54.0

Planet 01

Broly Vs. Hit

Hit broke Brolys thoughts by saying, "You should know that I have nothing against you."

"What?" Broly asked.

"...I'm fulfilling my job. Nothing more," Hit explained, glancing off to the fight which had broken out between Goku and Jiren. "If you want to save yourself the pain of humiliation then give up now."

Brolys dark brows lowered into a most fierce some glare. "I don't give up."

"I see."

The moment those two had locked eyes, Hit had already made his move. Broly buckled, falling over from the sudden pain of Hits' time skip glare, coughing up blood on the spot from his chest being punched. He staggered backwards. "...What?"

'He--he didn't move!'

"You don't seem familiar with my unique abilities." Hit said calmly, taking two strides forward.

Broly wiped off his lips blood and stood, not quite understanding what had just happened, only that Hit had punched him without blinking his eyes. He had no sooner recovered from the shocking display of talent when Hit passed by his side; Broly swung his arm, gliding away but still got caught by a minor 'tap' to his ribs.

"Guwah!"

Pain rattled up the side of his chest. Broly grabbed his damaged ribs, stinging inside with every breath. "..."

'Just how is he doing that?'

A large blast drew both their attentions away from the fight momentarily. Goku and Jiren had began battle.

*

Goku jumped away from Jirens large, red filled blast automatically. It was his Ultra Instinct, and allowed him a level of calm no matter the circumstances. During the T.O.P, it had come with a heavy price of usage, but thankfully he'd had enough time to learn new and valuable energy sparring methods.

Jiren hadn't held back from exploding with raw strength, but it was contained to one single and effective tactic. At the precise moment Goku had closed in once more and regained his clarity, having been shaken by the rise of a challenger with such talent only to be pushed away.

"You should come with a warning label," Goku joked.

Jiren squared his shoulders and prepared himself. It was a slow and deliberate movement, and only the foolish would think it a bluff. Goku, having been looking forward to fighting him, began to feel his limbs getting jittery with excitement.

Still...

Goku wanted to slowly expose Jirens full potential, to test his own against. Coming at him full force from the beginning wasn't Gokus' style. But the chance to do what he liked, as much as he liked without the risk of endangering anyone? Goku couldn't pass it up.

"Ka..me..ha..me..haaaa!"

Jiren stood and took the brunt of the Super Kamehameha. It collided into him, a perfect hit, and Goku dropped his shoulders a little, happy to have broken the peace but didn't yet have a strategy in mind.

Too bad.

With a 'huump', Gokus' attack was thwarted, and in the smoke and debris there stood Jiren, looking quite calm and perhaps even a tiny bit amused.

"It is my turn," Jiren said.

With a smirk he thrust his chest muscles outward and three waves of red hued energy burst from him and out, out to Goku some feet above in the sky. Goku threw his hands up, and channeled his energy. Blue lifted from his aura and pushed back against Jirens waves.

"Not too bad." Goku said, shaking his dark hair a little.

"Hm. That would normally destroy a solar system. It seems we weren't lied to." Jiren said.

At that Goku smiled. So that's what it was; Jiren was making sure their arena truly was indestructible.

"Yep!"

*

*

*

Gohans Home - Orange City

"Man, that was intense." Yamcha said.

Tien nodded his head in agreement. "Good thing they're fighting so far away. None of us would last even a minute in that kind of battle."

18, Krillin and Gohan thought on that a moment. "The planet didn't explode," 18 said, "so maybe we'd be safe."

Gohan didn't agree with that sentiment. "I don't think it's that. Where they're fighting is inside a place made just for damage control. Those planets...I'm guessing they aren't really planets. Maybe something else..."

Puar blinked at Gohan, not understanding, and was going to ask a question when the door burst open. Oolong walked in with a grumpy expression. "Oh, so this is where everyone went! Thanks for the invite!"

"I thought we were forgetting someone," Krillin joked. "Sorry 'bout that Oolong. I tried calling but--"

"--Yeah yeah! I was knee deep in babe city," Oolong said, taking a seat beside Puar. "No service out there. But I got the message."

"You stink Oolong," Puar said. She covered her nose and wafted his smell away. The pig glared at her. "Excuse ME for being a pig sometimes! Not all of us have access to fancy bath tubs."

Everyone looked at one another. Just where had Oolong been, then?

"What?" Oolong asked. He sighed, propping legs on the coffee table before saying, "Fine, I'll spill the beans. I was in the desert...it's a long story. Let's just assume it wasn't nice or friendly, and I was coming home on someones plate as breakfast."

"Were you kidnapped?" Chaotzu asked.

"Not exactly. I was following this tribe of beautiful women. But they were all carnivores, and..." Oolong sighed. "I was hoodooed. Alright? Let's forget it! I'll never trust another beautiful face!"

"Heard that before," Krillin said.

All laughed.

"So who's fighting?" Oolong asked.

*

*

Planet 01

Broly Vs. Hit

"Hukk-!"

Another sudden and unexpected attack. They were getting faster and faster, and Broly was barely managing to figure them out. After the first few of Hits Time Skip technique, Broly had been able to slowly anticipate where Hit would likely choose to attack. It didn't work for long, as Hit adjusted to that preemptive quickness and seemed to even speed up his timing even more.

"This next one will end it." Hit warned.

Broly pulled himself up, squinting through blinding pain to see Hit's wavering form blur in his field of vision. Whatever happened next, Broly could only hope he'd survive. At least he'd kept his rage in check.

But perhaps...

An idea formed.

*

From the Arena Stadium Rhuda relaxed the tight grip of her hands, which had begun to sting within her orange thighs. She stole a furtive glance to Vegeta, who looked on grimly.

"...Vegeta..." she said.

He sparred her a looking. "Broly has no choice but to put his energy into one chance. Hit has the upper hand right now, and until Broly can figure out he's caught in Hit's trap, everything is useless."

"Hit's..trap?"

Vegeta explained briefly about Hits ability to save time skips and use them as he wanted, from every time he'd ever skipped time. "It should be virtually impenetrable...but there is one way to throw the scales."

"There is?" Rhuda asked. She gulped, and looked up at Grand Priest, whom was observing the match with an interested gaze. Just what the Angel chief was thinking, Rhuda had no clue, only that she was somehow unnerved by his nearly constant staring.

"Yes." Whis answered, "Broly's energy is capable of breaking through realms. He's done so once before, and it took Vegeta and Goku both to hem in Brolys anger. Even then, the ending wasn't assured..."

The angel didn't sound despondent, but rather amused, as if he were talking about an amusing joke he'd heard. Rhuda, however, couldn't help but key into that sentence and hang on for dear life.

'Brother...you can do this! I believe in you!'

*

*

Grand Priest glanced from the battle taking place to the twin Zeno's, who were looking on at the edges of their seats, shooting out whoops and yells with every new display of power. They were keenly interested in the Broly fight, and Grand Priest himself was most interested in that Legendary Super Saiyan power. It had been so long since he'd seen it in action. Would Broly succumb to his berserk side, or could he control it?

"Are you enjoying the fights?" He asked both Zeno's.

"Yes!"

"It's amazing!"

Grand Priest smiled and shifted his attention to the rows of benches, seeing the one called Chisato Shino seated. She was obviously nervous and fretting. If one judged by looks alone, she wasn't much of a fighter, but Grand Priest judged something inner. Her soul.

'Our fate is riding on her shoulders. I've done all I can to prepare the matches, but even I have my limits.'

Such was the scheme of things. He wasn't allowed to intervene in fate, and had looked through Time to see what the future beheld for them all. It had astounded him, of course, seeing how he was a mere character in a game.

Looking back though, Grand Priest could see the steps that their creator had taken and couldn't correct it. Grand Priest wouldn't stop fates hand from turning the tides of existence itself. He would, however, rely on the Kai of Time to do her part well.

If Chronoas' Time Patrol failed in their duty then it was as much fate as anything else he'd seen. Nations coming and going, eons of existence spreading thin and waning, only to re-emerge. Take that LSS, for instance. It was Brolys' presence that had led to Rhuda's own even being feasible. The Creator had utilized every possible timeline until she'd been born and bred within the minds of necessary players.

All of it was for Fu's experiment.

'Will she do as I've foresaw? Or will the Time Patrol step in, just in time?'

Grand Priest smiled at the possibilities.