Chapter 9 (Part 5)

Confrontation with Merno

Gohan watched with an intense expression on his face. This meeting would determine who would confront Merno. Truthfully, he was a bit nervous. Hopefully, he wouldn't be chosen. 'Yeah, I am really strong right now, but I doubt I can land a hit on Vermont,' Gohan concluded.

The Grand Priest scanned the crowd of deities. "We shall now commence with the selection..." he began. The mood was stiff. Although many of the gods were confident in their own strength, most could not even defeat their own attendants. That honor was reserved for only a few.

'In no way are there 97 destroyer gods capable of defeating Merno,' a destroyer god dressed in blue robes thought. He looked like a priest but wore the garb of a destroyer. 'I am confident in my strength, but this seems like a lamb to the slaughter.'

Many destroyers agreed silently, though none had the will to object to an order from the Grand Priest. They were all aware that denial was not an option, but they had an even larger issue to worry about.

'Damn it! Why did Merno have to come back? That blasted Universe 7!' Another short destroyer god grumbled. He looked like an old coot, a mad scientist some would say.

He angrily stared at Beerus, who took note of the aggressive expression and immediately grinned, conveying his intentions. The mad scientist destroyer turned and averted his gaze.

'Damn it! Curse you, Beerus! You're only alive because you're stronger than me!' he grumbled before turning and looking at the young destroyer god.

'Pathetic. They let anyone become a destroyer these days! I had to plan my usurpation for decades before achieving my goal, and he was just hand-selected? I'll show him how a real destroyer does battle!' He chuckled to himself with a dark expression but was cut off from his musings when the Grand Priest completed the name callout of all destroyer gods who would be participating.

'I-I wasn't selected!' the old coot thought gleefully before immediately wiping off his growing grin. If he recalled correctly, he heard Beerus's name.

He could see Beerus's expression; it was most definitely the sourest an expression could be, but of course, it was skillfully hidden. Or perhaps the old destroyer just really wanted to see Beerus squirm.

His expectations collapsed when he noticed Beerus staring at him again. 'Shit! Why is Beerus so vigilant?' he grumbled.

The Arrival of Kal-El

Another individual covered by a cloak stood among the pantheon of gods. He gave off a mysterious yet powerful presence, although in comparison to all the gods present, he was still lacking immensely.

The cloaked individual threw off his cape before calling out to the Grand Priest. His god of destruction, who just so happened to be the bipedal panther Pantharos, growled at him.

"Kal-El, if you don't lower your arm, I will destroy you myself!" he whisper-yelled at the now-revealed Kal-El. Although he shared the name of the Man of Steel, Gohan, Karen, and Diana were dumbstruck at the sight. He looked like Clark, but he definitely didn't feel like Clark. His ki felt hot, very hot. Gohan subconsciously compared this doppelganger with Karen and Clark. One thing was for sure: he was definitely a Kryptonian, one with God Ki.

'He definitely has something I don't...' Karen immediately understood the difference between them. He was definitely the superior combatant. That's when Goku tapped her shoulder and grinned.

"You feel that?" he asked as she nodded her head slowly.

"It's incredible," she answered as Goku grinned.

"That's ki sensing. I had a feeling you were very close to fully understanding it, and I was right!" he congratulated the stunned Kryptonian, who for a moment wasn't sure how to feel about mastering an ability just to feel the sheer difference between them.

Confrontation with Gohan

As if the doppelganger could feel her gaze, he turned his gaze from the Grand Priest and grinned her way, sending shivers down her spine. It felt odd to see that lustful gaze from someone who looked exactly like her cousin.

Gohan, noticing Power Girl's discomfort, chose to step between her and this doppelganger, immediately locking eyes with the male Kryptonian. The latter apparently didn't like this but stopped when he noticed Gohan's clothes.

'Why's a punk like him a destroyer and I'm still a candidate?' The thought struck him.

Pantharos glared at Kal-El. "You have nothing to say, right, Superboy?" he asked angrily, though he kept his expression in check.

Superboy just grinned and looked up to the Grand Priest again, who seemed to be waiting for this little confrontation to end so that he could get to the point or question he was trying to raise.

"Please allow me to join this battle for life!" he declared heroically. A few seconds passed as Pantharos felt like hiding his face in embarrassment. He glared angrily at the Kryptonian.

'You promised you wouldn't cause a scene!' Pantharos felt like ripping the Kryptonian in two himself.

The crowd of gods all started chuckling at the volunteer. Many of them, if they had the choice, would not be excited about confronting an Angel, let alone one as powerful as Merno.

Although they could feel that something about this cloaked individual was 'strong,' he still lacked far too much.

Gohan took his eyes off Superboy and scanned the gods. They didn't seem to be against the idea, but they weren't outright agreeing with his proposal. In all fairness, they were also intrigued by the boldness of the stranger.

The Grand Priest watched on, seemingly deep in thought, as he stared at Superboy, who just grinned eagerly, waiting to hear his response.

Turning to Karen, Gohan asked, "Are you alright?" She just nodded. She was no damsel in distress, but it was a bit psychologically disorienting to see a somewhat twisted version of Clark.

"Superboy, I will allow you to partake in this mission if you can impress me," the Grand Priest explained.

Clark stepped forward. "And how do I do that?" he asked as Pantharos growled behind him.

"Careful with your tone!" Pantharos reminded the Kryptonian.

"If you can defeat..." The Grand Priest's eyes turned and landed on Gohan, who seemed to be surprised.

"Lord Gohan, the youngest destroyer god alive. He has only recently become a destroyer and has shown good promise. He was excluded from the subjugation mission only because of his inexperience and lack of power. If you can overpower and defeat him, then you are free to join. Otherwise, I'd be allowing you to walk to your death," the Grand Priest announced.

Murmurings and whispers echoed throughout the summit.