"Makankosappo!"
Piccolo thrust his hand forward, a violet spiral of ki drilling straight for Raditz.
Raditz's face tightened. He twisted away at the last instant—still too late to come out clean. The beam shaved his pauldron to splinters and grazed his skin, scoring it with a bloody line.
"He… dodged it!" Piccolo stared, shaken. "That speed—he still slipped it!"
"If that had hit me square, I might've been done," Raditz panted, cold sweat pricking his brow. "You've got power, I'll give you that."
"Damn it. I missed," Piccolo hissed, that thin window of hope slamming shut.
"I'm finished playing. Game over!" Raditz bunched his fist, ki swelling in his palm. "My turn!"
He raised his hand—only for Goku to surge in and clamp both hands around his tail.
"A—ah—ahhh!"
Raditz's knees buckled. All strength fled him; he crumpled, shaking, unable to stand.
"W–when did you grab my tail?" he croaked.
"Piccolo! Do it again—your last move!" Goku shouted.
"R—right!" Relief flashed across Piccolo's face. "Nice work, Goku! I've only got one shot left—don't let go of that tail!"
"Kararot, you'd kill your only brother?" Raditz rasped, lunging for sentiment.
"You call yourself my brother? You tried to kill my son!" Goku's anger flared.
"I wasn't serious—I only wanted to scare you! I even gave the kid candy!" Raditz babbled.
"Don't listen!" Piccolo barked. "He's stalling—hold tight!"
"Please, Kararot! I'm begging you!" Raditz's voice turned raw, layered with desperate pathos. "I'll leave Earth at once!"
Goku hesitated—just a moment—and his grip loosened.
"Goku!" Piccolo's heart sank.
Raditz's lips curled. Power flooded back into his body; with a whip of motion, his elbow cracked Goku's jaw and dropped him. He planted a boot on Goku's chest and pressed down—hard.
Goku cried out in pain.
…
High above Earth in Universe 6, a starbright streak cut the sky, arrowing toward the blue planet.
"Chocolate! Chocolate!" Buu's eyes misted the instant Earth came into view. He practically sang the word.
Broly rubbed his stomach and took in a long breath.
More than twenty years without a proper meal…
Finally, a feast.
Nestled miniaturized within Ken, Amarella—no bigger than a thumb—spotted the jewel-blue world and licked her lips before she could stop herself. A tiny line of drool betrayed her.
Ken: …
"You like good food too?" he asked.
"Of course. Most angels have a taste for it," Amarella murmured, dabbing at her mouth. "Sorry…"
"Hold that thought. There's a fight down there—and the new Supreme Kai I'm eyeing is in it: Son Goku." Ken angled their descent toward the battlefield.
Amarella: …
You're doing this on purpose. Cruel.
In a blink, Ken and Broly hovered high over the scene below.
Raditz's boot ground into Goku's chest. Goku's cries rasped thin.
Broly watched in silence, taking measure. To him, the fighters below were painfully weak—tearing wet paper would take more effort.
Buu? The moment he reached Earth he wriggled like a kid who'd found a sweet shop.
"Ken… can I go find Satan?" he beamed.
"Go," Ken said.
Buu nodded eagerly.
"Remember the rules," Ken added.
"No killing, no turning people into chocolate, no blowing up the planet, no wrecking buildings!" Buu recited, nodding again.
"If they pick a fight with you first, you can end it," Ken said.
Buu gave one last enthusiastic nod and bounded away, skipping across clouds, chanting "Chocolate!" as he went.
Broly stayed, eyes on the ground.
"Which one's Goku?" he asked. "The one under the boot?"
"That's him," Ken said.
Broly fell quiet.
Amarella's voice turned wry. "This Son Goku… is the Supreme Kai candidate? He's… remarkably weak."
"What do you think?" Ken asked.
Amarella didn't answer at first. Then, softly, "Not much."
Ken only smiled. "If I raise him to surpass Jiren, do you think Merus will clutch his chest and groan?"
"You—just—don't," Amarella sputtered. "Jiren may be the strongest human in all the universes. Rumor was his lord wanted him to be the next God of Destruction. He already met the qualifications."
"Perfect," Ken said cheerfully. "Decision made."
Amarella could only stare. Why ask if you won't listen?
Below—
"Hahahaha! Such a softhearted fool!" Raditz laughed, heel grinding down. "One tug at your heart and you crumble. You'll never be a warrior! And you—the so-called rival of Prince Vegeta? Don't make me laugh. You can't even beat me. You're finished today, Kararot!"
He stamped harder. Goku's screams frayed into raw sound. Piccolo's jaw clenched; he dared not rush in.
"Next is you," Raditz taunted. "Come—try that trick again."
Piccolo's fingers twitched. He didn't move.
Broly's eyes cooled. The urge to tear Raditz in half rose like a tide—this was Ken's chosen Supreme Kai, left to be toyed with.
Ken lifted a hand to still him. "Look."
He pointed at the spherical pod.
Raditz's scouter shrieked. A spike—huge.
"What—?" He spun toward his ship.
It blew apart in a single thunderclap.
Son Gohan stood amid the wreckage, face streaked with tears and fury.
Raditz blanched. My ship! And that… that power reading from a child—
"Now that one," Amarella said lightly, "could make a fine Supreme Kai with proper guidance."
"Backup noted," Ken said.
Gohan marched forward, sobbing, trembling—and incandescent with anger.
"Gohan—run!" Goku croaked.
"B-battle power… 1307?!" Raditz's scalp prickled. His face went chalk-pale.
"Don't you bully my dad!" Gohan bawled—and rocketed up, head-first.
His skull slammed Raditz's chestplate. Cracks spidered through the armor; the blow drove into flesh beneath. Raditz staggered, nearly fell. Gohan tumbled, dazed, little stars wheeling in his eyes.
"Gohan…" Goku whispered, stunned.
"D…dad…" Gohan blinked up at him.
Raditz clutched his chest, breath hitching. Rage burned through his shock.
"You little brat!" He backhanded Gohan. The child skidded across the dirt and went limp.
"Don't you hurt him!" Goku's voice shook with rage.
"He's stronger than all of you," Raditz sneered. "I'll snuff him out before he learns to use that power. Don't worry—you'll all be reunited in the other world soon."
He strode for Gohan.
"Promising kid," Amarella mused. "But eclipsing Jiren? That's… ambitious. As for his father—he'll grow, yes, but compared to Jiren…"
Ken only smiled.
Broly flicked him a glance—Ready?
"Not yet," Ken said. "Right when it counts."
As Raditz moved past, Goku lunged up from the dirt and locked his arms around Raditz's shoulders from behind.
"Where did you get that strength?!" Raditz snarled, thrashing.
"Piccolo! Your move—now!" Goku shouted.
"Knew it'd come to this," Piccolo said through his teeth, planting his feet. "I'm already charging! But why not grab his tail?"
"He'll shed it!" Goku grunted.
"You knew that—" Raditz strained, panic rising. "Let go, Kararot! You fool—you'll die too!"
"Then we go together," Goku said, grim and strangely calm.
Piccolo's ki howled into a razor-thin spiral. "No complaints—if I take you with him, all the better," he said, grim smile cutting his face. "Ready to be skewered?"
"Hurry!" Goku's arms shook. "I'm running out of time!"
"Let go! I swear I'll never return to this planet!" Raditz begged.
"Not falling for it," Goku snapped.
"Kept you waiting!" Piccolo's two fingers blazed. "Time to thread the needle!"
"Do it!" Goku shut his eyes.
"Makankosappo!!!"
The violet drill screamed across the ground—then, at the last foot—
It vanished.
Piccolo blinked. "Where did—my attack—?"
Raditz froze, then broke into wild laughter. "Hahahaha! The heavens favor me!"
Goku stared, stunned, his grip loosening in spite of himself.
Raditz tore free, spun, and smashed Goku to the ground with a ringing slap. He leapt, fist cocked to pulp Goku's skull—
"Let's go," Ken said, and dropped from the sky with Broly.
They touched down beside Goku. Raditz pulled up short, eyes narrowing at the newcomers—and punched anyway, fist driving for Goku's face.
Broly turned, angled his hip, and—nonchalantly—stuck out his rear.
Raditz: …?
"Pft."
The sound was small. The impact was not.
Raditz pinwheeled away like he'd been hit by a meteor, bounced, and rolled to a stop a hundred meters off, howling.
Goku gaped. Piccolo just stood there, brain briefly empty.
Who… is that? And how does a fart hit like a cannon?
Ken knelt, tapped his staff toward Goku. A veil of invisible angelic light swept him. In an instant, every bruise and fracture knit clean.
Goku sprang up, patting at himself. "Huh? Huh?!"
Ken flicked the staff toward Piccolo. Flesh budded at the stump; in less than a heartbeat, a whole arm grew back, perfect and unscarred.
Piccolo stared. "What… are you?"
"Ken," he said, smiling.
"Ken? The Ken? The one Bulma keeps talking about?" Goku asked, elated. "She never stops—"
Ken's mouth twitched. Bulma, a little kid then… Now nearly thirty. Time flies. Men at thirty blossom; women at thirty—best not finish that thought.
"The past is the past," he murmured.
"Bulma said you're Saiyan too. Why're your hair and tail white?" Goku asked, curious as ever.
"Doesn't matter," Ken said lightly.
"And he is…?" Goku eyed Broly, awe creeping in. One fart and Raditz was in pieces. Terrifying.
"Broly," Broly said simply.
"Broly?! Bulma told me about you!" Goku lowered his voice, conspiratorial. "Something about you grabbing Master Roshi's shell and—uh—swinging him around…"
Broly: …Who?
Raditz, groaning, tried and failed to stand. His eyes widened as reality sank in. "You're Ken—and that's Broly—" Despair washed him flat.
"Gohan!" Goku remembered and sprinted for his son, scooping him up. The boy only fainted—no deeper harm. Goku exhaled shakily.
"Ken, can you heal Gohan too?" he asked, turning back.
"I came to ask if you'll train—properly—as a Supreme Kai," Ken said, not yet lifting his staff. "Interested?"
"Supreme… Kai?" Goku blinked. "What's that?"
"A very powerful god," Ken said.
"God or not doesn't matter. I just want to get stronger," Goku admitted honestly.
"Not following my program means you'll take the long road," Ken said, then tilted his head toward Broly. "He's Saiyan, like you. Know how strong he is now?"
Goku shook his head.
"Ten billion of you wouldn't be enough," Ken said.
Goku sucked in a breath. Piccolo felt his stomach drop.
"Forget him. Have you heard your brother mention Vegeta?" Ken asked.
"Yeah—he kept going on about a 'Prince Vegeta' I'd fight for life. Called him 'Your Highness.' He's Saiyan too?"
"Prince of the Saiyans. A prodigy," Ken said.
"How much stronger than Raditz?" Goku asked.
"Fifteen times, at least."
Goku scratched his cheek. "So… about that 'lifelong rival' thing—kinda hard to believe right now."
"With the right path, nothing's impossible," Ken said. He lifted his right hand.
A book bloomed into existence on his palm.
"Take this and train," he said, handing it over.
Goku accepted, peering at the cover. Piccolo craned to see.
"Ultra Instinct: A Training Guide?" Goku read. "Weird name."
Piccolo frowned. He'd never even heard the term.
"If I master this, can I beat Vegeta?" Goku asked, hope sparking.
"Yes," Ken said—and sighed, almost fondly. "I even offered that to Vegeta once. He scoffed."
Goku grinned, flipping pages. "Then I'll try. Looks amazing… Maybe Prince Vegeta passed on the good stuff."
(End of Chapter)
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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