Vados glanced at the shimmering ward and suddenly smiled. "Ah, I just remembered—I left some of Bulma's cooking unfinished. I'll go polish that off and come back." With a flicker she slipped outside the dome.
"Ken always said, 'When real trouble hits, even lovebirds fly their separate ways,'" Broly snorted. "From now on, you don't step inside this barrier."
Vados had no comeback. It didn't really matter; he'd recover anyway. Ken was condensing the essence of the cosmos, on the verge of shedding his shell and becoming a true angel. Within that cocoon he was immune to harm. Her staying changed nothing.
She covered a yawn, waved to Merus, and said, "I'm heading out. You should go too… At this rate, his metamorphosis will take at least twenty-four years."
"The Grand Priest's Kai test is in thirty years. If Ken needs twenty-four…" Merus wiped his brow.
"That's perfect," Vados said. "You've got time to train Jiren properly."
"No cheating. I'm going to beat Ken fair and square," Merus declared, suddenly fired up. Buu had hit God of Destruction power without him micromanaging—a good pick after all.
"So? Are you staying to wait?" Vados asked.
"No. That's forever. I'm going back to Galactic Patrol," he decided.
"Same thought here—go grind. When Ken returns as a real angel, his angel-power purity will probably start above 50," Vados mused.
"Only fifty? He reached thirty in a year," Merus blinked.
"Different game. That was forcing angelic power into a mortal frame—it was already at the limit. Once he's truly an angel he'll accelerate past you fast. Better train," she said.
Merus managed a rueful smile. Pressure accepted. He turned to Buu: "We're leaving. Come on."
Buu shot him a look, then stared back at Broly.
"Buu?" Merus asked.
"I'm not going. I'm staying with him," Buu said, stubborn as stone.
"Do you know how long twenty-four years is?"
"I'm staying. Not leaving."
Merus: "…"
"There's no food out here," Merus tried. "It's the vacuum of space. Don't you want snacks?"
"Keep yapping and I'll turn you into chocolate," Buu huffed.
Merus's nose stung. So much for his destroyer. He conjured a communicator, tossed it—bonk—off Buu's face.
"…Did you do that on purpose?" Buu glared.
"It's a comm. Call if you need me." Merus became a streak of light and vanished.
Silence. Only Broly and Buu remained. Buu pocketed the comm and drifted closer to the ward. When he got near, Broly's eyes knifed over. Buu froze, whistled at nothing, and pretended he hadn't moved.
He slid one toe through the dome.
Zing.
A green flash erased his foot.
"Buu. Don't test me," Broly said flatly.
Buu regrew the limb, aggrieved. "We're on the same team…"
Broly didn't answer. He stood watch over the starry spray of lights that were knitting themselves back into Ken.
—
Universe 9 — Supreme Kai Realm
After returning, Supreme Kai Roh couldn't stop thinking about "No. 7," the flawless robot beauty he'd seen. Compared to that golden-ratio goddess, the courtesan in his arms felt full of flaws—eyes wrong, lips wrong, everything wrong. When will Universe 3's God of Destruction gift me one of those…
"Supreme Kai—your body…" the woman gasped.
"Sturdy? I am a god," Roh bragged.
"No, it's… turning transparent. Are you…?"
Roh looked down. He was fading. What?
A few seconds later he was all dust and then—gone.
"Supreme Kai? That's not funny!" the woman shrieked.
—
Universe 7 — Beerus's Planet
The Oracle Fish snored. Whis watched, frown faint. When the fish burped a bubble and woke, Whis asked, "Oracle Fish, you've been drowsy all day. Foretelling something big?"
"Yes. The strongest God of Destruction is about to be born—but it won't be Lord Beerus," the fish said.
"Then who?" Whis wondered.
"There's another prophecy," the fish added.
"Do tell," said Whis.
"A new angel will be born soon and become the greatest god in the cosmos," the fish intoned.
"My, my… you said that last time, and here we are again," Whis said, gazing into deep space. "The Grand Priest will have a headache."
"He will," the fish said.
—
Zeno's Palace
The Grand Priest's gaze pierced matter and distance, watching everything at once. His face was gentle, unreadable.
"Hey, Grand Priest, let's go play," Zeno chirped, trotting up.
"As you wish, Lord Zeno." The Grand Priest turned, hesitated three times in a single step.
"What's wrong?" Zeno asked.
"Ken has vanished," said the Grand Priest.
"Ken? That human angel?"
"Yes."
"Why'd he vanish? Someone kill him?"
"No. He erased himself," the Grand Priest said.
"???"
"He's molting—about to become a true angel," the Grand Priest smiled strangely.
"Ooh? So he's really going to make it?"
"Yes. The angel family gains a new member."
"I wonder if I can erase him," Zeno said, studying his own hands.
The two guards stiffened.
"Lord Zeno has learned to joke," the Grand Priest murmured, dabbing at imaginary sweat.
"Hee hee."
The smile faded. "The headache: Universe 9 and Universe 3 lost both their Gods of Destruction and Supreme Kais. We have to appoint new ones."
"Or just erase the universes. Faster," Zeno suggested.
The Grand Priest fell silent.
After a beat: "Do you truly wish to erase those two universes?"
"Hey, how's Universe 18 doing since we restored it?" Zeno hopped topics.
The Grand Priest sighed. "Another headache. I finally found them a human angel and a trainee God of Destruction; now the angel's gone to metamorphose, and the trainee stands guard for twenty-four years. Poor Amarella will be lonely."
—
Universe 18 — the white world
Amarella took form on the alabaster planet, fingers tight on her staff, staring up into the blank sky. Grand Priest, where's the trainee angel you promised me? Gone? For twenty-plus years I have to do this alone?
She dissolved again, merging with the world. Two hours a day—that was all the body she could hold. The rest was emptiness, silence, nothing.
—
Universe 6 — Earth, Capsule Corporation
Thanks to Supreme Kai Fuwa's instant transmission, Vados popped back into Bulma's kitchen and resumed guilt-free mooching.
"Hey, Smurfette—you're back fast," Bulma teased.
"Mhm." Vados ate happily. To Bulma, she'd only been gone a couple of minutes—bathroom time.
"Did you go off-planet to pee?" Bulma asked, head tilted.
"I don't pee," Vados smiled.
"You don't poop either?" Bulma blinked.
"…Angels are… elegant," Vados said thinly.
"Wow. Fairies really don't poop," Bulma muttered, awed.
Dr. Briefs rolled in on a bike. "Hello, Vados. Something odd—could you help me figure it out? We lost contact with our older daughter, Tights. She's traveling with the Galactic Patrol."
"I know them. My little brother works there," Vados said.
"Great! Can you reach him?"
"You can't reach Tights because… you aren't in the same universe," Vados explained.
Dr. Briefs blinked. Bulma's big eyes blinked faster.
"Two different universes," Vados went on. "We're in Universe 6 now. Earth used to be in Universe 7. For special reasons, the two Earths were swapped."
Bulma went pale. "Is it the end of the world?"
"No," Vados soothed.
"And Ken? Why didn't he come back with you?" Bulma asked.
"He won't be back soon," Vados said, peering toward the stars. "He's about to become a true angel."
"Blue skin? No! I don't want Ken turning into a Smurf!" Bulma shivered.
"…He might keep his face," Vados said.
Dr. Briefs beamed. "Wonderful news."
"How long?" Bulma pressed.
"More than twenty-four years."
"TWENTY-FOUR YEARS? I'll practically be thirty!" Bulma wailed.
"I've lived for billions," Vados replied serenely.
Bulma decided not to answer that.
Vados conjured a communicator and handed it to Dr. Briefs. "Have Merus give Tights a matching one. You'll talk again."
"Thank you!" Dr. Briefs said.
"Thank you for the buffet," Vados said, smiling.
—
Universe 7 — Galactic Patrol HQ
Two days later, Merus slipped back into his Patrol uniform.
"Merus! When'd you get in?" a teammate asked.
"Last night. Anything big while I was gone?"
"Something insane. Earth turned into a dead world. Instruments say it died three hundred years ago—nukes. But records show Earth scrapped all nukes two centuries back. Also… Tights's parents lived there."
Merus: "…"
Ken swapped the Earths. Best not to explain.
Vados pinged him, and he delivered a communicator to Tights. She called home; when she heard her family's voices, she wept.
"No video?" she asked Merus.
He shook his head. High maintenance…
Word of the "Earth swap" spread across the Patrol within hours.
"How do I go home? Can a spaceship reach Universe 6?" Tights asked.
"…No," Merus admitted.
Tights: "…"
—
Universe 9 — deep space
Broly didn't eat or sleep. He just stood, a blade of green light, guarding the mote of radiance that would be Ken again. Meteoroids drifted by. Once, a star skimmed near; anything that crossed the dome's skin, Broly vaporized.
Buu circled the outside like a pink moon.
Days piled into months. A year passed.
At last Buu could step into the dome—no closer than one hundred meters. Any nearer and Broly's eyes said no.
Buu's stomach howled. "Broly, I'm hungry. I haven't eaten in a year."
"Then go," Broly said, expression stone.
"I stayed a year for you and now you kick me out?" Buu grumbled. "The more you tell me to leave, the less I'm leaving."
Broly said nothing. The light had grown—now a baseball of brilliance, color purer than before. Countless glints drifted in from every direction, phasing through the ward like it wasn't there, fusing into Ken's core.
"One year… and it's only this big," Buu sighed, flopping over to sleep. He rolled in his sleep inside the hundred-meter line—
Smack.
A casual wave from Broly sent him flying. Buu righted himself, scratched his head, and kept snoring.
—
Universe 6 — Earth
"A year ago you promised to link the two Earths," Bulma told Vados, who was (again) eating her family out of house and home.
"A promise is a promise," Vados sighed. Mouthful favors are hard to refuse.
With the Super Dragon Radar, she gathered all seven Super Dragon Balls, summoned Super Shenron, and wished for a one-way gate from Universe 7's Earth to Universe 6's.
Wish granted. A vast vortex opened above Universe 7's dead Earth. Anything entering would emerge over Universe 6's living one—but not return.
Two days later, Jaco piloted Tights through the gate. Seeing Earth again, she felt like she'd woken from a long dream—then ran home and collapsed into her family's arms.
—
Time marched. Eleven more years blew by.
Age 749, Earth (U6).
A green jeep climbed the crags of Mount Paozu. Bulma stepped out to check the Dragon Radar, ponytail bobbing, jeans fitted, legs for days.
"Right around here. A touch west…" she murmured and slid back behind the wheel.
"Ken, you jerk. You promised to take me out. I'm sixteen now and you still haven't come back," she pouted. "Fine, then I'll gather the Dragon Balls and have Shenron bring you to me!"
The jeep growled upward.
"You liar," she grumbled as she drove. "You forgot me, didn't you? Are you really about to become an angel?" She shuddered. "You'd better not turn blue. That'd be ugly. My skin's perfect, for the record."
"The Smurf hasn't dropped by in a while," she added. "Is she tired of our cooking?"
I'll find you, Ken. I'll gather the Dragon Balls again.
Minutes later, a giant fish sprawled across the road. Bulma slammed the brakes, heart in her throat, missing it by inches. A boy with a tail dragged the fish: Son Goku.
Bulma popped the sunroof. "Hey! Are you trying to get me killed? Don't walk down the middle of a road!"
Goku flinched at the "monster" car. "You monster! Trying to steal my fish?" He ducked under the jeep and lifted it overhead.
Bulma's jaw dropped. The jeep sailed and crashed. Dazed, she drew a pistol and fired; the bullet bounced off Goku's skull.
"Ow! What kind of sorcery—?" Goku yelped.
"Scared now? If I'd brought my first prototype you'd be dead," Bulma sniffed. "Hard head, though."
"Take this!" Goku raised the Power Pole.
"Wait!" Bulma's eyes locked on his tail. "Your tail!"
"Monster!" he barked.
"I'm not a monster—I'm human," Bulma said, stepping out.
"Human? You feel different," Goku said, studying her.
"Because I'm a girl."
"Never seen one. Since you're a girl, I'll treat you to fish," he offered, pointing at the catch.
Bulma thought fast. Maybe this kid knew something about Ken. "Deal."
They hiked to a little mountaintop hut.
"Grandpa, look! A girl!" Goku grinned at the Four-Star Ball on the table.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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