenna and cracking his eye. "Enjoy the inescapable wrath of our Dangers' Triangle!" he cried.

Bergamo was surrounded with a blue aura. He punched and kicked the robot's torso to upset his balance and then slammed into him, pushing him closer and closer to the edge with his entire body weight. "You will be defeated," he declared, "and the rest of your Universe's team will follow."

The barrage made quick work of Narirama, and he was soon shoved off the arena's edge. The robot made a couple of tired beeps as two semicircular doors on his back slid apart and two pairs of suction cups held together by metal framing folded out. Bergamo saw this and was prepared so he fired his Wolfgang Pressure. Narirama was pushed away before his suction cups could make contact and he continued falling. His arm with no hand was useless, but he used the hand on his functionless arm to sink his claws into the floor. He dangled from the edge of the arena and powered his thruster to lift himself back in. The brothers looked at one another in exasperation. Basil stomped on Narirama's remaining hand and broke off his claws. Lavender flicked his wrist and shot two beams from his fingers, curving them, and they sliced apart the framing holding together the suction cups. Bergamo fought against the robot's thruster with an energy wave in each hand. Narirama fell out of sight. However, Carl could be heard grunting as he revealed himself, climbing up the edge of the arena with him stuck to his tentacle.
"I got ya', partner!" he said, dropping his 'partner' on the floor.

Hit squinted. He looked at the Trio de Dangers. "He just saved a fighter from another Universe."

"Yeah," Bergamo said flatly.

"Does he know the Universes are going to erased?" Hit asked in disbelief.

"I have no idea."

Carl was saying something, but nobody was listening. Hit approached Narirama, and lifted a hand.
Narirama's torso stood upright, a crumpled leg folded beneath it. On his back above the doors housing his suction cups, another pair of doors flapped open. Blue light radiated from inside and smoke poured out. His cracked eye stared back at Hit and flashed. "Energy Core Blast..." he beeped in robotic, and a large chamber on his torso filled with the same blue light. As a war cry he added, spoken regularly, "Nari-"

"Begone," Hit said. He performed a Time Skip and tapped the robot.

"-Rama!" the Universe 3 fighter wailed, falling from the arena for the final time.

Narirama appeared in the stands. He turned his eye to Mosco.
"You were outnumbered," the God of Destruction said to him in robotic. "and you gave it your all. Good job."
Narirama made a bloop of gratitude and entered sleep mode.

"That was quite the fight, boys," Carl said with a grin, "what next?"

Nobody answered him. "I want to teach that kid from Universe 7 a lesson," Lavender demanded.

"Universe 7!" Carl said, thinking of Krillin. "I'd like to fight them, too."

"Do you really expect to just tag along with us?" Basil asked.

"Yeah," Carl answered.

Bergamo huffed. "Fine. You'll probably get your ass kicked anyway," he said. "To Team Universe 7 we go."

Hit, satisfied with eliminating Narirama, was already shuffling off somewhere else.


Vegeta saw Botamo riding Auta Magetta towards the center of the arena. He had a few choice words for the metal man but decided not to say them. This wasn't out of politeness, it was out of pride; he didn't want to resort to the exploiting a fighter's weakness straight away. What he didn't know was even if he had hurled an insult at Magetta it would not have worked because Botamo was covering his ears. The Saiyan figured if Bota Magetta were running from that direction the rest of the Universe 6 fighters must be somewhere in that vicinity, and decided to find Cabba because he found the young man slightly less annoying than most other people here. Cabba, none of his teammates having wanted to group up with him, thought to find Vegeta and ask him for advice. Soon enough, the two found each other and started a conversation. Vegeta mentioned something Cabba had told him during their first fight.

"It's not an ancient legend," Cabba explained, "it happened a little over 40 years ago. In fact it's not much of a religious thing at all, it's just common sense."

"It's common sense for me not to trust the bastard, right," Vegeta agreed. If the technology of Frost's empire was similar to Freeza's, maybe they could manage time travel, but the idea didn't sit well with him. "But, if this Saiyan really did come from the future, there would be another timeline, and-"

Cabba was dying to correct him and had to interrupt. "Well, no," he interjected, "he didn't come from the future in person. He sent a two-way broadcast back in time. And he showed a picture of someone who looked just like Frost, and he said 'Don't trust Frost.' OK, the broadcast cut out early and he only got the first part of the name out."

He was prepared for Vegeta to scrutinize the phrase 'someone who looked just like' and already had a counterargument prepared. Instead, however, Vegeta asked "How do you know he really was from the future?"

Cabba explained the messenger had a tail, and the fact the Saiyans in the past didn't (and were therefore further back in the line of evolution) was the first thing he pointed out in the broadcast. It was then Vegeta began to form an idea in the back of his mind of who the Future Messenger could be. He decided both Universes 6 and 7 would, somehow, survive and he would visit Planet Sadala to learn more.


Freeza smiled at Frost. They had seen each other briefly before the tournament but had not exchanged words. They were discussing how they used to run their empires when Freeza mentioned Saiyans, seeming to hope his doppelgänger harbored the same level of animosity towards them. "They're superstitious monkeys, don't you think?" he asked. "Not only that, but they refuse to learn their place."

Frost put a finger to his mouth. "Sorry, the comparison to monkeys is lost to me. I haven't interacted much with any Saiyans other than the ones on our teams. However..." he clenched a fist, "...Vegeta."

His tone explained everything to Freeza. He understood; Vegeta had to be his second most hated Saiyan. Third place would go to Gohan, whom Freeza had mentally filed as 'The Brat.' First place would, of course, be the one responsible for his first humiliating defeat.

"Vegeta indeed," he said. "I've worked with them and trust me, all they ever talk about is their ridiculous legends."

Frost raised a hand and nodded. "It's strange," he said, "I'd agree they are superstitious. I said I haven't interacted with Saiyans much. I was going to use the race for my purposes, under the guise of something noble, but they flat-out refused. Their reason for doing so had to do with some legend about not trusting 'F,' who is, apparently, me."

Freeza let this sink in. He decided what he was going to do, as if there were any question. "Well," he said, "from one 'F' to another..." he smirked and put a hand on Frost's shoulder "...I have a little I'd like to teach you, if you're willing."


Android 17 and Universe 3's Viara were engaging in the classic ceremony of slowly showing off more of your power to learn about your opponent. When the Android caught a glimpse of The Preecho in the distance he made a mental note to think up more Cell jokes to annoy his sister with. For some reason Universe 10's Murisarm thought this was the perfect moment to attack. He landed a punch on Viara and pretended it didn't hurt his fist, then 17 tore the martial artist away from his other opponent. The two men stood some distance apart and stared each other down. Viara did not get involved. He and the other robots had sensed something peculiar in 17 and 18 and he wanted to observe him and get information (both to help aid in combat against the Androids and out of general curiosity.) He saw Hyssop fleeing from Zirloin in the distance and calculated there was a high probability of many eliminations occurring soon.

"Alright, man," Murisarm blurted, "you wanna' fight? What about it?!" His eyes grew wider with every other word and he kept tilting his head at odd angles.

"You approached me," 17 stated, already annoyed by the Universe 10 fighter, "but, OK."

Murisarm somersaulted towards 17. The Android thought this was an absurd move but Murisarm covered distance faster than predicted and 17 barely leaned back in time to avoid a punch to his face.
17 cupped his hands together, leaned forward, and went to smash Murisarm on the head. Murisarm ducked, brought his fist out and slid towards his opponent. He stopped with his knuckles an inch from the Android's chest, then shot his fist forward. 17 coughed up spit and was thrown back. This fighter wasn't too strong, but he was quick and had great control of his body, which makes for a powerful warrior.

"I trained under master Nam Pi," Murisarm exclaimed, punching his fists in front of him and taking short steps towards 17, "who trained under master Nuhs-haw Nahc! And he trained under master-"
17 delivered energy blasts from both hands to the blabbering martial artist.

Murisarm didn't anticipate this and failed to dodge; his only reaction was to look away before the attack exploded in his face. Inside the resulting cloud of dust, he dropped to his knees and panted. He never would have even fathomed someone could be so disrespectful as to attack someone while they were detailing their lineage. He raised a palm and formed a large orb of ki, sending it up and out of the dust cloud. He moved the orb in front of the Android, split it apart into several smaller balls and moved these behind 17, who turned around. Murisarm leapt out of the dust and stomped on his opponent's foot. After the initial shock the Universe 7 fighter's eyes pooled with rage.

"How dare you," Murisarm said, bringing the energy orbs, which now seemed to be more than distractions, closer to 17, "attack a man while he's telling you about his master and his master's master!"

The Android pushes Murisarm away from him and activated his Energy Shield. The ki balls detonated, doing no damage. He jumped in the air. "I don't give a damn who your master is," he shouted and charged a blast in one hand, and an energy wave in the other, spinning the other arm over his head, "and I give less than no damns who your master's master was!"

The Universe 10 fighter scowled. "That's rude!" he said, and fired a beam at his opponent, which didn't get through the barrier.

Enough with this guy's stupid gimmick, 17 thought. He scooped the arm down with the energy wave down, set the blast in front of the wave and hurled the attack at Murisarm. The wave bulldozed him towards the edge at which point the blast erupted, knocking him off.

Gowasu comforted him after he appeared in the stands. "Go on, tell me about your master's master's master, and so on," he said. "I'll listen."


Android 18 was engaged in a fight with Universe 4's Shosa when Caulifla and Kale approached. The former marched with a look of haughty aggression and the latter timidly tip-toed behind. Caulfila declared she and her friend were going to fight Shosa and knocked 18 away when she saw the Android was already doing so. The Universe 7 fighter shook her fist and tried to tell her off but a battle quickly erupted between the Saiyans and Shosa, so 18's words were ignored. She picked herself up and turned around, only to bump into someone again.

"Hey, can't you see?" she asked, then looked up.

"No, I cannot," Universe 4's Majora said, smiling, "but you were the one to walk into me."

Awkwardness and guilt formed in 18's stomach and she attempted an apology. "I'm so-"

Majora waved her off. "Don't worry about it," he said politely, "it's alright. The reason I didn't move was because I've never encountered a scent quite like yours before and I was focused on exploring it."

The Android gave a wry smile. "My scent, huh?"

"Yes, I can tell you're a powerful woman, a mother," Majora said, kicking her in the face without warning. Her neck cracked as it was turned 90 degrees. She went to grab his leg but he withdrew it and continued, "but be warned, I do plan to do more than talk."

She fired a beam at the Universe 4 fox. He leaned to the side but was late to react and the attack grazed him. "You can tell that from 'exploring my scent?'" she asked, going for a kick. Majora dodged, but at the last moment, costing him his balance. "Kinda creepy."

"My apologies," he righted himself and bowed his head, "I didn't mean it like that. What I mean is in the same way you might look at someone to learn about them, I can learn as much from their scent. More in fact, because people take efforts to alter their appearance, but don't do the same for their smell."

18 slipped behind him and charged a blast against his back, saying "But you haven't been very good at sniffing out my movements."

To her surprise he grabbed her other arm and flipped her. "As I said, I've never encountered a scent like yours so I'm not used to it." He laughed a wise laugh and added "But I'm improving."


Vikal had her legs wrapped around Hyssop's waist, arms around his neck and was flying off. A horrible cold spread throughout her arms and nether region. Her limbs trembled and she wore a quivering, pained smile. Ice was starting to cover her inner thighs and arms but it was the only option; she couldn't fly with frozen wings and this guy was barely pushed back by any of her long-ranged attacks. As she savored the cold, saliva spilling from her lips, she wished she could be causing the Universe 9 giant pain right now. Sadly for her her limbs were occupied and her wings busy with the task of flying. He struggled in her grip and said "Let me go! Don't underestimate Universe 9."

"Goodbye, sweetheart," Vikal said as she dropped Hyssop off the edge and blew him a kiss. She landed on the floor and waited for her partner, letting the ice thaw naturally.

Soon Universe 2's Jimeze appeared before her, grabbed her shoulder, and they disappeared together.
They reappeared among Zarbuto and the Kamikaze Fireballs. "Team Universe 9 has been pestering us," the Yardrat explained. "I think it's time to deal with them."

Zarbuto looked worried. "You found out where they're going, right?" he asked.

Jimeze nodded. "Their leaders said they were heading for Team Universe 7. The other Universe 9 fighters will try regrouping with them soon."

Sanka Ku crossed her arms and smiled with confidence. "Universe 7, huh? That's the one with that Mibu fellow, right?"

Su Roas chimed in, adjusting her glasses and sniffing. "Actually, I believe Prum misunderstood. The fighter said 'Me Buu' as in 'I am Buu.' A similar miscommunication
occurred in the book The Apathy of Space, with dire consequences. You see-"

Brianne de Chateau nughed her with a shoulder. "Su," she said gently, "not every situation needs a literary reference."

"We should get there before them instead of trying to follow them," Vikal said, "since they're split into two groups and that way we can make both come to us."

"Yes. Hold on, everybody," Jimeze said, and the others touched him. He put two fingers to his forehead. "Let's show everyone the love Universe 2 is capable of."
The five of them vanished.


Freeza Tournament of Power theme: watch?v=ie13dbqydTs


The Trio de Dangers of Universe 9 have shown their capabilities, and are attacking Universe 7 next. Universe 2, however, is prepared to defeat them.

5 fighters have been eliminated. 75 remain. Which Universe will be the first to be erased?

There are 45 minutes left in the Tournament of Power.