Battle Across The Omniverse

Jayr POV - Challenge Space - ???

[The winner of the Battle and of this Champions Challenge is Jayr Pucci, the Man of Culture! As the Winner, Jayr will grab the power of Son Goza's Blessing to empower and evolve his own, meanwhile, the Champion of Void will lose his Blessing together with the powers it granted, his Soulbound Territory, and the capacity to explore the Omniverse on his own.]

As soon as the last of Culture's words fell onto this now empty mostly ruined and scarred battlefield, I istantly feel something in me change in such overbearing manner that I have to fully focus on myself to not get lost in the earthshattering change happening in my mind at the moment, at the same time, I also return back to my Base Form as the Humanoid Dragon Form needs a lot of concentration to maintain.

I suddenly feel capable of noticing that all the previous experiences I have lived until now were a lot more meaningful than what I first expected, I now understand the average mortal condition better, realize how to balance multiple perspectives and interests, and find myself more motivated than before in pursuing truth and the common good.

My thoughts became a lot more flexible and open, I feel the tendency and willingness to take on different ideas and perspectives to the various problem I have encountered to find new and better solutions.

This isn't the only change I'm going throught, on top of all that, I also feel an increase in my ability to understand ideas, concepts, and other factors and variables like cause and effect and other much more abstracts concepts. 

After some unknown time, I'm finally able to snap out of that state and immediately realize what happened, 'At this point, it is pretty obvious what the new levels of power of my Blessing brought to me, it has enhanced my wisdom and comprehension. Once again it isn't a big improvement in itself, not so much that it has fundamentally changed who I am at the core or given me a very obvious advantage over the other Champions, but still, these improvements in my Blessing will still help me further enhance my basic abilities. In fact, thanks to them I already have new ideas to help me master the Ultimate Technique I'm still having trouble with and that very elusive but incredibly overpowered state.'

Suddenly, the ruined battlefield quickly fades away and in its place, the usual endless white space makes its appearance and together with the endless white space, Son Goza in his base form and in a perfectily healthy condition, if not a little confused and dazed, also makes his appearance. 

After a few moments, Son Goza snaps out of his dazed state, focuses on me, sits on the ground, and comments, "Man! That last transformation was truly sick! Not only looks very cool but its power is out of this world! I mean you literally broke a galaxy with a single punch and considering the level of effort needed to destroy even a single planet in that battlefield prepared by the Concepts, it isn't an exaggeration to say that you could easily destroy an entire universe with a punch that powerful, maybe even more! It's truly crazy!!"

Hearing that, I calmly sat down in front of him and said in order to encourage him, "You are also crazy strong. The combination of Legendary Super Saiyan and Super Saiyan 4 is truly one of the most broken in the whole Dragon Ball Universe. I mean you forced me to use one of my three Trump Cards and that is quite something considering that the opponents I faced until now weren't able to push me to that point. On top of that, I'm pretty sure that if you were able to reach the Legendary Super Full Power Saiyan 4 Limit Breaker Form, which by the way I think is such a long ass name, anyway, if you reached that level I'm sure that I would be forced to use another one of my Trump Cards, maybe even both and still, I'm not fully confident on coming on top." 

In response to that, Son Goza smiles wryly and says, "Maybe, but the LSFPSJ4LB isn't something that I can reach on my own yet." 

At this point, I interrupt him and exclaim, "LSFPSJ4LB...? God! This is even worse than the mouthful version! What's it? A part of your bank account password!?" 

In response, Son Goza chuckle and says, "I know it... The names for Saiyan Transformation are truly getting out of hand, but when my Father and Vegeta are the ones that come up with most of the names for such transformation, one can't expect too much. I thought about changing them since technically I was the one who "discovered" the Super Saiyan 4 Transformation in my timeline, but then I decided to keep the official ones."

After that small digression, he then continues with the previous reasoning, "Anyway, I didn't even have the time to fully master the LSSJ4 yet, in fact, today was the first time I even archieved the LSFPSJ4 and it was only thanks to our battle... So, you pretty much defeated me at my best, I've got no complains or regrets."

Shortly after saying that, Son Goza lies on the ground and looking up he asks, "Now that I think about it why are we still in the Challenge Space?"

Right at that moment, the monotone voice of Void is heard as it says, [The reason for that is that we want to warn you about a few things and then you have a decision to make.]

Then Culture's cheerful voice is heard as he explains, [First of all, let us remind you that you can still explore the Omniverse if you have or gain the capacity to move to another universe on your own without the use of the Unigate, but you can only go to universes you or other Champions have already been before, which means that you can't visit new Universes unless you are accompanied by another Champion...]

Void's voice quickly follows after Culture's as it adds, [Moreover, even if you can travel to other Universes on your own, I advise you to be very careful from now on, since you lost the protection of my Blessing and so the travel between Universes is now a lot more perilous than before, you can end up in a space storm that will rip you apart, or be intercepted by mighty being or cosmic horrors, you can even end up in the void and be consumed into nothingness since you also lost the other abilities of the Blessing. On top of that, the list of bad stuff that can happen goes on infinitely. There is a reason why even though there are many methods to travel across the Omniverse, only the lucky ignorant, the desperate, and the mad genius lucky daredevil like Rick Sanchez truly dare to carelessly travel the Omniverse without any preparation or protection from us and still succeed.]

After saying that, Void takes a brief pause to give Son Goza the time to digest these new pieces of information before it continues, [Another thing of note is that even if you have lost the Champion Challenge, and thus your Blessing, you can still live the rest of your life however you want. The only difference is that in the unfortunate circumstance that you get killed and die, instead of your soul getting reincarnated once more with a blessed fate that will guarantee a happy life. However, all your memories of the Omniverse will be wiped out like it usually happens to everyone else under the Omniversal Reincarnation Cycle as promised, you can choose to make use of your own home universe's Afterlife System if that is what you want.]

Hearing that, Son Goza sits up again and brings his hand to his chin in a thinking pose he mutters, "That isn't all that bad of choice... I mean the Dragon Ball Universe's Afterlife System isn't all that bad, not only is loss enough to allow resurrection in case of an untimely death, but there is also the fact that I can retain my body and still experience life once I'm dead since I'm an heroic soul without any doubt. On top of that, I've grown quite fond of my friends and family and don't want to forget about them if possible."

After reaching that conclusion, Son Goza stands up and declares while lowering his head in sign of gratitude, "Since you graciously gave me the chance to make this choice, I have come to the decision that I want to make use of my home universe's Afterlife System. Thank you for the opportunity you have given me." which is quickly followed by Void's monotone voice that says, [Very well, from this moment on your soul will fall under the authority of the Dragon Ball Universe's Afterlife System.] 

Shortly after that Culture's cheerful voice is heard as he says, [Regarding your most immediate future, you have 2 choices ahead of you. You can choose to be safely returned to your Home Universe, the Dragon Ball Universe, where you will be reunited with your friends and family as soon as you leave. Or you can choose to remain in this universe, the Walking Dead Universe, and safely travel and explore the Omniverse with my Champion, but in that case, it is better that you both come to some kind of agreement beforehand and enforce it through a Contract witnessed and enforced by us Concepts.]

In response to that, Son Goza starts to think about his options by muttering out loud, "Obviously I want to return to my home universe, after all, my friends and family are all there. But I don't like the idea of suddenly disappearing without at least saying goodbye to Michonne who became my unlikely companion in the very depressing The Walking Dead Universe, in fact, I would also like to do something to make that depressing universe a little bit better."

Then he starts to walk back and forth as he continues with that line of reasoning, "More importantly, even if I lost and now I am not a competitor in the Battle Across The Omniverse anymore, I still want to be able to do my part in the case someone absolutely powerful and evil is about to win and needs to be stopped... But in that case, then my only choice is to travel with Jayr and follow him around as he jumps from one universe to another... What should I do...?"

At this point, I get up from the ground and snap him out of his musings by saying, "You know that you don't have to actually travel with me? I mean sure if you want to, you can follow me after we form a Contract with the Concepts to help ensure our safety, but that isn't the only choice available to you."

Hearing that, Son Goza stops walking and focuses on me as he asks in a hopeful tone, "What do you mean with that?" to which I calmly reply, "I mean that we first sign a binding contract witnessed and enforced by the Concepts whose terms will ensure that we won't knowingly harm each other and those dear to us both directly and indirectly and will make us unable to reveal any secret we will learn and learned that could be used against us. After that, we will spend a few more months in this universe as I have a few things left to do, like kick-starting the creation of a fully self-sufficient community that will hopefully lead the direction of this universe in a better direction and finish creating and spreading the cure for the Wildfire Virus. Then we will travel to your home universe where you'll reunite with your family and I'll spend some time meeting my childhood heroes before leaving you to continue with my adventures."

At this point, Son Goza interrupts me and asks, "Wait! Wait! Wait! If you leave me behind in my home universe, how I'm going to help stop an evil Champion in case it is needed!?"

I smile hearing his question before I calmly reply and explain, "That's quite easy. My Blessing as Champion of Culture has a quite useful hidden perk that activates when I and another individual recognize each other as fellow "Man of Culture". When that happens, the universe of that individual falls under my authority and protection, which means that no one else can actually travel to that universe without my consent and that I can also restore the universe in case it gets destroyed for whatever reason. Not only that, but I can also summon the "Man of Culture" and any other willing individual from those universes to come to my aid whenever I want."

In response to my explanation, Son Goza can't stop himself from exclaiming out loud, "God! That's so broken!! That means that whenever you are in trouble you can summon those "Men of Culture" and other allies from whatever universe they come from no matter the distance!?"

I nod and then I clarify, "That's right, but at first it wasn't as useful as it sounds, after all, I had no control over when I and another Man of Culture would recognize each other. It was a completely random event outside of my control."

Son Goza immediately notices something as he repeats, "Was?" to which I nod and explain, "Indeed, after my recent victory in our Challenge and the improvement of my Blessing I can now nominate someone a Man of Culture and if Culture itself deems them worthy and they truly want to become one, they can officially join the club and become a fellow Man or Woman of Culture with all the perks and honors. So what is your choice?"

In response to my question, Son Goza thinks about it for a few moments before he looks at me and says, "I have decided. I'll sing that contract and try that thing about becoming a Man of Culture."

At the same time as he finishes saying that, a table with a pen and a piece of paper which is the contracts in question lying on top of it appears between us. 

Then shortly after, Culture's voice is heard as it declares, [A contract under our name has been requested by the Man of Culture and the former Man of Void. All the Concepts in existence will witness and make sure that this contract's terms are held in such a way that both parties won't casually breach it, but if one of the parties breaches the terms of the contract then his or her soul will be fully and forever erased the same instant he or she does so and nothing will be able to save them.]

After Culture finishes saying that, Son Goza loudly gulps before moving toward the table and without hesitation picks up the pen and signs his name on the contract, then he looks at me and offering the pen he says, "I did it! It's your turn."

I take the pen with a smile and also sign the contract, and as soon as I lift the pen from the paper, the contract shines with a multicolored glow and turns into countless motes of light that are then absorbed into our bodies, making me realize that now the contract is fully in effect.

Shortly after we signed the Contract, the table and the pen disappeared just as they had appeared, and then, Son Goza looked at me and asked, "Now that I have signed the Contract can you tell me what I have to do to become a Man of Culture? No wait, before that, I'd like to know who are the other members of this very exclusive and illustrious club. Is it possible?" 

Hearing his request, I don't hesitate to answer, "No problem. I was quite fortunate as before the upgrade in my Blessing, the hidden perk activated itself four times already. The first member to join was Nagumo Hajime from the Arifureta Universe, a Master Synergist capable of creating just about anything using a combination of Magic and Technology. Last time we talked he informed me that he was building a Magical Variant of a Gundam using the God Gundam as inspiration so that we can have a proper mecha battle..."

Seeing Son Goza nod, I calmly continued, "The second member is Lordgenome from the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Universe. He is the oldest and probably the smartest member of the group and very likely also the most powerful beside me. He was a tyrant who ruled the world with an iron fist keeping humanity as oppressed as possible, but he only did that to protect humanity from extinction. Don't worry he already went through his redemption arc and now is simply enjoying his retired life while picking on his daughter's husband whenever possible while working as a teacher from time to time."

In response to that, Son Goza comically opens his mouth wide before he exclaims, "Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann!? The one with the galaxy-sized multiverse destroying robots!?" to which I nod with a simple grin.

At this point, Son Goza realizes something and cautiously asks, "Wait... If you explored that universe does it mean that you also have one of those ridiculous overpowered robots?" which makes my grin grow even bigger before I reply while quoting a certain chemistry professor turned drug dealer, "You're goddamn right!"

After that, I continued, "The third one is Nikita Mikealson. She is the former Champion of Gravity and a pretty powerful tribird of Witch, Werewolf, and Vampire from the Vampire Diaries Universe which makes her very, very hard to kill with the most common means. On top of that, she also has a very vast repertoire of spells which makes her very versatile and unpredictable. She became a friend and an ally after I defeated her in a Champions Challenge during the previous Random Battle and is currently together with her husband, the Champion of Decay who, by the way, is in an official alliance with me and also quite powerful."

Hearing that, Son Goza let out a sigh before he commented, "At this point, I'm not even surprised by the fact that you are allied with a former Champion you have defeated before since I'm in the exact same position but it's good as she seems quite powerful too. Now that I think about it I don't know much about the Vampire Diaries Universe as I thought that it was a show for horny teen girls like Twilight, but damn! A tribird between a witch, a vampire, and a werewolf seems a crazy concept, especially considering how popular and powerful some of them are individually in the various media... On top of that, there is also the Champion of Decay who if I remember well chose the Bleach Universe another very popular one with quite a few powerful hax. You already got quite the powerful team!" 

After he said that, I concluded, "The fourth one is Brook from the One Piece Universe, he is without doubt the weakest of the group and spends most of the time exploring the world with Laboon so he doesn't want to get involved with the Battle Across the Omniverse in any way or capacity. But thanks to him I can still summon some other very powerful allies that I've left in the One Piece Universe." 

At this point, Son Goza can't help but exclaim, "I don't even know what to say anymore... Not only you are crazily strong, but your Blessing is also truly deceptively powerful, too. I mean, if I could summon my Father, my brother, Vegeta, and my other friends and allies from my home universe whenever I wanted, I would have likely felt much more secure. In fact, in case of emergency, I could also pull out a nuke option and summon Zeno-sama to wipe out everything... Sure, first I should wait for Father to befriend him, but then he would surely be a strong deterrent against more aggressive Champions and without any doubt a perfect last resort option in case everything goes to shit..."

Shortly after saying that, Son Goza calms down and focuses back on the important topic, "Anyway, you still haven't told me what I have to do to become a Man of Culture..."

Hearing that, I smirk and say, "It's not all that difficult. You just have to say the sacred motto out loud and wait for Culture to judge you. Now, if you feel ready repeat after me: Always remember these words: Work hard, study well, have fun, and eat and sleep plenty with a bunch of beautiful partners by your side! That is the True Culture way! We must master the art of peace in addition to the art of war! The Concept of Culture will be with you... always!"

Immediately after hearing that, Son Goza's eyes widen, and then he almost choked on his own saliva in shock, and then he starts to cough and wheeze for a few moments until he quickly regains control and recovers and exclaims out loud, "Come on! Are you kidding me!? That is almost a perfect citation of what Master Roshi said during the Tournament of Power!! How can that become a sacred motto of a Concept!?"

In response to his outburst, I calmly shrug my shoulders and explain, "I have absolutely no idea. That was something that my Partner Digimon Patamon randomly said in the heat of the moment during one of our training sessions and for some reason, Culture liked it so much that he made it his official Sacred Motto. Maybe Culture is quite fond of Master Roshi, or maybe it simply thought it was funny... Personally I don't care too much about it and just follow along." 

Son Goza looks unsure for a few moments before he steels his expression and declares, "Always remember these words: Work hard, study well, have fun, and eat and sleep plenty with a bunch of beautiful partners by your side! That is the True Culture way! We must master the art of peace in addition to the art of war! The Concept of Culture will be with you... always!"

For a moment nothing happens, but then I feel a familiar sudden uncontrollable urge to do something, I look at Son Goza straight into his clear black eyes, then I close mine and say, "Ah, I see you're a Man of Culture as well..."

Then something magical happens, as a solemn atmosphere falls on our surroundings as even the endless white space seems to gain a little bit more colors. 

At the same time, I sense something in my Soulbound Territory changing, and as I focus on it, I sense a new Seed of Culture forming right beside the small cluster made up of a disc with Hajime's image as he points his gun with the title Arifureta on it representing the Arifureta Universe, one with the image of a flaming red skull with shades in the shape of Kamina's signature glasses representing the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Universe, one is a black disc with an elegant, stylized white oak tree in the background drawn in a soft grey color and the words Vampire Diaries obviously representing the Vampire Diaries Universe, and the last one is a white disc with the image of a very iconic Jolly Roger with a straw hat on it which clearly represents the One Piece Universe.

Then there is the new seed that is quickly forming, this Seed of Culture is once again in the shape of a disc, but the image printed on this one is that of the very iconic 4 Star Dragon Ball which clearly represents Son Goza's home universe, the Dragon Ball Universe.

Immediately after the Seed of Culture in Soulbound Territory is fully formed, a flash of bright multicolored light blinds us causing Son Goza to curse loudly "What the...!?" but his voice soon fades away as I sense our surroundings quickly shift once again.