"Little Goku, I just received word from my colleagues. Your friends are in a town not far from here called Piñon. I'll drive you there myself," Black Widow said, leaning down with a gentle, reassuring smile.
To her surprise, Goku didn't agree immediately. He shook his head firmly.
"I have to find the Power Pole and the Four-Star Ball first."
Now that he knew Auntie Gabriela and the others were safe, his priority shifted back to his belongings. The Power Pole and the Four-Star Ball were the only things he had left from his late grandfather; losing them was unthinkable.
"No problem. Just wait here a moment, and I'll go see if my colleagues have found them yet."
Seeing the resolve in his eyes, Natasha didn't try to argue. She slipped out of the tent, assuming the "stick and stone ball" were likely just toys Goku had kept during his time at the lab. It made sense for a boy his age to be obsessed with his favorite playthings.
Since S.H.I.E.L.D. satellites and urban surveillance already had a lock on the limo, she wasn't worried about losing Logan's trail. She could afford to indulge the boy to keep him cooperative.
Two minutes later, Natasha returned to the tent holding a set of children's clothes and a smooth stone orb.
"Little Goku, is this the ball you lost?"
During the sweep of the battlefield, agents had detected an unusual energy signature coming from this specific stone. Suspecting it might be a piece of experimental tech, they had tagged and bagged it.
"Yes! That's it!"
In a blur of motion, Goku appeared in front of Natasha and snatched the ball. He hugged the stone to his chest, jumping up and down with the pure, unbridled joy of a child reunited with a lost pet.
'So fast!' Natasha stared at the spot where he had been standing just a second ago. She realized that if she had tried to detain him by force, she might not have been able to even touch him. She handed him the clothes, feeling glad she'd chosen the "kind auntie" approach.
"Put these on. We're heading out now."
"What about the Power Pole? Did you find that too?" Goku asked, tugging on the slightly ill-fitting clothes and stuffing the Four-Star Ball into a large pocket.
Natasha shook her head. "We didn't find a red staff near the battle site. It's possible your friends picked it up. We'll go to Piñon first. If it's not there, we can always come back and look again."
Goku thought about it and nodded. That made sense.
He followed Natasha to a black SUV, accompanied by a small escort of elite S.H.I.E.L.D. tactical agents. They began the two-hour drive toward Piñon.
...
As they neared the town, Natasha's phone buzzed. It was Director Nick Fury.
"Is the boy with you?"
"Yes," Natasha replied, glancing at Goku, who was currently pressed against the window, staring at the passing scenery with wide-eyed wonder.
"New orders. I need you to find out exactly where that boy came from."
Natasha's brow arched in confusion. "I thought he was an escapee from the Transigen lab?"
"John Garrett has already secured the facility," Fury explained. "His intelligence confirms that Dr. Rice was working on Wolverine clones and the Magneto cyborg. But there is absolutely no record of a boy named Son Goku, nor any research related to a giant primate."
"So he's a new mutant? Or maybe not a mutant at all?" Natasha lowered her voice.
"I suspect the boy and the Great Ape are one and the same. Do not provoke him. Question him carefully."
Fury was serious. The location where the military was wiped out was exactly where the Great Ape had appeared, and Goku had emerged from that same epicenter this morning. Furthermore, the Great Ape had a tail. The boy had a tail. The correlation was too high to ignore.
The fact that S.H.I.E.L.D.'s vast intelligence network had zero data on him—as if he'd simply dropped out of the sky—made him the most dangerous variable on the board.
Natasha hung up and looked at the boy. "Son... actually, I'll just call you Goku. That's the custom where you're from, right? Can you tell me a little more about yourself?"
She decided to be direct. With someone as straightforward and innocent as Goku, subtle manipulation was often a waste of time. He wouldn't even realize he was being tested.
"About me?" Goku pulled his head back inside the car, looking a bit puzzled.
Natasha guided him. "Like where your home is, who your family is, and why you left. Tell me about your adventures."
Goku's face lit up. "I was left all alone on Mount Paozu when I was a baby. My Grandpa Gohan found me and raised me. He taught me how to fight! After he passed away, I lived on the mountain by myself until I met Bulma. She convinced me to help her find the Dragon Balls... and after that, I trained with Master Roshi. Now I'm on a new journey to get stronger for the next World Martial Arts Tournament!"
He didn't mention the white void or the glowing doors; for some reason, those memories felt hazy, as if a quiet force in his mind was steering him away from them.
"Are you sure you aren't just telling me a story?"
Natasha stared at him. If she couldn't see the total lack of guile in his eyes, she would have thought he was making fun of her.
'Mount Paozu? West City? The World Martial Arts Tournament?' She'd never heard of any of these places or events. And then there was the most ridiculous part:
"If you collect all seven Dragon Balls, a giant dragon appears and grants you any wish?" She let out a small, skeptical breath. It sounded like a fairy tale used to amuse toddlers. She didn't believe a word of it.