Tavor continued to train with Master Turtle and before he knew it months passed within the realm of Limbo.
Turtle stood like a living statue, watching Tavor practice with his ki, the young Saiyan moving like a blur as he tossed a blue-white ball of ki energy back and forth before intercepting it and repeating the process.
"The boy's control has grown at an exponential rate, truly a once in a lifetime genius if there ever was one!" Turtle nodded in agreement as he considered this, before hearing the sharp, rhythmic thud of Roshi's cane approaching.
He then turned to face the elderly martial arts master, whose sunglasses gleamed with the light of Tavor's training.
"Hmmm, the apprentice seems to be doing quite well."
Turtle nodded at his long-time friend.
"Yes, his power and control have grown considerably, he even managed to make his ki take on the properties of a solid object!"
As they spoke Tavor flashed in the direct path of his ki orb and crossed his arms defensively.
The orb of ki rushed towards him, whistling as it sliced through the air and crashed into Tavor's guard.
KRAKOOOOM!
The orb detonated upon contact with his arms, producing a thunderous sound that compelled both Roshi and Turtle to cover their ears to shield them from the noise.
The sound faded leaving only a billowing cloud of dust that blocked them from being able to see young Tavor.
"Is he okay? Why did he take his own blast like that?" Turtle took a step forward, moving to check on his young apprentice but was stopped when he felt a wooden cane pressing against his shell.
"Hold on Turtle, don't you sense it?" Roshi said, his almost comically large sunglasses reflecting the slowly dissipating cloud of smoke.
FWOOSH!
A sudden gust of wind scattered the remaining dust cloud, revealing Tavor, his crossed arms scuffed, his already tattered clothes now reduced to still-smoldering strips that barely clung to his body.
Tavor's body had developed significantly; he no longer resembled a bodybuilding preschooler, but rather a bodybuilding elementary school student.
His muscles were large, firm, and powerful, despite the relatively small size of his limbs.
His spiky and slightly singed hair flowed in the stale, blood scented air.
Tavor lowered his arms, revealing a facial expression that was a cross between fierce excitement and sheer determination.
Before either Roshi or Turtle could mutter another word, Tavor began throwing a quick series of punches and kicks, shadowboxing with an invisible enemy.
The invisible enemy in question was the draconic demon from before who had beaten him to the point where, if it weren't for the healing fruits and his own fledgling mastery over his internal energy, he would have been left a cripple.
FWISH...
SWASH...
SHAAA...
SHAAA...
THOOM...
Tavor executed a rapid series of strikes and kicks, each generating a distinct sound as it displaced the surrounding air.
Roshi watched with an appreciative gaze, his eyes still hidden behind his massive sunglasses, however his continuous nods gave away his feelings.
"Soon that boy will be strong enough to challenge the strongest of demons, hopefully before..." Roshi's thought was interrupted as Turtle nudged him.
"Hrmmm what is it?" He turned to face his oldest companion before noticing the proud gaze in his eyes.
Following Turtle's gaze back towards Tavor, Roshi noticed that Tavor had begun to charge an immense amount of ki between his hands, clearly intending to unleash the Kamehameha wave rather than a basic ki blast.
In Tavor's vision, he imagined the draconic demon preparing to unleash a blast from its own maw, the demon's gaze flashing with pure malevolence before both Tavor and the draconic demon unleashed their attacks.
"HAAAAAAAAA!" Tavor thrust his palms forward and unleashed his Kamehameha blast towards the demon, angled slightly upwards to avoid scarring Roshi's land.
The ground beneath his feet cracked as the young Saiyan poured more energy into the technique, his muscles tensing beneath his scorched skin.
His spiky hair fluttered wildly in the turbulent air, while the tattered remnants of his clothing threatened to tear away completely.
FWOOOOOSH...
WHOOOOOM...
The beam of condensed blue-white ki shot into the sky, disintegrating the imaginary draconic demon as it was blasted upward before surging into the thick red and purple bank of clouds, which appeared to be ever ready to rain blood upon the lands of Limbo.
Great slabs of lunar stone were blasted into the surrounding darkness, tumbling through the sky as the remaining energy dispersed in a spectacular burst of light.
Tavor's jaw slowly dropped.
"...Holy crap."
He stood motionless, his arms still extended before him, staring at the celestial catastrophe he'd just caused.
He had intended to destroy an imaginary demon.
He hadn't intended to attack the actual moon.
"I did that?"
His tail rose behind him, stiff with surprise, before curling excitedly around his waist.
"I DID THAT!"
The initial shock gave way to an almost unbearable surge of exhilaration.
His heart hammered against his ribs, and the corners of his mouth pulled into a grin that threatened to split his face in two.
He'd known he had grown stronger during his months of training.
He'd felt it in every punch, every kick, and every successful exercise in ki control.
Then he inhaled.
Deeply.
Very deeply.
"TAAAAAVOOOOOOOOOR!"
The young Saiyan flinched so violently that his tail shot straight upward.
"Y-YES, MASTER ROSHI?!"
"WHAT IN THE NAME OF EVERY MARTIAL ARTS MASTER WHO EVER LIVED DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"
Tavor glanced between Roshi and the sky.
Then, rather unhelpfully, he pointed upwards.
"...Training?"
Roshi's face twitched, a tight smile forming on his face.
However almost immediately, the smile on Roshi's face vanished.
A low rumble rolled across the landscape.
At first, it was little more than a distant growl, easily mistaken for the lingering echoes of Tavor's Kamehameha.
Then the ground beneath their feet trembled, sending pebbles skittering across the cracked earth.
Roshi's sunglasses slipped a fraction down his nose.
"...Turtle?"
"I feel it."
The rumbling grew louder, and louder.
Until the entire landscape began to shake.
KRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAK!
A fissure tore through the ground several yards away, splitting the earth open and exposing a churning abyss of crimson light.
Jagged pillars of black stone shuddered before collapsing into the depths, while distant mountains buckled beneath the strain.
Tavor's triumphant grin slowly dissolved.
"...That's probably not good."
Another tremor struck.
This time, the shockwave knocked him off his feet.
"WHOA!"
The young Saiyan tumbled backward, his tail whipping around wildly as he struggled to regain his balance.
Above him, the blood-red sky flashed with streaks of blue-white light.
Fragments of the moon continued to fall, hundreds of them, thousands.
The debris he'd blasted free was now descending upon Limbo like a celestial bombardment, each enormous fragment trailing burning energy as it plunged through the realm's unnatural atmosphere.
The first meteor struck a distant mountain range.
DOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The impact obliterated the peaks.
An enormous explosion tore through the landscape, swallowing the mountains in a storm of fire, pulverized stone, and supernatural energy.
The resulting shockwave rolled across the wasteland, flattening twisted forests and sending towering spires crashing into the valleys below.
A second meteor struck an ocean of viscous black liquid.
The impact displaced an entire section of the sea, launching a colossal wave toward the surrounding shores.
The waters surged over the land, swallowing demonic settlements and sweeping away everything unfortunate enough to stand in their path.
Then came a third, a fourth, and a fifth.
Limbo had endured countless wars, invasions, and catastrophes throughout its long and miserable existence.
But it had never experienced anything quite like this.
The dimension itself seemed to howl.
Castle Limbo.
The fortress stood at the center of Belasco's domain, an imposing monument of black stone, twisted architecture, and ancient sorcery.
Its towers pierced the crimson heavens, while countless demonic sigils pulsed across its walls.
Within its deepest chamber, the lord of Limbo was occupied with a far more intimate form of cruelty.
Belasco stood before an elevated platform upon which a young girl writhed in restraints of dark magic.
Illyana Rasputin.
The sorcerer had imprisoned her within the castle's inner sanctum, far from the eyes of those who might interfere with his designs.
Chains of shadow wrapped around her wrists and ankles, their barbed links digging into her skin whenever she struggled.
Above her, Belasco's hand glowed with an oppressive violet-black radiance.
Dark magical energy poured from his fingertips and seeped into her body.
Illyana screamed.
The sound echoed through the chamber, sharp and desperate, yet Belasco regarded it with the detached fascination of a scholar observing an experiment.
Two subtle ridges began to rise beneath her hairline.
Her teeth ached as her canines sharpened.
And for a fleeting moment, her shadow stretched across the chamber wall, its silhouette bearing a pair of horns that did not yet exist upon her actual head.
Belasco's smile widened.
"Magnificent. The transformation is beginning to take hold."
Illyana gasped between screams, tears streaking down her face.
"Please... stop...
"Stop?" Belasco repeated, almost amused. "My dear child, we have barely begun."
He raised his free hand, and the blazing-red runes carved into the floor blazed with renewed intensity.
The chamber filled with the stench of burning sulfur.
"Your power is a doorway, Illyana, a door that my master can use to break free of his seal, scream more, unleash your power!"
Not the ordinary, almost imperceptible vibration caused by Limbo's unstable nature.
The entire fortress lurched violently to one side.
KRRRRRRRRAAAAAA-BOOOOOOM!
The sound of distant destruction thundered through the walls.
Belasco staggered, his hand jerking away from Illyana as the floor buckled beneath his boots.
A fracture raced across the chamber, splitting one of the ancient runic circles in two.
The magical energy feeding into Illyana flickered.
Her screams abruptly stopped as she collapsed against the restraints, gasping for breath.
Belasco stared at the broken sigil.
"...What?"
A second tremor struck.
The ceiling groaned.
Dust rained down from the vaulted arches, and several enormous chunks of masonry crashed onto the floor.
One struck the edge of the platform, shattering into fragments that scattered across Illyana's trembling body.
Belasco raised a hand, summoning a protective barrier just as another section of the ceiling collapsed.
BOOOOOOM!
For one absurd instant, he wondered whether one of the great cosmic powers had finally decided that his continued existence was an inconvenience.
Had the Vishanti intervened?
Had some rival lord discovered a means of breaching Limbo's defenses?
Had one of the countless beings who despised him finally grown bold enough to launch an attack upon his throne?
His gaze snapped toward Illyana.
The girl was still bound to the platform, her chest rising and falling in ragged breaths.
The demonic alterations remained, subtle but unmistakable, and the black veins beneath her skin pulsed in time with the fading remnants of his magic.
His work had been interrupted, and his ritual was destabilizing.
And whatever was happening outside threatened to tear apart the very domain in which he had intended to complete his plans.
Belasco's expression twisted.
"Who dares?"
The words emerged as a low growl.
"WHO DARES DISTURB ME?"
His voice reverberated through the chamber, causing the remaining runes to flicker.
Far above the castle, another meteor tore across the sky.
Its fiery trail illuminated the towering spires of Castle Limbo before the enormous fragment struck the distant landscape.
The resulting explosion turned the horizon white.
The shockwave reached the fortress moments later.
KRAAAAAAAAAA-THOOOOOOOOOM!
The castle shuddered from its deepest foundations to its highest towers.
A crack split the floor beneath Belasco's feet.
For the first time, genuine fear crept into the demon lord's eyes, not fear of death, as he had long rid himself of such human fears, but fear of his master's wrath should he not free him in a timely manner.
His fingers curled into fists.
"Find the source," he snarled, turning toward the shadowy figures stationed near the chamber's entrance.
"I want to know what is happening, I want to know who is responsible, and when you find them..."
His voice dropped into something far more dangerous.
"...bring them to me alive."
The demons bowed hastily before fleeing the chamber.
Belasco turned back toward Illyana, intending to resume his work.
But as he raised his hand, the castle trembled once more.
He froze.
His gaze shifted toward the burning sky.
Then, slowly, he looked down at the young girl bound before him.
"Well my dear, shall we continue?" His mouth stretched wide in an unnatural way, revealing his inhuman nature to the frightened Illyana.
Illyana's eyes widened in pure horror and soon her screams once more filled the halls of the dark castle.
Several regions away, Tavor stood amid the devastation caused by his own training session.
His mouth remained open, his tail remained stiff, and his eyes remained fixed upon the distant horizon, where another enormous explosion painted the sky in shades of crimson and blue-white.
Beside him, Roshi slowly lowered his sunglasses.
Turtle looked at the young Saiyan.
Then at the sky.
Then back at the young Saiyan.
A long silence settled over the ruined training grounds.
Finally, Roshi spoke.
"Tavor."
The boy swallowed.
"Yes, Master Roshi?"
Roshi took a deep breath.
"Tomorrow, we're going to work on your aim."
Tavor stared at him for a moment before sighing in resignation.
"...Yes... Master Roshi..."
Tavor continued to train without using ki blasts, his punches and kicks once more blasting waves of air into the distance.
Roshi walked back to his hut while Turtle continued to watch, all unaware that the demon army was mobilizing to find the culprit behind the meteor shower.
NEXT TIME ON: REBORN AS A SAIYAN IN MARVEL!
Months of grueling training have transformed young Tavor into a formidable warrior, but his latest breakthrough has unleashed a catastrophe unlike anything Limbo has witnessed in ages!
With chunks of the moon raining destruction upon the demonic realm, the mighty Castle Limbo has been shaken to its foundations, interrupting Belasco's sinister ritual and filling the Demon Lord with both fury and dread!
Meanwhile, Tavor has finally learned an important lesson from Master Roshi: perhaps destroying celestial bodies isn't the best way to practice his aim!
But with Belasco's demon army mobilizing to hunt down the culprit behind the mysterious meteor shower, will Tavor's newfound strength be enough to protect him from the wrath of an entire dimension?
And what will become of Illyana Rasputin as the dark ritual continues to corrupt her very being?
Find out in the next chapter of Reborn as a Saiyan in Marvel!