That's when both Bulmas moved.
Present Bulma grabbed Future Gohan from behind, her arms wrapping around his waist in a grip that would've made a professional wrestler proud. Future Bulma took his shoulders, and together they started dragging him backward toward what was left of the stadium stands.
"What the—" Future Gohan made this weird strangled noise that was half surprise, half protest. The sound was so unexpectedly high-pitched that Videl, who was still crouched behind some debris with Pan, felt her cheeks go red for reasons she couldn't quite explain.
"Move it, Gohan!" Present Bulma hissed through gritted teeth. "We don't have time!"
They hauled him into the wreckage of one of the destroyed stands, ducking behind a chunk of concrete that was probably the only thing keeping them hidden from Black's view. Future Trunks followed them, his expression shifting from confusion to alarm.
"What are you both doi—" he started to whisper-shout, but Present Bulma cut him off with a sharp gesture.
"Listen," she said, her voice low but urgent. "There's only one way to defeat him."
Future Gohan blinked. "Wait, how?"
Future Bulma leaned forward, her scientific mind already running calculations. "All those techniques and tricks you used against Gotenks in the tournament? They'd be completely useless against Black. The power gap is just too large. You need to catch up."
"Just..." Future Gohan's voice trailed off, understanding dawning in his eyes.
"Well, there IS a way," Future Bulma continued, her voice taking on that lecturing tone that meant she was about to drop some serious knowledge. "I know you're smart, so follow this. Super Saiyan is a 50X times multiplier to base power, right? Super Saiyan 2 is 100X times. Super Saiyan 3 is 400X times."
Present Bulma jumped in, her own genius-level intellect picking up the thread. "Mystic form is different—it depends on the user. But for you, Gohan, we've measured it at around nine hundred times your base."
Future Gohan's eyes widened. "You measured it?"
"Of course we measured it," both Bulmas said in unison, then glared at each other for the accidental synchronization.
Future Bulma cleared her throat and continued. "When you condense Mystic into Perfect Super Saiyan 1, it keeps that multiplier. But since the form gets stronger the longer you use it, your Perfect Super Saiyan is actually sitting around fifteen hundred times base right now."
"That would make Perfect Super Saiyan 2 three 3,000X times," Present Bulma added, her tablet somehow still functional despite the chaos. "But here's where it gets interesting. If you could reach Perfect Super Saiyan 3..."
"That would be twelve 12,000X times," Future Gohan breathed, his scientific mind already running the numbers.
"But that's still not en—" he started to protest, but Future Bulma held up a hand.
"WAIT. Remember what I said about the form getting stronger as you use it? Your Perfect Super Saiyan 2 isn't actually three thousand times anymore—we clocked it at closer to five thousand times during your brief flare-up against Black just now. And you barely tapped into it."
Present Bulma's eyes lit up with the same manic gleam that usually meant she was about to build something that would either save the world or accidentally blow it up.
"Now imagine if you could reach Perfect Super Saiyan 3 and actually maintain it. We calculate you could hit 50,000X times base power in under ten minutes."
Future Gohan stared at them both, his brain trying to process the sheer absurdity of those numbers. "T-that's insane," he whispered. "But would that even be enough?"
"But there's a catch," Future Bulma said, her expression growing serious. "The transformation itself... getting to Perfect Super Saiyan 3 from where you are now... it's going to hurt. A lot. Your body isn't designed to handle that kind of power surge all at once."
Future Gohan looked back toward the crater where Black was still floating, probably wondering why his prey had suddenly disappeared. The rose-colored aura pulsed with malevolent energy, and even from this distance, the pressure was almost overwhelming.
"How long do I have?" he asked quietly.
"Before he gets bored and starts looking for us?" Present Bulma glanced at her readings. "Maybe two minutes. Three if we're lucky."
That's when they heard the scream.
It was present Gohan's voice, raw and filled with pain that cut through the air like a knife. All four of them rushed from behind the broken building, and what they saw made their blood run cold.
Gohan Black was hovering about twenty feet off the ground, his rose-colored aura pulsing with malevolent satisfaction. In his grip, held by the neck like a rag doll, was present Gohan. The younger fighter's mystic form flickered weakly, his consciousness barely holding on.
"So, Gohan," Black purred, his voice carrying that sickening mixture of fondness and hatred. "You will be the first of my victims. How poetic that I get to kill myself first."
A sword materialized in Black's free hand—not metal, but pure purple energy that seemed to absorb light around it. The blade hummed with power that made reality itself seem to recoil.
He raised the sword, preparing to drive it through present Gohan's heart.
Then something red and furious slammed into him like a meteor.
Black's grip on present Gohan broke as he went tumbling through the air, the energy sword dissipating as he fought to regain control. Present Gohan dropped toward the ground, but gentle hands caught him before he could hit the rubble.
"What was that?" Future Trunks breathed, staring at the red aura that surrounded their rescuer. "What was that energy?"
Both Gohans knew immediately, even through their pain and exhaustion.
"That's Goku," Future Gohan said, wonder creeping into his voice.
Super Saiyan 3 Goku floated in the air where Black had been moments before, but his golden aura was shot through with veins of crimson fire. The Kaioken technique, perfectly integrated with his perfected transformation, created an energy signature that made the air itself seem to burn.
"Kaioken times four," Goku whispered to himself as he settled into a fighting stance. "With this, I guess I can buy them time to come up with a strategy. And using only four times is easy for me now—I can maintain this for an hour if I want to."
Black caught himself in mid-air, his perfect composure finally cracked. A thin line of silver blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.
"Impossible," he snarled, wiping the blood away with the back of his hand. "A mortal made me bleed?"
"Yeah, well," Goku said, his voice carrying that familiar blend of determination and excitement that meant he was about to do something incredibly stupid and heroic. "I've always been good at doing impossible things."
Black's response was immediate and vicious. He launched himself forward with enough speed to create sonic booms, his fist aimed at Goku's solar plexus. But Goku was ready—the Kaioken enhancement had pushed his reflexes beyond anything he'd achieved before.
He caught Black's punch in his palm, the impact creating a shockwave that shattered what remained of the tournament stands.
"Kaioken times ten!" Goku roared, his aura exploding outward in a crimson inferno.
"You think multiplying your pathetic mortal strength will be enough?" Black's voice carried genuine anger now. "Let me show you the difference between us!"
He raised both hands above his head, and purple energy began gathering between his palms. Not the usual ki blast, but something darker—energy that seemed to devour light itself.
"Void Sphere!" Black shouted, hurling the attack.
The purple orb moved slower than a normal energy blast, but everything it touched simply ceased to exist. Air molecules, particles of dust, even light itself was absorbed into the sphere's hungry maw.
(Yes Like Hakai)
Goku barely managed to dodge, the Void Sphere passing close enough to his face that he could feel reality itself being torn apart. The attack continued past him and struck a distant mountain. The entire peak just... vanished, leaving a perfectly spherical hole in the landscape.
"Holy Crap," Goku breathed, then shook his head to refocus. "Okay, new plan. Don't get hit by the purple stuff."
He cupped his hands at his side, his Kaioken-enhanced ki building to incredible levels. But instead of the usual blue-white Kamehameha, the energy that gathered between his palms was deep crimson, shot through with veins of gold from his Super Saiyan 3 transformation.
"Kamehameha Times 10!!" Goku unleashed the technique, and the beam that erupted from his hands was unlike anything he'd ever produced before. The attack moved with the speed of light but carried the concentrated fury of the Kaioken, creating a lance of pure destruction that could probably punch through a star.
Black tried to deflect it with his bare hands, but the Crimson Kamehameha was too much even for him. The beam caught him in the chest and drove him backward through the air, his feet carving trenches in the ground as he fought to halt his momentum.
When the attack finally dissipated, Black was still standing, but his perfect appearance was marred by burns across his torso. Silver blood stained his torn gi.
"Kaioken times twenty!" Goku ascended again, his crimson aura now so bright it was painful to look at directly.
The power flowing through him was intoxicating and terrifying in equal measure. Every cell in his body screamed with enhanced strength, but he could feel the technique pushing him toward his limits. At this level, even his perfected Super Saiyan 3 form was straining to contain the Kaioken's fury.
Black wiped more blood from his mouth, his expression shifting from anger to something resembling respect.
"Impressive," he admitted. "You've managed to push me beyond casual effort. Perhaps you deserve to see more of my power."
He raised his hand, and reality seemed to bend around his fingertips. Purple energy crackled, but this wasn't like his previous attacks. This was something fundamental, something that made the laws of physics whimper in fear.
"Dimensional Slash!"
Black's hand moved in a simple cutting motion, but the effect was anything but simple. A line of absolute darkness opened in the air—not a shadow, but a literal tear in space-time itself. The rift expanded, revealing glimpses of other timelines, other realities where different versions of this battle played out.
Goku barely managed to dodge as the dimensional slash passed through the space where he'd been floating. Behind him, a section of the tournament grounds didn't just disappear—it was cut away from reality entirely, leaving a wound in existence that showed the swirling chaos of the void between dimensions. (It returned to normal after 1 Second our so)
"He's cutting through space-time itself," Future Bulma whispered, her scientific mind reeling at the implications. "That shouldn't be possible, even for someone with this kinda of ki."
But Future Trunks was already moving. His Perfect Super Saiyan form blazed to life as he launched himself into the battle, his compressed power allowing him to move fast enough to catch both fighters off guard.
"MASENKO!" His signature attack erupted from his palms, but this wasn't the Masenko from his timeline's desperate battles. This was refined, perfected, carrying all the power of his Perfect Super Saiyan form concentrated into a single devastating beam.
The attack caught Black from behind, sending him tumbling forward just as Goku was preparing another Crimson Kamehameha. The timing was perfect—Black flew directly into the path of Goku's enhanced beam, taking the full force of both attacks simultaneously.
The explosion was spectacular. Purple and crimson energy mixed with golden light, creating a fireworks display that lit up the sky like a miniature sun. When the light faded, Black was floating in a crater that stretched for miles in every direction
"Nice timing!" Goku called to Future Trunks, his Kaioken aura pulsing with approval.
"Don't thank me yet," Future Gohan replied, his own power continuing to build. Something was happening to his Perfect Super Saiyan form—the energy was becoming more concentrated, more refined. "He's not done."
As if on cue, Black's laughter echoed from the crater.
"Excellent! Truly excellent!" He rose from the destruction, his appearance even more disheveled but his smile wider than ever. "You've both managed to entertain me far beyond my expectations. Perhaps it's time I stopped holding back."
He raised both hands toward the sky, and his rose-colored aura exploded outward with enough force to level mountains. But something else was happening—the air around him began to shimmer and warp, like heat waves rising from summer pavement.
"Zamasu Integration Protocol!" Black shouted, his voice carrying across dimensions.
Portals began opening all around the battlefield. Not the clean dimensional cuts from before, but ragged tears in reality that bled purple light. From each portal stepped a figure that made everyone's hearts sink.
Zamasu. Dozens of them. Each one pulled from a different timeline where Black's crusade had taken a different path. Some were in their base form, others had achieved various levels of divine transformation. A few were half-merged abominations that defied description.
"What?" Future Trunks stared in horror at the growing army. "There are so many of them!"
"He's been collecting versions of himself from every timeline he's conquered," Future Bulma realized. "Building an army of gods."
The original Black—if he could even be called that anymore—floated above his alternates like a general surveying his troops.
The original Black—if he could even be called that anymore—floated above his alternates like a general surveying his troops.
"Each of these represents a timeline where mortals learned the true meaning of divine justice," he announced. "Now they will help me teach that lesson to this pathetic reality."
Goku looked around at the growing army of divine beings, his Kaioken aura flickering as the magnitude of the threat became clear. "Kaioken times forty!" he roared, pushing himself to levels that should have torn his body apart.
His crimson aura became a pillar of fire that reached into the clouds. The ground beneath his feet turned to glass from the heat. Every movement left afterimages that lingered for seconds, and when he spoke, his voice carried the weight of barely contained nuclear fusion.
"If that's how you want to play it," Goku said, his words creating small sonic booms, "then let's see how your divine justice handles this!"
He disappeared in a burst of crimson light, moving so fast that even the Zamasus had trouble tracking him. His first target was a half-merged abomination that looked like Zamasu's head grafted onto Black's body. Goku's punch, enhanced by forty times Kaioken, didn't just destroy the creature—it erased it so completely that reality seemed to forget it had ever existed.
But there were too many of them. As Goku engaged one group, others began spreading out across the battlefield, seeking the other Z-fighters who were still recovering from Black's initial assault.
Future Trunks felt his power surge again as he watched his alternate timeline's defenders struggling against impossible odds. His Perfect Super Saiyan form was evolving, the compressed energy becoming even more refined and potent.
Perfect Super Saiyan 2.
The transformation wasn't dramatic—no screaming, no earth-shaking power displays. His golden aura simply became brighter, more concentrated, and everyone within a mile radius could feel the shift in the cosmic balance.
"Now we're talking," he muttered, and launched himself at three Zamasus who were advancing on the hidden Bulmas.
His speed in Perfect Super Saiyan 2 was beyond anything he'd achieved before. He moved like liquid lightning, each punch and kick carrying enough force to crack dimensional barriers.
The first Zamasu barely had time to register his presence before Future Trunks''s fist caved in his divine ribs. The second one tried to counter-attack with a Justice Flash, but Future Trunks simply tanked the blast and responded with a point-blank Masenko that reduced the false god to constituent atoms.
The third Zamasu, seeing his companions destroyed so easily, tried to retreat through a dimensional portal. Future Gohan caught him by the ankle just as he was stepping through the rift.
"Going somewhere?" Future Gohan asked pleasantly, then yanked the Zamasu back into their reality and drove his knee into the divine being's spine with enough force to shatter planets.
Meanwhile, Goku was discovering the limits of even his enhanced abilities. Fighting one Zamasu at Kaioken times forty was manageable. Fighting six of them simultaneously while the original Black coordinated their attacks was pushing him beyond any threshold he'd ever imagined.
His body was starting to smoke from the internal heat generated by the Kaioken technique.
His golden hair was beginning to flicker, the Super Saiyan 3 transformation wavering under the strain of maintaining such an extreme power multiplier.
But he had one more trick.
"Instant Kamehameha Barrage!" Goku shouted, combining his Instant Transmission with rapid-fire Crimson Kamehamehas.
The technique was brutal in its simplicity. Teleport behind enemy, fire Kamehameha at point-blank range, teleport to next target before the explosion could catch him, repeat.
In the span of five seconds, Goku unleashed twelve Crimson Kamehamehas, each one targeted at a different Zamasu from an angle they couldn't possibly defend against.
The sky lit up with a dozen miniature suns as the enhanced Kamehameha waves found their marks. When the light faded, half of Black's assembled army had been reduced to cosmic dust.
But the effort had cost him. Goku dropped out of Kaioken entirely, his Super Saiyan 3 form flickering dangerously as his body struggled to recover from the massive energy expenditure.
"Goku!" Future Trunks appeared beside him, his Perfect Super Saiyan 2 aura providing a barrier against the surviving Zamasus. "You okay?"
"Been better," Goku admitted, sweat pouring down his face. "But that was totally worth it. Did you see their faces when the Kamehamehas hit?"
Despite everything, Future Gohan found himself smiling. "Yeah, I saw. Nice technique. Mind if I borrow it sometime?"
"Sure thing. Just remember to—"
Their conversation was interrupted by slow, mocking applause. Black descended from above, his own aura having evolved during the battle.
The rose-colored energy was now shot through with veins of absolute darkness, and his eyes had taken on a purple hue that seemed to devour light.
"Magnificent," he said, and his voice carried harmonics that shouldn't have been possible for a single throat to produce. "You've both exceeded every expectation I had for mortal potential. You've forced me to reveal techniques I was saving for the angels themselves."
He raised his hand, and the air around it began to crack like broken glass. Purple energy seeped through the cracks—not the purple of his previous attacks, but something deeper, more fundamental. This was the color of entropy itself, of the heat death of universes.