Divine Metal Keys

Goku sits on the grass of King Kai's planet, drowning in alcohol. He has fallen into a deep depression after the death of his family. Suddenly, Jiren arrives at the planet, his chadlike presence knocking Goku out of his depressive stupor. He is suddenly filled with enlightening thoughts and visions and becomes completely rejuvinated. He sobers up instantly.

"Jiren! Long time, no see. Any news on the Super Dragon Shafts? Have you found the Elder Gods?" Goku asks with a wide grin.

"I haven't found the Elder Gods yet. I think Kthanid may be out of my grasp for now… I need to grow more powerful. Maybe I can wrangle Cthulu, but even he may be beyond my power," Jiren says, "But I have much better news. After the incident with Vegeta, Omni-King Zenozeno wants to clean up some of the universes. But, I managed to use my chadchic powers to change his mind a little bit, and he decided to host a Universal Tournament instead, the Tournament of Power 2. The winning universe will get to survive the destruction, and will get one wish from the Super Dragon Shafts." Goku practically jumps for joy upon hearing this.

"If we get my universe to win, I can easily move the planet Earth into Universe 11 so it will survive the wipe. Then, we can wish to reverse all the damage Vegeta caused," Jiren continues, "It's practically foolproof. As long as you are willing to give up the rest of your universe, of course."

"Yea, I don't really care about anyone off of Earth," Goku says. King Kai cries in the corner. "Except for King Kai. Can you take his planet with you, too?" Goku asks.

"Of course. Such is nothing for a chadlike being like me," Jiren says.

"Oh, and what about the 100-somethin bajillion people that Vegeta killed in Universe 6?"

"Universe 6 will probably lose the tournament and be destroyed along with the rest of the universes. But we can figure that out later. You and your crew managed to save the universes in the first Tournament of Power, so I have faith we can do it again."

"Jiren, that's not very reassuring. That was a fluke, if anything," Goku says nervously.

"Huh…" Jiren says, his face widening in surprise, "...are my chadchic powers rusty? I've never unsuccessfully reassured anyone before..."

"Well, when's it start?" Goku's penis throbs beneath his clothes in anticipation.

"We have one week to gather fighters. You'll need 8. With our universes working together… we will be able to save your family and save our universe."

"We'll be there, Jiren. I love you."

"Hahah, thanks Goku. Haha," Jiren says jovially. He then takes a couple seconds working his cell phone out of his tights, having received a vibration notification. He takes some more seconds reading the message. "I gotta go, Goku," Jiren says, "The, uh… the guys reconstructing my mansion don't know what to do with all the condoms."

"Oh, the condom warehouse?"

"Yeah, the warehouse. I have to go assist them," Jiren levitates upward off the ground, still looking down at his phone, before flying off at incredible speeds- I'm talking zero to 1,000,000,000 times FTL. It creates a shockwave so strong that much of the grass below Jiren is immediately atomized; Goku has to jump in and utilize the Ultimate Super Dragon Claw Defense Spiral to contain the brutal shockwave so that it does not completely destroy King Kais' planet and much of the surrounding afterlife.

"That was uncharacteristically reckless… is Jiren okay?" Goku wonders, breathing a little heavily from the effort.

Some minutes after Jiren leaves, Burger King Gohan teleports onto King Kai's planet, having felt Goku's energy. Goku turns around and is momentarily elated at the sight of a person with the same energy profile of his son.

"Goku… I know what you may be thinking, but I am not your son. I am Burger King Gohan, from the 19th universe, known as Universe Cringe. I need your help," Burger King Gohan says. Goku's face drops, but he is still happy seeing someone who reminds him of his lost son.

"What is it, my estranged son?" Goku asks.

"I need… um… I need your…" BK Gohan's eyes dart repeatedly from Goku to something else. "Who's that?" BK Gohan asks, his attention drawn to a panicking Kai on the horizon. Goku looks, too.

"Oh! That's just King Kai. How are you doing, King Kai?" King Kai does not respond. Goku looks back at BK Gohan. "He's just a little stressed out," Goku laughs nervously.

"Why?"

"I think most of the universes, including ours probably, are about to be destroyed. So he's just freaking out a bit."

"Hey, Goku," BK Gohan says after a small pause, "Want to get Jerry and Reynold's?"

Goku and BK Gohan scarf up pancake after pancake to the astonishment of an underpaid waitress.

"This is delicious!" Goku says elatedly, mouth stuffed with doughy goodness.

"Jerry and Reynold's Interstellar Diner never fails to get the juices flowin'" BK Gohan says in a strange accent.

"Wait, so why did you come to me?" Goku asks, as if suddenly remembering the past 5 minutes.

BK Gohan swallows a mouthful of about 5 pancakes. "I need your help defeating Gohan Blanco. He is far too strong, and has massacred Universe 19 with the power of Divine Meta Ki. He has mastered it. I believe you are the only one with the potential to match him."

"Hm… sadly, I'm a bit preoccupied already. Is there anything I can do that won't involve me directly fighting?"

"Goku, please… I need your help immediately. Gohan Calvo is dying! I beg-"

"Wait!" Goku has a realization, and he crosses his arms and taps his finger on his chin like he is pondering, and said pondering ends in a goofy EUREKA! moment from Goku, "If… if you enter the Tournament of Power and win… You will be given one wish from the Super Dragon Shafts. Perhaps you can wish for Gohan Blanco's death." Burger King Gohan's eyes open wide.

"A… tournament? And if I win… I get a wish, huh?" BK Gohan thinks to himself.

"You'll need a team though. 8 people," Goku says.

"Since all the strong fighters of my universe are dead, I don't think I can find enough people," BK Gohan begins postulating, taking another bite of pancake and chewing it frustratedly, "But, since Zenozeno doesn't know that my universe exists, perhaps I can join your team. Since I am technically your son, I should pass with no issue."

Goku thinks for a moment. He doesn't want to let his estranged son down, but the possibility of resurrecting his family collides with BK Gohan's desires. There is no time to think about it now, though. He has to find the best fighters in the universe, and fast.

"Heheh, how could I just ignore my son like that. Even if you aren't from Universe 7, you're still Gohan in my eyes. Of course you can join!"

Later that day

"Hey, Videl?" Bulma says, knocking gently on the door of a dormitory in the Capsule Corp East City branch. Inside on a messy bed lies Videl, salty stains and damp spots spread like mold throughout the sheets. She quietly sobs- though it's only been an hour since her last fit of howling despair. Bulma was badly wounded in the Capsule Corp explosion, but money and advanced medical equipment has gotten her back on her feet.

"Videl, can I please come in?" Bulma asks sweetly, sending a few more knocks, "I'm really worried about you." Bulma had been crying too; her bloodshot eyes and sharp sniffle every so often made that clear to anyone who might look too close. "I'll… I'll be in the lounge if you want to talk." Bulma stops still, her hand up in a fist as if to keep knocking, then puts her right arm down and begins walking away a few seconds later. She goes through the third-floor hallway, mid-morning sun laying delicately on her skin through the windows. Bulma slumps down on a soft couch in the third-floor lounge and commons. She sighs deeply as her body settles in to the giving cushion. After a half-minute of slumping she sighs again, gruffly this time, and sits up. Bulma moves slowly to a built-in table nearby and puts on a pot of coffee. She sighs for a third, much more gruffly time as the first drops of coffee stream out of the machine and begin filling the pot. Her head falls in her hand as she leans against the table.

"Oh dear… Vegeta…" Bulma begins crying again as her voice shakes, "Why did you do this? How did I never know you were like this…? Why did I give you so many chances?" Bulma becomes lost in her own thoughts. Before long, she's interrupted by a groggy voice.

"Sorry…" Videl's shaky and breaking voice pierces the silence.

"Oh!" Bulma lifts her head up fast; her eyes wide, puffy, and damp as they snap towards Videl, standing a few feet away beside her, the hallway windows framing her dark silhouette. Bulma immediately wraps her arm around Videl and squeezes her tight.

"Bulma… your arm..." Videl says, eyeing Bulma's left arm, amputated at the elbow. Videl's vacant eyes eventually move to Bulma's shoulder and tangled blue hair.

"It's fine… Did you sleep?" Bulma asks tenderly.

"No."

Bulma releases Videl, moving her hand up to grasp her right shoulder.

"Can you come sit with me?" Bulma guides Videl over to a cozy couch, the one she was recently slumping in, and sets her down. Videl picks her legs and feet up off the floor and leans against the arm of the couch, feet and butt on the soft cushion. Her arms are folded and she looks forward at nothing in particular. Bulma sits down in the middle of the couch, just by Videl's feet, and holds her knees in her hand as she sits in the fetal position.

"I think we'll get through this easier if we talk about it. Just us, together," Bulma says. She glances at Videl, seeing the young woman's tired eyes and the purple swollen skin beneath them. She really had been up all night. "Vegeta did horrible things. I knew that… but I was able to forgive him." Bulma pauses for a moment to sniffle. "He was willing to change. It was hard… It was so hard. But I loved him, because I knew…" she sniffles, "...I knew he loved me too."

Videl turns her head up a bit- she begins to pay more attention, finally escaping the awful thoughts plaguing her mind for the first time since the betrayal just a week ago.

"Vegeta showed me that he cared. It may have not looked like it to anyone else… he seemed like a jerk, just a big narcissist. But he showed me he cared," Bulma continues, her voice breaking, "I can't believe it was all a lie!"

"It wasn't a lie," Videl says softly. Bulma looks at her, eyes tearing up. "It was real. I know it was real," Videl insists.

"But… he just went back to his old ways… and he killed so many people…" Bulma says, tears falling down her face, "He hurt me… he almost killed me!"

"He did change. But change is hard. I think Freeza's revival brought back some old, waning fire in his heart… and when she died, his heart began to bend. And then it broke."

"Vegeta…"

"And he…" Videl pulls her knees up to her chest, and her head falls and rests between them. "...he killed Gohan."

The two women stop talking for several moments- the only sounds are the final drips of coffee topping off the pot, and quiet, rhythmic sniffles.

"Was it my fault?" Videl asks quietly.

"What?" Bulma responds.

"I can't stop thinking… that this was all my fault…"

"Videl, no…" Bulma gets closer, putting a hand on Videl's shoulder.

"I'm the one who outfitted the Dragon Dildo with that vibrator… who got you to build the ki-draining field and the restraining arms… who planned it in the first place…"

"Don't say that. It's not your fault. You-"

"I pissed off Vegeta… and if I just didn't… if I swallowed my stupid shitty pride… maybe Gohan would still be alive."

"Videl, I… I can't believe you think that about yourself! It's Vegeta. Vegeta hurt you in the first place. He really hurt us!" Bulma says, tears streaming down her face, "and it's okay to be sad about it. And to be angry about it." Bulma stretches out, setting her bare feet on the carpet, "But we'll move on. We can live without him, and with what he's done. And it's what HE'S done!" Videl lurches forward, wrapping her arms around Bulma's chest. Bulma, surprised for a moment, softens up quickly and leans in to Videl. The two quietly embrace.

"Thanks, Bulma… but I don't believe you," Videl says softly, her face deep in Bulma's chest.

"Want to go for a walk?" Bulma asks softly.

"Yeah," Videl says, "Might clear my head."

After talking to his Universe 19 son, Goku seeks out Whis' advice. The next day, he travels to Beerus' planet.

"Hey, Whis, do you know anything about… uh… divine… metal… keys?" Goku says, thinking hard to remember what Burger King Gohan told him. Whis perks up. He is faced away from Goku, relaxing on a comfortable chair, watching GodTube and drinking some green substance.

"Goku…" Whis turns his head around to lock eyes with the Saiyan, "Who told you about this?" His face is bent into slight concern and confusion.

"My son did. My son from Universe 19," Goku says. Whis gets up from his reclined chair, robeless and wearing a cute skimpy swimsuit. Whis' deceptively small bulge is accentuated by the shiny red bikini bottom.

"Certainly not…" Whis begins to say.

"Burger King Gohan," Goku confirms, "He came to this universe and asked for my help to defeat… uh…"

"No…" Whis' face twists into shock and slight horror, "...Gohan Blanco…"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Gohan Blanco."

"So it is him. Goku..." Whis moves close to Goku, leaning down and grabbing his shoulders, looking into his eyes, "You shouldn't get involved with this. Mettling with Universe Cringe has consequences beyond anything you can understand, and one must be extremely careful when dealing with anything involved. It's where Shaggy came from." Goku's brow furrows.

"Don't tell me what to do with my sons," Goku says angrily.

"This isn't… Burger King Gohan isn't your son. Your son is from Universe 7," Whis says.

"I still need him," Goku says. He powers up to Super Saiyan 5, knocking Whis back slightly. "We need him. To win this tournament." Whis looks down, conflicted.

"Fine. It's true, Burger King Gohan is very powerful… his help would be crucial for you in the Tournament of Power 2," Whis admits, "But please, Goku. Stay clear of Universe Cringe, for me."

"Fine," Goku compromises, and he powers down. He puts two fingers to his forehead, ready to teleport.

"Before you leave, Goku, I need to tell you one more thing," Whis says. Goku pulls his fingers away from his forehead, intrigued. "This… Divine Meta Ki that you asked about. It's a special godly ki, forbidden for most. It can cause great terror and devastation when wielded by the wrong people. As far as I know, it originates from Universe 19, Universe Cringe."

"Can I use this power?" Goku asks.

"No! You must never use Divine Meta Ki. It will corrupt you. But I should at least teach you how to… recognize it." Whis folds his arms and hunches over slightly, worry on his face. He looks at the ground. "It's the exact same color as cum. But it glows brighter, a divine color rarely seen by mortals. It's thick, and heavy, and hot." A memory ignites in Goku's brain, but he can't place it. This description matches something he has seen before.

"Thank you, Whis," Goku says. He readies for instant transmission again.

"Be careful, Goku," Whis says. Goku teleports away.