Age 753 (Three Years Later)
Muscle Tower had changed. It was no longer just a military outpost; it was a gothic spire of ice and iron. I had spent the last three years reinforcing the structure with Netherrealm geometry. Spikes of black ice jutted from the walls, and the windows glowed with a permanent, toxic green light.
I sat in the penthouse, which I had converted into a throne room. My appearance had stabilized, though it remained horrifying. The fused mask, the exposed ribcage glowing with green chaos magic, the skin like charred parchment—I was a creature of nightmares.
"Tea," Suno said, placing a delicate porcelain cup on the armrest of my throne.
Suno was thirteen now. She had grown used to the monster living in her backyard. In fact, she treated the tower like a second home, coming up to escape her chores or to simply talk at me while I meditated.
"It is jasmine," I rasped, steam rising from my jagged mouth-grille. "Acceptable."
"You know," Suno said, leaning against the window. "The villagers say the wolves have completely left the mountain. Even the bears are gone."
"Predators do not hunt in the domain of an Apex," I said. "I ate their fear. They left."
Knock. Knock. Knock.
The sound didn't come from the door. It came from the ceiling.
I looked up.
"Hey! Mr. Saibot! Open up!"
I sighed, a sound like a dying generator. "He is back."
I waved my hand. The ceiling hatch unscrewed itself and floated away.
Son Goku dropped into the room.
He looked different. He was taller, his muscles more defined. He wore the orange Turtle School gi, but it was worn, stained with the dirt of a hundred different lands. He carried a weighted shell on his back that looked heavy enough to crush a car.
"Goku!" Suno cheered.
"Hi Suno! Hi Mr. Saibot!" Goku grinned, dusting off his hands. "Long time no see!"
"Three years," I said, leaning forward. My green eyes scanned him. "Your Power Level... it has grown. Substantially."
Goku laughed, patting his stomach. "Yeah! I've been running all over the world! I climbed Korin Tower properly this time, drank the water, fought Tao Pai Pai, beat up the rest of the Red Ribbon Army, and fought a Mummy and a Devil-Man at Baba's palace!"
"Devil-Man," I mused. "Spike the Devil Man. His Devilmite Beam uses negative energy to explode the heart."
"Yeah, that guy! It didn't work on me though," Goku scratched his head. "He said I had no evil thoughts."
"Disgusting," I muttered.
"Anyway," Goku dropped into a combat stance, the weighted shell making a loud thud as he shifted his weight. "The World Martial Arts Tournament is in two weeks. Master Roshi told me to go out and train on my own. But... I can't find anyone strong enough to push me anymore."
He looked at me, his eyes burning with the thrill of the fight.
"Except you."
I stood up. My cloak of shadows billowed around me.
"You want a spar," I stated.
"I want to win the tournament," Goku corrected. "Last time, I lost to Jackie Chun because my legs were too short. This time, I wanna be ready for anything. And you... you use magic. You use tricks. That's what I need to practice against."
I walked down the steps of the dais.
"Very well," I said. "But the frozen lake is too simple. If you want to prepare for the world, you must step out of it."
I raised my hand. I didn't summon a weapon. I slashed the air with my claws, tearing a rift in reality.
It wasn't a teleport portal. It was a gateway.
Inside, there was only swirling grey fog and silence.
"Welcome to the Shadow Realm," I said. "My personal pocket dimension. Gravity is amplified. Air is thin. And there is no light unless I allow it."
Goku peered inside. "Whoa. Creepy."
"Are you afraid?"
"Nope!" Goku hopped inside without hesitation.
I looked at Suno. "Stay here. Do not touch the Chaos Emeralds."
"They're not emeralds, they're batteries," she corrected. "Have fun!"
I stepped into the void.
The Void
The portal closed behind us. We stood on a floating island of rock in an endless grey ocean. The sky was a bruised purple.
Goku immediately sank to one knee. "Ugh... heavy..."
"Gravity is five times that of Earth here," I explained. "Similar to King Kai's planet, though you wouldn't know that yet."
Goku forced himself up, gritting his teeth. "Okay... good workout..."
"In this realm," I said, my voice echoing from everywhere at once. "I am omnipresent."
I vanished.
Goku looked around. "I can't sense your Ki! It's all... fuzzy here!"
"Correct. The background radiation of the Netherrealm masks my signature. You must rely on your other senses. Air displacement. Intent. Killing stroke."
SWISH.
I appeared directly behind him, swinging a Sickle made of green fire.
Goku ducked instinctively. The blade took a few strands of his hair.
"Whoa!" Goku backflipped, landing on his hands. "You're using the green stuff now?"
"Chaos Magic," I said, floating above him. "It burns deeper than fire."
I unleashed a barrage.
Skull of Chaos.
I threw three green flaming skulls. They screamed as they flew, zig-zagging through the air.
Goku dodged the first, slapped the second away (burning his hand in the process), and fired a Ki blast at the third.
BOOM.
Smoke filled the platform.
"Jan Ken... PAPER!"
Goku burst through the smoke, palm extended.
I didn't teleport. I used Bi-Han's defense.
Ice Clone.
I flashed backward, leaving a perfect statue of myself made of black ice in my place.
Goku slapped the statue.
Flash Freeze.
The ice shattered, but the necrotic frost spread instantly up Goku's arm, encasing his hand in a black gauntlet of ice.
"Cold! Cold!" Goku shook his hand, slamming it against the ground to break the ice.
"You are reactive," I lectured, appearing on a higher rock formation. "You see an attack, you dodge. You see an opening, you strike. But you do not control the space."
I raised both hands.
"Legion."
From the grey ocean below, shadows poured up the sides of the rock island. Ten clones pulled themselves up. Then ten more. Then ten more.
Thirty Noob Saibots surrounded Goku.
"Whoa," Goku laughed nervously. "That's a lot of you."
"The Tournament will have preliminaries," I said. "You will face many styles. Many opponents. Can you find the true threat in the crowd?"
The clones charged.
It was a chaotic brawl. Goku was a whirlwind of orange and blue. He was kicking, punching, using his tail to trip clones. He was strong—his physical blows shattered the shadow constructs with ease.
But for every one he destroyed, two more rose.
"They keep coming!" Goku yelled, spin-kicking three heads off at once.
"Find me," I whispered.
I was hiding inside the shadow of one of the clones.
Goku paused. He closed his eyes. He stopped sensing for Ki. He listened to the rhythm.
The clones hissed and shrieked.
But amidst the noise, there was a heartbeat. My heartbeat. The thrumming of the Chaos Reactor in my chest.
"THERE!"
Goku ignored the clones attacking him. He leaped into the air, spun, and fired a Kamehameha directly at the ground, at the shadow of a clone that was sneaking up behind him.
"HAAAA!"
The blue beam hit the floor.
I was forced out of the shadow, crossing my arms to block the blast.
The impact pushed me back. I skid across the rock, smoke rising from my forearms.
The clones vanished.
I lowered my arms. Goku landed, panting heavily. The gravity was taking its toll on him.
"You found me," I said, impressed.
"Your heart," Goku wheezed. "It sounds like a drum. It's really loud."
"A flaw in the new form," I noted. "Stealth is compromised by power."
I walked over to him. I didn't attack. I reached out and placed a clawed hand on his shoulder.
"You are ready," I said. "Your raw stats are sufficient. Your instincts are sharp."
"Do I get another Dragon Ball?" Goku joked.
"No. But I will give you advice."
I leaned down.
"In the tournament, you will face a man with three eyes. Tien Shinhan. He is an assassin, like I used to be. He fights with intent to kill."
"I can handle him!"
"Do not try to overpower him," I rasped. "He has a technique—the Tri-Beam—that uses his life force. It pushes back anything, no matter how strong. If he uses it... do not block. Move."
Goku nodded seriously. "Got it. Don't block the life-force triangle."
I slashed the air, opening the portal back to Earth.
"Go, Goku. Win your trophy."
The Departure
We stepped back into the throne room. The gravity returned to normal, and Goku felt light as a feather. He jumped up and down, punching the air.
"I feel so light! I could jump over this tower!"
"Please don't," Suno said, looking up from her book.
Goku grabbed his weighted shell and strapped it back on. "Thanks, Mr. Saibot! That was great training! You're way stronger than Korin."
"I am not a teacher," I said, sitting back on my throne. "I am a warlord."
"Sure, sure," Goku waved. "Hey, are you coming to watch the tournament?"
I hesitated.
"Crowds... displease me. And the sunlight weakens my constructs."
"Aw, that's too bad. Bulma and Krillin will be there."
"However," I added. "I may observe from a distance."
Goku smiled. "Okay! See ya!"
He ran to the window, opened it, and called for the Nimbus. WOOSH. The yellow cloud swooped down. Goku hopped on and blasted off toward the south.
I watched him go.
"He's going to win, isn't he?" Suno asked.
"Likely," I said. "Unless he gets hungry mid-match."
I stood up and walked to the large computer bank on the wall.
"But while he plays sports," I said, my voice dropping to a menacing growl, "we have work to do."
I pulled up a file I had been decrypting for months.
Subject: Construction of Androids.
Location: Hidden Lab 2 (Southern Continent).
"Goku destroyed the Red Ribbon Army," I said to Saibot, who manifested by my side. "But Dr. Gero escaped. He is in hiding. He is building the siblings. 17 and 18."
We hunt? Saibot asked.
"Not yet," I said, tapping the screen. "If we destroy them now, Cell might not be created. And if Cell is not created... Gohan never ascends."
I was playing a dangerous game with the timeline. I knew the future, but I was part of the present.
"We wait," I decided. "But we prepare. We need to expand the Legion. Thirty clones was my limit in the Shadow Realm. On Earth, I can barely maintain twenty."
I looked at my chest.
"We need more batteries."
I turned to the window, looking at the vast, snowy expanse of my domain.
"The Tournament is a distraction," I whispered. "The real war is coming in three years. King Piccolo."
I clenched my fist, green fire igniting around it.
"When the Demon King awakens... he will find that the throne of evil is already occupied."