Tarble and Gure's sudden intrusion broke the heavy atmosphere hanging over the gathering like a thundercloud.
Not far away, Himawari and Kale quietly let out sighs of relief and reached for their braised pork knuckles again. Hinata gave them a light tap, signaling them to be more subtle about it — then helped herself to a small slice of cake and began nibbling at it in dainty little bites.
In keeping with the Yamanaka clan philosophy, any outing where you didn't at least find some loose change on the ground was a net loss. After coming all the way to Earth and burning through this much energy, all four of them were going to eat until they got their money's worth.
Tarble, for his part, was completely baffled. He'd come all this way to warn his big brother, and yet somehow everyone's mood had just... relaxed? This was Frieza they were talking about! Weren't they scared?!
Vegeta's face had twisted into a crooked grimace, like he'd had a mild stroke. He jerked his chin pointedly at the two of them, and the husband and wife duo stumbled aside in a daze.
The Grand Minister smiled faintly, as though he'd known something like this would happen all along.
Shin, one of the stars of the hour, also let out a breath of relief. Someone had broken the awkward silence — that was what mattered. Frieza? Please. He could squash Frieza with one finger!
Ino shot him a look and shook her head. No, you can't. Try to act tough and there's a very good chance Frieza squashes you instead.
Shin knew Ino could see the future. That single look was enough to douse his excitement by half. He'd been hoping to use this moment to make a brave, righteous impression in front of Grand Zeno and the Grand Minister...
Not quite ready to give up, Shin touched the Potara Earring on his ear and glanced sideways at Kibito. The unspoken question was clear: if I fuse with Kibito, can we beat Frieza?
Ino rolled her eyes. You two fused together still wouldn't cut it. Don't drag Kibito down with you!
She gestured for Shin to look straight ahead. There was a giant cat-god right there — how were they missing it? Leave the fighting to Beerus.
Shin had an epiphany. Of course. Supreme Kais were creators, not fighters — their raw combat ability was nothing special. He'd just gotten so used to the old pattern of the Destroyer lying flat while the Supreme Kai charged forward that he'd completely forgotten they had such an absurdly powerful combatant on their side.
Nearby, Tarble clutched Gure and tried to edge his way toward Vegeta — but found himself slowing to a stop without meaning to, because Vegeta's expression was absolutely terrifying.
He was starting to wonder: maybe Frieza would never even get the chance. Maybe his big brother would strangle him first.
Had he done something wrong? He really didn't think so.
"Why are you making that face? Tarble came all this way because he cares about you!" Bulma stepped forward and grabbed Vegeta by the arm before his expression could curdle any further.
Vegeta didn't actually want to do anything to his little brother. It was just that showing up like this, in this situation, at this moment — it was eye-catching in the most cringe-inducing way possible.
As for Frieza? He genuinely didn't see it as a problem. There were plenty of heavy hitters here. He wasn't sure about all of them, but he knew Whis inside and out — that man was bottomless. If Frieza showed up, Vegeta would simply offer him a moment of silent condolence.
Thanks to Tarble's chaotic entrance, the Earthlings gradually recovered something close to the original atmosphere — maybe thirty or forty percent of it, at least.
Real or not, the eating contest preparations kicked back into high gear.
Grand Zeno looked at Gure, reached out, and gestured in amazement. Oh! There was actually someone even shorter than him! How delightful!
Goku was a martial arts fanatic, not an idiot. He could tell that Grand Zeno and the Grand Minister were extraordinarily important figures — more important than the Destroyer Gods, more important than the Supreme Kais.
He leaned over and whispered to Piccolo, "Who on earth are those two? They look like seriously big deals..."
The divine soul fragment inside Piccolo exerted its influence once again. He was sweating buckets, his muscles trembling involuntarily, completely beyond his control.
Under normal circumstances, a low-level divine being like Kami couldn't even get close to a Grand Kai, let alone the Supreme Kais or Grand Zeno above them. Piccolo didn't know Grand Zeno's or the Grand Minister's identities either — he just couldn't stop shaking.
"I... I don't know..."
"You don't know either? North Kai's not saying anything. That's really strange." Getting no answer from Piccolo, Goku reached out mentally to North Kai — but with so many big shots present, North Kai wasn't making a peep.
Goku was left to puzzle it out on his own, turning over the titles "Grand Zeno" and "Grand Minister" in his head, trying to figure out what kind of beings they actually were.
Vegeta, being a prince with a functioning brain, had taken one look at the way Ino, Whis, and Beerus were behaving and immediately understood Grand Zeno's standing. He was now frantically signaling his wife: forget the original plan — start the contest, crown a winner, and get these two great lords on their way. That was the only thing that mattered right now.
The preparations accelerated. Time flew.
Before the contest itself, there was an opening ceremony segment where someone was supposed to sing the theme song. Nobody knew quite how the Earth warriors had arrived at this decision, but somehow they'd pushed Krillin out onto the stage.
Krillin was tone-deaf on a good day. Right now he was shaking so hard his legs could barely hold him, and his singing was even more excruciating than usual.
"What in the world are you people doing?! Are you trying to get yourselves killed?!" Beerus's eyes had gone bloodshot. He glared daggers at Goku and Vegeta.
Goku still looked a bit confused, genuinely unsure what had set Beerus off.
"Everyone calm down — just calm down — I've got this!"
Vegeta revealed a previously unsuspected talent. He shoved Krillin aside, marched up to the stage, and belted out the theme song with full gusto and genuine emotion.
And honestly? He wasn't half bad. Goku sat in the audience looking perfectly unbothered, applauding for Vegeta like a man without a care in the world. Bulma and little Trunks joined in the clapping, and the energy in the crowd climbed a couple notches.
The eating contest officially began.
At that exact same moment — Frieza arrived.
Escaping from the Demon Realm had cost him considerable effort. After that, he'd followed Zamasu's army to the Tenth Universe, then made his way through several more stops before finally coercing and bribing a captured Celestial Mage into guiding him back to the Seventh Universe.
When he'd left, Son Gohan was nine years old. Now Son Gohan was nearly done with high school. The world had turned, the seas had changed — returning to the Seventh Universe after all this time, Frieza could honestly say he was a traveler come home after long years away.
Back on his own turf, Frieza's swagger returned in full.
He tracked down his former subordinates, consolidated his forces, and set a course for Earth.
He still wanted the Dragon Balls — though his wish had changed since the old days.
Having been tempered by the Sixth Universe, the Demon Realm, and several other universes besides, Frieza had completely abandoned the wish for immortality. It was pointless. If you ran into an enemy you couldn't beat, living longer didn't help. He was confident his battle power was now unmatched in the universe — and his species was already long-lived to begin with. No, what was really bothering him these days was his height.
Being short made him look less imposing in a fight. It was the eternal wound in his heart. This time, chasing Tarble to Earth, he planned to deal with the Earthlings once and for all — and pick up the Dragon Balls on the side, so he could finally wish himself a few extra inches.
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