Vegeta and GT Goku staggered toward each other and threw one last punch at the same time.
Both fists landed.
The two of them stumbled back several steps, then dropped flat onto the ring. Vegeta grit his teeth and tried to push himself up. GT Goku did the same. They barely made it halfway before their arms gave out and they collapsed again, breathing so hard their chests rose and fell like bellows.
By this point, even the spectators had been pulled into the fight. Bulma and the others were still cheering for Vegeta, but some of them had started cheering for GT Goku too. The two had fought so stubbornly, so fiercely, that it was hard not to respect both of them.
For the moment, neither fighter seemed able to stand.
"Oh my. Would this count as a draw?" Vados asked, turning to Ken.
"There are no draws here. Someone has to win." Ken smiled and moved in a blur, appearing above the ring.
Vegeta and GT Goku were still struggling on the floor.
"This match must have a winner," Ken announced. "So here are the conditions. Whoever stands up first and smiles while saying, 'I win,' takes the match."
Krillin immediately looked toward Master Roshi.
Bulma blinked. Yamcha and Oolong both scratched their heads.
"Was Ken there during that old World Martial Arts Tournament?" Yamcha asked.
"No," Bulma said, shaking her head.
"Probably just a coincidence," Master Roshi muttered.
"It reminds me of Goku's first tournament finals," Krillin said, rubbing his head as the memory came back. "That match against that old geezer Jackie Chun. They both hit the ground and couldn't get up. In the end, the referee said whoever stood up first, smiled, and said 'I'm the champion' would win."
Yamcha quietly broke into a sweat.
Old geezer?
Krillin really said that?
Did he still not know Jackie Chun was Master Roshi? Yamcha had only found out later himself, after Tien told him.
Master Roshi's face went dark.
He jumped up and punched Krillin on the head.
A lump swelled on Krillin's skull. He stared at Master Roshi in confusion, completely lost as to why he had been hit.
"You idiot! Jackie Chun was me!" Master Roshi snapped.
"Huh? That old man was you?" Krillin stared.
"You're supposed to be sharp. How did you only figure that out now?"
"Now that you mention it… yeah, that was probably you." Krillin wiped away a nervous sweat. "No wonder I kept thinking, how is this old man so strong?"
"I put a lot of effort into training you and Goku back then!"
"Really? I thought you were mostly just a pervy old man."
"You ungrateful little brat!"
Master Roshi pulled off one of his shoes and started chasing Krillin with it. Krillin fled at once. Android 21 watched the whole thing without any intention of stepping in.
On the ring, Vegeta and GT Goku were still trying to force themselves upright so they could smile and say the winning line.
The problem was that both of them had burned themselves completely dry.
GT Goku suddenly reverted to his normal state, shrinking back into a child.
"Smart," Ken said with a smile.
Vegeta's pupils tightened.
GT Goku, relying on sheer willpower, had already managed to squat upright. Vegeta was still grimacing beside him, stuck halfway through what looked like the world's ugliest push-up.
Vegeta cursed inwardly and dropped out of Super Saiyan 4 as well. The form still consumed energy, even if it was easy to ignore under normal conditions. Right now, every scrap mattered.
"Come on! Come on! Come on!"
The crowd shouted for both of them.
"Damn it," Beerus muttered. "Even if we win, it's too close."
Universe 7 was finally on the verge of taking a match, but the way it was happening left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Whis said nothing. He only watched the ring calmly.
At last, GT Goku straightened up.
Vegeta was still only halfway there, crouched low, his eyes burning with frustration.
"Hehe…" GT Goku grinned, showing his teeth. "I… I… I wi—"
Before he could finish the word, he collapsed backward and passed out.
The entire arena froze.
The scene was painfully familiar.
Goku had been so close. Just one word away.
Vegeta stared for a second, then realized that fortune had just landed directly in his lap. He forced himself upright, breathing hard, and shouted with the biggest smile he could manage.
"I win!"
"The third match goes to Universe 6's Vegeta," Ken announced from above the ring. "Universe 6 now has three points."
Beerus felt his entire soul crack.
He had genuinely thought GT Goku would win that one. Instead, Universe 7 had lost in the most miserable way possible.
As soon as Ken announced the result, Vegeta's eyes filled with tears.
He had won.
He had finally beaten Kakarot.
"The tournament between Universe 6 and Universe 7 has now reached three consecutive wins for Universe 6," Ken said with a smile. Then he turned to Beerus. "Beerus-sama, I'll give you a chance. If you win either of the remaining two matches, I'll count it as Universe 7's victory. How does that sound?"
"You said it yourself," Beerus said at once. "If I win, the Super Dragon Balls are still mine."
"Fine." Ken nodded. "But if you lose?"
"What do you want?"
"Forget it. You don't have anything I want." Ken shook his head. "If you lose, you'll owe me a favor. Later, when I tell you to do something, you do it properly."
Beerus grit his teeth. "Fine."
"Great. I thought I wouldn't get to fight at all." Goku let out a long breath of relief.
Piccolo helped Vegeta down from the ring. At the same time, Goku carried GT Goku down and fed him a Senzu Bean.
GT Goku's eyes opened immediately.
Goku set the other version of himself back on his feet.
"Piccolo, catch." Goku tossed the bag of Senzu Beans over.
Piccolo caught it and gave one to Vegeta. Both Vegeta and GT Goku had drained themselves so badly that without Senzu Beans, there was no telling how long they would have needed to recover. Fortunately, they had plenty now.
"Huh? I lost?" GT Goku asked, scratching his head.
"Yeah. That was really close." Goku smiled. "It reminded me of my first World Martial Arts Tournament. I fought an old man and almost won the same way."
"That old man…" GT Goku thought for a moment, then laughed. "I remember him too. I was supposed to say I was the champion, but I fell asleep before I finished."
"So that happened in your timeline too," Goku said.
"Yeah." GT Goku nodded. "Guess I still need to train more when I get back."
He walked over to Vegeta and looked up at him.
Vegeta stared back without expression.
"Vegeta, that was a great fight." GT Goku held out his hand.
"Hmph. Kakarot, train properly when you go back." Vegeta's mouth curved in satisfaction.
"I will. I definitely need to train harder." GT Goku nodded seriously. "Let's both keep going. Once I'm stronger, I'll come fight you again."
"Hmph."
Vegeta flicked GT Goku's hand away.
GT Goku burst out laughing. "You really are still Vegeta."
Many of the spectators were still caught up in what had just happened. This time, Vegeta had finally beaten Goku, even if it was a Goku from another timeline.
He would probably laugh himself awake from the dream later.
Only GT Vegeta felt a little sour about it.
That honor should have been his.
Now he could not stop wondering how strong this timeline's Kakarot actually was.
"All right," Ken announced. "Next match. Universe 6's Kale against Universe 7's Broly."
The crowd erupted in excitement.
Kale appeared in the ring in a flash. GT Broly stepped up more slowly.
By now, plenty of people had realized who Kale's opponent was.
Another timeline's Broly.
"Kale's opponent isn't simple," Krillin said. "That's Broly."
"She'll be fine," Gohan replied. "He's Broly too, but his timeline didn't have Ken training him. He shouldn't be ridiculously strong."
"When you put it that way, yeah…" Krillin nodded. "But did you notice? That Broly feels different from ours."
"I noticed right away," Gohan said.
"He really does," Videl added. "The Broly fighting Kale feels kind of… dull."
"That's a good word for it," Krillin said with a laugh.
Elsewhere, Buu nudged Broly. "Hey, Broly. The other you is up."
Broly looked at the ring calmly. "Other timelines are other timelines. I'm me."
Buu stared at him with a head full of question marks.
Why did that sound like an answer and not an answer at the same time?
"So who wins?" Buu asked.
"The stronger one."
Buu no longer wanted to talk.
That was the same as saying nothing.
"Ken," Vados said near his ear, "that Broly feels very different from the Broly of our timeline. And I don't mean strength."
"He is different," Ken said with a smile. "Think of him as another version of Broly."
"Another version?"
"For example," Ken said, "imagine that when you were born, you suddenly decided to take your life in a completely different direction. From that point on, there would be two versions of Vados. One would be the Vados I know, and the other would be someone else entirely."
Vados fell silent.
Of all the examples he could have chosen, he still somehow made it weird.
But she understood what he meant.
In the ring, Kale and GT Broly faced each other.
GT Broly belonged to the older version of Broly, while the Great God of Destruction Broly in Ken's timeline was the newer one. Compared to the old Broly, the newer Broly was naturally kinder, almost innocent in the same way Goku was. Without Ken's help, though, even he would have lost control after becoming a Super Saiyan.
The older Broly was different. He had been born on the same day as Goku with a battle power of ten thousand. Goku had cried from the pressure of Broly's power, and Broly had been tormented by Goku's crying. From the very beginning, the two had bothered each other.
When King Vegeta learned how powerful Broly was, he tried to kill him in the cradle and discarded him. But when Planet Vegeta was destroyed, Broly survived by shielding himself in a barrier and drifting through space. Later, he came back alive, targeted Vegeta, fought Goku and the others, and transformed into the Legendary Super Saiyan.
That older Legendary Super Saiyan form, however, was roughly around the level of Super Saiyan 3.
"Begin!"
Kale did not hesitate. Golden-green light erupted from her body as she transformed into the Legendary Super Saiyan.
GT Broly froze slightly, staring at the girl across from him in surprise.
The same transformation as his.
"That girl is amazing," GT Goku said, then turned to Vegeta. "She is a girl, right?"
Vegeta nodded with a dark expression.
"She's a Legendary Super Saiyan too?" GT Goku asked.
"Does the transformation not make it obvious enough?" Vegeta snapped.
"Right. She really is a Legendary Super Saiyan." GT Goku looked amazed, then puzzled. "But isn't the Legendary Super Saiyan supposed to appear only once every thousand years? How are there two?"
"That woman, Kale, is a Saiyan from Planet Sadala in Universe 6," Vegeta explained.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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