“Way to go, Big Sis,” Pan of Universe 16 said, running up to her counterpart. “You too, Uub! You fought well!”

  “Yeah, I kinda messed up though.” Uub gave a self-deprecating laugh and scratched his shaggy hair. “It shows me how much I still have to learn.”

  “Good work, Pan. Your superior training pulled through. It’s hardly surprising considering who trained you.” Vegito shot Goku a superior look. “It’s a disappointing showing from Universe 16—and your supposed successor, Goku.”

  This digging comment earned little reaction from his fusion component, Goku only smiling in response. “It just shows how much he still needs to improve. Not a bad thing. With some hard work, I bet Uub will be even stronger than you, Vegito.”

  “Hardly. Like some human could ever beat me,” Vegito said, bristling at the comment. “Worry about yourself first. You haven’t even surpassed your Vegeta yet!”

  “Exactly! It makes me super excited for the next Multiverse Tournament!” Goku practically bounced on his feet. “I’m going to train even harder for next time!”

  “Didn’t you hear what I said?” Vegito’s eye twitched. “You’re delusional to think anyone from your universe will ever be a match for me!” His eyes twitched faster as this earned no reaction from Goku.

  “What an arrogant fool,” her mother said, walking up to him.

  “Indeed. He’s carefully ignoring his humiliation in his fight against XXI.” I’k’l shook his head. He listened from his hiding spot, a point high above his stadium which gave him a bird’s eye view of everything. With his perfect hearing, it was like he stood right among them. Vegito continued to bicker with Universe 16 and failed to get a rise out of them. Unlike him, they weren’t as thin-skinned.

  “You’re leaving them alone, despite their great sins?” A familiar voice said from behind.

  “No, Mother. I’m biding my time for now—but Justice will come,” I’k’l said, turning to face the being who’d birthed him. In her eyes, he saw both worry for his safety and hope for the Justice he’d bring to the cosmos.

  I’k’l returned his attention to the arena, watching as the fighters showered Pan from Universe 16 with praise for her courage and tenacity. This girl continued to confound him. She was a creature of undeath, a blasphemy against life—yet I’k’l only saw goodness and courage within. Her unnatural nature made in impossible to read her thoughts, but he had eyes. How could anyone have such darkness and light within them? It boggled the mind.

  And then there was her duplicate, the one called Anpan. In her mind, I’k’l only saw chaos. He’d recoiled the moment he’d touched her thoughts. Yet “evil” didn’t describe her at all. Was that because she wasn’t actually a person? The nightmare being disturbed him greatly.

  “It’s best I stay my hand for the time being.” I’k’l gestured to Buu—the real reason he hadn’t acted yet. The two Pans were mere curiosities. The pink demon was the true threat. “His mind is difficult to pierce. I don’t know if he can counteract my magic.” While powerful, his abilities had certain limitations. The current situation had too many unknowns to act recklessly.

  “What do you plan to do?” His mother touched his arm, her already pregnant belly pressing against his chest. Inside gestated his next sibling—another champion to bring Justice. It, however, took centuries for one of her perfect children to develop.

  “Wait. There’s no rush.” Besides a few Vargas, nobody knew he existed—or the terrible power he possessed. I’k’l planned to keep that in his pocket for now.

  But that time would come. I’k’l sensed great danger in the future. One was the Saiyan antagonizing Goku, the bubbling resentment beneath the surface. The champion of Universe 16 seemed to be the perfect hero, a warrior whose strength was unequaled. But inside? The Saiyan warrior was unraveling at the seams. Whether this was because of his irascible personality or his fused nature, I’k’l wasn’t sure. But this bomb would ignite eventually—harming countless people.

  The other was XXI, the mysterious wizard from Universe 5. Like Buu’s, his mind was difficult to read. But he couldn’t hide the insatiable hunger that wanted to devour everything. XXI had consumed all matter in his universe, and he wanted more—never satisfied. Despite I’k’l’s probing, the extent of the wizard’s power remained elusive. Worse, since his defeat, he’d vanished. But his insatiable hunger remained, waiting for the perfect moment to feed.

  So no, I’k’l would wait. The cost of failure was too great. For now, he’d be patient.

  “It’d be best if you left for home.” I’k’l loathed seeing his mother depart—they’d just met. He’d only been born an hour ago. There were so many words remained unsaid—but he couldn’t bear anything happening to her. “If I fail, I want her to fight in my stead—to avenge me.” He pointed at the life growing strong in her belly.

  “You won’t fail.” Despite her worry, his mother’s expression beamed with pride. “You are from a race of perfect beings. You will bring perfect Justice to this universe.”

  Stolen story; please report.

  “I will. Thank you, Mother.” He kissed her on the forehead, hovering above her. I’k’l fought back tears as she departed from him, a sinking feeling telling him they’d never meet again.

  “No—we will meet again.” I’k’l wiped his eyes clean, angry at himself for indulging in such pointless sentimentality. I’k’l swore he’d survive to reunite with his mother and the rest of his family.

  “The next fight is about to begin! Libra from Universe 1 versus Buu from Universe 4!”

  For now, he’d gather further intel. The fused warrior Libra was another unknown he’d need to monitor. Should they become allies? They had similar goals. Yet she was a fusion like Vegito, and something about her made him uneasy.

  “All right, Libra, show me what you can do.” Was she capable of bringing down the great, almighty Buu? I’k’l couldn’t wait to see.

  ---

  “Great, a match with no one to root for,” Pan said wryly.

  “You wound me, Pan!” Buu said, hand over his heart. “Haven’t I become like a father since I’ve started mentoring you?”

  “No,” Mentor? Since when had Pan learned anything from him?

  “Finally, we can see exactly what Libra’s capable of,” her grandfathers said. “She was holding back against Gast again.” During the Majin Crisis, Bra learned how to control Super Saiyan 2. Did Libra have such capabilities?

  “I have become a god, Father, capable of far beyond anything you can understand,” Libra replied. “I must thank you, Uub.”

  “Thanks?” Uub said, frowning.

  “You showed me magic is anything but all-powerful. And Buu will be no different.” Libra leaped into the ring, quickly repaired after the last match. Pan hadn’t much hope it’d survive this next match either. “And you face a god. I will show you how small you are in comparison, Majin Buu.”

  While Buu remained all smiles, Pan detected brittleness behind it. “A god versus a god. Should be an entertaining match.”

  Buu paused as he noticed Anpan hovering behind him. “Are you worried about me, Anpan? Fear not. I’m invincible!”

  “I suppose,” Anpan said after some hesitation. She seemed confused—like her own emotions confused her. But then she smiled, shaking away any lingering doubt. “Make a bloody mess of her! Can you beat her to death with her own arm? That’s always fun!”

  “I’ll make it the bloodiest spectacle of a lifetime!” Buu said, beaming like a proud parent. With a mighty bound, he landed next to his opponent. His expression hardened, and the pair stared each other down. Their contest had already begun—their titanic wills clashing against each other.

  From the sidelines, the other Kais watched with extreme interest, though it wasn’t hard to notice their anxiety. They still weren’t sure what to make of their fused colleague. Only the South Supreme Kai seemed unworried. No, he looked eager for the upcoming contest.

  “Begin!”

  “A chess match won’t be necessary. I’m fine with killing you with my own fists,” Libra said, her eyes locked on her opponent.

  Buu made a dramatic sigh, like the greatest tragedy had just occurred. “I figured as much. You didn’t seem to have the patience for intellectual games.”

  “I’m not interested in any friendly sparring either.” Her aura flared, and she transformed into her angelic Super Saiyan form. “Let’s get down to the killing.”

  Faster than even Buu expected, Libra was on top of him, hand extended. Pan flinched from the intensity of her ki attack, flash-frying Buu in an instant. Pink dust rained from where Buu had been standing.

  “She won already?” Pan stared in utter shock at both Libra’s ruthlessness and power. If this was her next opponent, what chance did she have?

  “So rude! Must you take this so seriously?” Much to Pan’s astonishment, the dust sprang to life, becoming dozens of tiny Buus. They laughed and jeered, amused by Libra’s attempt to destroy them.

  “Tsk. I didn’t gather enough energy,” Libra’s mouth hardened into a frown. Her ki spiked high, stealing any amusement from the tiny Buu clones. She crossed her arms, and they glowed a brilliant gold, harnessing the true power of the divine.

  “Diesirae!” She shot out both arms, and light consumed the whole tournament arena.

  “Whoa!” Pan flew backward from the force of the blast. She formed a protective shield, but it was like using a brittle leaf against a firestorm. She feared utter obliteration, but a protective figure appeared above her, shielding her from the worst.

  As the dust cleared, Pan gasped at who’d come to her aid. He’d used his entire body to cover Pan’s remaining head and arm.

  “Dad!” She caught him as he collapsed, his battered and bloody green figure gasping in pain, his clothes reduced to shreds.

  “You okay?” her father-as-Piccolo spoke in ragged breaths, thinking of his daughter before himself.

  “Me? What about you?!” Pan said, fretting.

  “I’ll survive.” Her father-as-Piccolo said, gathering to his feet after some effort. He turned toward the other combatants. They’d received a similar beating, some only clinging to life.

  “That crazy girl! Is she trying to kill us all?” A battered Vegeta said. He’d also used his body to protect the other Bra, who trembled under her father’s protective bulk.

  “You went too far this time, Bra,” Vegito said, seething with unbridled fury. A shield shimmered around him, protecting the other Pan and his son, Trunks. Pan stared wide-eyed, amazed he’d gathered so much energy so quickly.

  “Maybe we should just go home,” Android 18 said, nursing a broken arm. Her brother seemed little better, wincing in pain as he moved.

  “That was fun!” Anpan said—disheveled but fine.

  “Glad you’re having fun,” Pan said sourly.

  “That was way too close!” Goku sighed in relief. Like Vegito, he’d gathered enough energy to create adequate protection to protect him and both Gotens and Trunks.

  Pan surveyed the scene, seeing the tournament fighters weren’t the only ones hurt. The shield protecting the audience had shattered, and many of the spectators nursing wounds from where they’d gotten thrown aside. It was lucky the audience was so sparse—more people would have gotten hurt. Namekians were running about, healing everyone they could.

  Standing like a lone sentry In the middle of this chaos was Libra. Her eyes scanned around, searching for any remnant of her opponent, unbothered by the damage she’d caused in the process—like an uncaring god.

  “It seems I’ve won.” Libra smirked, satisfied by her victory.

  “What about the people you hurt?” Pan snapped.

  “It was the only way to kill Buu,” Libra said, unconcerned. “The wounds will pass. No one else but Buu died.”

  “Buu from Universe 4 is defeated. Libra from Universe—”

  “Hold it!” a voice said, stopping the announcer.

  “Come on. You’d think after all the dramatic turnarounds, you’d learn not to declare victory so quickly,” Buu said, appearing from nowhere. Unlike the usual jovial Majin creature, this Buu wore a hard frown, his eyes glowing white with fury. An aura of darkness bleed from him in waves, like a leaking dam about to burst. His anger was palpable, making Libra recoil. Playtime had ended.

  “I see what you really are, Libra. The truth is now laid bare.” Buu gestured at the pain Libra had caused in her attempt at a quick victory. “You call me a monster? True enough. I’ve never lied about who I am. Now—how about I show you a devil’s true power, Libra?”

  ///

  Next time!

  Devil Buu! Buu’s true power revealed! Can even reality survive its might?