"Dad!" Goten yelled, running over and hugging his father tightly. The gang had given themselves a few minutes to allow Merus to pinpoint Hearts' location thanks to Frieza's intel that Hearts had passed by Universe 7 and Goten had managed to find out about the entire thing. He wanted to see his father again... in case he didn't make it (At this point, Goten had grown by at least a few inches, and his hair no longer resembled his father's; he had become his own man now).

"Hey Goten." Goku ruffled Goten's hair and gave his trademark Son grin, "Good to see ya again, son!"

"I heard everything from Bulma. Are you really gonna face this 'Hearts' guy?" Goten asked. Goku gave a small nod, "Jiren and I are going to take him down. We managed to get a bunch of training done, and we ain't coming home until we beat him!"

The Saiyan turned to his eldest son, "Whatever happens, take care of your brother for me, okay? Keep him safe."

Gohan nodded, "You got it, Dad."

Jiren placed a hand on Goten's shoulder, "Don't worry, kid, we aren't going to lose to him."

At that, the Demi-Saiyan smirked, "You got this Dad, Pa."

Jiren smiled brightly. He still wasn't used to Goten calling him 'Pa' but he was glad to know Goten thought of him as a father-figure to him. He might not have been the best guardian to Goten, but anyone was better than Chichi, right?

The sweet interaction was interrupted, however, as Merus emerged from the building, "Thanks to Frieza's intel, I've located Hearts. He is with the other Angels in the Null Realm."

"Null Realm?" Piccolo repeated, "Isn't that where the Tournament of Power was held?"

Merus nodded, turning to Goku and Jiren, "I can take you both there now that I have a lock on it. I'm afraid I won't be of much help since my siblings are much stronger than I am, but I pray that you will succeed."

The two warriors nodded to each other, holding onto Merus. They looked towards all of their friends who had hopeful expressions on their faces. They were counting on them to make sure that neither Hearts nor the Grand Priest would ever get their hands on the Omni-King title. This was the battle of a lifetime, and it would change the course of the future for years to come.

-Null Realm-

A few minutes later, Merus had taken Goku and Jiren to the Null Realm, and were surprised by how much it had changed. There no longer was the broken and battered Tournament of Power ring, and in its place was a large, white, circular area with eighteen white pillars on its circumference, the symbols of all eighteen universes on the top of them. In the middle, the kanji for 'all' was written in black. All the Angels of the eighteen universes stood at the front of the pillars with the exception of Universe 7 and, surprisingly, Universe 6. Goku and Jiren soon noticed the Grand Priest and Hearts in the middle of the circle, the two sleeping Zenos hovering above them in teal orbs and both future and present Attendants collapsed onto the ground.

The two warriors walked forward, making Hearts and the Angels turn to them with darkened expressions. The 'Ultimate Godslayer' chuckled as they saw them, "So you've finally come. Welcome Goku, Jiren."

Merus suddenly noticed the absence of his sister Vados and narrowed his eyes at his father, "Where is Vados?"

Hearts shrugged, "Oh, her? She was rather... distraught once she found out what happened to Whis, so we put her in her place."

Merus' eyes widened, "Y-You didn't!"

The Grand Priest floated over, "I didn't wish to lose any more Angels, but I suppose sacrifices had to be made." he then turned to his son, "I expected better from you, Merus. I hoped that you could have joined me when you had the chance."

Just as Merus was about to charge at his father, Jiren stopped him, "Calm down, Merus. You'll only get yourself killed. You said it yourself that your siblings are much stronger than you."

"Yeah." Goku nodded, standing side-by-side with, "Let us take care of things here. You should head back to the others."

Merus reluctantly complied, summoning his staff and flying off in a white light. As his youngest son left, the Grand Priest turned to four of his Angels, "Awamo, Martinu, Cukatail, Korn."

Those called out nodded and they floated over to Goku and Jiren, who had gotten into fighting stances ready to face their opponents.

Goku flared his energy, "I'll take Awamo and Martinu, you handle Cukatail and Korn."

Jiren nodded at his mate and they both charged at their enemies before them. Goku sidestepped a staff jab from Awamo and swiftly elbowed him in the gut, jumping upwards to avoid a ki-blast from Martinu. He then fell to the ground and began to use the Afterimage technique to avoid multiple purple ki-balls that were honing in on him, flying up and firing a Destructo Disc that sliced the last one in half. It was then that he realised that the limitations of flying were no longer there.

'Looks like I can fly here. That's good news.' Goku thought to himself, flying upwards and unleashing a volley of ki-blasts at the Angels of Universe 1 and Universe 12. While the smoke was still thick, Goku charged downwards, slamming himself down to the ground and causing a humongous crater that sent the two flying backwards. He then quickly fired two Soaring Fists (those invisible punches) at his left and then his right, sending the two Angels down to the ground.

Meanwhile, Jiren was flying backwards after narrowly dodging two blocks of Kachi Katchin that were summoned by Cukatail and Korn. The Gray decided to take things up a notch and used his glaring abilities, sending them backwards somewhat. Cukatail pulled his fist back as he charged at Jiren, ready for a punch. However, he grabbed it quickly, and threw him at an approaching Korn.

"This fight is over!" the Gray yelled, firing his signature Power Impact at the fallen duo. The moment he clenched his outward fist, a massive explosion occurred sending them flying towards the Grand Priest and Hearts, just in time for Goku to kick Martinu and Awamo to their direction as well. The other twelve Angels rushed at the duo as well, but they were nothing compared to Goku and Jiren now and they were easily flung aside. They had surpassed all of the Angels, but their fight wasn't done yet.

Hearts smirked as Goku and Jiren stood side-by-side, their teamwork triumphing over their small victory. Jiren the Gray of Universe 11 and Son Goku is Universe 7, two lovers and rivals coming to stand against them.

"Impressive." he commended, clapping for a few seconds, "You both are clearly much stronger than you were when you last faced me. But tell me this: Do you really have the strength to beat me now?"

Goku smirked, "Won't know unless we try, right?"

The couple knew that they didn't have time to be holding back, and they were ready to show the fruits of their labour. They both closed their eyes, their auras sparking every so often around their bodies. The Grand Priest raised an eyebrow in intrigue, while the other fallen Angels watched in a mix of surprise and fear. Did... Did they really achieve the impossible? As they both took deep breaths, clearing their minds and calming their souls, they quickly began their transformation.

"Hng!"

Their red and blue auras surrounded their bodies, enveloping them completely as they were engulfed by them, no longer seen by the naked eye. Beacons of light erupted, and the entirety of the Null Realm shook with an intensity that it had never faced in the Tournament of Power. Pillars slowly began to crumble, bits of the circle fell into the abyss, and cracks were forming from where Goku and Jiren were standing. In a brilliant flashes of pale blue and red, the entire area was blinded by the intensity, and when it faded... everyone was greeted with the incredible.

Goku had a stern expression on his face, and his silver hair stood up slightly, being a mix of what his hair looked like normally and Super Saiyan. There were streaks of blue, dark blue and purple in the silver locks, and they shifted every now and then, glimmering in the intensity of Goku's unnervingly calm and crystalline moonlight aura.

Jiren too had a stern look, and his sclera were a bit more red. He had markings around the edges of his eyes that went from red to orange to yellow in a gradient. His aura seemed similar to when he broke his limits at the tournament two years ago, but it had hints of orange and were unpredictable and unmanageable like the sun.

These were the powers of Flowing Instinct, the power beyond Ultra Instinct, and Tempered Fury, the hidden and forgotten strength of the Grays.

Their powers seemed completely different, but they also appeared to be similar at the same time. The tranquil yet disquieted appearance of the moon. The rage and fiery passion of the sun. Both of their auras were smaller than what was considered 'average' but they said a lot about their newfound power. This was yet another peak of their strength... something no one else could comprehend.

The Grand Priest almost seemed impressed with their skill, while Hearts found this exciting.

"You mortals truly are exciting. You both continue to surprise me in ways I never though possible."

"You won't be getting away with what you've done to the Gods of Destruction, Hearts. Justice will be served, and when it does." Jiren slowly turned to the Father of All Angels, "You'll be next."

Hearts chuckled, getting into a stance, "We shall see."

The duo stared at him intensely, waiting for him to make the first move. The tension was thick, the wind blew past their faces and their calm looks unnerved even the Angels. All that was moving was a single rock that was hanging by a thread on what was once a pillar.

Clack

The Ultimate Godslayer lunged himself at Goku and Jiren, with the duo barely sidestepping out of the way. They quickly charged at a flying Hearts, using coordinated attacks to make him lose his rhythm somewhat. They then got up from behind and did a roundhouse kick that sent Hearts flying to the ground. He quickly stopped himself from crashing to the ground, summoning cubes that honed in on Goku and Jiren, with them quickly splitting up and firing ki-blasts at the oncoming cubes. Goku fired six Destructo Discs at Hearts, who dodged them quickly and soon flew towards Jiren to get away, The Gray responding by turning towards him as he was flying away and firing an Overheat Magnetron (A/N: it's that thing he used when Goku was about to go Mastered Ultra Instinct), causing him to put up his defences as he was sent crashing to the ground.

Goku and Jiren flew to each other, not letting their eyes off of the smoke.

"Ya think we got him?" Goku asked.

"I don't know." Jiren replied, "But if he's capable of taking down the Omni-King, then I doubt he'll go down that easily."

True enough, Hearts emerged from the smoke, slightly bruised and grinning, "C'mon! Is this truly all you've got?!"

Jiren smirked, "Goku."

The Saiyan smirked back, understanding what his mate wanted him to do, "You got it Chikara."

Goku closed his eyes, getting into a ki-charge position. His body slowly began to glow with a gold hue, which quickly left his body like steam, going upwards and into a single golden orb. The orb slowly began to manifest into a long creature that went upwards and curled slightly, and when the light faded, a humongous dragon about the size of half the area emerged, giving out a thunderous roar as it finally formed.

Drawn by yours truly.

"Heh, surprised?" Goku asked, "This is a full manifestation of my ki. I call it Spirit Dragon, pretty nifty if I do say so myself."

Jiren smiled proudly at his mate and equal's technique, 'The good thing about this is that despite seeming as if it took some of Goku's ki, it's actually linked to it. This will act as a good surprise attack towards Hearts.'

Hearts seemed thrilled, "Interesting technique, Son Goku, but do you really think you can stop the power of the Universe Seed with that?"

Goku 's tail twitched slightly, "You'll see."

With another roar, the dragon quickly lunged at Hearts, its' mouth wide open. However, he quickly flew upwards before it could grab him. The Godslayer smirked, but was quickly caught off-guard by the dragon's tail smashing him towards a rubble of a pillar.

The creature quickly hung back, allowing Goku and Jiren to charge at him, with the Flowing Instinct user grabbing him by the leg using his tail and sending him flying upwards towards Jiren, who fired a Power Impact at him, causing a massive red explosion that sent him flying backwards in the sky. The Spirit Dragon roared one last time, going from under Hearts to destroy him once and for all until...

Goku and Jiren's eyes widened as the Spirit Dragon slowly began to disintegrate, causing Goku to stumble back at the slight loss of ki.

"H-How...?" Jiren whispered, shocked at what just happened. The Grand Priest seemed neutral, understanding how this fight will turn out.

Hearts chuckled, "Did you truly believe a mere dragon could stop me? I have been holding back against you two in pity. For you see, the Universe Seed is no longer a mere seed."

"What?!" Goku exclaimed as his opponent snapped his fingers, causing a massive floating tree to appear from behind him.

"No..." Goku and Jiren looked on helplessly as he saw the large tree.

Hearts smiled, "Yes, it has become the Universe Tree, taking nourishment from the entire Multiverse!"

He snapped his fingers again, showing visions of people collapsing to the floor as they became drained of energy, including all of their friends like Hit, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Cabba, Caulifla and Kale, "With every second, their ki will slowly be absorbed into the tree, creating a new utopia of peace and harmony! Once that universe is created, I shall take my place as Omni-King!"

Jiren and Goku growled at Hearts, knowing he had gone too far now, "But before I kill the Omni-Kings, I must take care of anyone who'd dare stand in my way of peace!"

With just a flare of his ki, Goku and Jiren were sent tumbling to the ground, battered and bruised by just one hit. Hearts was holding back more than they realised, and they grew frustrated as they saw the images surrounding the Null Realm.

Jiren scowled, seeing his fellow Pride Troopers succumb to this tree. Goku's fists clenched tightly as he saw what was becoming of his friends and family, especially Goten. They looked up, feeling despair as they noticed Hearts charging a ki-blast towards them.

They promised him that they'd protect him... and despite the lack of hope that was in them, they weren't going to give up, for they still had one last trump card.

Potara.

-Flashback-

"You think this power'll be enough?" Goku asked, looking at his hands. Merus turned to him, "You've surpassed all of the Angels and perhaps are on par with my father, but only time will tell. However... if you find yourself in an impossible situation."

He extended his hand which held a pair of oddly coloured Potara earrings, making Jiren's eyes widen, "Potara?" he then looked solemn, "But with our power, we would probably defuse the moment we put them on."

"Did you believe I didn't think of that?" he asked rhetorically, "These are much stronger and potent than the norm, as they were created by Angels. It's been modified so that you can only defuse if they are either destroyed or if one is taken off."

At that, Goku grinned, "Awesome! This'll make things much easier for us! Thanks Merus!"

-Flashback end-

Jiren took out his earring from his pocket as Goku took out his, "Ready, Hikari?"

Goku nodded, "Ready!"

"It's time for you two to DIE!" Hearts yelled, firing his aquamarine beam attack straight at the duo. He thought that they would perish from that, but he was completely disproven as the beam was knocked away, causing Hearts to look at this new warrior before him.

Drawn by me! This took forever to make!

"Did you think we were going to let you get away so easily?" the new fusion asked, a mix of both Goku and Jiren in his voice.

Hearts seemed excited at the prospect of having a challenge, "I see... so you've fused. What is your name, warrior?"

"I am not Goku, nor am I Jiren, so call me... Goren." the man known as Goren stated, Goku's Spirit Dragon returning and with much more fervor.

"Goren, eh? Well then." Hearts summoned multiple cubes, "You better not disappoint me."