Tavor launched towards Colossus while performing a spinning kick aimed at the massive mutant's neck, but seeing Colossus already preparing to counter, he thrust his tail against the ground to alter his course.
The spinning kick changed into a front-flip that put Tavor directly behind Colossus, who was still in the midst of a counter to the previous move.
"TAKE THIS!" Tavor's eyes once more glowed blue, and with a blinding burst, he unleashed a beam of energy that struck Colossus in his back, knocking the massive metal man off-balance.
The giant's enormous frame lurched forward, one organic steel foot grinding across the stone as he fought to steady himself.
"HAAAA!"
With a shout, Tavor surged forward with a burst of speed and power, pressing forward to pummel Colossus
His fists became a blur.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
One punch hammered Colossus' ribs, another struck beneath his jaw, and a third slammed into the side of his knee.
Before Tavor could launch a fourth blow, however, Colossus's arm swung around, and with his heavy organic metal hands he grasped Tavor by his head and, with a roar that seemed to shake the ground of the arena, he slammed Tavor into the stone below.
BOOOM!
Colossus grinned as he pressed down on Tavor, his body sinking deeper into the stone, sending spiderweb cracks spreading from the human-shaped crater.
"You have a lot to learn little one. Here, lesson one!" Colossus picked Tavor out of the crater and proceeded to slam him on the opposite side.
BOOOOM!
The impact sent out a wave of dust that completely smothered both Tavor and Colossus, but the sounds continued.
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
BOOOOM!
Colossus lifted Tavor from the latest crater with a single hand and proceeded to run towards the wall at the edge of the arena, his footsteps resounding with a sound like rolling thunder.
Tavor struggled valiantly to free himself from Colossus's grasp, but the mutant's grip was akin to a vice, leaving Tavor no chance to avoid what was coming next.
BOOOOOOOM!
Tavor coughed up a mouthful of blood and spit as he crashed through the wall, helplessly watching the stone crumble and bury him beneath the rubble.
Darkness crept into the edges of Tavor's vision.
The world became muffled, distant.
His body refused to answer him; every breath burned, every bone ached.
The crushing weight of shattered stone pinned his small frame beneath the collapsed arena wall, and for the first time since entering the Hyperbolic Mind Space...
He felt himself slipping.
His eyelids grew heavy, and the pain slowly faded away.
Replaced by...
Warmth.
A familiar warmth.
"...Tavor."
A gentle voice.
Soft, and kind.
"...My little warrior."
His eyes slowly opened.
He wasn't beneath the rubble anymore.
He stood inside a modest Saiyan home carved into the cliffs of Planet Vegeta.
The scent of cooked meat filled the air.
His tiny fingers instinctively clutched at the rough fabric around his mother's waist.
She smiled down at him.
The same smile he'd only ever remembered in fragments.
"You've gotten so big."
"...Mom?"
His voice barely escaped his throat.
She reached down, brushing a hand through his wild black hair.
"So stubborn..."
"So much like your father."
A heavy laugh echoed through the room.
"There you are!"
Tavor spun around.
His father ducked beneath the doorway, broad shoulders filling the entrance as he stepped inside.
The large Saiyan grinned.
"There he is."
"My son."
Without warning, he scooped Tavor onto his shoulders.
"Hahaha!"
"You'll have to grow another foot before you can beat me."
Young Tavor puffed out his cheeks.
"I'll beat you anyway!"
"Oh?"
His father laughed louder.
"Those are fighting words."
The room blurred, and the warmth disappeared.
The laughter became screams.
Sirens wailed across the planet.
WARNING.
WARNING.
WARNING.
Outside...
The sky had changed; gone was the familiar crimson glow above Planet Vegeta.
Instead...
Thousands...
No.
Tens of thousands of ships.
An endless armada stretched across the heavens.
The massive fleet blotted out the stars themselves as they hung in orbit like predators circling wounded prey.
Cannons glowed.
Engines burned.
The sky had become steel, causing Tavor's tiny heart to pound furiously.
"What..."
"What is that?"
His father stood at the doorway.
His jaw tightened.
His fists slowly clenched.
His mother was already packing supplies with trembling hands.
She never answered him.
Instead...
She knelt before him, both hands resting on his shoulders.
"Tavor."
Her voice shook.
"You have to be brave."
His stomach twisted.
"...Why?"
His father turned away from the window.
For the first time...
Tavor saw fear.
Not for himself, but for his son.
He crossed the room in three long strides before kneeling beside them, placing one massive hand atop Tavor's head.
"Listen carefully."
"No matter what happens..."
"You survive."
Tavor frowned.
"I don't understand."
His mother pulled him into a desperate embrace, so tight it almost hurt.
He could feel her shaking.
"No..."
He whispered.
"No..."
The world returned to normal, and Tavor let out a cry that seemingly shook the Hyperbolic Mind Space.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Tavor emerged explosively from the debris, his hair standing on end in jagged spikes, his tail thrashing with the ferocity of a striking whip.
His eyes no longer bore pupils, replaced instead by an unbroken expanse of blinding white, an embodiment of unrestrained rage and unyielding fury.
He surged forward toward Colossus, delivering a precise uppercut to the metal mutant's square jaw.
BANG!
The sheer force and velocity of the strike momentarily lifted Colossus from the ground, his head snapping back as it was driven upward into the vast, empty expanse of the arena sky.
The stunned expression on Colossus' metallic face lasted only a fraction of a second, and it was all Tavor needed.
BOOM!
The arena floor exploded beneath the young Saiyan as he vanished once more.
Colossus had only just begun to descend from the uppercut when Tavor reappeared above him.
BANG!
A fist buried itself into the giant's cheek, twisting his enormous head sideways, and before Colossus could even begin to recover...
FWIP!
Tavor disappeared again.
BANG!
A crushing hook slammed into the opposite side of his jaw; the impact sent Colossus drifting several feet through the air.
Still, he couldn't regain his footing.
FWIP!
Tavor appeared beneath him.
"HAAAAAA!"
BOOOOM!
A savage uppercut blasted into Colossus' stomach, folding the metal giant around the strike before launching him even higher; the instant the blow connected, Tavor vanished.
FWIP!
He appeared behind Colossus.
CRAAAACK!
A spinning heel kick smashed into the center of the giant's back; the attack driving him forward before gravity could even begin pulling him downward.
FWIP!
Another flash, another strike.
BANG!
His elbow crashed into Colossus' ribs.
FWIP!
WHAM!
A knee buried itself beneath the mutant's chin.
FWIP!
CRACK!
Another punch.
FWIP!
THOOM!
Another kick.
FWIP!
BANG!
FWIP!
WHAM!
FWIP!
CRACK!
Residual images of the enraged Saiyan filled the arena; to an outside observer, it appeared as though dozens of Tavor's were attacking simultaneously.
Each strike arrived before the last one had fully finished; each impact shoved Colossus in a different direction.
Left.
Right.
Up.
Forward.
Backward.
The giant mutant never once touched the ground.
Every time gravity threatened to reclaim him, another blow intercepted him.
Another fist.
Another knee.
Another elbow.
Another kick.
His massive body became little more than a steel projectile being battered around the arena by an invisible storm.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!
The constant explosions merged into one deafening roar.
Tavor's face had become a mask of primal fury; his featureless white eyes radiated blinding light.
Each punch carried months of frustration.
Each kick carried years of helplessness.
Every memory.
Every ounce of fear.
Every bit of grief.
It all poured into his fists.
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"
His voice echoed throughout the shattered arena, and at last Colossus' enormous body began to fall.
For the briefest instant...
The metallic giant's boots pointed toward the arena floor.
Tavor's blazing white eyes followed him downward.
He disappeared.
FWIP!
He reappeared directly above the descending mutant, both hands clasped together.
One leg raised high overhead.
Every muscle throughout his compact frame tensed.
The atmosphere itself seemed to grow heavier.
Then...
"HAAAAAAAAAA!"
His heel descended like the blade of a guillotine.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!
The axe kick connected squarely with the crown of Colossus' head, and for the first time since the battle began...
The unstoppable giant was driven downward; his body plummeted like a meteor.
KRAAAAAAAAAAAASH!!
Colossus crashed into the arena with catastrophic force.
The stone floor caved inward beneath him.
A massive crater erupted outward as shockwaves rippled across the battlefield.
CRRRRRRRRACK!
Great fissures raced through the arena in every direction, splitting the polished stone apart like fragile glass.
Entire sections of the spectator stands fractured and collapsed beneath the violence of the impact.
When the dust finally began to settle...
Colossus remained there, one knee pressed into the shattered stone.
The other foot planted firmly beneath him.
His head bowed.
One massive hand braced against the crater floor.
The enormous mutant had been forced to kneel.
The cracked arena trembled beneath the weight of his body.
High above him, Tavor landed lightly on the broken stone, his chest heaving violently.
White light still burned where his pupils should have been.
His fists trembled, not from fear, not from exhaustion.
But from the overwhelming rage still coursing through every fiber of his being.
Colossus remained motionless, one knee pressed into the shattered arena floor; his massive frame was bowed beneath the force of Tavor's devastating axe kick.
Dust drifted lazily through the fractured stadium.
Tavor's breathing came in harsh, uneven gasps.
His white eyes blazed with an almost unbearable intensity.
"...Get..."
He staggered forward.
"...Up..."
His voice was barely recognizable, rough and strained beneath the weight of his fury.
"GET UP!"
His feet exploded from the stone.
BOOM!
The little Saiyan rocketed downward, drawing back one trembling fist.
Every muscle screamed, every vein bulged, an indescribable blue-white aura began surrounding his body and flaring violently.
"This..."
His fist crackled with concentrated power.
"...ENDS..."
Then, Colossus moved.
Not quickly, not explosively.
Simply...
He stood.
CRRRRRRK...
The enormous mutant rose from the crater one deliberate motion at a time.
Stone that had collapsed around him slid from his broad shoulders, and chunks of fractured arena tumbled from his metallic body.
His posture straightened, his head lifted, and his icy blue eyes met Tavor's blinding white gaze.
There was no anger.
No frustration.
Only quiet resolve.
Tavor's fist shot toward Colossus' face.
"AAAAAAAAAAAH!"
WHOOOM!
Colossus' massive arm rose.
His enormous metal hand opened.
CLANG!
The fist disappeared inside his palm.
Silence.
The shockwave from the halted punch rippled outward, blowing dust away in every direction; the arena became utterly still.
Tavor strained.
Every muscle in his arm trembled violently.
His shoulder shook.
Veins stood out across his neck.
Yet...
His fist refused to move another inch.
Colossus' fingers slowly curled around the tiny hand.
Not crushing, not hurting.
Simply holding it.
The giant looked down at the exhausted child; a small smile appeared beneath his metallic features.
One filled with approval rather than triumph.
He tightened his grip ever so slightly.
"You simply refused to stay down."
Tavor stared upward.
The brilliant white consuming his eyes flickered; his breathing slowed.
"...I..."
The blazing light dimmed.
Color slowly returned to his irises.
The overwhelming rage evaporated like mist beneath the morning sun.
Every ounce of adrenaline vanished at once, causing his legs to wobble.
"...I'm..."
His eyelids drooped.
"...so..."
The exhaustion finally caught him.
"...tired..."
His body went limp, and Colossus caught him before he could fall.
The giant gently lifted the unconscious Saiyan into one massive arm as though he weighed nothing at all.
For several quiet moments...
He simply looked at the sleeping child.
The proud smile on his face widened.
"You will become a great warrior."
Around them...
The Hyperbolic Mind Space began to unravel.
Tiny cracks of multicolored light spread through the broken arena, the fractured stone dissolved into shimmering motes.
The collapsed walls disappeared.
The craters faded.
The stadium itself melted back into the endless white void.
Soon...
Only Colossus remained amidst the all-encompassing emptiness.
He looked toward the sleeping boy one final time, then his own body began to break apart.
Tiny fragments of ruby...
Sapphire, and emerald...
Amber, and silver...
Floated gently away from his metallic form, his smile never fading.
"Until next time..."
His voice became little more than a whisper.
"...little Saiyan."
The last of his body dissolved into countless motes of light.
Then, everything vanished.
Tavor's eyes snapped open.
"HAAAH!"
He bolted upright in bed, breathing heavily.
Moonlight spilled through the bedroom window; his blankets had been kicked halfway onto the floor.
Sweat soaked his shirt.
His heart pounded against his ribs.
"...A dream?"
He looked around the quiet room.
Everything was exactly as he'd left it.
The dresser, the closet, and the lamp.
Nothing had changed.
"...No..."
His body still remembered every punch, every slam, every ounce of pain.
Turning his head, his eyes landed on the alarm clock resting atop the bedside table.
2:37 A.M.
He blinked.
"...What?"
He leaned closer.
"...Only..."
His eyes widened.
"...An hour and a half?!"
His mouth slowly fell open.
"There's no way..."
It had felt like days.
Entire battles.
Training.
Reflection, and growth.
Yet outside...
Barely ninety minutes had passed.
A slow grin tugged at the corner of his mouth despite his exhaustion.
"So it's true..."
The Hyperbolic Mind Space really did alter time.
His head suddenly dipped.
"...Mmm..."
A yawn escaped him.
The adrenaline had completely disappeared, replaced by overwhelming fatigue, his body flopped backward onto the pillow.
"...Tomorrow..."
He mumbled sleepily.
"...I'll..."
Before he could finish the sentence, sleep claimed him once more.
This time...
There were no endless white halls.
No towering gates, no arenas, no battles, only peaceful darkness.