Chapter 49: the T.O.P

Upon agreeing to join the upcoming Universal tournament, Negi decided that he would spend the remaining time inside the Hyperbolic time chamber up on Kami's lookout, so he could use the remaining time to catch up on all the lost time due to adventuring in another world. And while Negi went to train, and Goku went to recruit more people, Soren began talking with Whis, while Gabriel, Scarlet, and Ophis began talking with Gine, as Soren introduced her as his first wife.

[So... Do you care to tell me where you found these 3 wonderful ladies?]: whis

Soren heard the question and began to scratch his cheek with his finger as he began to think up an excuse, but Whis' next words surprised him instead.

[You're not from this Universe, or in fact, you are not from this dimension… This is why I can't look up your origins… Right?]: whis

[Ehehe… You caught me… I am indeed not from this dimension, and the 3 women I brought from me are from another dimension… So what is your plan now?]: soren

Soren knew lying to Whis was a bad idea, as seeing that he figured it out anyways, it was just best to tell him the truth, but he wouldn't tell him the complete truth.

[I see… Well seeing as you aren't here to cause trouble, I can't intervene, and only Lord Beerus could choose what to do with you now]: whis

[So, will you tell him?]: soren

[Oh my, no… Lord Beerus should figure it out for himself, no?.... Ohoho~]: whis

Soren noticed the slight smile Whis held, as his ever calculating eyes tried began scanning Soren, along with the people that traveled with him, as he was quite interested in someone who could potentially kill Beerus.

'Perhaps I could convince Soren to become the next God of Destruction': whis

Upon ending the conversation with Soren, Whis went back to Beerus' side in case he needed anything, while Soren went over to a pregnant Gine, as it had been quite a few days since he last saw her, and it had been 8 months since she had seen him. When Gine saw Soren, a smile appeared on her face, and looking over his body, she noticed the discoloration on his forearms, and upon thinking it was some kind of bruise, she wanted to check Soren over.

[A-Are you okay?... What happened?]: gine

[Oh, nothing happened… I just got a tattoo]: soren

Soren didn't want to worry Gine, and briefly explained the situation with his body.

[Tattoo?... What is that?]: gine

Soren then remembered that tattoo's weren't a thing in this world, and even if they were, Gine was from another planet, so upon explaining what a tattoo was, Gine was looking over Soren's body in awe at the massive depiction of a dragon of 2 different colors. Upon showing off his tattoo, Mark seemed to take notice, and he quickly rushed over to inspect his son's "badass" body art.

[Woah!... Soren, where did you get that?... How did you get that?... Isn't your body immune and impenetrable to sharp objects and bullets?]: mark

Mark was more surprised on the how as to the why Soren had a dragon tattoo covering his body, and as more and more attention was drawn to the tattoo, Bulma came over, and her stomach was quite big, as she was coming down to her final weeks of pregnancy, and would soon give birth to a Saiyan Angel hybrid baby. Bulma's looks had changed, as her blue eyes seemed to glow with a silver light, and her blue hair began showing signs of silver highlights, showing that she was going through the process of gaining insight to Ultra Instinct.

[Welcome back, Soren… It's been what… Like 8 months since you last left?]: bulma

Soren ignored her snide remark, as he could tell she was still upset at the fact that she was now graying, even though her face had a youthful glow, but she was ignorant to the fact that the supposed "graying" was all due to her body adjusting to her Angelic Ki that was transforming her body into that of an Angel like Whis.

[Good to be back… Speaking of 8 months… Gine, how is the baby?]: soren

[The baby is doing fine… We should be seeing our second child in close to a month]: gine

Time went on as everyone began catching up, while Soren introduced Gabriel, Ophis, and Scarlet to his friends and family, while Kouki was busy training with Vegeta, and surprisingly, Soren found that Kouki had unlocked the Super Saiyan God Super Saiyan form, and with the help of Mark and Bulma, Kouki was able to utilize his tail to turn into a golden great ape and condense his power into a human sized figure leading him to the Super Saiyan 4 stage, and with help from Whis, Kouki unlocked his God Ki making his black hair red. When Vegeta first saw this form, and noticed that it was more powerful than the SSGSS form, he wanted to regrow his tail and achieve the same form, and then take it further by making use of the Super Saiyan Blue form.

'So Kouki has unlocked the Body of a God, as well as the Ki of a God… I wouldn't be surprised if Whis tries to make him the next God of Destruction': soren

While Soren was right in the fact that Kouki was indeed a candidate for the position of next God of Destruction, he didn't know that Whis actually wanted Soren to take the seat. Soon, 30 hours was up, and Goku, along with all 9 other participants were outside the Capsule Corp building, waiting for Whis to teleport them to the tournament stage.

[Hey Whis… Though I can't participate, can I come to watch?]: soren

[Sure, I don't see why not]: whis

Soren then took his place next to Whis, and looked over the group made up of 10 mortals, a God of destruction, an angel, 2 Kai's and himself. The team was made up of Gohan as the team leader, Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Negi, Kouki, Krillin, Android 17, Android 18, and Frieza, as Master Roshi and Tien were busy with other things, and both Negi and Kouki were better choices, while Frieza was just insurance to a powerful member due to Majin Buu going to sleep. Frieza had a Halo over his head, and when he noticed another Saiyan brat, his anger began to peak, as to him, it seemed as though his plan to wipe out the Saiyan Race was just slapping him in the face with how fast they repopulate, but the person who stuck out to him the most had to be Soren, as he seemed to be weak, yet Whis let him join them in the stands.

'Just who is this weakling?': frieza

Just before they were teleported, Bulma came up to speak with Vegeta with a newborn baby in her arms, as it's light blue hair, and silver eyes looked back at the world seeming to say that the world would one day bow at its feet.

[Make sure to win!... And when you get back, I'll have a whole buffet waiting for you guys]: bulma

Though nobody told her about the potential destruction of the entire Universe if they lost, but due to the changes being made within her, Bulma was slightly able to sniff out why Goku needed to gather such an overpowered force of fighters, as a simple martial arts tournament shouldn't have this much effort put into team selection.

[Alright, everyone grab on, we will begin teleportation in 10 seconds]: whis

Upon hearing Whis' voice, everyone began holding onto one another, as Soren held onto Whis' shoulder, while Frieza held onto Soren's shoulder, and in an instant, Soren could tell that Frieza was trying to test him, as Soren felt the grip of Frieza's hand increase on his shoulder, but he didn't say or do anything, as it didn't hurt in the slightest.

'Hmm… He's stronger than I thought… This should be interesting': frieza

Frieza's goal was to fight in this tournament and get wished back to life so that he could carry out his plans to destroy Goku and Vegeta, then rule over the Universe as the Emperor. Soon, everyone turned into fazing light, as they disappeared from Earth, and reappeared on the stage of the arena, while Whis and Beerus, along with the Kai's were in the stands, and when Soren noticed he was left out, he began floating in the air, as it caught everyone's attention to the fact he didn't have wings. Soren then fellow up next to Whis and Beerus and sat down, and as everyone thought that he just gave up early, they went back to planning, until the Grand Priest appeared and began explaining the rules like he did in the Anime.

[This should be interesting… What do you think, Beerus?]: soren

Soren spoke casually towards Beerus, and this caught the attention of all the Gods of Destructions attention, as well as the attention from all the Angel attendants, while the Grand Priest himself was a bit surprised that Soren showed up as a spectator.

[Now that you all heard the rules, I will now pronounce the start of this tournament!]: grand priest

When the Grand Priest finished speaking, the fighters on the stage began moving out as they went to find their opponents, and within a couple of seconds, some of the weaker contestants were already eliminated, while Universe 7 was going strong. Soren watched the entire thing with his hands behind his head, as he willed a bucket of popcorn into existence, making Beerus a bit hungry as he also began eating some popcorn, and soon, 9 minutes passed, and already, 2 universes had been destroyed. Universe's 2 and 3 were out first, and the realization that this was serious made all the participants be more reserved as they decided to work in groups to eliminate 1 person at a time, but still, Universe 7 worked by themselves, or in pairs of 2 as they went around eliminating people, and bringing the total number of participants down. As Soren watched the battles take place, he let out a few chuckles at some of the funnier play outs, as some people thought that they were going to take out Kouki, but the second he powered up, the group that was trying to attack him were pulverised and sent over the edge and into the void, landing back in the arena seats. Many of the Gods of Destruction noticed Soren's outlandish actions, and felt that he was a nuisance causing mischief during a Universal deciding battle, and ultimately spoke out towards the Grand Priest about his actions.

[Hmm… Spectator Soren… If you would, please keep it quite as to not bother the participants who might be concentrating on their fights]: grand priest

The Grand Priest spoke, and Soren felt the pressure put on him, and in turn used his own pressure to push back, as he was not going to cower, even if he knew that he would lose, so as his pressure pushed back, he spoke.

[Sure thing… But don't try to force me with your pressure… I've stood face to face with a being far beyond you]: soren

Soren knew that the Grand Priest was interested in him, as the second the grand Priest heard him, he just smiled, and went back to watching over the fighting, causing all the Gods of Destruction and their Angel Attendants to be in utter shock and surprise.

[What the hell are you doing, brat!... Are you trying to get us erased!?]: beerus

[Ma, ma… Calm down… If he was truly going to erase me for anything, I would have been gone the second I fought back against the pressure he put on me, as he tried to make me submit]: soren

Soren wasn't worried about dying, as his current power was matching that of Whis, and even though it's still far below the Grand Priest, it's still nothing to scoff at, and due to his power over the Laws of Life and Death, Soren couldn't be erased so easily. Soon, a total of 39 minutes has passed, and the only Universes that remained, were Universe's 7, 6, and 11, with only Hit remaining from Universe 6, and he was currently fighting with Kouki, while both Toppo and Jiren remained from Universe 11, and Vegeta was fighting Toppo, while Goku was currently struggling in a fight against Jiren, leaving only Negi, Kouki, Vegeta,Goku, and Frieza left for the participants of Universe 7.

[We are down to the last 8 minutes of the tournament, anyone left after time is called will be counted, and the Universe with the most participants remaining will win]: grand priest

Shortly after that, Hit was eliminated, and Beerus had the same emotional departure from his brother Champa, with Beerus holding in the emotions as he whispered to himself.

[Say something, you fool]: beerus

With the elimination of Universe 6, the Grand Priest made it so the spectator seats were brought in close to each other, as the distance was quite off putting. And after 3 minutes, Toppo was brought down with the help and sacrifice of Negi, who brought himself along with Toppo into the void, leaving Kouki, Vegeta, Goku, and Frieza left, and while Vegeta and Goku began working together to fight Jiren, Frieza was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike, leaving both Vegeta and Goku with no energy, until Vegeta gave Goku all his remaining energy. Soon, Goku tapped into Ultra Instinct, as his hair turned pure white with a silver glow, as his once onyx eyes turned silver as well, and Goku began beating Jiren into the ground, while Frieza watched from afar with great anger, as Goku just wouldn't stop getting stronger, and on the other hand, Kouki seemed to watch the fight, and take some insight as to what Goku was doing, and he seemed to pair it with Observation Haki, as he practiced letting his limbs take control of their movements.

'I think I could access that form too, but I should try it later': kouki

Just like the show, just as Goku was about to win, Jiren got a second burst of energy, and Goku's body couldn't take the strain, as his body began to break down, letting Fireza come in for the rescue, as both he and Goku sacrificed themselves to eliminate Jiren, leaving only Kouki left on the stage with a single minute left in the tournament.

[Congratulations on Universe 7, for winning the tournament… And as promised, you will get one wish from the Super Dragon Balls… Please, Kouki, come forth and make your wish]: grand priest

Kouki saw the massive dragon balls and began to marvel at their size and beauty, and after a moment, Kouki spoke.

[I wish for all the Universe destroyed in this tournament to be restored to like they were before this tournament]: kouki