Goku lay sprawled on the ground, his golden aura flickering weakly like a candle about to extinguish. Each breath came ragged and labored, a testament to the punishing toll the Super Saiyan transformation had exacted on his body. He had given everything in the battle, every strike fueled by his determination, yet William remained unscathed, his calm demeanor unbroken.
William raised his hand, his movements deliberate and precise. With a sharp swipe, he tore through the fabric of existence itself. The air screamed as an ominous rift opened before them, jagged and black, its edges shimmering as though the universe had been violently slashed by an unseen blade.
Goku's weary eyes widened in confusion, his mind racing to comprehend the sight before him. What is that…?
Before the question could leave his lips, William stepped forward and entered the rift with an air of casual indifference.
"Wait!" Goku shouted, forcing himself to his feet as sheer instinct overpowered his exhaustion. Without hesitation, he plunged into the mysterious tear.
As he crossed the threshold, the familiar cosmos of his universe dissolved into an alien realm. Stars blazed in indescribable hues, their light defying the spectrum of human sight, while constellations twisted in impossible, mind-bending geometries. The infinite void surrounding him pulsed with a sentient presence, vast and watchful.
And at the heart of it all stood William.
With arms outstretched, he manipulated unseen threads of matter and energy, drawing them from the void. The emptiness quaked. From every direction, shards of stone and streams of cosmic dust converged, colliding in a thunderous explosion.
BOOOOM!
A blazing sphere burst into existence, rivers of molten rock etching intricate patterns across its surface. At its core, gleaming veins of metal pulsed like the heartbeat of a god, radiating a silvery glow.
Goku's eyes widened in disbelief. He's… creating a planet.
William stood unmoving atop the inferno, untouched by its searing heat. More fragments of rock spiraled toward him, fusing seamlessly into the growing mass. The sphere grew larger, reaching the size of a moon as its surface solidified layer by layer. Once the structure stabilized, William thrust both palms downward. Streams of bronze light and emerald flames poured from him, sinking deep into the crust.
Gravity surged.
Goku groaned as an invisible force dragged him from midair, slamming him onto the forming surface. The ground cracked beneath his weight, but the fissures quickly sealed as the moon responded to William's will. A powerful gust of wind swept outward, followed by a flash of blue light, the first breath of an atmosphere.
From the glow beside William, a figure emerged, her dark green skin contrasting with crimson hair that flowed as though caught in an eternal current.
"Welcome back, Master," Phage said, bowing reverently, her eyes blazing with devotion.
William's stern demeanor softened into a smile. "How have things progressed in my absence?"
Phage's expression turned distant as she recounted Kandor's growth, the Kryptonians multiplying in their new home, and a burgeoning faith among them. This new religion honored not only Rao but also William himself. Temples had been built, and statues sculpted. One depicted Rao holding the sun, while beside him stood William, one hand clutching green ki, the other radiating a bronze flame, a symbol of unwavering resolve.
"They worship your children too," Phage added hesitantly. "When the people see them, they kneel."
William chuckled, though his eyes glinted with something sharper. "Children always inherit more than blood."
Turning to Goku, he snapped his fingers, and a sleek suit of training armor appeared around the Saiyan. The gravity intensified instantly, cratering the ground beneath Goku's feet as he struggled to maintain his stance.
"You'll train here," William said simply. "Ask, and I will hear you."
Before Goku could respond, William vanished, descending toward Kandor like a falling star.
The Kryptonian city stretched out in gleaming towers, its spires soaring skyward with effortless grace. Roads and stairs were absent, rendered unnecessary by flight. Glass and crystal formed impossible angles, casting light across hovering walkways and shimmering pools. It was a utopia alive with motion.
William descended at the base of a floating tower, its surface shimmering above a pool of liquid silver. The force of his arrival sent shockwaves rippling across the plaza, causing bystanders to stumble back in alarm.
Two guards stationed at the entrance straightened defensively, their gazes darting over William's imposing eight-foot frame. His presence bore down on them like an impending tempest, his aura heavy and unrelenting.
"Identify yourself!" one of them barked, his voice faltering despite the command. "State your purpose!"
William inclined his head slightly, a flicker of amusement dancing in his bronze-lit eyes. "I'm here for the one who rules this place. You'll grant me entry."
The guards exchanged uneasy glances, their sense of duty clashing with palpable fear. They shifted into an offensive stance, fists clenched, their eyes igniting with Kryptonian heat-vision.
William exhaled in mild exasperation. "If you must."
They launched themselves at him.
POW! POW!
Both guards froze mid-strike, their fists ensnared in William's open palms, as though they had collided with solid granite. Their expressions twisted in astonishment.
"Who is this guy?!" one shouted, releasing a searing beam of crimson energy from his eyes.
The optic blast engulfed William in an eruption of light and fire. The guards shielded their faces from the violent surge, convinced that nothing could withstand such an assault at such close range.
Amidst the searing glow, William remained unfazed, a smirk playing on his lips. The heat washed over his skin like a soothing warmth, leaving him entirely unharmed.
The crimson inferno dimmed and sputtered out, leaving tendrils of smoke curling against William's skin. He flicked a stray ember from his shoulder with a casual motion, as though brushing lint from his suit.
The guards were frozen in stunned silence.
"Impossible…" one of them murmured, his voice faltering, betraying the first cracks in his confidence.
William inclined his head slightly, his bronze-lit eyes narrowing with a faint trace of amusement. "Is that all?" he asked, his tone devoid of mockery, carrying only a quiet disappointment that cut deeper than any insult.
He released their fists. Both Kryptonians stumbled backward, disoriented, but before they could recover, William acted.
FWOOOM
In a flash, he vanished. A heartbeat later, he reappeared behind them, his presence bearing down like a physical weight. Neither guard dared to turn around. Their bodies quivered, their instincts screaming truths their minds refused to accept.
CRACK!
William suddenly shot forth with a quick open palm slap to the chest of one of the Kryptonian guards, causing the man to cough up a mouthful of spit and the entirety of his lung's capacity.
The guards exchanged a tense glance before surging forward in perfect sync, fists igniting with heat-vision flares and moving at supersonic speed.
"Let's see what you've got," William murmured, his tone laced with an almost dismissive boredom, as though the entire confrontation was nothing more than a trivial exercise.
POW!
The first guard's punch shot toward William's jaw like a missile, but William didn't flinch. His bronze-lit fingers moved like molten metal, intercepting the punch midair with an effortless grip. The guard's arm froze, muscles straining in vain against an unyielding force.
"Ah… sturdy," William remarked softly, tilting his head with a faint smirk. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the guard hurtling backward. The man collided with a hovering tower in a deafening CRASH!, but William remained utterly composed.
The second guard, eyes ablaze, unleashed twin streams of crimson heat beams aimed directly at William's chest. The air howled as the temperature soared to unbearable levels. William exhaled slowly, and the searing beams dimmed into harmless embers, curling around him like glowing ribbons. With a casual wave, he deflected them, scattering their remnants harmlessly into the plaza.
The guards attacked again, this time combining rapid punches and optic blasts in a desperate attempt to overpower him. But William moved like flowing water, fluid, unpredictable, and untouchable. Every punch was intercepted, every laser deflected, every kick evaded with a mere tilt of his head or a subtle shift of his stance.
"Still trying," he mused, his calm voice tinged with amusement. With a simple flick of his finger, he redirected one guard's strike, sending him spinning across the plaza like a ragdoll. The other guard charged forward to assist, only to have his momentum abruptly reversed midair. He crashed into a crystal fountain, the water suspended in dazzling zero-gravity arcs around him, leaving him dazed and disoriented.
William extended his palms outward, unleashing a subtle shockwave that rippled through the air. The guards froze as their strength ebbed away, sapped by an unseen force. They struggled to move, their limbs heavy as if wading through quicksand, sweat streaming down their faces with every futile effort.
"Really now," William taunted, his voice carrying effortlessly across the plaza. "Is this the best you can do? I was hoping for a bit of excitement."
The guards, gasping for breath and utterly bewildered, began to understand the futility of their attacks. Every punch, every strike had been nullified, deflected, absorbed, or redirected with impeccable ease. William stood at the center, his aura radiating in vibrant emerald and bronze hues, crackling with an energy so raw it seemed almost alive. His presence exuded a calm yet overwhelming power, an unassailable force of nature.
With a mere snap of his fingers, the guards were lifted into the air, their bodies dangling helplessly, arms flailing as gravity seemed to abandon them. William hovered before them, serene and unshaken, the bronze flames encircling him flickering like whispers of destruction.
"Now tell me," he said, his head tilting slightly, "do you honestly believe you can stop me?"
The guards couldn't respond. Words failed them entirely, replaced by the stark, undeniable truth: they were hopelessly outclassed.
William's smirk deepened, his eyes gleaming. "Perfect. Let's make this a lesson you won't soon forget."
He spun through the air, effortlessly tossing the guards across the plaza like weightless playthings, their bodies ricocheting harmlessly off buildings with each motion executed in precise, almost poetic elegance. Gasps erupted from the crowd, some cheered in astonishment, others cowered in fear, witnessing a figure who seemed to command time and space as though they were mere extensions of his will.
William descended with deliberate grace, his hands outstretched like a conductor orchestrating a symphony of chaos. The guards' frantic heat beams dissolved harmlessly against the glowing field surrounding him. With a soft chuckle, he flicked his wrist, launching one guard high into the air. The man spun in a brilliant arc of bronze light, only to land gently on a distant rooftop, unscathed but thoroughly disgraced.
The second guard, driven by desperation, lunged forward with all his strength. William sidestepped effortlessly, a fluid tilt of his body, and caught the man's fist mid-swing. With a flick of his wrist, he twisted the arm, sending the guard spiraling helplessly in midair. Emerald flames danced along William's palms as he released the man with a casual push, propelling him into a fountain. Water exploded into the air, cascading over the plaza in a dazzling display.
Hovering above the plaza, arms folded and aura blazing like a celestial fire, William surveyed the scene with quiet authority. "That will suffice," he murmured, his voice carrying a weight that silenced the crowd.
William hovered for a moment above the plaza, the echoes of the defeated guards dissipating into stunned silence. His bronze and emerald aura flared, reflecting off the crystalline towers like twin suns. Without a word, he surged forward, his presence a living force that seemed to bend the very air around him.
The massive double doors of the floating tower loomed ahead. They were adorned with intricate etchings of Kryptonian history, celestial maps, and abstract symbols that seemed to shimmer under William's gaze. The guards' earlier vigilance now felt laughably insignificant in the face of his power.
With a focused push of his immense strength, the doors shuddered. Metal groaned, stone cracked, and finally the colossal doors swung open, as though yielding to the will of a god. William stepped inside, each motion deliberate, measured, yet effortless, his aura filling the grand lobby, causing light to fracture across every surface.
The interior was vast, cathedral-like, yet infused with futuristic elegance. Hovering platforms, cascading streams of suspended water, and crystalline walls bathed the space in soft refracted light. At the very center of the lobby, dominating the grand expanse, stood a statue of William himself.
It was a perfect likeness: eight feet tall, poised with one hand gripping a swirling sphere of emerald ki, the other holding a glowing bronze orb of raw energy. The sculptor had captured his calm authority and subtle amusement, the same expression he now wore in person. The statue seemed less a monument and more a sentinel, as if it had been constructed to welcome guests and ward off intruders simultaneously.
William's gaze lingered on the statue. His eyes narrowed with interest. Slowly, deliberately, he approached, each step resonating against the polished floor. The bronze flames along his aura danced and flickered, echoing the energy of the sculpted orbs.
When he reached out, fingertips brushing the cool surface of the statue's bronze orb, a sudden, blinding light ignited across the room. It was no earthly light; it burned with the intensity of a sun, yet pulsed with deliberate intent.
Before William could react, the orb of brilliance, shimmering with the essence of a distant sun in the system's far reaches, shot toward him with impossible speed. Time seemed to dilate as the light hurtled across space, streaking through the planet's atmosphere like a cosmic spear.
CRASH!
The orb struck William mid-step. Energy flared violently on impact, sending shockwaves rippling through the lobby. The statue wobbled slightly, then stood firm, almost reverently, as though acknowledging the moment.
William staggered, his aura surging uncontrollably, emerald and bronze fire twisting chaotically around him. The lobby trembled, suspended pools of water rippling with kinetic energy, light fracturing in every direction. And then, as suddenly as it arrived, the impact stilled. William stood, unmoving, an unreadable expression crossing his face.
In that tense silence, the air seemed to vibrate, carrying a singular, undeniable message: