//------------------------------//
// Tournament: The Beginning 
// Story: Dragon Ball Super: Fate of the Multiverse 
// by Blackdrag-rose 
//------------------------------//

Sunset knew that Ratchet wasn't too happy when he heard that someone tried to take out the entirety of their team, even if he had no idea about the danger their universe was in thanks to the Tournament of Power, but he was happy to come by with the Starship Hyperion and take the would-be assassins off her hands. She didn't want to worry him about the danger of the tournament, rather she and Starlight just told him that the large group of assassins had attempted to knock them out before the event happened, meaning they would have been disqualified if the group had gotten away with what they had come to do. At the same time, however, Sunset was annoyed by how foolish and retarded the assassins had been, because she knew they were supposed to wait until the cover of night and attack their blind spots, instead of coming out when there was still daylight out and openly declaring war on her team. It must have been humiliating for the Universe 9 assassins, as she assumed they were from Sidra's universe because of the fact they were the only ones whose energy she and the others couldn't sense, especially since a number of their group had been defeated by children, which might make a number of them give up this lifestyle once the tournament was over.

It wasn't long before Ratchet and the rest of his team carted the assassins off of Equus and headed out to an area where they would be held until Sunset wanted to deal with them again, a special prison that was supposed to handle beings that could use ki and other magical abilities, but handling a god was another question, as if it failed against her power. Once all of the assassins were taken care of, and the Hyperion was gone once more, Sunset and the others returned to the castle and resumed what they had been doing earlier, though now they knew that Universe 9 was after them and Universe 7, which meant that their first opponents might have just shown them their hand. The rest of the team agreed with her thoughts, as they all knew that Universe 9 wanted both them and Universe 7 eliminated before the tournament even started, meaning that both of their universes might be their main targets when the fighting started. It was a good thing that they had struck an alliance with Beerus' team, as this meant that they could combine their efforts and take out the enemies that would be coming after them in the near future, and all of them were in agreement that Sidra's team might be after them to avenge the defeat of their assassins.

"I honestly can't believe that one of the other universes would send assassins after us." Rarity commented, though at the same time she tapped the pencil she was holding against the drawing pad that rested in front of her, as she was taking a bit of their free time to come up with some new ideas for clothing, but right now she was a little annoyed and didn't have any good ideas thanks to what happened outside the castle.

"Especially some horribly ineffective assassins at that." Yoruichi added, telling the group that her own group in Soul Society would have done much better than their attackers, especially since she and Soi Fon had trained their own stealth group to be the best in the four realms of their world, and that she was annoyed with how terrible those assassins were, even if she was more annoyed that someone would try and eliminate them before the tournament started.

"Someone is getting desperate, that's why they were sent in the first place." Sunset said, causing the group to glance at her for a moment, while at the same time Celestia nodded her head in understanding, before she glanced out the nearby window and tried to focus on something else while they waited for the missing members of their team to return to the castle, "Sidra is trying to improve his chances at surviving the Tournament of Power, by eliminating some of his competition before it can actually start, and from the sounds of it he targeted Universe 7 to salvage some of his honor or pride, since he lost the Zen Exhibition Match. Why he targeted us is also a simple matter to explain, as Quitela thinks we're a weak universe and that it would be much easier to get rid of us by elimination, rather than face us in the tournament, like he's supposed to, and he's using Sidra against us so we don't blame him for everything."

"And we can't point fingers without any evidence," Sombra stated, as the one thing they had failed to acquire was any sort of communicator, as the leader of the assassins didn't have one on his person, meaning that this group was supposed to complete their mission and then join the group that was sent to Universe 7, "but at a time like this, before the universes start fighting each other, the Grand Priest might assume that we're lying to try and get another team eliminated before the tournament starts, so he might ignore us and possibly punish us instead. We'll just have to focus on keeping an eye on Sidra's team when the fighting starts, as I'm sure that they'll go after us and Universe 7 for the same reasons that you just told us about."

"Don't worry about evidence," a voice said, to which the group turned and watched as Shin, accompanied by both Rainbow and Applejack, entered the castle and came to a stop near the tables the team was sitting at, where he stopped and the girls took their seats near their teammates, "We have an orb that's made up of Energy of Destruction, which could be explained as being given for a previous mission, and a communicator that revealed Sidra and Ro for a moment, even though Frieza disconnected the connection before they could see us. But you would be correct, Sombra, that the Grand Priest won't be happy if both of our universes accused Universe 9 of the attack, especially before the tournament starts, so we'll just have to deal with it and focus on Sidra's team when the fighting starts, as Gohan determined that they'll come after us at some point after everyone starts fighting."

"Don't worry, we'll help Universe 7 take care of Universe 9." Rainbow stated, though at the same time she rested her hands behind her head, as she knew, from hearing what Applejack told her about the Zen Exhibition Match, that the greatest danger they had to worry about was the Trio of Danger, the brothers that Goku, Gohan, and Buu had faced down and soundly defeated, even if Gohan had tied in his match.

"So, did anything interesting happen while they were visiting Universe 7?" Sunset asked, speaking to Shin, since he would be here for a few minutes and wanted to see if he had anything interesting to say before he left, or if he had a message from Beerus.

"Well, Buu fell asleep and won't wake up for two months." Shin admitted, though while that would have been a big problem for them, since Majin Buu was one of their strongest warriors, they had managed to replace him quite easily and had someone that knew what was at stake, "However, that's not much of a problem for us, since Goku and the assassins convinced Frieza to take part in the Tournament of Power, so we have a new tenth member that will allow us to stand a better chance against the other universes."

Sunset knew who Shin was talking about, as Frieza had been a tyrant before Rainbow and Applejack met him, along with Beerus having a conversation of some sort with him, and these days he was more known as the 'emperor', a voice of good that kept himself hidden in the shadows, despite his army stepping into the light. She had seen him fight a few times in the past, when he had been resurrected and fought against both Goku and Vegeta, where he had first showed off his Golden form, and had to admit that Frieza was a worthy addition to the team, as he would definitely fight for the safety of Universe 7 and might enjoy fighting beside Rainbow and Applejack.

"Don't forget that the assassins attacked his base near North City and killed one of his soldiers," Applejack said, telling them that something had happened in Universe 7 while they were there, though at the same time she sighed as she thought about what they had seen during their visit to one of their old homes, "Frieza ordered his soldiers to arrest the assassins and took them all into custody, so when the tournament is over they can be properly punished for their actions, be it by dad or by Sidra, since that's who the Energy of Destruction belonged to."

"Yes, he was annoyed about that whole ordeal." Shin admitted, as the event confirmed that the former tyrant had changed for the better, because he thought about his subordinates and didn't treat them like trash, and his personality, while losing the cruel nature he had been known for, had improved as well, "Well, I had better get going, because the rest of our warriors were starting to gather when I left with Rainbow and Applejack, though hopefully we can get to the start of the tournament without anything else happening to either of our universes."

Sunset had the feeling that nothing else was coming their way, since they had just stopped Sidra's attempt to take both of their universes out of the tournament, but nodded her head anyway and watched as Shin bid them farewell, only to head outside and use his Kai Kai ability to disappear as quickly as he had appeared, leaving them to relax for another couple of hours. Rainbow and Applejack spent a few minutes confirming what they had told Sombra earlier, about which warriors would be on Universe 7's team, allowing the team to go over what they should do when they got to the World of Void and the tournament started, so they could survive and overcome the plans of the other universes. Other than that the ten warriors were allowed to do whatever they wanted, which was rest and make sure they were ready for what was coming their way, as there was no telling who the other universes were bringing and what sort of power each of their warriors commanded, meaning they would have to keep their guards up once they got to the fighting stage. Celestia and Twilight knew that their team needed some time to themselves, since they had been training all day yesterday, and were more than happy to give them all the time they needed, since Celestia was keeping an eye on how much time they had left, as Whis had been kind enough to send over a countdown for her, because they were still new to the world of the gods and didn't know much about their timekeeping system.

While all of that was going on Sunset remained in the ballroom, listening to the plans that her team came up with while they were talking, nodding whenever she found one that might work to their benefit, but for the most part she stayed silent, thinking about the tournament itself and wishing that, as a new universe, they would have been exempt from entering, though she had to accept the reality of their situation and go with it. She didn't like the idea of the other universes being in danger like this, where losing all ten of their warriors meant they were going to be erased, and she had been pleased when Beerus stated that Goku and his team were thinking about following her lead, since it was their idea to use the Super Dragon Balls to revive the erased universes, if they survived to the end anyway. That was the problem with this entire situation, as seven universes were only thinking about themselves and didn't seem to care what Universe 13 had to say on anything, especially since they had been forgotten about when the other Kaioshin and the Gods of Destruction had their own meetings. She was disappointed in them, she really was, but for now all she could focus on was the fact that they needed to stay in the tournament and make sure either their universe was the one that won, or ensure that Universe 7 won the tournament, that way their wish was the one that came out on top.

Eventually the time came when they had to leave, how she knew that was because Whis' timer was set so both of their universes could arrive a few minutes before the others did, giving them a few moments to themselves before the other seven teams and their gods arrived in the World of Void... and to jump to their destination, without wrecking anything, the group gathered in the backyard of the palace, out of sight of the other residents in Ponyville, and made sure they were standing close together for the journey.

"Grand Priest-sama," Celestia said, turning her head towards the sky and speaking to it, as that was what Whis had instructed her to do when he sent her the timer, and she knew that he wouldn't mess with her and her team, especially since they had no idea how to get to the World of Void without the aid of the Grand Priest and his own unique abilities, "Universe 13's warriors have gathered."

"Very well." a voice replied, one that Sunset, Celestia, Twilight, Applejack, Rainbow, and Discord recognized, where their expressions revealed that this was the voice of the Grand Priest and caused the others to settle down as strands of white energy gathered around them for a moment.

Sombra and the others found themselves surrounded by a shimmering sphere of energy not even a few seconds later, telling him that the Grand Priest had to be working fast as they floated into the air, to which he glanced down at the ground and waved to Yoruichi, who was staying behind to make sure nothing else happened to Ponyville during their absence. Of course she was waving at both him and the rest of his team, wishing them all good luck in the tournament, where each of them nodded their heads as they focused on what was coming next, as the sphere glowed brighter and the area around where they were floating disappeared, sending them to the World of Void and the fighting stage.





The journey from Universe 13 to the World of Void took maybe all of five seconds at the very least, maybe half a minute at the most, but when they arrived in the isolated space that existed outside the multiverse, which appeared to be a nearly black colored void, the group found themselves standing on an intricate looking fighting stage, one with a flat landscape and a pillar in the middle of the arena. Resting near the stage, while giving it the ability to oversee the entirety of the structure, was a curved sitting area with three rows, where there seemed to be more than enough room for the Gods of Destruction, their counterpart Kaioshin, their Angels, and the warriors that would be taking part in the tournament, which told Sunset that if a warrior was eliminated from the tournament they'd end up on the stands. Floating in the air near the stage was a spherical device that was basically a massive light, as it shined down on the fighting stage and made sure that everything could be seen, which made sense considering that the other point for this tournament was to entertain both the Present and the Future Lord Zeno. Floating off in the distance rested another object, a platform with an intricate looking structure that had to be where the Kings of All would be watching from, though it seemed to be protected by a barrier of some kind, meaning that they would be unharmed while the warriors fought for their universes.

The last time Sunset had been here was when her first summit of the gods happened, an event where she met the other godly pairs, their Angels, and the Present Lord Zeno, back where there was only one of them, and during her time here she had fought Beerus to a tie, to show off her own power for the King of All... not to mention that the Grand Priest must have constructed a planet for that match, which she had cleaved in half and destroyed with Beerus, but she pushed that thought to the side and focused on what they were doing.

"So, this is the World of Void." Sombra commented, to which he and the others looked around the area that they had found themselves in, as well as making sure they got a good look at the fighting stage as well, before a slight smile appeared on his face for a moment, "Reminds me of the Shadowlands... only without the bottomless pits and the vast mountain that my private study was built into."

"It looks like someone tested the fighting stage earlier, and the Grand Priest is making them rebuild it." Celestia said, as she and her fellow gods had noticed three Destroyer Gods, Iwne, Liquiir, and Arack, were busy manipulating sections of stone or metal that fit into the disappearing holes around them, and none of them seemed happy about it while Geene, another Destroyer, was standing near them with a grin on his face.

Before anyone else could say anything another shimmering barrier phased into existence nearby, one that happened to be close to where they were standing, to which the group went quiet as they waited to see which universe was arriving shortly after them, before Rainbow and Applejack grinned as Beerus, Whis, Shin, Chronoa, and the Old Kai appeared. It took them a moment to spot Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, and Gohan, all of whom seemed happy to see them, for their own reasons, before the rest of their team got a glimpse of who they were teaming up with, since the girls hadn't revealed what the rest of Universe 7's team looked like. The first one they noticed was a short fighter, maybe half the size of Goku, and he happened to be wearing the same gi that Goku and Gohan were wearing, despite his being a pale orange color, and the same blue undershirt and belt, though he was bald, which had been shaved around the time of Frieza's resurrection, and he had six scars on his forehead in a pattern that made him look like a monk. Standing behind Krillin, the bald warrior, was a much taller and muscular warrior with green skin, who wore a dark purplish blue colored gi, while having a white turban on his head and a white cape, which was attached to some shoulder pads that he was wearing, though his name was Piccolo. Next to them stood an old man who was also bald and he wore a white shirt with brown pants, though in addition to that he had a white beard and mustache, along with some sunglasses that covered his eyes, making him look like a harmless old man, causing Applejack to tell her team not to underestimate Master Roshi, because he was quite strong and would make sure they knew it in time.

Standing near Krillin was a young adult lady that seemed uninterested in the area around her, though she was wearing a pink tracksuit, both the pants and the jacket, and she pushed some of her short blond hair out of her eyes as she looked around the area, where the girls introduced her as Android 18. Next to her was her brother, Android 17, who was wearing a white shirt, which had green sleeves and the word 'MIR' written on it in black letters, and had blue jeans, but he also had an orange armband with the word 'RANGER' on his left arm and wore black gloves, along with a black version of his sister's hairstyle. Near them stood a tall man that was also bald, even though he had a third eye in the middle of his forehead, though he wore a black and brown-red formal outfit that had to represent the new dojo he had opened, but the girls knew him as Tien Shinhan and made sure their team knew it as well. Vegeta had also changed since they last saw him, which had been a few hours ago, as he was now wearing the Saiyan armor he had worn when they had been told the Androids were a threat, when they turned out to be okay, and that was a white chest piece that covered his front and back while resting over a blue bodysuit, though he also wore white gloves and boots as well.

These were the warriors from Universe 7, the warriors that they were going to team up with and ensure that they were the last two universes left so their wish could be made, and both Goku and Vegeta grinned as they walked forward as Rainbow and Applejack did the same, to which their fists met in a greeting fashion.

"It seems that they're happy to see each other," Sunset commented, while at the same time she noticed that some of Beerus' team were shocked by the world that they had found themselves in, which was to be expected since this was the first time that many of them would have seen this place.

She would have said more, especially since Beerus was nearby, but before she could do so a number of shimmering areas appeared all over the fighting stage, signaling that the other universes were arriving as well, while at the same time Whis reminded both their teams, since they were close to each other, that they only had to knock their foes off the fighting stage to eliminate them, as well as the fact that skills like flight weren't allowed. Trixie did remember to unfurl her wings from the tattoos on her back before coming here, even though they were closed and she wasn't flying at the moment, but this way it wouldn't be considered cheating, even if she technically wasn't born with them, like two of the warriors from Universe 10, who seemed to have a number of muscular types in their lineup. Whis also explained that, for fairness, each warrior would feel the gravity of their birth planet, not that such a thing mattered to Sunset's team since they all came from the same planet, but at the same time that told her that there was more to the area the fighting stage was resting in than what they were currently seeing, meaning that none of her warriors were going to be crippled at all. Once that was done Whis floated into the air and wished the two teams well, as it was getting to the point where he and the other gods should place themselves on the spectators seats, to which Celestia and the others started to move as well, since they needed to get up there as well.

"Here, keep these safe." Sombra said, to which he pulled both of his scabbards from their belts and handed them over to Sunset, who carefully handled both of his Zanpakuto while nodding her head, because to be fair to the other teams he was purposely keeping his power sealed, even though the Hogyoku was still floating where his Hollow hole was located.

"Are you sure you want to fight with that thing in your chest?" Sunset asked, because she had the feeling that having such a powerful artifact in such a position would compromise Sombra's power for some time, until he got used to the new strength and power it gave him.

"I'll be fine for a good period of time." Sombra replied, and that was the truth, because he could technically fight without using either of his Zanpakuto, but at the same time he also knew that he'd have to call upon them at some point, since they had no idea what sort of power their foes possessed.

Sunset nodded her head and followed her group up to the stands, where Celestia sat on the highest row by herself, as that was reserved for the Angels only, with Sunset sitting directly in front of her and Twilight sitting to her right, while Discord also sat to Twilight's right, allowing the two blades to lean against the wall of the stands as they looked down at their team and Beerus' team. As the gods departed from the fighting stage, and took their seats on the stands, Goku and Vegeta were visited by a trio of Saiyans from Universe 6, a young man with spiked black hair, while also wearing the armor that Universe 7's Saiyans used to wear before Frieza conquered them, who was called Cabba. Near him stood a female Saiyan that was slightly taller than him, who wore a low cut magenta tube top, a purple baggy pants, and dark grey shoes that went with her dark gray wristbands, though her hair was almost like Goku's, in the amount that she had and not in the style she wore it in. Beside her, while also being slightly taller than her, was a second female Saiyan that had a red top, which showed off her midriff, and a red skirt, though while she seemed incredibly nervous about this entire event Sunset noticed that she was wearing golden bracelets on both her arms, and that there was some sort of power sleeping inside her body at the moment.

The first female Saiyan was called Caulifla, and she seemed arrogant in believing that she was going to be the strongest in all the universes, showing that she was a fighter at heart, while the other Saiyan was called Kale, who decided to hide behind Caulifla... and, while all of that was happening, Sunset spotted Frieza talking with someone that looked a lot like him, who had to be Frost, his Universe 6 counterpart.

It wasn't long before Belmod, the God of Destruction for Universe 11, who looked like a clown based on how his hair and face looked, arrived with Cae, his counterpart Kaioshin, and Marcarita, the Angel that Whis had talked to for a few moments during the Zen Exhibition Match, along with the entirety of their warriors. All ten of their warriors, from the look of their uniforms, were members of the Pride Troopers, though one of them had some cybernetics over his right eye and that side of his face, including what had to be a communicator on his left ear and a red beret on his head. There was a lady standing nearby that had a shapely figure, though while her hair was dark pink colored she also had light pink colored skin, which was mostly covered by her uniform, while nearby stood someone that could be mistaken for being related to Beerus and Champa, despite the fact that he was more rabbit-like than the two cat Gods of Destruction. There was also an olive-green skinned amphibian Pride Trooper, a short ogre-like Pride Trooper with blue colored skin, a muscular individual that had teal colored skin with blue hair, mustache, and beard, an orange dinosaur-like Pride Trooper that apparently had no tail, and a small, impish creature with purple skin and curved horns.

The being that Sunset and a number of the others were interested in was the final Pride Trooper, a tall humanoid being that had an extremely muscular build to his body, which was well defined, though he had gray colored skin, big round black colored eyes with enlarged pupils, flat round ears, and a barely visible nose... but what Sunset focused on was the fact that she could tell that he was powerful, and that Belmod was grinning as he glanced at the warrior.

"So that's Jiren." Sunset commented, where she found the rest of her fellow gods nodding their heads, as they could sense the same thing that she was able to sense, before she glanced at their team for a moment, because this confirmed what she had been thinking earlier, "It's a good thing we brought the strongest warriors in our universe, because I have the feeling that he's going to be an incredibly tough opponent for anyone that fights him."

Goku actually separated from the group for a moment and approached Toppo, who was the second strongest warrior in Universe 11 and didn't seem interested in Goku at all at the moment, unlike what happened at the Zen Exhibition Match, before noticing the large warrior that was nearby, though before Goku could say anything Jiren appeared behind him a second later, shocking everyone that was watching their movements. In that moment the trio of Destroyers sent the rest of the pieces of the fighting stage flying through the air, sending the warriors jumping and moving out of the way before they were hit, though the only one that didn't move at all was Jiren, as he stood still and the pieces that were moving through the air missed him, another surprise for everyone.

"The fighting stage is complete and the warriors from the nine universes have gathered." the Grand Priest stated, his voice echoing throughout the World of Void, while at the same time the trio of Destroyers breathed a sigh of relief and went back to the areas that their Kaioshin and Angels were sitting in, which was in the order of their numbers.

It was then that Sunset and the others got a good idea of which universe the warriors belonged to, as the warriors from Universe 2 were lead by a trio of young ladies that looked like fashion models and not warriors, or models that were taking a break and being ordinary people for a change. Universe 3 seemed to be made up of mostly robotic enemies, with a few humanoids mixed in, but considering that their God of Destruction, Mosco, was a giant robot as well it appeared that the Grand Priest didn't have an issue with them, as he went on announcing the universes. Universe 4 had a mix of fighters, of eight they could only see at the moment, but a quick scan of the energies in the fighting stage revealed that there were two more that were trying to hide themselves, meaning stealth enemies, to which Sunset smiled a bit, as Sombra would be more than capable of finding and eliminating them. Universe 6 was where Cabba, Caulifla, Kale, and Frost came from, though it appeared that their leader might be the purple skinned humanoid being that was wearing an interesting trench coat and had his hands in the pockets, a warrior that went by the name Hit. That was followed by Beerus' universe being introduced, even though the majority of the assembled gods glared at them for a moment, still believing that this was all Goku's fault, before Universe 9 was introduced, which had a number of anthropomorphic fighters for their team. They were followed by Universe 10, where the various fighters assumed their battle positions with ease, and then Universe 11, which was when the Pride Troopers, excluding Jiren as the centerpiece, posed dramatically for everyone, complete with a few explosions behind them, in red, blue, and green colored smoke.

Rainbow and the others stood near each other when their universe was introduced, noticing how some of their soon to be opponents clearly felt that they were weak and not worth the effort to worry about, just like Quitela told the other gods earlier, and she knew that her team would show them the truth soon enough.

"And now, some gracious words from Lord Zeno." the Grand Priest continued, where everyone stopped what they were doing and glanced at the antechamber that was floating near the fighting stage, which was when the doors opened and revealed the two Kings of All for the warriors to see, "Silence, everyone."

"Everybody, thanks for coming!" the Kings of All exclaimed, sounding incredibly excited about the tournament, even if a number of the warriors were only here to save their universes from being erased, while at the same time they spun around in front of their thrones as their guards stood off on the sides, as an extra layer of protection, "We've been really looking forward to this! Everybody! Make it exciting for us!"

"Thank you for those wonderful words." the Grand Priest replied, though as he said that a platform rose out of the central pillar, with him standing on it, and the guards made sure that the Kings of All sat on their thrones as he readied the warriors for the start of the tournament, "And now, I shall explain the rules of the Tournament of Power once more."

Sunset knew that this was just to tell anyone that hadn't been told the rules before hand what they were allowed to do and what they weren't allowed to do, to which she listened as he repeated what he had told them back in Lord Zeno's palace, that the time limit was one hundred tacks, equating to forty-eight minutes, and that time passing would be represented by the central pillar falling at certain intervals, so if the pillar was completely inside the floor of the fighting stage, and no winner had been determined, the tournament was over to count the remaining warriors. Weapons that weren't techniques were forbidden, hence why Sombra had removed his Zanpakuto and handed them to Sunset, and killing was also against the rules, leaving fighters to use their techniques to try and knock opponents off the fighting stage, to eliminate them from the tournament. Skills that prevented falling weren't allowed, while warriors that had been born with wings were allowed to compete, which was part of the reason why Trixie had summoned her wings, because if she pulled them out later, if she was falling over the edge, she'd be eliminated either way, and she didn't want to be take out on grounds of cheating. Healing items, like the Senzu Beans that Goku and his friends used in the past, were forbidden, which was why they hadn't been brought with them this time, while healing skills were perfectly okay, even if the Grand Priest knew only a select few had access to those abilities.

The Grand Priest then gave the warriors a few moments to prepare themselves, as in determine what sort of plans the individual universes would be going with, if any at all, while he turned towards the Kings of All, who were getting excited over the idea that the tournament would be starting soon.

"And now, warriors from each universe, prepare yourselves." the Grand Priest called out, though this time his words had more meaning to them, as the various warriors either stood still with their gazes locked on the enemies near them or raised their arms as they assumed their battle stances, showing that they were ready as the Grand Priest raised his right hand high in the air, "Let the Tournament of Power begin!"

The instant that final word left his mouth, and his hand was waved down like a signal, the warriors from the other seven universes charged at each other, their fists making contact with each other as others either based their shoulders against their foes or kicked at their targets with the desire to knock them out of the competition. It wasn't long before some of them started firing ki blasts at each other, where parts of the fighting stage glowed brightly under the intensity of the number of explosions that were going off, though while this was going on both Universe 7 and 13 remained still as they surveyed the various battles that were taking place. It wasn't long before some of the fighters broke up, as Goku immediately charged at where Toppo was fighting, even though he was intercepted by one of Quitela's fighters, a young man with bird-like feet, who prevented him from going any further. Vegeta, Androids 17 and 18, and Frieza followed suit a few moments later, heading off to do battle with whoever they wanted to fight, though at the same time Gohan and the rest of his team knew that it was going to happen, hence the reason that they had planned on the five of them holding the middle of the stage for some time, until Gohan was sure that it was time to split up. At the same time Sombra and the others also separated from each other, where Rainbow and Applejack went in the same direction, the Dazzlings stayed together, and the others made sure that they were close to their allies while also keeping an eye on their enemies.

Universe 3 seemed to be happy with how things were progressing, as one of their warriors, Narirama, started to spin around like he was a top and proceeded to move around the area that he was in, like he was designed to remain in a single area and not be thrown off the edge, but his arms were quickly disabled when Hit and Basil dropped out of the air above him and kicked his arms, shocking the Kaioshin of Universe 3 in the process. Champa was pleased with what one of his warriors was able to do, since it defeated the scheme that the intelligent universe had come up with, while at the same time both the Present and Future Lord Zeno clapped their hands in excitement as they watched the battles unfold, which meant that they were enjoying themselves. After that happened, and Narirama was left to figure something else out, Basil was assaulted by one of the Universe 10 warriors, a humanoid lady that had butterfly wings, though it seemed they were attached to her head in some manner and not her back, who cursed the lady for flying around him with a blue aura surrounding her body. To counter that Basil let his red aura flare for a moment and jumped into the air, where he used his Shining Blaster attack and kicked at his target, sending a ball of red energy that collided with the lady's incoming attack, especially since she was the attack, and she faltered for a moment as she braced herself against Basil's power, who sent a second ball of energy into the back of the first one, doubling the power of his attack.

The sheer power of the attack was too much for the lady to handle, as she was sent flying across the stage and went over the edge, surprising some of the warriors since she had a pair of wings and didn't use them to steady herself, and not even a few seconds later she appeared on the bench in front of Gowasu and Rumshi, the Kaioshin and God of Destruction for Universe 10, who were surprised to see that they were the first ones to lose someone.

"Lilibeu from Universe 10 has been knocked out." the Grand Priest said, his voice echoing to show that he was being the announcer for the tournament, letting teammates know when their allies were knocked off the fighting stage, before he turned towards the Present and Future Zeno for a moment, "And now, it's time for the Godpad."

Sunset glanced at the antechamber as both the Present and Future Lord Zeno pulled out matching tablets, ones that apparently held the symbols of the nine universes that were partaking in the Tournament of Power and the ten warriors for each universe, as the two Kings of All made their way to where Universe 10 was located and clicked on Lilibeu's picture, no doubt crossing her off the list of warriors that were currently fighting, all while being happy about it... and while that was happening she noticed that Lilibeu wasn't pleased with her performance, and Rumshi was very angry with her.

"He's spending too much time thinking about her and not considering that he's got nine warriors left," Twilight said, as she had noticed the same thing that Sunset had noticed, in fact it was kind of hard not to heard the pink elephant God of Destruction from where they were sitting, and both Celestia and Discord nodded their heads in agreement.

Interesting enough it appeared that Basil was purposely targeting Universe 10 on his own, which was odd considering that he worked well with his brothers, though at the moment he was currently fighting a large pink skinned warrior that looked like a sumo wrestler, who was using his hands to stop his attacks. While that was going on Android 18 and Rarity were exchanging blows with the female Pride Trooper, who was having a hard time standing her ground, Vegeta was making sure the ice-like golem from Universe 9 didn't attack anyone else, Android 17 used his barrier to defend himself against incoming ki blasts, Frieza dodged the attack from a warrior that was wearing a super hero costume of some kind, and Goku was making sure the guy with the bird-like feet didn't go anywhere else. Lavender and four other warriors, all from different universes, converged on the location that Gohan and the rest of Universe 7's team was guarding, though when they attacked they weren't expecting the five warriors to fight back, starting with them jumping into the air and letting Tien use his Solar Flare to temporarily blind their foes. That allowed the other four to retaliate with ki attacks, as Piccolo charged a weak Special Beam Cannon, Krillin doing the same with a Destructo Disc, Gohan loosing a storm of ki blasts, and Master Roshi bulking up before firing a low powered Kamehameha at their enemies, allowing the attacks to hit their foes at the same time and explode upon impact... though their work wasn't finished, as they kept their guard up as they discovered that the warriors weren't harmed by their attacks.

While that was happening Basil used three of his Shining Blaster balls against his opponent, who actually looked like he was going to be thrown off the edge in the process, but he managed to stall himself right at the very edge of the fighting stage and hurled the balls behind him, prompting Rumshi to declare that Napapa had endured the attack well with a look of joy on his face... and for him to promptly inform everyone that his warrior was called the 'Magician of the Edge Ring' and that he was the Yokoduna of Dohyodoru, basically a master of a martial art in Universe 10.

Sombra observed the fights going on around him, as all of the fighters were going crazy and were lashing out at each other, but what caught his attention was the fact that two more Pride Troopers were assaulting Universe 7, Android 17 to be exact, but for now he was holding his own as both Rarity and Android 18 stood their ground against the female Pride Trooper, which was good. At the same time he noticed that the warrior with the bird-like feet had switched to using ki blasts to get Son Goku away from him, before running away to fight with someone else, though as that happened Goku found the foe he wanted to face, Toppo, who was knocked out of the way by one of Universe 10's warriors, allowing him to stare at the imposing form of Jiren once more. Of course before anyone could do anything a warrior from Universe 4, a large green ogre-like warrior, who was dressed up like he was a gladiator, wrapped his arm around Goku's neck and held him close to his body, but the plan was obvious to those that were observing the battle, that his intention wasn't to fight his foe with honor, rather he intended to hurl them both from the fighting stage, weakening Universe 7's team in the process and lowering their moral if one of their strongest warriors was eliminated so soon.

Quitela seemed pleased with how things were going, as he felt that he could sacrifice one of his warriors to take Goku out of the tournament and that his warrior, Nink, was honored to be chosen for this particular assignment, but what he wasn't expecting was for Applejack to appear right behind Nink.

"That's far enough," Applejack said, where she raised her right hand and rested it against Nink's back, surprising the warrior in the process, though she focused her energy for a second and froze her target where he was standing, just like she had done to several enemies in the past, "What you are experiencing is my Basilisk Hold, meaning that you are frozen like you were a statue, but I'm being generous and I'm letting you retain the use of your arms for a few minutes, so you'll be able to comply with my demand. Let Son Goku go, otherwise I'll force you to do so."

Nink considered what she said for a second or two, where he moved his arms and let Goku go, because from what he had seen his target was prone to lowering his guard before he focused on an opponent, meaning that he could just target him again in the future. Once that happened Goku jumped forward and put some distance between him and Nink, which was when Applejack flashed in front of the frozen warrior and undid the binding that she had placed on him, but not in time for him to block her incoming kick to the chest, which sent him flying off the fighting stage and eliminated him from the tournament entirely.

"I knew that if I lowered by guard for a moment one of our enemies would take advantage of it," Goku said, though at the same time he grinned, because he knew that either Rainbow or Applejack would have rushed in to aid him if he was in any real danger, so while this hadn't been planned ahead of time he knew that his movements would have caught the attention of one opponent, and that warrior was out of the running, "Thanks for assisting me with him."

"No problem." Applejack replied, as that was the amazing thing about Goku, because while many considered him to be stupid or retarded, or even disrespectful, he was actually a skilled fighter that could come up with some decent plans of his own, and using his own habit of lowering his guard to beckon some enemies to him was a genius move on his part, as it took out one enemy and annoyed Quitela in the process.

"Neither of you are safe, not by a long shot." a voice stated, to which Bergamo, Basil, and Lavender circled the two of them, along with the rabbit-like girl and the dragon-like guy that were part of their team, showing them that Universe 9 was out for Universe 7's blood at this point, regardless of what Universe 4 did.

Applejack and Goku put their backs against each other, knowing that at some point the other five warriors from Universe 9 would come after them as well, since Sidra blamed Goku for everything, be it the tournament or them losing the Zen Exhibition Match, meaning that they needed to be ready for anything and everything their foes threw at them, as there was no telling what sort of power their enemies had. At the same time this was the perfect opportunity for Vegeta and Rainbow to assist them, as in the four of them versus the entirety of Universe 9, but for now they just had to be patient and see what their foes had in mind, so they didn't walk into a trap and get eliminated from the tournament.