Goku's grin widened, teeth bared against the violet torrent. He felt it—the Hakai energy wasn't just force. It was *hunger*. And his tail thrummed in answer, drinking the chaos. *Anchor yourself*, Old Kai's voice echoed. Goku poured his focus downward—not into defense, but into his palms. Crimson fur rippled as he uncrossed his arms abruptly, letting the Hakai wave crash past him in a devastating arc that vaporized an entire ocean trench. In that split-second reprieve, Goku cupped his hands low at his right hip. Golden-red ki, thick as molten metal, surged into the space between his palms. The air crackled, ozone sharpening to burnt copper. A sphere bloomed—not the familiar blue-white, but a deep, pulsing *crimson*, radiating heat that warped the seawater miles below into steam. ***HAAAAAAAAA…*** he roared, the sound primal, shaking the heavens. The Kamehameha condensed, swirling vortexes of raw Saiyan heritage visible within its core.
Beerus halted mid-ascent, eyes widening. Not at the technique—but at the *hue*. Crimson. The color of spilled god-blood. The orb swelled, its red glow deepening to arterial darkness, crackling with untamed Oozaru echoes. Energy lashed out from Goku's tail, feeding the maelstrom between his palms. Tenfold power? It felt like harnessing a dying star. Goku's muscles screamed, veins standing out like cables beneath crimson fur. The deck beneath Whis buckled further from the sheer backwash. ***…MEEEEEH…!*** The crimson sphere stabilized, dense and humming with contained apocalypse. Its light painted Beerus's furious face in bloody tones. For the first time, uncertainty flickered in the Destroyer's violet gaze.
***HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!***
Goku thrust his cupped hands forward. The crimson Kamehameha didn't *fire*—it *detonated*. A beam thicker than mountains tore through the twilight, not a stream but a solid pillar of compressed primal rage. It ripped the sky apart, trailing sonic booms that shattered clouds into vapor. Beerus crossed his arms, Hakai flaring violet in desperation. The collision wasn't sound—it was silent, blinding annihilation. Then, light swallowed everything. The ocean vaporized beneath them. Whis raised an eyebrow, shielding his eyes with a flick of his staff. On the Lookout, Piccolo shielded Bulma; Vegeta stood rigid, tasting the ozone-charged wind even at this distance. The crimson beam consumed Beerus utterly… for three heartbeats. Then, impossibly, violet light began shredding through the red from within. Goku pushed harder, crimson fur smoking. The tail whipped like a living thing. He saw it—Beerus straining, Hakai eroding the beam's core. Failure loomed. Old Kai's words stabbed his mind: *Feed the Beast!* Goku's gaze snapped upward. He grinned, wild and reckless, channeling not defense… but raw Saiyan defiance. The crimson beam pulsed brighter. ***MORE!*** he howled into the void.
The violet light fractured violently outward. Beerus burst free, propelled backward by the Kamehameha's backlash. His divine robes smoked, charred at the edges. A thin trickle of purple blood seeped from his lower lip. He hovered, panting, violet aura flickering erratically—not weakened, but *stunned*. Beneath the primal fury, Goku felt it: a tremor in Beerus's ki. Not pain. *Excitement*. The Destroyer's eyes, wide and blazing, fixed on Goku not with contempt, but with predatory fascination. The air crackled with unspoken challenge. Beerus's claws curled slowly. Hakai energy coalesced around him again—denser, darker, swirling like miniature galaxies collapsing. Goku's grin sharpened, teeth gleaming against crimson fur. His tail thumped the air rhythmically, echoing his pounding heart. This wasn't duty anymore. This was *primal communion*. He saw Beerus's power surge—a deeper violet than before, resonating with ancient, destructive joy. Goku threw his head back and roared, laughter rough and savage beneath the cry. ***"THIS IS IT, LORD BEERUS!"*** His voice ripped through the vaporized atmosphere, raw with triumph. ***"THIS IS WHAT YOU CAME FOR!"***
Beerus didn't speak. His answering smirk was sharp enough to cut diamond. He lunged—not with Hakai waves, but pure speed. Violet met crimson in a midair collision that folded reality. Fists blurred, impacts echoing like collapsing stars. Goku matched him, blow for blow, parrying claws meant to erase galaxies. His crimson tail coiled and lashed, acting as a third limb—blocking a knee strike aimed at his ribs, whipping backward to deflect an elbow driving toward his spine. Their dance shredded the sky, auroras bleeding from their clashing auras. Beerus's eyes narrowed fractionally—not frustration, but *curiosity*. Each strike, each feint, met an equal, instinctive counter.
The Destroyer disengaged abruptly, hovering amid vaporized cloud residue. His chest barely heaved, but his voice held a rare tremor of disbelief. "Impossible," Beerus hissed, claws flexing. "You move... *before* I commit. Like you taste my intent." Goku landed lightly on a thermal updraft, crimson fur rippling. He grinned, feral yet focused. "It's the tail," he admitted, the appendage twitching like a live wire. "Feels every shift in your ki... every twitch in your muscle." He tapped his temple. "And *this*? Still all me." Beerus's gaze snapped to the lashing tail—alive with ancient Saiyan instinct.
Incredulity hardened into icy scrutiny. Beerus vanished—reappearing behind Goku in a microsecond, talons aimed to decapitate. Goku didn't turn. His tail *jerked* left, yanking his body sideways just as purple claws sliced empty air. Before Beerus could adjust, Goku pivoted mid-fall, driving a crimson-furred fist upward. Beerus crossed his forearms, bracing—and *skidded* backward from the impact, soles scraping luminescent trails in the atmosphere. "Precognitive reflex?" Beerus spat, violet eyes blazing. "Or borrowed beast-instinct?" Goku landed, tail thumping rhythmically against the void. "Does it matter?" he shot back, golden-red eyes alight. "It's working."
Rage ignited in Beerus's stare—not at the defiance, but the *equality*. He soared higher, Hakai swirling into a spinning violet drill aimed earthward. Goku crouched, tail lashing like a scorpion's sting. As the drill descended, Goku didn't dodge. He *leaped*—meeting it head-on, crimson fists hammering the Hakai vortex in a staccato rhythm that rang like shattered planets. Each blow matched the drill's rotation, each impact dispersing its edge. Beerus watched, transfixed, as Goku rode the destruction downward, not overpowering it... *dancing* with it. "How?!" Beerus roared above the din, genuine astonishment cracking his godly composure. Goku's answer was a grin swallowed by violet light—a Saiyan embracing chaos, not conquering it.
On the Lookout, the group flinched as Whis's hovering staff projected the cataclysm—Beerus's Hakai drill meeting Goku's crimson blur. The sky tore open in silent holographic carnage. Bulma clung to Vegeta's arm; Piccolo's jaw tightened. Vegeta watched with knuckles white, tasting ozone through the projection. Whis tilted his head, lavender eyes narrowed microscopically. "Remarkable," he murmured, almost inaudibly. "His movements... they lack deliberation." The hologram zoomed: Goku's tail twitched microseconds *before* Beerus shifted his weight; his crimson-furred forearm blocked a Hakai tendril Whis hadn't even rendered yet. "As if..." Whis breathed, the words feather-light, "...a primal mimicry of Ultra Instinct. Not divine emptiness... but Saiyan instinct crystallized." Vegeta whipped around, eyes blazing. "What did you say?!" But Whis merely tapped his staff, projecting Goku mid-counterstrike—fist impacting Beerus's jaw with impossible timing.
Below, Beerus reeled, purple blood spraying from split lips. He touched his face, staring at the ichor with disbelief shifting into terrifying glee. "Instinct?" he hissed, wiping his mouth. "Or stolen divinity?" Hakai erupted from his palms—not a beam, but a net of violet chains meant to bind. Goku's tail snapped taut. He spun, weaving between links faster than thought, fists trailing crimson fire. One chain grazed his shoulder—fur sizzling, flesh singing. Pain flared... and vanished beneath the tail's rhythmic pulse. He seized the chain mid-air, primal fury surging down his arm. With a grunt, Goku *yanked*. Beerus stumbled forward, off-balance for a fraction of a heartbeat—enough. Goku closed the gap, crimson knee driving upward. Beerus crossed his arms—too slow. The impact cracked ribs. The Destroyer gasped, genuine agony flashing across his face.
Goku landed lightly, crimson fur rippling under moonlight. Beerus clutched his chest, violet eyes wide—not with defeat, but ravenous delight. He laughed, a sound like grinding galaxies. "MONKEY!" he bellowed, Hakai flaring brighter than supernovae. "YOU SHALL ENTERTAIN ME... OR PERISH!" Goku's tail coiled, poised. Golden-red eyes narrowed. The Beast within purred.
"Lord Beerus," Goku called, his voice deeper, rougher—ancient Saiyan resonance vibrating the salt-laden air. Crimson light pulsed softly around his fists. "By the way..." He grinned, sharp and wild, tail snapping like a whip. "...right now? I've only been using about a quarter of my true power." The ocean heaved beneath them as if recoiling. Beerus froze mid-charge, clawed hand outstretched. Bulma's gasp carried faintly from the distant Lookout. Whis tilted his head, intrigued. Vegeta snarled, tasting the lie—then froze, *feeling* the coiled restraint in Goku's ki. Impossible. Unthinkable.
Goku planted his boots wide. Crimson fur stood on end, crackling. Deep inside, he felt the Beast surge—not threatening to overwhelm him, but *eager*. Old Kai's words echoed: *Contain the Beast within the warrior.* He embraced it. Power erupted. Not a golden flare, but a crimson supernova. Waves flattened for miles. The sky tore open above him, clouds boiling away. His tail thickened, muscles coiling like steel cables beneath the fur. Golden-red eyes blazed brighter, pupils elongating into predatory slits. Crimson ki solidified into jagged, living armor over his shoulders and forearms. "Want to see," he growled, the words shredding the air, "...what it looks like when I use more?"
Beerus hissed, purple lips pulling back from fangs. Not in anger—in ecstasy. Hakai surged, enveloping him in a vortex of annihilation. "SHOW ME!" he screamed, lunging. Goku met him. Fists collided. Not a shockwave—a singularity. Reality fractured. Stars blinked out in the hologram Whis projected. Crimson and violet light consumed the world. Then silence. Utter, deafening silence. On the Lookout, Bulma covered her ears, screaming unheard. Vegeta's eyes widened. Above the vaporized sea, only two figures remained—locked knuckle-to-claw, straining. Goku's grin hadn't faded. It had sharpened. Feral. Final. The Beast roared. It was only the beginning.