An Assassin's Adventure: The Great Conjunction

by GenkaiZero

As the tournament of power draws to a close, Universe 6 is obliterated. Unexpectedly, Hit, the legendary assassin, is pardoned and given a second chance at life. His soul is whisked away and sent to a completely new fantastical realm. Follow Hit as he explores the world of Danmachi and charts his own path amongst frivolous gods, calamitous monsters, and unexpected fellowships.

61. Chapter 61: Cosmic Madness (Part 2)

Cosmic Madness (Part 2)

---

An infinite expanse stood still for eons. Vertical crystals hovered in the cosmos, reflecting the light of distant stars and galaxies. For billions of years, this collection of time rifts had existed separate from the rest of the cosmos. Unfortunately, it had been the receiver of several intruders on this momentous day, with the most recent pair crashing into it with a deafening, blinding boom.

*CRAAAAAASHHHHHH* *SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

A shimmery dimensional tear exploded from nowhere and the Milano shot out of its infinite centre. The spaceship was bathed in an ephemeral golden light that sparkled around it like a phoenix's flame.

This divine quality quickly evaporated into specks of stardust as the ship's retro thrusters pushed back against its hurtling flight and finally slowed the vessel to a pleasant sail. Bluish emergency lights blinked into life in its cockpit, illuminating one cheery and one frozen individual.

"Fe mafe iht!" Deadpool danced and hollered in relief, which was expelled as more of a mumbling cough due to shards of ball gag and teeth that were lodged in his windpipe.

Hit ignored his companion's wriggling and stared at the sights surrounding them in wonderment and deep respect. His crimson eyes twinkled, reflecting the light ejected from distant galaxies and the nearby gateways to universe timelines: Time rifts. 'Those are temporal fractures... Fissures in the fabric of time-space... T-This appears to be a realm utilised by Supreme Kai of Time for storage purposes! But what of my previous world? Have I returned to my prior multiverse!?'

*COUGH* *COUGH* "Huff... It's usually me dumping sticky presents down other people's throats, not the other way around..." *COUGH* Teeth and shards of red plastic shot onto the control panel as Deadpool pounded his chest and hacked up pieces of his last gag's prop.

Hit let out a sigh of longsuffering and stuck a finger towards a shadow in the distance. "Huff... Who is that?"

Deadpool hacked up one final wisdom tooth and stared out of the cockpit's window. Ahead, he could see that an immense figure stood in front of one of the Time rifts, holding their gauntleted hands over the crystal. Most of their 9-foot-tall body was covered in mythical armour, composed of an unknown bright blue metal. Intricate spirals were carved on the armour's chest plate and ovular features attached a long, flowing cape to its back. The being was currently standing at an angle from the Milano, making their purplish cape their most distinguishing feature. Deadpool shrugged and looked at Hit as if he was expecting too much from him. "Uh... I dunno? Why do you think I'd know?"

"He is dressed like a flamboyant imbecile. You fit into that category quite nicely." Hit narrowed his eyes at the stranger, dread worming its way into his stomach. The figure was still standing in their unusual pose; however, a greenish energy was seeping from their armoured hands. This peculiar ejection had the instant effect of 'rotting' the time rift, transforming it into a greenish, cracked structure. 'That energy would explain the peculiar changes to my previous dimension... It must have seeped in through that tear in reality...'

"Fine, fine... Let me check..." Deadpool reached down and pulled out several paperbacks from seemingly nowhere. He rifled through the books and scanned his white slits over their contents. The books had beautifully illustrated front covers, depicting herculean figures and devastating energy manipulators. An insignia was printed on each of their corners, stating 'Marvel Comics Group'. "Aha! Here he is! He's... huh? That can't be right..."

Ahead, the titanic figure sighed at being interrupted from their unknown task. The being's tone was a spine-tingling warble and possessed raspy undertones of a death rattle. It was as if countless other souls were attempting to claw their way out of its inescapable clutches. "Again, I am disturbed from my work... And by mortal gnats, no less..."

*BZZZZ*

The Milano blared a siren and its intercom buzzed to life. Deadpool slammed a fist on the interior activator and shouted in affront. "HADES!? No, no, no, no. You're too early! Way, way too early! Disney's gotta milk a bajillion movies before they even think about screening you! Take the L and exit stage right, baldy! Either that or send out some other joker!"

*GRR* Hades furrowed his brows and lowered his hands into tensed fists, agonizingly slowly. The titan floated in place and turned towards the Milano with an unamused scowl. Now that he was facing straight ahead, Deadpool and Hit could see that the God was not completely bald, as a receding ring of matted hair clung to the back of his head. White beacons blazed from where his pupils should have sat, signifying that immeasurable power flowed within.

*BAM*

Hit struck an elbow into Deadpool's side and tried to peer into his books. Alas, the sheets had now disappeared to who knows where. "It is unwise to refer to cosmic beings so frivolously. Also, did that photograph of your family not show you wearing a toupee?"

Deadpool hacked up some crushed lungs and swung a hand at the Olympian God outside their ship. "You talk to him, then! And excuuuuse me, it's a hair system, not a toupee! Such an ugly word..." He crossed his arms and swivelled the pilot's seat to face away from Hit, beginning a little tantrum.

Hit shook his head and spoke aloud, hoping that the intercom would not require constant input. "Who or what are you? This realm is not your domain. Secondly, are you corrupting these timelines? That energy appears to be disrupting those universe shards." 'I have no knowledge of a God called Hades. Is this being from another universe as well? Huff... This is going from ridiculous to ludicrous...'

It appeared that the intercom was functional, as Hades crossed his arms and glared down at the mortal vessel. "I am the God of Death and the ruler of the underworld. My will is a force of nature beyond the comprehension of you feeble animals. Explaining my plan would be wasted on such lowly creatures but know that my opus shall fill the omniverse in its entirety and all will know my might. I shall suffuse my influence into as many universes as possible and become one with them all. I will be the one and only ruler of reality, not my pompous brother."

Deadpool rose his head and swivelled back to the conversation. "Well, that's not good..."

Hit kept an eye on Deadpool, readying himself to shut the talkative man up, and carried on with his interrogation. "As I stated, this realm is not your domain. How did you breach it?" 'If this being transgressed from a foreign universe, perhaps this offers us another means of escape, as humiliating as that course of action is...'

Hades tutted and deepened his uncaring scowl. "Hmph. I do not owe an ant an explanation for its annihilation. My coming here is a fluke borne of weakened dimensions..."

Hit looked at Deadpool accusingly, who sweated in his seat. "Uh... Yeah, that's definitely completely unrelated to me..."

Hades continued, retelling his peculiar entry to this dimension between worlds. "...A glowing vessel shattered the barriers of my universe and allowed me to enter this realm of resplendent time marbles..."

"Well, shit." Deadpool scratched his chin, avoiding Hit's death glare.

"...Not even Zeus' edicts could have predicted this turn of events. No longer shall I be confined to the realm of the dead. All of reality is mine to conquer... With direct access to infinite worlds, an army will not be necessary. The only form of resistance here was a paltry being who referred to themselves as a 'Demon God'. Quite a lofty description for someone so easily obliterated. Now, this plane is a wondrous world of silence and a lofty throne for my rule."

Hit jolted in his seat and gaped at the horrifying declaration. 'Demon God!? Could he be referring to Mechikabura!? Or was Demigra released from Chronoa's seal!? Either opponent would be no small challenge for me at my strongest... The odds of victory in my current state are below naught...'

*Snap* *Snap*

Deadpool clicked his fingers and poked Hit on the cheek. "Earth to Hit? You understand any of that? Also, leering at other guys, right in front of your boyfriend, is super rude."

Hit ignored the pestering and continued to stare ahead with widened eyes. "That being is immeasurably stronger than either of us... It must possess destructive capabilities on a multiversal scale..."

Deadpool shrugged and continued to prod Hit's motionless cheek. "Well, duh. Comic book characters are the most jacked off beings in existence! Especially me when I'm watching Magic Mike!" He bent down again and withdrew several more of his comic books. "I mean, honestly, it says here this guy has energy manipulation; conceptual immortality; regeneration; a shit-tonne of magic abilities; teleportation; force fields; memory manipulation; life force absorption; strength beyond most Olympians; and control over life and death. I mean, really!? It's just stupid at that point..."

Hit gritted his teeth and squeezed his seat until the metal compressed inwardly. 'W-What!? This is not good. What can I do? What can I do!? How in Zeno's name did these maddening events lead to me being faced with an unknown God of near-limitless power!? Dammit! This would actually be entertaining if I had my original powers, but I'm currently in the body of a worthless juvenile humanoid!' Hit darted hopeful eyes to the ship's dimensional siren but tutted at its lifeless state. 'No luck there. That function likely responds to dimensional instabilities, based on the 'auto' descriptor... This realm is stable and relatively barren... We're stuck here.'

Hit clasped his hands together and closed vermillion eyes. He breathed in and out, falling into a state of deep meditation. The alien had replicated this ritual, countless times in his long life, as a means of both calming himself down and rearranging his thoughts. 'Think... Think... There must be something, anything, I can do at this stage.' Hit thought upon his recent journey, reliving every maddening stage, and sensed around himself, instinctually straining his past body's extrasensory abilities. 'This higher dimension is the Supreme Kai of Time's Time rift space: a realm with direct access to infinite worlds... Could I somehow withdraw to one and evade this foe? Strengthen myself and return later? Hm... No. Even if such a strategy was possible, this death deity would quickly tarnish every realm in creation... I would not be able to live with myself if I fled and allowed countless universes and souls to be eliminated. Since this red imbecile is utterly useless, this is currently my problem, and I must solve it myself. I will not push my burdens unto others. Come on... Is there nothing here I can use!?'

*Twinkle*

Hit's eyelids twitched. A phantom sense brushed against him but failed to draw him from his reverie.

*Twinkle*

An unheard plea fought through the infinite expanse and buffeted against Hit. The assassin twitched.

**TWINKLE**

Hit shot his eyes open. A twinkling sensation caressed his body, as if countless souls were pleading for him to act. 'C-Can... Can this truly be...!?' Shards of a phantom force prickled against Hit's skin and touched upon his soul, begging to be of use. 'I must have not sensed it until now... I suppose this realm is quite far removed from the underlying timelines...' Hit smirked and got up from his seat. 'Heh... Of course there would be Ki here: this is a domain of my original cosmos. I do not know why these Time rifts are emitting so much latent energy, but I will take advantage of the abnormality. This may not be my original world, but it is screaming for salvation.' Hit nodded and allowed the slivers of Ki to begin filling the dry, bottomless well that made up his soul. 'Very well, then. Time to get to work.' He cracked his knuckles and began marching towards the rear of the ship.

Deadpool cocked his head at Hit's peculiar acts, looking at the thin film of shimmery, white fire that licked around the warrior's body with great interest. "Uh... All good with you, sparkles? If this is the really the end, then maybe we could head to the showers and fu-"

*SHIII!* *BOOM*

The thin layer of plasma surrounding Hit exploded and expanded into a chirping flame. White fire undulated around him and pushed outwards in serrated ejections. Hit halted in his steps and swivelled to glare at Deadpool, sending a true sliver of fear skipping up the mercenary's spine. "Shut up and open the exit ramp."

Deadpool nodded wordlessly and tapped a shaky finger against a random button on the control panel. The mercenary was in luck as the unmistakable sound of a lowering gate sounded out.

Hit scoffed and marched down the hall, his aura parting any debris that lay in his way. The man's unshakable expression was stony and shadowed by impenetrable darkness. he was fully aware that this would be his most challenging obstacle yet, but the infallible assassin would never back down. The multiverse had contracted him, and he would finish this job.

Deadpool slumped in his chair and pulled out a box of tissues, along with a suspiciously warm bottle of lubricant. "Time to enjoy the climax..."

---

Hit paused at the Milano's lowered exit ramp. The opening allowed him to gaze upon an infinite cosmos of cracked Time Rifts and primordial galaxies. Blue; red; green; and purple stars glittered in the distance like an ornate painting, reflecting in Hit's eyes like shimmery jewels ripe for the taking.

'I forgot how beautiful the cosmos can be... The journey here was almost worth it just for this... almost...'

A film of shimmery barrier energy lay a few metres away from the exit point, preventing the Milano from experiencing a hull breach and decompression. It also prevented Hit's human body from suffocating or being bathed in deadly cosmic radiation. Hit resolved, or postponed, this by wrapping an impermeable layer of Ki around his body.

'I have condensed as much pure oxygen within my Ki barrier as possible, but I am still on a time limit due to my current physiology. This battle is not to be taken lightly and I must finish him off as quickly as possible.'

Hit contracted and undulated the Ki surrounding him, creating a downwards force that pushed his body into the air. 'Haaaa... It feels good to fly once more.'

*SHOOM* *BOOM*

Hit forced the Ki to rocket down his body and he shot past the Milano's force field and into the vast vacuum of space. The alien was a lone shooting star in the infinite blackness, curving up and around to fly directly towards his divine opponent.

The titanic Olympian God narrowed his eyes at the incoming projectile, unable to recognise the exact technique being utilised by the mortal.

*WOOSH*

Hit tensed his body and Ki expanded to form a decelerating ring around him: a white film of energy that scintillated with every colour of the universe. Purple hair swayed and buffeted in the living currents and Hit's shirtless body twinkled in the night sky. He came to a stop twenty metres from his opponent and held his hands loosely at his sides. "Huff... Hah..." The man's broad chest rose and fell in deep breaths and crimson eyes shut firmly closed.

Abruptly, Hit crouched and drew his arms up, positioning himself into a familiar pose used to charge energy.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

*****BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*****

Pure white ki expanded and suffused with purple light. The thin layer of energy exploded and rose into a gargantuan tower of amethyst blue force.

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Hit roared to the heavens and willed the ambient Ki to flood into him. The force was then significantly magnified and exploded outwards to generate a swirling, indigo nebula. Cosmic dust flew and gravitational ripples undulated across the infinite expanse, shaking even distant stars from their galactic orbits.

*WOOSH*

The nebula suddenly collapsed and fell into Hit's core, becoming one with the man. Hit looked down at his hands, opening and shutting the deadly instruments. "Alright." He rose his arms up and positioned himself into his characteristic boxer's pose: one fist held in front of the other. 'Good, back at maximum power. Hm... This deity is supposedly capable of Teleportation and force field creation. Time Skip should be perfect for bypassing those, and should provide me with a powerful first strike. As for memory manipulation and control over death, I have inlayed a protective layer of Ki to counter the ingress of external matter, no matter its state. Time will tell whether that is effective against this alien power.'

Hades scoffed at the surge in energy, displeased at the ruckus it brought to his new abode, and his inability to sense its depth or precise nature. "Hmph. Coating yourself in life force? What a foolish strategy to employ against one steeped in death. A mere touch is all I need to render you to dust. Still, I respect your mettle, child of God. State your name, mortal. I am Hades, Lord of the underworld, Master of the Dead. You shall soon discover that my power is absolute."

Hit narrowed his eyes back at Hades, recognising the typical arrogance of a divine creature. "I am Hit: the infallible assassin of universe six. There is no being in existence who I cannot eliminate. You are my target, and you shall fall as all the others have."

*WOOSH* *SCHWING*

Deep wrinkles stretched across Hades' scowling mien, and he extended a hand to his side. Splinters of a shining, grey sword cracked into existence and manifested in the open grip to form a blessed blade of Mount Olympus. The titan extended his free hand and its underside glowed in an aethereal blue hue. "Hmph. Pitiful creature. All shall bow to my boundless dominion."

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Mystical force boomed out of the palm and rocketed at Hit as a beam of pure magical energy, whose width surpassed its wielder's body manyfold. The blast shone with the force of a thousand quasars and blazed new life into the stagnant vacuum.

*Shing* *Crack*

Hit skipped time and blitzed behind the Titan. The deity became frozen in a world of reddish green icicles and was completely unaware of Hit's actions. Even if the higher being was capable of teleporting between dimensions, the power was useless if he did not initially know that dimensional hopping was an aspect of Hit's power. Ahead, the Milano spaceship was also frozen in a zipping escape: It appeared that Deadpool had either chosen to flee or was fully aware of the danger of remaining next to the two powerhouses.

Hit tensed himself and propelled every ounce of Ki into strengthening his imminent strike. The ethereal power undulated beneath his skin and formed an infinitely dense layer around his left fist. With a grunt, Hit launched a straight left: the most powerful flash fist crush of his life, enhanced with both Ki and latent time energy.

***BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAM!***

Hades' back cratered inwardly, and his body remained stationary for a moment before the force was transferred into the future.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

A deafening explosion, greater than any roaring star, boomed and catapulted Hades' body away at hundreds of times the speed of light. The titan became a soaring outline surrounded by white, blue, and red ripples of torn spacetime.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Countless planets detonated in the soaring man's wake and flooded the horizon in a flurry of golden twinkles.

"Hmph. Too easy" Hit blurred into his serious stance and smirked at the majesty of his attack.

*SHOOOOOOOOM*

The legendary assassin swept Ki around himself and zoomed ahead into the stars. Blue light radiated from his immeasurably quick body and bottomless life force, a consequence of the doppler effect. Twinkling galaxies and obliterated solar systems elongated into fine strands as the cosmic entity surpassed the limits of an organic being's speed. In mere moments, Hit arrived at Hades' crumbled body, trillions of miles away.

The twitching titan lay in a heap on an immense rocky planet, his body steadily popping back into place. Pristine blue armour was now adorned with a cratered front panel, acting as a painful lesson to never underestimate mortal kind.

Hades roared and pushed himself off the lifeless orb, obliterating the planet, and instantly rocketing up to glare into Hit's crimson eyes. "Grr... You are no mere mortal."

Hit rose his knife-hands and performed a beckoning motion. "And you are a mere God."

Darkness flashed in Hades' blazing eyes, and he swung his majestic sword with a roaring howl. The godly weapon's edge sliced clean through reality and cast an immense gash across it, missing a vanishing Hit. A blinding slash zipped across the cosmos and sliced entire galaxies in twain, causing their black holes to detonate in screaming explosions of unfathomable darkness.

*Shing*

"HRAAA!" Hit took advantage of his extended Time skip and unleashed a Molotov Cocktail of universe-shattering blows onto Hades' unprotected side. Fists flashed until they became hazy blue blurs and roundhouse kicks swung into rippling volleys.

*BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM**BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM* *BAM*

"URK!" Hades bellowed and his body twisted back and forth at immeasurable speeds. Sparkling spittle flew from his body and mythical armour cracked. Countless indentations cratered into him and sent his broken carcass crashing into the distant black holes' expanding explosions with a deafening boom.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

*SHOOOOOOOM*

"I AM EVERLASTING!" Hades' immense shadow instantly rushed back, completely healed from its torture. The man held a glowing hand up and scowled at the heavens. Blue ripples and writhing tails extended throughout the infinite vacuum and drew countless stars and planets towards him. Hades enclosed his fist and the plasma orbs and rocky bodies condensed until they were bordering upon infinitely dense. "FACE THE DIVINE FURY OF AN OLYMPIAN!" The God flung his fist down and sent the universal 'seeds' careening at Hit.

*Shing* *Shing* *Shing* *Shing* *Shing* *Shing* *Shing* *Shing*

Hit danced across deep space in seemingly infinite Time Skips. Screaming planetary marbles and Hades' roaring energy blasts scoured the cosmos, yet failed to strike the slippery human.

*Shing*

*ZIP*

Hit narrowed his eyes and froze in place. An intruder suddenly materialised in his sacred Time Skip dimension and glared at him.

"Hmph. There you are, mortal." Unexpectedly, Hades had grown desperate and teleported himself into Hit's time skip dimension by pure chance. The titan crossed his arms and blocked his opponent's path with a knowing smirk. "So, it is not teleportation, but a temporally displaced dimension. Hmph. Now that I have discovered your power I- URK!?"

*Shing*

Hit drew Hades into the Tides of Time and skipped time within the sub-dimension, smashing a full-power Time Release into the deity's sneering mug before he could even think of teleporting once more. "You are unworthy of stepping foot in my domain. Get out."

*CRACK* *BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

A crack splintered in regular space and Hades shot out of it, surrounded by alabaster fractures. The titan's face contorted in rage, and he flung a palm at Hit, who had materialised several metres in front of him. Circular, pink ejections zoomed out of the appendage and flew outwards in reverberating ripples.

Hit skipped time and narrowed his eyes at the magic projections, but relaxed as he analysed their mechanism and function.

*BZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzz*

The sonar-like ripples impacted against Hit's indigo aura shield and faded into nothingness. The assassin patted his front and scowled at Hades, unimpressed at the pitiful attempt at magic enchantment. "Hmph. Cheap tricks. My mind cannot be accessed, let alone swayed, deity."

*GRRR* Hades grunted and spread his arms wide. "FALL TO MY OMNIPRESENCE!"

*ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP**ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP* *ZIP*

Thousands of Hades projections emerged into existence and enveloped the horizon in their number. The horde of titans bellowed in rage and flung innumerable energy blasts; weaponised stars and planets; and sword slices in every direction, intent on striking Hit during his lapses between dimensional skips.

Hit gasped at the motley of universe-destroying attacks and an immense ocean of gratitude filled his core. 'Truly formidable. If I was in my previous body, I would likely fall to this maelstrom. Two second Time Skips allow me to perform far more complex and prolonged manoeuvres, and-'

Hit zipped and meandered between the countless beams of mystical force, aiming for a single Hades within the sea of Death Gods. "-HIDING BEHIND MAGIC IS FUTILE!" He wrenched back a fist and crashed it into the real God's horrified face, destroying all other magic clones instantly.

*BAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMM*

Hit smirked and basked in the joy of battle. 'It was truly worthwhile to be reset to zero. There are still so many lessons I must learn.'

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

*BAM*

"Pathetic. Do you truly believe that these infantile techniques will work?" Hit did not allow his foe to escape and sporadically zipped up to him and delivered an unseen strike. The two orbiting 'stars' rocketed across space, passing countless star systems and disturbed galaxies in their wake. Hit zipped between reality; Time Skip; and the Tides of Time, preventing Hades from pinpointing him. Rather than activating the techniques, Hit relied on his immeasurable speed to burst between the infinite barriers between dimensions.

Hades flew back and cast a beam of blue force behind him, bringing him to a screeching stop. "Huff... I retract my prior statement, assassin. You are a worthy opponent. However..."

*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*/*

The cosmos shook and trembled under an alien force. Reddish-orange hellfire sprouted from Hades' body and roared into a screeching flame. The titan rose his sword and allowed the fires of the underworld to sweep up its surface and engulf it entirely. "I REIGN SUPREME!"

Hit widened his eyes at the magical energy that surrounded his foe now, recognising it as a truly deadly force. 'Those mystical flames are imbued with the power to burn anything in creation, even foreign dimensions and Ki barriers. Worse still, they will paralyse anyone, even more powerful foes than the caster, upon contact. Magic truly is ruinous in the correct hands. Hmph. If my blows are now obsolete, then I will fight fire with fire.' The energy manipulation genius stuck out a palm and waved it across the cosmos. 'One must not underestimate the versatility of Ki. Time to show this novice how it's done.'

Thousands of galaxies flittered and swirled in the distance. The collective star systems bowed to telekinetic might and swam into a single, gargantuan sphere. The shimmery depths of space now darkened into perfect pitch-blackness as every star in existence coalesced under a single being's might. The scintillating orb condensed, shrunk, and compressed into a hyper-massive black hole beyond any other in creation. "Hmph!" Hit balled his palm into an open clutch. The hyper-massive black hole crashed inwardly and shrunk to an atomic point that zipped to its master's hand. Gravitational lensing expanded from Hit's palm in an unending series of undulations and ungodly darkness shrouded his entire body. The assassin suffused the orb with Ki and magnified its power countless times, transforming it into an attack that could obliterate entire multiverses. "I bow to no one."

Hades sweated and hovered back, trembling at the ridiculous force that this mortal had conjured using their peculiar life's blood. "T-Truly, a cunning stratagem. However, even an octillion, octillion stars fall short of this ungodly flame. HRAAA!"

Hades roared and the crimson hellfire surrounding him fled from existence. In its wake, a soul-wrenching black and green inferno screeched from beyond the stars.

Hit narrowed his eyes at the peculiar maelstrom that suffused the titan now. 'I don't like the look of that... That is not magic, nor is it any energy that I'm familiar with. I'm uncertain as to why, but every fibre of my being is screaming at me to flee. This is no mental attack, so what could be the cause?'

Hades smirked at Hit's now hesitant expression and opened his arms wide. His purplish cape billowed in the greenish flames, adding to the deity's menacing appearance. "Be proud of your strength, mortal. You are currently bathing in the light of Lady Death herself! This is proof of my contract."

Hit analysed the provided intelligence, greedily, and came to a quick conclusion. 'I see... They are flames borrowed from a superior deity... Of course this middling God would be nothing in the grand scheme of things. Hmph... And why does that excite me?' Hit paused and cast his crimson eyes about the peculiar flames, noticing a striking weakness. 'What a fool. Pride comes before the fall I suppose.' The cosmic assassin shot at Hades and drew a fist back, leaving his black hole behind. "What light?"

Hades gasped at his opponent's apparent stupidity and froze in place, allowing the blow to strike against his unshielded abdomen, unabated.

Rather than being subsumed by the infinitely powerful flames of a celestial, white circular ripples extended from Hit's fist and a spherical indentation dug into Hades' chest.

Hades blinked in confusion, but quickly realised that the roaring flames around his body ceased to exist, replaced by a purplish outline. The death God shook, and his jaw fell slack, losing all of his divine composure. "I-Inconceivable!? HOW CAN THIS BE!?"

Hit glared down at his snivelling enemy and spoke in a harsh, deep tone that commanded respect. "Hmph. Relying on a power you yourself do not truly understand? You should be ashamed." The genius assassin had instantly noticed a vital flaw in Hades' newest evolution. There was a short fraction of a second, shorter than a picosecond, where Hades' borrowed flames would cease to roar and were drawn upon from external source. A sliver of magic energy would then extend from Hades and initiate the next undulation, thereby recognising Hades as the rightful bearer. This was likely a protective measure to prevent these otherworldly flames from being stolen and utilised by an unregistered being. Since this energy was not under Hades' control, and instead fell into the domain of whoever was lending him the power, this meant that the death God would not be able to rid himself of the [Time Prison] that froze his intermediary magical 'handshake'.

Hades glared at the energy surrounding him, furious that none of his manipulative abilities had any effect on its hold. Ultimately, the God sighed and relaxed his tensed fists. He extended a glowing palm to the side and spoke in an awed, and slightly disappointed voice. "Well done, mortal. You have bested me... Truly, you deserve my deepest respect. However, I cannot allow you to win. It shames me to do this, but I cannot allow any obstacle to stand in the way of my dominion." The deity's glowing palm brightened and shone a crimson beam of light into the expanse of space.

*RIIIIIIIP*

A fiery tear in space screeched open and allowed bubbling ichor to seep through. Countless screams blistered across the cosmos and crimson smog shrouded its surface.

Hades lowered his gauntlet and breathed in, enjoying the familiar essence that spewed into the sublime Time Rift dimension. "This is a doorway to my realm: The land of Hades. It is a pocket dimension where the souls of Olympian Gods and their worshippers proceed to after their demise, and is an immense source of my power. With the combined energies of every being in the Underworld, there is nothing you can do to stop me. I may be overstepping my bounds, but I cannot allow meaningless rules to stand in my way." The God rose his gauntlet and shot it towards his mortal enemy.

"G-URK!?" Hit spluttered and collapsed from his dignified stance under an unseen force. He stared at his trembling hands and felt his body twist from within. Regular heartbeats slowed and absorbed Ki fled from his soul at a worrying rate. 'I-Is my body... deteriorating? ...Not good. How did he bypass my barrier!?'

A mote of pity passed across Hades' eyes, yet the titan continued to sweep his domain over the unprotected foe. "More importantly, I now possess absolute control over life and death in this realm, and in all worlds that it is connected to. This battle is over. Do not bother fleeing, as this force will sweep across any living being or world you touch upon."

*COUGH* Hit coughed and expelled droplets of blood. His body shook and previously unstoppable limbs grew numb. Strands of purple hair lightened and became pure-white. 'Shit... This deity must e-embody the concept of Death somehow. E-Even if I am superior in terms of raw strength, I am still a mortal with mortal Ki. Dammit... My barrier cannot shield me from this... Is this really... the end?'

*CRASH* *BOOM*

A thunderous clamour resounded behind Hit, and another tear opened in spacetime, through which a glowing bird shot through.

*SHOOOOOOOOOM* *VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The Milano spaceship howled into view and came to a crashing stop at Hit's side. Its engines spewed billowing clouds of black smog, likely as a result of its warp drives being used in quick succession.

*CRASH*

Glass flew and the ship's right porthole crashed apart. A red blur shot across space and flung itself towards Hit. As the object drifted closer to him, Hit could see that the blur was in fact Deadpool, who now wore a blue, bubbly spacesuit above his jumpsuit. The mercenary activated his suit's manoeuvring thrusters and alighted next to Hit's convulsing body, placing a hand on his shoulder. "How long was I gone!? You're starting to look just like me!"

Hit grunted and coughed in agony. "Can I not even die in peace, you filthy cockroach!?" *COUGH* "Urk..."

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Far beyond the stars, an immense ball of light blossomed into view. Hades had positioned himself in front of his faraway dimensional tear and was now drawing on every shred of energy that lay on the other side. " I shall not forget your name, noble warrior." The titan flung his hands forwards and roared. "FAREWELL, HIT!"

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The sphere of energy convulsed and shot out a beam of red Hellfire that dwarfed galaxies in its immensity. The previously vacant cosmos illuminated as a vermillion dawn was cast upon it.

"FUCK!" Deadpool swore at the cataclysmic attack and attempted to hold Hit's hand. Unfortunately, a film of impenetrable energy continued to shine around the appendage, preventing Deadpool from making direct contact. "Come on, Hit! We need to work together here! Let me take this burden for you! You'll age into a pile of dust if this keeps up!"

Hit sagged down and closed his eyes, shutting himself off from the mercenary that flung him into this madness in the first place.

Deadpool wrenched Hit back up. "No, No, No! You can't give up! You're my Disney, remember! We're gonna get out of here, together!"

Hit did not respond...

Deadpool winced and removed his mask, allowing the two men to speak face to face. The degenerate now spoke in a pained and ashamed voice, desperate and worried for his companion's safety. "...Look, I'm sorry. Really, I am. I lied to you... I lied right to your face without even thinking about it. I-I never meant to get you involved in my stupid, fucked up mistakes... All I wanted, was to save my family and friends. From the bottom of my heart, I apologise for dragging you into my mistake, Hit."

Hit rose his head slightly, casting a gaunt, haggard expression at his ever-present nuisance.

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Deadpool glanced over his shoulder and saw that Hades' beam was far closer than it had been previously. He shot his head back and stared into Hit's black irises, orbs that were steadily becoming milky and grey. "You don't deserve this. Any of this! You don't deserve to die in this shithole because of my mistake. This mess is all because I felt bad about not amounting to anything in life... All because I finally had the chance to be someone greater, to be Marvel Jesus, and I threw everything else under the bus... You have friends and family waiting for you back home, and there's no way I'm going to let you die alone out here! If you choose to give up right here and now, then I'll go down with you, but please. Let me fix this." Deadpool extended a hand down. The mercenary became bathed in celestial light and shimmery red spirals danced around him. "Please."

Crimson light brightened and became the dominant force in existence. Only a gloved hand was visible to Hit now, its fingers splayed and hopeful. The assassin grumbled and glared at the peace offering with bubbling hate.

He turned to the side and gazed at his divine foe. The death God lay hundreds of light years away, surrounded in the glow of his homeland. The being's beam of hellfire was mere seconds away from collision and would undoubtedly obliterate anything in its path.

Hit closed his eyes, and the world grew dark and gloomy, until all light ceased to exist. He reflected on his second life, one that would be cut short quite soon, and felt something tug on his heart.

*Twinkle*

*Twinkle*

*Twinkle*

Shimmery specks of stardust infiltrated Hit's downcast mind. They hovered and drifted around the expanse, dancing and humming a soothing melody. The embers of hope twinkled and cascaded from above, settling into a circle around the gloomy assassin.

The particles brightened and expanded, becoming humanoid in shape and clarifying into recognisable people. Familiar faces surrounded Hit now: individuals who were slowly worming their way into his icy heart. The phantom vestiges circled Hit and looked at his haggard state with hope and anticipation. They all extended a hand to the downcast assassin and spoke wondrous words of encouragement.

"Please... do not lose heart, Hit..." Ais Wallenstein's eyes shone. Her heart burned with the belief she had in her teacher and friend.

Bell Cranel gritted his teeth, willing Hit to face him. "M-Mr Hit! You've got to fight back! We're all waiting for you back home!"

Tiona twirled around the ethereal space, jingling her golden jewellery through the stars. "Come on, Hit! Beat this bad guy up so we can get back to sparring!"

Mama Mia stuck her hands on her hips and cast the troublemaker a faux angry look. "Get a move on boyo! Stop moping around and get to work!"

Syr Flova cheered and fought past her burgeoning tears. "Fight back, Hit! I-I want to tell you lots of stories again!"

Ryuu Lion spoke in her usual icy tone. "Mr Hit. An adventurer should never show weakness. You promised to never make Syr cry again."

Bors jingled a glass of liquor in one hand and a bag of valis in another. "Get up, brat! Or do ya want me to steal all your prize money and booze!?"

Riveria Ljos Alf placed a soothing hand on Hit's shoulder. "We are all standing with you, Mr Hit. We believe in you."

Asfi Al Andromeda nodded next to the elven queen. "You have a bright future ahead of you, young man. Do not throw that away!"

Loki barged in and screeched, tears streaming down her face. "DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE ME, HIT!" *SNIFF* "Y-You're one of my precious children and I can't bear to lose you!"

Welf Crozzo scratched his head and shrugged. "Uh... Not sure why I'm here... Come on, big guy! Don't make Bell cry!"

Gareth Landrock thumped his spear, sending blue ripples undulating across the expanse. "You've got this, lad... Come back home and fulfil your oath."

Lefiya Viridis nearly stumbled as the waves passed her. "M-Mr Hit! That enemy is quite scary, but I'm sure that you can win! I still want to learn from your teachings! P-Please fight back!"

Tears twinkled in Eina Tulle's eyes. Hit's trusting advisor kneeled and stared directly into her protegee's eyes. "You made a promise to me, Hit! You swore to always come home safely!"

*SHI* *BOOM*

Golden light expanded from one bubbly point as Caulifla exploded into an ascended state. "Yeah, yeah! Enough of all this mushy stuff! JUST BEAT THIS SMALL FRY, ALREADY!"

Kale peeked from behind the golden flames, determination burning over her trepidation. "M-Mr Hit... If big sis believes in you, then so shall I!"

Cabba grinned and looked around the circle of precious souls, awed that such a reclusive man could garner so many bonds. "Incredible! All these people believe in you, Mr Hit... and so do I! GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT!"

"YOU'RE NOT GOING DOWN THIS EASY, ARE YOU!?"

A booming voice bounded from the heavens and brought hope to any who heard its cheer. The circle of souls parted to allow one final spirit to alight onto the plane.

*Step*

*Step*

*Step*

The being strode across the cosmos, ripples expanding from each step. They paused at Hit's slumped position and let out a little chuckle. "Heh! The Hit I know would never throw in the towel! We've still got a score to settle, so get moving! I can't wait for out next fight!"

Hit gasped and looked up in disbelief. A familiar, spiky haired Saiyan grinned back at him, sticking out a trusting hand. Golden light bathed the impossible man from above, emitted from a divine halo.

"Come on! We're all with you, Hit!"

Hit blinked and looked around the circle of friends in awe. He sighed, good-naturedly, and took the offered hand in his. 'Huff... Fine... Just this once.'

*Clasp*

The ethereal hand vanished, and Deadpool's own gloved hand appeared in its place.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The drain from Hades' domain was transferred, and Ki rocketed back into Hit's parched soul with a blinding boom. Purple flames roared back to life and expanded across the cosmos in twirling tails of plasma.

*CRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSHHH*

Hades' beam of hellfire battered against the expanding orb of Ki and shivered against its interface. The orange supernova screamed against its scintillating, amethyst foe and the bleak cosmos swam in divine and mortal light.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Hit bellowed and roared above the maelstroms. He willed every ounce of ambient energy to rush into his soul and form a protective layer of energy around him.

Far away, Hades grunted and pushed past the exertion that coursed through his smoking body. He stared at the distant purple speck with deep awe and admiration. "By the gods... What is this being...? How can mortal might soar so high?"

Gravity collapsed and fell into an impossibly dense ring around Hit. Even this 4th dimensional plane was nothing compared to the power that coalesced at his beck and call. 'More. MORE. I MUST SURPASS THIS GOD'S DOMAIN!'

"...Urk... Damn, this guy just won't stop sucking..." Hit glanced to his side and saw that Deadpool was in an atrocious state. His flaky skin was peeling away, and cracked bone was clearly visible beneath his thinning skin. Unfortunately, the regenerator's power would not be sufficient to withstand the concept of Death itself. Deadpool smiled and held a thumb up to his newest friend. "Beat this guy, b-best buddy...and... t-tell my family... that I loved them..."

Hit stared into Deadpool's milky eyes. They were weak and shivered as life force fled their core; however, a burning desire to do good shone behind them: a light that could never be snuffed out, no matter the adversity it faced. It is said that people show their true colours upon their demise. It was quite clear to Hit now: Deadpool was a good person, in his own incredibly twisted and convoluted way. Hit closed his eyes and sighed. 'I can't believe I'm doing this...' Crimson eyes shot open and darted to Deadpool's haggard mien.

"Tell them yourself." Hit tensed his body and commanded Ki to flood into Deadpool's soul, filling the decaying vestige in golden light.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

A red orb of spiralling light was birthed and exploded outwards from Deadpool's core. Higher and higher it went, until the crimson sphere matched its purple neighbour in size and intensity. Deadpool's gaunt body quickly grew and was restored to its usual lively state, enhanced by the roaring clouds of unfathomable strength that held it aloft.

"W-What is this!?" The revived mercenary spluttered and looked at his healing body in disbelief.

"Something that I will likely grow to regret. Now, FOCUS ON EMPOWERING YOURSELF AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! PUSH THAT BLAST BACK WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT!" Hit kept a close eye on Deadpool, noticing that a rush of Ki had entered his soul, an unusual effect since his energy pool should have suffered a temporary decrease. 'W-Wait... I'm not just absorbing Ki, but it's being sent directly to my body... What could be the cause? Hold on...' Hit's eyes were drawn to the myriads of Time rifts around him. The crystals shimmered and twinkled as the sole remaining points of light within this otherworldly cosmos: a light that was intensifying exponentially...

---

In a world beyond the stars, two Saiyan warriors battled against a never-ending horde of enemies. Golden space emperors; regenerating androids; indestructible Majins; green-haired great apes... Countless ravenous creatures crawled out of the deepest depths of the Otherworld and invaded the Earth through immense rifts. Toxic, green energy ravaged their forms, resulting in towering swarms of pus-encrusted foes.

The Saiyan prince, Vegeta, smashed a sledgehammer attack into a pile of past enemies, pulverising them into paste. Unfortunately, the immortal foes instantly regenerated into even more insidious and deadly forms. "DAMMIT! There's no end to these vile creatures! We're supposed to be headed for the tournament of power soon! We don't have time for this nonsense!"

To his side, the Saiyan Son Goku panted while in flight. "Huff... T-They just won't stay down... Huff..."

The two men were currently bathed in a celestial blue light as they hovered in the air: a godly form they had been forced to adorn due to the increasingly powerful enemies they were put up against.

In the distance, an immense globular enemy sat on a pile of writhing masses. It was a horned, yellow creature with ovular pores on its abdomen. Its mannerisms were child-like, yet the power it emitted was unfathomable, enhanced by countless fallen enemies.

"JANEMBA, JANEMBA!"

Vegeta winced at the piercing scream and glared across the absurd battlefield. Above, streams of green energy bathed the world in an emerald-like glow. "W-What the hell is that fat thing!? It's absorbing green energy from... somewhere... and empowering all our past enemies! I-Is that a Golden cell!? What's happening!? Where could that energy...? HUH!?" Vegeta finally succeeded in pinpointing the cause of this madness and gaped at the enormity of what he sensed. "W-What's that enormous energy signature!? It's ridiculous!"

Goku grinned as he noticed an underlying familiarity to the mass of power. "I-I think that's Hit!"

Vegeta shot his horrified face to the side. "What!? That assassin is behind this nonsense!? Don't tell me that he's trying to eliminate us before the tournament!?"

Goku closed his eyes and mulled over the waves of power undulating across space and time. "No... His energy is pure and true... I think he's fighting against whatever's causing this! Can't you sense the dark force he's up against? I say we lend him some of our energy!"

Vegeta spluttered at the idiotic plan. "HUH!? We're struggling against these bastards, and you want us to give away our energy!?"

"I've got a good feeling about this, Vegeta. And besides, nothing we do is having any effect! Trust me! And trust Hit!"

"Tch... Imbeciles... Surrounded by foolish clowns... FINE! But that purple headed bastard better get this over with quickly!" Vegeta grinded his teeth and stuck a hand upwards.

"I knew I could count on you, Vegeta!" Goku followed suit and raised his hands to the sky, casting blue spheres of Ki across the multiverse. "GIVE IT ALL YOU'VE GOT, HIT! WE'RE ALL COUNTING ON YOU!"

---

Blades of grass shimmered across a pristine field. Sunlight blazed from above, uninhibited by even a single cloud. A heavily damaged, futuristic city stood in the distance, with dozens of ropes and construction vehicles left in its streets, unattended. Green streams of energy threaded through the vast skies above, seeking out any seeds of evil.

A young, purple haired man and his mentor stood on the open field; their heads craned upwards to the greenish sky above.

The purple haired teen turned to his fellow survivor, agape at their world's most recent tumultuous event. "G-Gohan... What's this feeling!? I've never felt any Ki signature quite like it!"

Gohan furrowed his eyes at the energy cloud, infinitely far away. "I don't know Trunks, but... I can sense my dad, and Vegeta! And everybody else too!"

"B-Both our fathers!?"

"...I'm not sure how and why, but I feel like we should support them too."

Trunks cast his gaze across the uninhabited wasteland, furious that they had been recently impeded in achieved their goal. "B-But what about the androids!? We managed to ascend and destroy them, but they've resurrected, somehow! We can't let our guards down!"

Gohan placed a reassuring hand on Trunk's shoulder and smiled at his closest friend. "I've got good feeling about this, Trunks... Let's put our faith in my dad... and in all our friends and family..."

"A-Alright, Gohan. I'll trust you! We'll reach the future we've been striving for!" Trunks shot his hands up and grinned.

Gohan lifted his remaining arm skywards, his soul burning with hope. "GOOD LUCK EVERYONE!" 'Dad... Please be safe...'

---

Beams of ice and fire cratered through a devastated city. The elemental blasts twisted and turned, each seeking out two fine points. The two figures zipped and flashed across the city, alighting onto an overturned apartment complex. Reddish fur covered most of their upper bodies and furred tails twirled behind them.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Crimson light shot down and detonated. A negative karma ball careened from the green sky above and flattened the entire city into one immense gravelled plain.

As the carmine embers died down, seven monstrosities stepped out of the dust cloud. Green, starred spheres lay within each of their bodies, twinkling with latent power. At their front lay their leader: a spined dragon born from countless sins.

"THE SHADOW DRAGONS ARE ETERNAL! YOU CANNOT ESCAPE!"

An incredibly exhausted Vegeta barely maintained his Super Saiyan 4 state and snarled at the seven shadow dragons. "Tch... All these blasted dragons are back from the dead! All our efforts were pointless, Kakarot!"

By the prince's side, Goku snapped his tail against the ground, cratering it. His voice was deep and gravelly, profoundly vexed by the impossibility staring him right in the face. "I DON'T UNDERSTAND! Omega Shenron has already absorbed the Dragon Balls! How can these others... Wait, What!?"

*Shimmer* *Shimmer*

As dust clouds rolled over the battlefield, the two Saiyans could now see that green energy connected each of the six lesser shadow dragons to their leader, who was in turn empowered by the green shimmers above.

Goku ground his teeth and growled in affront. "SOMEONE'S INTERFERING IN OUR BATTLE! Tch... Where are you...?" The man's yellow eyes shut, and he inhaled deeply, casting his senses across the cosmos. "THERE! W-Wait, what!? It feels like everyone we know is fighting against a dark force! This energy... It feels chaotic and bottomless... Far, far more dangerous than even Omega!"

"Oh, this is ridiculous! It's obvious that we can't beat these bastards separately, so let's combine our forces. We're both practically out of energy, so we can't even lend whoever's battling up there any energy. It's the most obvious course of action, Kakarot." Vegeta crossed his arms and glared at his battle partner, setting his pride aside for once.

"W-WHAT!?" Goku's hair stood on end, and he reared back as if stung. "Vegeta!? A-Are you seriously suggesting that we F-FUSE!? YOU WOULD DO THAT!?"

Vegeta jumped a few paces to the left and held his hands straight, perpendicular to his body. "Hmph. Just shut up and get on with it, Kakarot! This is a one-time deal!"

*SHOOM* *SHOOM* *SHOOM*

Three golden flames rocketed to Earth several metres ahead of the Saiyan pair. Close-up it was revealed that they were Gohan; Goten; and Trunks.

"HRAAAAAAA!" Gohan roared and golden flames brightened into twinkling sparkles of crystal-clear luminescence. He tightened his fists and empowered his body with the full might of potential unleashed. "We'll hold them off! Go ahead and power up, guys!"

Goku grinned, pride in his sons filling him completely. He glanced to the side, noticing that Vegeta was becoming increasingly grumpy and impatient. "Heh... This is going to be special... Whoever's us there, keep it up. We've got your back."

---

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

A blinding pillar of azure divinity ascended and detonated into a roaring mushroom cloud. Shockwaves crashed outwardly and shook the lava-strewn wasteland that was previously the arctic.

*SHOOM*

"GROOOOOOOARRR!" A monstrous Saiyan titan shot out of the explosion and roared. Green energy robed his bulky body and blazed out of his widened eyes. Legendary aura suffused every fibre of the creature's being and brought his strength to impossible heights.

Ahead, a divine being, wielding twin mortal souls, hovered in place. His white trousers and black vest ruffled in the unnatural wind; and deep blue hair shimmered with unfathomable power. The man's voice was unnatural, as if it was the result of two individuals speaking as one. "Well, this is highly unusual... You're not dead, but you're not exactly alive either..."

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" Broly roared and shot a ray of green light from his open mouth. Tears of green light leaked from his eyes, indicating that the man's mind had long fled him.

Gogeta sighed and waved a hand, sending the blast careening back at its sender. "Huff... This is getting a little boring. Just stay down, already, will you? There's obviously something wrong with your body."

*BOOOOOOOOM*

"URK!?" Broly grunted and winced. The bewitched Saiyan crashed to Earth and shivered in agony.

*Twinkle*

"Hm?" Gogeta hummed and turned to gaze up, towards a barely perceptible, yet impossibly immense Ki signature. Importantly, another force dwelt in this same region, which matched Broly's newest power-up perfectly. "I see... Another force is interfering in our fight... Hold on, is that Goku and Vegeta's energy? And Gohan's? Piccolo's too!? Hm... It seems that everyone is battling against someone immeasurably far away... No... it is more likely that they are lending someone energy..."

"My, my... I recognise one fighter, but his opponent is emitting an energy utterly unfamiliar to me... How exciting!" *NOM* Whis, the unknowable angel of Universe seven, drifted a few metres away, munching on a strawberry parfait.

A blue bubble wafted by his side, containing an incredibly distraught Bulma. The woman wobbled and slipped in the sphere, screeching profanities at her usually apathetic angel. "HEY! YOU CAN'T JUST SHOVE ME IN HERE! I'M THE ONE WHO GOT YOU THAT TREAT, SO LET ME OUT!"

Gogeta sighed and slumped, looking at the Angel with a mix of envy and pity. "Huff... And to think... That buffoon is far stronger than even me... Huff." The fused being smirked and shot a hand up to the green sky. "Very well then. Take this energy and end your battle quickly, assassin. I will not tolerate any more interference in my battle."

*BAM*

Gogeta shot an elbow strike behind him, sending his unusually sneaky opponent crashing back down. "Sit, Broly. I'll deal with you in a bit."

---

Back at the Time rift expanse, Hit trembled in awe at the flood of power that rocketed into him. '...Saiyan... Human... Namekian... and even God Ki!?' His crimson eyes widened, and realisation swept over him. 'I see... Goku, and all his companions... They're sending me energy from across the multiverse...' The assassin smirked and welcomed the much-needed support. 'You have my thanks. I, no, WE will win this.'

"I-Incredible..." Deadpool gawked at the purple and vermillion spheres of power that surrounded him. The orbs screeched and swirled, growing exponentially larger. The mercenary grinned and willed his soul to burn its brightest. "LET'S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The crimson sphere of Ki exploded outwardly, shimmering with the delight of its bearer.

"Hmph..." Hit smirked at the impossible man, pleased that he had not doomed the multiverse in his hasty act. "Let's fucking go... HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The two men bellowed and roared, forcing their containers to blaze to unfathomable heights and push their hellfire oppressor back.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Finally, Hit's energy pool reached a critical concentration and empowered him to state far beyond Hades and his entire realm. No longer was the mortal under the God's influence; no longer was he bound by the domain of death. Hit and Deadpool's red and purple energy spheres undulated and combined to form a veritable planet of carmine Ki.

"HRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

"GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Hit and Deadpool released their handshake and held their hands up, pushing against the Ki interface surrounding them with two mighty bellows. The immense spheroid expanded with a gargantuan dimensional ripple that shot Hades' beam of Hellfire rocketing right back.

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The billowing supernova screeched and twisted through space, careening towards Hades at infinite speeds. The titan gaped at the scorching cloud, finally comprehending what he had been up against. 'I-I see now... I was never fighting against two mortals, but an infinite nexus of their bonds... So... This is what separates us... It is not our might, but our hearts...'

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!*

Orange plasma illuminated the cosmos and magical hellfire detonated at point-blank range. Unfortunately, Hades was merely buffeted by the beam's shockwaves, immune to its scorching effect. The titan sighed and turned to his dimensional tear; fists tightened as bubbling shame writhed in his ancient soul. "Well done; you have taught me much, mortals. We will meet ag-"

"NOT EVERYONE GETS A SEQUEL!" Deadpool roared and withdrew his right Katana. Crimson plasma swam through its adamantium body and extended across the infinite expanse of space and beyond. The blade sparkled, reflecting the countless rifts of space and time surrounding it.

*SCHWING!*

The cosmic mercenary swung his celestial blade down, cleaving through Hades' dimensional tear. Purplish blue fibrils tore through the fabric of spacetime and subsumed the fiery portal until nothing, but ash and a phantom warmth remained.

Hades shivered and gaped as his sole means of escape was eviscerated. The God whirled around to face his mortal foes but was shocked to see that only one fiery orb was visible, whilst its purple brother was gone. "I-I must open another portal! My reign cannot end he-!"

*Shing*

Hades' white eyes reflected an unfathomably deep indigo mass of plasma with a transcendent mortal at its core. Sweat drenched his wrinkled mien and his jaw fell slack as he took in the immensity of his opponent's power. This energy was incomprehensible to the deity, but its pressure was beyond anything he had every felt.

The sphere of purple light condensed and focused into a single point on its mortal bearer's hand. The phantom fist drew up to Hades' chest and the spectral assassin bid him farewell. "Target eliminated."

****BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!****

Purple Ki detonated from the extended hand and exploded into pure-white light. The laser crescendoed instantly and dwarfed Universes in its size, completely obliterating Hades on a conceptual level.

A tremendous boom devastated the multiverse and billowing ripples of 5th dimensional space sent Time rifts careening across reality, like fragile snowflakes. Brand new nebulas and galaxies emerged from the blast, together repopulating the truly infinite expanse in an entirely new overarching cosmos, beyond centillions the size of our own.

Hit hovered among the multicoloured twinkles and watched as the mangled, corrupted Time rifts mended and healed, freed from their divine oppressor. "There... My debt is paid." He then vanished, reappearing in front of an incredibly exhausted Deadpool.

The mercenary floated aimlessly in space, now devoid of any Ki. Without Hit's perpetual support, the energy had navigated back to its home worlds and rejuvenated its inhabitants. "Huff! All's well that ends we-! URK!?"

Hit grasped the man by his throat and zipped back to the Milano spaceship, dumping Deadpool by its front entry point. "Are you actively trying to tempt fate?"

*RIP* *SHOOM* *SHREEEEEEE!*

As if on cue, another tear in spacetime wailed into view. Its borders were dark-green and absorbed all light that shone upon it. Damned souls clung to its edges, attempting to flee their eternal prison. An alabaster throne of bones hovered through the gateway's infinite clutches, wreathed in golden light. A robed figure sat atop its seat, a slight smile adorning their blue lips. Their voice was feminine, tinged with a dying echo. "My, how wondrous... To view the death and rebirth of an entire higher dimension is quite the rarity."

The celestial being raised herself up and strode across the throne room, providing her two voyeurs with a glorious view of her resplendent form. She wore a tight, blue robe that hugged her shapely body firmly, barely restraining her bountiful mounds. Two shapely legs extended from the robe at each clacking step, and a dark cloak billowed behind her. The woman's skin was ashen and devoid of any blemishes, giving her an embalmed appearance. An eerie light swept behind her milky eyes: orbs that were devoid of any pupils or irises.

Hit gaped at the unknowable entity and glared at Deadpool with blazing hatred. "You just had to open your filthy mouth, didn't you?"

Before Deadpool could defend his position, the unknown entity vanished and reappeared several paces from Hit's position. She looked between the two mortal men, lingering her gaze on Hit. "Hm... So... You two fledgelings are the ones responsible for eliminating one of my flock..."

"Tch." Hit tutted and flurried into his serious stance. The alien could not sense an inkling of power from this peculiar creature, but its presence was soul wrenching.

Deadpool tapped Hit on the shoulder and shook his head. "Uh... you'd better not, Hit. She's Death as a concept... For-realsies this time. You know how I said that comic book characters are jacked off to hell and back by their creators? Well, she's probably in the top 10, so yeah... Her bean has been flicked raw."

Death chuckled, emitting an overlapped rasping sound. The resonance was akin to the rumbling of an ancient sarcophagus. "Oh, there is no need to fret... I am merely here to fix what my unruly servant has disturbed." The force of nature swept her pallid hand across the cosmos and twinkling Time rifts diminished in intensity, preventing any more Ki from leaking into space.

Hit sweated at wave of unfathomable power that coursed across the cosmos. 'I suppose that explains why the rifts were emitting energy when we arrived. Hades had to unlock the crystals prior to suffusing them with power.' Hit huffed and stuffed his hands away. The assassin was officially done with the absurd events of this ludicrous day and cast a disinterest look at what was supposedly Death itself. "Just to verify, you are not here to eliminate me? That seems to be a common theme with every being I have met on this journey."

Deadpool inhaled.

Hit glanced at him. "You are mentally corrosive."

Death giggled and reappeared in front of Hit, nearly touching her nose against his. "Nothing of the sort! I maintain the necessary force that is Death. Hades' actions were an unnatural dissemination, or attempted dissemination, of the quality. I cannot allow my power to be misused. No, you two still have much to experience, and are far from the end of your lives..."

Hit sighed in relief, choosing to ignore the deity's closeness. "Huff... It is good to see that at least one being from your multiverse is not utterly insane..."

"...I am that I am... Moving aside, would you be interested in assuming Hades' role, assassin? I bore witness to your battle and believe that someone of your calibre could fulfil my tasks flawlessly. I cannot allow the seat of Olympian Death to remain unoccupied... You would make a splendid addition to my forces..."

Hit's eyes sparkled with greed. "What would these tasks involve and what would be my compensation?"

"HEY!" Deadpool activated his suit's thrusters and bounced into Hit's side, although the strike merely ruffled the assassin's lavender clothes. "You're my ride back, Hit! You can't just ditch me and your friends! And why am I not a candidate!? I literally cannot die!"

"Fufu..." Death simpered, and a duplicate of her appeared in front of Deadpool. "That is not true, little one. Unfortunately, you are not the Wade Wilson that I am familiar with... You are capable of regeneration, but are not severed from the concept of Death like the version that I was once" *COUGH* "...very well acquainted with."

Deadpool clutched his head, struggling to understand the deity's words. "Wait... That Hades was from a completely different multiverse from mine!? Jesus Christ, do I fucking hate racoons... Wait... a version of me banged Death? Sweet."

The two Death entities chuckled and the twin staring deeply into Hit's eyes spoke next. "You would oversee the souls of Olympus and guide them to the next world. There may also be instances where rogue forces would need to be... expunged. As for compensation, I can offer personal training; immortality; godhood; any material or living good you desire; upwards mobility; and a palace of any design. You are free to act as you please outside your regular duties."

Hit finally fought through his apprehension and closed his eyes, dismissing the deity. "Hm... A tempting offer... an incredibly tempting offer... but I will have to decline. There is still much for me to learn at my current level. Your previous servant made blinding errors due to his own foolishness and I refuse to fall for the same mistakes. Perhaps in the distant future. Although, know that I bow to no one, not even a conceptual primordial."

Death smiled, her milky eyes swimming with deep longing. "Fufu... Very well, bringer of Death; I shall respect your wishes. Know that the offer is forever open to you, not as a slave, but as an ally... You may call upon me at any time..."

*Flash*

The two projections of Death vanished, and a single entity appeared on the alabaster throne. Death smiled at the two mortals and willed her seat to disappear back into its unholy clutches. "Farewell..."

*SCREEEE* *ZIP*

In a flash, the fiery rip screamed and vanished entirely...

Hit hovered in place for several seconds, mulling over his meeting with one of creation's most powerful, and bewitching, entities. 'Incredible... What a profound being...'

Deadpool shook his head between the now vacant point in space and Hit's stern mien. "D-Did Death just hit on you? She definitely had the hots for you! Lucky son of a-

"-I highly doubt it, nor does it matter to us currently." Hit crossed his arms and began floating back to the Milano's exit point.

Deadpool meandered around Hit, still struggling with his bubble suit's thrusters. "N-No, it definitely matters! You really turned down all those riches and a steamy date with Death to be with your family and friends? I'm touched..."

Hit sighed and leaned against the ship's hull. He grabbed Deadpool's flying body and hefted it in front of the rear control panel. "Huff... Shut up and open the ship... Thanks to her, I cannot draw upon the ambient energy, and almost all of it has either fled me or was used in my final attack. Yours has obviously faded as well. Therefore, I can use my remaining energy to either kill you or return home. Regretfully, I have chosen the latter."

"Aye, aye! We're finally homeward bound!" *BEEP* Deadpool pressed a random button and the exit ramp lowered, allowing the two men to finally begin their return journey.

---

An hour later, the Milano hummed with power, its engines no longer blackened and smoky. Deadpool sat in the ship's co-pilot seat, fiddling with the console's buttons, whilst Hit was sat in the pilot's seat, overlooking a flat glass screen. His fingers zipped across the device, performing the finishing touches. The alien's eyes and fingertips were now enveloped in a white glow that provided an intermediary force that could be recognised by the foreign devices. Thankfully, this technique used hardly any Ki, which had nearly left Hit completely now that there was no pool to draw upon.

Deadpool abandoned his tinkering and swung his seat around. "I'm honestly surprised! I thought you'd just throw me into space as soon as you found out how to use these devices! A shame Paradox's device isn't powerful enough..." Unfortunately, even if it was repaired, the TVAs handheld teleporter was simply too weak to function within this 4th dimensional plane.

Hit tutted and paused in his tapping. "Lamentably, an impossibly minute ember of respect for you has embedded itself within me. Also, that would not kill you; you would merely float in space for eternity." Hit's crimson orbs whirred around the interface device, verifying its status. Infinitely complex equations zipped across its screen, and thousands of parameters were set for the imminent journey through space and time.

A set of waggling, red fingers added themselves to the picture as Deadpool peeked over from Hit's side and attempted to draw his attention. "Aww... I knew you loved me!"

Hit wrenched the table aside and placed it on a nearby work surface. "Do not misunderstand it. You and I are not allies and are merely in a temporary truce until I return to my world. We will settle this ordeal when we reach my destination."

Deadpool shivered and hummed as Hit's hands tightened around the steering wheel. "Mm... Can't wait... But how are we gonna fly through dimensions... or timelines? Blinky here isn't doing anything..."

Below, the Milano's auto extra-dimensional escape siren lay silent and dormant. There were currently no dimensional instabilities present, meaning that the function could not be activated.

*VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Hit leveraged the ship's throttle and sent the craft shooting through space. "We will use brute force."

*SHOOOOOOM*

The Milano sailed across nascent nebulas and rings of stardust. Glittering lights danced on its cockpit, reflected from distant stars and galaxies. Its thrusters emitted a scorching blue plasma that sent it rocketing towards a small, black point: Hit's forgotten Ki attack. The point was the size of an atom, yet its mass surpassed every star in this infinite expanse countless times over. Gravitational ripples undulated from its external surface, adding another layer of intricacy to the newborn universe.

"Hmph." Hit extended a hand and willed his diminishing pool of Ki to manipulate his prior technique: an atomised hyper-massive black hole.

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The point expanded and undulated from its prison. Unfathomable blackness swept silently across the horizon and engulfed all matter around it, forming a bright accretion disc. Gravitational lensing was made clearly visible by the light that twisted and turned around the sphere's inescapable gravitational pull.

There, horrifyingly close by, lay a hyper-massive black hole whose mass surpassed even trillions of stars.

Hit's previously shimmering, crimson eyes darkened as he glared into the infinite point. The man pushed down any doubts and pushed the throttle forward, accelerating the ship's sub-light engines to their maximum speed.

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Deadpool's white slits widened to their zenith, and he gulped at their heading. "U-Uh... Not to be a backseat driver, but I'm not in the mood to be spaghettified today!"

Hit narrowed his eyes, revising every one of his hastily performed modifications to the ship's internals and programming. Unfortunately the vessel's warp drives only had two charges left, likely due to Deadpool's frantic journey during Hit's cosmic battle. It would have to do. "This black hole is far too immense for us to suffer that effect: the tidal acceleration is even lower than when on the Earth's surface. Here, we would ordinarily be dragged to its singularity and crushed to an infinitely thin plane where time and space do not exist..."

"Oh, that's much better!"

"...I have enhanced the shields to defend us against the debris and outer ergosphere surrounding the event horizon, but mortal technology falls short of the next layers. Once we pass the event horizon, all possible futures point to the gravity singularity. Thankfully, the black hole's rotation should push back against this and buy us some time within the inner event horizon. Here, I will unfortunately have to exert my Ki once more to defend us; no unshielded mortal can withstand the conditions there... Well, perhaps you could. It would be the worst suffering imaginable as ceaselessly torn apart body parts..."

"You're not selling me on this..."

"...Next, our course will be towards the ring singularity at its core, past the repulsive inner ergosphere. The ship's warp drives will enable us to pass through the singularity, and into a new universe. We will then remain within the naked singularity and take advantage of being able to accelerate to infinite speeds, using the rest of our warp drive fuel. Once at maximum velocity, we will travel back into the singularity and out into the past of our current universe. By my calculations, this is still too little to reach escape velocity. To compensate, we will have to ride the wave of our past selves' warp drives, combine that with our already infinite speeds, and propel ourselves past the outer horizon and into a future white hole of this black hole. Our current universe, and the black hole before us, will then remain forever behind us..."

"Bla... bla... bla..."

"...We will then be expelled out of this universe, through a wormhole. This wormhole connects two regions of same space between two different universes; however, that is not what we want to occur. We will use the temporary instability to activate the extra-dimensional escape, which I have modified to curve the detected wormhole and create a new throat to exit from. This should allow us to escape into an overlying dimension. After that, we will have to improvise. Unfortunately, this is the only plan I can think of and is our best course of action. I do not have enough Ki to enter the Time rifts, nor is there any force left in the ambient space. Soon, I will run out completely and we will be stuck in this infinite expanse. Understood?"

Deadpool's head steamed, and smoke shot out of his ears. "S-Something about throats and holes? But... Why not just leave the naked singularity? Do we have to take our clothes off to go through?"

Hit sighed and inclined the steering wheel, directing the ship down. "Huff... We do not want to exit into a new universe; we want to be between universes to exit prematurely. Unfortunately, these engines are not powerful enough to resist the inward force of the black hole, which is why we are using our past selves to accelerate us into the past's future. Time flows backwards if we exit the outer event horizon rather than its normal flow when we fall through initially. Does that make sense?"

"A-Are you fucking serious!? NO! No, that does not make sense! What's our chance of success? Is any of that even possible!?"

Hit paused, allowing an eerie silence to pass over the cockpit. "...No; it's necessary."

Deadpool hung his head and slunk a hand to Hit's waist. "We're going to die, aren't we... Well, at least it's with a lover..."

*BAM* *SNAP*

Hit punched the wriggling appendage and tightened Deadpool's seat belt to its limit. "Huff... Why do I even bother. Just stay there and do not interfere, or I will drop you off within the inner horizon. I assure you that any past torture you have endured will feel like bliss compared to that agonizing experience."

Outside the cockpit, whizzing space dust careened from one side. Shadows and embers shot in an unending dance around the gravity deformity, signifying that they were now within the blinding depths of the accretion disc.

*SHOOOM*

Hit twisted the steering wheel and realigned the Milano's flight path to follow the Black Hole's rotation. A direct approach would be too much for the overcharged shields to bear, meaning that a shallow angle was their safest course of action.

The ship's hull creaked and groaned during their approach, and fiery debris pelted against the blue shield surrounding it like fireworks.

"Here we go." Hit tilted the jittery steering wheel and forced the Milano to descend past the storm of shredded planets.

*RATTLE* *RATTLE* *CREAK*

Debris flew past the rattling space craft until it reached an uncanny expanse, where no matter dared to tread. Only blackness lay below this ring of glowing dust, making discerning any direction or orientation impossible.

"H-Hm...?" Deadpool blinked at a strange sight behind him. He wriggled around and stared out of a rear porthole, through which a peculiar spheroid shone through. Sweat cascaded down his body and a heavy weight settled in his stomach at what he saw.

Peculiarly, it appeared that the world behind them was twisting and rearing back, as if being viewed through a fish-eye lens. Stars and galaxies flew by, disappearing and reappearing, before they coalesced into one final point and vanished from existence.

The mercenary gulped and turned back, looking into the pilot's eyes for any motes of comfort or support. There were none.

"We have passed the point of no return. Make peace with your Gods."

Deadpool gritted his teeth and looked ahead. Within the abysmal blackness, a ghostly sphere glared back at him. A hazy field of dust orbited its midsection, making the projection appear like it was a single eye in the void.

The unusually quiet mercenary's hair stood on end. He hunched and spoke in a barely perceptible whisper. "H-Hey... A-Are we going the wrong way? That looks like the way we came..."

Hit continued to stare directly ahead, acting as a pillar of indestructible mental might. "Light is bending under the tremendous gravitational forces. You are looking at the view from behind us."

"R-Right..." Deadpool trembled and gazed ahead, trying his best to avoid the eerie eye.

*SHI!* *BOOM*

A layer of white energy shimmered and expanded from Hit's body. The force passed through the Milano's hull and settled onto a position directly in front of the ship's shields.

"We have passed the inner horizon." The eerie words echoed throughout the cockpit, which was still the only form of true light within this void.

*RATTLE!* *RATTLE!* *CREAK!*

A wave of turbulence battered against the Milano, flinging equipment, metal panels, and glass across its interior. The ship trembled and slowed, barely able to resist the horizontal force of rotating ripples of spacetime.

Deadpool's teeth chattered, and his chest rose and fell in quick successions. He cast a quick glance at Hit to see that the man was under immense mental and physical strain.

"T-That would be the inner ergosphere. Spacetime is being twisted by the mass rotation of the Black hole." Hit ground his teeth and gripped the steering column for support. Every fibre of his being was set ablaze to maintain his Ki barrier, which fluctuated in the unseen attack. He extended a shaky hand to his right and hovered it over a large, blue button. "3... 2... 1..." *BEEP*

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Blue and orange light exploded behind the Milano and its warp drives whirred into action. The phantom accretion disc in front of it lengthened into an infinite streak, and the spaceship rocketed ahead at speeds far beyond the speed of light.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Deadpool was flung back in his seat by the g-force and his head fell back. Oddly, a streak of light shot out of the singularity, far below, and was flung back the way they came. Hit's crimson eyes followed the streak and he gave it a nod of good luck before it vanished entirely.

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The Milano rocketed towards an infinitely dense black sphere and transgressed into its untouchable inner reaches. Light and darkness flashed all around the ship, and the world distorted and mangled together.

Hit grunted and growled in his seat, barely able to keep his eyes open as reality warped and twisted against his Ki cloak. Cables zapped and sparks flew around him and his sense of up and down vanished.

*/*/*/*/*/*/

*/*/*/*

*/*/*

As quickly as the upheaval came, it passed uneventfully, and the Milano drifted into a peculiar, tubular region of space. The 'walls' of this intermediary point appeared to be infinitely twisted, multicoloured nebulas. The shimmery watercolours rippled and swirled, giving the two mortals a distorted view of the universe that lay behind the veil.

Behind the Milano, a naked singularity gleamed in a suspended region of non-space. A hazy cloak of bluish light surrounded the infinitely dark point, resulting from the invading ship's shining engines.

No forces acted on the Milano now, allowing it to float in a sea of absolute tranquillity.

Deadpool looked back at the shining point as it steadily blackened and disappeared out of view, then turned towards the scintillating ovoid surrounding them. "I-Is that another horizon...? This trip is much less fun than I thought it'd be..."

Hit shook his head and activated the sub-light engines once more. "No. I honestly do not know. However, it is a phenomenon that we must not interact with." He pushed the throttle forward, ever so slightly, and repositioned the ship so that it was at an equidistant point between the shimmery barrier and the black hole. "3...2..." Hit hovered a finger over the warp button.

Deadpool gasped and shouted. "H-HOLD ON! Won't we just shoot out of here if you activate the warp drives!?"

"Ordinarily, yes. However, I will direct us into an orbit around the singularity. My Ki and reflexes will have to suffice to maintain these near-infinite speed revolutions. ...1..."

*BEEP*

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Fire boomed behind the Milano and it jetted forwards into a circular trajectory. Above, the twisted nebulas shot back into straight lines. Around and around the ship went, blurring into a blue and orange ring of matter-antimatter fire.

For Deadpool, the revolutions passed before his brain could even comprehend that he was moving. Conversely, Hit was flung into an eternal dance around the black hole, where his Ki barely managed to maintain a protective and directing layer around the ship.

Finally, once the Milano's speed became unquantifiable and it existed in multiple positions, Hit exhausted the remaining fuel and shot the craft back through the singularity.

*SHOOOOOOOOOOM*

The Milano barrelled back into the perfect pitch-blackness of its prior universe and was instantly assaulted by a wave of intense gravitational turbulence. An infinitely small moment later, and the ship passed a doppelganger: its own position mere seconds ago. Hit stared out of the cockpit and nodded at his own past self, bidding it farewell as he travelled into the future.

*BOOOOOOOOOM*

A blinding ray of blue and orange light detonated behind the past ship and the two Milano crafts were repelled from one another in two different directions through space and time.

Hit gritted his teeth and struggled to stay conscious in his unenhanced state. To the side, Deadpool slumped down, unresponsive. Turbulence vanished and the world brightened into a lustre that trumped any other cosmic event.

White light blazed by the infinitely vast vessel until the ship shot out into a tube of bent spacetime: a wormhole leading out of this realm. The immense, undulating tunnel was a celestial blue in colour and bulged inwards, sporadically. Lines of energy cascaded down its exterior, making the cosmic nexus seem like it was breathing. Immeasurably far away, lay a pure white point: the exit to an entirely new universe.

'C-Come on... Urk... Detect the wormhole!' Hit glared at the auto transporter and hovered his finger over its lifeless button. Crimson eyes flashed as ripples of spacetime passed by, careening towards the point of absolutely no return.

*BEEP* *BEEP*

'Yes!' The siren blared and Hit smashed the button down.

*BEEP*

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

A fine, whirling filament pushed out from within the wormhole and wriggled into the non-space beyond. Iridescent colours shone at the end of the 'throat', shining down from a higher plane of existence.

Sparkling particles twinkled in Hit's eyes, during the Milano's breakneck rise up the fork in spacetime, and the world, along with his consciousness, fell into darkness.

---

"GRA!?" Hit awoke with a start and jumped in his seat. A peculiar tickling sensation prickled against his nose and forced him to sneeze. "ACHEW!"

"Wakey, wakey sleepy head! Either your crazy plan worked, or we're together in the afterlife! Guess we get to spend the rest of eternity together, hubby!" Deadpool hopped at Hit's side, holding a white feather he had acquired from goodness knows where. The cockpit room was currently in utter disarray: likely the result of the frantic mercenary's boredom.

"GIVE ME THAT!" Hit snarled and snatched the feather away, eliciting a disappointed whimper from the jester holding it. "Did I not tell you that I would jettison you into the vo...void...?" Hit gaped as he finally cast his eyes outside the cockpit's window. His crimson orbs glittered and sparkled as they reflected the majesty that greeted them.

What lay ahead sent cascades of awe and gratitude rippling through Hit's body and soul, along with an undertone of familiarity. The Milano now floated amongst an infinite array of ordered cosmic marbles. The orbs shimmered and twinkled across the scintillating cosmos, populating it like droplets in a cosmic ocean. Unseen dimensional currents swept these spheres along and coordinated an unending celestial dance.

A true smile blossomed on Hit's face, and he spoke in an almost reverent tone. "T-This is... the cosmos that I inhabited before my transmigration! Those are the infinite worlds in all of creation... I have no idea what dimensional scale we are currently inhabiting, but it is likely beyond any mortal or God's comprehension..." The wayward assassin zipped his eyes across the wondrous tapestry, eagerly reliving his infinity within this ethereal plane. Phantom memories resurfaced and he attempted to tie them to his current predicament. "Hm... How are we going to reach our destination without any fuel? Could we absorb the expansive dark energy from our surroundings... No, there is no way of processing it..." Hit held his chin and tapped a finger against the control panel, his mind already awhirl with theories and plans.

Deadpool sighed and crossed his arms. "Huff... Seeing how happy you are, I'm guessing we're finally out of the woods?"

A stream of incomprehensible mathematical formulas and scientific terms flooded from Hit's mouth as a never-ending whisper that sailed right over Deadpool's steaming head. The mercenary harrumphed and waltzed back to his seat. "I'm just gonna ignore all the big words from now on and look at the pretty sparkles." He slumped down and kicked his feet up onto the dashboard. "I wonder which of those are our worlds? Does this thing have a GPS?"

*BEEP*

A single beep blared out of the ship's speakers, startling the two men. Strangely, a cup holder shot out of the Milano's front panel and a plastic container rattled within it. A robotic, feminine voice spoke from the ship's main processing intelligence, responding to Deadpool's plea.

*GUIDANCE SYSTEM FUNCTION REQUESTED: PLEASE PLACE DNA SAMPLE IN DECONSTRUCTOR TUBE FOR VIBRATIONAL ANALYSIS*

Deadpool sniggered and looked between the cup and Hit's steadily narrowing eyes. The mercenary cast caution to the wind and rolled one hand into a tube and thrust it up and down. He rhythmically stuck his tongue against his cheek, making it appear like a rotund object was pressing against it. "Well, you heard the lady! Take your pants off and I'll get to it!"

*CRACK* *SPLASH*

Deadpool's head shattered, and blood spewed out of his white slits. Two demonic eyes glared down at him, and a powerful grip ensnared him. "Why is dangling you over the worst prison imaginable the only means of shutting you up..." Hit wrenched Deadpool up by his fractured head and shoved the flailing mercenary in the pilot seat. "Huff... I already know our heading: its location is forever imprinted within my mind and soul. Thankfully, the extra-dimensional switch is currently active, likely as a result of it being unable to detect the plane of reality that we are currently in."

Deadpool's split head mended itself and his eyes zipped to the side. "Uh... Yeah... That's definitely why it's blinking..."

"Grr..." Hit grumbled and reached for the ship's interface device. After a few harsh taps on its screen, a blinking dot appeared on the ship's cockpit window as a hovering hologram. "I will choose to ignore that due to our time constraints. Simply direct the ship's bow towards this destination marker and I will solve our fuel issue. Once the ship detects an unexpected energy reading, activate the warp drive. I have already altered the extra-dimensional transporter to activate automatically upon detection of my world's interface. Thankfully, this journey is far simpler than our entry here, so no manual input is necessary. AND NO DETOURS."

Deadpool got himself comfy in the pilot seat and bounced around. "But what if I see one that's really sparkly? Oh, and if we pass a world where I'm a green lantern, then we are definitely blowing it up."

Hit sighed and trudged towards the main hallway, avoiding a motley of overturned containers and mangled cushions strewn across the ground. "Huff... Just do your damned job."

"I am! Thanks to my mid-life crisis number two hundred and three, I'm working as a used car salesman! It's my job to be a scheming little weasel!"

Hit shook his head and walked into the nexus of narrow corridors. The hallways were in a far shoddier state now, with most of their metal panels rattled off during the Milano's journey through the tumultuous black hole. 'We have no warp drive fuel left, nor is there a means of resupplying it...' Sparking cables zapped under Hit's feet and a low humming sound increased in intensity until it became nearly unbearable.

*BEEP*

Hit activated a glass panel and stepped into a compartment abuzz with humming cables and thrumming units: the ship's antimatter-matter engine room. At the room's heart, lay two upright containers: one a faint orange and the another a pale blue. Unfortunately, no plasma energy spiralled within, indicating that the Milano was now completely spent.

Hit stood between the humming tubes and placed his hands against their borders. 'My last embers of Ki will have to suffice. I will have to halve my energy into pools of opposite electrical charges and differing quantum states.'

*SHI* *SHOOM*

White flames burst from Hit's body and condensed on his opposing sides. To the naked eye, the two Ki divisions could not be distinguished; however, they were polar opposites and would be obliterated upon contact with one another. 'C-Careful... I cannot allow these pools to interact, or I'm finished... along with uncountable worlds...'Hit willed the energy to travel down his shaking hands and propel itself into the two holding chambers. Brilliant light shone from the two capsules, bathing the compartment in ethereal white light.

On cue, a warning siren blared throughout the ship, advising its crew to not use the unfathomable power source circling within its engines.

*WARNING: UNRECOGNISED FUEL DETECTED IN EXOTIC MATTER ENGINE. DO NOT ACTIVATE THE WARP DRIVES. DO NOT ACTIVATE SUB-LIGHT ENGINES. DO NOT ACTI-*

*BEEP*

*SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

'GHK!' Ki shot out of Hit's body and was used to power the opposing matter engines. The ship trembled and warped to incomprehensible speeds that surpassed even its prior infinite velocity. Hit chuckled as blood leaked from his eyes and mouth. 'H-Heh... G-Good. The only way that moron would actually proceed with my plan is if something told him expressly not to.' *COUGH* Orange and blue 'veins' crept up Hit's burning hands and his entire body sparked with electricity.

The world blurred and faded around Hit, with the spiralling multiverses bidding him goodnight once again.

---

*Twinkle* *Twinkle*

Fine particles wafted against Hit's nose.

*Twinkle* *Twinkle*

Hit sniffled as the stream of dust continued to drift down.

*Twinkle* *Twinkle*

"H-Hm...?" Hit groaned from his slumber and twitched an eye open. Looking up, a whiteish bag was being shaken up and down, expelling a cloud of white dust.

"Hey, you, you're finally awake! Sorry, no feathers this time, but I did find some bags of cocaine stowed away! It's a Christmas miracle!"

Casting his gaze to the side, Hit locked eyes with a grinning red mercenary. Hit wiped his face and thanked the Gods for his resistance to drugs and poisons. "Ugh... I was hoping that those experiences were merely a dream... or nightmare..." Brownish dust crunched against Hit's back and a reddish hue hovered in the air. He inhaled and exhaled the cool air above and relaxed. Finally, he was back in the true dungeon of his new home world.

"Hey, you should be thanking me!" Deadpool stuffed the baggie away and stuck his hands on his hips. "I had to drag you out of that reactor while resisting the urge to take your clothes off! That was super hard you know! ...Well, something sure was..."

Hit sighed in exasperation and raised himself. Thankfully, he still wore his lavender trousers and dark boots. "I would have much rather perished than see your revolting face again, worm." Hit's nose twitched, not due to the lingering powder, but in response to a familiar iron-rich scent that drifted from nearby. Turning around, Hit could see that he was currently standing at the end of an immense rocky plaza with the Milano at its centre. Rather than sporting its blue and orange aesthetic, the ship's hull was now covered entirely in a dripping, red liquid.

"You like the new design? Guess where I got all the red paint!"

Hit glanced back at Deadpool and saw that hundreds of red droplets were trickling down his red jumpsuit, together forming a crimson pool under his feet. "Huff... No clue."

"Yeah, I think I'll keep her! She's much better than that stupid vibrator, and I even managed to change the 'auto' teleporter to 'always on' while you were having a little nap! All it took was cutting a few random wires!"

Hit trudged up to Deadpool and crossed one arm over the other. "You do realise that there is a reason why that function is not perpetually operational? You would be transported to a realm between dimensions, at random. ... Also, your modification wouldn't happen to have occurred whilst we were in that higher dimension... WOULD IT?"

Deadpool whistled to the side and gulped. "N-No... A-Anyway, I've been lucky with her so far! There's nothing to worry about! Probably..."

"Hmph... With some luck, you will be stranded somewhere unpleasant for eternity. Now then." Hit narrowed his eyes at Deadpool, forming two glowing red dots. "I want to confirm whether this is truly the end of this madness."

Deadpool scratched his head and looked around the relatively barren tunnel they had been teleported to. "Um... I guess so... It's been pretty quiet here so far. Well, there were some weird blobby, green gremlins, but they blew up when I poured coke on them..."

Hit sighed, noting down the peculiar way to destroy monsters for later scrutiny. "Huff... Without a shadow of a doubt? There are no more surprises lying in wait for me? This journey is now over?"

"Is the pope catholic? ... And making the world safer for paedophiles?

Hit placed his hand on Deadpool's shoulder and grasped it until the bones cracked. "Hmph. I want to... thank... you for putting me through those harrowing events..."

Deadpool blushed and leaned forwards on his heels, giddily. "Oh, f-fuck, i-is it finally happening!? O-Okay, but we're kissing with tongue and making direct eye contact. After that, we're doing the same, only down below. Make sure to pucker up; we don't want clean-up on aisle asshole!"

*SNAP* *SQUELCH*

A bloodied fist exploded into Deadpool's abdomen and shot ribbons of viscera out the other end.

Deadpool gasped, but quickly became disappointed at the reoccurring act. "O-Oh... Huh... Not gonna lie... You really need to spice things up in the bedroom, babe... There's only so many times I can get surprised by a fist shooting through my chest... How about you stick something harder in me next time?"

*SQUELCH*

Hit tightened his hold and glared into Deadpool's wiggling eye slits. A dark cloud swept over his stern face and a cold penetrating voice slithered past his harsh scowl. "We're just getting started."

---

*Drip*

*Drip*

*Drip*

Vermillion droplets dripped down from earthen walls and ceilings, casting ripples cascading across a shallow pool of blood below. Torn, shredded organs and fractured bones lay strewn about, either floating within the gory puddle, or embedded within the surrounding walls. Severed limbs and mangled torsos were skewered on the stalactites above, intermittently falling down with a wet splash.

Hit stood at the centre of this carnage, looking incredibly forlorn. His body, and few remaining articles of clothing, were completely suffused with ichor, which dripped down the man's face like tears of frustration. He was currently glaring at a whirring spaceship, his rounded fists stuffed away in his soaked pockets.

*VROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

The vermillion Milano spacecraft roared and hovered into the air. Its engines growled and birthed a tumultuous storm within the bloody sea below. A grinning mercenary sat in the ship's cockpit, who pressed the intercom switch and spoke in a gleeful tone.

*BEEP*

"Man, we really went to town, huh? I'm a little jealous that you were the only one doing any penetrating though... Mind if I come back from time to time? I'm already missing the feeling of having you inside me!"

Hit narrowed his eyes, making him appear nearly invisible in the sea of red. "The next time you see me will be when I have a means of destroying you. Permanently."

Deadpool giggled and moved his hand over the ship's modified extra-dimensional escape switch. "Don't threaten me with a good time, baby cakes! Ciao!"

*BEEP*

*SHOOOOM*

A flash of light, and the ship was gone, leaving behind only the faint twinkling of dimensional rifts.

Hit groaned, forcefully, and let his tensed body relax. "Ugh... Finally, some peace and quiet. This will be the very the last time I ever interact with a 'Canadian'. Honestly, I am not certain whether I should even use this..." He reached into his right pocket and withdrew a stolen TVA teleporter device, which was now rather sodden.

Hit pressed the buttons, but tutted when the brick remained lifeless. "Tch... It will need some repairs and modifications to even recognise my input... ones that are likely impossible in this world... Oh, well... It is a fitting souvenir." He stuffed his hand away and marched through the river of viscera, back to civilisation.

---

Relief flooded through Hit as he stepped out of the dungeon and into the entry plaza. He inhaled and exhaled deeply, enjoying the afternoon breeze. 'How strange... Is it simply due to my incredibly traumatic experience, or is this city growing on me...' He ignored the two guards retching on either side of him and marched out of the Tower of Babel and into the bustling city. For some reason, the surrounding adventurers were sending him disgusted and horrified glares.

"Again!?"

"This one's even worse!"

"I-Is that an eyeball!?"

"Okay, this time I really am g-gonna bar-" *BLARGH*

"Alright everybody, let's begin the rescue mission!"

There also seemed to be a particularly large gathering of individuals, most of whom Hit could recognise. The party members were all garbed in their adventuring gear and stood in a ring, discussing an imminent expedition of some kind. Serious, perturbed expressions marred their faces, which dissipated into confusion as they turned around to investigate the sudden commotion behind them. As they locked eyes with a blood-encrusted Hit, their jaws crashed open, and their eyes shot out of their sockets.

There, several metres from the exit point, stood the Loki Familia executives and level fives; Bell Cranel and his colleagues; Mama Mia and her maids; and the Takemikazuchi Familia members.

The only individual not frozen in place was Bell Cranel, likely due to his extreme familiarity with Hit's current condition. The boy bounded up to Hit and scrutinized him for any injuries, making sure not to stare into his mentor's especially austere eyes. "M-Mr Hit! We got so worried when Eina didn't report you got back safely! D-Did something go wrong on your way up? Are you hurt? Where did that all b-blood come from!? We should have returned much later than you ha-"

"HIT!" A feminine wail pierced through the silent atmosphere and harsh clacks of heels rang against stone. A distraught Eina Tulle stormed up to Hit and glared directly into his tired eyes. Sparkling tears shot down her reddened orbs and she nearly broke down into hysterics. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW WORRIED WE HAVE BEEN!? I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU IN OVER A WEEK AND I ONLY FIND OUT TODAY THAT YOU'VE BEEN ON AN EXPEDITION!? IF THAT WASN'T ENOUGH, YOU BATTLED AGAINST AN IRREGULAR FLOOR BOSS AND THEN DECIDE TO DISAPPEAR WITHOUT A PARTY FOR HOURS, AND HOURS! WE WERE JUST ABOUT TO SEND A RESCUE PARTY TO FIND YOU! I AM INCREDIBLY-"

"M-Miss Eina!" Bell placed a soothing hand on his advisor's shoulder. The poor woman appeared to be on the verge of fainting due to the hours of stress she had endured. "I-I'm sure that Mr Hit had a good reason for-"

"NO HE DIDN'T!" *SNIFF* Loki barged between the two and ran up to Hit. The little deity smashed her fists against Hit's abdomen and twinkling tears shot down her face. "I-I COULDN'T SENSE YOU FOR HOURS, HIT!... I-I THOUGHT MY PRECIOUS CHILD WAS DEAD! HOW ARE YOU GOING TO MAKE THIS UP TO M-"

Hit looked down at the fiery God, tuning out the cacophony around him. She was so very small and fragile: a far cry from universe-shaking death deity he had obliterated mere hours ago. It was thanks to this small creature that he had experienced so many new emotions and made so many new memories. Hit reflected on the madness of this harrowing day and thought back on his entire second life on this planet. 'Hm... I truly am blessed to have been granted a second chance...' A tiny smile tugged on Hit's lips, and he bent down to draw Bell, Eina, and Loki into a light embrace. "Thank you... All of you."

Finally, Hit was home.

---

Author's Notes

Hope you found this entertaining! This is not, in any way, an indication of my return. As Deadpool said, it was merely a hyper fixation. I had lots of fun making it and the space battle just kept getting bigger and bigger. It's probably all cringy, but I like it.

Deadpool saved the DB multiverse! Although, he was also the one who put it in danger in the first place...

I don't really know anything about Hades/Pluto, so my representation is almost certainly 100% wrong. I just searched for a Marvel death/undead God I could use, since I thought of the zombies first, then needed someone to be the cause. The God also seems to be called Pluto or Hades and is undead upon his demise... As usual, comics are incredibly complex and confusing. Just consider him to be an Olympian death god or one from an alternate timeline.

Hades cannot detect, nor does he exactly comprehend, the version of life force (Ki) that Hit is using. They are fundamentally different beings. Maybe that's incorrect, but that's how this version of Hades is operating here.

Death is almost certainly out of character though. I think she's evil and sways Thanos to enact the worst crimes possible. I prefer her to be a force of the universe. I'll just use the excuse that she's a variant.

I'm pretty sure the Milano doesn't have energy shields, but just consider this as a future variant with extra modifications. The Milano also travels in jumps, rather than relying on pure speed. I realised this towards the end of writing this and there's no way I'm changing it all now. Maybe Hit modified the engines or the time rift space is special somehow...

---

Questions:

Q: They're in space, how is there any sound?

A: Because it's fun. Also, the time rift space can be fought in by Saiyans. It is no normal vacuum.

Q: Why can Deadpool maintain Ki?

A: Hit is obviously doing 99% of the heavy lifting. Also, it's fun for the story.

Q: Did Hit kill trillions of aliens in his space battle!?

A: No, they're empty, primordial worlds.

Q: Why can't Hit use Deadpool's devices or the Milano's lock buttons at first?

A: For this particular plot. Hit being able to use the devices would make for a much shorter story, where Hit steals the transporter and disappears to find the ship, leaving Deadpool stranded here. He would then lose against Hades.

Q: How does Deadpool's jumpsuit remain pristine after Hit pulverises him repeatedly?

A: Insert excuse here.

Q: Deadpool/Hit/Hades are too strong/weak!

A: Please insert query inside your colon: Deadpool will get to it later.

Q: These are AI images! You're a horrible person!

A: I know, I know. I suck. I really wanted to have some pictures, and these looked quite fitting. Someday, I want to be able to produce my own art. For now, I'll just put these here. I'm not making any money off them; they are merely here to add context for the reader.

Q: How does Ki overpower Hades' domain?

A: I'm having Ki operate how it does in DB heroes. If it is greater than an attack/force/hack, then it can overpower/negate it.

---

Hm... I wonder how high Hit scales in Marvel and DC in this state... Probably quite high, but falls short of beings like eternity and Beyonder... Hit's only 4th, maybe 5th dimensional here, which is beaten by the ridiculous characters in comics. Although, he did essentially create a big bang that repopulated an infinite expanse... Conversely, he is being empowered by the DB multiverse, which is temporary. Anyway, it's easy to write characters that are powerful; making the power seem like it's deserved/earned/relevant is the hard part and takes time or a specific plot. I hope I achieved that with this side story special. If not, then oh well. It's just a silly story.

I hope that any who wish Ki to return so early on in my main story see how silly that is now. Uh oh, Hit's up against a sub city-level threat, better whip out the galaxy obliterating, universe creating punch. Have some respect for Dragon Ball's reality shaking characters.

If the argument against that is: Make it a lesser amplification, then what's the point? I can simply do that using the power already there, and in a more meaningful and fun way. If it's an OC or a modified/limited ki system, then fine, but I am not doing that with Hit. Patience is a virtue.

Also, I hope the Black hole journey wasn't too boring. It's obviously very incorrect fiction for how they function. I think they're interesting though. To think, usually all a Dragon Ball character has to do is shout into the void and a portal breaks open.