Game
Thoughts
"Talking"
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Where the hell… am I?
Gray groaned as he pried his eyes open, his head throbbing. His body felt exhausted from using so much energy in the blast, and his eyes were burning from staring into the bright light that came from the beams colliding.
I felt I moved, even if I couldn't see.
Not much time had passed, as just seconds ago, Gray had been shoving all of his strength into his Kokuyo. He'd been forced to squeeze his eyes shut as a massive light formed from the collision, and he was about to go with his backup plan of the two Dragon Balls he'd purchased, but he hadn't gotten the chance. He felt his body move, and as he blinked rapidly, taking in the sight in front of him, he was certainly right.
"That's… not supposed to be there," Gray said dryly, his eyes slightly wide as he stared at the Hero Association Headquarters.
I watched it get destroyed. Hell, the windows shattered right when the fight began.
But, as Gray stared up at the towering building, it didn't look destroyed in the slightest. The windows were intact, the walls were fine, and it was as if multiple bodies had never been thrown through it. In fact, as Gray glanced around, the entire planet around him looked fine. The flowing lava, massive craters, and debris flung all over were gone. Instead, the surface of Harro looked normal. It looked peaceful.
"Oh, hey. You did this?" Gray blinked, glancing to the side as Saitama was casually standing there, the bald man giving him an awkward thumbs-up, "Good job. I couldn't breathe in space, so I thought I was going to die. Close one, haha."
You could act a bit more concerned about almost dying, y'know?!
"Me either, that was a good save." Behind Saitama, with his usual outfit covered in holes and dust, was Blast, "Though, I have a strange feeling right now…"
Well, I know where he and Blast were now.
"No, this wasn't me," Gray shook his head lightly, glancing around the untouched planet with narrowed eyes, "But… this place was definitely destroyed."
"Yup," Saitama agreed unhelpfully, leaving Gray to think on it.
This whole planet was fucked, and now it's perfectly fine? There's definitely some bullshit going on here, but I don't know what…
"I-It was… me… grah…" Gray blinked as a familiar face appeared out of thin air, and Shin was looking far worse than the last time Gray had seen him. He was breathing heavy, clutching at his chest, and stumbled forward with a gasp, before slumping onto all fours next to Gray's legs.
"Whose that?" Saitama asked casually, looking down at Shin, "Nice hair."
To be fair, when you were the baldest man to ever live, everybody had nice hair.
"The fuck happened to you?" Gray raised an eyebrow at the Supreme Kai, who let out a pained cough as blood flew from his mouth, "You said you had a plan, but… what the hell is this?!"
"A-A… different… timeline," Shin groaned, his arms giving out as he abruptly fell onto his stomach, "I-I… no time… explain… too much… ki…"
Shin tilted his head upwards, his eyes shining with fire, as blood flowed from his mouth, "I'm… dead… Saiyan… Listen carefully… I can't say it… twice… I'm leaving… the universe… to…"
"Just eat a bean, you dramatic bastard," Gray sighed, casually tapping in the air next to him, and a Senzu Bean appeared in the air in front of him. He swiped his arm across the air, snatching the Senzu Bean, and then knelt down as he offered it to Shin.
"Y-You… have… more?!" Shin spat out, his eyes wide, but he nodded gratefully as he took the bean. He shoved it into his mouth, and after a moment of chewing, his slumped body became much more energetic.
"Thanks, I thought I was really about to die!" Shin grunted as he pushed himself to his feet, "Using the Kai-Kai technique takes a lot out of me, and using it dozens of times while that explosion was taking place made it even more difficult. Then, it takes even more energy to hop timelines… I should be dead right now…"
Gray blinked, holding up his hand as Shin finished, "Wait, wait, we're not just going to brush past that. You said 'hop timelines?' And that this is a different timeline? The fuck are you talkin' about?"
"This," Shin started, gesturing around them at the untouched Harro, "Is not the same Harro that you were just in. The situation became too dire, and, to my own shame, I valued my own life. As the Supreme Kai, I should've died with that universe, as it is my responsibility to protect it, but…"
Shin's eyes squinted for a moment, "I… didn't want to die. I still have many things I need to do before I can die… I'm a shame to all Supreme Kai… even then, without that bean, I would've failed to protect my own life like a coward…"
"Uh… It's alright, man," Gray said dryly, patting Shin's shoulder as he stared at his feet, looking very depressed, "But, more importantly, tell me what the hell you did!"
He can be depressed later! I need to know what the hell happened!
"I told you," Shin shot back, looking at Gray as if it was obvious, "I hopped timelines, and I took you with me."
Oh, yeah, just a casual hopping of timelines! I'm the dumbass for not understanding something that simple!
"Explain more," Gray deadpanned, "You can't just say that and expect me to understand!"
The original series had time travel, but it was confusing as hell, and didn't even make sense most of the time.
"R-Right, you're a mortal," Shin nodded quickly, and he started to explain, "First, allow me to introduce myself! Saiyan Gray, I am Shin, the Supreme Kai of Universe 7! I know you already know of the North Kai, King Kai, so think of me as his boss. I'm, in a sense, the god of Universe 7, and the one who protects it!"
Shin finished his introduction by puffing out his chest, looking very prideful in his position. In response, Gray just looked at him dryly.
He's acting all prideful after letting Boros blow everything the fuck up! Protector of Universe 7 my ass!
"The 'god of the universe' couldn't stop an alien? You were doing even worse against him than I was," Gray deadpanned, causing Shin to stiffen as he seemed to get self-conscious.
Actually, how strong is he anyway? Observe.
[Dutiful] Shin:
[Supreme Kai]
Age: 22 Million
PL: 229.2 Trillion
HP: 2,205,095,995/2,205,095,995
TKI: 4,582,110,000/4,582,110,000
TMP: 122,790/122,790
Reputation: 500/1000 (Liked)
[Dutiful Modifier] - Individuals with this modifier will be naturally dutiful, caring immensely for aspects they believe they are responsible for.
Not bad, but… I'm about as strong as the fuckin' Supreme Kai?!
Gray was happy to get that information, but also surprised. He'd done a lot of things that went far above his pay grade as a recruit, but he was still a S-Class Saiyan Recruit at the end of the day. He figured that there were various Frieza Force members who still outpowered him, not to mention Frieza himself and his family.
Granted, the Supreme Kai is on the weaker side as far as Buu-arc characters go. With how insane Frieza's natural growth rate is, if he's also fitting the 'stronger and smarter' modifier, then he's still not someone I can defeat easily just because I'm as strong as Shin. For all I know, he could be walking around as fuckin' Golden Frieza right now.
"T-That alien shouldn't have been that powerful! He was receiving outside help! A god from another universe was assisting him!" Shin huffed defensively, and Gray's eyes widened slightly.
Wait, so that 'god' guy wasn't just some random fucker? He's a god from another universe?
Gray didn't know what exactly that entailed, but considering that most 'gods' in this world tended to be Gods of Destruction, he suddenly felt a lot worse about starting beef with the brain-invading and faceless voice.
Still gonna kill him. I don't give a fuck if he's a Kai, or a God of Destruction, or Zeno himself. That bastard stopped me from getting my revenge on Boros, so I'm gonna smack the life outta him!
Unfortunately, Gray didn't even know who this 'god' was, so the 'smack the life outta him' part would have to wait a while.
"But, enough of that! The timeline hopping!" Shin pulled him out of his thoughts as he started to explain, "Essentially, there are multiple timelines. It's against the multiversal rules to create a new one, and those who do will be killed by Lord Zeno - the creator of the entire multiverse - for doing so. Imagine the world that you know, every planet you've been to, every person you know, and even yourself - another timeline has all of that, but it split off at some point."
Yeah, I can understand that much. It's like Future Trunk's timeline.
In the original series, Trunks had gone back in time to try and prevent Android 17 and 18 from pretty much destroying Earth. In that timeline, Goku and all the Z-Fighters had existed, along with Frieza, King Kai, and every other being in the series. It was essentially an exact copy of the shown Dragon Ball world, but one where, without Trunk's warning, Goku had died from a heart virus and never defeated the androids.
So, this is the same thing? A different world, but also the same?
Shin raised his hand, holding it flat and pointing it straight upward, "Imagine my hand is the first timeline, known as the 'base timeline.' When something happened to create another timeline, it split off."
Shin raised his other hand and then dragged it away from his first one, "A second timeline is created, which was completely identical to the first one, up until the event that split it occurred. That timeline can then be split again to create a web of timelines. It is said that long ago, there were thousands of timelines, but Lord Zeno erased them and left only a small number standing. The timeline we just came from was very likely not the original one, but it's the one that I am the Supreme Kai of, so it's the only one I know. In the same vein, it's the one you were a part of, so it's the only one you would know of."
I get it. Different timeline, where the world is exactly the same, but something caused it to split off. It's like a 'what-if' - a world where Goku lost to Frieza, or where Frieza became immortal, or some shit. Something major changed, and as a result, a new timeline formed.
"Right, so… since everything was going to shit, you just took us to another timeline?" Gray asked a bit doubtfully, "You can just do that?"
I know there's stuff like time machines and time rings, but they don't just let you jump universes whenever you want. They create a new one unless you're headed back to one that was already formed.
"Exactly," Shin nodded as if it was obvious, then held up his finger, which had a singular silver ring on it, "This is a 'time ring,' which only the Supreme Kai has access to. It allows me to move between timelines freely without risk of creating another one. Essentially, it suppresses the Divinity used in moving between timelines. I used this to take you, and all the others, to this timeline. I had concerns that I would die in the process, so taking you with me was necessary, but now that you gave me that bean… no offense, but I would've preferred to leave you there."
Gray could at least appreciate the honesty, even if Shin was essentially saying that in an optimal situation, he would've left Gray to die.
"But, time rings don't work like that," Gray muttered, speaking a bit too loudly as Shin gave him a confused look, and he had to elaborate, "Ah, I mean, I would assume that something like that would just let you move through your own timeline without creating a new one. Just a guess, though, y'know?"
That's how they worked in the original series, anyway. You could just go back in time without creating a new timeline, but you couldn't jump around between timelines.
"You assumed that through a guess? You might be a genius as far as Saiyans go…" Shin muttered, but nodded at Gray's words, "Long ago, they did function that way, but they've been greatly improved over time."
Improved? Looks like I need to start taking this 'smarter and stronger' concept more seriously.
Gray nodded lightly, understanding what he meant. If Frieza could be smart enough to actually train, then it wasn't out of the question for the Kai's to be smarter and improve the time rings.
Though King Kai definitely didn't seem all that bright. Does it only affect certain people? Or is he just still dumb, even with the IQ boost?
"So, you're gonna train me here and teach me some badass techniques, then we'll go back and kick his ass? How does time work while we're gone? My squad's still there, so we can't take too long," Gray hummed, feeling like this was the natural progression of events.
Shin had pulled him to another timeline, leaving behind the universal threat that couldn't be defeated, so a training montage was the next reasonable step. He'd learn some techniques, train with someone near his level, then go back to finally kill Boros, and then set his sights on the 'god' being.
"There is no going back. Not for now, at least," Shin muttered, shaking his head at his words, "That timeline, at least for Universe 7, is doomed. That explosion would've destroyed most of the universe, if not all of it. The only way to reverse such damage would be with the Super Dragon Balls, but after such a failure, Lord Zeno would never let me use them… He's likely erased the entire universe, and that alien with it."
Gray's eyes widened as Shin spoke, then he stepped forward, abruptly grabbing Shin by the front of his shirt and yanking him up into the air, "What the hell do you mean the universe was destroyed?! What happened to that fuckin' plan of yours?!"
My whole squad's there! I'm glad I'm alive and all, but if they were erased like he said, then there's no amount of Dragon Ball fuckery to save them! And, he said that Otherworld was a separate thing when I said told him to bring Boros there, so Raphtalia and Ochaco should be fine. I'll need to go back for them, though. They're probably freaking out being stuck alone on King Kai's planet.
"T-This was it!" Shin said defensively, reaching up and grabbing at Gray's grip, "Be grateful I even brought you with me, Saiyan!"
"You already told me you wished you didn't," Gray hissed, and then leaned forward, his eyes boring into Shins, "Look, I don't give a fuck if you're the Supreme Kai or not. You just left my entire squad to fucking die in there! If you hadn't brought me here, I could've at least-"
Just as Gray was about to rant about how he could've tried using the Dragon Balls in his pants, Shin raised his hand in a placating manner and interrupted.
"I-I didn't leave them! They're here! They're here with us!"
Huh?
Gray blinked, his eyes widening again as he thought about it.
Right, I didn't get any notifications about anyone dying! That means…
"Where are they?" Gray asked bluntly, narrowing his eyes at Shin in a threatening way.
"T-They're here! I was struggling to get you three while being so close to the blast radius, but Kibito was getting your friends!" Shin quickly explained, a bead of sweat dripping down his neck at Gray's intense stare, "T-They were in spacepods when they hopped, so they would've appeared in space. Kibito probably brought them to one of the nearby planets, and is resting before bringing them here!"
Gray stared hard at Shin for another moment, and then sighed, and lowered him down onto his feet, "Fuck. Thanks, then."
I was pissed that he prevented me from doing the only thing I thought could save us all, but in reality, he did save us. But…
"Why'd you even show up in the first place?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow at Shin.
"I was watching over the galaxy you were fighting in, because I was researching why two other timelines had been created recently," Shin continued, his face becoming deathly serious, "You don't realize it now, Saiyan, but creating timelines is not something simple anymore. The amount of Divinity needed has to exceed what the Angel watching over the timestrings can suppress - essentially, it's a multiverse-impacting amount. For us Kai, we consider that to mean that whichever being created the new timeline is a threat to the Multiverse, and to our timeline. I was born with a special ability, which is why I was chosen to become the Supreme Kai among the Glind. My eyes-"
Shin pointed at his eyes as they glowed lightly, "Allow me to see someone's potential, and thus, defeat any potential threats before they appear. However, I can't believe that not only you escaped my eyes, but also those others as well…"
See someone's potential? That's what Celia can do too, right?
Celia had told him as much long ago, way back during his first meeting with King Vegeta, as the main reason she even took note of him was because he had 'no potential.' As in, not just low potential, but literally none, which shouldn't have been possible.
She shares an ability with the Supreme Kai? I don't know if I should be excited or scared about that…
"It's not an exact concept, but us Kai consider the creation of a timeline to mean the dooming of the one that it was split off from," Shin continued, ignorant of Gray's concerns, "It's akin to a safety check - to protect the original timeline, when an event takes place that will cause its destruction, a new timeline is created instead. A new timeline to continue the existence of the multiverse as the original takes on the burden of being destroyed, and which is usually destroyed immediately by Lord Zeno… one of the Lord Zenos, at least… even I don't fully understand the scope of time travel…"
Gray looked at Shin dryly as the man who took him to new timeline, and who was literally the Supreme Kai, didn't fully understand what he was doing.
This definitely isn't how time travel worked in the original series. Fuck, I hate when things I don't have prior knowledge about spring up.
Which, to be fair, was a lot in this world - Gray's knowledge about Earth had been completely fucked over from the get-go, and even his knowledge of the universe was disrupted as Planet Vegeta still existed.
"Wait, so a new one was created because of something in that galaxy?" Gray raised an eyebrow at Shin.
Did I do something? Or, was it that 'god' fucker?
"Yes. A few months ago, one appeared without seemingly any cause. At the time, there was a small amount of Divinity on Planet Vegeta, but I couldn't freely inspect a planet that's so firmly under Frieza's thumb," Shin muttered, "Then, there was another one - one caused by you, when you dodged an attack from the other Saiyan in front of the Tree of Might."
One on Planet Vegeta… a few months ago? You mean, around the time I arrived? Then, again, when I was fighting Turles?
Gray's eyes widened slightly, the dots connecting in his head. Divinity caused new timelines to split off, and around the time he had arrived in this world, a new timeline had formed?
And, he said Zeno usually destroys the original timeline when one splits off. That means the one I was in should've been erased when a new one appeared, and that all the timelines that existed before I was brought to this world should've been destroyed too. But they weren't… because that smarter-Zeno didn't exist to do it.
Gray felt like he was suddenly understanding the universe more as it all came together.
It's not a coincidence that a new one appeared when I did. The original timeline. The timeline without me, and without all the fucked-up shit Nightmare Mode brings. There's a timeline that's normal.
Gray's mind whirled as he thought about it - there was a normal timeline, where Planet Vegeta was destroyed, and where Goku lived on Earth. Where he died to Raditz, trained with King Kai, and then eventually became a Super Saiyan against Frieza. There was a normal timeline, and in that normal timeline, there was no smarter-Zeno to destroy the timeline that Gray's appearance had created, or to destroy the normal timelines that had been created before his appearance. There was just a normal, child-like Zeno, who probably didn't even know time travel existed.
Then, another one when I dodged Turles? I remember what happened, but…
Gray could immediately assume the situation Shin was referring to - when he had instinctively dodged Turles' Kill Driver at the last second. When he thought he was dead, but had suddenly dodged it - and, in return, there had been no skill gained, or any input from the system at all.
I wasn't sure what it was. Obviously, I had hoped I instinctively used Ultra Instinct to not die, but I doubted it. Now, though, if he's saying all this shit about 'Divinity…'
Gray grunted, pushing all the thoughts aside with a slight shake of his head.
Fuck, this is all so confusing. This is why time travel fuckin' sucks! There's too much bullshit that comes with it!
But Gray was now in a different timeline, so there wasn't anything he could do about it. Now, he knew he just needed to adapt to the situation, just as he had always done, to figure out both the best course for himself and for his squad.
"So, what timeline are we in now, then?" Gray asked, raising an eyebrow at Shin.
It would be nice if it were a normal one, with none of this Nightmare Mode bullshit tossed in, but it can't be. We're still on Harro, and in those timelines, I doubt this planet even exists.
"Moving between timelines takes a lot of energy, so I picked the one closest to that one," Shin answered, "The one that split off when you dodged that Saiyan's attack. If I had to guess, it split off because you dodged - you're existence past that point meant that the timeline was doomed, and that came to fruition, at least for Universe 7, soon after.. Essentially, this is a timeline where you died to that Saiyan."
One where I died to Turles? If I had died there, then what the hell would've happened to everyone else?
Gray had a few dark thoughts, but he didn't want to voice them. If he died to Turles, then he would've never purchased the Dragon Balls, and he would've never teleported his entire squad to King Kai's planet. He would've never saved them from the situation on Monas, and he could pretty easily assume what happened next.
Here, everyone died. Well, maybe not him.
Gray glanced over at Saitama, who was idly chatting with Blast as he seemed far too relaxed about the planet under his feet suddenly being completely repaired. If Gray died against Turles, then he assumed that Boros and Orochi would've killed everyone else on Monas - his entire squad, the rest of the heroes, and everyone except, maybe, Saitama.
He was the only one still fighting when I was knocked out back then. Does that mean there are two…
Gray didn't even finish the thought, as the idea of two Saitamas running around was one that didn't fill him with confidence.
At least I don't have to deal with double. It'd be annoying if there was another one of me here, or another Caulifla or something. Though I definitely wouldn't mind another Asia…
Gray shoved away the thought of two giga-thick, adorable blonde women and focused back on the situation at hand.
"What the hell do I do now?" He hummed.
If this timeline is exactly how the other one was before I went to King Kai's planet, then that's not actually a bad thing. I can slip right in where this timeline's me died, and take his place. I can complete the mission, not let everything get blown the hell up, and then go back to Planet Vegeta like nothin' happened.
If Gray from this timeline, as well as his whole squad, had died, then he could just replace them. King Vegeta wouldn't know the difference, and with how much stronger Gray had gotten from spamming Zenkai Boosts-
I can kill that fucker immediately. I'm over this shit, I don't need a good fight right now. I'll put a bullet through his brain before he even takes off his armor, and then he won't have a chance to be enhanced by 'god.'
Gray's face steeled as he came to that conclusion.
You fucked me up in that timeline, but it's different here. I'll kill you, Boros.
And, the best part of it all?
When you die, my shame will die with it.
Gray had been beaten, humiliated, and forced to flee at Boros' hand - but that wasn't this Boros. That Boros died in another timeline, and now, no one would be any the wiser. Aside from Gray's own squad, and Gray himself, no one knew that he had lost.
It's almost like I'm getting a second chance. I won't waste it. This time, Boros…
He glanced up into the sky, his eyes narrowing in the direction of Monas, even as it was too far for him to see its outline.
You're fuckin' dead. I'll one-shot your ass.
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Gray Tanaki:
[Saiyan S-Class Squad Captain]
Age: 18
Wallet: 65,280,150 Coins
Lvl: 29 (9,043,910/27,500,000 XP)
PL: 240.8 Trillion
Available Points: 150
HP: 3,905,045,545/3,905,045,545
TKI: 3,941,705,100/3,941,705,100
TMP: 59,650/59,650
STR: 60277
AGI: 61676
END: 64785
INT: 58700
CHA: 55945
LUK: 54795
KI: 67150
MP: 59650
HREG: 55000
EREG: 54750
Skills: [Observe LVL 107], [Running LVL 124], [Determination LVL 104], [Ki Control LVL 105], [Ki Gun LVL 105]. [Ki Enhancement LVL 112], [KI Suppression LVL 102], [Ki Sense LVL 105], [Pushup LVL 112], [Punch LVL 123], [Kick LVL 122], [Jump LVL 125], [Flight LVL 140], [Prediction LVL 120], [Zenkai Boost LVL 77], [Cognitive Acceleration LVL 115], [Ah! Lord Freiza! LVL 100], [Mouth-Beam LVL 103], [Ki-Blade LVL 103], [Cooking LVL 80], [Ki Barrage LVL 105], [Ki Explosion LVL 105], [Ki Vision LVL 92], [Attack Boost LVL 126], [Swimming LVL 81], [Clothes Materialization LVL 88], [Seal of Weakening LVL 105], [Portal Creation LVL 115], [Lie Detection LVL 85], [Reflect LVL 115], [Instant-Transmission LVL 97], [Healing LVL 98], [Multi-Form LVL 87], [Gigantification LVL 80], [Tracking MP Blast LVL 85], [MP Conversion LVL 112], [Tracking Ki Blast LVL 80], [Kaio-Ken LVL 64]
Perks: [Gamer's Mind], [Gamer's Body], [Double-edged Sword], [Legendary Super Saiyan], [Perfect Ozaru], [A Cute Pawn], [A Humble Master],[Ladies Man]
Fighting Styles: [Boxing Style: Kolra LVL 5], [Fighting Style: Broly LVL 7], [Martial Arts Style: Garou LVL 2]
Party: [Tamari, Fubuki, Tatsumaki, Celia]
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AN: Thank you for reading! The next chapter will be posted in around a week!
You can also read the next 20 chapters right now on Patreon.com/Koyon !