Game
Thoughts
"Talking"
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Months Earlier
"Shin… do we have any leads for why another ring was created?" A tall man, with wrinkled red skin and a flowing mane of gray hair, asked in a hushed tone. There was no reason to be secretive, as they were the only people on the entirety of the planet he stood on, but with such a serious subject, it felt more natural to whisper.
"Nothing, Kibito," The second being on the planet, Shin, known as the Supreme Kai of Universe 7, answered in an exasperated tone. The man was much shorter than his attendant, with smooth, pale skin and short hair compared to Kibito's.
"If we still have no results, then it must've been another universe's fault, correct?" Kibito hummed, nodding his head as if he already knew he was correct, "Your surveillance system is nothing short of genius. If even that system can't find the cause, then there must not be a cause to be found, correct?"
"We can hope," Shin nodded stiffly, not looking fully convinced, "But you know as well as I do that simply 'hoping' with a situation like this is moronic. The Grand Priest won't accept such an excuse if it truly was something in our universe that triggered the creation of a new ring. We must be certain that if the cause was here, then we find it before they do!"
"B-But he'll understand! You're a genius amongst geniuses!" Kibito countered with a huff, "If you cannot find the cause, then no one can! Even the Grand Priest must know that!"
"I'm only as wise as a Supreme Kai should be," Shin countered, shaking his head lightly, "The Kai's in every other universe will have a similar system in place. We are not special in the eyes of the Grand Priest. I need to think on this more."
Shin finished his statement by pushing himself to his feet and walking past Kibito as he headed towards a rather ancient-looking shack. It was a simple building, with wooden walls and a small interior. As he arrived, he sat down in front of a small desk and simply closed his eyes. To an outsider, it might've looked as if he had fallen asleep in an instant, but instead, his mind was simply elsewhere as he combed through the universe.
…Kibito is not wrong. If I, the greatest mind in Universe 7, cannot find the cause, then it must be another universe at fault.
If Gray had been looking at the scene right now, he would've surely been the 'outsider' who assumed the Supreme Kai had simply fallen asleep. For everything he knew, the Supreme Kai Shin was a wholly incompetent man who allowed his universe to fall towards the bottom of the rankings and who did nothing to protect the world against threats to it.
But, in a world with all the sliders tweaked to the max, this view of Shin couldn't be trusted. In a world where even rock-headed Saiyans could produce geniuses like Celia, the Supreme Kai was no exception. In a world where the top brass of the Multiverse were much more strict in their control and training, as one of the oldest beings in Universe 7, Shin was far from incompetent. In this world, threats that could lead to the destruction of entire galaxies popping up was just an average Tuesday, and Shin was adept at handling them.
But, for one of the few times in his long tenure as the Supreme Kai, Shin had no idea what to make of the situation.
The creation of a time ring is punishable by erasure. If it truly was someone within Universe 7 that caused a split in timelines, then everything I've worked for will be for naught.
But, even if a being in Universe 7 wasn't responsible, Shin did know one thing.
Soon, there will be one less universe in this multiverse. And, there will likely be one less timeline.
Unbeknownst to Shin, just mere days prior to the mess he was dealing with, a change had happened on Planet Vegeta. In an event that the Supreme Kai could never have imagined, the Saiyan known as Gray woke up as a new person.
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"This… this can't be…" Shin muttered, his eyes wide, as he stared down at the case in front of him. Inside it, numerous small silver and green round rings sat in their holders. However, different from when he had checked the day before, as he did every day, there was now another ring.
"Another… another timeline split?" Shin muttered in shock, staring down blankly at the new ring, "For millions… for millions of years there has not been a split in the timeline, and yet there were two in only a few months?!"
To split the timeline was to ask for the ruler of the multiverse, Zeno, to erase any sign of your existence. To erase you and your Universe from history.
"No… I would've noticed another…" Shin muttered, his mind racing, "Yes… if there was truly a cause within our Universe, then I would've noticed! No one can make such huge moves without getting my attention! Another Universe must be at fault!"
Shin was dutiful in his work, and it wouldn't be far off to say he knew every major event that took place in Universe 7. For millions of years, he had developed a system to ensure the safety of his own life, even as he was tied to one of the more volatile beings in the form of the God of Destruction Beerus. In order to prevent Universe 7 from taking heat for Beerus' careless actions, Shin needed to take every precaution possible, and that was what he had done.
It's been a few months since the first ring's appearance, and I haven't been contacted by any angels. That means it wasn't our fault, and this must be the same. There's no way I'd miss something of this magnitude not just once, but twice.
"It's simply not possible!" Shin huffed, glaring down at the set of rings, "I'd bet my life on it, and I will!"
Shin knew that if he was wrong, then not just his life, but all life in Universe 7 would be forfeit. But, he also trusted in his own efforts and believed that he wouldn't be proven wrong.
"It's simply not possible," Shin repeated confidently, staring down at the case of rings, though the words sounded hollow even to himself, "It can't be possible… it can't be!"
However, as he stared at the second new ring to form within a few month span, his shoulders slumped. Shin was an intelligent man, and he wasn't one to be rude. But, as he stared at a phenomenon that he never thought would happen, he couldn't stop the words from slipping out of his mouth.
"What the fuck?"
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"You believe this is the cause, Shin? Truly?" Kibito asked dryly, staring down at the ball in Shin's hand.
"It has to be! This galaxy is one that has shown occasional traces of Divinity in the past, and a clash of power is taking place in it right now? This isn't a coincidence!" Shin huffed, staring down at the crystal ball.
Inside of the small ball, there was a rather normal, uneventful situation taking place. Gray stood on Harro, in front of the Hero Association, as Saitama and Blast stood beside him. Monas had just faced destruction, and the trio had just escaped from the destruction that came with it.
"A… Saiyan?" Kibito asked doubtfully, staring down at the form of Gray, "A Saiyan is responsible for creating new timelines? A Saiyan?"
"Yes, a Saiyan!" Shin continued hurriedly, his eyes shining as he felt like he had found the answer he was searching for the past few months, "Two timeline splits occurred in just a few months, and he's at the center of it! But not just him! This one as well!"
The image in the ball shifted, and suddenly it showcased a close-up of Saitama's blank face.
"This man is a threat to the multiverse!" Shin said proudly, stepping back as he gestured at the ball.
"...This man?" Kibito asked even more doubtfully, wondering if his super-genius boss had suddenly lost his mind, "This egg-headed bald man?"
"Yes!" Shin exclaimed, apparently not picking up on Kibito's 'have you gone insane' look, "I never even took notice of him before, but after going over the participants of the battle in this galaxy, there are only four possible culprits!"
"...Two of which are the Saiyan and this man?" Kibito deadpanned, "Not someone from Frieza's family? There's a family that neither the Kai nor even Beerus can realistically subdue, and you're suspecting these two before them?"
"You know how timeline splits occur, right, Kibito?" Shin answered his question with a question of his own.
"Of course," Kibito huffed, slightly insulted by the question, "The first ever timeline split occurred from a super-genius being creating a time machine - something considered trivial, but useless, now. Since then, the Grand Priest set an angel in charge of watching over the time-strings, and only those with Divinity can bypass the restrictions set in place. For a timeline split to occur, divine power must be used. A god, or immensely powerful angel, must set off a reaction that breaks time-strings. It's not something a Saiyan or a… bald man, can do!"
"Exactly! A Divine being has to interfere for a timesplit to occur! Something none would do," Shin nodded rapidly, grinning lightly as he was putting together all the pieces, "Even a God of Destruction like Beerus isn't dumb enough to do something like this. But, what if it was a god who didn't know about Lord Zeno, or… someone who unknowingly used Divinity?"
"A god who doesn't know about Lord Zeno's existence?" Kibito looked at Shin like he was insane again, "Every being with Divinity is either an established god, or a being assisting or training a god! It'd be impossible for one to slip through the Grand Priest's surveillance! As for using Divinity by accident…"
Kibito's eyes narrowed at Shin, "That's the most insane thing that's ever come from your mouth! And, in your spurts of 'genius,' you've said a lot of insane things… even beings born with Divinity need millennia of training to use it, and someone without it would take millions of years to learn it! You don't just 'accidentally' use divine power!"
"But the Saiyan did!" Shin countered, his lips twitching up into a slightly insane grin, "I went through the battle on the planet Monas because this galaxy has been connected to unknown traces of divine power, and from the participants, three stood out! I used the power of my eyes, and never in my long reign as Supreme Kai have I seen so many threats to the entire multiverse!"
"T-The entire multiverse?" Kibito spat out, his eyes going wide as he stared at Shin, "Y-Your certain? Multiple threats to the multiverse are in that galaxy?!"
"My eyes don't lie," Shin nodded simply, proving his point as his eyes glowed lightly, showcasing the power he had within, "There are four of them, all grouped up in one area, who hold the potential to one day destroy the entire multiverse. However, amongst them, the Saiyan interested me the most. So, I used a time-dialation orb-"
"You used a time-dialation orb?! Do you know how hard it is to get one of those?!" Kibito huffed, glaring at Shin, "Playing with time isn't easy! The last one we got was a gift from Lord Zeno over ten million years ago, and you wasted it on a Saiyan?!"
"I didn't waste anything! Look at this!" Shin shot back, holding out his hand as a small, clear orb appeared seemingly out of thin air, "I thought he was just a fighting genius at first, but once I went back far enough… look!"
An image inside the orb appeared, showcasing Gray as he floated across from Turles. The older Saiyan raised his hands, and a circle of red Ki formed.
"Kill Driver!" Turles shouted, shoving his hands forward, and the attack disappeared in a blur. As it did, Gray's eyes seemed to become glossy, and the attack streamed towards him. At the very last second, just as his chest was about to be ripped through, his body jerked to the side - dodging the killing blow.
"You saw that, right?! That was Ultra Instinct! The technique of the gods!" Shin shouted dramatically, turning to Kibito excitedly, who looked at him dryly in response.
"That was not Ultra Instinct," Kibito deadpanned, "He just got lucky and managed to dodge. There are lots of techniques that use similar methods."
"Well, it wasn't perfect Ultra Instinct or anything, but that was definitely it! Traces of a technique only used by divine beings!" Shin huffed, not backing down at Kibito's words, "He never used anything like that since the fight, and did you see the look on his face?! For just a second, he accidentally used divine power! And, look! This is the same day that the second ring appeared!"
"...Even if you're correct, just dodging an attack with divine power wouldn't fracture the timeline," Kibito shot back, a bead of sweat appearing on his brow as Shin was starting to look less and less insane by the second, "Time strings aren't that fragile! To create a new timeline, you have to set forth a series of events that will create enough power to bypass the restrictions monitored by the angels!"
"Exactly! Time works both ways - there's the future and the past! So, if you do something in the past that sets off a chain reaction that will one day bypass the restrictions, then the timeline will be fractured as a result! And, that's exactly what happened!" Shin raved, pointing at the small crystal repeatedly, "By not dying, he set off a chain reaction!"
"...This is far too complicated for me," Kibito finally groaned, his head hurting as, even though he was an attendant to the Supreme Kai, he was far from a genius and didn't understand the complexities of time, "A Saiyan 'not dying' fractured the timeline? Just give me the short version, and tell me what to do!"
"This Saiyan's existence will one day create enough power to threaten the entire multiverse," Shin said bluntly, holding up the initial crystal ball again. The image in the ball shifted, suddenly showing the void-like Garou.
"And, just a minute ago, this being was created with Divinity! It wasn't enough to create another time fracture, but it was Divinity nonetheless! Then, this figure here is the same! He was created at the same time through an influx of Divinity, and his transformation will also directly lead to a multiversal threat!" Shin continued as the ball's image switched to the form of a void-like Boros, "All of this is to say - if these three men continue to live, then the multiverse in our timeline is in danger!"
"...This is too much," Kibito groaned again, completely lost in what Shin was poorly explaining, but just nodded, "So, we just need to go kill them, right?"
"If it were that simple, then I would've already done it," Shin shook his head lightly, "We were too slow. The moment that man was created by an influx of divinity, the universe in this timeline became doomed. He's too much for either me or anyone else to handle! The amount of Divinity inside of him just seems to keep rising… I thought the transformation was his own doing, but I'm suspecting a god's intervention."
"A god's intervention? The only god in this universe is Beerus, or possibly his trainer," Kibito countered, but his eyes widened slightly in understanding a second later, "You mean… a god from a different universe?"
"Yes. One wouldn't be able to enter this universe without me noticing, so he's somehow pouring Divinity into him from afar," Shin grunted, "If this continues, then eventually he'll become even stronger than the Frost Demon family. At that point, the only one who could defeat him would be Beerus, but in the time it would take to awake and convince him…"
"The universe would be… fucked," Kibito said bluntly, his eyes widening at Shin's words, "T-Then, what the hell do we do?! Contact the Grand Priest?!"
"No, because, more specifically, the timeline for this universe is finished," Shin shook his head lightly, clarifying, "His Divinity is continuing to rise, but I doubt it'll reach the level needed to truly destroy the multiverse, unless something drastic happens. Beerus will handle him eventually, but at that point, we'd have already failed. Zeno will erase the entire universe, but the multiverse will remain, so the Grand Priest will consider it our problem to deal with. We must either attempt to jump to another universe - or, possibly even another timeline - and go into hiding, or…"
Shin narrowed his eyes, his brow creasing as he stared at the crystal ball. The image shifted to Gray again, and the man's eyes glowed lightly.
"Or?" Kibito muttered, glancing at the ball with him.
"For some reason… I believe this Saiyan will win," Shin muttered, sounding uncertain as he spoke.
"So? He's one of the threats to the universe as well, isn't he?" Kibito asked, narrowing his eyes at Shin, "But, if we wait until he wins, and then kill him when he's exhausted his strength…"
"We can't. I don't know how, but whenever he seems to be out of strength, he eats one of those beans," Shin said, pointing as the ball showed Gray tossing a Senzu Bean into his mouth after being slammed downward by Boros, "I keep track of most power-boosting methods, but I don't know what this could be. There is such a bean on a planet known as 'Earth,' but it would be impossible to get so many…"
"Then, after he defeats the Divinity-wielding man, he'll eat one of those and be back at full strength," Kibito clicked his tongue annoyedly, "And, if the bald man is another universe-ending threat, then it wouldn't matter even if we did kill the Saiyan, would it? We must, at the very least, abandon this universe!"
"...No," Shin shook his head again, confusing Kibito more, "The ones with divine power are unstable. They're timebombs, and the Saiyan is what's keeping him from going ballistic. If he loses the fight, then the universe will indeed be put on an accelerated path to erasure. But if the Saiyan wins, he is much more contained. He's reasonable. He's similar to the Frost Demons - a man with overwhelming power, but with rationality. Frieza could destroy the entire universe if he wanted to, but he knows not to."
"And you think this Saiyan will be the same?" Kibito asked doubtfully, "You want to place all your bets on the Saiyan? You want to hope that he'll be a 'nice universal threat' instead of a crazy one?"
"Exactly!" Shin nodded quickly, causing Kibito to look at his excited motion dryly, "If the Saiyan defeats this calamity, then the universe is temporarily saved, and the problem is solved! There will be no reason for erasure, and we'll be given more time to figure out a way to contain him! Beerus might be wary of taking on the entire Frost Demon family, and has his own reasons for keeping them around, but he'll surely kill the Saiyan for us, right?!"
"...Relying on a Saiyan to save the entire universe seems rather stupid, but if you believe this is the best course of action, then I'll trust you," Kibito grunted, shaking his head in slight disbelief, "Ah, but you said there were four threats, didn't you? The Saiyan, the bald man, and the calamity are only three."
"Oh, right! My eyes tell me a lot, but even with them, this one's a bit of a mystery to me," Shin grunted, and the image in the crystal ball changed, "I can believe those three could threaten the multiverse one day, but… this girl?"
The image solidified, showcasing a green-haired girl casually sitting in a Saiyan pod.
"And yet… something tells me she's the most dangerous of them all."
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Gray Tanaki:
[Saiyan S-Class Squad Captain]
Age: 18
Wallet: 74,780,150 Coins
Lvl: 29 (9,043,910/27,500,000 XP)
PL: 240.8 Trillion
Available Points: 150
HP: 39,257,985,120/39,257,985,120 (Kaio-Ken x20)
TKI: 39,500,291,000/39,500,291,000 (Kaio-Ken x20)
TMP: 647,944/647,944 (Kaio-Ken x20)
STR: 60277
AGI: 61676
END: 64785
INT: 58700
CHA: 55945
LUK: 54795
KI: 67150
MP: 59650
HREG: 110000 (x2)
EREG: 219000 (x2) (x2)
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: Thanks for reading! Rewrote this a couple of times because it's a bit confusing, but it's also meant to be at least a bit confusing, so I decided this was fine. There's going to be a more in-depth explanation of how time travel and the universal power structure works here in a few chapters anyway!
The next chapter will be posted in around a week, or you can read the next 20 right now on Patreon.com/Koyon !