//------------------------------//
// Preparation: Shocking News 
// Story: Dragon Ball Super: Fate of the Multiverse 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
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The only thing that Sunset was happy about, when she considered the Zen Exhibition Match, was that there were a few moments after a match ended and before another one began for her and the others to glance down at the warriors that were fighting before their eyes. Applejack had told her about the power that Majin Buu possessed, back when she and Rainbow were trying to stop him from destroying the version of Earth that rested in Universe 7, but seeing his power for herself confirmed many of the tales that she had been told, especially his incredible recovery power that had sealed the hole in his chest. At the same time she knew that Universe 9 wasn't to be underestimated, as Basil had put up quite the fight and had impressed a few of the gods, because she could tell that a few of them were interested in what had happened, but even then she had to consider what the other two brothers were capable of, since their energy was impossible to feel, hence the reason that she and the others were remaining silent and observing the fighting stage. The only person that didn't seem worried about anything was Goku, as he was staring over at the blue wolf that had his arms crossed, even though Basil was laying near him, on the floor of the platform, showing that he must have tended to his brother for a moment before focusing on the upcoming fight.

Of course both the Present and the Future Lord Zeno were excited about the fight that was about to begin, as the mere mention that Gohan was Goku's son interested the both of them greatly, and Sunset could hear them asking the Grand Priest if he was strong like his father, despite the fact that Gohan clearly hadn't fought anyone in a long time. At the same time Sunset and the others gained the name of the yellow wolf, as his name was Lavender according to what all of them were told, showing that the Grand Priest must have been told about the warriors before hand or knew about them, though Sunset and her group glanced down at the platform, as it appeared the fight would be starting soon. It was also during that moment that Sunset noticed that Lavender was wearing a pair of green colored pants with suspenders, while Basil only had the torn cape, his black gloves, and red boots, while the third brother had brown pants and brown boots, along with a red scarf around his neck.

"Gohan!" Goku said, as there was something that he wanted to tell his son before he got close to Lavender, so they didn't reveal anything to their opponent, which was when Gohan looked back up to him, showing that he was listening to what his father had to say, "You're strong, and I have faith in your abilities and whatever plan your thinking of, so go show him how strong you are and rediscover your fighting spirit!"

A slight smile appeared on Gohan's face as he nodded his head in agreement and turned back towards Lavender, to which the two of them stepped away from their platforms and approached each other, though when they were close to the middle of the fighting stage, and came to a stop, Gohan assumed his battle stance while Lavender stood there, keeping the deranged look on his face.

"Let the second match," the Grand Priest said, where he glanced at the universes that were currently watching the matches that were unfolding before their eyes, seeing that all of them were eager to get the second match started, which was when he raised his hand into the air, "begin!"

Gohan and Lavender went at it immediately, as the moment the Grand Priest told them to begin the fight the two of them rushed forward and swung their fists at their opponent, allowing them to clash in the middle of the fighting stage for a few seconds, before they separated their fists and started throwing a series of punches and kicks to slip by the defenses that they encountered. Lavender, from what Sunset could tell, was more used to fighting with both his arms and his legs, as opposed to his brother Basil, who only used his feet the entire time he had been up against Buu, though it wasn't long before he could actually dodge Gohan's slower attacks. It was during one of those punches that Lavender jumped into the air and used both his hands and his feet to grab onto the outstretched arm that Gohan intended to punch him with, where he rotated himself a little so his face would be level with Gohan's, only so he could blow a sickly purple puff of smoke in Gohan's face before letting go and jumping backwards. As some of the gods started to question what was going on, since they had no idea what Lavender had done, Gohan rubbed his eyes as Lavender breathed the same smoke onto both of his fists, before he rushed forward and loosed a series of punches into Gohan's stomach, followed by hitting him into the floor of the fighting stage.

During all of that Sunset, Applejack, and Celestia immediately noticed the faint purple skin around Gohan's eyes, as if he had been poisoned or something, meaning that it was dangerous for someone that wasn't Lavender to breathe in the smoke that he could use whenever he wanted.

"He's starting the match by blinding Gohan..." Twilight commented, as she understood what they were seeing, though at the same time she couldn't believe that this sort of power was even allowed, since blinding someone, even temporary, was the result of poisons or natural occurring events, but since the Grand Priest didn't seem to be stopping the battle she had to assume that he was okay with it.

"Yes, and with a rather potent poison by the looks of it." Celestia added, though she was happy to see that Twilight was studying the fighters from Universe 9, just like she and the rest of their group were doing, before they all turned their attention back to the fight, as it appeared that neither of the warriors were done yet.

Gohan weakly got back up to his feet and started throwing a few punches at random, since he had no idea where his opponent was supposed to be this time around, and Lavender took advantage of his current state by dodging those weak attacks and then retaliated with his own jabs, much to the joy of Universe 9.

"How about that, Universe 7?!" Ro stated, once more sounding pleased with the fact that one of his warriors had the early advantage in the fight, but at the same time it appeared that he wasn't even thinking about Basil's loss and the fact that Buu had turned the tables on him so quickly, something that Gohan could do as well, "That's the Trio of Danger's second brother, Lavender, and his power Poison Blow! Enjoy writhing in pain from that poison!"

"Do you like my poison?" Lavender asked, though at the same time he smacked Gohan to the floor, clearly not even bothered by the fact that both the Present and the Future Lord Zeno were frowning at the moment, showing that he didn't seem to care about the fact that they were here to entertain the Kings of All, "Take too much of it and your body will rot."

In that moment Shin seemed to pull out a small brown sack that he had been carrying the entire time, and Sunset had only now noticed thanks to the fact that he held it up for a moment, where Applejack informed her that he was carrying the special Senzu Beans that healed a warrior's wounds and restored their stamina, perfect for when they had to deal with threats that wouldn't admit defeat, but Gohan clearly didn't want one at the moment. Lavender seemed to be perfectly fine with this scenario, as he admitted that his poison was gradually absorbed by the bodies of his foes, where the poison rotted them away from the inside, all while he moved around the area that Gohan was standing in. Sunset immediately understood what the game plan was this time around, as it appeared that Goku was using this fight to reawaken his son's fighting spirit and deemed that being unable to sense Lavender's energy, along with the inability to see him, was the perfect training Gohan needed. It seemed to work just fine, as a few seconds later Lavender stood behind Gohan and jumped into the air, spinning around so that the backside of his left leg would come down on Gohan's head, but the fact that his leg touched the tips of Gohan's hair caused the young warrior to shift his stance and block the attack with his right arm, surprising Lavender in the process.

It was in that moment of surprise that Gohan seized the opportunity that was presented to him, by uppercutting his foe, sending Lavender flying for a moment before he touched the stage floor once more, where he growled as he stared at Gohan, clearly thinking about what had just happened and whether or not it was a fluke.

Not even seconds later it was clear that Lavender determined that Gohan's ability to hit him had to have been a fluke, as he rushed towards his foe and tried to punch him a few times, where he found that Gohan blocked his attacks with the palm of his hand, and when he tried to lash out with a kick Gohan stopped it with his right arm. The stunned expression that appeared on Lavender's face gave Gohan the chance to raise his left leg and kick him with the bottom of his boot, knocking the wolf away from him and caused Lavender to rub the area he had been hit in once more as he stared at his blind foe. It was clear that Ro felt that this was impossible, that Gohan shouldn't be able to block Lavender's attacks and lash out with his own, but the blue wolf informed him that by being blinded in such a manner Gohan's other senses had been heightened, making the fight more difficult for Lavender in some aspects, before a grin appeared on his face, which meant that he found Gohan to be a worthy opponent. At the same time Lavender didn't seem to care about what Gohan was doing, as he went on the offensive once more and found that Gohan blocked each of his attacks in rapid succession, before kicking him backwards once more, showing that he could follow his movements quite well.

As Lavender stood up, however, it became clear that he had been thinking about something and floated into the air this time, meaning that he wouldn't make any noise as he silently flew around the area that Gohan was in, who stood there and looked around as he tried to sense where his foe had wandered off to, allowing Lavender to raise both of his hands and ready more of his poison for whatever he had in mind. That was when he started firing off sickly purple colored blasts at Gohan, hitting him all over his body without any way to defend himself, before one blast knocked him backwards and forced a slightly injured Gohan to huff as he attempted to stand up, all while Lavender chuckled as his gathered his energy for another powerful attack that was aimed right at Gohan. It was during that moment that Gohan awakened part of his inner power, where a white aura seemed to gather around him for a few seconds, one that was immediately replaced by a more intense golden yellow aura, one that caused his hair to spike up and take on a golden yellow coloration that surprised Lavender, even though Applejack knew it as the first Super Saiyan form a Saiyan could achieve.

"Wow. What is that?!" the Present and Future Zeno asked, showing that they had no idea what sort of form this was, or at the very least it appeared that it had to be the one from the future that was asking what Gohan was doing, which made sense considering that he hadn't seen the tournament between Universe 6 and 7, something that the present one had seen some time ago.

"That is a Super Saiyan." the Grand Priest replied, knowing that one of the Kings of All had no idea what Gohan was doing at the moment, hence why he was so willing to explain what was going on, even though the two deities cheered that it was bright, shiny, and powerful for a few seconds after he said that.

Lavender seemed to think that he still had the advantage and moved behind Gohan so he could attack his back once more, just like he had done earlier, though this time around, when he fired another blast at his foe, Gohan swung his arm and knocked the blast back at him, forcing Lavender to dodge and watch as it collided with one of the pillars, where it let off a small explosion as he turned back towards his foe. Unfortunately it appeared that Lavender seemed to think that all of this was a fluke, as he floated around the area that they were fighting in and loosed a storm of blasts, from a number of different directions, at Gohan, who stood there and smacked all of them away from where he was standing. Lavender then laughed as the smoke covered the area that Gohan was in, though as that happened Gohan burst out of the smoke and rushed up to where Lavender was floating, where he went on the offensive and attacked his foe, who defended against the incoming punches and kicks as they moved through the air. It was clear that Lavender was confused as to how Gohan was able to block his attacks and hit him in response, but that didn't stop him from trying to get back the advantage he had when the battle began, leaving everyone to watch what they were doing as they floated higher in the air.

Sunset and her group, on the other hand, determined that Gohan was using his energy like a radar, reflecting his energy on the area he was in so he could figure out where his foe was standing, though at the same time the technique might also work against him, causing them to wait and see what happened next as the duo battled each other.

Gohan was able to knock Lavender to the stage floor, but this time when he moved in to attack he gasped in pain as he crashed into the floor himself, turning off the Super Saiyan form he had taken on as he held his body, leaving him wide open for any attack his foe had for him. In that moment they discovered that taking on the Super Saiyan form had only accelerated the spread of the poison in Gohan's body, turning the tide of battle back over to Lavender, who was taking advantage of what was in from of him and lashed out at Gohan once more. For a few moments it seemed like the battle might actually end in Lavender claiming victory, but that was before something interesting happened, as Gohan moved back into the air and took on his Super Saiyan state again, though this time around he boosted the aura to a higher level, before he continued to fight with his foe. It wasn't long before Gohan gathered his power and loosed a Kamehameha at Lavender, who also pulled his energy together and loosed a sickly beam of energy to counter the attack, where the light of their two attacks meeting caused the Present and Future Zeno to cheer as the two warriors battled. While the two of them engaged in their beam struggle, as that was the proper name for what happened when two beams of almost equal power clashed with each other and didn't explode immediately, they noticed that the purple on Gohan's skin continued to spread up his arms, before the pain got to him and his beam weakened, just enough for Lavender to push his into Gohan and cause an explosion that knocked him towards the stage floor.

After that happened Lavender followed Gohan a bit before letting out a much larger poison cloud, one that Gohan actually flew into as he surrounded his body with his aura, and not even a moment later Gohan burst out of the smoke and punched Lavender backwards. He then followed that up by flying behind him and grabbing onto Lavender, trapping him in a full-nelson hold, to which he flew around for a moment before angling himself so that they would crash into the center of the fighting stage, a tactic that definitely surprised Lavender as they crashed into the floor. When the smoke cleared they found that a decent sized crater rested in front of them, where both Lavender and Gohan were resting, where the gods watched as Lavender turned his head to the side and slipped into unconsciousness, while at the same time Gohan forced himself into a standing position for a few seconds, though before he could do anything he crashed to the floor and didn't move for a few moments. Ro and a number of the gods looked confused for a moment, as they weren't sure how they were going to score the battle, to which they turned their heads towards the Grand Priest, whose platform floated down so he could better look at the two warriors that had been knocked out.

"The second match," the Grand Priest said, to which he raised both of his hands into the air, a movement that was different from what he had been using the entire time he spoke to the assembled gods, and he noticed that all of them were interested in his ruling of the match, "with both warriors down, is a tie!"

Sunset noticed that Ro wasn't exactly happy with the fact that Universe 9 had lost the first match and had tied in the second match, though at the same time Goku jumped down into the ring and rushed to his son's side, where he gave him one of the Senzu Beans that they had brought with them. It was interesting to see what happened next, as she hadn't actually seen the effects of the magical beans before, and she had to admit that the healing properties of the beans were quite special, as the poison vanished from Gohan's body in a matter of seconds, as if it had never been there to begin with, and restored Gohan's energy. Gohan, despite bringing the battle to a draw, seemed disappointed that he didn't win the battle, but at the same time Goku told him that it was okay, since it had been some time since he had been in a battle like this, and seeing how excited his father was for his match caused a smile to appear on Gohan's face, indicating that all he needed was his father acting like normal to lessen his own negative feelings on the battle, erasing them in seconds by what they were seeing.

"Gohan's gotten a bit rusty since he took on a more peaceful lifestyle," Applejack commented, as she had seen Gohan when he was serious, back when Majin Buu, the evil one anyway, had been a threat to the entirety of Universe 7, and while he wasn't at that state of power right now she had the feeling that he'd awaken his old power again in no time, "but he is Goku's son, so he'll be back at his old level of power in no time."

"Agreed." Sunset said, as it looked like just this one battle was necessary to reignite the fighting spirit that had laid dormant inside Gohan, to some degree anyway, but even as she thought about that she noticed that the Grand Priest was facing both the Present and the Future Lord Zeno, meaning that something must have happened.

"To all the gods gathered here, I have an announcement from Lord Zeno." the Grand Priest said, though at the same time Sunset noticed that many of the gods gulped for a moment, showing that they were afraid of what they might be told, since there was no telling what the two Zeno might have told him over the last few moments, "Lord Zeno is very moved that beings of the lowest mortal level rank could put on such a wonderful fight. In fact Lord Zeno has evaluated all 13 universes and ranked them accordingly. The average level of the mortal-inhabited stars in Universe 7, for example, is 3.18, which isn't good, as they are the second from the bottom."

"If we're second from the bottom, which universe is below us?" Whis asked, though even as he said that he had the feeling that he knew who it was, considering the match they were currently engaged in, but even then he actually felt that the changes Beerus had gone through had warranted a higher mortal level, maybe closer to a four, though it would appear that his own thoughts were mistaken.

"Surely you can tell." the Grand Priest replied, to which he glanced back at Universe 9, where Sidra had a blank look on his face and Ro seemed completely caught off guard by what he was suggesting, though even as that happened he came to the conclusion to just say what the ranking was and get it over with, "Universe 9's average mortal level is the lowest of all 13 universes, as it's only 1.86. Lord Zeno has often said that there are too many universes, and Son Goku-san from Universe 7's proposal was the perfect opportunity to fulfill his will. By his hand, Lord Zeno will erase the universes that lose the Tournament of Power."

There was a moment of silence following that statement, to which Sunset's group realized the danger that Beerus had been trying to silently warn them about, which might have been the entire reason behind why the Grand Priest decided to reveal that news now, just to tell Beerus that nothing escaped his sight, and, at the same time, Sunset could already tell that a few of the other gods were already glaring at Goku with hatred in their eyes, as if this was all his fault, despite the fact that it sounded like he might have saved some of them instead.

"Does losing the Zen Exhibition Match mean getting erased as well?" Ro asked, as now that they knew what the stakes were for the actual tournament he had to wonder if the same rules applied to this set of matches, because if they did than Universe 9 was in a whole lot of trouble.

"No. Neither universe will be erased if they lose the Zen Exhibition Match." the Grand Priest stated, as he could tell that Ro was stressed out, especially since it was clear that two of his warriors had been defeated, while only one warrior from Universe 7 had been defeated.

"Grand Priest-sama, there is something I wish to confirm." Shin said, speaking up for a moment as he got on his knees, like he would if he was bowing from the ground, and he noticed that the Grand Priest turned towards him for a moment before nodding his head, "You said that the defeated universes would be erased... you do mean that only one universe will be left standing by the end of the Tournament of Power?"

"No. Universe 1, Universe 12, Universe 5, and Universe 8 are exempt from entering." the Grand Priest replied, though at the same time he could tell that the four groups of gods in question breathed a sigh of relief, as they didn't have to worry about everything he had told them back in their own universes, "The average level of those four universes is over 7, so they won't be erased."

"So in other words, the universes with the lowest mortal levels were going to be erased anyway, and only the winning universe gets to stay." Beerus commented, though as he spoke the Grand Priest noticed that he was shaking, not from fear of speaking to him, but out of fear that he'd lose his daughters and the life they had given him, before he steeled himself and faced the Grand Priest, "What about Universe 13? Surely they are exempt from the tournament as well, since they were only recently elevated to the status of an official universe?"

"Unfortunately, they're not exempt on account of their 5.38 mortal level." the Grand Priest stated, showing that he must have been calculating the mortal levels for some time, in anticipation for something like this, before he thought of something else, "In fact they're lucky that they became official when they did, as Lord Zeno was growing tired of watching their universe remain in the same state for so long, without a being worthy of becoming it's God of Destruction, and would have already erased it the moment the Tournament of Power was announced, if they had still been 'unofficial'. This gives them the chance to fight for their right to continue existing, if they overcome the remaining eight universes that they'll have to fight in the tournament."

Beerus stood there for a moment, thinking about what he and the others had been told, before nodding his head as he stepped back into line, but at the same time Sunset noticed that he was silently blaming himself for putting not only his friends and family, but his entire universe, in the position they were in, especially since losing meant total heartbreak for both Rainbow and Applejack and winning meant losing his daughters. It was quite literally a lose-lose situation for him, and he clearly hated the fact he was being put in this situation, though Sunset couldn't blame him for feeling that way, as she didn't like the fact that they were being included in the Tournament of Power, when the reality should be them being put on the sides since they were new to being an official universe. She had to wonder if it was Sargeras' efforts to purge the entirety of Universe 13 that put them in this mess, or if it was the foul Necromorphs and their Brethren Moons that Chrysalis had encountered, a combination of the two, or something else entirely, but at the end of the day she knew that it honestly didn't matter, as they had been selected to participate in the Tournament of Power and had no choice in the matter, as she had the feeling that if they tried to refuse their universe would be wiped out in an instant. In fact she had to consider how strong Twilight, Applejack, Celestia, and even Discord were, as they were all shocked by the news of their impending erasure if they lost, and yet none of them had cracked yet and were standing their ground, almost as if they were following her lead in some manner.

"Shall we move onto the third match?" the Grand Priest asked, as he was sure that Lord Zeno was getting tired of hearing them talk about who was going to be in the Tournament of Power and who wasn't going to participate, and he was eager to wrap the Zen Exhibition Match up.

"Just a moment, Grand Priest-sama." the Old Kai said, showing that there was one more thing that they needed to know before the third match began, though at the same time Beerus was surprised that the elderly Kaioshin was even talking at the moment, "Wh... What will happen to the gods of the defeated universes?"

"You'll be erased at the same time as your universe is, except for the Angels." the Grand Priest stated, though while the Angels that watched over Universes 2, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, and 11 seemed happy to hear that news he noticed that Whis, of all his sons and daughters, actually seemed conflicted about this news, showing him how much of an impact two inhabitants of Universe 13 had on Universe 7's gods, "The only exception to that is Universe 13's Angel, so if they lose the Tournament of Power she'll be erased with them."

Celestia gripped her scepter a little tighter than she normally did for a few seconds, as she was caught off guard by the last part of the announcement, but in the end she realized that it made sense, considering that she wasn't one of the Grand Priest's children, who were the Angels for the other twelve universes, allowing her to return to holding her scepter like she usually did as they waited for the third match to begin.

"That concludes the announcement." the Grand Priest said, a statement that told everyone that there would be no more questions about the tournament itself, showing that it was time to get back to why they were all here, to which he looked down at the fighting stage once more, "Next is the third match. This will be the last one."

In that instant the Grand Priest snapped his fingers and the crater that had formed from Gohan and Lavender's fight disappeared as the stage glowed, to which Goku grinned as Gohan returned to the platform his father had been standing on minutes ago, though as that happened the blue wolf, Bergamo as Ro called him, lightly leapt into the air and floated down onto the stage, which was when he finally uncrossed his arms and glared at Goku.

"So, your name's Bergamo?" Goku asked, though at the same time he continued to grin, as he had seen what Basil and Lavender had been able to do in their fights and he was eager to see what sort of power his foe commanded, "I'm Son Goku, and I'm eager to see what sort of power you have hidden up your sleeves."

"Shut your mouth, you scum!" Bergamo loudly said, causing Goku and several of the watchers to frown, as in the gods that weren't annoyed with Goku, which included Sunset's group, before he turned away from his opponent and stared at the assembled gods that were observing the fights, showing that he had something that he wanted to say, "All the gods, hear me! I am the eldest brother of the Trio of Danger, Bergamo the Crusher! I am a warrior from Universe 9, a place that Lord Zeno said has the lowest mortal level! However, this man's level is far below our low-ranking mortal level! Without his stupid wish, we could have lived in peace! He's a simple fool that doesn't have a single thought inside his head!"

"Don't you think you're going overboard with this?" Goku inquired, as he was surprised that his foe was going to try and slander his name and image like this, instead of doing as Zeno wanted and battle each other, but even as he said that Bergamo glanced at him with an angry look in his eyes.

"Silence, demon!" Bergamo snapped, showing that he wasn't going to allow Goku to interfere with what he wanted to tell the gods, despite the fact that this had to be boring to both the Present and the Future Zeno, and that he was going to continue to paint an image in the minds of the gods, "You are the enemy of all thirteen universes! That is why I shall crush you, before the gods and Lord Zeno!"

What happened next only told Sunset that Bergamo had to be out of his mind, as the blue wolf turned towards the pair of thrones and knelt before them, like a knight would to the king of the kingdom that he was guarding, before bowing his head in respect.

"Lord Zeno," Bergamo said, indicating that he was speaking to the Kings of All, even though someone could have figured that out by seeing who he was kneeling towards, but at the same time everyone remained silent as they waited for him to stop talking, "Once I have crushed this man, please rescind your rule to erase the defeated universes."

Sunset knew what Bergamo was ultimately doing, as he was setting Goku up to look like the villain in this scenario, one that wanted the other universes to be destroyed, when the reality of the situation was that Lord Zeno had planned on erasing all but four universes in the first place, and that the tournament would allow one more to survive. Goku was giving the nine chosen universes a chance to fight for their survival, instead of being erased instantly, and while she and her fellow gods could see this truth it seemed like they were the only ones, as a good number of the other gods seemed to be thinking along the lines of what Bergamo had said, and she could tell that Beerus wasn't pleased with the wolf either. It was easy to tell which universes felt that Goku was evil, as Sunset's group could see the auras of destruction form around the platforms of the gods that were angry with the Saiyan, of which it appeared that most of them were considering jumping down and erasing Goku themselves, and they would have if not for the fact that this was the Zen Exhibition Match and doing so would have ruined Lord Zeno's mood. From what she could tell it appeared that a good number of the chosen universes would likely send warriors to deal with Goku, to make him suffer for what he had done to the universes, meaning that they might be the only ones that wouldn't be against them.

While all this was happening the Grand Priest turned towards the Present and Future Lord Zeno, no doubt asking about Bergamo's request, since it wasn't something that they had been expecting to happen, and just seeing that the two Kings of All were considering the request made the other gods do nothing as they waited to hear their verdict.

"Bergamo, was it?" one of the Zeno's asked, to which Bergamo nodded his head for a moment, showing that he was listening and that they had gotten his name correct, while at the same time the Grand Priest floated near the thrones as he looked at the gods, "It's already decided. Yeah, it's decided. But... your proposal is accepted. It is."

Many of the universes were happy with that statement, that the Present and Future Lord Zeno were going to rescind their decision to erase any universe that lost the Tournament of Power, but at the same time Sunset knew something that the other gods seemed to overlook, and that was the fact that Bergamo had to defeat Goku for that to happen. It was a tall order, since Goku's power in his Super Saiyan Blue form put him on a level that could rival the gods, and since they had no idea what sort of power Bergamo had it was possible that he might actually pull it off, or he might find himself suffering a crushing defeat at the end of the day.

"If Universe 9's Bergamo is victorious in this battle," the Grand Priest said, raising his voice so that all of the pairs of gods could hear him, just like when he spoke earlier in his announcements, causing everyone to turn their attention to him once more, since he'd clarify what Lord Zeno had said, "the rule that universes that lose in the Tournament of Power shall be rescinded. However, Son Goku-san, if you should hold back in your match, then Lord Zeno will skip the Tournament of Power entirely and erase all of the universes immediately."

"Don't worry, I wasn't planning on holding back at all." Goku replied, though he was a little surprised by what Bergamo had convinced the Zenos to do, since he had been told that it was near impossible for the King of All to change his mind, but at the very least this gave his foe a reason to fight with all of his power, "What do you say, Bergamo? Shall we get our fight started and show off our power?"

Bergamo growled as he remained in his crouched position, moving to his left as Goku did the same, making sure to keep some distance between each other as they studied their opponents, showing the other universes that Goku wasn't the simple fool that he had been labeled as, despite the fact that it was impossible for them to see him in any good light now, a fact that annoyed Beerus a little. The instant that the Grand Priest stated that the match had started both of the warriors rushed towards the edge of the fighting stage and then turned towards their foe, where they kicked at each other once before exchanging sides, only for Bergamo to rush around to Goku's backside and kick him in the face. That opened Goku up to a few more attacks, though he only received a punch to the face before he knocked Bergamo back, who rushed at him again as they met back up in the middle of the stage, where they both attempted to punch each other while also dodging their foe's attacks, showing that they were both skilled in their own individual styles. In addition to all of that Bergamo occasionally rushed to Goku's back and attacked him from that side, often returning to the dodging of attacks that they had been doing before, though he changed that moments later as he kicked Goku backwards and tired to pierce his face with his right fingers, only for Goku to catch the outstretched hand within inches of his face.

In the end it seemed that, despite his earlier claims, Bergamo knew that Goku was strong and seemed to acknowledge that fact, something that Goku seemed to agree with as he let go of his foe's hand, showing that he wanted to see more of Bergamo's power and that he would respond in kind.

"Hit me!" Bergamo declared, though this time he spread his arms and opened his chest up to being hit, showing that he was willing to let himself be hurt so he could make this battle interesting, even if his definition of interesting was much different than what everyone else used, "I'll show you why they call me Bergamo the Crusher!"

Goku stood there for a moment, studying his foe since such an action was reckless, regardless of who someone was fighting, and it wasn't long before he determined that he might as well see what sort of power Bergamo had, to which he unleashed a series of powerful punches on his opponent, striking his foe's chest in rapid succession. After a moment or two he stopped punching Bergamo's chest and backed up, where he and the observers watched as the dents he had made glowed red for a moment before disappearing, which was followed by Bergamo growing in size a little, to the point where he was slightly taller than the tips of Goku's hair. Bergamo grinned as he noticed the look of confusion on Goku's face, which was what he had been counting on, though as he took his stance once more his fists glowed red, showing that he was preparing something, before he rushed at Goku once more. This time around, when Goku blocked the attack, he found that his foe's power was greater than before, to which he dodged the next couple of attacks and even jumped into the air to avoid the last one, where Bergamo's fist put a small hole in the stage as he missed his mark. While he wasn't looking Goku spun around and brought the backside of his leg down on Bergamo, knocking him back when he defended himself, and loosed a few more punches into his foe's chest, though when he backed away Bergamo increased in size once more and grinned at him.

When Goku rushed forward again he was punched in the chest and knocked back onto the fighting stage, though it was clear that Bergamo had to be taking the power of his attacks and adding it to his own, making him taller and stronger the more damage he took... a dangerous combination, as that was Sunset's thoughts on the power Bergamo was showing them, but at the same time it appeared that both Goku and Gohan had figured it out as well.

"Do you see that, Universe 7?" Ro asked, once more butting into a battle so he could talk about his fighter, though one would have thought that he would just stop talking and let his warrior take care of himself, especially after what happened to Basil and Lavender in their own fights, "Bergamo the Crusher is a warrior who can turn his enemy's attacks into his own power and return them twofold! His strength is truly limitless."

This time around no one bothered to say anything to Ro, meaning that he was just talking to hear himself talk at this point, as they were focused on what Goku was going to do against a foe that could turn his own power against him like this, provided he actually take some damage from the attacks in question. The response to Bergamo's power was Goku ascending to his Super Saiyan form, surprising some of the gods that were watching them, before he burst through the air and slammed into Bergamo's chest, unleashing a few punches that increased his foe's size and power once more, but at the same time his giant state was starting to have a single weakness that he didn't seem to know about. All Bergamo seemed interested in was the fact that he could return Goku's power to him, resulting in him attempting to punch his foe and struck the stage, cracking the surface as tiles were uprooted in the wake of his power, before he stood up and soaked in the rest of the damage, growing to the size where his head was on level with Lord Zeno's thrones. Goku didn't seem to mind this type of power, even if he felt that it was unoriginal, and when Bergamo tried to fire a sphere of energy at him he simply dodged it and flashed in front of Bergamo's face, delivering a powerful kick that started to send him backwards, but he caught himself and kicked Goku higher through the air, before firing a number of energy spheres at his foe.

Goku actually let one strike him, which in turn gave the others something to zero in on, before he flew in a spiral around the incoming attacks and struck at Bergamo once more, cutting off the spheres before he zipped around through the air, dodging Bergamo's attacks and striking at his foe every now and then.

Ro seemed to be pleased with how the battle was going, as he determined there was nothing for Goku to do but fly through the air and avoid Bergamo's attacks, while at the same time Bergamo seemed pleased by the fact that he was pushing Goku back, despite the fact that he had no idea what sort of power Goku commanded. Even the Present and Future Lord Zeno were interested in how the battle was going, since they weren't expecting this to happen at all, but that didn't stop everyone from waiting to see what Goku did next, as Sunset was sure that he had a plan to turn the tables and use his foe's height to his advantage. The opening came when Goku rushed in to attack Bergamo, who parried the incoming punch with his own, though this time around there was a brief blinding light, that only covered the area in front of him, and that gave Goku more than enough time to move before Bergamo could see again, confusing the giant blue wolf as he looked around and tried to find where Goku had wandered off to. Goku, who had been holding onto part of Bergamo's scarf, which had grown with him, slipped off of it and landed behind his foe, where he leapt forward and kicked the back of Bergamo's right leg, causing the giant wolf to topple to the ground as his back hit the fighting stage, which only served to increase his size and power once more.

Despite the fact that Goku warned him about his increased size, and the number of blind spots this form gave his foe, Bergamo continued to attack him, causing Goku to reply in kind purely for the sake of increasing his foe's power, to give himself an even greater challenge, until eventually his size came back to bite him as he fell to one knee when the edge of the fighting stage shattered under the weight of his large form.

"Can you still get even stronger?" Goku asked, as he landed in front of his foe, because he was curious as to how much more power Bergamo could take before he reached his limits, which would be around the time that he collapsed under the strain of maintaining such a large form.

"Curse you!" Bergamo shouted, to which he raised his fist and swung at Goku, intending to smash him into the stage and fulfill his end of the bargain, so he could prevent the erasure of the universes that lost the Tournament of Power and show everyone that his universe wasn't as bad as Lord Zeno thought.

Goku grinned as he dodged the fist that was coming at him, which was when he spun backwards in the air a few times until he came to a stop some distance in the air, though as that happened he determined that it was time that he stopped holding back and accessed his true power. In the following instant he tapped into the god ki that he had been trained to use and his brilliant blue aura formed around him, shrouding his body from those that were watching them while also shining brightly, allowing the pressure of what he was doing to tell everyone what was going on. The air around them shook under the intensity of Goku's Super Saiyan Blue form being activated, surprising the gods that weren't used to seeing this form at all, and not even a few moments later the aura that had attached to his body shattered, showing that his hair and aura had taken on the brilliant blue color of the god ki that he had access to. Even the Present and Future Lord Zeno were impressed by what they were seeing, despite the fact that one of them had seen this form before and the other one hadn't seen it, but that didn't stop them from watching the battle with an interest in their eyes, while Sunset noticed that Beerus had a slight smile on his face.

"Super Saiyan Blue's not enough... I'll show you my full power!" Goku stated, where only those that knew anything about his transformations understood that there was something else that he could do that would increase his already high level of power, to which he readied himself, "Kaio-ken!"

That was followed by a brilliant red aura forming on top of the Super Saiyan Blue aura, which was the Kaio-ken, one of the techniques that he had been trained in when he was younger, something that both Rainbow and Applejack had also been trained in, though it was designed to multiply the user's power, up to a multiplier of twenty. From what Sunset had determined this combination of Super Saiyan Blue and the Kaio-ken was incredibly dangerous, but at the same time she had the feeling that Goku must have trained himself to the point where he could overcome any negative side effects and use the technique to it's fullest. As the Kaio-ken formed Goku shined brightly for a few more moments, the sheer power he was giving off shaking the area around them and even putting some cracks in the pillars around the fighting stage, but despite all that it seemed that only one person didn't care about what he was seeing.

"He's bluffing!" Bergamo shouted, to which his own red aura formed around him as he gathered his power, showing that he intended to attack Goku and face the power that he was using at the moment, where his energy caused a number of the ruined tiles of the stage to break apart float for a few seconds.

"Ka... me... ha... me..." Goku said, pulling his hands over to his right side as his power gathered into a sphere between his hands, forming the powerful attack that he used in a number of his battles before this point in time, while at the same time staring down at his foe, "HA!!!"

The moment Goku said that he loosed a beam of energy down at Bergamo, who raised his left hand into the air and let the attack collide with his palm, stopping it in it's tracks, despite the fact that the beam attack was large enough to cover the vast majority of the fighting stage's size.

"Wolfgang Penetrator!" Bergamo called out in response, to which he swung his right fist and sent his own beam of energy up through Goku's, pushing it back all the way to where Goku was floating, but despite the power that he was using at the moment it wasn't enough to actually stop Goku's attack.

What happened next was that Goku quietly called upon a higher multiplier of the Kaio-ken, most likely times two, and his Kamehameha had it's power boosted, allowing him to push against Bergamo's attack and send it straight down to where his foe was standing, who had a look of surprise on his face when the beam slammed into where he was standing and finally detonated. As the rush of energy dissipated from the area, as there had been no smoke this time, Sunset and the others found that the sheer power of Goku's attack had been too much for Bergamo, as he had reverted back to his base size and power, and as Goku landed on the stage once more the wolf weakly reached for him before collapsing on the broken tiles that rested all around them.

"That's enough. The third match is concluded." the Grand Priest said, as he could tell that Bergamo wasn't in any condition to continue fighting, especially since he lowered his platform down so he could be close to the warriors, and while he did that Goku released his power and reverted to his base form once more, "Universe 7 wins!"

The Present and Future Lord Zeno were happy with the fights they had witnessed, especially since Goku upheld his side of the bargain that Bergamo had made and didn't hold back at all, especially since holding back would have brought about the end of all thirteen universes in an instant, but now they were back to square one once more. Basil and Lavender came to Bergamo's aid, who cursed Goku and claimed that Universe 7 would be the first ones eliminated, now that every universe that would be participating in the Tournament of Power had a reason to go after him and his allies, but Goku just smiled and told him that he wasn't entirely right. Even the Grand Priest was pleased with the results, despite the fact that he didn't show it on his face, because both the Present and the Future Lord Zeno were eager for the Tournament of Power and deemed the Zen Exhibition Match a success, and he even praised both Universe 7 and Universe 9 for putting on a show for the Kings of All.

"And now, allow me to explain the rules of the Tournament of Power." the Grand Priest stated, showing that he must have formed an idea of the rules long before the Zen Exhibition Match started, especially since they were taking after the martial arts tournaments of Universe 7's Earth, before he held a hand out and projected a large green globe into the air, one that revealed an interesting fighting stage to all of them, "This is the fighting stage that will be built in the World of Void. To win, one must knock an opponent off the stage. If an opponent is knocked out on the stage your warriors can simply throw them over the edge. Also, after witnessing the Zen Exhibition Match, some restrictions will be in place. The first being that weapons are not allowed, rather warriors will use their own techniques to fight their opponents. Secondly, opponents may not be killed. Third, flying skills such as flight will be nullified while in the World of Void. And the time limit will be one hundred tacks... which is roughly forty-eight minutes."

"Isn't that a bit long?" Whis inquired, though at the same time he knew that Universe 7 would have no problems with the rules that were being set into the Tournament of Power, since it was how they usually fought anyway, "Who knows how long it will take for each individual match to be complete."

"That's not true, as every warrior will be trying to knock each other off the stage." the Grand Priest replied, almost as if he had been expecting that sort of question to come up while he was explaining the rules of the tournament, and he was happy to see that it was Whis that asked the question, instead of one of his other eleven children, "The Tournament of Power will be only one match... a battle royal if you will. Don't worry, the fighting stage will be large enough for ninety warriors from nine universes. After everyone fights to the time limit, the universe with the most warriors left wins by default. Of course, if only one warrior remains with some time left, then that warrior's universe is the winner. That's all the rules for the Tournament of Power. We look forward to each universe's good fighting."

"Son Goku!" a voice called out, to which everyone watched as the mysterious figure from the Universe 11 platform jumped into the air and landed on the ruined fighting stage, surprising many of them by his actions, though at the same time the attendants moved in close to the Kings of All, just in case something bad happened.

"Who are you?" the Grand Priest asked, though this was just a formality at this point, as he had been introduced to any and all additions that would be joining the gods in this meeting, but even then he wasn't expecting Belmod's addition to sudden jump onto the fighting stage like this.

"I know this is disrespectful. Please forgive me." the figure said, to which he, as it was a male voice coming from under the robe, reached up and threw the robe off to the side, revealing a tall burly humanoid that had tan colored skin, with no hair on his head, and a white mustache that covered his mouth, though he was wearing an interesting set of attire, as he was wearing a red and black spandex suit, with red in the middle of two black sections, "Son Goku, I would have words with you. I am leader of the Pride Troopers, from the brave and beautiful Universe 11! Toppo, the Warrior of Freedom! Son Goku, fight against me. If you bare evil intent and would stand against me, my fists shall bring ruin upon you. My only wish is to slay! Evil! Immediately!"

While Toppo was introducing himself he went through a series of poses, reminding Applejack of the time that she and the others encountered the Ginyu Force, a group of warriors that she hadn't thought about for a long time, and she could tell that Goku was thinking the same thing, but since Toppo was issuing a fight Goku was leaving the decision to the Present and the Future Lord Zeno, since it would be rude to fight here if they said no.

"Lord Zeno, please forgive the sudden rudeness." the Kaioshin of Universe 11, Cae if Sunset was remembering the name correctly, said, though at the same time he stepped up a little to put himself between Belmod and the Kings of All, as if he would take fault for this and any punishment, "After observing the previous match, I have come to admire Son Goku-dono. I ask that Toppo, who I have brought with me as my bodyguard, be allowed to fight with him here. May I have your permission to do so?"

Sunset watched as both Cae and Belmod bowed their heads towards the Present and Future Lord Zeno, showing that they were being respectful despite the fact that the Zen Exhibition Match was over, and she noticed that the Grand Priest had floated up to the Kings of All as the attendants moved away from them, as if sensing that any potential danger had passed and were returning to their posts... though it wasn't long before he declared that both Kings of All were granting permission for this 'special fight' between Goku and Toppo, who had to be more than a simple bodyguard.

"You heard them." Goku stated, to which he dipped into his power once more and took on his Super Saiyan form, as he wanted to see Toppo's strength before doing anything else, especially since his new foe had a good idea what sort of power he had access to, "I'm ready."

"Son Goku, I won't forgive you for putting our universe in danger!" Toppo declared, to which he raised his fists, which were larger than his head, for a moment and readied himself, while at the same time pointing one of his hands at Goku for a few seconds, "The only one that will be erased is you!"

As he said that a faint red aura formed around Toppo's frame, not like the full body aura that Goku and the others used all the time, but even then Sunset felt the slightest tug of something that she had grown used to using since her own ascension into the realm of being a God of Destruction. She glanced at the others for a moment, seeing that they felt the same way that she did, before turning her attention back to Toppo, where she realized that they hadn't been told the entire truth about why Toppo had been brought to this meeting, as the truth might actually be that he was brought to observe how summits worked, like he was a replacement for one of them. Interesting enough Toppo revealed that it didn't matter how much evil someone had, be it small, big, or even huge, as all of them would meet their end at his 'iron fist of justice', though something told her that he'd have a big problem meeting Chrysalis, the Sirens, or even Sombra, despite the fact that all of them had been reformed in their own ways. In the end that was where their observations of Toppo came to an end, as he rushed forward and started the battle with Goku, meaning that they'd have a chance to see a few of his techniques and his fighting style before the Tournament of Power started.

What happened next was that he pulled a fast one on Goku, disappearing seconds after getting close to him and appeared in the air above him, using his 'Justice On' technique, which was just him turning around so he could stand on Goku's shoulders, before going with 'Justice Tornado', which was where he trapped Goku's head between his feet and spun into the air, before Goku was able to free himself and land on the ruined stage. Toppo seemed to be expecting that and returned to the ruined stage as well, only to bypass Goku's incoming attack and grab onto his right arm, pulling it behind his back in such a way that was incredibly painful, calling it his 'Justice Crusher', while at the same time shocking everyone from Universe 7 in the process, since they weren't used to seeing something like this, and Applejack had to agree with them. Despite the fact that his shoulder had been dislocated, as that was the point of the attack, Goku flipped up into the air and kicked Toppo backwards, freeing him and allowing him to put some distance between them, giving him a slight opportunity to force his arm back into position, before facing his foe once more. Once he did that Goku rushed forward and went on the offensive, trying to put the pressure on Toppo, who dodged the attacks and even stopped one with the palm of his hand, one that Goku backed away from before his foe could close his hand and crush something else.

Toppo, seeing that Goku wouldn't fall for his joint locking techniques, raised his right hand and pointed all of his fingers at his foe, where he loosed a storm of small ki blasts that he called his 'Justice Flash', one that Goku moved away from as the blasts followed him, showing how focused Toppo was on the match. He also demonstrated that he could use that technique with his left hand as well, before forming a small sphere of energy that he hurled through the air, which was designed to counter the blue sphere, of a similar size, that Goku had been planning on throwing at him. The two attacks collided in the air between them and exploded upon impact, actually kicking up some smoke this time around, and forced Goku to remain in one position for a few moments as he considered what he was going to do next against the opponent that he was facing. Of course Toppo wasn't going to let the advantage disappear, as he flashed through the air and appeared behind Goku, where he wrapped both of his arms around the Saiyan, taking advantage of the fact that his arms were larger than his foe's body, trapping Goku in his grasp, and then proceeded to squeeze him like he was actually trying to kill him. While this happened Belmod, Cae, and Marcarita, the Angel of Universe 11, revealed that the technique was Toppo's 'Justice Rear Naked Choke', the greatest of his finishing holds, and that he wouldn't let up until every single bone in Goku's body was broken, where Marcarita suggested that Universe 7 forfeit to avoid such a thing happening, a suggestion that annoyed Whis a little.

For a moment it actually seemed like Toppo was going to kill him, since Goku dropped out of his Super Saiyan state and returned to his base form, but that backfired when Goku took on his Super Saiyan Blue form and knocked Toppo's arms off him, freeing him so the battle could continue.

What happened next was Goku flashing around the area, avoiding Toppo's attacks while punching him in return, only to move before the followup attack came at him, and it wasn't long before he was knocking Toppo around a group of four points in the air, much like some people did when they were fighting certain enemies. He did, eventually, let Toppo go so they could continue the battle without such an act going on, where Toppo rubbed his face for a moment before stating that 'Justice was everlasting', which was when the two of them went at each other and flashed around the air, allowing their fists to come into contact with their foes as they danced around the area above the fighting stage. The very air in the area shook as their fists and legs came into contact with each other, so much so that one of the pillars fell over after feeling their power, and when they returned to the fighting stage the two of them left craters in their wake, showing that the two of them were quite strong and that they weren't to be underestimated, before they touched down in the direct center of the stage and formed another crater around them. From there the two went at it, allowing the force of their attacks to cause the crater to sink even further into the stage, before Toppo tried to get the upper hand by appearing above Goku and kick him into the crater, which was when Goku did the same thing and kicked Toppo into the crater, putting a smaller dent in the large hole they had punched into the fighting stage.

As Toppo got up, however, Goku started to charge another Kamehemeha, one that Toppo tried to interrupt by firing off a volley of his Justice Flash, which only caused Goku to flash through the air and appear in front of him, where he loosed the attack he was charging and shrouded Toppo in it for a few moments... though once the attack was done, and the smoke cleared, Goku and the others found that his foe was still okay, though the left shoulder part of Toppo's uniform had been ruined by the attack.

"You have besmirched this custom-made uniform," Toppo stated, as it didn't take him long to discover the damage to his attire, showing that he took great pride in his profession and that he wouldn't stand for someone damaging it, even if it was a silly thing to think about, "that only the Pride Troopers are allowed to wear. It is the same as defiling our pride! I will show you true justice!"

In that instant Toppo's aura flared to life, acting like a true aura that wrapped around his entire body, and it didn't take Goku long to respond in kind, as he activated the Kaio-ken once more, showing that he was going to meet Toppo's full power with his own full power.

"That's enough." the Grand Priest stated, causing the two warriors to turn towards him in surprise, as if they weren't expecting him to suddenly speak up, while at the same time they dropped back into their base states as everyone else turned towards him.

"Aw, we want to see him pass his limits." the Present and Future Lord Zeno said, showing that they were hoping to see what Goku did next, meaning that they were slightly disappointed in the fact that he had stopped the fight when he did, though it also appeared that their earlier excitement hadn't been diminished at all.

"At the rate they were going, one of them was going to end up dead." the Grand Priest replied, though while he knew that Son Goku would have restrained himself in the end he had the feeling that Toppo wouldn't do the same thing, which meant that it was a good thing he stepped in when he did, "It would have ruined the Tournament of Power. Why don't we save the rest of their fight for the tournament? It will be even more lively than what we saw here today."

The Present and Future Lord Zeno glanced at each other for a moment, clearly wondering about what they had seen and what the Grand Priest had said, before they determined that they had seen enough for today, to which Goku sighed for a moment as he let go of the fact that their battle had been stopped so suddenly, knowing that he and Toppo would be able to pick it up in the actual tournament.

"Toppo, you sure surprised me." Goku said, taking the chance to talk to someone that he could see as his rival during the Tournament of Power, while at the same time he noticed that Toppo seemed a little disappointed in the fact that he couldn't complete what his God of Destruction wanted of him, where he held his hand out for a moment, "I honestly didn't think that I'd fight someone as strong as you here, in the Zen Exhibition Match. I'm looking forward to fighting you in the tournament, where we can fight with all our strength and not hold back at all."

"I have no intention of shaking an enemy's hand." Toppo stated, to which he turned around and started to walk away from where Goku was standing, who lowered his hand as he did that, before he stopped as he thought about something else, "I hate to bring joy to you, Son Goku, but I am not the strongest being in Universe 11. My sworn friend is called Jiren the Gray. If you are equally matched with me, at this stage of my power, you'll never be able to win against him."

Sunset's ears perked at the mention of someone that was even stronger than Toppo, a being called Jiren, and knew that, just from hearing his name, he wasn't an individual that they could ignore, meaning that they needed their strongest champions to represent their universe in the Tournament of Power. While she thought about this the Grand Priest told them that he was going to begin construction on the fighting stage for the tournament, where it would take about five tics for him to complete his work, which was translated into forty hours total, not giving them a lot of time to actually find and recruit their warriors. Fortunately for Universe 13 most of the displaced lived on Equus, meaning that it would incredibly easy for them to gather those that still lived there, while Chrysalis and Sombra would be the more difficult ones, despite the fact that it was easy to speak with Chrysalis thanks to something Sunset had from her second adventure. Most of the universes that were going to be fighting in the tournament determined that this wasn't enough time for them, but the Grand Priest didn't seem to care and called their meeting to an end, where he waved his arms and the gods of each universe returned to their individual Sacred World of the Kai.

As such Sunset and her group arrived on the planet they had been on some time ago in mere seconds, to which they all looked at each other and knew that the fate of their universe was at stake, as they only had forty hours to gather their warriors and prepare themselves for the fight of their lives... and, as they headed back to Equus, Sunset put Tirek at the back of her mind, knowing that the tournament was far more important than trying to find the missing centaur.