The Collapse of Muscle Tower

Goku could feel the pressure of Commander Blue's power as it bared down on him from across the room; the large, angry soldier snarled from his place in front of the window, his knuckles popping with every flex of the man's fingers. Yet even with the weight of his opponent's fury stifling the very air around him the young boy felt no fear, only excitement, and his whole body shook with the prospect of the battle to come.

Commander Blue mistook this for his foe being terrified at the reveal of the man's true power, and a rush of sadistic joy quickly filled every vein in his body; he'd told that fool Gero that silly metallic dolls were no match for cross-species genetics! And now he'd prove it.

No one, not even the alien warrior, could follow the massive force that was Commander Blue as he barreled his way towards the wild-haired martial-arts champion, though Goku certainly felt when the hulking behemoth grabbed the crown of his head and swing around to launch him out the very same pane of glass he'd just been standing in front of.

There was a split second where Goku could hear Bulma cry out before a rush of cold wrapped itself around the boy and he found himself in mid air, a hundred floors off the snow-covered ground, right before the mountainous form of Lapis and Lazuli's father suddenly appeared above him.

There was a brief moment where Goku got a look at his enemies smug, self-satisfied grin before the power of science and greed came down on him in the very real force of Blue's fist. Blood and spit came flying from the alien's lips, yet half way to the unforgiving earth sharp onyx eyes narrowed and Goku righted himself before working his staff free and using the pole's special power to slow the fall.

Commander Blue came crashing down a moment later, crouching on all fours and eyes gleaming with hunger, but it seemed the shock didn't effect him as near instantly Goku found himself throwing his arms up to block a jarring fist meant to surely take his head off. His feet came up off the snow, and even with onyx eyes shut tight the alien youth could tell he was flying through the air again.

This time though, when the super soldier came at him from behind, Goku managed to twist himself in time to avoid the back-breaking kick that was meant for the boy, and rebound off the treeline surrounding their makeshift arena.

"Guwah!"

Wide, feral eyes bulged in their sockets as Blue experienced a sensation he'd never known while in his enhanced state; pain. It was so foreign, and yet so familiar, that there was no mistaking what the soldier felt as his pint-sized opponent took a shot at his open ribs. The commander had twisted to try and smash this 'Goku', as he'd heard that woman call him, into a bloody pulp yet the whelp managed to duck and bring his own fist into Blue's flank.

Goku would have tried for a knee to the large man's chest next, but was forced to block again lest he be hammered by the commander's furious retaliation. His feet hardly touched the ground though before the young champion shot back and out of the super soldier's range. Shaking his arms to get some feeling back, Goku took quiet notice of the feeling welling up within him and had to fight down a miffed look.

It was the same as when he fought that man, Nam, as well as Krillin.

The power this change granted him was great, surely pushing him beyond even Roshi with a clear gap now, but at the cost of the boy's reasoning. Goku had tried to control it, back at Kame house before the tournament, but the change was just to...savage. It irked the alien warrior, and the boy's tail wound that much tighter around his waist as he thought about it, but all those feelings were soon shoved aside at the feel of someone's boot connecting with Goku's chin.

"Daydreaming in front of me," Blue snarled, "I'll make you regret thinking the leader of the Red-Ribbon Army could be defeated by a single punch brat!"

Up in the air, Earth's martial-arts champion cursed himself for losing focus in a fight, and felt the anger inside rise as the commander leaped to meet him and take advantage of Goku's stunned condition to bring his intertwined fists down atop the alien's head. A sense of deja vu found its way through the monkey-tailed youth before he took back control of his body.

Rolling into a series of spins, Goku touched down on the snow-covered ground safely and tensed to meet the diving force that was Commander Blue. Jumping back to clear the shock wave that came from his foe's giant fist smashing into the earth, years of training took over and the wild-haired fighter rushed in to challenge the animal of a man to a test of close-combat.

At first, Blue thought this meant his enemy was suicidal, but it quickly became clear that the his own extensive practice of the military style of fighting did not translate well to his increased size. With the spliced genetics cocktail coursing through his veins, he'd been granted the speed of a cheetah enhanced beyond that of any bullet, as well as strength beyond any animal known to man, and while normal men would have crumbled by now this boy seemed more than capable of keeping up no matter how hard Blue pushed himself!

This was unacceptable!

"How," the increasingly angry super soldier growled as he missed another swipe at the wild-haired boy, "how can you be keeping up with me; it shouldn't be possible! You're a child, a brat, this shouldn't have lasted longer than that first punch regardless of how man of my men you defeated; you're still just a human boy!"

Goku slid around the claws meant to render flesh from his bones, a taunting grin tugging its way across his boyish face, and thrust an open palm into Blue's stomach to sending him sliding back before pulling the Power Pole from where he'd re-sheathed it across his back. "That's what you think, fool!"

By now Bulma and the twins had managed to find their way back to the bottom floor of Muscle Tower and were rushing out in time to watch the newly armed alien warrior leap forward and begin to bat at Commander Blue with his extended staff. The three teens gaped at the skill with which the martial-arts champion wielded such a simple tool, but it was Lapis who shook off his amazement first before a scowl fixed its way onto his face.

Bulma barely managed to catch the sight of him raising his gun before her hand shot out to shove the barrel back towards the ground. "What the hell do you think you're doing!?"

"I refuse to let that kid take what's mine," Lapis barked. "That fiend will die by my hand, no one else gets to kill him, I don't care who they are! Your friend may be here to fight that monster, but I'll be the one to end him; and no one is gonna get the way of that, now let go!"

"You idiot, what if you hit Goku!?"

"As long as I can kill my father, the whole world can burn for all I care!" The dark-haired boy's azure eyes glistened with unshed tears now, and his shoulders shook as he tore the gun free from Bulma's soft hands. "H-He took the person my sister and I loved most from this world, and for that I'll never forgive him!"

"And you don't have to," Bulma countered still with a bit of heat in her voice, "but with how focused Goku is right now I don't know how a stray shot from you would effect him. Normally, something like this wouldn't even make the kid flinch, but I just don't wanna risk it. Let Goku beat him first, and then do whatever it is you think you need to."

It was clear t see that Lapis wasn't fully content with that idea, but his sister put a hand on the boy's shoulder and they locked eyes for a moment before she spoke.

"You don't have to do this alone brother; there are people here that can help. I want revenge for mom just as much as you do, you know that, but neither of us is strong enough to bring that freak down. We already tried, and failed, we need Kakarot or else Jingle village wont survive; so please, wait just a little longer."

Lapis tried to fight it, to refuse her, but the teen knew that there wasn't anything he wouldn't do for his sister when she looked at him with those eyes and it wasn't long before the boy scoffed before turning his back on her. Fighting the impulse to cross his arms, the dark-haired thug grumbled out a 'fine' before letting his eyes trail back over to the fight a few yards away.

The grin on Goku's face was shifting as he slowly began to lose himself to the rush of battle again. He tried to fight it, to keep control, but there was just too much energy pumping its way through the boy's muscled body to properly push back the primal power beginning to take hold of him. The young alien noticed the way both canines nipped the flesh of his lower lip, tasted the metallic tang of blood, but this only seemed to excite Goku more as his speed increased with the ferocity of the boy's assault.

Commander Blue barely managed to jump away from his foe's attempt to sweep the man's legs, but sputtered as that damn staff grew again to smash into his sternum. Stumbling back, blood dripping from the soldier's lips, the genetically enhanced fighter made a hasty dodge as a swing was taken at his head before Blue chanced a quick jab in an effort to catch Goku off-guard.

….only to gape as the boy suddenly vanished!

"Wha—Raawr!"

The next thing he knew, the commander of Muscle Tower found himself on his knees as the full force of the Power Pole came smashing into the backs of the man's knees. Howling from the bone-breaking impact, even the man's scientifically modified body couldn't stand up to the sheer might of alien strength. Fighting to keep himself up, a mask of pure rage came over Blue's face as Goku reappeared in front of him.

"Tell me," the boy scoffed, "is this that 'true might' you were going on about? Because if it is, you've done nothing but waste my time; it caught me off-guard at first, but once I learned your limits it quickly became clear that you're no match for me."

Further enraged by his enemies dismissal, Commander Blue tried to take a swipe at the wild-haired boy as he snarled, entirely ignoring the incoming trio behind him. "Filthy peasant, don't you know who I am!? How dare you speak to me in such a disrespectful manner; I am the head of the whole Red-Ribbon Army! The man who will take the entire world into his hands and reshape it in my image, while you, you are-"

"The one who defeated you." Goku's sharp, hungry gaze bore into the eyes of his foe as if the man were only two feet tall, even though Blue still towered over him on his knees. "You speak of this grand army, yet they all lay dead and dying all around us at the hands of yours truly. You say that you're going to conquer this world, reshape it, but now find yourself on your knees before me; a 'human boy'."

"Nyaagh!" Blue had grown tried of his foe's taunts and tried to lunge at the boy, only to find himself with a mouthful of snow as Goku side-stepped him. Spitting the slush from between his razor-sharp teeth, the man's body began to steam and he realized that his body was beginning to revert back to normal.

By the time it was over, and their father lay among the frozen white mush, Lapis and Lazuli had made it over to the two warriors and were glaring at the defeated tyrant.

"How does it feel, father," Lapis spat the word as though it were poison on his tongue, "to be bested, defeated. To have your entire empire be torn down around you, your life's work destroyed...all by the hands of a mere boy?"

Goku, still under the influence of his primal power, wrinkled his nose at someone else referring to him in such a way, but was denied the opportunity to say anything because Commander Blue hauled himself up onto his arms and screamed at his son with a fury no normal man should be capable of.

"Stupid boy; do you truly think me defeated so easily!? You may have stopped me here, but I can always rebuild, grow, get stronger! The might of my army is absolute, there is no force on Earth that can truly match it, not even this damn brat! You'll see, you will all see!"

"...no, we wont."

Cold, bloodshot eyes crossed as their owner now stared down the barrel of a very real gun. A weapon designed with the sole purpose of taking another person's life, of killing, and it was held by the man's own son.

Lapis stood there, staring into the beaten and battered face of the man who'd helped to bring him into the world, and found it hilariously ironic that now he would be taking the blonde out of it. All was silent, with even the birds having scattered during the climactic battle, and the only sound Lapis could hear was the thundering of his own heart as it beat erratically in his ear.

"Well," Blue taunted after this stretched on for what felt like hours, "aren't you going to do it? You were so ready back in the tower, boy, but now you stand there like a fool with his mouth hanging open waiting for the flies! Come on, take your revenge, shoot me! Or has all of this just been your special way of throwing a tantrum; either pull the trigger or get that damn thing out of my face!"

The boy's hand trembled as his finger tensed against the trigger; despite his righteous fury, the simple villager had never actually taken another person's life before. Those shots back in the tower were done in the heat of the moment, when Lapis didn't have time to think, but now...

"...I can't. I-I want to, I want more than almost anything to see you dead for everything you've done, but I just...can't do it; my finger wont move. I-I don't understand, why can't I do it!?"

Lapis threw down the gun at the same time Muscle Tower literally exploded, sending brick and debris flying across the snowy landscape, before a large shadow began to step out from the cloud of smoke left behind. All eyes snapped to the sight of destruction, and were blown away by the sight that greeted them.

A giant, metal monster came into view the likes of which not even Bulma had seen outside of video game designs. It was colored a deep, ruddy crimson and shaped almost like a scorpion with a series of spikes trailing the sides of the thing's back. Pincer-like hands and two-toed feet came from the ends of this mechanical beast's extremities, while a spearheaded tail swished from behind; and there, in the cockpit, was a grinning Dr. Gero!

"You can't do it," he hissed through the robot's speaker, "because you are weak boy! Just like I've been trying to tell your idiot father; humans are the past, there day is done! Robots, AI, androids are all the true future of humanity; a world where we've transplanted our consciousness into superior, mechanical bodies! A world without weakness...a world none of you will get to see! As of today, Dr. Gero is the leader of the Red-Ribbon, and my first act is to rid this land of each and every one of you pests!"

Goku barely had time to wrap his arms around Bulma and Lazuli's waists and jump away before Gero's battle suit fired a bright, red beam from the jewel in its chest area. Lapis escaped by tossing himself into the snow as far as he could, but Commander Blue wasn't as lucky and was immediately vaporized by the attack along with all the grass and snow within a foot of where he'd been kneeling.

"Nimbus!"

The fluffy, yellow cloud came out of the sky like a comet and raced to meet its owner as he and the girls landed safely on the ground. Ushering Bulma and Lazuli onto the helpful ball of magic, Goku ordered the Nimbus to keep them safe before turning his attention back onto Gero and the mad scientists war machine.

"No, Goku!" Bulma tried to call to him as her ride climbed higher into the air, the girl's hand outstretched in a desperate attempt to bring the boy along. "Please, don't fight that thing alone, you don't know what it's capable of!"

"But if I don't," he countered over his shoulder, "neither will I."

And with that there were no more words as Bulma and Lapis' sister were hauled out of harms way; the Nimbus beginning to circle around for the boy himself as he'd ran towards the woods.

"So, you've chosen death then have you?" Dr. Gero's twisted grin could be seen underneath his mustache even from yards away, his hands gripping the controls of the mechanical monster tightly in the man's sadistic excitement. "I watched your battle with that arrogant fool, Blue, and I'm sorry to say that my Scorpion far exceeds the power and speed of his pathetic little transformation; no creature on this earth can hope to stand before me!"

Kakarot's lips stretched into a cocky smirk, a touch of his inner animal tinting the facade as that power from before began to bubble its way to the surface again. It seemed that the world was full of fools each more idiotic than the last, to think that they were a match for him!

"Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not from your world then, human, now prepare yourself and try to at least last longer than your friend because here I come!"

Proud and strong, eager to put his foe in their place, Kakarot's wild eyes narrowed as a snarl rippled across his face when the giant creature that had just been in front of him suddenly disappeared. It was only the warrior's superior hearing that let him know there was danger from behind, and so the monkey-tailed youth quickly rolled out of harms way before springing up by his palm and flipping a few more feet to distance himself.

Yet before Kakarot could truly land safely he was being slammed by the very same laser that had erased the weakling who'd challenged him a moment ago. It didn't kill him of course, but the blast certainly did a number on his muscles as it tore away the clothes that covered the boy's torso. Bare chested and burned, Kakarot's canines glinted as he smirked at the feeling of true pain; such a new sensation, it was exhilarating.

More. He needed more!

Dodging the flying projectiles that came from the strange creature, Kakarot danced across the snow-covered ground grinning maliciously at the thing that opposed him. Their game of cat-and-mouse went on for another minute or so before the alien warrior decided it was time to get up-close and personal again.

"Yes; now this is more like it! Come, little insect, show me what you've got!" Laughing wildly in delight, Kakarot once again launched himself straight at the strange creature that stood in his way, though this time when the monster vanished he was ready and caught the claw meant to tear him in half. Muscles bulging and veins pulsing, the alien warrior was forced to let go and duck so that he could stop the tail intended to spear the boy's heart.

"Speedy little pest," Dr. Gero scoffed. "You talk a big game, but let's see how you handle this!"

Before he could think to let go, Kakarot found himself being pulled along by the monster's tail and between its legs before the creature hauled him up into the air and began to swing in wild, wide arcs. Then, onyx eyes turned to slits when their owner was brought around and slammed into the earth below. Fingernails grew into claws at this, and the alien's tail unwound from his waist as it bristled with rage.

Who did this peonthink it was dealing with!?

Gero brought his war machine's tail up slowly, the boy still attached, and the grown man's already ugly mug wrinkled further as he scowled. "Interesting to see you've managed to hold out for so long, boy, but I assure you that whatever sort of power you think you have will not stop the might of my Scorpion. I thank you for the chance to test its capabilities, but this game is quickly growing old, and I wish to return to my work; so I'm afraid this is the end for you."

With that, the scientist began to flips a number of switches, intent to stockpile power into the laser mounted at the chest of his war machine.

Meanwhile Kakarot watched as the center of this 'Scorpion' began to glow a brilliant red, and there was a niggling in the back of his mind that let the warrior know that being hit by whatever came next could be dangerous. He had to avoid it.

It was a single instance, and if he'd gotten it wrong the boy might very well have died, but Gero's beam missed Kakarot by mere centimeters; his bare back scorching under the intensity of its heat. And while the middle-aged mad scientist crowed angrily at the loss of assured victory, his young foe landed on his feet with a huff and made a tactical retreat to give himself time to charge up his counter-attack.

He'd show this weakling what real firepower was, and then he would end their little scuffle, before the fool thought themselves his equal.

No, Kakarot couldn't have that now.

"Wretched little cretin; stand still so that I can destroy you! These foolish games are grating on my last nerve, it's beneath a man of my intellect to be toying with someone so insignificant, why don't you just accept your fate and die already!?"

The smile that stretched across the alien warrior's face would have put even the most terrifying wolf to shame.

"Funny you should say that, fool, because I feel the exact same way; our little game has quickly begun to bore me. You've boasted superior strength, but have yet to make me even break a sweat, and for this there can only be one punishment for your lies...a swift death."

What came next was an instinct, something Kakarot couldn't explain, as his energy began to build up in the depths of the boy's throat. It birthed in the core of his chest, warm and tingling, before swiftly traveling up towards the boy's closed mouth before Kakarot's cheeks began to balloon with power. No, Kakarot didn't know how he did it, only that he could...and that it would easily put an end to the pathetic creature that dared to challenge him.

But Gero wasn't keen to simply stand there and wait. The man's fury had boiled over at his much younger foe's disrespect and he began to toggle every switch as well as press every button available to reroute as much power as possible into the central body of the war machine; he would not be defeated!

Yet even with all his genius, Dr. Gero had never expected for a violet beam of energy to come shooting out of Kakarot's mouth at the same time the war machine began to charge at the boy. The two forces collided, and the scientists mechanical monster held fast to the ground with its two-toed feet despite being trucked by such a powerful force, but such a victory did not last long.

"No," Gero screamed as he noticed his prized invention beginning to be pushed back, "t-this can't be happening! You...you little monster, what are you!? How can you be so strong; it shouldn't be possible! I checked, researched, spent my whole life to create the Scorpion; the only one capable of stopping me was sealed away forever! T-This shouldn't be possible, the world was supposed to be mine!"

And as the beam started to crack the glass, the pressure beginning to crush his machine's circuits, the last thing Dr. Gero thought of before death took him was of how no one would be there to comfort his son after he was gone.

"NAAAOOOOOO!"

The destruction of the Scorpion took seconds after it finally gave under the immense power of Kakarot's mouth-beam and sensing that the danger had passed Nimbus began to return to its master, though by this time the drain on his power and the exhaustion of being 'awake' for so long finally took its toll and Kakarot fell into snow unconscious.

Bulma hadn't been able to see or hear any of what had gone on with her human eyes, so when she found her friend passed out in the snow she began to worry.

This is the worst she'd ever seen him; back dribbling blood as the burned skin still radiated a terrible heat. Small bruises and scratch marks littered every other inch of the boy's body, while a cold sweat had broken out over the martial-arts champions forehead; and while she was no doctor, Bulma knew that muscles weren't supposed to twitch the way his were.

"Oh Goku, what happened to you?"

xXx

Mercenary Tao was not happy; it had been weeks since he'd finished Commander Blue's latest assignment and the man still had yet to pay him! Knowing that his employer kept busy, the professional assassin made sure to give a grace period on all transactions, but this was getting ridiculous!

How was a man supposed to keep his life of luxury secure, if people weren't paying for it!?

Grumbling as he hung up from the call with his accountant, Tao moved back into the sitting room of his older brother's home and plopped down at the table in a huff; they'd been playing shogi before the phone rang, and he'd been losing. Just what else would go wrong today!?

"This is why I told you to steer away from that fool, little brother; a man like Blue cannot be trusted." Shen, master of the Crane-style, leaned forward and moved his tile as if their game hadn't just been interrupted. "Besides, it's better this way, now you can help me train young Tien for the tournament coming up; it's been far too long since a member of our flock held the title you know."

Tao did know, but he wasn't as interested in 'glory' like Shen had always seemed to be, especially not when there was no money to be made from such things. What the three-eyed boy could make as champion Tao easily crushed after a single assassination mission, so why waste the time?

It wasn't until later, after dinner had been eaten and the man lay in his bed, that the middle-aged killer decided that there was only one thing that would satisfy him; he would go to Muscle Tower first thing in the morning and either collect his earnings or kill every last member of the Red-Ribbon Army!

No one got between him and his money!

xXx

On the other side of the world, resting under the sheets of a hospital bed with a bullet wound in his chest, the strongest member of the very force Tao was growing to wrongfully despise lay unconscious after his latest skirmish. Code name, Gold, the red-headed mountain of a man was deep in a medically induced sleep; though his subconscious listened as a pair of voices spoke in hushed tones outside the room.

"You're sure these reports are accurate; his father is really dead?"

"Unfortunately. This word comes straight from our spies in Jingle Village, Dr. Gero was killed along with the rest of Aphla base, there were no survivors."

"B-But how can that be, we would have known about any army strong enough to-"

"That's just it sir; it wasn't an army. Reports say...w-well they say that a single boy did it."

Neither man wanted to believe it, but they'd seen what sort of power a single human could wield by looking at the merciless Tao and even their own Commander; but for such a force to exist in a mere child?

"The boy, what was his name?"

And as the unassuming foot-soldier of the now shattered Red-Ribbon Army spoke, the child's name would carry through the air and imprint itself on the mind of a man who would come to swear revenge upon it, and work to take everything they loved...just as this 'Kakarot' had done.

xXx