Chapter Text
Goku and Vegeta are right on the edge of falling from the ring. Goku is up front and fighting Jiren's overwhelming strength, trying to conserve as much of his strength as possible by using Super Saiyan God. Vegeta is trembling and holding his leg off the ground, broken from one of Jiren's kicks earlier in the fight.
Both know it's hopeless to continue fighting like this, but with their backs against the wall and their Universe about to be erased, they're doing it anyway! And it's going about as well as anyone had expected.
Jiren winds back, red flames pouring out from his fist, and slams it straight into Goku's chest, sending the Saiyan flying backwards. Everyone tenses and smirks as it looks like Goku is about to fly out of the ring... Only for Vegeta to slam his foot down, in spite of the damage he's taken, and grab Goku by the ankle before he can fly out, and one final yank has Goku standing back on the ground.
"We need to fight as one, Kakarot." Goku keeps his eyes firmly on Jiren, who hasn't moved since punching him. "We've already tried that, and we had Seventeen and Trunks helping us then! It won't wor-" Vegeta slaps him and causes Goku to glare at him. "We need to fight as one, Kakarot." His eyes widen at the emphasis, but he quickly starts smiling. He'd forgotten about their practice session due to everything that had happened to this point.
"I see. Fusion!" Even Jiren raises a brow at the proclamation. "I see. You intend on using the same technique those other Saiyan's used earlier in the tournament," Jiren deduces. He turns his back to the two Saiyans, clearly way too trusting in his abilities. "It won't matter. I'll simply destroy the earrings before you can use them."
Vegeta joins Goku in smiling. "It's a good thing we don't need any earrings!" Jiren turns his head towards them at that statement. "What-" Goku and Vegeta are already in the first pose. "FU—SION!" Their fingertips touch perfectly, and their angles are in synced! "HA!"
<(———)>
"Vegeta are you sure about-" "I ALREADY SAID YES NINE TIMES KAKAROT! STOP ASKING ME!" Vegeta interrupted Goku with a traditional yell. They were in the gravity chamber, with only a few hours until the Tournament of Power, prior to Majin Buu falling asleep and having to scramble to get Frieza for the team.
"Why do you even want to learn this now? Zeno and the Grand Priest have already banned Fusions." Vegeta huffs. "You really think that those two will actually erase people if they fuse? If I know anything about those two, it's that they're children! Fusions will be cool enough to placate them. Something I know Champa will likely do first. So we'll learn this as a secret trump card, that way we can overcome anything that stands in our way."
Goku blinks a few times, but shrugs and agrees nonetheless, teaching him the fusion dance over the course of the next hour, to the point that they're able to do it without a second thought.
<(———)>
A tornado of orange and blue energy shoots into the sky, even managing to make Jiren take a step backwards. The result is a saiyan that looks neither like Goku or Vegeta. His hair stands up like Vegeta's, but sports a bang like Goku's. His face resembles Goku's, but the eyes take after Vegeta. Then the clothes take after neither of them, with him wearing a black vest with yellow trim and white martial arts pants with a blue belt.
"So, there is another type of Fusion?" Jiren inquires, unfolding his arms. He knows better than to stay off his guard when it's a fusion he's fighting, even if he hasn't actually fought any in the past, due to the disgraceful nature of them and the trust they represented.
"If that isn't already obvious, we're going to have a pretty underwhelming exchange," the fusion replies in an echoing voice with a smirk. It's like he isn't about to fight someone who is on par with some Gods of Destruction at all, and this is just an everyday occurrence for him.
"Your cockiness will be your downfall, fusion?" Jiren didn't really care all that much about the fusions name. They only exist because of blind fools not seeing the truth of how pathetic and weak the power of trust is, and how it gets others killed. The demise of the Android earlier stands as proof of that statement.
The smirk falls from his face and he begins to think. "Well, using the potara earrings it was Vegito... so we will be called, Vegiku... Gokuja..." The smile returns, "Gogeta!" He still hasn't even assumed a stance yet, which angers Jiren, almost as much as this fusion believing it deserves a name.
"Your name is irrelevant! You will only exist for a few minutes before vanishing into nothing but two fools trust!" Gogeta's face goes blank and he simply blinks a few times while looking into Jiren's soulless eyes. But then the smirk comes back, and his feet slide apart and into a stance that seems to perfectly mix Goku and Vegeta's respective styles.
"I see, you really don't believe in people trusting others. But I'm here to beat you and secure Universe 7's victory in this tournament. I'll show you how powerful trust can be!" Gogeta shouts in his most serious and powerful moment since his creation a moment earlier. He even caps this moment off by transforming into Super Saiyan Blue.
Jiren simply frowns and rushes at the fusion, only for Gogeta to easily dodge down and to the left of Jiren's punch—Jiren's left and Gogeta's right mind you—and slam his own fist straight into Jiren's cheek to send him flying further than anyone had yet. The look on Jiren's face nearly causes Gogeta to burst out into laughter, he didn't know what had hit him.
Gogeta steps up onto the rocks near the edge of the place they'd previously been standing, just in time for Jiren to slam into the central pillar of the tournament's battlefield. Gogeta looks at it and notes that it's only one click from the bottom, so only about 5 minutes and 18 seconds left in the tournament.
Jiren claws his way out of the pillar, now noticeably beginning to lose his composure as he growls, bears his teeth and full on glares at Gogeta. He then slams his hands down and leaps off the pillar using all four of his limbs.
Gogeta doesn't miss a beat though, and while Jiren was clawing his way out of the pillar he'd created and thrown a destructo-disk up into the air. He'd then braced and waited for it to come down, at which he jumped and used it as a platform to propel himself towards Jiren.
The two met in the middle, and the resulting clash and shockwave decimate all of the rocks in the surrounding area. And then they start falling towards the ground below them. Jiren tries to kick Gogeta off before he can get there, but the fusion blocks the hit with a kick of his own and pushes his leg down, which causes Jiren's face to fly forward and straight into the oncoming punch of Gogeta's.
Unfortunately they aren't high enough anymore for this to be the knockout blow, and Jiren hits the ground just enough to slow him down and allow him to grab the ledge without falling off, but it's closer than Jiren, or anyone from Universe 11, would've liked.
Jiren pulls himself up, breathing heavily. Nobody knows if this is from fatigue from having to try so much, or from rage at Gogeta making him try so much, or if it's the way Gogeta's fighting super strategically. "Using one's own body against them, IS NOT TRUE strength!" Ah, so it's the latter then. Never mind.
"Well obviously! It's strategy and technique. Are you sure your master would really be proud of what you've become?" Gogeta asks out of genuine curiosity. But unfortunately Gogeta isn't fully aware of how much of a nerve that is, given the fallen state of Goku and Vegeta when Android 17 was fighting Jiren.
"SHUT UP! THAT'S NONE OF YOUR BUSINESS! A FUSION LIKE YOU COULD NEVER UNDERSTAND! YOU ONLY EXIST BECAUSE OF TWO FOOLS TRUSTING EACH OTHER TOO MUCH!" At this point Jiren looks about ready to burst a blood vessel.
Gogeta narrows his eyes. "You speak of trust like it's the creator of all evils. You speak of me as if I'm the most disgusting thing you've ever had the displeasure of laying your eyes on, which may or may not be true. But I'm not the one on the back foot here. I'm not the one losing ground and almost getting knocked out of the ring several times now. Why? Because I've taken the strengths of my two halves to create a version of them that doesn't have the same weaknesses. Something that could only be created by trusting one another and fighting together."
Jiren growls again and clenches his fist tighter. "SHUT UP! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT THE HELL YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT!" He screams, but there's no venom behind it anymore. Because even as much as he wants to deny it, he knows Gogeta has a point.
Gogeta turns his gaze to the stands, looking straight at Whis. "Kakarot and Vegeta's current master, Whis, even specifically trained the two of them to work together. And they performed much better that way. And continue to do so through me," he explains and turns a sharp look at Jiren. "What do you have to say to that, Jiren?"
Jiren looks about ready to start throwing away the main rule of the tournament; no killing. Nobody, not even Belmod, had ever seen Jiren look this pissed off, and it was genuinely beginning to worry them. They don't want to consider that Jiren might snap and go against what they're standing for as the team defending their Universe's survival.
"I know better than to believe in that so-called strength," Jiren growls out, yet it's different and Gogeta is immediately on guard. "I've seen what it does, and I've seen how easily IT'S RIPPED AWAY!" His power explodes outwards and skyrockets to match the level of Gogeta Blue. Although whether that is through sheer willpower forcing it up or not is for debate.
Jiren winds back an arm and charges a blast in his palm. "AND NOW I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU, YOU DAMN FUSION!" Gogeta's eyes widen as Jiren throws the blast, not at him, but at the Universe 7 Warriors in the stands. He leaps off the platform and starts creating Ki blasts under his feet and jumps off them to rapidly gain speed and catch up to the blast.
But then he starts glowing and curses, using Blue had burned through all of the fusion time, which had been even shorter for him than Vegito in the future. But then something happens, he can't describe the feeling immediately, as it's so crazy to him that he doesn't even know what to think. All he does is keep his focus on the blast and eventually manages to kick it away from the stands before creating a final Ki blast to launch himself back to the platform where Jiren is.
Jiren scoffs as he lands, not looking at him and instead at the ground. "Do you see it now, fusion? Do you see how easily your so-called friendships can be torn away from you?" But Gogeta doesn't respond. Instead, he raises his gaze to look directly at Jiren, and he almost falls backwards off the stage with how much rage is in his eyes.
"You piece of shit." His voice is quiet, and even Jiren can barely hear it. But before Jiren can try to say anything, Gogeta's voice has risen into a bloody roar, "YOU PIECE OF GODDAMN FUCKING SHIT!" Nobody, not even the Grand Priest, would ever understand how that scream didn't completely shatter the remaining pieces of the arena.
"NOT ONLY IS YOUR WISH EXTREMELY SELFISH! FUCK YOU AND YOUR PAT ON THE HEAD! BUT YOU THEN TRIED TO KILL INNOCENT SPECTATORS!" His voice falls to normal levels again, but makes up for the volume with tone. "But most of all, you've just broken the biggest rule of this tournament. You murdered Kakarot and Vegeta, Jiren." Everyone's eyes, Jiren's included, widen and bulge out of their heads at the information.
"W-What? How did I-" Gogeta lets out a low growl and silences Jiren's question before it can even be asked.
"Kakarot and Vegeta gave up their spirits to permanently fuse me so that their allies could be saved. They will not defuse anymore, Jiren. They have entrusted their Universe's safety to me. And I don't intend to fail them, not after this, and especially not against you." His fists finally unclench slightly, allowing the blood to flow through them properly again.
Nobody wants to believe what Gogeta is saying, but they'd all seen the brief flash while he was in the air, and his continued fusion despite being under such emotional distress that any regular fusion would've torn itself apart by now. Which means... which means...
Jiren doesn't get a chance to say anything back before Gogeta has shot across the platform with a massive rage boost and punched Jiren so hard that his ribs shattered. It's no surprise that Jiren goes flying out of the ring. Gogeta doesn't even spare him a look when he appears in the stands, nobody does. They're too overwhelmed, and quite frankly disgusted by Jiren's actions, to say anything to him.
No words are shared. Daishinkan doesn't even state his usual statement at the defeat of a Universe. He's simply silent and watches as the two Zeno erase Universe 11, both angry and upset at Goku and Vegeta's death. Super Shenron is summoned far above the battlefield, and Daishinkan levitates himself over to Gogeta and hovers next to the fusion, or rather the full-blooded saiyan.
"Contestant, Gogeta. You have won the tournament of power, and at a dear cost. I believe it is only fair that the wish belongs to you." Gogeta's gaze slowly turns from the empty darkness where Jiren had fallen off the stage to look at Daishinkan, and even he can't help but feel a little sorry for the saiyan.
"Revive all of the Universes that got erased by Zeno." There's no hesitation on his face or in his voice when he says that. "Really? Are you sure that you don't want to wish for something for yourself? Not even for the return of Goku and Vegeta?" Gogeta sighs. "I would like to wish for their return more than anything else. However, that would mean that the other Universes are permanently gone. Kakarot and Vegeta entrusted their wishes to me, and I intend to keep true to them. Kakarot wished to have more opportunities to fight all the strong opponents that were here today, and Vegeta wished for the restoration of the 6th Universe. So we'll just go the whole way and bring all of them back."
Daishinkan smiles at the response and turns back to Super Shenron. He repeats Gogeta's wish back to the dragon, to which his eyes glow and the seating area expands to allow all of the Universes warriors to return to their original places.
"Flight has been re-enabled, feel free to enjoy yourselves and intermingle before going back to your respective Universes." Daishinkan bows respectfully to all present and floats himself back to his place with the Omni-Kings.
The announcement that flight is working triggers a massive influx of contestants to return to the battlefield, mostly curious about the presence of a new saiyan that isn't Goku or Vegeta. However, when the main body of Universe 7 reaches him first, they all opt to stop and listen to what's being said, hoping for some context on the situation.
"Gogeta..." The saiyan is still staring off in the direction of where Daishinkan was previously hovering when Gohan speaks to him. He slowly turns to face the hybrid saiyan that is technically his son, and he can't help but wince at the look he's sporting.
"I'm... sorry, Gohan. This isn't at all what I wished to happen." He looks down at his hands, unable to shake the disgust at the thought that two people were now dead so he could have them. He also has his doubts that the Earth's Dragon Balls will be strong enough to restore them, considering that they couldn't make Androids human. What could they do to a much stronger fusion-turned-living-saiyan?
His internal rambling is stopped by the sudden feeling of multiple sets of arms being thrown around them. Looking down reveals that both Gohan and Trunks hugging him. He freezes, not really sure how to go about approaching this. He may have both saiyan’s memories, but the different approaches they utilized serves to confuse him.
”We know that, how couldn’t we?” Trunks says. “Yeah, this may not have been the desired outcome, but Dad and Vegeta trusted you to handle the situation when they gave up their lives, and I’m certain that meant the lingering repercussions too. And if they trusted you, then I will too!” Gohan genuinely smiles, although there still is obvious grief.
The news that Goku and Vegeta are dead rocks the other universes, even managing to take the Gods of Destruction off guard. Beerus doesn’t comment, but it’s clear that he’s feeling something from the situation.
”So… you’re the successor to Goku and Master?”
The new voice causes the fighters of Universe 7 to turn towards the source; Cabba, with Caulifla and Kale right behind them, and Hit and the other fighters slightly farther away, on a large piece of rubble, each with varying degrees of shock on their faces.
Gogeta sighs before tentatively addressing the saiyan, “Yes, Cabba. Kakarot and Vegeta gave up their lives to permanently fuse me at the climax of the tournament. To save their teammates from a blast Jiren attacked them with.” The news of Jiren’s actions are overshadowed by Goku and Vegeta’s heroic sacrifice, which was either good or bad depending on who you were asking.
Caulifla looks more disappointed though. “I guess that means that the further training that Goku promised us isn’t going to happen.” To some it might’ve seemed insensitive to say that, but someone who was paying more attention could pick out that it was more so a coping mechanism than a malicious choice of wording.
Gogeta frowns and thinks for a moment before looking back to her. “There’s a lot of logistical issues to sort out before anything can happen. But if Lord Beerus and Champa will allow for it, I would still be willing to train the two of you. It could also serve as an opportunity to improve your fusion skills against someone who can keep up better than Kakarot was able to.”
Of course this is enough to really excite Caulifla. Kale also looks intrigued, and Cabba just looks honoured. A glance between the God brothers is enough to settle the matter. More training means Gogeta gets stronger, which means he gets closer to Beerus’s level. And more training also means the Universe 6 saiyans get stronger and can hold their own better in the event of something like the tournament of power happening again.
All in all, the agreement simply benefits all parties involved.
With that settled, and a few more goodbyes from other fighters, Universe 7 leaves the tournament stage. But just before leaving, Gogeta takes one last glance at Universe 11, most of them look ashamed or downtrodden, or some look grateful too.
And Jiren is just sitting there, staring blankly into space. Gogeta can’t really bring himself to care at the moment, but he does silently wonder what the powerhouse is thinking of, and if he’ll continue to get stronger. But that thought simply makes the saiyan more determined to get stronger himself, so he can prevent something like that from happening again.