The underground shelter fell silent the moment Taru and Faye entered.
Not because they attacked.
Because of how they looked.
Faye still wore one of his oversized sweaters from home, the fabric swallowing his petite frame, his pink hair slightly messy from traveling through timelines.
His presence was warm, almost innocent, until you looked into his eyes.
There was a sharpness there, a power that belied his soft appearance.
Beside him, Taru's sheer presence filled the cramped tunnel with pressure, even while suppressing most of his power.
The air thrummed with it, the survivors' breaths hitching as if the very walls were bending under the weight of his existence.
His golden eyes scanned the room, his tail flicking lazily, his muscles coiled like a predator assessing prey.
The survivors stared.
Children hid behind exhausted adults, their wide eyes peeking out from behind tattered clothing.
One old man tightened his grip on a rusted pipe, his knuckles white, as if it could somehow protect him from the two figures who had just stepped into their world.
Faye noticed immediately. His aura softened, his posture shifting, less dramatic, more approachable.
He stepped slightly forward, his voice gentle but carrying the weight of his Supreme Kai authority. "We're not here to hurt anyone."
No one answered.
The silence stretched, thick and suffocating, until a woman near the back finally spoke, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're not with the Emperor?"
Taru's eyes narrowed slightly, the first flicker of intrigue crossing his face.
"Emperor?"
The word sent a ripple of fear through the shelter. The old man swallowed hard, his grip on the pipe tightening. "You… you really don't know?"
Faye exchanged a glance with Taru. Interesting. That meant they'd arrived in a heavily altered timeline, one isolated enough that its dominant force had assumed singular control.
Taru crouched slightly, lowering himself closer to eye level with the group.
The movement was deliberate, a concession to their fear, but his voice remained calm, commanding. "We're travelers. We're looking for information. Dragon Balls. Planetary rulers. Survivors."
The mention of Dragon Balls made the shelter tense again. A younger man laughed bitterly from the corner, his voice laced with exhaustion. "Dragon Balls won't save this universe anymore."
Universe.
Faye caught that immediately. Not planet. Not galaxy. Universe.
"What happened here?" Faye asked quietly, his tone careful, coaxing.
The answer came slowly over the next hour, the survivors speaking cautiously at first, then all at once once they realized Taru and Faye truly didn't know.
The ruler of Universe 7 had changed decades ago.
Frieza.
Not Emperor. Not mortal Tyrant but a
God of Destruction.
Faye blinked several times during the explanation, his mind struggling to process the words. "…What?"
The old man nodded shakily. "Lord Frieza killed Beerus."
Even Taru's expression hardened slightly at that. That should not have been possible. Not easily, at least.
Unless
"the rumors say he trained," the old man whispered, his voice trembling. "For years. The moment he learned gods existed… he dedicated everything to surpassing them."
Faye slowly sat down on a broken concrete slab, stunned. "He actually locked in…" he muttered, more to himself than anyone else.
The survivors continued, their voices growing more animated as they recounted the fall of their universe.
Beerus had underestimated him. Whis had intervened too late. And somehow… afterward…
Whis stayed.
Not imprisoned. Not controlled.
Stayed.
That detail unsettled Faye more than Beerus' death. Angels were bound by cosmic law. If Whis remained, it meant the system had accepted Frieza's ascension.
Which meant this timeline had stabilized around him.
Taru remained quiet throughout the explanation, his mind working. If Frieza became a Destroyer successfully, then this timeline's divine structure was radically altered.
That meant its Dragon Balls might also have evolved under prolonged destruction energy exposure.
Potentially useful.
Potentially dangerous.
"What about Earth's Dragon Balls?" Taru finally asked, his voice cutting through the tense silence.
The room went silent again.
Then the old man laughed weakly, the sound hollow. "There are no Dragon Balls on Earth anymore."
Faye frowned. "Destroyed?"
"No." The old man's voice was grim. "Taken."
A chill moved through the shelter.
The younger man spoke next, his voice low. "Frieza collects them."
Of course he did.
Taru's eyes sharpened slightly. "How many sets exist here?"
The survivors looked confused by the question.
Faye clarified gently, his voice soothing but firm. "Namekian. Cerealian. Dark Dragon Balls. Super Dragon Balls. Anything."
At the mention of Super Dragon Balls, several people looked horrified.
The old woman whispered, her voice barely audible: "Please don't say those things out loud…"
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Taru stood, his mind already racing. This universe wasn't broken. It was ruled.
Completely.
And somewhere above them, a former mortal tyrant sat in Beerus' place with an angel at his side.
Faye rubbed the back of his neck nervously, his voice dropping to a mutter. "So… we accidentally wandered into a nightmare timeline."
Taru's lips curled faintly, a rare flicker of amusement crossing his face. "No," he replied, his voice low, almost thoughtful.
His eyes lifted toward the ruined sky, where the remnants of a once-great civilization now lay in ashes.
"This is a timeline where ambition won."
Outside, thunder rolled faintly across the ash-covered heavens.
And somewhere far beyond Earth…
A God of Destruction suddenly opened his eyes.
Far beyond the ruined Earth, beyond dead trade routes and silent star systems, at the center of Universe 7's rebuilt hierarchy floated a palace that should not have existed.
It hung in open space without support, anchored inside a sphere of violet destruction energy large enough to swallow moons.
Black-and-gold metal curved like living armor around crystalline towers.
Rivers of molten hakai flowed beneath transparent floors, while stars burned in distorted patterns overhead.
Cold. Perfect. Controlled.
Lord Frieza's palace.
The former emperor sat upon a throne elevated above an endless chamber lined with kneeling attendants from conquered worlds.
Some were politicians. Some warriors. Some gods from lesser planets, stripped of authority and repurposed as servants.
None dared raise their eyes.
Silence ruled the chamber.
Then
A single claw tapped the throne armrest.
Frieza slowly opened his eyes.
Purple-red irises glowed faintly in the darkness, his gaze sharp, calculating.
"…Interesting."
The pressure in the room doubled instantly. Several attendants collapsed face-first, their bodies unable to withstand the sudden weight of his presence.
Frieza didn't even look at them.
His senses had already moved elsewhere.
Toward Earth.
Toward two foreign energies that did not belong in this timeline.
One felt ancient. Heavy. Primal.
The other
Frieza's lips curved slightly, a rare flicker of intrigue crossing his face.
"A Kai."
Not one of Shin's subordinates from this universe, either.
No.
This one carried altered divine resonance. Distorted. Intimate. Almost hidden beneath another presence entirely.
How fascinating.
A soft sound echoed through the chamber behind the throne.
A staff tapped once against crystal flooring.
Whis emerged soundlessly from the shadows.
Except this Whis was different.
His expression lacked the playful ease most universes knew him for. His smile remained polite, yes but emptier somehow. More observant. Detached.
Centuries serving under Frieza had changed the atmosphere around him.
Not corrupted.
Refined.
"Two timeline travelers have entered Universe 7," Whis said calmly, his voice smooth, unreadable.
Frieza rested his chin against one hand lazily. "I sensed them."
Whis' pale blue eyes flickered slightly. "The Saiyan is unusual."
That earned a sharper smile from Frieza, his tail swaying slowly behind him. "Not a Saiyan," he corrected quietly.
The chamber temperature dropped.
"That thing… feels old."
Frieza stood slowly from his throne.
The motion alone caused hakai energy to swirl violently around the palace exterior.
He walked toward the massive viewing window overlooking the galaxy, his movements fluid, deliberate.
For a moment, he simply stared outward.
Thinking. Remembering.
He remembered the day he learned of Beerus.
The humiliation of realizing there existed beings above him. Above his bloodline. Above his empire.
Most mortals would have feared that revelation.
Frieza had become obsessed.
Every waking moment after that discovery had been dedicated to one thing:
Ascension.
The ultimate Transcendence.
He trained until his body tore apart. Until his mind fractured.
Until destruction energy itself bent around his will instead of consuming him.
And eventually…
Beerus died.
Frieza's tail swayed slowly behind him, his voice soft, almost contemplative. "Do you believe they came for the Super Dragon Balls?"
Whis remained silent for a few seconds, his gaze distant. "That depends," the angel replied. "On whether they understand where they are."
Frieza chuckled softly, the sound sending a shiver through the chamber.
Earth's Dragon Balls were already under his control. Namek remained under permanent destruction patrol.
The Super Dragon Balls were hidden under divine lock and monitored personally.
There were no easy wishes left in this universe.
Which meant if these strangers were searching…
They would eventually be forced upward.
Toward him.
And Frieza found himself… curious.
Especially about the Saiyan.
There was something deeply unpleasant about that energy.
Something instinctively offensive to divine authority.
Frieza's smile widened slightly, his voice light, almost amused. "Prepare a surveillance team," he said. "I want them observed."
Whis tilted his head, his expression unreadable. "You are not concerned?"
Frieza laughed a genuine laugh, rich and dark.
The entire palace trembled with contained destruction energy, the stars outside distorting briefly under the pressure leaking from his aura.
Then his smile sharpened, his voice dropping to a whisper.
"My dear Whis," he purred, "I killed great and mighty lord Beerus."
The stars outside pulsed violently, as if in response to his words.
Then his smile turned cold.
"…I welcome such..... ambitious visitors."