“How are you feeling today, Goku?” Dan laughed as the young Saiyan spilled from the kryptonian healing tank. “Up for another round?”
Goku blinked. He shook like a wet dog, on his feet faster than Dan could follow.
“That guy was strong!” He pressed his face close to Dan, a fire in his eyes. “I want to fight him again!”
A deep rumble interrupted Dan's reply. The Saiyan’s stomach, ever ready to call its hunger to the world. Dan waved the boy off with a laugh, aimed for the mess hall.
“I’ll take you for a meal and we’ll visit the Demon,” He held the door open for the spiky haired youth. “But this time, I want to fight you first!”
“Oh?” A hardened glint endered Goku’s eyes. “Alright, I bet you’re strong, if Etrigan listens to you!”
A pressure wrapped around Dan’s skin as a light breeze flowed from the Saiyan. His heart thundered in his chest. Etrigan never showed his power like this, a blatant provocation of raw force.
Goku’s unrestrained Ki hummed, a bizarre type of energy. The taste of water, a cool touch of air, a deep breath in hungry lungs. It was life, tinted through the lens of the Saiyan’s heart. A whisper stirred Dan’s heart. A kiss of the sun and open sky, May’s smile at the break of dawn.
‘Ki is the life force within you, forged by your body and stored within the depths of the soul.’
A small spark blossomed, rooted at his centre and set on an easy path through his body. It pressed back against Goku’s suppression, a small relief from the burden. Dan smiled , while the Saiyan’s grin deepened.
“You didn’t say you could use your Ki,” Goku laughed as he slapped Dan on the shoulder. “Let’s eat, then we can see which one of us is stronger!”
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DEATH!
Dan’s mind filled with visions of Goku’s fist, driven through his chest, a look of surprise on the Saiyan’s face. Venom enveloped his body, a black wave that sprayed two lines of web. One to ensnare and slow Goku’s attack, the other to drag him aside, closer to the wall of the colosseum.
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‘Close!’
Sweat beaded on his skin, drawn away by Venom's helpful effect. He eyed Goku, who ignited his ki to dispel the tangled thread. That punch would have torn him apart, a hammer through a thin glass window. Spider sense, combined with Venom’s amplification, let Dan barely keep up in speed.
His newfound Ki circulated, a mirror of the young Saiyan before him. A river through his body, locked in a loop around his heart. Dan grinned. His cells contained a vast wellspring of lifeforce. Some of the solar energy that hit his skin was stored deep within his cells, but the rest converted itself into a powerful vitality. An ocean supplied by his constant absorption of light.
“You started out pretty strong there, Goku,” Dan circled the Saiyan, Venom still wrapped around him as his Ki boosted his strength and speed. “I’ll need to go all out, right from the gate!”
He sent a wave of web, a sticky smoke screen to mask his movement. Dan slipped forward, energy from Venom’s bioreactor drawn into a single point. Goku pushed away the threads with a wave of light, eyes locked on Dan. He pressed his hands behind his back, a spiral of blue between them.
“Kaaa-meee… haaa-meee… h…”
Goku’s voice caught in his throat and a smile crept onto Dan’s face. He strolled toward the paralyzed Saiyan, palm filled with the glow of plasma. A twitch of black flickered from Goku’s behind, one of Venom’s clones. It wrapped itself around the Saiyan’s tail, teeth sunk deep into the furry appendage.
“I win!” Dan flicked Goku’s nose and depowered his plasma weapon. He ordered Venom to withdraw the clone and offered the Saiyan his hand. “But I had to get sneaky about it, you’re much stronger than I am right now!”
“How did you know about my tail…” Goku rubbed at his rear end with both palms. “That’s not fair!”
Dan laughed and left the boy to his self administered first aid. He’d laid the foundation. His Ki had awakened, and the Ki of those around him shone like fires in the night. The infinite variations of the theme of life. Now all he had to do was practice. Krillin had been a simple human, yet he stood far above most movie supermen in power. What would the addition of Ki do to his kryptonian body?
“I know a lot about you, Goku,” Dan flexed his arms, a hearty warmth in his muscles that originated from his flow of Ki. “I know that you’ve got infinite potential, and I know that you’re actually not a human.” He pointed to Goku’s tail. “That is the mark of a Saiyan, along with your ridiculous hair.”
“Saiyan?” Goku frowned, face pinched as he tried to wrap his brain around it. “I don’t understand…”
“It’s fine,” Dan patted Goku’s back as they moved to the edge of the coliseum. “All you need to know is that you can keep getting stronger in the future, with almost no limit.” Dan pointed to Etrigan, an evil grin on his face. “The first step is to beat that demon. Fight him, once a day, until you’re strong enough to win!”
“Ok!” Fire lit in Goku’s eyes, the shadow of a caged beast. “But we have to have a match every day as well, that trick will only work once!”
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“How are they doing?”
May looked over the genesis chamber, a hint of motherly pride in her heart. The first generation had begun its growth. Within five years they would emerge, an army of young kryptonians with the knowledge to protect and serve their kingdom.
“All is well,” Jor-EL smiled as he followed her gaze. “They are absorbing the knowledge of the chamber, and they are above expectations as far as growth!”
May nodded. It probably had something to do with the blue sun. The genesis chamber channelled a filtered stream of solar energy into the growth pods, with the blue lights superior effects, some extra growth was normal.
“Now, let’s get back to the topic at hand!” May plopped Stormy and Bear onto the table, a dark gleam in her eyes. “How can we speed up the process of making more of these two?”