After the battle…
A large portion of
Universe 3 was covered in glass. Nariama and Nigrissi were still restrained
halfway in glass thanks to Lagss. The device that Lagss and Kamin had been working
on was now turned off. It had fulfilled its purpose of giving Hearts the
Universe Seed and additional energy. The scientist Paparoni took it back to his
lab to further modify it, his brainwashed warriors carrying stacks of scrap
metal, wires, and even well-made glass shards. Lagss was still in the process
of healing herself from Metal Cooler’s attack. Cumber was still alive, but
unconscious from his fight.
Lagss walked over to his
fallen form. She held her hands over him.
“My glass, heal my
comrade.”
Blue light spread from
Lagss’ hands and a blue aura of light formed around Cumber’s body. Small ice
crystals formed around his wounds and slowly stitched the skin back together.
Cumber’s chest and face turned glassy, smoothing out cuts, wrinkles, and clearing
away dirt. The glass also cooled his body down, putting him into a more
comfortable sleep.
“Please wake up, Saiyan,”
she said softly. “There’s so much work to do.”
Cumber did not stir.
Lagss searched the area
for Metal Cooler and the citizens. When it was clear, Lagss raised her hands
and formed a small dome over Cumber, serving as a temporary barrier.
Lagss sensed that
something was wrong. It started shortly after the machine was finished sending
energy. For a brief moment, she could sense Heart’s powerful ki, even from
another universe. Though it was a far distance, Heart’s godly energy was
powerful enough to be sensed from multiple worlds. While Lagss had set up the
device with Kamin and covered much of the universe in glass, Heart’s energy was
a source of inspiration and comfort. Not that she had much choice in her fate
at this point, but even still…he was somebody in her life.
Even stranger, she had
felt the combined energy of two Saiyans from Universe 7 clash with that of
Hearts.
Now, she couldn’t sense
anything from over there.
“I have to find out what’s
going on.”
Closing her eyes in
concentration, she teleported herself over to Universe 11.
She was in the same spot
she was in before Hearts had ordered her to help Cumber in Universe 3. The sky
was now bright blue instead of the night indigo. Silently, she flew closer to
the city. In the city square, Lagss caught a glimpse of Jiren and the Pride
Troopers doing victory poses as the crowd clapped and cheered. Signs and
banners hung from the buildings and windows. In Japanese, one of them read, “Congratulations
Jiren!”
Jiren appeared to be
talking with the Supreme Kai of Universe 11, shaking hands.
Traveling to Universe 6,
Lagss saw a similar situation. On the city outskirts, Hit was receiving a sack
of Zeni from the Supreme Kai of Universe 6 for completing his job. Cabba and
Kaulifla were busy sparring in the air, while Kale watched with a small smile
on her face.
Finally, Lagss
transported herself to Universe 7. Hiding within her glass barrier, Lagss could
see Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, 17, and Trunks having a party at Bulma’s mansion-like
house. Trunks served iced cocktails from a platter while Bulma relaxed on a
lounge chair. Dr. Briefs was petting a black cat and smoking a cigarette while
reading a newspaper. Vegeta played with little baby Bulla by himself, while
Bulma watched from her chair. As usual, Goku was stuffing his face full of food
at a table, while Whis eyed him in disgust.
“You really haven’t heard
of manners, have you, Goku?” He held chopsticks in his light blue fingers.
“Huh?” he asked, his
mouth still stuffed.
Whis rolled his eyes and
continued to eat the ramen and egg from the bowl in front of him. Beerus was
happily eating pudding from a glass.
“Finally…after so many
months of waiting, I finally get to taste this brand new delicious desert! How
marvelous!”
“See, now aren’t you glad
you didn’t destroy Earth after all?” Whis asked.
“Eh, I’ll get back to you
on that,” Beerus replied.
Piccolo, 17, Trunks, and
the two Saiyans were congratulated by their families and friends.
“…So then, me and Vegeta
rammed our fist right through Hearts…he looked pretty stunned,” Goku described.
“Yes, we witnessed the
whole thing,” Trunks said. “And we helped out with our ki blasts.”
“And you should’ve seen
Hit and Jiren, of all people, merge their attacks with Goku’s,” 17 added. “Imagine
if they had worked together during the Tournament of Power.”
“Imagine how much money
Hit and Jiren got from their Supreme Kais,” 18 replied. “Completing a job like
that…one I wish I could’ve done.”
“You have plenty of money
already,” said 17.
“Says the one who won the
Tournament, got his wish granted, and then bought a cruise liner. You know more
than half of the boat is mine, anyway.”
“I could’ve helped out,
too,” Krillin piped up. “But I needed to watch Marron. Apparently, she’s
getting better at or practice sparring matches.” He mentioned to a small bruise
on his cheek. 18 giggled quietly, cheeks blushing.
“You look good with that
bruise. Shows how tough and loving you are.”
Krillin blushed back.
“Hey, Vegeta,” Goku called
over to him.
Vegeta handed Bulla to
Bulma, then walked over to the table, sitting a good distance from Goku.
“What now, Kakarott? I
think everyone’s heard our story long enough.”
“Why didn’t you want to
fuse as Gogeta?”
“I already told you, I
didn’t want to fuse with an idiot like you!”
“But our world was in
danger. You fused with me when we fought Broly and it was fine.”
“I didn’t want to.”
“But you did, anyway. I
could’ve handled Hearts on my own, but our fusion helped out.”
Piccolo scoffed. “Like
you alone would stand a chance against a demonic kai who had the power of the
Universe Seed inside him. You seem to let your desire to fight get to your
head.”
“Heh,” said Goku. “It’s
the way I am. And it always works, doesn’t it?”
“Well, at least I can say
that I defeated him as well,” Vegeta replied.
“We did,” Goku corrected.
“Jiren asked me why I didn’t fuse during the Tournament of Power.”
“Sure, we may have
defeated our opponents faster,” said 17, “but it would’ve been a risky move,
losing two members if Gogeta were defeated. That’s the real reason why Goku and
Vegeta didn’t fuse then to begin with. What’s done is done.”
“Agreed,” replied
Krillin, biting into some orange chicken.
“Hey, Whis!” Goku called
over to the angel who was finishing up a glass with pudding in it. “Can you
show everyone what happened?”
Whis walked over and
waved his staff. An image from the planet part on the top glowed, forming a
holographic image of the previous battle.
“Hey, you weren’t there,”
Goku mentioned. “How does your staff know what happened?”
“I’m a powerful being,”
Whis replied.
Lagss formed a glass
mirror in front of her, allowing her to see the images better.
What she saw made her
heart shatter like broken glass.
Vegeta in Super Saiyan
Blue, fired a blue Final Flash at Kamioren, causing the fused being to shatter
into many pieces.
Hearts grinning as he
sealed Fused Zamasu in a large transparent cube before shrinking it down into
nothing.
Gogeta delivering the
final blow to Hearts, punching him through his gut. Hearts screaming, his head
tilted back, mouth wide open. Hearts smiled at them as divine rainbow light
consumed his body.
“Zeno could destroy the
universe with a single thought. I just wanted to liberate you all from this
lack of freedom, but you all shone and surpassed your limits. That’s why I’ve
come to appreciate mortals…”
His body faded away as he
closed his eyes.
Lagss broke down into
tears after the images faded and the light flew back into the top of the staff.
“Your work is not over
yet,” Whis warned Goku and the others. “Villains are still out there. Let’s
talk about our next plan…in private.”
Lagss was sure the
silvery blue eyes of the angel could see right through her. Overcome with fear
and emotion, Lagss concentrated and vanished.
By the time she got back
to Universe 3, Cumber was starting to wake up. Lagss ran over and made the dome
vanish with a wave of her hand. The Saiyan groaned and his red eyes fluttered
open.
“What…what are you…doing
here?”
“You’re alive, thank goodness,”
Lagss breathed in relief.
Realizing what Lagss had
done, Cumber gave her brief signs of thanks: a small smile, a faint softening of
his eyes. Then just as quickly, his stared straight ahead, eyes hardened in
anger and determination.
Slowly sitting up, Cumber
soon got to his feet.
“That blasted metal
madman took me down,” he muttered. “I’m already sick of Fu’s games.”
“I have some bad news,” Lagss
said, eyes tearing up. “Hearts…is gone. So are Oren, and Kamin, and Zamasu.”
“What?!”
“Gogeta killed him.”
Dark tendrils formed
around the Saiyan, and his conjured shadowy claws ripped apart several
buildings.
After he calmed down, he
let out a growl and sigh. “Now what?”
“We wait for the next
part of Fu’s experiment.”