Days passed after Tundra awoke.
He spent most of that time sitting beside the lake on Beerus' world, allowing his body to recover from the brutal fight.
Eventually, when he felt strong enough again, he began practicing his ki sensing.
That was when he noticed something strange.
Normally, his senses could stretch across entire star systems. He could feel distant suns burning light-years away.
But here?
Nothing.
Aside from a few nearby moons orbiting the planet, there was absolutely no sign of other celestial bodies.
Tundra stood up slowly and examined his hands.
Over the last few days he had discovered something far stranger than the absence of stars.
Fragments of ki were embedded inside his body.
Not ordinary ki.
These fragments were hot. Incomprehensibly hot, as if tiny suns had been buried within his flesh.
The first time he tried to move them, pain shot through his entire body. A deep, throbbing agony that made even drawing in his own ki nearly impossible.
Since then he had left them alone.
Whatever those fragments were, he didn't understand them—and experimenting with something that caused that much pain didn't seem wise.
After another quiet moment staring at the lake, Tundra lifted into the air and flew toward the castle belonging to Beerus.
By now he knew exactly where to find him.
The dining room.
He navigated through the castle corridors before landing outside the large doorway. Inside, he saw Beerus and Whis happily eating together.
The sight reminded him of something.
Tundra cleared his throat.
Beerus stopped mid-bite and looked up with mild irritation.
"What do you want?"
"Could you return me to my empire?" Tundra asked calmly. "I believe I've been gone for far too long."
Beerus pretended to consider the request. In reality he was already planning to agree—but it might be amusing to toy with the mortal first.
"And why," Beerus asked lazily, "should I care? Give me a reason."
Tundra paused.
Then he pointed toward the food they were eating.
"I could introduce you to my personal chef. She's from the same planet that food originally came from."
Beerus' ears perked immediately.
Normally a chef wouldn't interest him—after all, he now had an endless supply of food thanks to the wish he had made earlier.
But still…
A chef coming from the same planet as all of this delicious food?
"That could be interesting," Beerus muttered.
He waved a hand dismissively.
"Fine. Whis, take him back to where we found him."
Whis nodded politely, wiping a bit of food from his face before standing up.
He floated out of the castle and gestured for Tundra to follow.
Tundra followed him, mildly surprised they weren't teleporting.
Perhaps teleportation was an ability unique to the Supreme Kai.
Once outside the castle, Whis pointed a finger toward Tundra.
A transparent bubble instantly formed around him.
Whis grabbed the bubble and began flying through space.
Half an hour passed.
For Tundra, the trip was unbearably boring.
Eventually Whis slowed and stopped in front of a distant star. With a small gesture, the bubble surrounding Tundra vanished.
"This is where we originally found you," Whis said pleasantly. "I assume you know your way from here?"
Tundra scanned the surrounding space with his ki senses.
After a moment, he nodded.
Whis smiled and immediately departed, clearly eager to return to his interrupted meal.
Tundra noticed something unusual about that.
It was the first time he had seen Whis even slightly annoyed.
But the reason was obvious—Whis had been enjoying a meal. Anyone would be irritated if they had to abandon food halfway through, especially if it had been delicious Earth food.
Left alone in space, Tundra looked around again.
He couldn't sense the engineering planet he had come from, so instead he turned toward a location he knew how to get to.
Earth.
Several minutes later he arrived in orbit and descended toward the surface.
Once there, Tundra released a tiny fraction of his ki.
He made sure the energy avoided the strange fragments embedded within him.
Even so, the small amount he released was still astronomical by mortal standards.
Across the planet, powerful fighters instantly felt his presence.
Moments later several figures appeared nearby.
Three of them stepped forward.
Vegeta, Gohan, and Piccolo.
They stared at his towering form, clearly uncertain who—or what—he was.
Tundra looked down at them and suppressed his energy.
"Hello, defenders of Earth," he said calmly. "I have come for your Dragon Balls."
Piccolo scoffed immediately.
"And what makes you think we'll just give them to you?"
Tundra stared at him for a moment.
"Come on… Piccolo, was it? Don't you remember me?"
Piccolo frowned.
"Hm. I have no idea what you're talking about. I've never met anyone who looked like you."
Tundra sighed softly.
He had changed a lot since then.
Instead, he turned toward Gohan.
"We've met before. You remember me… right, Gohan?"
Gohan paused.
He thought back to Axiom… and then to Frieza's second form.
Putting the pieces together, he came to a conclusion.
"Are you… Axiom?"
Tundra smiled faintly.
It had been a long time since he heard that name.
"I go by Tundra now."
Gohan nodded slowly.
Meanwhile Vegeta and Piccolo stared in shock.
Vegeta's aura radiated pure envy.
How could someone like Tundra possess this much power?
Tundra looked at the three of them again.
Then he decided to explain his reason.
"As I said, I came for the Dragon Balls," he continued. "Quite frankly… I'm lost."
Gohan blinked in surprise.
After a moment his expression softened.
"I see. Well… that seems reasonable enough."
He looked at the others.
"Right, guys?"
Vegeta simply huffed, clearly uninterested.
But Piccolo still looked suspicious.
"And what about the other wishes?" he asked. "What do you plan to do with those?"
Tundra thought about it briefly.
He genuinely didn't care.
"Anyone who wants them can take them," he replied. "It doesn't matter to me."
Piccolo crossed his arms, still skeptical.
He didn't entirely trust Tundra.
But the truth was obvious.
None of them had the power to stop him anyway.
"Fine," Piccolo said reluctantly.
"But I'm watching you."