40 Hours until the Tournament of Time

"I must say father, at the very least, this arena is much more aesthetically pleasing than the last." Whis gave a curt nod. "Yes, this should be more than adequate for the battles that are likely to take place."

"I'm glad you approve, Whis." The Grand Minister replied, his hands glowing as impossibly large stone blocks continued to materialise around him, shooting off at high speeds and in all directions moments later. "Of course it's not quite finished yet. Since Grand Zeno has opened this Tournament for all to attend and spectate, I must make sure they can be suitably accommodated."

With another quick glance around, Whis was certain accommodating their guests would hardly be an issue. At the moment Whis and the Grand Minister were stood in the centre of the, presently dull and barren, circular structure of what would soon become the Tournament's ring. It's size was not as imposing as the ring of the prior Tournament of Power; but it was still more than large enough to satisfy their contestants. The ring was accompanied by a short shin-high wall, no taller than a step, over which dropped down into the contestants waiting area that wrapped around the ring, cordoned off into six sections; one for each timeline.

"You seem to be expecting a large turnout," Whis said, his head twisting up. "Then again, I suppose audiences from six separate timelines would require a fair amount of space."

The Grand Minister felt Whis had understated it. The audience stands utterly eclipsed the arena in size, looming so high and so wide it was not possible to see anything that wasn't grey coloured or stone textured; at least not yet, as construction was still underway. Whis was rather curious of how it would appear once the stands were filled; there was going to be such a variety of beings in attendance, perhaps even beyond Whis' own understanding. He may dabble in the odd bit of temporal manipulation, but alternate timelines were still far beyond his expertise.

Of course it didn't have to remain that way.

"Tell me, father," Whis began smoothly. "These timelines you've invited, I don't suppose you'd be surprised to hear that I'm curious as to the beings we'll be seeing from them."

The Grand Minister did not cease what he was doing, but he did look to Whis with his ever present grin. "I'm more surprised you hadn't mentioned it earlier; this event will be a first, even amongst the Gods." He then flicked a finger, and the blocks he was manipulating froze immediately. "Perhaps you'd like a quick peek at one of the timelines?" He smirked. "Just to know what your Universe will be up against."

Whis hid it well, but to his father, it was painfully obvious how excited the suggestion made him. The Minister summoned Whis' staff to his hand, and after a brief moment of concentration, a light shone out from the staff and projected an image of a planet above; a planet which Whis was all too familiar with.

"Earth?"

"But of course."

The image zoomed in; first to a continent, then to a city, to a familiar domed yellow building, and finally to a gravity chamber.

Whis was about to question if his father had gotten his timelines mixed up, since up until this point, everything he'd been shown had been rather identical to their own. That promptly changed once a spiky haired figure came into focus.

"Is that?"

"One of your students? It is." The Grand Minister shrugged. "Or at least, this timeline's version of him."

Whis had an unfamiliar sense of wonder bubble up within him; he was genuinely amazed to see something so familiar yet so radically different at the same time. This Tournament of Time was going to be quite the spectacle for mortal and God alike.

"My my, he seems just as tenacious as ever," Whis commented, watching as the now clearly identifiable alternate timeline Vegeta continued his rigorous training regime. His hair was long, his aura blazing, and it may have been due to the lights, but Whis thought this Vegeta was looking a little redder than his own.

Probably just a trick of the light.

"This was the first timeline, after your own, that Grand Zeno chose for the Tournament." The Minister placed his hands behind his back. "Appropriately, we're referring to it as Timeline 2."

Whis hummed, gaze still fixed on the image above. "It appears quite similar to our own."

"There are subtle diversions, and some rather major ones." The Minister closed his eyes. "I'm sure you'll be able to discuss them all with your counterpart when he arrives here with his participants in time for the Tournament."

Whis had his suspicions, which were now confirmed. He knew it was more than likely an alternate him existed in this timeline, and perhaps in all the timelines present. Still, it was likely to be an odd experience to meet himself, even if there were likely some divergences along the way.

"Vegeta of Timeline 2 is one of the participants." The Minister suddenly began. "Would you like to see the others?"

Apparently not waiting for his reply, the Minister waved a hand and the image shifted to another section of the Earth; yet again not unlike their own. A village came into view, along with another figure Whis had become familiar with in the recent years.

"Goku's student?"

"The reincarnation of Majin Buu."

The sixteen year old Uub of Timeline 2 was currently plowing a field; apparently training for him was not as much a priority as it was for Vegeta.

Whis hummed again; that was two out of three contestants, and Whis was fairly certain the third was a foregone conclusion.

As if sensing his son's thoughts, the Minister shifted the image again, with the sky above fazing from day to night. Whis almost snorted as a familiar pair of small houses came into view; surrounded by tall mountains, creatures flying past, and figures on the front lawn no doubt attempting to cram in some last minute training. Though the surprise was not there, Whis was nevertheless curious to see just what he would be presented with by the Timeline 2 Goku.

Whis actually gasped when the image came into focus.

The figure who appeared was definitely not Goku.

But Whis was more than aware of who she was.

- DB DBZ DBS DBGT -

"No one ever went Super Saiyan by getting frustrated, Pan."

Despite his words, Gohan was rapidly growing frustrated himself. Ever since Kibito Kai and a supposed angel named Whis dropped out of the sky roughly twenty hours ago now, his world had practically done a somersault.

They had all been invited to a Tournament; The Tournament of Time. And that was pretty much everything everyone needed to know. They'd assembled at Capsule Corp at Kibito Kai's request to be informed and instructed, though only the Son's, Briefs', and one or two others ended up coming in the end. It seemed as the years went on and people grew older, their once tight-knit group was slowly coming apart.

When Gohan and his family had arrived at Capsule Corp, the stranger named Whis put them all on edge, but Kibito Kai's reassurance eased many of their doubts. Apparently this Tournament was all in good fun, at the behest of a being named Grand Zeno; to whom even the Gods were subservient, much to everyone's shock and even fear.

Vegeta was unsurprisingly the first to confirm his place for the Tournament, immediately beginning to train with the ferocity he had done when he was half his age… after asking that Whis guy for 'Beers' or something, Gohan wasn't really listening.

Uub, or Majuub as he was occasionally called, put his name forward at the first opportunity, with no one choosing to oppose him. He was currently one of the strongest warriors on the planet, and he was itching to show it.

Gohan was currently trying to force the third contestant to go back to bed.

"You've been at it all day, Pan." Gohan stated unamused from his position in the garden. "If you carry on like this, you'll be too tired to participate."

Gohan wasn't exaggerating. After eagerly putting her own name forward, typically without consulting her parents first, Pan had immediately thrown herself into some last minute training. Since their near annihilation at the hands of Omega Shenron and the Shadow Dragons several months ago, as well as the final disappearance of the Dragon Balls themselves, Pan had been fixated on one goal; achieve Super Saiyan.

It was a borderline obsession as far as Gohan was concerned. Pan spent entire days raising and lowering her power, pushing herself to her absolute limits. She consulted with every elder Saiyan to try and discover the key to transforming. She'd even asked Vegeta of all people to consider training her; which he promptly refused, directing her to her father instead.

Gohan knew exactly what was wrong with her; after all, he'd gone through it all himself.

Pan let out another growl and her power swelled again, but the end result was the same as it had always been. Her strength fizzled out, she dropped to her knees heaving, and Gohan could only watch and wait.

Pan let out another yell, though the only purpose of this one was to vent her frustration. "Argh! This is so stupid! Why can't I do it?!" She stood up, fists clamped at her sides. When she became aware of her father still standing behind her, she turned to look up at him. "Why haven't I gotten any stronger? After all the fights I've been in the past couple of years! I should've gone super ages ago!"

Despite himself, Gohan snorted. "You know full well, Pan, that there's more to strength than fighting. I taught you better than that."

"Don't you mean Grandpa taught me better?"

There was a sudden chill in the air. Gohan held his breath while Pan stared up at him intently. For a few tense moments they both stood frozen. However, seconds after the sharp words had left her mouth, Pan sighed and averted her gaze to the ground.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that." She followed through by turning her body entirely, turning to face the darkened tree line that encircled their homes.

Soft footsteps upon the grass soon followed, but Pan didn't turn to look. Soon enough her father was standing beside her, and seemed to be staring forward the same as she was. He knew full well he didn't need to ask her any questions, and he was well aware she didn't mean for her words to be rude. It was painfully obvious to Gohan what was wrong with his daughter.

"It's okay to miss him, Pan. You don't have to pretend that it's not."

Pan had no reaction. They had already mourned her Grandpa, and she wasn't looking to open old wounds. There were other things on her mind now, thoughts that had come to her ever since he had left, and had festered in her head ever since.

"If I'd been stronger-"

Pan halted immediately, she practically heard her father's fist clench at her words. His voice soon followed, his tone sharp and words swift. "Pan, all of us, every single one of our friends have at some point or the other wished they had been stronger than they are; to protect the earth, fight an enemy, for whatever reason." He paused for a moment, his eyes seeming to glaze over. "I struggled for a long time thinking I was too weak to help, that I was just a dumb little kid in way over my head." His head slowly turned to face Pan, who stood rigid. "Are you seeing the pattern yet?"

Pan's voice came out quieter than she had anticipated. It wasn't often her father spoke to her in that tone. "But Grandpa might-"

"Still have gone away." Gohan's words hung in the air. "He didn't go because you weren't strong enough, Pan, and you can't allow yourself to think that." He slowly lowered himself to a knee, resting his forearm upon it. "Grandpa was the strongest man to ever walk the earth. Everything he ever did was because he thought it was the right thing to do; including him leaving… no amount of strength could've ever changed that."

His words almost seemed rehearsed. This whole conversation in fact. It may have been the first time her father had said those words to her, but it was obviously something he had been considering for a while… as had Pan.

They resumed their silence. Pan chose to sit, exhaustion slowly settling back in; both from her training and by still being awake at this hour. Gohan joined her soon after, his mind blank to everything but the wind.

"He's really not coming back this time is he."

Pan's voice was quiet. Her words were solemn but stated with conviction. Nobody ever wanted to talk about it, in fact everyone seemed to purposely avoid speaking her Grandpa's name aloud. Either from some hidden pain at his leaving, or some utter delusion that maybe he'll just walk back through the door someday and things will be as they once were.

But they wouldn't be, couldn't be, and maybe even shouldn't be. Pan knew that her Grandpa had a history of coming and going, but there was always an unspoken truth that he would always come home. This time was different; it felt final.

This time he was gone for good.

But yesterday an angel fell from the sky, and a set of Dragon Balls were just fifteen contestants away.

Next time: Filler... OR IS IT?!