Zeno Chp 146

#VEGITO POV#

"My name is Vegito," I say looking Zeno right in the eye as I can feel the Grand Priest practically glaring at me with curiosity

"Vegito...hmm, you don't look like him, I am sure, I have never seen a version of you like this," Zeno comments while the arena shifts as I feel Zeno isolating us from reality

If I wasn't already experienced with stuff like this, I would have been taken by surprise

I stare at Zeno as I can still feel the outside except that time outside of this bubble has been completely stopped

Not slowed down or anything but completely stopped

"You know other versions of me?" I ask trying to start the conversation

"Yes, I do, I am aware, to someone like me it is easy to exist and not exist at the same time," He responds and I nod as it confirms one of the theories that Connor made about Zeno

"I was aware of your existence at least, as...diminished as I am, I could sense Zalama's energy dwindling rapidly, I never imagined his successor would be Saiyan, but I can see what he saw in you as I see in the Saiyan Son Goku," Says Zeno looking at me relaxed while I am trying to process what he said about Goku

"The tournament...it was about..."

"Finding my own successor, it was amusing to see that I would meet Zalama's successor in a variation of it," Zeno says clearly amused by the situation

"Your successor," I say astonished before I start to put the pieces together

Zeno appearing as a child is not a coincidence, I know that much

I know from Damon, that Zeno was injured but I really thought that he would have used the Super Dragon Balls to wish himself back in shape

"Why didn't you use the Super Dragon Balls?" I ask him to which he merely blinks before answering

"For a few reasons, first, the damage done to me could be healed by them if Zalama was still alive to provide them with energy and not the mere scraps that are left. Second, Zalama made it so that no wishes could be made to aid me in anyway whatsoever, at least from what I managed to understand from them, third, wishing myself back to my full strength would cause a massive upheaval across reality, even damaging timelines and ripping them to near shreds before I could control all of my returned power," He says as I look at him

"Alright, so you chose Goku as your successor?" I ask him this as I am trying to understand his point of view about Goku becoming the Omni-king

"Yes, across space and time, Goku possesses the will to keep getting stronger if not just to feel his strength rise due to his efforts and there are many other qualities that I see in him that qualify him as my successor," He says and I take it in stride

"As Zalama's successor, why would you risk your very existence coming here to this tournament?"

"To confront you," I answer plainly

"Well now I see the resemblance," Says Zeno after looking at me for a bit 

"You have something don't you, most likely his staff, but since his energy is nearly depleted, it would be useless to you the way you are now," he comments after a bit

"Probably something on its level that you made on your own or close to it at least," He mentions and I do my best not to react

"I don't mean to alarm you but...I am not going to fight you or even bother to for that matter, you being Zalama's successor means that it would be too much of a pain in my ass to deal with the way I am now," he says and I blink as frustration comes over me as he finishes talking 

No fucking way

All of my preparations...all of my work...meaningless

"Oh fuck no, you are going to fight me," I tell him

"Please I know you Saiyans, you wouldn't enjoy the fight when I am weak," He says and I look to the side frustrated before something pops into my head

"Fuck you," I say after a bit as my literal blood seems to almost begin to boil out of my body in anger before I force myself to calm down

"Alright, I am calm now," I tell him

"Huh, Zalama would have already punched me in the face, I am actually surprised,"

"Don't tempt me," I tell him

"Why would you even need to confront me?" he asks and I deadpan at him

"You stabbed Zalama in the back," I remind him

"Oh yeah, that...I regret it, but...he is gone now,"

"You regret betraying him?" I ask 

"How much do you know of why I did so?" He asks me as I look at him

"That Zalama became stronger than you and that you were jealous," I say

"So, a very brief summary,"

"Well, here is my side of the story, moments before I met Zalama when he was very young, I thought nothing of him at the time and placed him on the same level as other mortals, Overtime word would spread about his name and I grew intrigued by his exploits, he was an advocate for magic and would open places that would teach magic and encourage the spread of knowledge about it," Zeno begins

"After some time, Zalama began to grow more experienced and powerful, to the point that I began to interact with him more," He says as I look at him

"Eventually, he would obtain God Ki and become a god himself, but something happened, the invaders arrived," He says seriously while I look at him already knowing where he is going with this

"They arrived and at first I took a watch-and-see approach as they weren't doing much to harm the universe that they landed on and I was curious about these beings as I never even thought of something existing beyond my reality, then they began to...experiment with magic," He says as I nod

"They started small, but soon they began to experiment on the mortal population, I...didn't act at first, since they would ask the mortals first for permission and would give them stuff in return be it food or water, it was something they willingly did, but then...they began to gather those that did not consent to it and I sent the God Of Destruction at the time to order them to stop,"

"Let me guess, they didn't,"

"No...they captured and opened him up to see how his power worked...I was furious, my anger rose again once I sent the Grand Priest to kill them, that...is when they revealed that they could resurrect themselves, so I ordered every God Of Destruction to erase them," He says a bit angry at the memory

"They escaped by traveling to another universe and while manipulating time itself broke the way that time was supposed to work, that is when I recognized the basics of Zalama's teachings in their magic, while furious, I didn't think much of it at the time given that he had spread his teachings across various universes and dismissed any worries,"

"Meeting with him again, I then saw something that I never expected in my life," Zeno says taking a deep breath

"He was strong, strong enough to rival the Grand Priest at the time,"

"I would ask how he became so strong but he would just tell me that he learned more about creation, eventually I would find out something that would spark my jealously,"

"He got that strong by learning about the nigh-infinite number of laws that I created in place, enough that he would one day rival me and then surpass me,"

"In jealousy, I met with him again, and I ordered him to tell me how he was able to obtain power from what I created myself, then I discovered that he had come to rival and then...I struck him, and in retaliation, we began to battle and all of creation was at risk, after some time, I almost defeated him and nearly struck him down, but he managed to attack me one last time and rip away several pieces of my very existence and make them his own and formed it into a staff...his staff...your staff," He says as I bring it out and he looks at it with regret

"After that, I struck him down as he finished forming the staff then I was attacked in return and I was left with this," He says as numerous cracks appear around him and soon the illusion that bordered on reality manipulation is shattered

He has cracks all over his being and his power is slowly dissipating, as he is...he won't last a few hundred thousand year

"I found out about him getting stronger by learning my [Divine Laws], so I had several angels teach some mortals about them and they would grow stronger and stronger, while my angels and I were left stagnant," he says before chuckling in what seems self-hatred

"Having so much power at my beginning meant that I couldn't grow stronger due to the very nature of how my own existence and non-existence works,"

"Going back to when I had ordered for Zalama to be brought before me, I remembered about the Super Dragon Balls. So, I gathered them and tried to make a wish for me to be healed only for me to be rejected by the dragon before the Super Dragon left," 

"Overtime, I would come to find that my wounds would not heal and I would have to extend more and more power in order to keep myself in one piece. That is when an Angel tried to overthrow me, I punished him, took away his power and sent him to the Demon Realm for whatever may be in store for him," he says as that explains Damon, but..Damon made sure that Zeno never knew what he was exactly

"So...what now?" I ask him

"Live your life, my time in this timeline is nearly over, at least for this body, hmm...in fact keep this timeline," He says while rubbing his chin and looking at me

"What? What do you mean?" I ask him

"The angels already know of my future passing and I have ordered them to finally live for themselves and once Son Goku becomes the Omni-King, they may choose to serve them or keep existing and living their lives, either way, I will be gone by that point," He says

"But, wouldn't you already exist in the past?" I ask him

"Oh, Vegito...you have so much to learn..."