Chapter 17: Warrior's Insight
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Lord Beerus' Homeworld, Present Timeline
Kassava's wide eyes continued to dart around at the sky above, the awe in her expression matching Trunks' as both walked alongside Whis, who kept his head forward. Genn followed after the two, his own attention turning towards the forest line a few meters off from their side instead of the stars. Having moved into the center of the open field, Whis promptly turned on his heel, facing towards the three warriors with a small smile.
"Now, there are a few small details I must go over before we begin the training. For starters..."
His smile disappeared.
"I do not normally train students, aside from a few exceptions. My only job is to guide the gods of this universe to rule it well, and so far, I have lived up to the first half of it."
Trunks raised an eyebrow.
"Half? You mean there are two gods of destruction?"
Whis shook his head.
"No, but there is supposed to be a god of time."
Trunks blinked hard in response.
"A god...of time?"
Whis nodded.
"Yes. The universe flows concurrently between two forces of nature: the force of reality, and the force of time. The god of destruction is charged with the power to shape reality as he sees fit, as all creation begins with destruction. However, outside of that immediately reality, is time. The only force of nature that does not bow to physical power, where even Lord Beerus can be manipulated and altered by its effects."
Trunks frowned.
"Demigra tried to control Beerus, but it had no effect on him. I always thought he was immune to changes in history?"
Whis' smile returned.
"What you saw was Beerus' resistance of Demigra's magic, not of time itself. Imagine instead, if Demigra learned of Beerus' own history, and decided to alter even the smallest event in time that would change the course of his development. He could erase the god of destruction from history by simply moving a blade of grass in the wrong direction, thanks to the power of the butterfly effect."
He then turned his head back towards the others.
"So, with that power circumventing the reality in which all life resides, the original creator deemed the necessary need for not only a god of destruction, but a god of time as well. A figure of immense power, capable of managing the timestream and preventing any threats from altering the course of history. Just as the Supreme Kais of the universe serve a god of destruction, so too should the Supreme Kai of Time serve the god of time."
He shrugged his shoulders.
"Or at least, that is how it works in other universes. This universe has become special in the eyes of the other universes over the past few centuries, in how Chronoa has stubbornly refused to bind her soul to a being worthy of replacing your original god of time and creating this 'Time Patrol' instead. Perhaps she has done it because she wanted to use that Patrol to test candidates, but so far, we have not seen her come close to choosing a replacement."
Kassava raised an eyebrow.
"What happened to the first god of time?"
Whis shrugged his shoulders once more.
"I am honestly unsure, but..."
His eyes turned towards Trunks.
"Your mentioning of the original Super Saiyan God being contained by a power that came before Chronoa is most unsettling in this regard. Around what year, do you imagine, the Saiyan God appeared?"
Trunks kept his frown, glancing down.
"I don't know, it happened around a few million or so years ago. She keeps that scroll locked away, so we haven't ever looked into exact dates."
Whis nodded once.
"A few million years...that is too close together in approximate history to be a coincidence. The original god of time vanished around the same era in history of the original Super Saiyan God's appearance, if your guess is correct."
Trunks narrowed his eyes.
"So you think this god of time and the original Super Saiyan God fought?"
Whis nodded.
"It is very possible, although we would have to look into it to be certain."
Genn frowned as well.
"I remember seeing the history of the Super Saiyan God on Earth. Shenron said he was fighting the evil of the Saiyans, why would he be fighting a god of time?"
Whis' smile lifted slightly.
"Evil is a very relative term, Genn. Sides of conflicts tend to be more than just 'good versus evil', and have many sorts of context to them that Shenron might not have known."
He raised his free hand, his pointer finger extending to the sky.
"Think about it: imagine if Zamasu arrived on this world, right here. Right now."
He cocked an eyebrow.
"If you two fought, would it be a battle of your good versus his evil?"
Genn furrowed his brow, his voice somewhat weak.
"Y...yes?"
Whis' eyes narrowed.
"Really? Apart from Zamasu's own beliefs, the ruined lives left in your wake would beg to differ."
Genn's frowned deepened, his head lowering.
"I'm not that person anymore though..."
Whis bowed his head slightly.
"It matters not who you are now: the damage you have caused is still there. You cannot change it, and no amount of lives saved will undo that destruction. You may save the universe ten times over, but you will never have the chance to save the people you have hurt growing into who you are now."
Kassava's glare fired up, stepping in between Whis and Genn and clenching her fists together.
"Leave him alone, he doesn't deserve this."
Whis' smile remained strong, his tone ironically warm throughout the criticism.
"Ah, and now we come to you. The caring sister who has enabled this foolish ideology in a bid to fill the own empty void in her chest. Believing the attachment will solve her problems, when she must learn to confront them on her own."
He stifled a small chuckle, eyeing Trunks.
"It's oddly similar to the failed protege over there, enabling the temper tantrums of an intelligent punch jockey capable of wiping out most of the universe in a search for someone worthy to fight because he considers him family."
Trunks narrowed his eyes once Whis had brought him into the discussion, his tone flat.
"What are you getting at here, Whis?"
Whis' smile slightly diminished, but his tone remained warm.
"I am letting you know why there is no current god of time, simply because none of you are capable of possessing that responsibility with your current problems. Which is why I have decided to train all three of you in a manner that will rectify your problems and make you worthy of potentially becoming a candidate for the god of time. Now, in order for me to do so, I must condition you physically and mentally to the point where my teachings will allow me to mold your mind."
He turned towards Trunks and Genn, nodding towards the outerforest.
"I want you two to run one hundred laps around the entire forest, to develop your stamina. At your own pace."
Genn blinked hard at the command, while Trunks turned on his heel, wasting no time in breaking out into a small sprint. Genn watched as Trunks disappeared into the tree line in his dash, glancing back and forth to the treeline and Whis.
"One..hundred laps?"
Whis nodded, his smile remaining.
"Yes, at your own pace. You are welcome to spend as much time as you need to in order to get it done."
Genn kept his frown, glancing down at the floor for a moment before turning his head back up and nodding once promptly before breaking out into a jog. Kassava watched on as the two soon disappeared, her own eyes narrowing.
"This planet looked pretty small. Are you sure one hundred laps would be enough?"
Whis chuckled slightly.
"Of course, the planet's gravity is constantly shifting as we speak. Trunks will end up burning himself out first, as he tends to approach things head on and rarely ever saves his energy or holds back when he believes something important is at stake. However, I am a little uncertain how your brother will handle the shifts in gravity, as some of them tend to be well above five hundred times Earth's gravity."
Kassava blinked.
"Five hundred times?!"
Whis nodded.
"Yes, but don't worry. He can handle it. In any case, you will need to focus on your own training and let him grow on his own."
Kassava kept a small frown for a moment, sighing promptly in response before nodding curtly. She then broke out into a smirk, throwing out a few fists and punching at the air.
"Right, so what training plan are we going to do? Practicing martial arts combos in sparring matches? Intense workouts to make my body stronger? Extensive cardio training?"
She then blinked in confusion, her eyes falling onto the small, brown object resting in Whis' outstretched palm. She glanced in between the small oval shaped item and Whis' smiling face for a moment before speaking.
"Um...what is that?"
"It's a potato."
Kassava's eyebrow twitched, glancing back down at the small spud.
"A...potato?"
Whis nodded, gesturing for the female Super Saiyan to take it. Kassava scoffed, reaching up and grasping onto the spud in her hand with her eyes never leaving Whis.
"What the hell is a potato supposed to do for me?"
Whis reached back into the side of his robe, now that his hand was free.
"One of your greatest flaws is in your inability to control your strength and power, Kassava, even more so now that you have just acquired the power of a Super Saiyan. While it has led to your success in most of your endeavors before, you are now contending with threats to the universe that require more than simply raw power to beat them, as well as those threats having more raw power than you currently possess. If you do not learn how to control your power, you will burn yourself out as quickly as other overly eager fighters have done in the past. As well as being unable to complete the more advanced stages of training I have envisioned for you, that involve you mastering the flow of your own energy."
He then pulled out his hand, the outstretched palm now holding a small, linear shaped metal object next to another brown potato spud no bigger than the size of his knuckle.
"Your first trial is to peel a small brown potato perfectly. I want you to make sure that you remove the entire skin around it, but you must also make sure that you do not peel any of the potato itself. If you create any rigged points or bumpy curves along the potato in the process, you will have to start over."
Kassava raised an eyebrow, staring down at the tools.
"So you only want me to peel one? Why did you give me two?"
Whis' smile rose.
"Because you already crushed the first one."
Kassava blinked, lifting her hand that had grasped the first small potato earlier. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of smashed and sticky paste leaking out the sides of her clenched fist, and sighed heavily. Lowering down onto the grassy plain, Kassava grumbled as she reached up and started to peel away the skin of the upper portion of the potato.
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The tension inside of the Time Vault continued to mount as the two Kais and Vegetto loomed over the scroll in complete silence. Vegetto's narrowed eyes scanned the scene before him, staring down at the image of a lone figure sitting at a small wooden table beneath a large oak tree, the open plain of grass stretching nearly across the entire planet itself. His eyes followed the small cup Zamasu held in his hand, watching him sip casually on his tea for a moment before speaking.
"I have to go in."
The Supreme Kai of Time worriedly turned up towards Vegetto.
"No! This is clearly a trap: we need to figure out what else is going on around this."
Vegetto turned his head slightly towards the Supreme Kai, but kept his eyes trained on Zamasu.
"You wanted me to do my job and find him. Now, he shows up for the first time on our radar and you want me to let him go?"
The Supreme Kai of Time glanced down.
"No...it's just...he wouldn't just put himself out in the open like this unless he was planning something."
Vegetto kept his narrowed eyes, frowning and uncrossing his arms.
"It doesn't matter. We can't sense anything from Towa, and the others won't be much use if I can't handle whatever trap they plan to spring anyway. I have to go in and take this opportunity."
The Elder Kai spoke next, wagging his right pointer finger.
"Be careful in there, Vegetto. This Zamasu is more versed than any other iterations of him that we have seen thus far. He knows his full original history, and has seen where he made mistakes in the past along with having his immortal body once again. You should expect him to be a challenge if he's openly looking for you to arrive."
Vegetto nodded once in response, taking hold of the scroll and disappearing into the blinding white light.
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The small breeze blew the discarded petals around the entire table, Zamusa's green hand slightly covering the top portion of the cup as he continued to sip at his tea. He relaxed fully into his chair for a moment, only perking his eyebrows at the whir the bright white energy ringing out a few meters away. His eyes turned slowly towards the source of the sound, landing on the new arrival. Vegetto's glare locked onto Zamasu, his eyes soon darting to each side for a moment before fully committing his focus to Zamasu.
"All this time to plot your revenge. And you waste it, giving me this opening."
Zamasu's lips rose into a half smile, his expression oddly warm as he turned towards the warrior in his seat.
"I have spent my time better, in learning about the history that I have lived in another life. My kindred spirits, seeking to bring about my dream and the quest they endured."
He rose slowly out of his seat, clasping his arms behind his back. Vegetto's arms tensed slightly, watching Zamasu come to a halt a few feet in front of him.
"And after seeing where I have failed, I have come to a higher understanding. I had misjudged your kind and how I let the burden of sin undo the justice I sought, rather than acknowledging the truths Gowasu tried to show me."
Vegetto scoffed.
"Don't tell me you've given up on your twisted dream."
Zamasu shook his head.
"Of course not. I only wish to share what I have learned with you, over a cup of tea."
His right arm extended out, eyeing Vegetto with a questioning expression.
"Shall I pour you some?"
Vegetto's narrowed eyes fell onto the cart for only a second, the strong glare rapidly turning back to Zamasu.
"I have a better idea. How about I blow you to bits, right here and now."
Zamasu bowed his head slightly, his smile rising.
"You could, but I'm sure you already know about my immortal body. You can't destroy me, and I can't destroy you. So...we talk."
He gestured once again to the seat, Vegetto standing motionless in response. His glare continued to intensify for a few seconds before his right hand suddenly shot up, slapping away a few pink petals that had landed on his shoulder. Zamasu remained calm and poised, his smile strong as he watched Vegetto slowly move towards the already propped chair for him. Zamasu deftly moved to the side of the cart, having quickly poured the green tea into the small ceramic cup about eighty percent of the way before setting the pot back down onto the tile with a slighty clanking of the silverware. Zamasu sighed lightly, lowering himself back into his seat and crossing his right leg over his left, his hands in his lap.
"I must admit, I was not expecting you to take my offer so peacefully, given your current state of mind."
Vegetto's head slightly perked up at the comment, but his glare remained mostly unchanged as Zamasu continued.
"But where I once grew to hate your kind for your evil, barbaric tendencies, I have come to see them in a new light after witnessing my own destruction in history. You see, I was foolish and short sighted in those actions, having allowed the sins of your kind to infect my mind and throw me off the righteous path of justice. You exploited this, overcame my power, and destroyed me."
His head turned slightly towards the tree.
"My master had once said that in order for true justice to exist, there must be a balance between good and evil. That if evil made you lose your way, you must stand your ground and continue your search for the path of good. That true justice, was the search for true righteousness."
Vegetto kept the same glare and frown across his face, his eyes never once leaving Zamasu as the fallen Kaioshin contrasted the angry stare with a warm smile.
"In history, I saw myself, consumed by the evil of your kind. Having sought to take on the sins of mortals to remind myself of what I fought against, but in doing so, allowed the evil to consume me. I see now, that my quest for the ultimate justice is what led to my fall, and for that, I apologize."
Vegetto grunted, nearly rolling his eyes.
"And why should I care about any of this?"
Zamasu leaned forward, his eyes locking with Vegetto's.
"I simply wanted to offer you some appeasement for my actions, as I see now that your kind's existence is necessary for justice to prevail. Without evil, good would have no comparison to help understand what its true qualities are. Without mortals, we would not know what true sin and evil was."
Vegetto's lips lifted into a smirk.
"That's a touching speech, but it still doesn't make you any less of a problem."
Zamasu nodded once.
"Fascinating. I was thinking the same thing, my old nemesis."
Vegetto's smirk disappeared, his glare intensifying as Zamasu's tone darkened.
"I've seen the history, and the events unfold. While Son Goku was a perfect example of mortals who had progressed into the realm of the gods, he was only a minor problem. He simply followed the ways of his kind, and managed to harness the power of the gods. He can be dealt with at any time, and outsmarted easily for he is not a true abomination."
Zamasu's smirk rose slightly, a small hint of enthusiasm rising in his voice.
"But you...you are much different. A man born from the forbidden practice of the gods, granted their power and using their wisdom to manage their universe. You are much more intelligent and dangerous, an abomination rooted in sin attempting to play a role your mind could not possibly master. The ultimate sin of your Supreme Kai of Time had been in the creation of a mortal task force to manage the flow of time, and left unchecked, could lead to the destruction of all that is good."
Vegetto's remained locked with Zamasu, who leaned back in his seat.
"So here we sit, as two sides to a coin: the yin and yang. Good versus evil."
He stifled a small chuckle.
"I see how close you have come to replicate the light of the gods, and while it is blasphemous, I commend you for your efforts. You and I are not so different, but no matter how close you come, you can never stray from your evil tendencies. It is why, even now, your spend all of your resources in training that woman instead of hunting down the sorcerer."
Vegetto broke out into a smirk.
"Are you done?"
Zamasu nodded.
"More or less."
Vegetto kept his smirk, rising up out of his seat and suddenly flipping the table out across the plan. Zamasu watched on with a flat expression as the sound of silverware and wood breaking apart on each other rung out while Vegetto spoke.
"I may not be capable of killing you now, but we will find a way. I'm taking you back to Conton City and we'll hold you there until we find a way to remove that Time Ring on your finger."
His gloved hands suddenly whipped down, grasping onto the collar of Zamasu's robes and hoisting him up slightly into the air.
"As long as the Patrol exists, you will never see your 'justice'."
Zamasu stared back into Vegetto's eyes with a near flat expression, minus his half smile.
"Then your Patrol will die with you."
Vegetto's glare intensified, silently stare back at Zamasu before suddenly nodding to the sky.
"Pull me out now."
Zamasu chuckled darkly, the two soon disappearing together in a bright white light with the pink pedals swirling around the cyclone of energy left in their wake.
