"Since so much destruction has already occurred, I don't have to limit the power of my attacks, do I?" Doctor Wheelo asked with clear sarcasm, despite the mechanical nature of his voice.
Small filaments of energy began to accumulate in his mech's multiple cannons. The crackling lightning gradually heated the air inside the robotic body, causing visual distortions and releasing a distinctive aroma.
"I won't let you do whatever you want!" Goku shouted before creating several red Ki spheres that floated around his body and shot toward Doctor Wheelo.
"I agree with the boy," said Demon King Piccolo as he extended two fingers and pointed them at the scientist. Ki gathered on his nails and writhed with small arcs of yellow electricity.
Then, he fired a thin Ki attack at the area of the mech where he sensed Doctor Wheelo's presence. He didn't believe in perfect defense against energy.
Even he was not a perfect existence, so how could such a thing exist? Therefore, the mech's supposed invulnerability to Ki was probably due to the insufficient power of his attacks.
So, he decided to compress the attack to an extreme degree. It was an idea he had come up with while he was sealed away. When you have centuries with nothing but your own mind, things like this can come up.
He had many ideas for new techniques, but since he couldn't test them, they were rough concepts that might not work. However, he just used one of those concepts to improve his Ki beam.
Doctor Wheelo also fired his own attacks, and soon, a powerful clash of energies caused a huge explosion. A dome of whitish light began to spread, destroying everything in its path.
Goku took flight, not wanting to get caught up in the strange agglomeration of ki. He made his way through the base with a few energy attacks, going outside and rising even higher. Looking down, he appeared serious.
Although it was cold, the red aura surrounding his body shielded him from the low temperatures. Except for a slight tremor in his tail, he was unaffected. Demon King Piccolo flew along the path he created, staring intently at Goku for a few seconds before dodging an energy beam fired by Doctor Wheelo.
"Did you think I couldn't fly? This machine is perfect! Although it's not the body I desire..." The huge mech broke through the ceiling of the lair. Although it was slow compared to normal martial artists, it was still fast.
This machine could really fly at high speed! Electricity surrounded its large body as it charged furiously at the young Saiyan and the demon, forcing them to evade.
This is when the machine's extra limbs proved useful. The clawed arms stretched farther than they appeared, easily trapping Goku and Piccolo.
Not only that, but the electric "aura" surrounding its body began damaging their bodies, causing them to tremble, spasm, and feel pain. The claws tightened, and despite their attempts to break free, these metal limbs proved to be unusually potent.
"HAHAHA! How do you plan to free yourselves from my powerful grip?" Doctor Wheelo asked sarcastically as he activated a tiny device in the metal claws. A result appeared in front of him.
'Oh, Piccolo's DNA has been obtained. It's very compatible with my plans. But I can't take my time. That girl... The brain in a bucket thought of Bulma, who had demonstrated a high level of power in the tournament. That's why he was afraid of her.
'However, it doesn't matter if my base is destroyed or searched; I still have everything I need in this machine. Come on, let me synthesize a little gift for you, you supposed demon.
As for that boy, his genetic tests indicate that he is just a normal human with the genes of animal people. What a waste,' Doctor Wheelo said, ruling out using Goku's DNA for his plans. He was unaware that he had fallen victim to one of Bulma's contingency plans.
...
"Ah, something like this always has to happen, doesn't it?" Bulma, who had also left the secret base, observed her younger brother's embarrassing situation. Instead of helping him, however, she looked down at Doctor Kochin, who was still holding him.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Look! My master will kill that brat and that so-called demon! Then it will be your turn! But don't worry; your bodies won't go to waste. They'll be converted into biomass for new and improved Bio-Warriors," threatened Doctor Kochin. His annoyance caused Bulma to shake him violently.
"Fool! Don't you know that I can turn you to dust with a single move?" the blue-haired girl asked, looking at Doctor Kochin as if he were an idiot. Finally, she silenced Kochin.
"Is this the outside world?" asked Letty, who was riding on Lazuli's back with her arms and legs wrapped around his body so that she wouldn't fall.
The Bio-Warrior looked at the frozen landscape of this inhospitable area with curiosity and excitement. She didn't care about the conflict taking place or Kochin's words. Instead, she looked at me with fascination as snowflakes occasionally fell.
"Yes, and what's falling from the sky is snow," Lazuli replied, causing Letty to nod before opening her mouth and sticking out her tongue to catch a snowflake.
"She's cold," the Bio-Warrior murmured, bringing a smile to Lazuli's face. But when she looked up to see how the fight was going, her expression turned strange.
"Aren't you going to help?" she asked. Bulma simply shrugged, not taking her attention away from the conflict.
"Goku has to face various enemies, and I can't always be there to take care of him. He needs to experience difficulties to grow in combat. If I'm always watching over him, how will he ever grow?" Although her words seemed convincing, Lazuli could feel Bulma's ki stirring like a raging tide inside her body.
She truly wanted the best for Goku and hoped he would gain more fighting experience, but she couldn't let go of her concern. That's why she wanted to see how her younger brother would solve this problem.
'After all, you can't always bite your enemies, right?' Bulma thought with a smile.
...
'I can't bite this metal thing,' Goku thought as he frantically searched for a way out.
Fortunately, his body was resilient, and his ki provided extra protection, allowing him to endure being squeezed by the mechanical claw. However, beads of sweat dripped from his forehead, not because of his situation, but because he felt a familiar and feared prick in his body.
"YOU USED A NEEDLE ON ME! DAMN YOU!" Goku shouted in anger. Someone had actually dared to stick something in him! He hated needles; he was afraid of them!
"Brat..." A dark cannon appeared in front of Goku, charging energy at high speed. Doctor Wheelo was not happy with the Saiyan, and he was already uncomfortable with how troublesome the child was.
He decided to open fire, causing a huge explosion that engulfed Goku at point-blank range. Several bursts were fired in quick succession, proving that Doctor Wheelo could launch attacks at high speed. For some reason, he hadn't chosen this mode until now.
"Hehe, it seems the little one has something," Piccolo muttered, feeling Goku's ki increase slightly despite being bombarded.
This proved that the boy had found a way to resist damage, albeit temporarily. Martial artists could sense and intuit this situation because the power they used was their own, unlike Doctor Wheelo, who depended entirely on technology for now.
'That boy's potential is scary. Even now, his ki seems to be growing stronger. It seems I no longer have to play.' Demon King Piccolo's figure turned into a strange, transparent image before disappearing completely from the metal claw.
Frightened by this result, Doctor Wheelo pushed his scanners to the limit. They detected an unusual energy reaction at a high altitude. He focused on the tiny figure of Demon King Piccolo, who appeared to be on the edge of the planet's atmosphere.
"That's better. Magical clones, although extremely realistic, are no match for doing it yourself," said Piccolo, feeling the feedback from the clone he had dispelled.
He had used magic to separate part of his essence and create an image of himself indistinguishable from his true self. This was, of course, very different from other cloning techniques, which separated the user's ki, the fission created by their original, complete self.
It was more of an avatar through which he could transmit a certain amount of power regardless of distance. However, after sensing something was wrong, especially feeling a prick in his body, he withdrew.
"I don't know what happened, but if it's poison, it won't reach me," he muttered as he observed the large sphere of energy he had created between his hands.
For some reason, he felt he had to compress and rotate it, so he did so, knowing he couldn't spend much time on it. He fired the attack at Doctor Wheelo.
Everyone could see a jet of yellow light with purple rings spinning wildly as it pierced the clouds and fell directly toward Wheelo.
Just as Doctor Wheelo was about to continue boasting, "Fool, I can dodge this...," the screech of twisted metal reached his ears. His attention was drawn to Goku, whose physique had changed slightly.
He hadn't grown larger, but his muscles had bulged considerably. The red ki aura no longer surrounded him but clung to his skin as if it were an extra layer.
Additionally, an image of a giant monkey floated behind the young man. The monkey growled at the sky and Doctor Wheelo, challenging him. Goku, whose hair was only slightly singed and whose shirt was torn, spoke up.
"Chi-Chi gave me these clothes... Bulma did my hair. You ruined the gestures of affection from the people I care about." Goku's voice was deeper than before, sounding more like an adult's. This display of power had coincided with his physical puberty.
Looking up at the sky, Goku saw Piccolo's imminent attack. Wanting Doctor Wheelo to suffer, he guided the image of the Ozaru looming behind him and used his powerful arms to grab the scientist's metal body.
"Let's see if your metal can withstand two big attacks!" Goku had freed himself from the metal claw but still trembled due to the residual electricity in his system. He took flight, moving away while gathering a large amount of Ki in his hand at high speed.
Then, he fired. Piccolo's attack hit first, striking the mech's 'head.' Then, it was the Saiyan's energy cannon, tinged with a deeper red as he channeled anger into his Ki.
"Suffer my Ozaru's Wrath!" As the energy beam struck Wheelo's chest, Goku said those words, igniting his energy completely. This time, he would charge the same attack with more power.
The explosion sent Doctor Wheelo's mechanical body crashing to the ground and smashing into a frozen mountain. For another enemy, this would have been devastating, but for Wheelo, it was merely damage to his machine.
Metal melted and tore from the robotic suit, leaving areas riddled with holes and dents. Even the tail had lost its shape due to the intense heat. Clearly, the material had shattered from the vast amount of energy released during the two attacks.
'Martial artists depend on their mindset. Well, it doesn't matter if they scrap this mech. I have something much better here,' thought the canned brain. He had received the report that the compound he wanted to synthesize was already complete.
'They've damaged this metal body quite a bit, but soon, I'll have a better one. Don't the legends say that this demon can spawn minions? I'll make you give me the best replacement body!' If he could have, Wheelo's laughter would have echoed throughout the place, but even his voice converter had been destroyed.
Soon, though, he wouldn't need devices like that anymore, or so he believed.