"Unbelievable! Vados, you actually played me!" Champa fumed, fit to burst.
Levos froze, meeting Vados's amused, unreadable gaze.
She saw right through me…
All those high-calorie snacks of course that'd set off someone who's bent on slimming Champa down.
So she pierced the scheme and, while she was at it, dumped 'Earth diet supervisor' on me.
There goes the 'lure-Champa-with-food' plan…
Are all angels this hard to hustle?
Levos sighed, resigned. "Fair enough. As long as we're on Earth, I'll keep Lord Champa's diet in check."
"Hey, brat! She played you too, yet you won't take my side? Aren't you afraid I'll oh, I don't know destroy you?" Champa snapped.
Vados hid a laugh behind her hand. "Can Lord Champa still defeat Mr. Levos these days?"
Champa bulged his eyes and shrieked, "Vados!!"
Levos smiled. "Lord Champa, I can take you out for diet cuisine. Earth's slimming menus taste great."
"D-diet cuisine?" Champa went a shade of purple, as if the very phrase was a curse.
"N-no Earth! Vados, we're going home!"
Vados tittered. "If Earth has such wonderful things, then all the more reason to go, Lord Champa."
Both the Super Dragon Balls and Vados acting as a walking early-warning beacon mattered too much to Levos. He could not let Champa bolt.
Levos and Vados shared a look.
Levos put on his gentlest, most harmless smile. "Lord Champa, Earth's diet food won't disappoint. I guarantee it."
Whether it actually tasted good could be tomorrow's problem. First, get the god and the angel to Earth.
"R-really? You're not tricking me?"
"Of course not. You'll savor good food and still slim into a balanced figure."
Champa wavered, tempted.
Levos pressed the advantage. "Also Earth has a sugar-free version of that fizzy cola you like. Tastes just as good."
"For real? That bubbly drink comes sugar-free?" Champa's eyes lit up.
Levos nodded. Champa's guard eased; Vados's smile bloomed brighter.
She leaned to Levos's ear and whispered, "Mr. Levos, is Earth's diet food truly tastier than my cooking?"
Levos hesitated. He knew the true answer and a trap when he heard one.
He chose survival. "Miss Vados, never doubt your culinary skill. Most mortals simply can't comprehend an angel's palate."
Her eyes curved like crescents. "If there's a chance, I'd love to let you taste my cooking."
"It would be an honor," Levos said smoothly and exhaled in relief as he pivoted. "Miss Vados, may I speak with you in private?"
A moment later, he laid out his plan to seek audience with Zeno and talk him down.
Vados blinked, intrigued. "So when I'm recalled, you want me to take you and Mr. Goku along to meet the Omni-King?"
Levos nodded.
Vados considered, then inclined her head. "I can manage that. But persuading the Omni-King will rest on the two of you."
"You've already helped immensely. I don't know how to thank you," Levos said, sincerely.
"Once we reach Earth, prepare some delicacies for me to take back," Vados replied, smiling.
"But of course."
With Vados on board, Levos finally breathed easier and turned to the next quandary: what to say once they were in front of Zeno.
He couldn't bet everything on Goku. This timeline had veered wildly off canon. In the original, Goku met Zeno after the U6 vs U7 exhibition; Zeno had watched the matches and found them fun, so he took a shine to Goku. Here, Zeno and Goku had never met. Zeno knew nothing about him.
Convince Zeno to call off the erasure… how?
Do I try to nudge him into holding a Tournament of Power instead?
Levos grimaced. Universe 7 still had wolves circling Earth. If all his heavy hitters left to fight, they'd be leaving home base wide open.
But without a tournament, what else would interest Zeno?
Thinking alone was getting him nowhere. His eyes drifted to Piccolo.
With those ears, Piccolo had surely overheard everything. Right now, he was second only to Levos and roughly even with Majin Buu. Piccolo had fused with a ten-fold baseline Mini-Cell; Buu had absorbed another of the same power tier. Ten-fold baseline on top of Piccolo's Orange form… even Levos wasn't sure where that ceiling landed.
Brains and brawn Piccolo was the team's linchpin. This was exactly the knot to bring him.
After hearing Levos's plan to save Universe 7, Piccolo's brow furrowed deep.
"It's not impossible," he said slowly. "But stoking conflict across all universes… we'd be the target of every grudge. Earth might never know peace again."
"I know. It's a high-risk play," Levos replied, grave.
"You also said the losing universes in this 'Tournament of Power' get erased." Piccolo's voice cooled. "Protecting our own universe at the cost of the others that's probably not the outcome that Omni-King wants."
In one stroke, Piccolo had hit the nerve. Levos brightened there was a path here. He opened his mouth to keep digging
and heard someone muttering about… orange juice?
A flicker of orange light flashed at the edge of his eye.
Levos looked over. Tagoma had wandered up to a glass water tank and stood there, oddly dazed. The next second, tears streamed down his face.
"Lord Frieza… I can finally serve you again!"
(Captain Ginyu & the Namekian Frog)
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