{ Far-Distant Era }
"This…"
The world was violently being formed around her, around the quaint little cave of a distant hellish planet some time before ages had come to pass. In a few million years' time, the planet would break apart via distant supernova, having never breathed a trace of anything more than single-celled life in all its days.
The chaos soothed her. Reminded her of home.
Yet within it, across the cave walls as moving carvings far too detailed to be considered natural, a recent image played.
"You, three of your strongest patrollers, and all of your most promising freshly-plucked pupa. And only the tiniest, most feasibly-negligible distance away from the core of Conton's barrier... just far enough for me to notice."
As a large bubble-like machine ticked past a segment at the pace of a snail on lettuce, the blue, white-haired demoness gave a soft chuckle.
"You've grown so complacent, Supreme Kai of Time."
As soon as it formed, so did her brash expression corrode.
"(An opportunity like this… as frail as I am now, I can't afford to bungle this up. Any misstep and, best-case scenario, this chance vanishes forever. Worst, I'm tracked down.)"
Towa bit a finger.
"(Yet delay for too long, and it doesn't matter what course I take, this opportunity will fade regardless.)"
The black-arts sorcerer, the abnormal Majin, the heretic witch, and now, the half-spawn. It was due both to the sudden, violent sprouts of demon energy surrounding their matches, and the animosity and bloodlust around the others, that this "connection" was now possible.
"(Lock them all in? No, with the level of powers present, they'd escape the second they suspected a thing… and I lack the power to summon anyone of value…)"
"Well, this is new. You seem awfully hard-pressed."
With a scowl, she turned. Down the tunnel, two out-of-shape figures walked; the tailed, stretching and sweaty one much more talkative than his tall, antennae'd cohort.
"Then again, I've seen you cackle with delight at ants being crushed a second before their 'canon' expiration date. After so many small victories, you're finally given a golden ticket, and the first thing you do is freeze?"
Her bio-android bodyguard stepped forward. "You forget your place, Turles-"
Towa's hand raised, her gaze fixated to the carvings.
"What brilliant scheme have you hatched, beyond your blasted tree?"
As he popped a squat, Turles defensively raised his hands. "Hey, I'm not a moron. We're running on fumes as-is, no room for as big a change as that. But if you're this desperate for a shot, then here's a fun idea: seize the moment. Use those greenhorns out there to your advantage."
Towa rolled her eyes, and Mira spoke for her. "Fool. Lady Towa has clearly taken such action into account. If she hasn't acted upon it, then she's deemed it useless."
"If that was end-of-story, sure. But you're missing the big picture."
The demoness scoffed. "Yes, have them immediately track us down, is that your plan?"
"Precisely."
Towa's eyes moved like a swung dagger through the air.
"Do you really intend to put the screws to me at a time like this? You think me so weak that I can't snuff you out, boy?"
Turles sighed. The namekian parallel to him groaned.
"Just make your damn point already!"
"We've established that Conton, especially as is, will move in without hesitation if it catches a whiff of your sorry hide. So I say, USE THAT. Make a false trail, or something along those lines."
"Sorry hide!?"
"Mira."
Towa gave him a stern look. He calmed himself soon after.
"Go on."
"You have connections in the Demon Realm, right? No-doubt from your escapades with that Demi-whoever."
"Hm-hm-hm, 'Demi-whoever'? Yes, but those still alive are either useless denizens or would sooner see me dead. A pair of the latter are more focused on seeing to that has-been's recovery."
"Would sure be a pain if THAT came to pass, right?"
"If you truly are leading me to where it sounds, drop it. To open a portal to the Demon Realm for even a few minutes would take every ounce of my amassed distortion energy, and once that expires, we're trapped without means of escape. Mira and I will be hunted down for the rest of our days, while you short-lived oafs will succumb to madness and become thoughtless fiends."
"Wait, a few minutes?" Slug turned, his turn to grin. "With that much breathing space, we can actually think up something stable!"
"... this is idiotic, I'm listening to the ramblings of zombies."
Turles sucked his teeth, the buzz from his recent battle high being cut short. "You're really content with sitting here for another dozen years, waiting patiently as you pick up… what, a MILLIONTH of energy every day from the scraps of deja vu across space-time, hoping beyond hope that you can make it to the next showdown between some time-traveling schmuck and a patroller to lick up the crumbs of 'Kili' left over? Don't you demons take any pride in your work?"
His trachea found itself on the wrong end of a tipped spear.
"You're far out of line, mortal."
"Hhh. Here we go again." Turles stood up.
"How many times have I died now? 3? 5? I stopped caring after the first few."
Towa's eyes twitched, only to widen in shock as the grey saiyan pushed the edge into his skin.
"All I'm saying is, if this is the extent of your scheming, you may's well kill me now. I'd rather die than work under a bore."
"You…"
Turles waited.
Towa, to his surprise, relented. She yanked her rod away, sending Turles's hand over his new wound.
"What gives?"
"... It can't be too blatant. If anything, the planet we're on right now would serve as the best possible lure." Her finger sailed down a side of the tunnel. "I'd need every trace of energy and then some for a gambit like this."
Slug chuckled, reeling from Turles's stunt and staring toward the ensuing battle etching itself onto the wall.
"Well, we just need to make an investment beforehand, don't we?"
Towa gave a nervous smirk.
"It's do or die, then."
Toward the wall coated with moving carvings, she directed her scepter. The pitch-black energy steadily moved from the vat to her body, causing a bead of sweat to drop.
The Serpent Eats Its Tail... As Order Stumbles, Chaos Makes Its Move!
"If it rids me of this tedium, I don't mind."
{ PRESENT DAY, PRESENT TIME }
The four walked.
"Specifics?" Trunks asked, tearing off his tie.
"One Billion BA, unnamed planet. South Quadrant. Timeline is almost a note-by-note replica of the Primary Scroll, barring that Goku is born with God Ki and is also a woman."
Trunks tossed on his jacket. "Of course, no one ever checks divergents. Any idea of who's behind this?"
"It's Mom. The spell was one thing, but her energy practically screamed at me once I got a proper read."
Trunks attached his sheath with a click.
"... got it."
"Did'ya tell the Supreme Kai about this?" Goku asked, before a fifth patroller in black spandex and a white armor chassis joined them in their walk.
"Of course," spoke Vegeta. "As if the boy would take a stray breath without her permission."
"Yeah, great, 40-year old man's still a boy."
Puddin giggled smugly. "I mean, how else would you still look like a teenager?"
Arriving at the Nest of Time, Trunks grabbed the faulty scroll.
"Alright, we can all kick my ass on the way there. Hold on."
Everyone followed suit, and the quintet phased from the nest.
Flying through spacetime in a blue tunnel, the commander reflected.
[ BGM: Mark Menza ‒ DBGT Recap Theme (Extended) ]
Towa had been a thorn in the side of the Supreme Kai of Time's side since she first made herself known; 1000A. Before then, the demon named Mira was thought to have been working alone, causing massive changes across spacetime… to the point where, before we knew it, he'd turned Age 851's Namek into smoke.
As a part of the then name-pending Time Patrol, repenting for my own streak across timelines, and one of the first in history to do so ‒ bar an old friend ‒ I and a few others from Age 1000 fought off his upstart "Time Breakers," and we did well enough to stop him from attaining his perceived goal of taking Earth a thousand years in the future.
Trunks rubbed his temple. "(As it happened, the 'goal' was a ruse.)"
Although Mira's driving force was always to grow stronger, TOWA had been collecting energy from those countless alterations of time.
To make things worse, the Time Patrol had entered its own spat. Its first two patrollers had entered a disagreement with a violent end, and one was locked away with mortal wounds, left to float in a crevice of timeless void for all eternity. Whether or not he deserved such a fate is irrelevant; it left us all splintered, the ever-growing time disruptions too much for a few decently-strong earthbournes, and one schmuck with a sword, to overcome by themselves.
So, eventually, the "Lord" of Time humbled herself.
Trunks snuck a glance over to Ace.
Chronoa received help from the Dende of that era, whose Earth had been saved from Mira's would-be conquest thanks to us. We were given 7 Dragon Balls empowered by one sole purpose and, setting shop in Age 850, we had an ideal warrior created from the ground-up: our "Ace."
With his help, we cleaned up a great many disruptions rocking reality. Across our travels, we were able to gather others from doomed timelines, distorted beyond-repair by Towa and Mira's meddling.
Trunks glanced over again, this time to the two full-blooded saiyans.
One, my father. The other, none other than Son Goku. We gave them a place to call home, and they helped mentor the other wishbourne patrollers. And eventually, thanks to our contact in 1000A, a certain… genie… came to us with interest. Much younger, if age could even apply to beings like him, and an aura about him like nothing outside the Demon Realm could produce.
"Dumplin" at the time, Ace, and I pushed Towa to the brink, cornering and defeating Mira in 774A… and from there, we encountered an even-greater threat to all history itself. Demigra, former Time Kaioshin select-turned-Demon God. Escaping Crack of Time-confinement through Towa's indirect aid, and infiltrating our HQ through tricking Ace, he laid waste to much of Toki Toki City and its residents; and, controlled by his magic, I took part. During the confusion, Towa and Mira had taken my father, masked and made for a while to be the minion of the Time Breakers during their subservience to Demigra. It took pursuing him to the Demon Realm, and a united front by Ace, Dumplin, my freed father and Goku to take that collective out; hell, Dumplin usurped his title in front of his former subjects in the process. The Time Breakers dead or scattered, Towa escaped with a defeated Mira in the process, and while the enigmatic Demon God went off in solo pursuit… I'd have no idea what that'd entail until much later.
Trunks then eyed Puddin, who almost-immediately eyed him back with soulless eyes and a cutesy smile. He promptly refocused ahead.
852A. Two brief years of peace, all spent healing from the earlier catastrophe. After one last, misplaced attempt at demonstrating divine authority by a grieving Supreme Kai of Time that led to Toki Toki City's rupturing, a new refuge was created from the rubble: Conton City. There, with weakened dragon balls and a shift in perspective due to infighting within the Patrol, we'd turned to a different method of summoning patrollers; second chances for those who've lost their place in time, instead of producing soldiers. And although one of the original saviors of time would never return, proof of his "adventures" would show in his stead, no wishes needed: the daughter of he and Towa, Puddin.
"(Ta-nya~n!)"
Ggh. It seems that the demon scientist had grown stronger after… whatever unholy matrimony she and Dumplin shared. In any case, the product of it was behind her father's ability for a few days, at worst; soon, after absorbing the teachings of just-about every mentor in the city, she edged just-above his power. And also… despite how intense she could get, her bubbly spirit, combined with her efficiency, helped boost morale in the way that mattered most. I guess in some cruel ironic twist, Towa had given back to the Patrol, even after all she'd done. Speaking of, Puddin helped dispel Towa's newest schemes to create her own twisted timeline via artificial Time Egg, and eventually resort to stealing our own, in place of the still-recovering patrollers, and even defeated a controlled Dumplin in the process, manipulated and stripped of much of his power by Towa. It was brutal, in retrospect… even after that, Towa sicc'd Mira, what was effectively Puddin's brother, after her. But following a series of defiance, Mira would absorb Towa in the pursuit of… honestly, I'm not sure. Besides Puddin, no one is; once Goku entered the fray, she knocked him out herself. Conton's demi-Majin would defeat him, yes, but it seemed like that bubbly innocence was gone soon after her return. Dumplin disappeared again, as well, though I've got a hunch where he is now; or more-so, where he's returned to. There was one absolute after all that, however… not even THAT spelled the end for Towa.
It seems that Mira forcefully defused from both Tokitoki's egg and Towa in his final moments, and she disappeared without a trace. Soon after, the Demon Realm's seal had come undone, and at the height of her demonic potential, the cockroach waged a one-woman war spanning two long years. In that time, she'd formed an alliance with an entire coalition of Demon Gods calling themselves the Dark Empire. Demonkind's trademark subtlety aside, we as a force had also grown in power. With all 5 of us and a plentitude of other patrollers, we were able to win most of our ensuing clashes. Yeah, it was the last few, especially regarding Towa and the brother she'd gone out of her way to revive, that we'd need assistance with; and who else to pitch in but Demigra, and the two responsible for his reawakening. How? No-doubt shenanigans involving Dumplin's loss of power around the Mira Incident. Why? Seems no one likes sharing power, neither demons nor mortals.
Ace turned around and signaled two fingers ahead, before forming a fist.
"(Just about there, huh?)"
Nodding, Trunks, Ace, and the two rival saiyans raised their auras. Instead of illuminating the area around them, an isolated tint bounced off their skin.
Their goal had been to rejuvenate a Demon Realm patriarch, Mechikabura… and they did it, raiding the Time Nest and taking Chronoa with them. Another major blow, even more left dead. We needed more.
In time, our uneasy alliance did its own reluctant time-meddling, grew stronger, neutralized the other Majin bastards, and saved Chronoa. All that remained was Mechikabura, who'd come to us instead of waiting. Instead of healing his defeated subjects or, hell, even sending them back to the Demon Realm, he'd absorbed their remaining essence, becoming a being that transcended time, space, dimensions, all things. It came to a point where all of history was being devoured.
However, thanks to Demigra's wish on anomalous "dark" dragon balls for power that could counter Mechikabura, and the help of 3 other saiyans whom we'd picked up during our stop at the then-obliterated "Shadow Dragon" timeline, we combined every faucet ‒ light, dark, the power of gods, and the tenacity of mortals ‒ to seal the bastard away. From there, Demigra scampered back to a ravaged Demon Realm, one that we've diligently suppressed ever since; seems that wielding a demon-countering force really did a number on him. And after being backstabbed, Towa went on the run across our own realm, leaping from timeline-to-timeline, biding her own time as the Patrol amassed strength and stability.
And it seems that her patience has finally run out.
Unfortunately for her, this time, We're Ready.
The tunnel reached its end, and the five reached their destination
"(Whew! This place is noisy!)" said Goku telepathically.
Vegeta surveyed the area himself. "(Seems to be a planet in the process of creation…)"
"(The perfect place for a Demon Realm denizen to set up shop. Puddin, what direction?)"
Puddin fell, crashing through the ground.
"(... ok…)"
The others followed, and a dug-out cave was revealed. Ace telekinetically repatched the hole, and Puddin's eyes darted around.
"There's an atmosphere down here. Or at least, there's breathable air."
The other four released the bits of atmosphere within their auras ‒ although the protective ki barriers around them remained ‒ and took deep breaths. They immediately went into coughing fits.
"Never said it was GOOD air."
Trunks hacked something up. "Smells like a rotten... meat grinder..."
Ace nodded, gagging. With a grunt, he was back upright, as were the triad.
"It appears she left in a hurry," said the prince. "And perhaps those two disagreed with the decision."
Vegeta eyed the fresh dead bodies of Turles and Slug. One on the left, one on the right; in the center of the room, the destroyed remains of a kili collector. Whatever smell they gave off, it was dwarfed by the pungent otherworldly aroma.
"What is it with her and these two…" Trunks wondered as he inspected them; they'd been impaled through the necks and stripped of their life force. Not a trace remained; neither heart beat, nor ki signature.
"All that, just to kill them again…"
Taking in his surroundings, Ace eyed the wall behind everyone, one tattered by miniscule bits of erosion. Puddin accompanied him.
"Yeah. Almost seems like a pattern, if you squint hard enough… Wait, I've seen this before…"
Goku glanced over, as Vegeta and Trunks inspected the machine's remnants.
"What's over he- Wait, I've seen this before!"
Ace and Puddin turned. The latter with an exposed vein.
"These villagers had asked me to save their princess from the Demon Realm and-"
Puddin's pink aura darkened in a flash, and she whirred back around, thrusting out her palm.
Her face immediately went sour. "WHAT?"
Ace stepped back.
"GH!?"
Vegeta and Trunks snapped to the source.
Beheld was a door; no bigger than she was tall. Though closed, it was only recently done so. And as demonic ki oozed from its hinges, one thought raced through everyone's minds.
"A DEMON REALM ENTRANCE!"
"... also Goku, you're on thin fucking ice, pal. Stop stealing my wins."
The commander in black paced over. "But why the Demon Realm? The strongest demons left down there despise her, she'll be killed on the spot!"
"Even still," replied Vegeta, "It's a potent magic origin. Every second spent down there is worth a sizable sum of demonic energy, though perhaps less-than before with how we've rocked the hierarchy. Even so, it's likely even more chaotic than ever."
"Besides," added Goku, "She definitely could've forged a deal with someone 'over there'."
"But what could she've used to convince them?"
Ace turned to Puddin and side-nodded toward the door, his hand pressed against it.
"Mh." She placed a finger upon the small gate.
"OPEN."
The door obeyed.
"I'm getting pissed off thinking about this so much." The demi-demon goddess stared into the swirling abyss. "I'm going in."
The son of the dragon prepared to fly.
"Can't we get, like, a talking collar for that guy? Seriously."
"Hmph. As if we need another babbling clown around here," the prince of, at long last, quite a good many saiyans quipped. He stood at the event horizon.
"That was just harsh, Vegeta!" chuckled the saiyan raised on Earth, the two standing side-by-side.
The original sinner sighed. "It's decided, then. I'll stay behind and hold it open. No guarantee this isn't a trap, after all."
"He~ey! That's a smart move, Trunks!"
"don't patronize me..."
The four set off. Trunks made an incantation in the air, before holding his hand before it, repelling the demonic door from the inside-out.
"(My own take-away from all this is…) "
The space around the other four began to fold and contort; it became a deep, dark red.
"(Towa used the match back at the tournament's stagnant timespace to gather enough kili to create a demon gate. She isn't above rash decisions under pressure, so maybe she took the life force of Turles and Slug and converted it. They are just pawns, after all. From here, the goal should be to gather energy from the Demon Realm.)"
A colossal red cloud was suddenly pierced. Goku, Vegeta, Puddin, and Ace shot into the accursed mirror-reality, somehow even more putrid than Hell itself.
Three of the four's breaths squirmed and clawed through their throats before finally nestling into their lungs.
Puddin took in the fresh air through her nonexistent nose.
/"Have you landed?"/
/"Yes."/
The sounds of warring denizens came to a halt, as an eerie silence fell upon the land.
Just outside the increasingly-large swarm, concealed in shadow indistinguishable from the rest, was a faint white mane…
"I'll make a feint to the Demon Realm."
Mira swiveled. "The Demon Realm!?"
For the first time, Towa showed genuine emotion outside of disgust.
"For trepidation to be all that comes to mind in regards to that place… how low I've fallen…"
Turles yawned. "My heart's bleeding. Alright, what then?"
Vegeta smirked. "Hmph. It seems we've received quite the welcoming party. It would be rude to keep them waiting, wouldn't it?"
/"I understand, but please uphold the mission. Towa's our main concern."/
Puddin shrugged. "Knowing her, she's bound to be hiding around here somewhere, hiding in plain sight. Wait, let me try something…"
"HAVE ANY OF YOU SEEN A BLUE-SKINNED DEMON AROUND HERE? WHITE HAIR, UNDERBOOB OUTFIT, HUGE ASSHOLE TO EVERYONE!?"
Ace looked over, happy.
A gob of deep-purple substance suddenly splashed onto Puddin. It could've been mistaken for a soft drink, had the droplet-covered ground beneath her not been rapidly decaying. Angry howls and various other thrown attacks followed.
"I tried."
Ace sighed, getting ready.
"OK!" Goku slammed fist-into-palm. Let's get this star-"
Vegeta immediately leapt off and into the mob of fiends, making his introduction with a hail of ki blasts that dwarfed mountains as they exploded..
"This should hurry things up! I'd much rather spend as little time here as possible!"
"HEY, NO FAIR VEGETA!" Goku yelled, before leaping down himself.
"I'll gather enough energy merely existing within those depths. That should cover the energy required for the following steps. Once the Time Patrol enters, they'll most likely use scorched-earth tactics to weed me out, as anything else would be a waste of time. Therefore, I'll be limited to how far I can travel without my presence being detected by any Demon Gods, so my primary focus will be on survival. If I can weather the initial onslaught, and I will, the prior threat to my travel distance will become just the distraction I need."
Positive ki, the equivalent of a rapidly-spreading plague to weaker fiends, rocked the massive realm. The localized area in which they were "searching" became haze with blasts the size of mountains.
All the while, a dark-blue, white-maned creature frantically leapt rock-to-fiend-to-rock.
"(What the fresh hell is TAKING them so long!?)" it mentally screamed, other surviving demons beginning to see the reason in her tactic.
Ace's eyes suddenly darted toward them.
"(Shit!)"
It spotted a flying piece of rubble in the distance. The red-haired patroller shot an eye beam at the runners and, at the same time, the blue crawler shot a red blast from its mouth.
A beam of light that raised to the absent heavens followed.
Puddin looked over. "Oh, ace aiming."
Ace turned and gave her a look.
.
.
"Laugh."
Ace turned again.
"Mmph…!" she pouted.
At the same time, in a huff on the ground a few meters from the blast radius, covered by debris and clutching her staff as if it were her mother, laid a humanoid Towa.
"That was… the last of my… energ…"
Almost as if on-cue, two beings whizzed past her.
The speed of their onset incinerated everything below them. Towa desperately patted her singed hair; despite that, her expression went from shell-shocked to relieved.
"You certainly took your time…" she wheezed, "You lapdogs of Demigra."
"That should be enough," said Goku, easing his smoking hand. "Hey Vegeta, ya find anything yet?"
The prince raised his head.
"No, but it appears we've drawn their attention."
With a great crash that reverberated across the world, two other demons ‒ far more humanoid, if-not otherworldly levels of beautiful ‒ arrived.
The lapis lazuli-haired woman, in a deep-green, demonic spin on a secretary's uniform, gazed down in anger.
"The Time Patrol… what gives you the right to intrude!?"
"We're looking for Towa," Goku responded.
"Why would Towa be here?" retorted the small, red-haired man in a sharp vermillion robe. "We resent her a thousand-fold more than you idiots ever could, we would've killed her on the spot if she ever reared her head within the Demon Realm!"
"... yeah, you're right. You should've felt her enter the Demon Realm the instant she opened her gate. There's no reason for you to be hiding her, either!" Puddin said, venom in her tone. "What about Salsa? 'She Who You'd Better Not Name?' Or is it 'Whom'- whatever, are they still around? They know anything?"
The short, effeminate man scoffed. "You're really still angry about Puti-"
The Demon Realm violently shook.
"Answer the question before I play your intestines like a fucking accordion, you leprechaun."
Ace flew between the two, before anything could transpire. He gave an apologetic bow, before placing a flat, horizontal hand above his eyes, shifting his gaze back and forth, then drawing a hand below his mouth and giving a silent, arrogant laugh. He then began pointing to the submissive few denizens left, drawing back his finger into a fist before thwacking himself in the face, his free hand pointing toward his comrades at the same time. With said hand, he formed another fist, mock-punching the air with an aggressive face, before going into another apologetic bow.
"Do you really expect us to waste time deci-"
"As if I'd care that your self-righteous posse acted in self-defense! You've entered our domain unannounced, and your first action is to bombard everything in front of you! That is an act of war, and you are hereby sentenced to death!"
The smaller devil glanced over in shock. "You understood that, Robelu?"
She confidently swooshed her hair. "Of course. As expected of me."
"Your catchphrase is shit, and so are you!"
Robelu stared at Puddin. Both devils of Demigra powered up without a sound.
"Handle the riff-raff, Chamel. The 'Usurper's Stain' is mine."
"… fine by me. Whatever truce there was is now null and void, I'll slaughter you all in an instant!"
Amidst the pre-battle posturing common amongst warriors, Towa closed her eyes.
"Now."
"And of their own 'gates'? What's to stop them from escaping once they're in?"
Towa smiled. "I've planned ahead of this, no worries. In case of their other techniques, the Demon Realm has been resealed, eliminating the feasibility of them opening or tearing or punching or screaming a portal back to any mortal world. Dark Lord, those barbarians have far too many options to begin with, don't they? Regardless, teleportation would be rendered null, not only by the realm's pure magical density, but its distance from all other existing worlds. Therefore, the largest threats, bar their hand-crafted gates, would be the demon gate itself."
"How do we deal with that?"
"That's when we begin relying on the patrollers. Turles, Slug, you'll also play a vital role."
"Alr~ight! What's our part in this master plan, captain?"
"Die."
Turles and Slug froze.
"Ku… kukuku… ku-hahahaha! Oh, the agony etched across your faces! Ah, that eases me."
Slug groaned. "You're really intent on jerking my neck to and fro, aren't you?"
"Don't be that way. Besides, I haven't lied." She wove two insects from thin air, both latching onto the back of the two pirates' necks before they knew it.
"What the-"
"Ge~eh!"
"Obsidian Beetles are a species native to a certain section of Hell, pleasant creatures that feed off the essence of the first life they sense, excluding its tamer. A great-enough surge of positive ki acts as their insecticide. It stands to reason that the Time Patrol wouldn't allow a demon gate, especially not an anomalous demon gate, to remain present; hence, one would stay behind in order to keep it open, allowing the others a route to pass and leave by, before closing and removing it. A great stream of said-positive energy is needed to perform these actions; once this occurs, the collected life force will stream back into you both, forcefully resuscitating you."
"That's great news for Slug, but… Saiyans are a tad more frail than Namek-folk. What if they drag their feet?"
[ BGM: Cristobal Tapia De Veer ‒ Satan's Waltz (Metamorphosis Stage 1) ]
"Then you'll die uselessly, and I'll be forever trapped outside the living plane. But make no mistake. Should you fail me in such a manner, I will force my way to Hell and, once I'm there, put to shame each and every infantile Oni present with the efficiency by which I personally torture you for the rest of time."
"... hot."
A thin, glowing shard fell into his lap. One fell into Slug's, as well.
"Hell's this?"
"A shard of space."
"Oh. Wait, what? How!?"
"Oh, shut up. Even a skilled-enough Earth sorcerer can tamper with a force as frail as space. With that, once you revive, attack the one present. One takes the left, the other, their right."
"Ah, they'll be too occupied keeping the demon gate open, right? From there, we'll-"
"No. You're both far too slow to reach any of them in time. They'll dodge you with ease."
"Puddin, did you just say 'Salsa?' What's happening in there?"
Beside the shriveled corpses of bugs, two 'bodies' closely monitored the commander.
/"Now."/
From their unclenching fists, one small crystal began unfolding itself into a hiltless dagger.
Turles eyed Slug.
Slug eyed Turles.
Both eyed Trunks.
Who immediately felt the intent to kill.
"Wha-"
"HRM-"
"HHN-"
Trunks narrowly evaded the two, ducking under their attacks.
"(But they were dead on the fl… I can't let go of the door. I can make sure they're both done-in before getting back to holding it open.)"
The future warrior prepared himself, standing back up, the two diagonal to him seemingly frozen in time.
The X-shaped fissure in space above him still lingered; no,
It closed, forming a symmetrical sign of infinity.
"...!?"
"We're up against Demon Gods Chamel and Robelu!" Vegeta yelled into his piece. "Do you follow, Trunks?"
/ᴬㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤAAㅤㅤㅤㅤᴬㅤㅤㅤᴬAㅤㅤAᴬㅤㅤAㅤㅤㅤᴬAᴬAㅤㅤㅤᴬㅤㅤAA/
Vegeta's eyes lit up, as did the others.
Slug glanced over, annoyed, but Towa wasn't finished.
"Should you succeed, it won't matter. The torn space will form my sigil, and from there, they'll be walled off, encased within folds of spacetime. That will grant me time to escape the Demon Realm without their interference, while forcing their ki to continue supporting the door."
"Sounds pretty cut and dry, when you put things like that. But what about any 'confounding variables'?"
"DAMN IT! WE'VE BEEN HAD!" Vegeta darted off. Chamel attempted to intercept, only for Goku to block his way.
"Go for it, Vegeta! We'll hold 'em off!" he grunted, before a guttural roar echoed throughout the realm. A golden orb shined intensely enough for Chamel to shield his eyes, before a shadow loomed over him; down slammed the fist of a Super Saiyan 4. All the while, he noticed Ace's attempt to follow.
"NO! YOU STAY HERE! WE DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE PLANNING BEHIND THAT PORTAL!"
Ace staggered, thought about it, and underwent mitosis.
"... Do what you'd like!"
/"Vegeta and a fragment of Ace are on your way!"/ Towa yelled into Slug's mind. /"Spit him out, quickly!"/
"Mira will stand as a contingency. I want to maintain his secrecy to the Time Patrol for as long as possible. A nameless pawn, Ace, Vegeta, or Goku would be negligible; if anything, the latter fool would be ecstatic. Trunks would be an issue. Worst-case scenario would be my daughter learning of it. Anyhow, Mira's blood will serve to bind the interloper, should there be a single marking resembling the sigil of the Time Breaker on their body."
Turles eyed the frankly-hulking blue bio-android.
"Where the hell's he hiding? Another corpse on the floor?"
Towa whirled her staff.
"No."
Puddin ate a punch, as she exchanged attacks with her demonic opponent, sending chunks of shattered terrain flying across the world.
"So utterly incompetent, you'd fall for the Whore of the Demon Realm's ploys?" Robelu, now in a sky-blue, frayed-collar garb as a Demon Goddess, hissed. "As expected of the spawn of that plump buffoon who'd dare defile the great Demigra!"
"KhhhHHH…!"
A dark swirl of energy shook the entirety of the Demon Realm.
Revealed from the aftermath was Puddin. If anything, her outfit had become cuter, like a pretty mockup of a superhero's costume, complete with a pink, jagged cape. The aura she emitted, however, was not cute.
It was not cute at all.
"HONESTLY…" she giggled in psychotic rage, "YOU CAN'T SHUT UP TO SAVE YOUR LIFE…"
A now black and blue-eyed Majin Puddin glared back. Robelu rid of her own shock with a smirk.
"Fine. I'll make an example of you at your best-"
Robelu ate a Puddin Punch, the aura of a horned, screaming naga coiling around her.
"GOD, YOU ARE SO FUCKED!"
As a much-furrier, deeper-voiced Goku engaged Chamel, Towa looked to the sky, almost-proudly as she bolted under darkness's shade.
"Would endless chaos really be all that boring to you, my dear?" she asked semi-rhetorically, lamenting her daughter's chosen alignment.
She then turned to her creation.
"Mira, I'm going to impale you."
"!?"
"!?"
The bio-android's eyes lit up in confusion, before calming.
"Understood."
She followed through, and yanked out a disgusting, brain-adjacent core on the tip of the staff's pointed bottom. Mira proceeded to fade into what looked like ash, leaving the two former-leaders shaken. Unfazed, Towa strolled over to the Demon-clan namekian.
"Slug, eat this."
"HA… HA HA HA…"
The two were now scared of Towa.
"When this 'confounding variable' should surface, no matter who they may be, spit this out at them. I've refined Mira to the point where, at least this once, he will regenerate to full."
STUDENT KORA ADVANCES TO THE QUARTERFI-!
"Now EAT. THIS."
As close to her plan as she was to certain death, the demoness now possessed a subtly unhinged look in her crimson eyes.
Slug obeyed.
"... hu… now then,"
The bug bit into him. As it did, Towa stabbed into his trachea.
"No need to worry, Turles, your stunt from before ensures I won't need to repeat the process with you. Just sleep until you're needed again."
Perhaps unwilfully, Turles obeyed.
Towa was alone. She eyed the wall in front of her. As she laid her hand upon it, her staff's head flipped behind her. A bolt of energy fired at the emptied kili vat, and it exploded, its soot and burn marks further ghoulifying the two "dead" men.
Vegeta spotted Slug at the demon gate's entrance, thrusting out his hand for a ki blast.
He then spotted his spatially-imprisoned son.
"YOU… BASTARDS!" he roared, becoming a Super Saiyan and zooming out of the gate.
Slug finished spitting out a brain-esque item, and in less than milliseconds, Mira was back in full form; just in-time to be impaled – again – by Vegeta's fist.
"OUT OF MY WAY!" the prince yelled, tossing the android aside.
"SHIT! NOW WHAT!?" Turles yelled, preparing to trap Vegeta with his weapon before he and a Mira-stained Slug were tackled to the floor by Ace.
"What a ridiculous question!" Vegeta scoffed, blowing Slug to bits before turning to Turles. The devil-horned saiyan instinctively shook as the sound of destroyed rock hit his ear.
However, Vegeta missed. Turles could open his eyes, to his shock.
The saiyan prince had been frozen; not only that, he'd returned to base form. Behind him, Slug's blood-stained hand slowly receded back into the ground, having completed the sigil.
Turles grinned for a second, before Ace's fist reared into the air.
The force of it shooting back down gave Turles a concussion, knocking him out if-not flatlining him; however, that was all he'd received.
Mira had also completed the sigil, telekinetically etching the sign onto his cape with blood.
/"T-Owa…! DO IT!"/
Towa chucked a sigil-engraved rock into the air as hard as she could, and then immediately booked it for the portal, close enough to-
"YOU!?"
"MOM!?"
The true Ace snapped over to the footsteps.
Goku immediately felt the disturbance in the air.
With instant transmission, the low-class saiyan prepared a fist.
Though the punch's force hit her, the actual fist whiffed in the air. She reappeared in the air and immediately took flight, hiding her energy being a blatant non-factor.
"DAMN IT! PUDDIN!"
As Ace raced around to cut her off at the gate, Puddin and Robelu almost shared a hive mind.
"DIE!" both battered devils screamed with an equal amount of rage, firing a beam.
Holding back the blood in her mouth, the witch once-again cast a stone. She reappeared, the blast behind her expanding rapidly, slamming into her back as she eyed Ace – blocking off the gate, in the process of firing his own blast – with all the desperation in the world. Towa raised her hand again, and shot a blast.
Against all odds, aided by the transpiring confusion, her sorcery hit first.
There she was, attoseconds from victory. She slipped into the gate, enough demonic energy left for one last blast.
"MIRA!" she called out. The bio-android, with the last of his power, sprinted toward Ace; if there was any chance he could become the real one, he needed to seal him.
"We'll settle things… IF YOU… ESCAPE!" he strained himself with the last of his might, throwing the multi-form product into the gate.
Vegeta strained himself, the blood infecting his spirit and keeping him restrained. "WHAT ARE… YOU…"
He then noticed it.
The folds of spacetime holding Trunks were beginning to break.
"ONE MORE…!" Towa pleaded to herself.
One paralyzed Ace was hurtling toward her, the demoness gathering the rest of her energy in menial, desperate sparks within her ragged palm.
The other had just entered through the gate, with the appearance of one that'd just come out of a meat grinder. Rage was etched into his enflamed eyes, ki swirling and crackling in his hands.
"ONE MORE, DAMN YOU!"
Goku suddenly appeared beside Ace, his fingers atop his forehead.
The dimensional layers around Trunks began further shattering.
Mira staggered over to the doors, straining every fiber to seal them.
"HAAA—A!"
Towa's shot finally soared through the air, and hit nothing. Ace called back his multi-form clone, calming down just-in time to see what she was doing.
"... !?"
Mira grimaced.
"HAA!"
A giant ki blast shot toward Towa's blast. At the same time, Goku appeared in front of Towa with a kick in mid-spin.
"ORR—IYAAA!"
It made its mark,
and the blast exploded.
"No...!"
As the demon witch soared through the portal and into Mira, he firmly slammed it shut, the blasts' explosion failing to budge it open. The positive force holding it open had been cut off, allowing for the demonic android to seal it shut.
Speaking of,
"GRAAAAAA!"
As the half-blood roared in fury, Towa threw her staff at the two lifeless pirates, a portal opening beneath them upon-impact and swallowing them whole. Mira promptly chucked Towa into the portal, jumping in after her and shielding her with his body.
For the first time, she saw what it was like to be trapped in slow motion.
A pale-eyed Trunks brought up his sword and, with another enraged, distraught, desperate cry, brought it down.
It cleaved straight through Mira, and dug into Towa. A warm sensation enveloped her torso as the cut set in.
And then…
Goku and Ace were ejected outside the portal, back into the Demon Realm.
"No, no, NO GODDAMMIT, NO!" Puddin yelled, grabbing the two.
"Gh… sorry… they really pulled one on…"
"Yeah, no shit Sherlock…" she glared over to Robelu.
"Did you REALLY let her esca-"
"YEAH, NO SHIT SHERLOCK!" she repeated, despite no one knowing who that was. Puddin whipped out her gate.
"This isn't over, skank!"
Puddin tossed out the capsule.
It fell to the floor.
"... Goku, your capsule."
"Mh." Goku tossed out his capsule.
It fell to the floor.
"..."
Two sets of eyes landed on Ace.
Another capsule dirtied the Demon Realm.
"... no. No fu- how?"
"We could always try Instant Transmission…"
"Yeah, yeah, can't hurt."
Robelu and Chamel watched the trio sit there, Goku's fingers on his forehead, for what felt like a minute.
"... You're breaking my heart, Goku."
"Damn it, I… I can't sense anything. Not Conton, not even King Enma's place."
Ace fell onto his ass, with a confused, lost expression that screamed "Now what?"
Robelu landed, out of her Majin form. "Do you mean to say…"
Puddin sighed, undoing her own.
"Yep."
Vegeta suddenly fell out of his blood-binding spell. Trunks dove toward the ground that the four had fallen through, somehow surprised to find solid ground.
"No, no no, no…"
Trunks stepped back, hands raising to his head. His vision started shaking as reality seeped in.
"How… how the hell did this just…"
"TRUNKS!"
He glanced over, frazzled.
"Control yourself. This planet's fragile as-is, and you're shaking it."
"... Yeah. Yeah, you're… I can't think…" To Vegeta's surprise, he whipped out a pack of something and frantically shook free a small stick.
"You smoke?"
"Mom thing. Helped her think when stuff got bad…"
Smoke filling the cave, Trunks leaned onto its side.
"Those three… they were a driving force in keeping the most, and the worst, of time's distortions and criminals at bay. And now, it's… just me and you."
"... To be so thoroughly mocked to this extent... not just I, but Kakarot as well..."
Trunks rubbed his face. "They'll find a way out. I know it. But not for a while. And that's just long enough for everything to go to sh... turn upside-down, especially with her running around."
Vegeta nodded, adamant on fortifying his son's resolve.
"What's your plan, Commander Trunks?"
"... no secrets. We're on full-alert as of today."
"GIH-"
With a gasp, Towa shot to attention. Looking around, she was in that same location on the fringes of the universe that she'd first set up shop within. Only now, the vats she'd once used were completely drained.
"... oh, mornin' princess."
"... Turl-" she stopped, clutching her bandaged chest in pain.
"I woke up some time after we got here, so I guess we pulled it off. I would've used the handy stuff laying around here for you, but there wasn't enough to go around. Mira and Slug got the most of it. They survived that crap, by the way. Unbelievable… I'll have what they're having, if you can ever get around to that."
"..."
Towa looked at him with suspicion and clutched her chest, again.
"Oh stop, there's no point if I don't get any action from it. 'Sides, I'm a gentleman at heart."
With that minor concern alleviated, Towa sighed. There was one last, immense labor she wanted to attend to before anything else could be carried out:
"Thank you."
Turles paused.
"You know that's not a curse in the Living World, right? 'Thank You'?"
Towa glared at him.
The devil-haired saiyan bounced his shoulders. "Sheesh, no one here can take a joke."
Though, she couldn't find it in herself to remain angry for long.
"... huh."
There was a fluttering in her heart. She'd never pulled off anything on such a level before; most of her ploys spanned years to come to fruition, and were then foiled in days, at most.
But this was a blow. A plan whipped up in moments, that could've ended in absolute failure, and yet… it was a major blow.
It felt good.
[ Self-Contained ED: Crisobal Tapia De Veer ‒ Utopia Finale (0:28-2:30) ]
"Hn-hn-hn-hn…"
She'd cackle if it didn't hurt to.
"Hey, the dead men are already waking up!"
Slug held his head, because someone had sent it flying not long ago. Mira checked the naked, clean spot and line on his chest, for it had just been pierced and slashed straight through.
"Spectacularly done, boys. My expectations have been exceeded, and then some."
"Heh," Slug gave a weak, toothy grin. "Is that supposed to mean something?"
Mira stood shakily. "I await further orders, Lady Towa."
Turles smirked devilishly, turning toward the pondering Towa with a shiny new respect.
"You heard him. So what's your next big plan, 'Lord' Towa?"
"... well, we're all deserving of a bit of fun after such a job, aren't we?"
Trunks and Vegeta flew.
Towa and her anti-posse walked.
"Every able patroller is to remain on standby."
"Should we note any gods?"
"No. We need organization right now, not miscellaneous orders being barked at us by a pseudo-authority. Besides, all of time's under our jurisdiction. Can't have anyone bound by fate interfering, not now."
"We're going to cause a ruckus. With three pillars gone, Time Patrol infrastructure will need a moment to restabilize."
"We're stockpiling distortion energy until then?"
"Yes, but it'll be directly, and by force. We're through picking up scraps."
They turned, entering an old-school dojo.
"You! State your busine-" began a man in a Mutaito-school dogi before he was shot with Slug's ki blast.
"Can I ask you to put a hold on your mentorship? We need all the power we can get right now, though that may mean stunting the next generation's progress."
"As if those oafs really need me to continue growing. They'll maintain my lessons in my absence, if they know what's good for them."
"Of course."
Other patrollers, recruits, most in Conton City were drawn to the sight of Trunks and Vegeta soaring through the sky with such haste.
Namekians dropped like flies amidst the flying beams of light. Towa maintained her walk.
Turles fired up another ki blast. "Your end-goal still the same, after all this?"
"You…" a much-younger Saichoro growled, too dumbfounded by this new breed of audacity to properly grieve.
"What have you-"
A dark light from her staff hit him dead-on.
"Somewhat."
"And the tournament? Should we call it off?"
The two touched down, falling to the top of the stairs.
"No. All focus should be on what's coming. I want the students out of there for a thorough inspection, of course, but that dimension's perfect for them right now."
"Perfect?"
"Before this, I wanted a fun, clean tournament in a time of peace. Now, I'm leaning more to your perspective; give them all the space they need to go all-out, teach them about real combat. On that note, they're growing much stronger from pushing each other. They keep the attitudes they have now, and this will be worth far more than any low-rank patrol mission."
Arriving at the intercom, Trunks punched the button.
"Attention, Time Patrol..."
Surrounded by a dark aura, a young Cold snapped his own neck, as Towa ascended the stairs.
"The Demon Realm is in such dire straits, I'd much-rather have it restored than unsealed."
His lifeless body tumbled down, Towa rising to the last step.
With a smug, closed-eye smirk, she turned, crossed her legs, and took her seat, Mira by her side.
Turles sprawled out across the bottom stairs, as Slug kicked Cold's corpse. The former raised his head.
"And what's to come after that?"
Trunks finished his announcement, and stepped back.
"Coming at us will be at least ten-fold the amount of crap the Patrol has dealt with since Mechikabura's sealing."
With a tired, closed-eye sigh, he fell into a chair. Vegeta folded his arms, impatient at the door's side.
"So as a leader, do you think we're prepared for what's to come?"
Vermillion eyes opened.
Azure eyes opened.
"Only time will tell."
8/16/2023 PATCH NOTES: Removed mention of Age 2000. Apparently, that's a mistranslation. Man.
Yo! OP Here! Again!
This is now my favorite chapter. Breath of fresh air is nice.
Heroes's events are loosely canon to STEP, btw. As are DB Online's. And trace amounts of TFS lore. All centered around Xenoverse. I have no fuckin' idea what I'm doing, but I'm having fun while I do it, and at the end of the day, that's 30, 35% of what matters most.
Please forgive that exposition dump mid-flight. That's just my way of keeping track of the pieces of official/cool fanon Time-Patrol shizz that I like and wanna stick into the story. Like Sid and his demented toys.
I don't remember if I covered this already in earlier chapters, but Current Conton lies outside of spacetime. Yet it still has its own, isolated continuum, which is how time can progress there. Demon Realm's much the same, in this fic. I'm gonna just say this is a byproduct of Tokitoki bringing back history. If you're confused about the kooky shit I'm spitting, uhhhh the Super DB Heroes: Dark Demon Realm Mission! ... manga is on mangadex. Check it out, it's better than current Super (I mean not art-wise but my word, THAT'S a manga that's had zero movement whatsoever.) It'll give you vague clues as to what I blended together and what I left as-is. Heroes is weird, lol, I love it.
I detailed most of the plans while grinding Utopia's OST. It's good shit.
I mean, you can't tell me you've seen anything like this in a DB fanfic. GOD I am such a special little snowflake.
... but is that for the best?
No I'm not saying that cus of that one incoherent Maury-tier review, this concern has been a demon on my back for a minute now. There's times when I fear the fic's disconnected from what made Dragon Ball great. Don't really know how to fix that, in all honesty.
End of day, we've all got our own interpretations of what makes Dragon Ball great. I'll have to fortify and focus on my own. Haha, writing is hard.
Anyway, I had a plan to give Puddin a True Demon Goddess form based on Ananta Shesha (debatably strongest serpent in any text whatsoever btw), but uh, nah. Feel like overcomplexity is a blight on a character like Puddin. I also based her personality both on the way it's given in-universe by the TFS bois behind the XV2 playthrough when she's putting on an "act," and on the ACTUAL TFS bois during gameplay when she's pissed off/serious. Because that's fun.
Speaking of, use of 'Majin' in this chapter is closer to "demon god" than traditional "genie" majin, like Buu and whatnot. Same sound, different kanji. Interpret that as you will.
This subarc will likely be followed up on during the beginning of the semifinals, and I definitely plan on having occasional checkups here and there if the story goes on for THAT long, let them meet other demon folk down in the Makai, but I've got, like, NO intention of freeing these three anytime soon. Probably ever. Besides, Goku's used to this treatment, who cares.
That's about it. See ya.