The two fighters stood facing each other in the ring, the crowd's anticipation electric.
"So you're the one who killed Taopaipai-sama," Tenshinhan said coldly, his three eyes narrowing. "You don't look like much."
Goku tilted his head, hands in his pockets. "yep that was me..."
"I will crush you like I did to your friend!" Said Tien with a smirk, Goku put his hands on his knees squatted and stretch his back "oh yeah ! Yamcha! I totally forgot ! I have to make you pay" said Goku,
"Fighters ready?" the announcer interrupted, raising his hand. "BEGIN!"
Tenshinhan exploded forward instantly, unleashing a vicious barrage of punches. His fists blurred through the air, each strike aimed to kill.
But Goku moved like smoke, weaving between the attacks with minimal effort. Duck, sidestep, lean back, parry—each movement precise.
He's not even trying, Tenshinhan realized with growing frustration.
Then Goku moved. His fist shot forward like a bullet toward Tenshinhan's stomach—and stopped an inch away.
The pressure wave hit like a sledgehammer. Tenshinhan's belly caved inward, his three eyes bulging as his mouth gaped open. He flew backward across the ring, feet dragging grooves in the tiles before catching himself at the edge.
"What... the hell?" Tenshinhan gasped, clutching his stomach. But despite the pain, a small smile crept across his face. "This is going to be interesting."
From the stands, Tsuru Sen'nin's face darkened. The boy who killed his brother was toying with his best student.
"Chaozu," he hissed quietly. "Use your psychic powers. Paralyze him."
The small, pale fighter floating nearby looked uncomfortable. "But that's—"
"Do it!"
Chaozu reluctantly raised his hands, focusing his energy.
Meanwhile, Master Roshi had made his way down to stand beside Krillin at ringside.
"Muten Roshi-sama! Did you see that?" Krillin exclaimed. "He didn't even touch him!"
"The boy's gotten even stronger," Roshi murmured, but his eyes narrowed. "But watch carefully..."
Tenshinhan charged again, ready for round two. Goku shifted his weight, prepared to dodge—
But nothing happened. His body wouldn't respond.
Tenshinhan's fist crashed into Goku's face, snapping his head to the side with a meaty crack. The crowd erupted in surprised cheers.
What the hell? Goku thought, his mind racing. Why can't I—
Then it clicked. That familiar sensation of invisible hands holding him in place. He'd saw it before.
Slowly, deliberately, Goku turned his head. Not toward Tenshinhan, but toward the small pale figure at the arena's edge. His usual carefree expression melted away, replaced by something that made everyone nearby take an involuntary step back.
His lips pulled back in a menacing grin that had nothing friendly about it.
"Two versus one?" His voice carried a dark amusement that sent shivers down spines. "...I don't mind. Hehe."
Tenshinhan froze mid-strike. "What? What are you talking about?"
But Goku wasn't looking at him. Those dangerous eyes remained locked on Chaozu, who had begun trembling under that predatory stare.
Tenshinhan brushed off his confusion and launched into a savage barrage of punches. Each blow snapped Goku's head backward, to the side, down.
The crowd gasped. From their angle, it looked like Goku was taking a brutal beating.
"Goku!" Krillin shouted.
Even Master Roshi's eyes widened. "Those strikes... his head's nearly dislocating!"
Up in the stands, Tsuru Sen'nin smiled coldly. "Good. Let the murderer suffer"
But Chaozu wasn't smiling. Sweat poured down his pale face, his small body trembling with effort. It felt like Goku was actively fighting against the paralysis, a constant pressure pushing back against his psychic hold.
Tenshinhan, however, wasn't satisfied. His expression grew increasingly frustrated as he continued his assault.
"Why?!" he thought, throwing another devastating hook. "Why don't I feel any impact on my fists? My shoulders should be feeling the recoil!"
He stopped, breathing hard, fists still raised.
In front of him, Goku slowly turned his face back—completely unscathed. Not even a bruise. Just that infuriating smirk.
"Already tired?" Goku asked casually.
Krillin, Roshi, Tsuru, and Chaozu all stared in disbelief. Even with Goku's incredible durability, those punches should have at least left marks.
"Tired?! Don't mock me!" Tenshinhan roared, launching into another barrage.
Again, Goku's head snapped around with each impact, but something was off.
"Impossible!... I got it!" Master Roshi suddenly exclaimed.
"What?" Krillin asked urgently.
"Goku isn't taking any hits!"
"Eh?! What do you mean?"
Tenshinhan was realizing it too. With each punch, Goku was moving his head in the exact direction of the strike, rolling with it perfectly. Every hook to the cheek, Goku turned his head to match. Every uppercut, he leaned back just enough. The momentum was completely neutralized.
"What?!" Tsuru sputtered from his seat. "This is insane! How can he do it with that number of punches at that speed?!"
"This kid is incredible!" Roshi said with genuine awe.
"No," Krillin corrected with absolute confidence. "That's Goku. That's normal for him!."
"But why?" Krillin then asked, confused. "Couldn't he just dodge normally?"
Roshi's eyes scanned the arena and landed on the struggling Chaozu. Understanding dawned immediately. "The small one—he's using psychic powers to hold Goku in place. But Goku's found a way to work within the restraints."
The barrage stopped again. Goku flexed his muscles, straining against the invisible bonds. His gi began tearing at the seams from the effort.
Chaozu was barely holding on now, his whole body shaking violently.
Tenshinhan noticed his friend's distress and turned. His three eyes widened as he saw Chaozu's condition—the strain, the desperation, the fear.
"Kill him now!" Tsuru commanded from the stands. "While he's helpless!"
"Geh... No, Master," Tenshinhan said firmly.
"What?! How dare you—"
"I want to fight him seriously," Tenshinhan declared, his voice growing stronger. "Not like this."
"You fool! This is about avenging Tao Pai Pai!"
"I don't care about your revenge!" Tenshinhan shouted back. "I'm done being an assassin! I'm a martial artist!"
The crowd murmured in confusion, not understanding the full context but sensing the drama.
"Chaozu!" Tenshinhan commanded. "Let him go!"
The small fighter immediately released his hold, collapsing to his knees in exhaustion.
Tsuru's face turned purple with rage. "You ungrateful—"
Goku stretched his arms leisurely, rolling his shoulders. "Why bother? I could've taken you both at the same time."
"Don't be so sure of yourself, Son Goku," Tenshinhan said, but now with a genuine smile—the smile of a true martial artist facing a worthy opponent. "I'm going to end this and win."
He began floating up into the sky, his body glowing with gathering energy.
Chaozu's eyes went wide with horror. "No! Tien, stop! Don't use that technique!"
Master Roshi went pale. "He's planning to use the Kikoho!"
"What's that?!" Krillin asked frantically.
"It's a powerful ki attack that drains massive amounts of life force," Roshi explained urgently. "It could kill the user!"
In the ring below, Goku watched with interest, that dangerous smile returning. "Finally. Something interesting."
Tenshinhan floated high above the arena, his hands forming a triangle aimed directly at Goku. His face showed genuine concern as energy gathered between his fingers.
"You better dodge right now!" Tenshinhan shouted, actually feeling compassion for his opponent. "This isn't a technique you can just tank!"
From ringside, Master Roshi's face went white as he suddenly remembered the ridiculous restriction he'd placed on Goku—no touching opponents, no ki attacks.
"Goku!" Roshi yelled in panic. "This isn't an ordinary adversary you can beat without going all out! Use all your strength!"
Goku glanced over his shoulder at his old master, that confident smirk never wavering. "Gramps... just observe."
"KIKOHO!"
A blinding light erupted from Tenshinhan's hands, the very atmosphere of the arena changing as everything was bathed in brilliant white. In a fraction of a second, a massive beam of destructive energy shot from his triangle stance straight toward Goku.
"GOKU, DODGE!" Krillin screamed.
But Goku stood there, back to his friend, watching the attack come. Then, at the last possible microsecond—he vanished.
The Kikoho struck the empty space where Goku had been, and the resulting explosion was catastrophic. The entire arena floor disintegrated, chunks of stone flying everywhere as a massive crater formed. The crowd screamed and scrambled back from the destruction.
Chaozu, Krillin, and Roshi stared in shock at the devastating power of the attack. Where the proud tournament ring had stood, only a smoking crater remained.
"He finally killed him!" Tsuru celebrated from the stands.
Tenshinhan hovered in the air, breathing hard, sweat pouring down his face. That attack had drained everything from him.
"You sure give them work to do." Tien heard a voice.
Tenshinhan's head snapped around, looking left, right—then up.
Goku was there, falling upside down with his hands casually in his pockets, not a scratch on him.
"They'll have to fix the arena from scratch," Goku commented casually as he descended.
"You dodged it?! I didn't even see—" Tenshinhan gasped, then managed a weak smile. "Anyway, you can't fly. It's over for you."
Goku had indeed lost his upward momentum and was beginning to fall faster.
"You fought well, three-eyes freak," Goku said with that trademark smirk.
"What?! What are you talking about—"
Tenshinhan's words died as Goku suddenly kicked downward at... nothing.
But the air itself compressed under his foot, creating a visible pressure wave that blasted him upward like a rocket. Before Tenshinhan could process what happened, Goku kicked again—this time horizontally—the compressed air shooting him directly toward Tenshinhan. Then once more upward, using the air itself as stepping stones.
The movements were so fast Tenshinhan could barely follow. In less than a second, Goku had maneuvered himself behind the exhausted fighter.
"Impossible," Tenshinhan breathed.
"Here's something special," Goku said, slowly bringing his palms together in front of him.
The air between his hands resisted, visibly rippling. Goku's muscles bulged as he forced his palms closer, compressing the air far beyond what should be possible. The space between his hands began to shimmer, then glow orange, then white-hot.
Tenshinhan could feel the heat even from where he floated. "What are you—"
The compressed air screamed, a high-pitched whine that made everyone below cover their ears. Goku's arms trembled from the pressure fighting to escape. Veins popped along his forearms. The superheated pocket of air between his palms warped the light around it like a miniature sun.
"Newton's third law," Goku said through gritted teeth, his whole body coiled like a spring. "Every action..."
He thrust his palms forward and released.
The explosion was deafening. The compressed air detonated with the force of a bomb, the shock wave visible as it ripped through the space between them. Tenshinhan's eyes widened for a split second before the blast hammered into his chest like a giant's fist.
"...has an equal and opposite reaction!"
Tenshinhan rocketed downward while Goku was launched backward with equal violence. But where Tenshinhan crashed through the building's roof like a ragdoll, disappearing in a shower of debris, Goku rode the momentum, tucking into a controlled flip and landing in a crouch on the crater's edge.
The crowd stood in stunned silence. Even the announcer had forgotten to speak.
From inside the building, a groan echoed out. Tenshinhan was alive but thoroughly defeated.
"Physics," Goku said with a grin, dusting off his hands. "Who needs ki when you understand how air works?"
The crater fell silent except for the settling debris. Everyone stared in shock at what had just transpired.
"What... what just happened?" Krillin asked, mouth agape.
Master Roshi stroked his beard, equally amazed. "He compressed air until it became superheated—essentially creating a bomb without using any ki. The boy turned basic physics into a weapon."
Chaozu immediately flew toward the hole in the building, tears in his eyes. "Tien! TIEN!"
Tsuru Sen'nin clenched his teeth so hard they nearly cracked, rage radiating from every pore. But beneath the anger was something else—fear. This boy had defeated his best student without even using ki. He wanted to act, to attack, but his body wouldn't move.
Meanwhile, at the hospital, the radio crackled with static.
"What's happening?!" Bulma shouted at the device. "The announcer went quiet!"
"Did Goku win?" Yamcha asked anxiously from his wheelchair.
Launch (blonde) was shaking the radio. "This piece of junk better not be broken!"
Puar floated nervously. "I can't tell what's going on!"
Back at the arena, the announcer finally found his voice.
"In-INCREDIBLE! Ladies and gentlemen, I can't tell you what exactly happened, but I can tell you that the winner of the 22nd Tenkaichi Budokai is... SON GOKU!"
The crowd erupted. Cheering, applauding, whistling—the noise was deafening.
The radio at hospital exploded with the announcement.
"YES!" Bulma and Launch screamed in unison.
"He did it!" Yamcha pumped his fist, then winced from his injuries.
At the tournament, Goku walked slowly toward what remained of the arena. He stopped in the center, closed his eyes, spread his arms wide, and tilted his head back—basking in the adoration.
"Yes! Go ahead, people!" Goku called out with a massive grin. "Praise me more!"
Krillin jumped from the sidelines and tackled Goku in a hug around his waist. "You did it, Goku! That was incredible! How did you even know about what you did?!"
Then Krillin pulled back, noticing Goku's chest and palms. The skin was reddened and slightly burned. "Goku! That thing you did burned you!"
Roshi jumped down to examine the injuries. "No wonder. Pressurized air at that intensity burns at over a thousand degrees. I hope Tenshinhan is alright."
As if on cue, Tenshinhan emerged from the building, supported by Chaozu. He was bruised and battered from the impact but surprisingly not burned.
"How?" Roshi asked, bewildered.
Goku waved at some girls in the crowd while answering casually. "Don't worry, gramps. I took all the heat. He just got the shockwave."
*This kid is incredible,* Roshi thought. *Even with that handicap, when he found that solution, he was still thinking of his opponent.*
"I mean," Goku added, "if he died, I wouldn't get the prize money, right?"
Both Krillin and Roshi's faces went blank. *It was about the money...*
"By the way, Goku," Krillin asked, shaking his head, "how did you know that thing about the air?"
Goku tapped his temple with a cocky grin. "Cause I'm a genius! That's all you need to know!"
But internally, Goku's thoughts drifted. *Physics... I was aiming to become a physicist before that corrupted world took everything from me...*
"Forget about your old world and live."
"Who said that?!" Goku spun around to Krillin, panic flashing across his face. "Did you say that?!"
"Eh?! Say what?" Krillin responded, completely confused.
"What's wrong, Goku?" Roshi asked, concerned.
"The voice—nevermind," Goku muttered, looking around suspiciously. *Forget about my old world? Who the fuck are you?*
An hour later, after most of the crowd had dispersed, Bulma, Launch, Yamcha, and Puar arrived at the destroyed arena.
"GOKU!" Both Bulma and blonde Launch screamed, launching themselves at him simultaneously.
"I knew you'd win!" Bulma said, hugging his right side.
"Like hell! I believed in him more!" Launch argued, clinging to his left.
"Get off him, you psycho!"
"Make me, blue-hair!"
As the two women began their tug-of-war with Goku as the rope, Tenshinhan approached, having recovered enough to walk on his own.
"That was marvelous ingenuity, Son Goku," Tenshinhan said, genuinely humbled. "You defeated me against all odds."
He then turned to Yamcha, bowing slightly. "I... I apologize for breaking your leg. It was dishonorable."
Yamcha shrugged. "Eh, it's not like you killed me. Water under the bridge."
After everyone changed back into their regular clothes, they headed toward the restaurant, Goku leading the way with his prize money.
"I'm ordering everything on the menu!" Goku announced.
"With what we've seen you eat, that prize money might not be enough," Krillin joked.
As they walked, Goku kept glancing around, still unsettled by that mysterious voice. But he pushed it aside—for now, it was time to celebrate.
They arrived at the restaurant, the warm aroma of grilled meat and spices filling the air. Goku leaned his Nyoi-bo against the table and placed his Dragon Ball beside it, the orange sphere gleaming under the lights. As he sat down, Krillin quickly claimed the seat to his right, while Launch practically teleported into the chair on his left, her speed making Bulma blink in surprise.
Bulma shot Krillin a withering glare, trying to intimidate him away from Goku's side, but the monk was too absorbed in conversation to notice. "That was awesome!" Krillin exclaimed, still buzzing from the fight. "How did you even think of that?"
Tenshinhan leaned forward from across the table, his three eyes studying Goku intently. "The physics behind it... I still don't understand how you compressed air to that degree and the way you moved..."
When the waiter arrived, Goku's order was legendary even by his standards—a list so long the waiter had to flip to a second page. "I need the first course immediately," Goku explained, his stomach growling audibly. "Those fights really drained me. Fighting with that tournament handicap was tougher than I expected."
The food arrived in steaming waves, and just as Goku picked up his fork, ready to demolish the feast before him, a shadow fell across the table.
Tien and Chaozu shot to their feet, their faces mixing respect with shame. Behind them stood Tsuru Sen'nin, his crane-like features twisted with rage.
Tsuru ignored his former students completely, his cold eyes fixed on Goku. "I'm here for you!" he spat. "You will answer for my humiliation!"
Goku turned, fork still in hand, a confused expression on his innocent face. "Huh? Humiliation? Who the hell are you?"
Tsuru's face turned purple. "GEGEH!? I am Tsuru Sen'nin! The Crane Hermit! You corrupted my disciples and you killed my brother!"
Recognition dawned on Goku's face. "Oh yeah, Taopaipai..." He scratched his head thoughtfully. "But when you're an assassin, shouldn't you at least expect to get killed? Comes with the job, doesn't it?"
Tsuru trembled with fury. "Enough! To restore my honor, I challenge you to a loyal duel!"
Master Roshi snorted from his seat. "Loyal? You wouldn't know loyalty if it hit you."
Goku sighed deeply, looking longingly at his mountain of food before dropping his fork with a metallic clink. "Okay, old man. Let's get this over with."
"Not here," Tsuru said quickly. "We need a proper arena for a fair fight."
Goku's shoulders slumped. The food would get cold. His stomach protested loudly.
"Goku, wait!" Krillin grabbed his friend's arm. "You used up so much stamina today. At least eat something first!"
Goku turned to his best friend with a confident thumbs up and his signature grin. "Don't worry! This guy doesn't need my full power."
Krillin couldn't help but smile at Goku's unshakeable confidence—like a proud big brother watching his sibling head into battle.
As Goku reached for his Dragon Ball to pocket it, Krillin snatched both it and the Nyoi-bo. "Don't worry about these, Goku. I'll keep them safe for you."
Their eyes met, and Goku saw the determined loyalty in Krillin's expression. Without another word, he turned to follow Tsuru.
"And nobody touch my food!" Goku called over his shoulder. "Keep it hot—I'll be right back!"
Oolong, already three plates deep into Goku's order, froze mid-chew and sheepishly put down a chicken leg.
As they walked through the darkening streets, Goku attempted conversation. "So, how's the whole crane style thing going?"
Silence.
"Nice weather today, huh?"
More silence.
Goku's expression grew serious. *He's definitely not planning a fair fight.*
"This way," Tsuru suddenly turned into a narrow alley, the walls pressing close on either side.
Goku paused at the entrance, hands in his pockets. "An dark alley? Really?" He shook his head with a grin. "What's next, you gonna tell me you have candy in your van?"
He shrugged and walked in anyway.
The alley reeked of garbage and damp stone. When Goku reached the middle, Tsuru had vanished like smoke. Instead, twenty martial artists emerged from the shadows, their faces covered with black masks, spreading across the walls like spiders.
Goku looked around at the ambush party and sighed. "I'm guessing this welcoming committee isn't here to congratulate me on winning the tournament?"
They dropped from the walls as one, a wave of killing intent flooding the narrow space.
But Goku was already moving.
The first attacker threw a punch—Goku sidestepped, yanked down his mask, and slapped him so hard he flew into the alley wall. The second and third came together—Goku ducked between them, pulling their masks simultaneously before sending them crashing into each other.
One by one, he dismantled them with insulting ease. Pull mask, slap, crash. Pull mask, slap, crash. When he removed one mask to reveal a pretty female fighter, he paused.
"Well, hello there," he said with a charming smile. He planted a quick kiss on her cheek, making her blush furiously, before delivering a karate chop to her neck. She collapsed with a dreamy smile.
The remaining fighters came in waves, but Goku turned it into a rhythm—dodge, unmask, slap, next. Duck, unmask, uppercut, next. The narrow alley worked to his advantage; they couldn't surround him properly, and the walls made excellent surfaces for bouncing unconscious assassins.
Within thirty seconds, a groaning pile of defeated fighters filled the alley.
Tsuru watched from the shadows, his rage reaching a boiling point. Blind with fury, he pulled out a concealed blade and launched himself at full speed, aiming to impale Goku from behind.
Goku turned at the last second, caught the blade between two fingers, and snapped it. In the same motion, his hand shot out, grabbing Tsuru by the throat and slamming him against the wall. Cracks spread across the brick.
"I see you won't stop," Goku said, his voice eerily calm.B"Even though you're weak, you'll keep finding ways to annoy me."
Tsuru's feet dangled above the ground, his hands desperately clawing at Goku's iron grip. His eyes bulged with terror as he stared into the face of death itself.
"So I have to get rid of you."
Goku pulled back his free hand, clenching it into a fist. The air around it seemed to shimmer with barely contained power.
Tsuru couldn't speak, couldn't breathe, could only watch as Goku's fist drew back like a loaded cannon.
"No hard feelings," Goku said quietly.
The fist rocketed forward—
Goku's fist stopped a hair's breadth from Tsuru's nose, then snapped forward in a precise strike to the temple. Tsuru's eyes rolled back as he crumpled to the alley floor.
"I'm getting soft..." Goku muttered, stepping over the unconscious body.
Hands in his pockets, he walked back through the darkening streets. *That old fuck brought me pretty far from the restaurant.*
His mind wandered to the celebration waiting for him. Krillin's excited face. Bulma and Lunch fighting over seats. Roshi's proud nod. Even Tien's newfound respect. His lips curved upward without his permission.
*Why am I smiling like an idiot?*
*And what was that voice?* The sensation lingered like an echo in his skull. Not heard but *felt*, as if someone had spoken directly into his thoughts. At first he'd assumed it was some memory of the original Goku, something from this body's past. But that feminine voice had been specific: "Forget about your previous world."
*That was meant for me. The real me. But who—*
A pillar of smoke rose in the distance, underlit by orange light.
"A fire?"
Goku kept walking, but his trajectory and the smoke's location were converging. His casual pace quickened. The smoke was getting thicker, darker. That direction...
His hands left his pockets.
He started running.
The street where the restaurant stood was unrecognizable. What had been warm light and laughter was now destruction. The building's skeleton remained, wooden beams jutting through flames like broken bones.
At the entrance, survivors sprawled across the ground. Lunch—her hair blue—cradled an unconscious Bulma. Tien sat propped against rubble, holding Chiaotzu. Oolong lay motionless nearby. Roshi, blood running down his face, leaned heavily on his staff. Yamcha was being dragged clear by Puar.
Goku sprinted to them. "What happened?!"
Everyone was coughing, gasping, some unconscious. Goku's head snapped left, right, counting faces. Someone was—
"Krillin!"
Without thinking, he dove into the inferno.
"GOKU, WAIT!" Roshi's shout was swallowed by the flames.
Inside was hell. Fire crawled up every surface, and black smoke formed a suffocating ceiling. Goku dropped low, holding his breath, eyes streaming as he searched the floor. He couldn't see anything through the smoke.
*If I create a wind blast to clear it, the flames will spread everywhere.*
His foot caught on something soft.
There—Krillin, face-down among burning debris.
Goku scooped him up, drew back his fist, and punched the air itself. The pressure wave carved a tunnel through the flames, and he leaped through before the fire could close in again.
He landed hard beside Yamcha and Puar, Krillin still in his arms. On his knees, he looked back at Roshi.
"What the hell happened?!"
"A green monster," Roshi coughed, "with wings. Came for your Dragon Ball. Krillin tried to stop him." The old master's eyes moved to the monk's still form. "Go ahead, Krillin. Tell him yourself..."
"Krillin?"
The realization hit cold. Since pulling him from the fire, Goku had avoided looking at the weight in his arms. Now his eyes moved down slowly.
Krillin's face was pale as paper. His mouth hung open, blood trailing from the corner. His eyes stared at nothing, the spark on them completely gone.
"Oh my god... Krillin..." Roshi's voice cracked.
Tien and Yamcha turned away. Lunch began sobbing harder.
But Goku...
His expression froze somewhere between comprehension and denial. His mouth moved, forming words that made no sound. The world began to tilt strangely. Roshi was saying something, lips moving urgently, but the words weren't reaching him.
The sirens faded first.
Then Lunch's crying.
The crackling flames went silent.
His vision began to narrow, darkness creeping in from the edges until only Krillin's vacant face remained. Then that too went black.
Silence. Complete, absolute silence except—
*Ba-boom.*
*Ba-boom. Ba-boom.*
His heartbeat. Only his heartbeat.
*What? Where am I? Oh right, we were about to eat! Man, I'm starving! Let's dig in, guys! But... wait. Krillin's not here. He was sitting next to me. Where did he go?*
"Goku!"
*That voice...*
"GOKU!"
*It's Krillin!*
"Where are you?!"
"Goku! Save me!"
"WHERE?! Just tell me where! I can't help you if I don't know where you are!"
"GOKUUUUUU!"
Reality crashed back. Lunch was screaming his name, shaking his shoulder. He turned to her mechanically, saw her tear-streaked face, her mouth forming his name over and over.
"Goku..." she whispered, then looked down.
He followed her gaze.
Bulma lay in Lunch's arms. Her blue hair was matted with blood, her eyes closed, her chest still. No breath. No movement. No life.
*Bulma is dead.*
*Krillin is dead.*
*Those are dead.*
*My-...*
Something deep inside Goku's chest cracked like breaking glass.
Yamcha tried to crawl forward. "Bulma!" He collapsed, too injured to reach her.
Tien's voice seemed to come from very far away. "It was the monster. So strong. Asked for the Dragon Ball. Krillin wouldn't give it up. Then it started firing ki blasts everywhere, and Bulma—"
"Shut up."
The words came out flat. Empty.
"Goku?" Roshi stepped forward, concerned.
"I said..." Goku's head snapped up. "SHUT UUUUUUUUP!"
The scream that erupted from him wasn't human.
It was primal, visceral, a sound of pure anguish that seemed to tear from the deepest part of his soul. His mouth stretched impossibly wide, the tendons in his neck standing out like cables as his head tilted back. The ground beneath him cracked, outward as an invisible pressure slammed down.
His face contorted beyond normal human expression—lips pulled back from his teeth, jaw unhinged with the force of his agony. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes but instead of falling, they were pulled upward by the energy beginning to surge around him.
The scream went on and on, his lungs somehow never emptying, the sound growing louder and more distorted until it didn't sound like one voice but many—rage and grief and guilt all harmonizing into something monstrous.
Roshi stumbled backward, his experienced eyes catching something impossible.
Goku's pupils were flickering—black to green, cycling faster and faster like a lightbulb about to explode. His hair, still wet with sweat from the fire, began to rise. The black strands pulsed, flashing gold for split seconds before returning to darkness, each flash lasting longer than the last.
"What... what's happening to him?" Tien gasped, shielding Chaozu from the pressure.
The scream cut off abruptly. Goku's head dropped forward, his whole body shaking. When he looked up again, his eyes were wrong—still flickering between colors.