Chapter 10: Against Majin Buu; Battle for the Multiverse!
The Unified Storm
The enhanced Majin Buu's form swelled to grotesque proportions as reality itself began to buckle under the strain of his tantrum. The creature had made a calculation that was both brilliant and insane: if he couldn't absorb his opponents and couldn't defeat them through conventional combat, he would simply destroy the dimensional convergence point that allowed multiple realities to intersect. The resulting cascade would annihilate not just this timeline, but potentially dozens of others connected through the weakened dimensional barriers.
Odyn's divine warrior state flickered dangerously as he struggled to contain the reality-warping energies. Even with his Arkynorean Ascension granting him power that approached godhood, he was fundamentally one being trying to hold back a force that was drawing from infinite sources. Sweat beaded on his forehead despite the divine nature of his transformation, and his fire-colored eyes showed the first hints of strain.
"Five seconds," Lyra announced, her voice barely audible over the screaming dimensional winds that were beginning to tear at the fabric of existence itself. Her divine consciousness had nearly completed the impossible calculations required for dimensional fission, but even gods needed time to work miracles.
It was in this critical moment that something unexpected happened. Goku, whose empathic nature allowed him to sense the desperation in both Odyn's struggle and Lyra's concentration, made a decision that defied conventional tactical wisdom. Instead of continuing to attack the enhanced Buu from a distance, he powered up to Super Saiyan Three and moved to stand directly beside Odyn.
"I don't fully understand what you're doing," Goku said to the divine warrior, his golden aura blazing alongside Odyn's cosmic radiance, "but I understand fighting to protect what matters. Let me help you hold him."
Odyn's initial instinct was to refuse the assistance. His divine warrior state operated on principles that were fundamentally different from Saiyan transformations, and he couldn't see how Goku's power—however impressive—could complement his own cosmic authority. But then something remarkable occurred. As their auras made contact, Goku's Super Saiyan Three energy didn't try to match or compete with Odyn's divine power. Instead, it flowed around it like water finding channels in stone, filling gaps and reinforcing weak points with an instinctive understanding that defied logical explanation.
"How are you doing that?" Odyn asked with genuine surprise as he felt his divine authority suddenly stabilize and strengthen. The strain that had been threatening to overwhelm him eased as Goku's power provided something he hadn't expected: support rather than competition.
"Doing what?" Goku replied with honest confusion, his focus entirely on the enhanced Buu rather than the mechanics of what was happening. "I'm just fighting alongside you."
That simple statement revealed the profound difference in their approaches. Odyn's divine warrior training had taught him to fight with perfect technique and cosmic authority—to impose his will upon reality through superior understanding and power. Goku's Earth-raised instincts had taught him something equally valuable but fundamentally different: how to fight alongside others, how to complement rather than dominate, how to turn individual strengths into collective power.
Vegeta, watching this interaction with his usual critical eye, felt something twist in his chest that he refused to name as jealousy. His Saiyan pride had always demanded that he fight alone, that he prove himself superior through individual achievement. But watching Kakarot effortlessly synchronize with a divine warrior's cosmic power, he had to acknowledge a truth that burned like acid in his throat: sometimes partnership was stronger than pride.
"If Kakarot can set aside his ego to fight effectively," Vegeta muttered, his voice barely audible, "then I suppose I can do the same."
He powered up to Super Saiyan Two, his electric blue aura crackling with barely contained power as he moved to join Goku and Odyn. Unlike Goku's instinctive synchronization, Vegeta's approach was calculated and deliberate. He positioned himself to create a triangular formation, his tactical mind recognizing that three points of power could create a stable field where two might falter.
The effect was immediate and dramatic. The enhanced Buu's reality-destroying tantrum, which had been steadily overwhelming Odyn's divine containment, suddenly met resistance that made the creature howl with frustrated rage. Three different types of power—divine authority, instinctive harmony, and tactical precision—were working together in a way that created something greater than their sum.
"Two seconds," Lyra announced, her divine calculations reaching their final stages.
But the enhanced Buu was not without resources. Drawing upon absorbed memories from countless timelines, he recognized the danger of allowing his opponents to coordinate effectively. His form split into multiple extensions, each one targeting different members of the assembled warriors in an attempt to break their formation and interrupt Lyra's concentration.
This was when the true nature of the alliance between Arkynoreans and Z-Fighters revealed itself. The remaining Arkynorean siblings didn't need verbal coordination to respond to the threat. Thallion's temporal distortion abilities created pockets of slowed time around the most dangerous extensions, giving defenders precious microseconds to react. Sarai's reality-bending powers reinforced the structural integrity of space itself, preventing the enhanced Buu from simply teleporting past their defenses. Seraphina's tactical genius manifested as perfect positioning, her body always exactly where it needed to be to intercept attacks aimed at vulnerable allies.
But it was the Z-Fighters' response that transformed defense into something approaching art. Piccolo's strategic mind, honed through years of protecting Gohan and Earth itself, allowed him to predict the enhanced Buu's attack patterns three moves ahead. He called out warnings and directions with such precision that warriors who had never fought together before moved like a drill team. Gohan's scholarly intellect combined with his Mystic power to create targeted strikes that disrupted the enhanced Buu's extensions without overcommitting to any single engagement. Even Krillin, whose power level was dwarfed by the cosmic forces at play, found ways to contribute through precise Destructo Disc attacks that severed connections between the main body and its extensions.
The alternate timeline visitors proved their worth as well. Saiyan Chi-Chi's maternal ferocity translated into defensive coverage that kept the more reckless fighters from overextending. Good Raditz's reformed nature allowed him to anticipate villainous tactics before they fully manifested, calling out warnings about deceptive attacks that might have caught others by surprise. Alternate Videl's experience as a Z-Fighter in her own timeline meant she understood how to support Saiyans in combat without getting in their way, providing covering fire and tactical distraction at critical moments.
The Time Patrol members brought their own unique contributions to the coordinated defense. Zero's sealed form, while limiting his raw power, gave him clarity of perception that allowed him to identify weak points in the enhanced Buu's multiversal structure. Scarlett's technical expertise meant her scanner wasn't just gathering data but actively analyzing enemy attack patterns and suggesting optimal countermeasures. Jinjer's reformed villain experience mirrored good Raditz's but with a focus on magical threats, allowing her to identify and interrupt the enhanced Buu's reality-warping techniques before they reached critical mass. Eleryc's half-Kai heritage gave him insight into divine mechanics that helped him coordinate between Lyra's preparations and the fighters' defensive efforts. Aiko's enhanced speed allowed her to serve as a mobile relay, physically carrying messages between separated fighters when telepathic communication was being jammed by dimensional interference.
The twins, Hailfire and Baron, demonstrated why siblings who had trained together for decades could be force multipliers in their own right. Their gold and silver armors weren't just protective gear but resonance amplifiers that allowed them to share sensory information instantaneously. When Hailfire spotted an attack coming from one direction, Baron could react to it from another angle before conscious thought was even required. Their synchronized movements created overlapping fields of coverage that made it nearly impossible for the enhanced Buu's extensions to find gaps in the defense.
"One second," Lyra announced, and in her voice was the weight of multiple realities hanging in the balance.
The enhanced Majin Buu, recognizing that his window of opportunity was closing, made one final desperate gambit. He stopped trying to attack individual fighters and instead compressed all his multiversal power into a single point of reality-destroying energy. The implications were staggering—if he released that much power in an uncontrolled burst, it wouldn't just destroy the fighters or collapse the dimensional convergence. It would create a cascade failure that would unravel causality itself, potentially erasing the concept of existence from multiple timelines simultaneously.
"He's going to detonate himself," Supreme Kai Shin realized with horror, his divine senses perceiving the magnitude of the catastrophe being prepared. "If that much power is released without control, it won't just kill us. It will create a void in the multiverse that could spread like cancer through connected realities."
For one terrible instant, even the coordinated efforts of twenty-one warriors seemed insufficient against the prospect of multiversal annihilation. The enhanced Buu's compressed energy core was building beyond any possible containment, and they were out of time for clever tactics or strategic planning.
But then something happened that would be remembered across multiple timelines for generations to come. The five Arkynorean siblings, whose immunity to absorption had been their defining advantage in this battle, made a decision that transcended tactical calculation. They moved as one, their family bonds allowing instantaneous coordination, and positioned themselves in a pentagonal formation around the enhanced Buu's compressed energy core.
"What are you doing?" Zero shouted, his temporal architect knowledge immediately recognizing the insane risk they were taking. "If you're that close when he detonates—"
"We're Arkynorean," Odyn replied, his divine warrior state blazing even brighter as he understood what his siblings were attempting. "Our existence is foundational to reality itself. If he detonates that close to us, our presence will force his chaotic energy into ordered patterns."
"Or it will kill you all," Vegeta pointed out with brutal honesty.
"Perhaps," Seraphina acknowledged with the calm of someone who had already made peace with necessary sacrifice. "But Lyra needs one more second, and this is how we give it to her."
The enhanced Majin Buu, sensing that something was wrong with his perfect plan for mutual destruction, tried to detonate his energy core immediately. But he had made a critical error in his desperation—he had compressed all his power into a space where five Arkynoreans now stood. The moment his chaotic energy tried to release, it encountered beings whose very existence imposed fundamental rules upon reality.
The result was not the instant annihilation the enhanced Buu had intended. Instead, his reality-destroying energy found itself forced into stable patterns by the Arkynorean presence. Chaos met order at the most fundamental level of existence, and for one eternal instant, the laws of physics themselves hung in the balance.
"Now!" Lyra screamed, her divine consciousness finally completing the impossibly complex calculations required for dimensional fission. Her power, amplified by the sacrifice her siblings were making, reached out across multiple realities and touched the enhanced Majin Buu's multiversal consciousness at its core.
What happened next defied simple description. The enhanced Buu's form, which had been a synthesis of countless incarnations from across infinite timelines, suddenly began to separate. But this wasn't a violent explosion or a simple splitting—it was more like watching a complex knot untie itself in reverse, each strand returning to its original timeline with mathematical precision.
The creature screamed, but his scream was fragmented across dozens of voices as different versions of himself were torn apart and returned to their proper realities. The innocent Fat Buu of the main timeline, the vicious Kid Buu from alternate histories, the reformed Majuub from futures that might yet come to pass—all of them separated and scattered back across the dimensional convergence like pieces of a puzzle returning to their individual boxes.
The energy that had been compressed for mutual destruction, caught between chaos and order by the Arkynorean siblings, suddenly had nowhere to go. With the enhanced Buu's consciousness fragmented, there was no will directing it toward annihilation. The unstable power simply dissipated, bleeding harmlessly across dimensional boundaries as it returned to the timelines from which it had been drawn.
For several heartbeats after the separation was complete, nobody moved. The battlefield, which moments before had been the stage for a conflict that threatened the entire multiverse, was suddenly quiet except for the sound of twenty-one warriors breathing heavily in the aftermath of impossible exertion.
Then, slowly, the five Arkynorean siblings lowered their defensive postures. They were alive, though the strain of standing at ground zero of a reality-warping detonation had taken its toll. Odyn's divine warrior state flickered and faded, returning him to his normal appearance. Seraphina swayed slightly before Thallion steadied her with a brotherly hand. Even Lyra, whose divine nature made her more resilient than her siblings, looked exhausted in a way that suggested she had pushed her cosmic authority to its absolute limits.
"Is it over?" Krillin asked, voicing the question that everyone was thinking but afraid to speak aloud in case the answer was no.
"The enhanced version is gone," Zero confirmed, his scanner showing readings that finally made sense according to conventional physics. "The dimensional fission worked. Each incarnation of Majin Buu has been returned to its proper timeline."
"But what about our timeline?" Gohan asked, looking around for any sign of the Fat Buu that should have remained. "Where's our version?"
As if in answer to his question, a pink form stirred near the entrance to Babidi's ship. The Fat Buu of their timeline, separated from his multiversal enhancements and returned to his original innocent state, sat up groggily and looked around with confusion that was almost childlike.
"Buu... head hurt," the creature complained, his voice carrying none of the malicious intelligence that had characterized his enhanced form. "What happen to Buu?"
Mr. Satan, who had been watching the entire battle from a safe distance, immediately recognized an opportunity for the kind of diplomacy that had saved Earth in the original timeline. He rushed forward with his characteristic bravado covering genuine compassion. "Don't worry, Buu! Your old pal Mr. Satan is here! You just had a bad dream, that's all!"
The simplicity of the approach, after all the cosmic complexity of the battle, was almost jarring. But watching Fat Buu's expression brighten at the sight of a friendly face, the assembled warriors had to acknowledge that sometimes the most powerful force wasn't divine authority or Saiyan strength—it was simple kindness offered without expectation of reward.
"The convergence is stabilizing," Scarlett reported, her scanner finally showing readings that suggested the immediate crisis had passed. "The dimensional rifts are closing naturally now that the enhanced Buu's will isn't holding them open."
"Babidi's ship is powering down as well," Aiko added, her enhanced senses detecting the magical energies that had been fueling the wizard's operations. "Without the enhanced Buu to serve his purposes, he's likely retreating to lick his wounds."
Supreme Kai Shin, who had been maintaining dimensional stability throughout the entire battle at tremendous personal cost, finally allowed himself to collapse. Kibito immediately moved to support him, but the Supreme Kai waved off assistance with exhausted determination. "We survived," he said simply, and in those two words was contained relief, amazement, and gratitude that defied fuller expression.
Vegeta powered down from his Super Saiyan Two form and stood silently for a moment, processing what he had just experienced. Fighting alongside others not as a matter of necessity but as a deliberate tactical choice. Complementing rather than competing. Protecting allies rather than simply seeking personal glory. It went against every instinct his Saiyan pride had developed over decades, and yet the effectiveness of the approach was undeniable.
"That was," he began, then paused as if struggling to find words adequate to the experience. Finally, with obvious reluctance, he admitted, "That was acceptable teamwork."
From Vegeta, this qualified as effusive praise.
Goku, still in his Super Saiyan Three form, grinned with the satisfaction of someone who had just discovered something wonderful. "We should train together more often," he suggested to Odyn, whose normal appearance couldn't quite hide the divine warrior still lurking beneath the surface. "I think we could learn a lot from each other."
"Perhaps," Odyn replied, though a slight smile suggested he wasn't entirely opposed to the idea. "Though I should warn you that Arkynorean training methods are significantly different from what you're probably accustomed to."
"That's what makes it interesting," Goku replied with the enthusiasm of someone who had just been promised a new challenge.
Lyra, having caught her breath enough to speak without her voice causing dimensional tremors, addressed the assembled group with the gratitude of someone who understood how close they had all come to annihilation. "What we accomplished today should have been impossible," she said, her divine perception allowing her to see the full scope of what their coordination had achieved. "Twenty-one warriors from different timelines, different fighting philosophies, different power systems, working together with such precision that we literally rewrote the fate of the multiverse."
"It was not without cost," Seraphina added with her characteristic tactical honesty. "We all pushed ourselves beyond safe limits. Several of us came within seconds of death. And we were lucky that the enhanced Buu's final gambit played into our strengths rather than exposing our weaknesses."
"But we won," Thallion pointed out, his usually serious expression showing hints of relieved joy. "For the first time since our timeline was destroyed, we actually won a fight against this threat."
"More importantly," Sarai added, her reality-bending senses detecting the broader implications of their victory, "we've proven that the enhanced Buu can be defeated. Our timeline fell because we didn't have allies, didn't have coordination, didn't have the complementary strengths that made victory possible. But this timeline does."
The weight of that revelation settled over the group like a warm blanket. They hadn't just survived an impossible threat—they had demonstrated a template for how to defeat it. The knowledge that the enhanced Majin Buu could be separated through dimensional fission, that Arkynorean immunity to absorption could neutralize his primary weapon, that coordinated effort between different fighting styles could overcome seemingly insurmountable power differences—all of this was information that could save other timelines if the threat manifested elsewhere.
"So what happens now?" good Raditz asked, his reformed nature making him think in terms of aftermath and consequences rather than just immediate victory. "We've defeated the enhanced version and returned the individual incarnations to their proper timelines. But Babidi is still alive, the dimensional convergence is still unstable, and we've just revealed the existence of temporal refugees to everyone here."
"Now," Zero said with the authority of someone who had been managing temporal crises for decades, "we deal with the cleanup. Supreme Kai, how long will it take for the dimensional rifts to fully seal?"
"Several hours at least," Shin replied, still recovering from the strain of maintaining reality during the battle. "The convergence was forced open by Babidi's magic and the enhanced Buu's will. With both no longer active, nature will take its course, but the process isn't instantaneous."
"Then we have time for proper introductions and debriefing," Scarlett suggested, ever the professional even in the aftermath of multiversal crisis. "The Time Patrol needs to formally document what happened here, and I suspect the Z-Fighters have questions about temporal refugees, Arkynorean abilities, and what other threats might be lurking in damaged timelines."
"I have questions too," alternate Videl admitted, looking at her counterpart's husband with new appreciation. "Gohan, in my timeline, you never quite recovered your fighting edge after the Cell Games. But watching you here, fighting alongside your father and the others—you're every bit the warrior I always knew you could be."
The main timeline's Gohan smiled with a mixture of pride and humility. "I had good teachers," he replied, glancing at his father and Piccolo. "And good reasons to stay strong."
As the adrenaline of battle faded and the assembled warriors began to relax their combat stances, a new dynamic emerged. The Arkynorean siblings and their cousins were no longer mysterious refugees but proven allies. The Z-Fighters had demonstrated that their reputation across timelines was well-earned. The Time Patrol had shown their organizational competence and tactical flexibility. And the alternate timeline visitors had proven their worth in combat against impossible odds.
But more than just proving individual capabilities, they had discovered something rare and precious—the ability to work together despite differences in origin, philosophy, and power systems. In a multiverse increasingly threatened by convergence events and reality-destroying entities, that ability might prove to be the most powerful weapon of all.
The battle for all realities had been won, but the war to protect the multiverse was just beginning. And for the first time since Timeline Omega-7 collapsed into nothingness, the survivors who had escaped that destruction had reason to hope that other timelines might be saved from the same fate.
The Quiet Months
Integration and Farewell
The days following the defeat of the enhanced Majin Buu brought a strange normalcy to Earth that felt almost surreal after the intensity of multiversal crisis. The dimensional rifts had sealed completely within forty-eight hours, and with them went the immediate threat of reality-collapsing convergence events. But the aftermath left twenty-one warriors standing on a battlefield trying to figure out what came next.
The first order of business was saying goodbye to those who didn't belong in this timeline.
The farewell gathering took place at Capsule Corporation three days after the battle. Bulma, ever the gracious host despite her confusion about alternate timelines and temporal mechanics, had prepared what she called a "proper send-off party" for the visitors who would be returning to their own realities. The atmosphere was bittersweet—celebrating victory while acknowledging that newly formed bonds would soon be severed by dimensional barriers.
Saiyan Chi-Chi stood in the Capsule Corp gardens, her tail swishing with unconscious emotion as she spoke with her alternate timeline counterpart. The contrast between them was striking—one a fierce Saiyan warrior, the other a protective human mother—yet they had found common ground in their shared love for their respective versions of Goku.
"Take care of him," Saiyan Chi-Chi said, her warrior's pride unable to completely hide the emotion in her voice. "I know our timelines diverged before I even met Goku, so your version and mine are completely different people. But watching him fight alongside Odyn, seeing how he instinctively knew how to complement divine authority with Saiyan power—that's the same heart that exists in my timeline's Goku too."
Main timeline Chi-Chi, who had spent three days coming to terms with the existence of a version of herself who was a Z-Fighter rather than a worried wife, nodded with understanding. "Your Goku is lucky to have someone who can fight beside him as an equal," she replied. "Mine is lucky to have someone who reminds him that there's more to life than the next battle."
"Different approaches," Saiyan Chi-Chi acknowledged with a slight smile. "Same goal of keeping him grounded."
Nearby, good Raditz was having a significantly more awkward conversation with his main timeline counterpart's family. The main timeline's Raditz had died years ago as an unredeemed villain, which meant that good Raditz found himself facing the wife and daughter his alternate self had never known existed.
"This is weird," Raunch muttered, looking at the reformed version of her father with mixed emotions. "In our timeline, you actually stuck around and became a hero. Here, the other you was just... gone."
"I know," good Raditz replied quietly, his reformed nature making him acutely aware of the path not taken. "I can't apologize for what my alternate self did because those were his choices, not mine. But I can tell you that redemption is possible, even for those who seem too far gone. If I could change, maybe he could have too, given the chance."
Launch, Raunch's mother, studied the reformed Saiyan with the critical eye of someone who had loved and lost his counterpart. "He was trying to change," she admitted softly. "Right at the end, when Nappa killed him, I think he was finally starting to understand what it meant to care about something beyond power and survival."
The revelation hit good Raditz like a physical blow. "He was killed by Nappa? By his own partner?"
"For showing weakness," Launch confirmed with bitterness that hadn't faded despite years passing. "For suggesting they should retreat rather than fight opponents they couldn't beat."
Good Raditz was silent for a long moment, processing the implications. In his timeline, he had survived that same decision point because his Goku had been strong enough to defeat Vegeta and Nappa before such a choice became necessary. But in this timeline, his alternate self had paid the ultimate price for the first stirrings of conscience.
"Then his death wasn't meaningless," good Raditz finally said, his voice carrying the weight of understanding. "He died choosing loyalty to his brother over loyalty to Saiyan pride. That's a kind of redemption too."
Alternate Videl found herself in conversation with the main timeline's Gohan, discussing the divergence point that had led their timelines down such different paths. In her reality, Gohan had lost his fighting edge after the Cell Games and never quite recovered it, leading to a timeline where she had to step up as Earth's primary defender. In this timeline, Gohan had maintained his strength while also pursuing his scholarly interests, creating a balance that her version had never achieved.
"What made the difference?" she asked with genuine curiosity. "In my timeline, Gohan just... withdrew from fighting. He trained enough to stay relevant, but his heart wasn't in it anymore. Here, you seem to have found a way to be both a scholar and a warrior."
The main timeline's Gohan considered the question carefully. "I think it was Videl," he admitted, glancing at his wife who was across the garden chatting with the Time Patrol members. "She never tried to stop me from fighting, but she also never glorified it. She helped me understand that being a warrior and being a scholar weren't contradictory identities—they were complementary aspects of who I am."
"In my timeline, I probably pushed too hard in the other direction," alternate Videl acknowledged. "I saw Earth needed a defender after Gohan stepped back, so I took up the role. But maybe if I'd encouraged him to maintain his training instead of just accepting his withdrawal..."
"Different choices, different outcomes," Gohan replied philosophically. "Neither timeline is wrong—just different. And your timeline produced a Videl who's strong enough to fight multiversal threats. That's nothing to regret."
While these conversations unfolded in small clusters throughout the gardens, Zero stood with his fellow Time Patrol members and the Arkynorean siblings, discussing the logistics of what would happen after the alternate timeline visitors departed.
"The Supreme Kai of Time has approved our extended stay in this timeline," Zero explained, his sealed form showing signs of relief at the official authorization. "Given the instability caused by recent convergence events and the fact that this timeline served as the focal point for the enhanced Buu's manifestation, we're justified in maintaining a presence here for monitoring purposes."
"How long is 'extended'?" Thallion asked with the practical concern of someone who had been living in temporal hiding for decades.
"Indefinitely," Scarlett replied, consulting her scanner which now displayed official Time Patrol documentation. "This timeline is being classified as a convergence nexus—a reality that has higher-than-normal probability of attracting temporal anomalies. Standard protocol requires permanent monitoring station establishment."
"And you're all comfortable staying here long-term?" Lyra asked, her divine senses detecting some emotional complexity in the Time Patrol members that suggested the decision hadn't been entirely straightforward.
"Comfortable might be too strong a word," Aiko admitted with characteristic honesty. "We've been searching for you seven for over four decades. Now that we've found you, there's a certain sense of... completion. But also uncertainty about what comes next."
"What comes next is life," Odyn said simply, his fire-colored eyes reflecting wisdom earned through loss and survival. "Something we refugees haven't really experienced since our timeline collapsed. We've been existing in a state of perpetual preparation, training for a threat we hoped would never manifest. Now that it has, and we've proven it can be defeated, maybe we can actually live rather than just survive."
"Living on Earth isn't like living in a temporal sanctuary," Seraphina warned with tactical pragmatism. "There are social structures to navigate, economic systems to participate in, cultural norms to learn. We've been warriors and refugees for so long that reintegrating into normal civilization will be a challenge."
"Good thing you'll have help," Bulma interjected, having approached their conversation with the confident stride of someone who had dealt with alien princes, androids, and time travelers before. "I've been thinking about your situation, and I have some proposals for how to make integration smoother."
She pulled out a tablet displaying what appeared to be organizational charts and financial projections. "First, housing. Capsule Corporation has several residential properties that aren't currently in use. I can make them available for you at minimal cost—consider it payment for saving the multiverse."
"That's incredibly generous," Sarai replied, though her reality-bending senses detected there was more to the offer than simple generosity.
"Second," Bulma continued, confirming Sarai's suspicion, "employment and documentation. You'll need legal identities in this timeline, jobs that can explain your presence and provide income, and cover stories that don't involve phrases like 'temporal refugees from a destroyed reality.' I can arrange all of that through Capsule Corporation's various subsidiaries."
"In exchange for what?" Baron asked, his silver armor reflecting the afternoon sun as he voiced the question his twin was also thinking.
"In exchange for consultation services," Bulma replied with a businesswoman's directness. "Your technology is decades ahead of ours in some areas, your understanding of temporal mechanics could revolutionize physics, and your combat capabilities mean you're perfectly positioned to serve as security consultants for the more dangerous projects I'm working on. It's a mutually beneficial arrangement."
"She's right," Hailfire acknowledged, her gold armor gleaming as she exchanged glances with her brother. "We can't just hide in the shadows anymore, but we also can't survive without some kind of infrastructure support. This offers both legitimacy and purpose."
Zero nodded slowly, his Temporal Architect knowledge recognizing the wisdom of the approach. "The Supreme Kai of Time would approve. Integration into the local society provides better cover for our monitoring mission than trying to operate entirely in secret."
"Then it's settled," Bulma declared with satisfaction. "I'll have legal documentation prepared within the week, and housing arranged within two. In the meantime, you're all welcome to stay at Capsule Corp as guests."
As the practical arrangements were being finalized, the moment came for the alternate timeline visitors to depart. The technology required for controlled interdimensional travel was complex, but between the Time Patrol's temporal equipment and the Supreme Kai's divine transportation abilities, they had cobbled together a system that could safely return each visitor to their proper reality.
Saiyan Chi-Chi was the first to prepare for departure. She stood before the assembled group with warrior's dignity, though her tail's movements betrayed emotion that her face wouldn't show. "Thank you for the hospitality," she said formally. "And thank you for showing me that different versions of the same life can be equally valid."
"Visit anytime," main timeline Chi-Chi replied, and meant it despite the strangeness of saying it to herself. "Assuming temporal mechanics allow for that kind of thing."
"They do," Zero confirmed. "Though we strongly discourage casual interdimensional travel. The convergence events are stabilizing, but they're not entirely resolved. Every unnecessary dimensional crossing risks weakening the barriers we're trying to reinforce."
Saiyan Chi-Chi nodded understanding, then stepped into the dimensional portal that would return her to her timeline. The last glimpse the assembled warriors had of her was her Saiyan tail raised in a farewell salute.
Good Raditz's departure was more emotionally complex. He stood before Launch and Raunch, knowing that he represented both what their version of Raditz could have been and a reminder of what they had lost.
"I can't replace him," good Raditz said quietly. "And I won't insult your memory of him by trying. But if either of you ever need help—if there's ever a crisis in your lives that requires a reformed Saiyan's assistance—the Time Patrol can find me."
"Thank you," Launch replied, her voice thick with complicated emotions. "For showing us that our Raditz's final choice to change wasn't foolish or weak. That redemption was possible for him, even if he didn't live long enough to fully achieve it."
Raunch said nothing, but as her alternate father stepped toward his portal, she called out: "Wait." When he turned back, she continued in a rush: "In your timeline—do I become strong? Do I make him proud?"
Good Raditz's smile was genuine and warm. "You become one of the most formidable warriors in our reality. Your father talks about you constantly to anyone who will listen, boring them with stories of your training achievements and tournament victories. So yes, you make him incredibly proud."
Raunch's eyes glistened, but she maintained her composure. "Good. That's... that's good to know."
Good Raditz stepped through his portal, returning to a timeline where his daughter still lived and his redemption had been complete enough to allow a life he'd never imagined possible.
Alternate Videl was the last to depart. She stood before the main timeline's Gohan and Videl, representing a path not taken and a future that would never exist for them.
"Take care of each other," she said simply. "And Gohan—don't lose your edge. The universe has a way of needing warriors exactly when you think you're done fighting."
"I'll remember," main timeline Gohan promised. "And Videl—both of you—thank you for showing us that strength comes in many forms."
Alternate Videl smiled, nodded to both of them, and stepped through the final portal. The dimensional rifts sealed behind her, and suddenly the group was smaller by three warriors but richer by the knowledge that their choices and lives had meaning across multiple realities.
In the silence that followed, broken only by the gentle rustling of Capsule Corp's garden vegetation, the remaining warriors—Time Patrol members, Arkynorean refugees, and main timeline Z-Fighters—looked at each other with new understanding. They were no longer just temporary allies thrown together by crisis. They were going to be neighbors, colleagues, friends.
"So," Goku said with his characteristic ability to cut through complex emotional moments with simple enthusiasm, "who wants to spar? I want to learn more about this Arkynorean Ascension thing Odyn did."
Odyn laughed, the sound carrying genuine amusement rather than the grim determination that had characterized his demeanor during the battle. "You're insatiable, aren't you?"
"Life's too short not to keep getting stronger," Goku replied with a grin that had charmed and exasperated his friends for decades.
"Then let me teach you something about Arkynorean training philosophy," Odyn said, his fire-colored eyes showing anticipation. "But I warn you—it's going to challenge your assumptions about what strength actually means."
As the two warriors headed toward Capsule Corp's training facilities, followed by an intrigued Vegeta who would never admit he was curious about alien training methods, the rest of the group began to disperse. The Time Patrol members needed to establish their official monitoring station. The Arkynorean siblings needed to begin the complex process of legal integration. The Z-Fighters needed to return to their families and explain why they'd been gone for three days saving the multiverse.
But they would all see each other again soon. That was the nature of Earth's defenders—crisis brought them together, but friendship kept them together even during the peaceful intervals.
And for the next several months, there would be peace. Time to heal, time to train, time to build the kind of bonds that would be tested when the next threat emerged.
Time to live rather than just survive.
To be continued in Chapter 11: Finding Home