The situation was dire, and it all began when Alice fell into enemy hands, but how did she end up with Stan Edgar?
It all started an hour earlier...
Alice was taken by her father's car to a Vought facility, but along the way, she looked at her father with concern because he seemed very nervous about taking her out of their house.
"Are you okay, Dad?"
"I'm fine, we're almost there, sweetheart."
Alice is a smart child, though somewhat naive, so once she makes a mistake, she usually doesn't repeat it. She felt strange because her father rarely plays with her—only about once every two or three weeks. However, he appeared out of nowhere while her mother was away and told her he would take her to a very special and fun place.
Alice and her father arrived at a heliport and took a helicopter to the fake oil platform in the middle of the sea.
Alice arrived at that place and saw many people who scared her; they had guns like the people who had tried to kidnap her not long ago. However, she was with her father, so she felt safe... No...
Alice was in her father's arms but, unlike with her older brother, she didn't feel completely protected.
Her father barely looked at her as if he was carrying an object, not his daughter.
Alice thought she should have brought Lord Meowington with her; he always knows what to do in these situations.
'Mom...'
Alice had promised never to leave again without telling her mother or aunt. But it was her father; should Alice worry about her father taking her somewhere?
Alice descended in an elevator depths of the sea. She looked through the reinforced glass and felt scared in the darkness of the abyss until she saw jellyfish glowing; this spectacle helped calm her.
'Dad was right; this place is amazing!... but why didn't he bring Mom with us?'
Doubt remained with Alice as the elevator descended further and further into darkness.
The elevator took them to an underwater building at the bottom of the sea; it was incredible that something like this could be built with today's technology, or perhaps it was with the help of some superpower.
Level after level, reinforced door after reinforced door. Alice grabbed the necklace Allen had given her, which began to glow slightly.
"Alice!"
Alice's father, Alex, was startled and called her, then showed her a room filled with all the toys she had ever wanted. From a life-sized toy pony to a Barbie dollhouse, the executive version from Vought.
"What?!"
Alice jumped with excitement and ran to the toys. This plan was crafted by the master manipulator Stan Edgar; he wouldn't allow Alice to feel threatened and activate the necklace.
Stan Edgar watched Alex Winter through a camera with displeasure; this man had so little interest in his daughter that he almost ruined the plan...
"Walter..."
"Yes, My Lord, we will eliminate him once the plan is complete..."
"Good, now go to your position..." Stan Edgar watched Walter exit the door and relaxed, "It seems everything will be decided at The Herogasm... a fitting end for this degenerate world."
With that, Stan Edgar's plan began, even though Soldier Boy believed he was acting on his own, he was always being guided by Stan Edgar from the shadows.
...
(Allen remembers, if something happens to the daughter there will be no happy hour with the mother. 🍷🗿)
...
(Unknown location with Allen and Void)
Past and present, the battle was taking place across time, but what does such a fight entail?
Whis' explanation is quite illustrative, yet it lacks essence and consequences.
For starters, attacks cannot be avoided since they have already occurred, nullifying any possible form of defense.
Skills of clairvoyance, foresight, or any means of seeing the future are useless because the events have already happened.
Instincts and reflexes, no matter how refined, are futile because the events they wish to dodge have already occurred.
Rely on regeneration? It's a gamble; if you were injured in the past, you can heal the wounds in the present, but what happens if you die? How do you regenerate from death? You can't.
The most reliable thing is to trust in techniques that can revive you, but only under the condition that the other party cannot interrupt the process.
Trust... trust in oneself... in what you can do... in the past to protect you...
Allen and Void walk toward each other amidst a storm of past attacks; at this point, either could die at any moment.
With each step, they gamble a life...
Allen remained unflappable in this situation, while Void smiled amusingly...
One step...
Allen's head was severed...
Two steps...
Void was split vertically...
Both lost a life and both returned to life using their respective Save Points.
Three steps.
Allen felt a hole in his chest, which surprised him; looking up, he saw Void laughing.
"Hahahaha!"
Allen realized Void had started to attack the past with techniques other than slashes, and in this case, it was a sphere of Hakai.
Four steps.
A hole appeared in Void's abdomen, but he smirked mockingly.
At the same time, Allen's arm disappeared, as if it had been cut off. Void wanted to laugh again but felt his body burning; his laughter stopped, and then he exploded.
Allen was pushed back by the explosion to a distance sufficient to exit the solar system... yet the landscape remained the same.
The Chat was confused; why did Void suddenly explode?
In the past, Allen pierced Void with his arm, which Void in response cut off, but it was a trap by Allen; he had sacrificed his arm where he had accumulated energy equivalent to a million suns exploding... that killed Void in the present.
"Damn... you did it slowly on purpose..." Void appeared in front of Allen with a resentful look.
Allen gave Void a chance to try to control the energy, so he experienced the pain of dying longer, but in the end, he only managed to reduce the force of the explosion and not contain it.
"What's wrong, not laughing now?"
This time Allen mocked him, and the Chat was stunned; this fight was akin to doing mental calculations; they were eliminating the process and only showing the result on the screen.
Void and Allen lost two lives in just four steps, without forgetting that it was easier to kill a god or an immortal than to deal with these two, which seemed absurd to everyone.
Allen had seven lives left, and Void only five...
...
Allen covered his hand with ki and haki; interestingly, haki has good synergy with ki...a mysterious coincidence.
Void did the same, while a dark smile played on his lips.
"There was no reason for the fight to be limited to the past, right, Allen?!"
Allen and Void exchanged blows both in the present and the past, the uproar was so massive it shook the viewers' screen, which had never happened before as it wasn't a tangible object.
In front of everyone, Allen and Void traded punches, overcoming light, physics, and logic, though most could only see this fight thanks to the system; otherwise, it would have been impossible.
Moreover, don't forget that the fight was also happening in the past, so suddenly wounds would appear on both their bodies without them attacking each other.
...
Beerus relaxed in his chair with a drink, "The kid might lose..."
"Beerus-sama, isn't that a bit harsh considering he's your disciple?" Whis sighed, "But it's true, Void is entirely focused on the battle, but young Allen still has a look of concern about what's happening outside... against an opponent like Void, that can be fatal..."
"Silly boy..." Beerus turned away, not wanting to watch more of the fight.
"Beerus-sama, if young Allen dies, won't you be in trouble with Zeno-sama?"
A shiver ran down Beerus's spine; immediately, his casual attitude vanished, and he grabbed the screen with a desperate look.
"Kid, you must win!! My life depends on it!!!"
For many, it might seem pathetic that Beerus would react this way just to fulfill Zeno's whims, but even though the small one's appearance might be misleading, he has mercilessly eliminated several universes, their inhabitants, and consequently their gods of destruction.
Whis laughed, however, his smile faded...
"Sister, it's very rude to watch in secret..."
Whis tapped his staff on the ground, and an invisible bubble broke, revealing Champa, the god of destruction from universe six, and Vados, who, like Whis, is an angel assisting Champa just as Whis assists Beerus.
Champa looked surprised, while Vados smiled.
"Hey Beerus, is what you said earlier true?"
Beerus hesitated for a moment but nodded, "Yes, Zeno-sama wants to meet my disciple, but currently he is not in this world, so I cannot fulfill that task..."
Champa has features similar to Beerus, resembling an anthropomorphic purple cat, which is not surprising considering they are brothers, the only significant difference being that Champa is fat compared to the thin Beerus.
"Hahahaha fool, you deserve it Hahahaha!"
Beerus attacked Champa without hesitation, and they began to fight on Beerus's planet, shaped like an inverted pyramid with a large tree at its center.
Vados approached Whis, looking at the screen, "Whis, is this true?"
Vados is a beautiful woman with light blue exotic skin and violet eyes, her long white hair tied in a ponytail; she has a good figure and a natural elder sister aura, although she has her childish moments.
"Sister, you haven't apologized for your actions yet, and yes, it's true," Whis sighed, "Beerus-sama went to 'train' this boy named Allen, it was just for a moment, but it was impossible for Zeno-sama not to notice Beerus's absence even if it was only for an instant and in a spiritual manner."
Vados blinked with interest, then looked at Whis with a small smile, "After that, Zeno-sama summoned Beerus-sama and got the whole story out of him, he wanted to meet this cute boy named Allen, right?~"
Whis raised an eyebrow at his sister's strange tone but decided to ignore it.
"That's right, sister..."
"Do you need help?"
"Sister, what are you planning?"
"Nothing, you're so mistrustful. We've lived for so many years in the same universes, and it's interesting to see something new for a change~"
"I see..." Whis narrowed his eyes, "Sister, may I ask how long you watched in secret before I discovered you?..."
"Who knows~"
...
Allen was fighting with Void. The distances they covered were enough to cross the universe from one end to the other, but they were always surrounded by endless ruins, a static sky with cardboard clouds, and no sun.
The world where Allen was located was a non-existent place, a reflection of something resembling reality but not quite it.
It was like the static image in a photo, therefore supposed to be unchangeable. Yet, surreally, each of their attacks turned the sky from day to night, their strikes destroying the place with an effect similar to cause and effect that shouldn't exist there.
Void's punch was stopped by both of Allen's hands; Void's smile widened as he applied more force, the momentum driving Allen to the ground, creating a massive crater from the impact.
"What's the matter, getting tired?" taunted Void, standing over Allen.
Allen created two energy spheres, one of divine ki and the other from the core energy of Sentry.
Allen didn't attack Void; instead, he made them collide, creating a Thunder Clap characteristic of Hulk.
Void was surprised as he was struck. When he regained his posture, Allen was above him, holding Crown Saber.
"What an unpleasant weapon..." Void smiled, "It's true I can't replicate it... but its effect... answer to my desire!"
Void received the sword with his hand, this time not being cut.
"What?!"
"You got distracted, didn't you?!" Void's eyes gleamed, and two deep cuts appeared on Allen's back, the fight still occurring in both the past and the present, creating a huge mental and spiritual toll, every mistake unforgivable and costly.
"Urgh! Not yet!" Allen created a Hakai sphere in his hand but Void ripped his arm off with one hand.
"You're persistent!" Void pierced Allen's heart, also grabbed Allen's soul with demonic powers, and destroyed it with Hakai.
Allen reappeared with a frustrated look, having used a Save Point. They had followed a pattern since the start of their conflict where Void underestimated Allen and lost more lives than him; Allen took a life from Void, and he retaliated by taking one of Allen's and vice versa. But this time, it didn't go that way—Allen couldn't retaliate.
Allen still held an advantage, but that could change at any moment.
Allen doesn't know what's happening outside; he has no contact with the system, and he can't communicate with anyone, including the girls. It's impossible to simply forget everything that's happening.
"You're kind..." Void approached with both hands in his pockets. "You're facing someone like me and still have time to worry about others..."
"Shut up... I won't let you out!"
"Why? Ah... you say that to protect everyone from me?! Hahaha, don't worry, I won't hurt them, I promise."
"Huh?!"
Allen couldn't believe it, nor could he imagine someone as terrifying as Void doing nothing if released.
Void shrugged, "You must have realized by now, but I'm only interested in strong types; once out, I'll look for someone entertaining; if not, I'll move to another world and keep doing it..."
Allen thought for a moment; this monster seemed insensitive and unpleasant, but it was true he was enjoying fighting Allen.
Allen visibly relaxed and Void couldn't help but smile.
*Void's POV*
You are very kind, is it love? What a DISGUSTING thing!
OF COURSE, IT'S ALL A LIE!!
ONCE I'M OUT, I'LL FIRST KILL EVERY PERSON YOU KNOW, EVERY CONNECTION YOU HAVE, I'LL FIND THEM AND KILL THEM!
WHY?!
BECAUSE I FIND IT DISGUSTING TO HAVE A CONNECTION BEYOND THE FEAR THEY HAVE OF ME!
NO... MAYBE IT'S A SIMPLER REASON BECAUSE YOU CARE ABOUT THEM, I WANT TO ERASE ANY TRACE OF YOU ONCE I TAKE YOUR PLACE!!.
Allen... just like you fear me and what I'm capable of, just like you reject me for what I am, you disgust me, I despise every part of you and that disgusting look you always have.
But I won't tell you... because I know you, I know you better than anyone, and I know that the moment you hear this, the fight will become more entertaining but I could lose.
THAT'S WHY I WON'T SAY IT!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
*End of POV*
...
Whis – That child...
Rick – Idiot, don't believe him!
Superman – Allen!!
Athena – It's absurd, that thing can't be so good!
The Emperor – ...
Gwen – Allen!
MJ – It can't be...
Gilgamesh – Allen, this king will not forgive such foolishness!!
Most did not understand the outburst of some in the Chat because Void seemed very sincere.
Men like Allen are easy to understand; they live their lives motivated and pleased by simple things, and the well-being and happiness of their loved ones make them feel satisfied.
Conversely, the danger to their loved ones also motivates them...
Natasha – Girls, calm down, you know my Allen...
...
Void felt extreme pain shoot through him.
"Huh?", Void incredulously watched as that unpleasant sword pierced him."You..."
"You are very meticulous, your features, your aura, your voice, your smile, even your aura... everything is meticulously and perfectly replicated from when I don't lie."
"Then how did you realize?! Urgh!"
"Because you're not me... you said it yourself, you're Allen but also Void."
Certainly, Allen has the characteristics of a simple man, but he also has a sharp mind capable of seeing through Stan Edgar's plans. He will not be easily fooled!
Void smiled before the sword split him in half both spiritually and physically.
Allen placed Crown Saber on his shoulder while Void reappeared with a frown.
As stated before, this fight also took place on a psychological and emotional level... A single mistake was high cost, and neither Void nor certainly Allen forgave it.
...
Outside, the girls in the apartment breathed a sigh of relief; Allen had scared them for a moment.
It was understandable why personas like Rick, Whis, or The Emperor could see the lie in Void's words, but why could the girls?
The answer is cheesy—because of love. Love for Allen would make them believe his words even if he said the sky was green, but Void is not Allen; he might have the same face but he is not him, so the women could see the lie instantly.
With this, Allen had six lives left, and Void only four; the end was just around the corner.
===
A/N: We are nearing the end, and preparing for what's next.
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