The sky above the shattered metropolis had already turned a violent crimson, streaked with black smoke and arcs of lightning that had no natural source. What was once a gleaming city of glass and steel now resembled a war zone from some apocalyptic myth—buildings gutted, highways twisted into scrap, fires burning unchecked for miles. Heroes from two worlds had clashed here for hours, drawn into a multiversal brawl that no one could fully explain. And at the center of it all stood—or rather flew—Son Goku, the Saiyan warrior whose power seemed to mock every limit the others had ever known.
The Man of Steel rocketed downward like a blue-and-red comet, eyes blazing with heat vision that could melt mountains. He struck Goku square in the chest with both fists, the impact registering like a planetary collision. The shockwave alone flattened every structure within half a mile, sending cars spinning end over end like toys. Concrete and rebar turned to powder. Skyscrapers groaned, tilted, and collapsed in slow, thunderous dominoes.
Goku was driven backward through three city blocks, his body carving a trench fifty feet deep before he finally stopped. Dust billowed upward in a choking mushroom cloud. For a heartbeat, silence reigned—then a low, amused chuckle echoed from the crater.
"Not bad," Goku said, wiping a thin line of blood from his lip. His orange gi was torn at the shoulder, but his grin was wider than ever. "You've got some real power behind those punches now. Let's see how much you've got left."
Superman hovered above the ruin, chest heaving, fists clenched. He had thrown everything into that strike—every ounce of solar-charged strength he could summon. And yet the Saiyan rose casually, dusting himself off as though he'd merely tripped on a curb.
Before Superman could respond, Goku vanished.
He reappeared an instant later directly in Superman's path, driving an elbow into the Kryptonian's solar plexus with such force that the air itself ignited in a white-hot flash. Superman's eyes widened in shock as every organ in his body seemed to compress at once. He was hurled upward, breaking the sound barrier three times over in the first second alone, trailing a sonic boom that shattered every remaining window for miles.
Goku followed without effort, matching the ascent effortlessly. High above the stratosphere, where the blue of the sky gave way to the black of space, they clashed again and again—fists blurring into afterimages, each collision sending ripples of force that distorted the very curvature of the Earth below. Superman countered with a barrage of super-speed punches, each one strong enough to level continents, but Goku weaved through them like water, his body moving on pure instinct.
Then Goku landed the counter.
A single, perfectly timed uppercut caught Superman under the chin. The blow rang out like a cannon shot heard across the hemisphere. Superman's head snapped back, blood spraying in a glittering arc against the void. His massive frame spun wildly, crashing through layer after layer of cloud until he slammed into the side of a half-collapsed office tower far below. The building folded inward like wet cardboard, floors pancaking one after another. Steel beams twisted, glass exploded outward in shimmering rain. Superman lay motionless amid the rubble, eyes closed, cape torn and fluttering weakly in the wind. Unconscious. For the first time in years, truly vulnerable.
Goku didn't even glance down. His attention had already shifted.
A golden bolt of lightning screamed toward him—Shazam, eyes crackling with divine fury, the wisdom of Solomon warring with the rage of six ancient gods. "You think you can just walk through us?!" the Champion of Magic bellowed, fist wreathed in thunder as he closed the distance at blinding speed.
Goku tilted his head, amused. "Another one. Good."
Shazam's punch met empty air. Goku had sidestepped with casual grace, then retaliated with a spinning backfist that caught the demigod across the jaw. The crack echoed like breaking continents. Shazam staggered, but refused to fall—he summoned another bolt from the sky and hurled it point-blank.
Goku caught the lightning in his palm.
The raw magical energy writhed and hissed against his ki aura, but he simply squeezed. The bolt imploded with a deafening pop, showering them both in harmless sparks.
Before Shazam could recover, Goku was already airborne again, rocketing upward toward the edge of space where Zeus himself had retreated to recover. The King of Olympus floated among the thinning atmosphere, lightning arcing between his fingers, beard whipping in the solar wind. His eyes burned with immortal wrath.
"You dare challenge the lord of the heavens?!" Zeus roared, hurling a spear of pure Olympian lightning thicker than a skyscraper.
Goku didn't dodge. He flew straight into it.
The blast engulfed him completely—white-hot, blinding, powerful enough to vaporize moons. For a moment even Goku disappeared inside the glare.
Then a silhouette emerged.
Goku burst through the other side, hair standing on end, aura flaring brighter than before. He closed the distance in an eyeblink and drove his fist into Zeus's face with planet-shattering force. The god's head snapped sideways; teeth flew like ivory shrapnel. Zeus tried to teleport away in a flash of divine light, but Goku was faster. He grabbed the god by the throat mid-escape, yanking him back.
"You run pretty fast for an old man," Goku said cheerfully.
Zeus clawed at Goku's wrist, summoning gale-force winds and thunderclaps that tore at the Saiyan's skin. Goku ignored it all. He drove knee after knee into Zeus's midsection—each impact creating concentric shockwaves that exploded outward, igniting the upper atmosphere in rings of fire. The air detonated in white flashes. Zeus's eyes rolled back, turning milky as consciousness fled.
High above, Shazam charged in again, screaming in defiance. Goku spun, using Zeus's limp body like a living shield. A massive ki blast erupted from his right palm, roaring forward with the intensity of a newborn star. Shazam tried to brace—arms crossed, magical shield flaring—but the beam struck true.
The Champion of Magic was hurled downward like a falling meteor, trailing smoke and golden lightning. He crashed through layer after layer of sky until he slammed into the ruined city far below.
Kratos was waiting.
The Ghost of Sparta had leaped from a crumbling skyscraper, Leviathan Axe already in hand, Blades of Chaos roaring to life along his arms. He planted his massive shield just as Shazam's body hurtled toward him. The demigod struck the shield with apocalyptic force—bones snapping audibly, ribs caving, blood spraying in crimson arcs. The shield held for a heroic half-second before buckling. Shazam tore through it, through Kratos, and continued downward.
The impact created a crater two miles wide. A yellow-white explosion bloomed outward, swallowing entire districts. Buildings liquefied into slag. Stone vaporized into ash. The shockwave rolled outward, flattening everything in its path.
Kratos was thrown backward, skidding across the ground on his back, carving twin furrows through concrete. Cyborg threw up a sonic shield; Green Lantern conjured a massive emerald dome; Aquaman summoned a wall of churning seawater reinforced with Atlantean magic. All three defenses wavered and cracked under the pressure. Far on the outskirts, Batman watched through high-powered binoculars, jaw tight, whispering, "By the god's are we really doomed…"
When the dust finally settled, the city was a blackened wound. Shazam lay at the bottom of a glowing crater, costume incinerated, skin charred, one arm shattered, the other twisted at an unnatural angle, blood pooling beneath him. He breathed in shallow, wet gasps.
High above, Goku still held Zeus by the throat. The god's face was swollen and purple, blood dripping from his mouth in thick ropes. With a casual twist of his wrist, Goku snapped the Olympian's neck. Zeus gave one final, gurgling scream before going limp.
Goku smiled—genuine, almost friendly—and hurled the corpse downward like discarded trash. As Zeus fell, Goku extended his hand. A brilliant sphere of blue-white energy gathered in his palm, swelling rapidly.
"Ka… me… ha… me…"
The words carried across the ruined battlefield like a death knell.
"HAAAAA!"
The beam lanced downward, catching Zeus mid-fall. The explosion was cataclysmic—brighter than a thousand suns, hotter than the core of a star. A second sun bloomed over the city for several long seconds. When it faded, there was nothing left of Zeus but a glassy crater and a mushroom cloud that climbed into the mesosphere.
Goku descended slowly, boots touching down amid the ash and ruin. His aura flickered softly, hair returning to black as he powered down slightly, conserving energy.
A roar shattered the silence.
Kratos leaped from the skeleton of a fallen skyscraper, Blades of Chaos fully extended, wreathed in hellfire. The Spartan demigod brought both weapons down in a blazing overhead arc aimed to cleave Goku in two.
Goku raised one hand. A blade of pure ki materialized in his grip—long, shimmering, edged with crackling power. The two blades met in a shower of sparks that lit up the darkness like daylight. The shockwave leveled what little remained standing within a mile radius.
They clashed again and again—slash, parry, counter-slash. Each strike rang out like artillery fire. The air grew superheated; mirages danced around them. Kratos spun, bringing both flaming chains around in a deadly whirlwind. Goku ducked, weaved, then caught both chains mid-swing. His fingers tightened.
The Blades of Chaos shattered like glass.
Kratos froze, stunned for the first time in centuries.
Goku didn't hesitate. He drove a fist straight into the Spartan's face. The blow sent Kratos hurtling backward through the air, crashing through the already-ruined building from earlier. The entire structure gave one final groan and collapsed entirely, burying the God of War beneath tons of steel and concrete.
Dust rolled outward in thick waves.
"Goku!!"
Superman's voice cut through the haze. The Man of Steel rose from the rubble, eyes glowing red, body trembling with barely contained rage. Blood streaked his face, cape in tatters, but his fists were clenched, solar energy crackling around him like a living storm.
Goku turned, cracking his neck with a grin.
"Back for more? Good. I was just getting warmed up."
The two titans launched toward each other at speeds that blurred reality itself—two streaks of light, one blue-red, one orange-black, about to collide in the heart of the dead city.