477 The Roster is Announced
"I-I CAN'T BELIEVE IT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! OUR WINNER OF THE JUNIOR CUP IS, MILLICAS GREMORY!"
As those words rang out, the ones declaring the victor in this match, the crowds cheered the loudest they had gone yet as the cleared dust and smoke showed them the scene below.
Millicas, who had been blasted back by the explosion was nursing several injuries and had barely managed to avoid being knocked off of the stage. Gohan on the other hand had gotten the brunt of the Destruction of the explosion, and along with his arm and cheek, he had also lost a leg while chunks of his flesh had also been erased from his body, resulting in a slowly expanding pool of blood.
With the former being the only one capable of standing though, he had been declared the winner while Gohan had lost.
With the declaration though, all of Millicas and Gohan's wounds began regenerating with even the latter's arm and leg being restored like nothing had happened to him.
Sitting up, Gohan looked towards Millicas to see the young Gremory approaching him with a wry smile as he offered a hand and said,
"Good fight Gohan! Better luck next time." Gohan just looked at the offered hand for a moment, before issuing a wry smile himself and saying as he grasped it,
"Yeah it was. You taught me something important Millicas, I won't lose next time." Millicas nodded in affirmation as he pulled Gohan up to his feet, making the crowd go nuts as they watched this, and the announcer cried out,
"AND WHAT A GOOD SHOW OF SPORTSMANSHIP THIS IS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! LETS GIVE THEM AN EXTRA LOUD ROUND OF APPLAUSE!"
Somehow the applause grew even louder then, as people stood in their seats and cheered on their winner and runner up. Meanwhile, up in their viewing room, Rias and Grayfia were both ecstatic at seeing Millicas win the Junior Cup.
"I'm so proud of him!" Rias exclaimed happily as she held Ryuto up to ensure he could see his cousin down below, while Grayfia stepped up next to her and added,
"He has improved so much..." She was so overwhelmed with emotion, that the usually stoic and professional maid broke character as she watched her son celebrate his triumph over Gohan.
"I still can't believe Millicas managed to beat a SSJ2 though..." Shia uttered as she watched him from beside Rias and Grayfia, earning her a look from the two as she said so. Alex was silent however as he stood up to make his way down to congratulate Millicas on his victory.
He had somewhat expected this outcome based off of Gohan's track record when it came to the serious fights he'd fought in the Dragon Ball series. Twice he'd gone to end the main antagonist at the time once and for all, Cell and Majin Buu, but both times he ended up blowing it due to over confidence.
While Gohan did end up defeating Cell in the original timeline, it was only after Goku had to sacrifice himself, and Cell returned from his supposed self destruction stronger than ever. With this loss, and through training and learning at the Academy, Alex hoped Gohan would break this bad habit before it truly came back to bite him in the ass in the future.
This wasn't the time to focus on that though.
Alex teleported himself down directly into the middle of the arena next to Millicas, grasping the young man's arm and throwing it upwards while crying out,
"AND NOW WE HAVE OUR FIRST OF TWO CHAMPIONS! MILLICAS GREMORY!"
The cheers that had begun dying down were quickly reignited, and grew even louder when Alex conjured a great trophy cup out of mid air, presenting it to Millicas as he said,
"PRESENTING THE PRIZE FOR WINNING THE JUNIOR CUP! A CUP FULL OF PRECIOUS METALS AND GEMS, AS WELL AS THE TITLE OF STRONGEST YOUTH IN THE ENTIRE UNIVERSE!"
Accepting the cup from Alex, and being careful not to spill any of the gold and gems in it, Millicas hoisted the cup up in triumph as he celebrated his victory. Meanwhile Gohan, as the runner up, got nothing, leaving him to trudge off stage as people cheered for their champion.
Gohan understood where he had gone wrong in the match. He believed that since his opponent was Millicas, who'd he'd beaten every time they sparred, that he would win this time too, and hadn't taken the match as seriously as he should have. Knowing this, a bitter feeling welled up within Gohan at how he had lost, which only increased when he saw his father waiting for him in the corridor leading away from the arena.
*Sniff*"I lost..." Gohan said plainly as he wiped away the tears that had begun forming at the corners of his eyes, though Goku showed no disappointment at the momentary sign of weakness. Instead, he smiled warmly at his son as he said,
"I know." Though Gohan wanted to comment about his father's bluntness, he didn't get a chance as Goku clapped him on the back and continued, "Don't worry about it though since all you can do is get better for the next tournament! It took me three tries before winning my first tournament!"
Gohan looked up sharply at that, as he asked incredulously,
"Really?!" Goku nodded as he recalled fondly,
"Yep! In my first tournament I lost to an old guy who was REALLY strong and skilled, he could even use the Kamehameha! Then in my second tournament, I got a ring out just barely before Tien did in the finals. I only won a tournament after being trained by Kami for a few years, and then finally winning against Piccolo when he was still bad." Gohan was silent as he absorbed this, before a goofy grin formed on his face.
So he ended up losing his first tournament just like his dad huh?
Something about that cheered Gohan up tremendously as he walked alongside his father down the corridor away from the arena. But as he started thinking about the next tournament, and what he wanted to do after this, Gohan finally decided something as he said suddenly,
"Dad. I'm going to get my own peerage, and become a great warrior and leader in Asora." Goku glanced down at his son curiously at his sudden declaration, before smiling widely and ruffling his hair as he said,
"Whatever you want to do, I'll support you all the way!" Gohan smiled as he got his dad's acceptance, even if he didn't quite know what a peerage was or anything. But before Gohan could explain a bit of what it all was, a certain figure approached them with a bundle in her arms.
"Grandma..." Gohan uttered as Gine approached them with a smile on her face, though he was still unused to calling her as such because he didn't have a grandmother growing up. Plus her and his grandpa Bardock were both closer to his parents in age, to the point where the father and son duo would often be confused for brothers by strangers due to how similar they appeared.
But whatever else he was about to say was caught in Gohan's throat, as Gine got closer and he could see that the bundle in her arms contained a mini Goku.
"I'm so proud of you Gohan." Gine said as she pulled him into a one armed hug, but Gohan's attention was on the baby in her other arm as Goku said,
"That's your baby brother, Goten. He was born a few months ago when your mom went into a space-time thingy to speed up her pregnancy. Little guy looks just like me, doesn't he?" Saying the last part with pride, Goku offered a finger to the little Saiyan that was wrapped in blankets, who gripped it with more strength than what a baby should have, and giggled happily at his family.
Gohan was stunned silent as he realized that he'd been further out of touch with his family ever since going to the Academy than he'd thought. But then again, that was to be somewhat expected given how his mother reacted to his leaving.
Recalling her suddenly, and noticing she wasn't present, Gohan asked his father,
"Dad, where's mom?" Goku's expression cramped a bit when Gohan mentioned his mother, and even Gine had a hard time keeping a straight face at the mention of her daughter-in-law, but then as if to answer his question, Chichi's voice suddenly cried out from down the corridor,
"Gohan!" Everyone whirled to see Chichi slowly but surely making her way towards them, despite the numerous chains that were trying in vain to hold her down to several giant balls of metal that were slowly being dragged behind her.
"Gohan! It's ok, mom's here finally! Now let's go home together and you can resume your studying before it's too late! I'll save you from that horrible place!"
The three Saiyans stared at Chichi weirdly as they watched her slowly but steadily approach, before a new figure suddenly appeared before them, standing taller than them with blue skin and long white hair. They then turned toward Goku and said suddenly,
"Greetings Goku-San. I'm not sure if you remember me, but I'm the personal attendant of Lord Beerus, Whis." Goku nodded slowly at the Angel, keeping a fearful eye on Chichi's approach as he did so, and said,
"Yeah, I remember you. What do you want with me?" Whis smiled widely as he told Goku,
"I want to train you of course! I figured you'd want to watch your son's match, and so I waited until it was over to approach you. But now that's it's over, would you like to-"
"Yes! Let's go now!" Goku exclaimed as he clung to offered lifeline, as he definitely didn't want to deal with the current Chichi, even though he wasn't the one who chained her up to keep her from interfering in Gohan's matches.
"DON'T YOU DARE GOKU!" Chichi snarled as she pulled on her chains to try and speed up, but neither Whis nor Goku listened to her as he hurriedly said,
"Anyways, good fight son and better luck next time! By mom, take care! And I'll see you later Chichi!"
"GOKUUUUUUUUU!" Chichi roared as he and Whis vanished, the latter teleporting them both directly into Vados' scepter to begin their training under a similar time dilation as Beerus and Vegeta.
"U-um.... I think they're calling me back out there! I got to go now! Talk to you later grandma, Goten! Bye!" And like that, Gohan followed his father's example as he too hurried away from his mother, leaving Gine to deal with her even as Chichi cried out,
"WAIT GOHAN! COME BACK! GOHANNNNNNNNNNNN!"
***
Back out in the center of the arena, after celebrating Millicas' victory and presenting him with his prizes, Alex raised his hand and gestured for quiet, which swiftly descended upon the colosseum in response to him.
"Now then..." He began in a quiet voice that still reached every corner of the universe.
"You've now had a taste of what's to come in the tournament, but I guarantee that there are even better fights to come in the next several days!"
The buzz of talk started up once again as people began discussing the upcoming battles with excitement after seeing what the mere children of Asora were capable of, until Alex indicated for silence once again. When he had it, Alex continued,
"And during the Junior Cup we were not idle, as the preliminaries between thousands of contestants occurred during that time in a separate space! Indeed, maybe some of you watched those battles as well as the Junior Cup', but now that the children have had their share of fame, maybe it's time we started the main event!"
This time cheers greeted Alex's declaration as thousands of people suddenly began flooding out from within the space-time orb, which had been controlled specifically so that the preliminaries within ended at the same time as the Junior Cup. Now they had their other fifty four contestants, and it was time announce who they were.
"PRESENTING OUR CONTESTANTS, OF THE FIRST EVER UNIVERSAL GRAND TOURNAMENT!"
Alex cried out, as the names and image of every single contestant were projected so they were seen throughout the entire colosseum, Asora, Earthland, Spira, the Underworld, Heaven, and Universe Seven.
***
1. Shia Haulia
2. Vali Lucifer
3. Sairaorg Bael
4. Nagumo Hajime
5. Grayfia Lucifuge
6. Pikkon
7. Son Goku
8. Vegeta Jr
9. Frieza
10. King Cold
11. Erza scarlet
12. Typhon, King of Monsters
13. Gildarts Clive
14. Krillin
15. Sun Wukong
16. Brigid
17. Moka Akashiya
18. Piccolo
19. Bikou
20. Chiffon Fairchild
21. Akeno Himejima
22. Natsu Dragneel
23. Golden Darkness(Yami)
24. Tien Shinhan
25. Surtr
26. Arthur Pendragon
27. Gajeel Redfox
28. Bardock
29. Haiz
30. Surtr Second
31. Thor Odinson
32. Android 17
33. Granolah
34. Kimari Ronso
35. Vegeta Sr
36. Sting Eucliffe
37. Jackie Chun
38. Mirajane Strauss
39. Mil-Tan
40. Akasha Bloodriver
41. Cao Cao
42. Heracles
43. Akua Shuzen
44 . Sudo Nim
45. Satellizer L. Bridgette
46. Kiba Yuuto
47. Sala
48. Caulifla
49. Rouge Cheney
50. Crystabel
51. Ginei Morioka
52. Lala Satalin Deviluke
53. Kokoa Shuzen
54. Trunks
55. Zeus
56. Gas
57. Xenovia Quarta
58. Tio Klarus
59. Rana Linchen
60. Bova
61. Koneko Toujo
62. Cookie
63. Dulio Gesualdo
64. Gasper Vladi
***
As everyone took in the appearance of the contestants, Alex cried out,
"These are the few worthy individuals, chosen to participate out of the thousands of rivals spanning across not just Universe Seven, but also Asora and the other dimensions connected through her!"
As Alex paused people began murmuring and talking amongst themselves with various reactions to the revealed contestants.
Some were frustrated that no one from their own worlds were able to make it to the main tournament, while others grew excited seeing the faces of those who were going to compete. Then of course there were those already forming fan clubs and attractions towards certain individuals that were competing, primarily towards the numerous cute or hot girls that were being shown.
The biggest discussions of course though, were who everyone thought was going to win the entire tournament.
Naturally Alex didn't discourage betting or wagers on the results of the different fights, or who people thought were going to the finals. Instead he had actually encouraged it quite a bit since it made things more exciting, plus the betting stations were ran by his people, so there was absolutely no chances of foul play or scamming within them since Alex would severely punish anyone dumb enough to try under his nose.
But after giving them a moment to digest the entire list, Alex declared,
"And now that we have our sixty four contestants, I believe it is time to say goodnight, for now! For we will return in the morning, to determine who would be a part of our four brackets, and proceed to truly begin this great tournament with the first of our four displays of strength, skill, and sheer power!
"And so my dear guests! It is time I must say, GOODNIGHT!"
***
With that final declaration, the projections cut off and the people who currently lived on planet Cereal, the Sugarians, all began to happily disperse and discuss the tournament as they eagerly awaited the continuation of it the next day. All but one person in particular who clearly wasn't a Sugarian.
"B-Bardock is alive!" An elderly Namekian exclaimed as he recalled one of the names listed amongst the contestants, with the image that clearly showed his old friend along with someone who looked exactly like him. The X shaped scar on his cheek was unmistakable, but the Namekian couldn't help but wonder why it appeared as if Bardock hadn't even aged since that day thirty years ago.
But there was something worrisome about that list too, the fact that the Namekian had also noticed the name and face of the same young boy he'd been raising since the day the Saiyans wiped out the rest of his people, and the Heeters killed his mother.
Gripping his walking stick tightly, the Namekian approach one of the Sugarians and urgently told them,
"I need a ship to take me to Pangea as swiftly as possible!"
***
Back on Pangea, a certain short statured blue skinned individual made his way to the expensive hotel room reserved for him and his siblings, where his older brother told him to meet up with the rest of them after the preliminaries.
"I made the main roster brother." He declared as he entered the room, only to unexpectantly find it empty as he opened the door.
"Brother?" The man, Gas, called out hesitantly, before adding when he received no answer,
"Maki?! Oil?!" Again there was no answer, prompting Gas to turn on his heel as he slammed the door shut, and set out to discover what happened to his siblings.
***
*Meanwhile in the space-time orb*
"Haaaaa... Finally, relaxation...." Alex sighed in contention as he settled down in the veritable sea of softness that was the naked bodies of his wives and lovers.
Though there were a few wandering hands and fingers amongst the many naked bodies, there was nothing too risqué going on as they instead enjoyed each other's company, and relaxed while watching the various matches that took place during the Junior Cup, and preliminaries.
"Would you like a refreshment master?" Asked Alex's newest slave maid Maki, as she brought them a tray of drinks to choose from that Mikan and Haruna had made. Of course, she too was naked thanks to the teasing and provoking of some of Alex's other lovers.
"Not right now, thanks Maki. But I'm sure some of the girls would love one." With Alex passing up the drink, the tray was quickly cleared as several girls grabbed the one they wanted before turning their attention back to the projections just in time to see Akasha get shot by a contestant who tied to get through using guns.
"I bet that hurt Akasha." One of the girls said as they watched her take the guy out almost immediately after, before which the wound finally started closing since the match was over.
"Nah, I'm used to wounds even worse than that. It WAS a but different since it didn't start healing right away though." Akasha replied as she rubbed the spot where she got shot, which was in her right shoulder.
At that moment the projection changed to show Irina being knocked out by a SSJ2 Trunks, who then clicked her tongue in annoyance as she grumbled,
"All my training and I STILL can't beat even a SSJ2..." Xenovia smirked at her irritation as she said smugly,
"Maybe you should ask Hajime to make you a new sword or two to switch between. I mean, not all of us can have a weapon as powerful or versatile as Excalibur." As she said that, the scene changed to show Xenovia use the power of Excalibur Ruler to completely dominate her opponent by turning his own attacks against him, securing her place in the roster of the main tournament itself.
"Yeah!" Shia suddenly spoke up, drawing attention to herself as she pointed accusingly at Alex and said,
"We need an equalizer against the Saiyans! We all know they're practically just a bunch of dirty rotten cheaters in tournaments like this! Especially when you got Beerus and Whis to personally train two of them!" Though Alex, Sala, and Caulifla were all about to dismiss Shia's accusations, they were all instead surprised when the rest of the girls suddenly spoke up their agreement.
"I agree. With how adapted they are for battles, Saiyans might as well be living cheats when it comes to direct combat like in this tournament." Even Grayfia said suddenly, making Alex at a loss for words as he looked around at everyone questioningly.
While they had all long since accepted Alex's absurd strength and growth rate due to him being a living anomaly, as well as his children, they all quickly learned that wasn't quite the case when the Saiyans Alex had recruited in Universe Seven, and even those in Universe Six, all showed similar or even more extreme levels of growth ever since Alex stepped into the picture.
With nearly everyone in agreement about them, and the only ones in disagreement being the present Saiyans themselves, Alex shook his head as he asked out loud,
"Lauren, is there something in the shop that can help them?" Though he didn't need to ask Lauren out loud, Alex did so so that the girls would know he was talking to her about their concerns, and therefor taking them seriously as he searched for something to help them.
While Alex didn't get his hopes up about finding something for ALL of them, as if he DID buy them something in the shop he'd only be able to buy one thing at a time, he was surprised when Lauren replied after a few moments,
'There is something actually, though it'll take two store purchases so no one but you would even consider it. And even then, you wouldn't be able to profit off of it directly anyways, making them an even more unlikely purchase for others.'
His curiosity piqued, Alex looked over the store options Lauren pointed out to him, and widened his eyes slightly in surprise at what they were.
[Omniversal Chatroom: a special chat room that would be connected to the user's system, allowing them to chat with people even throughout all of Creation. Upgradable.]
[Omniversal Chatroom Upgrade: grants the users of the Chatroom special quests and missions to complete, and allows them access to the Chatroom's special store. NOTE! Participants of the Contest of Succession will have restricted access to the store function, and will only be able to purchase minor items.]
(A.N. I'll go more into detail about it later, but by 'minor' items I mean like Anne for example won't be able to buy new powers, but she'd be able to buy scrolls detailing different bending forms since she has Avatar powers, etc. Alex meanwhile would be able to buy manuals for different martial arts to learn, or further upgrades to the Chatroom. The chat store is mostly for Alex's wives and lovers to become stronger without having to entirely rely entirely on weapons, abilities, and power ups they'd receive directly from him. And NO, they won't have access to his system and 'Jobs' by joining the chat.)
