"Oh my God…" Chi-Chi and Jean commented simultaneously, their jaws slack in shock.
"Did he just…." Bulma couldn't finish her sentence, a shiver of pure horror taking over her.
"Their fight barely lasted five minutes.." Piccolo mentioned in shock.
The gray warrior appeared in front of Top, Dyspo, and Casserale. He looked as if all of the energy was drained from his body.
"Jiren!" The large armed man yelled. The other warriors were extremely concerned. Jiren could normally last through battles that lasted for weeks with minimal rest. What happened in that battle to exhaust him like this?
"Are you alright?" Belmod questioned, his brow raised in slight curiosity.
Jiren sat up slowly, coughing as he did so. His muscles ache worse than they have in years. However, the warrior shrugged it off the best he could, not wanting to appear weak in front of his peers.
"I'll be fine.." The gray warrior took a seat in the bleachers. His eyes never left the platform where Sinthe stood.
The Announcer waved his hands in excitement. "Woah! Beings of the Cosmos, we have the second contestant of the final round! Sinthe of the Twelfth Universe!"
Sparse applause was given for the warrior. Most of the noise came from Abi, the contestant's partner. The other spectators were in shock and awe. None of them have witnessed an invisible battle before.
The short man with a microphone glanced around the arena. He was used to stadiums blowing out his eardrums because they were so loud. The crowd at this event were acting like this was a funeral or something. Looking towards the square floor, the announcer observed that it was torn to shreds after the last battle.
"Uh…." The man glanced around. "We will need to take a short recess..."
The Grand Minister picked up on The Announcer's words, also noticing the arena wasn't fit for a battle. Getting right to action, the Angel lept from his position, falling several stories onto the floor below. The High Priest raised his arms, a greenish blue light emanated from them. Within minutes, the arena was fit for battle once more.
"Here it is everyone!" The announcer hollered across the Null Realm. "The moment we've been waiting for!"
The entire dimension was a buzz for the final round of this Tournament. A tension was in the air that made it extremely uncomfortable. Several of the Universes witnessed the first Tournament of Power. The epic battle between Universe Seven and Jiren was one for the record books. After witnessing the short round between Sinthe and the gray warrior, the audience is trying to wrap their head around just how strong this opponent is.
Now, with Jiren out of the competition, everyone looks to see if Goku will rise up and claim the top prize.
"Contestant Goku, please join us on the platform!" The short man with a microphone yelled. "The Final Round of the Tournament of Power is about to commence!"
The Saiyan in the orange gi slowly stepped out of the waiting area. As he made his way to the platform, the warrior could hear the cheers of his family and friends. Goku smiled, waving in their direction. Everything he did was for them, and the Saiyan wasn't about to let them down.
Once he was on the platform, the warrior began to stretch. This caught the attention of the other contestant on the arena floor.
"So, you're the infamous warrior that I've been hearing so much about." The pale warrior stood with his arms crossed, his guard completely up. "Ever since Giin and Martinu returned from witnessing the first Tournament of Power."
"Huh." The spiky haired warrior chuckled. However, there was no humor to his tone. "It's nice to know that word of my strength is spanning across the Multiverse."
"Hn." Sinthe gave a small nod. "I'm curious to see what your powers are like for myself. I've been waiting for this moment for some time."
"I could say the same thing." Goku continued to stretch. "Jiren's mentioned you… Something about a prophecy." The warrior shrugged, acting nonchalant. "Not the first time someone's came looking for me for that reason." The Saiyan gave a half-smile, reminiscing the first time he met Whis and Lord Beerus. "The Destroyer of our Universe came to my home planet, looking for a fighter he saw in a vision. A Super Saiyan God. I was able to tap into that power and spar with Lord Beerus. We fought so hard that he ended up taking a nap." Goku laughed, thinking back to that moment.
"You're supposed to be fighting him, not making small talk, you idiot!" The Destroyer of the Seventh screamed.
"Uh.." The Announcer rubbed the back of his head. Most of the contestants, if they weren't from the same Universe, just stared at each other and waited for him to yell 'begin!'. This was the first time they chose to converse. However, it didn't seem like a joyous conversation.
"Are the fighter's ready?"
"Heck yeah!" Goku yelled happily, while Sinthe gave a small nod. The pale warrior looked bored.
Immediately, the Saiyan transformed. His hair turned a stunning blue, as did his eyes.
This piqued Sinthe's interest. He raised his brow, even cracked a small half-smile. The pale warrior didn't know the being could transform. Perhaps he would be more formidable than he thought initially. "Hm, that's a neat little trick."
"I've got a few up my sleeve." Goku chuckled as he got into his fighting stance.
"BEGIN!"
Sinthe took the opportunity and made the first move. He was in front of the spiky haired warrior before he knew what hit him. The contestant from Universe Twelve delivered a crushing blow to his side.
The kick sent Goku flying. His body didn't recover like normal. The blow severely drained the warrior's energy. He grunted in pain, doubling over.
His opponent wasn't going to let him off the hook, delivering three more blows while the Saiyan wasn't looking. These sent him across the stone floor. Goku rolled, his body acting like dead weight. He nearly fell off of the platform.
"DADA NOOOO" The little warrior cried out. Tarro screamed as he reached towards the arena.
Ellery had to hold her son back, pulling him close. "He's going to be alright sweetie. Your Daddy is a strong warrior. Don't give up on him just yet."
"YOU CAN DO THIS, KAKAROT!" The Saiyan woman yelled, encouraging her partner.
Goku stood back up, hearing the cries of his family. The warrior spit the blood out of his mouth that began to pool. Looking towards his opponent, he realized that he was already drained. With each of Sinthe's punches, it was like Goku's energy was being thrown out of his body. Was the pale warrior absorbing it?
"I'm surprised you got back up." The pale warrior commented. He was honestly shocked when his first punch didn't knock him out of the ring.
"Man, they weren't joking when they said you were strong." The Saiyan laughed.
"I wish I could say the same." Sinthe raised a brow, not seeing how this competitor got into the competition in the first place. This was the man that dealt with Jiren? This plain mortal was able to befriend the most powerful beings in the Cosmos, the Omni Kings? The pale warrior found all of this very hard to believe.
"Yeah, you kinda caught me off guard." Goku coughed as he continued to chuckle spitting once again. Man… I was hoping it wouldn't come to this. His blows are taking everything out of me. If I have any chance of winning, I'm gonna have to use it… He thought to himself.
"That tends to happen a lot." The Saiyan warrior rubbed the back of his head as he chuckled.
"You're a strange man.." Sinthe glanced at the warrior, confused.
"So I've been told." Goku used his right hand to stretch his neck back and forth, causing it to pop. Closing his eyes, the spiky haired warrior took a deep breath. His mind was cluttered with thoughts, and he needed them to clear out as soon as possible.
"Are you just gonna stand there?" The pale man questioned, getting a little irritated at the competitors's demeanor. "I thought we were supposed to be fighting?"
The Saiyan took a deep breath, his eyes remaining shut. "You wanted to see just how strong I am, right? Well that kind of power up takes time."
Sithe rolled his eyes, growing even more frustrated with the competitor in front of him. The pale warrior has never needed a transformation. His own strength has always been enough. Countless enemies have used this same technique to no avail. However, Sinthe was curious about this specific change. If the warrior was tapping into Ultra Instinct, then perhaps it'd be a decent fight afterall.
It took Goku several moments to clear his head. When it finally happened the Saiyan opened his eyes, revealing his bright silver irises.
"HAAAAAAAAA!" The warrior sceamed as he powered up the rest of the way, his hair turning the same color as his eyes.
The pale contestant's brows raised in surprise. He didn't think the man had it in him after the first couple of hits. Getting into his fighting stance once again, Sinthe went for another attack.
This time, Goku was able to dodge him, but just barely.
The Saiyan quickly turned around, attacking for the first time this entire battle. Sinthe flew back, however, he was able to recover rapidly. The pale warrior darted quickly towards Goku. The spiky haired warrior saw it coming, having a blast already prepared.
"KamehamehAAAA!"
Sinthe flew through the energy blast as if it were nothing, landing his own punch right into Goku's somach. The Saiyan doubled over, coughing heavily before he placed two fingers to his forehead. This helped him narrowly avoid another attack.
After the last blow the pale warrior delivered, Goku's body didn't feel the same. It was hard to breathe, and his vision was going in and out of focus.
"How you were able to gain favor with the strongest beings in the Cosmos is beyond me. I guess you're not the strong warrior I was looking for. You're not even fit to use the power of the Gods."
Sinthe gathered a ball of energy. It was glowing bright orange. It disappeared while flying through the air. Once it reached its target, the entire ring began to shake as an explosion occured.
The devestating blow to the ring caused it to collapse on the west side. Dust and debris were thrown into the air, making it imposible to see the arena. Everyone was standing, looking around for the contestants.
"Goku?!"
"I don't see him!"
As the dust began to settle on the battlefield, everyone was looking around the arena. All the Universes were trying to find the orange clad warrior. Sinthe was on the main chunk of stage, the only real part of it that was left. Goku however, was nowhere to be found near the main stage.
"Do you see him?" Zeni was leaning over the railing, doing his best to look for his Saiyan friend.
"I still can't find him!"
The Grand Minister peered around the stage, extending his search to the bleachers. A look of shock appeared on his features. "I think I found him, sires." The Deity nodded towards Universe Seven's area.
All the spectators from Goku's Universe were speechless, witnessing him at the bottom of the bleachers. His battered body materialized there only moments ago.
"Goku lost?!" Zeni yelled, shocked at the results of the Tournament.
"I can't believe it!" Zeno was unable to look away from the stage, the large man standing there with his arms crossed.
"Kakarot!" Ellery yelled, climbing over the people in front of her to get to her partner. The Saiyan woman could feel his energy was depleted. His gi top and weighted top had been ripped to shreads, nothing was left of it. His normally baggy orange pants had been reduced to shorts, with pieces hanging out of his boots.
Armed with a senzu bean, the Saiyan woman quickly placed it in her own mouth, pre-chewing it for the warrior. As soon as she reached him, Goku's partner leaned down and helped administer the magic bean.
From the moment Goku materialized on the platform, Tarro was attempting to escape Gohan's hold. The baby Saiyan yelled as he reached for his father, calling out for him.
"Hey little guy, Dad's gonna be just fine." His oldest brother attempted to soothe him. However, Tarro wasn't having any of it. The little guy wriggled out of Gohan's grasp quickly, flying towards his father.
"Dada!" Flying towards Goku, Tarro landed on his chest.
It took a few moments for the Saiyan to regain consciousness. The Warrior felt a cold, hard surface below him. Someone was next to him, holding his head in their hands. As he came to, Goku realized it was his partner that was aiding him. He couldn't remember how he got into the bleachers. The last thing the warrior could recollect was their energy blast battle. Did he lose?
Goku winced in pain, his eyes slowly opening. The Saiyan looked around to see his friends and family surrounding him, a worried look on their faces. Seeing his youngest on his chest surprised Goku. The warrior sat up, holding Tarro. He glanced down, noticing both of his weighted gi tops were nowhere to be found. This only happened in cases that Goku used every ounce of his strength in battle. "Man… I can't believe it..."
"You were fantastic out there." Ellery ran her hand along Goku's back, attempting to soothe him. "I've never seen you fight so hard!"
The Saiyan peered over the bleachers, seeing the stage that was now reconstructed. The Grand Minister and Omni Kings were descending towards the champion. However, the warrior's mind continued to swim with thoughts of the fight.
Goku never believed that amount of strength was achievable. The man he just fought was probably stronger than all of the Gods of Destruction, even some angels. His mind was becoming consumed with thoughts of how to obtain that kind of power.