The air around Tavor seemed to ripple, his anger rising to unprecedented levels at being called a monkey.
Tavor's breath came out hot, despite the lack of cold air, and a faint tremor flowed through his spine and into his tail, causing the hairs to stand on end.
FWOOSH!
The ripple in the air began to fill in with a milky-white hue; however, if one looked closer, they would see minuscule, almost microscopic motes of red light coalescing within it, giving his energy a sense of oppression that both the dog-demon and the rabbit-demon felt within what passed for souls.
"Kill him NOW!" The dog-demon snarled as his claws dug into the dirt below him before lunging forwards.
CRACK!
The ground beneath the dog-demon broke as he launched into a spinning slash with his deadly claws.
Tavor, however, could see every small movement, his eyes following the dog-demon perfectly before he placed his hands together and chanted.
"KA... ME..."
FWASH!
The faint milky-white aura collected between his palms like a whirlpool gathering water, forming into a small, marble-sized, brilliantly glowing orb that shone like a small sun.
"HA... ME..."
KASHAAAA!
The orb ballooned outward, swelling to the size of a Persian melon. Tavor's small hands strained apart to contain the sudden expansion.
As he charged the legendary technique born from Roshi's teachings, the dog‑demon, still barreling forward, caught sight of the growing sphere of light.
Its pupils shrank to pinpoints.
A primal sense of mortal danger flooded its body, adrenaline spiking hard enough to kick its speed even higher.
The creature's claws slashed toward Tavor's throat, its tongue whipping in the wind, a rope of hungry saliva trailing behind it like a disgusting, feral banner.
The claws surged with dark, demonic energy as they carved through the air toward the soft, exposed flesh of Tavor's neck.
Believing victory was already his, a manic grin split the dog‑demon's face, rows of jagged teeth gleaming with feral hunger.
"YOU'RE MINE NOW, MONKEY!"
The air froze. The triumphant roar curdled into a heavy, suffocating dread that pressed down on the battlefield like a sudden storm.
"HA!!!"
Tavor barked the final syllable.
The ki between his palms flared, swelling with explosive force, then Tavor ducked and spun, dodging the dog-demon's attack, before thrusting his hands forward, driving the concentrated energy straight toward the dog‑demon's chest.
FWAAAASSHHH!
"UAAGGHHH... NOOOOOO!" The dog-demon yelped as the orb began to reduce his body hair to fine particles before crashing hard against his flesh.
BOOOOOOOM!
Upon impact, the orb detonated outward, expanding exponentially before ripping through the dog‑demon's torso with a sound like distant thunder.
It burst out the other side and streaked straight toward the rabbit‑demon, who had yet to even move.
"OH SHIT…" The rabbit‑demon spun around and bolted, sprinting with such desperate force that each step cracked the earth beneath its feet.
The heat of the Kamehameha orb curled the hairs on its fluffy tail as it chased him down.
No matter how fast he ran, the wave kept gaining.
"NO… NOOOOO… MASTER, SAVE ME!!!" The rabbit‑demon shrieked as the wave slammed into his back, lifting him off the ground entirely.
Both demon and energy sphere hurtled toward the cliff in a blazing, unstoppable surge.
BOOOOOOOOOM!!!
The energy wave slammed into the cliff, shattering the rock face before drilling deeper into the mountain's core.
BOOMF!
A few seconds later, a muffled explosion rumbled beneath Tavor's feet.
Hairline fractures raced across the stone, widening into thick, spiderwebbing crevices that seemed to stretch into infinity.
The rabbit‑demon's fate remained unknown.
In front of Tavor, the dog‑demon whimpered, half its body simply gone, a gaping void carved from hip to neck.
The charred flesh around the wound twitched.
Smoldering burns pulsed and squelched as new tissue began to knit itself together, each grotesque movement adding to the creature's immeasurable agony.
"K… kill me… it… hurts… so bad… kill me, p‑please." The demon's flesh writhed and bubbled, its innate healing factor struggling, failing, to repair the catastrophic damage.
Tavor bent forward, hands braced on his knees, chest rising and falling as he fought to steady his breath and reclaim his stamina.
After a moment, he straightened to his full, if still diminutive, height and stepped toward the dog‑demon, whose torso was grotesquely attempting to regrow organs in real time.
He stopped directly in front of the creature and set one hand on its neck, the other on its remaining shoulder.
"Okay… but not because you asked." Tavor tightened his grip and pulled.
Crack!
The dog‑demon convulsed as the sound of snapping bone filled its ears.
The half‑regenerated flesh connecting its neck to its shoulder stretched, warped, and began to tear.
SLAACCKKKK... CRUNNCHH...
Tavor pulled upward, feeling the spine tear free from the demon's flesh.
The overstretched skin finally gave way, ripping apart as he lifted the dog‑demon's severed head into the air.
He let the ruined body drop, where it twitched violently for a few moments before going still.
Tavor held the dog‑demon's head aloft and unleashed a roar of pure Saiyan pride.
Dark blood streamed from the severed neck, running down his arm and staining him in the color of brutal victory.
As he reveled in triumph, he remained unaware that the rough, animalistic moans and rhythmic slapping sounds coming from the tent back at the demon camp had fallen silent.
A large, clawed hand parted the tent flap, revealing a towering draconic demon.
Its dark blue, almost black, scales drank in the surrounding light, each plate gleaming with predatory menace.
Behind it, sprawled on the bed, lay a battered and abused female snake‑demon.
The moment the draconic demon stepped out of the tent, Tavor felt it.
His fingers, still wrapped around the dog‑demon's head, suddenly went slack.
The severed head slipped from his grasp and tumbled to the ground.
The severed head struck the ground with a wet THUD.
Tavor stared at it, for a brief moment, he couldn't understand why his fingers had suddenly stopped cooperating.
Then the answer came.
The air changed.
A deep, oppressive pressure rolled outward from the demon camp.
WHOOOOOOM!
The draconic demon's aura erupted.
Dark energy exploded from its body in a towering column, black and crimson tendrils twisting upward into the sky as arcs of violent red lightning crawled across its scales.
The earth groaned.
Dust and loose stones rose from the ground, hanging suspended around the creature as though gravity itself had momentarily forgotten its purpose.
Tavor's pupils shrank.
His newly developed Ki Perception screamed.
This wasn't ordinary demonic energy.
It was enormous.
Dense.
Oppressive.
It felt less like an aura and more like standing beneath an ocean that had suddenly decided to fall on him.
Tavor's breathing became shallow.
His tail stiffened.
Then his legs began to shake, and his eyes widened.
"...What?"
His knees trembled beneath him; he clenched his fists and forced his legs to remain locked.
"Stop..."
The shaking intensified, causing Tavor to grit his teeth in defiance of his body, a line of blood beginning to drip down his mouth.
"Come on..."
His body refused to listen.
The draconic demon finally moved, taking a single step outside the tent.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground shook beneath its immense might.
A spiderweb of cracks spread outward from beneath its foot, carving through the earth and tearing apart the remains of the demon camp.
The tent behind it shuddered violently but was somehow able to withstand and disperse the force.
Tavor stared in a mix of awe and fear.
The creature was enormous.
Its broad shoulders and thick muscular frame were covered in overlapping dark-blue scales that bordered on black, each one reflecting only the faintest hint of the crimson light surrounding it.
Two massive horns curved backward from its skull, and long, jagged teeth protruded from between its lips.
Its eyes glowed with a deep, malevolent crimson, and despite the monstrous aura surrounding him...
The demon looked completely calm, which somehow made him more frightening.
Tavor swallowed, and his legs shook harder.
"I'm going to die..."
The strange sensation crawling up Tavor's spine suddenly became something far more immediate.
The draconic demon's chest expanded, and its jaws opened.
And then it roared.
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!!!
The sound shook the battlefield.
The earth trembled violently beneath Tavor's feet as a deafening shockwave erupted from the demon's throat, sending clouds of dust spiraling into the air and causing the surrounding trees to bend beneath the sheer force of the roar.
Tavor's ears flattened against his skull.
His eyes widened.
"What the..."
The draconic demon crouched, its claws dug into the earth.
For one infinitesimal moment, everything seemed to become still.
Then it vanished.
BOOOOOOM!
The ground beneath the demon's feet exploded.
Tavor's pupils contracted, his Ki Perception surged outward, only to find nothing.
No movement.
No warning.
Then...
Something appeared in front of him.
A fist.
Tavor barely registered the incoming punch before it reached mere inches from his face.
His instincts screamed for him to flee, and he tried to move, but h was far too late.
POW!
The draconic demon's fist slammed directly into Tavor's face, and the impact sent his body rocketing sideways.
FWOOSH!
Tavor's body corkscrewed through the air, arms and legs flailing as he spun violently through the battlefield.
His back slammed into a massive tree.
BOOOOOOM!
The trunk exploded from the impact.
Tavor's body rebounded slightly before dropping to the ground in a crumpled heap, and for a moment, he didn't move.
Then his fingers twitched.
Tavor pushed himself onto one elbow.
His vision swam.
He blinked several times, trying to force the world back into focus.
A sharp pain tore through his face.
A mouthful of blood splattered across the dirt, and Tavor stared at the crimson droplets.
"That's a lot of blood!"
He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, even as more blood coated his fingers.
Tavor slowly looked up, but the draconic demon was gone.
His eyes widened.
"What?"
His Ki Perception flared again, yet still he could see nothing, and then a shadow fell over him.
Tavor's head snapped upward, just in time to see the draconic demon standing directly above him.
Its massive leg was cocked backward to its absolute limit, the muscles beneath its dark scales tightening as it prepared to strike.
Tavor's eyes widened.
"No..."
The demon's crimson eyes narrowed.
It swung.
FWOOOOOOSH!
Its foot slammed into Tavor's ribs.
KRA-BOOOOOOM!
The impact lifted Tavor completely off the ground, his body folding around the demon's foot before being launched backward like a projectile.
FWOOSH!
Tavor smashed through the tree behind him.
CRAAAASH!
The trunk shattered, but he didn't stop, his body continued flying.
He tore through another tree.
CRASH!
Then another.
CRASH!
Then another.
CRASH!
Wood exploded into splinters around him as his body ripped through the forest at incredible speed, tree after tree collapsed in his wake.
The force of the kick continued carrying him farther and farther until Tavor finally disappeared into the dense forest beyond.
Silence returned.
The draconic demon slowly lowered its leg, its expression remaining completely emotionless.
The shattered remains of trees continued settling around the battlefield, and far in the distance...
BOOOOOOM!
One final tree collapsed.
The draconic demon's crimson eyes remained fixed on the forest, the glow in its eyes intensifying as it located Tavor.
Then it began walking.
One step.
THUD.
Another.
THUD.
Each footfall shook the earth.
Meanwhile, buried beneath splintered wood and broken branches, Tavor lay motionless.
His chest rose and fell before rising again, his fingers slowly curling into the soil.
A low groan escaped his lips.
"...That..."
He coughed again, causing more blood to spray out of his mouth.
"Hurt like hell!"
Up on the top of the cliff, Roshi stood, his sunglasses glinting red in the demonic light of limbo.
"Turtle... our student needs some help; go and take care of the problem for me; my bones couldn't handle the descent to the bottom!"
Turtle huffed.
"Sure, I could use a workout, but..." Turtle looked up at Roshi.
"Mind throwing me?"
Roshi looked down and grinned. "Fastball or curveball?"
After a moment of thought, Turtle replied. "Fastball. Last time you used a curveball, I threw up, remember?"
"HEHEHEHEHE... Good times!" Roshi's body began to hum with power as the old master began pumping his ki throughout his body in a manner that made his muscles expand to the point of looking ridiculous.
He reached down with his now large hand and picked Turtle up by the bottom of his shell before cocking his arm back while lifting his leg for leverage.
"OFF... YOU... GOOOO!" Roshi swung his arm and dropped his leg.
FWOOOSH!
Turtle was launched downwards with such great speed that it heated the air and generated circular trails of vapor in its wake.
Can Turtle reach him before the draconic demon strikes again?
Will Turtle arrive in time to save Tavor from certain death?
Or will the terrifying demon finish the battle before help can arrive?
Tavor's life hangs in the balance!
The fate of the young Saiyan will be decided in the next few moments!
Will Tavor survive?!
Will Turtle make it in time?!
And just what will happen when these two titans finally collide?!
Find out next time on...
REBORN AS A SAIYAN IN MARVEL!