"Lord Beerus, what should we do now? Should we head back to Universe 7 and wait for Gran's return?" the Old Supreme Kai asked.
"No," Beerus replied. He glanced at Broly, who was standing beside Whis, before turning to his Attendant. "Weren't you two here to collect the Super Dragon Balls?"
"That is correct," Whis replied. "Gran planned to use the Super Dragon Balls to permanently resolve Broly's berserk rage issues."
"Since Gran won't be back for a while, we might as well finish the job for him," Beerus decided.
"As you wish." Whis nodded. With a flick of his staff, another Super Dragon Radar appeared in his hand—a spare backup crafted by Bulma. He and Beerus began scanning the cosmos to pinpoint the locations of the final two Super Dragon Balls.
Broly, having listened to the deities' conversation, finally understood the gravity of what had happened to his mentor. If it hadn't been for the effort to fix his internal instability, Gran would never have crossed paths with that "dead rat" Quitela, and he certainly wouldn't have been swallowed by a temporal rift.
"Big Brother Gran... please be okay," Broly muttered, his fists clenched tight, his face etched with guilt.
"Come now, don't look like that. The best way to repay Gran is to fix your rage issues and dedicate yourself to your training," Whis consoled him. In truth, Whis sensed that the Zeno Multiverse might face significant upheavals in the future. It would be for the best if Broly could truly come into his own.
"I will!" Broly nodded firmly.
With peace restored to the starry reach, Beerus used the radar to lock onto the remaining two planet-sized orbs, and the group set off to complete the collection.
Elsewhere.
Gran found himself in a massive silver vortex. It was like a cosmic hurricane of destruction, possessing a suction force so powerful that even a warrior with the strength of an Angel would find it nearly impossible to break free.
Having been tossed around by the currents countless times, the red-furred figure finally tumbled into a relatively calm patch of the turbulence. Gran steadied himself and surveyed his surroundings.
"Where am I?"
The environment was bizarre. He felt a familiar power related to time, but there was another force woven into it that he didn't quite recognize. It felt like... space.
"I must have shattered the walls of reality during the fight. Did I get sucked into a crack in space-time?" Gran reflected on the battle with Quitela and concluded his hypothesis was likely correct.
He cautiously explored the area. The world was an endless expanse of silver—no other colors existed here. Occasionally, he encountered smaller temporal storms, but their power was manageable, peaking around the level of a Level 4 Divine Realm. This brought him some small measure of relief.
"But how do I get out?"
Gran had recently broken through his limits and wanted to test his new power, but his priority was escaping this prison.
"Let's try this."
He remained in his ultimate state: the Divine Dimension combined with Perfected Ultra Instinct and Super Saiyan 4. Taking a runner's stance, he unleashed the full breadth of his Angel-level power.
Rumble!
The terrifying energy instantly disrupted the calm currents. Gran accelerated to a speed that even time itself could not keep up with. However, after flying for what felt like ages, the scenery hadn't changed. The same silver mist still surrounded him.
"This isn't right." He came to a halt. He noticed the currents around him were waving in the same pattern as the spot where he had started. He was moving, yet he was going nowhere.
He tried flying in a completely different direction, only to find himself back at the same starting point shortly after.
"There's a trick to this place!" Gran realized that regardless of which direction he chose, he was being subtly looped back to the center. "I refuse to believe I'm stuck here!"
Growing frustrated, he threw his arms out, and his ki exploded. A shockwave of golden brilliance swept outward, the Angel-level force devouring the silver mist like a hungry wolf. For a brief moment, the turbulence thinned.
Through the gaps in the silver fog, Gran saw the bigger picture: the turbulence he was in was merely the core of a much larger, gargantuan vortex. He was in the eye of a space-time storm.
"No wonder I can't fly out!"
As he pondered his next move, the silver mist began to thicken and solidify again.
"Not good!"
Gran channeled his energy into a single burst of light, darting toward the outer edge before the gap closed. However, moving from the calm "eye" to the outer wall was a mistake. The suction at the perimeter, fueled by the raw laws of time and space, was astronomical. Even with his Angelic strength, he couldn't break through the "surface tension" of the vortex.
Just as he was about to be dragged back into the center, a brilliant silver light erupted from the outside. In an instant, the spinning turbulence went dead silent. The vortex lost its momentum and completely dissipated into nothingness.
"What? What happened?" Gran asked, bewildered by the sudden disappearance of the crushing pressure.
"Gran, we meet again." A crisp, melodic voice echoed through the temporal crack.
"Who's there?" Gran looked up. The voice was familiar.
A young girl in the distinct attire of a Supreme Kai descended from above. She was petite and cute, and Gran recognized her immediately.
"The Supreme Kai of Time... Chronoa!"
"Hey! I traveled all this way to save you, and you address me so casually? Where are your manners?" Chronoa landed in front of him, her cheeks puffed out in annoyance.
"Little girl?" Gran's lip twitched. She didn't even reach his shoulder. Who was she calling "little guy"?
Then again, he remembered that Chronoa and the Old Supreme Kai were old acquaintances from the same era. She was at least 75 million years old. Compared to her, Gran—who was barely over 300—really was just a "little guy."
"You said you came to save me. How did you even know I fell into this vortex?" Gran asked curiously.
"The shockwaves from your fight with Quitela were terrifying! How could I not notice?" she huffed.
Gran went silent. It was true; his battle had totaled three universes and culminated in a breakthrough to the Angel Level. If the other Angels hadn't contained his energy, half of the Zeno Multiverse might have been reduced to dust. As the warden of time, it would have been a dereliction of duty if she hadn't noticed.
"My apologies, Lady Supreme Kai of Time. Thank you for rescuing me," Gran said, giving a respectful bow.
"That's more like it! You're a quick learner," Chronoa replied, nodding with satisfaction.
Seeing her acting so "adorably tough," Gran fought back a smile. He cleared his throat. "Lady Chronoa, I have a question. May I?"
"Aren't you already asking?"
Gran laughed awkwardly. He looked at the spot where the terrifying vortex had been. "I can sense that your raw power hasn't reached the Angel Level... so how did you shatter that vortex so easily?"
It stung his pride a bit. He couldn't break it with sheer force, but this "little squirt" had dispelled it with a wave of her hand.
"Hey, hey! Are you calling me weak?" Chronoa's face reddened with indignation.
Gran didn't answer; he just kept smiling.
"You're just as annoying as Beerus," she grumbled, before explaining. "That vortex was a composite of Time and Space. To someone who doesn't master those laws, it's an inescapable nightmare. But to me? It's just home turf. Mastering the laws is always more efficient than using brute force."
"I see..." Gran mused. He had dealt with time manipulation before (like Whis's rewinds), but true Space-Time mastery was a different beast.
Chronoa stepped closer and patted Gran on the shoulder—or rather, as high as she could reach. "You've got a lot of nerve, kid."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, Quitela! He was a God of Destruction, and you actually killed him. Aren't you afraid of Lord Zeno's judgment?"
"Why should I be? Lord Zeno forbade Destroyers from fighting each other. He never said a Candidate couldn't fight a Destroyer, nor did he forbid a candidate from winning."
Chronoa blinked, stunned by the loophole. "You... you're something else." She burst into laughter, finding Gran quite fascinating. She took a moment to look at him properly.
Gran was still in his Super Saiyan 4 state—clad in crimson fur and Destroyer garb, his black hair spilling over his shoulders. The sheer intensity of his presence made the very cracks of space-time tremble.
"I've seen Super Saiyan 4 in other timelines, but none of them were as 'monstrous' as you. How did you do it?"
"Maybe it's just natural talent," Gran replied. He knew she was referring to Goku and Vegeta from the GT timelines.
"Talent? I'll say." Chronoa nodded, her eyes twinkling with a hidden agenda. After a moment of silence, Gran spoke up.
"Lady Chronoa, I truly appreciate the rescue. Could you do me one more favor and send me back to my original timeline?" He had a mission to finish—the Super Dragon Balls weren't going to collect themselves.
"Send you back? Not yet!" Chronoa shook her head vigorously.
Gran frowned. "Why not?"
"Because I want you to become a Time Patroller for the Time Vault!"
Chronoa had been eyeing Gran for a while. Not only was he "temporally unique," but he now possessed Angel-level power. She wasn't about to let such a perfect "enforcer" slip through her fingers. Since the King of Time and the Grand Zeno had their own prior disagreements, she figured Zeno wouldn't interfere with her recruitment.
Gran's face went flat. He knew from various stories that this "little girl" loved hoarding powerful fighters.
"I'm sorry, but I haven't really thought about being—"
"Don't reject me so quickly!" Chronoa interrupted. "If you agree, I promise you won't regret it."
"And why is that?"
"Don't you want to master Space-Time power?" she asked with a mischievous grin. "You felt that vortex. If you knew the laws of Space-Time, you would never be trapped again. Think about Whis's 'Temporal Do-Over.' If you master these powers, you can do exactly what he does."
Gran paused. He expected a bribe, but not a lesson in the highest laws of reality.
"Also," she continued, "you're a Saiyan, right? If you become a Time Patroller, you'll have the chance to witness and fight the strongest warriors from every timeline in existence!"
Chronoa knew the Saiyan psyche. She knew that even if he could resist the allure of hax powers, he couldn't resist a good fight.
Gran went silent, deep in thought. "I have to admit, Lady Chronoa, you certainly know how to talk to a Saiyan." He sighed with a resigned smile. "I'm interested. I'll agree, but I have a couple of conditions."
"Name them!!" Chronoa pumped her small fist, her excitement visible. Her "big prize" was almost in the bag.
"First: Once I'm a Time Patroller, you can't bother me with every little trivial task."
"Of course! You're an Angel-level powerhouse. Using you for small fry would be a total waste of your strength," she agreed immediately.
Gran raised a second finger. "Second: Even if a difficult problem arises, if I'm busy, you can't force me to drop everything."
"Hey! That's not fair!" Chronoa stomped her foot. "If I'm calling you, it's because it's an emergency! If you just claim you're 'busy' every time, what's the point?"
"Hold on, let me clarify," Gran said, seeing her on the verge of a tantrum. "If there's a real crisis, I won't ignore you. But if I'm in the middle of deep meditation or on the verge of a breakthrough, I can't be disturbed. My personal growth comes first."
Chronoa's pout softened. "Well... if you put it that way, I guess it's acceptable. Fine! Is that all?"
"That's all for now." Gran didn't want to push his luck; he didn't want to actually make her cry before he learned how to jump through dimensions.
"Good! Then let's go!"
"Go? Back to my timeline?"
"No," she grinned. "First, we're going to the Time Nest!"
<><><><><><><><><><><>
Want more chapters? Support my Patreon/Razerizz