Chapter 4

Goku clenched his fist and let out a yell of defiant power that echoed across the city as he increased his power level. Instantly, the saiyan was surrounded by a fierce golden glowing aura. His spikey hair shifted from ebon midnight to a vibrant yellow hue. His eyes widened and shifted from black to green as well. The transformation and yell of power was short-lived, but the entire building shook from the energy waves forming around the mighty super saiyan.

"Whoah! Cool!" cheered the Human Torch wildly. Ben Grimm stood with his hands shielding his face. Susan Storm-Richards gasped at the revealed power of their guest.

Goku cupped his hands to his side as he focused his eyes intently on the massive being above him. His gaze narrowed as he began to intone his attack. "Ka….me… ha…me…."

Back down in the laboratory, dozens of alarms went off to warn Mr. Fantastic of the power readings they were getting. Reed Richards looked at the power indicators with amazement. Just above Four Freeoms Plaza was a power source so great that it would completely obliterate the entire Earth a hundred times over, and that power was still increasing!

"…HAAAA!" roared Goku as he threw his arms forward to fire his kamehameha wave up towards the mighty Galactus. The wave took the form of a tide of dense, blue energy as wide as the top of the building. The beam streaked up as a mighty pulse in the sky, like a searchlight shining up into the heavens. It struck Galactus directly in the chest and continued to crash into him for a full minute as Goku spent the attack.

Galactus was not even moved.

The Silver Surfer regarded Goku with some interest. "An impressive display of power. Few beings I have ever encountered have as much power as you have demonstrated. Worlds would fall before that strike. But Galactus is beyond even that. He is a part of the universe itself."

"I can't believe Galactus could take a full kamehameha wave from a super saiyan and not even be moved. I thought that would at least knock him backwards," frowned the Human Torch, clearly disappointed.

"Wow, surprising!" exclaimed the saiyan. "But I'm not done yet." Goku looked down to where the members of the Fantastic 4 and the Silver Surfer waited. "Don't be alarmed while I'm powering up. Things will shake and there might be a bit of damage, but I know the limits of this planet. To be safe though, I'd better gain a little more altitude."

Goku shot up through the air, closing the distance between him and the slowly descending Devourer of Worlds, but putting more distance between himself and the planet. Johnny looked at the others. "This I've got to see!" He shot up into the air in a bright column of flame following Goku.

Having reached a point he though should be safe to transform, Goku put a halt to his ascent. Now it was time for another kind of ascension. Looking up, he saw Galactus' penetrating eyes of white staring down at him.

So, that first kamehameha had gotten his attention. Well, that was going to be nothing next to his next act.

The saiyan balled his fists. Silently, seemingly effortlessly, Goku made the transition from super saiyan, to ascended super saiyan. The aura around him brightened considerably and greatly intensified. His golden pointy hair lengthened and took on an electric, shiny luster. Ripples of lightning-like energy coursed around his body with crackling snaps. The transition to the next stage was complete.

However, Goku knew that he would need to go all out to stop the being towering above him. He had no illusion that this figure would engage him in hand to hand combat, and he was battle savvy enough to guess that Galactus would slowly leech his power away of Goku came close enough for melee. No, it would need to be his signature attack again, but this time with his full power behind it.

The saiyan began to amp up his power once again. This time, Goku unleashed an incredible yell that echoed across the sky and continued to rise in pitch and volume as he continued. The golden aura surrounding Goku began pulsing outwards at a greater and greater frequency. A hurricane force erupted from Goku's vicinity blowing outwards and becoming more and more violent. The power of Goku's transformation began to shake the city.

In Four Freedoms Plaza, Mr. Fantastic was looking at the readings his sensors were getting in alarm. The ambient power around the building was continuing to build at an exponential level. The entire regional weather pattern was being disrupted. Most alarming, however, was reports of worldwide seismic readings. The entire earth was beginning to vibrate and those vibrations would soon become strong enough to be felt as earthquakes. "Whatever he's doing, this has got to stop soon or there won't be a planet left for Galactus to eat!"

Goku, the lastborn pureblooded child of the entire saiyan race, wasn't finished. Night turned to a golden day as the light energy he was releasing for this transformation spread over first the city, then the state of New York, and then as his yell reached its climax, finally over the entire northern hemisphere. The glowing power even engulfed the Devourer of Worlds and his Worldship. The whole Earth shook violently, and some cars down on street level even began to float upwards.

His power was felt far beyond the confines of Earth. In Asgard all the Asgardian gods turned their attention to Midgard, the realm of Earth, in disbelief at the power that was being unleashed. On Mount Olympus all were in shock wondering what sort of new god with such terrible strength had arrived on the planet to upset the balance. Beings of great power across the cosmos took notice of this display of power, some simply making note of another event in the universe, others considering the ramifications to their own interests in this unique planet.

Finally, with a burst of blindingly brilliant light, Goku was fully transformed. Abruptly, the shaking of the world ceased. A great glowing cascade of golden hair ran down the entire length of his back. His once slender physique now bulged with musculature.

The home of the Fantastic Four still stood. Several smaller buildings surrounding them would have sustained serious damage were it not for the Invisible Woman bracing them with her force fields. Johnny Storm had been physically blown backwards until he had been caught and steadied by the Silver Surfer. In the laboratory, Reed Richards was lamenting the damage to his systems. Virtually all his scanning equipment had been damaged from proximity to that release of power.

In this, his most powerful form, Goku looked up to the mighty Galactus without a hint of fear. Boldly, he called out his challenge. "I've been told you have come to this world to destroy it and end all life here. Well, I'm not going to let you do that. I'm going to give you the chance to turn around, go back to your ship, and leave in piece." Goku's gaze was intense. "If you do not, I will destroy you. I will not allow the innocent people of this world to be harmed."

A moment passed before the incredible titan replied. "Do not interfere, traveler. This is not your world or even your universe. I HUNGER and I MUST feed. Be gone from here and I will forgive your insolence towards me this time." Galactus' gaze bore down into Goku from above.

Goku did not waver. "No way. If you won't turn aside from this course, then I must stop you." With that, Goku began to charge his attack, his voice taking on an otherworldly echo.

"Kaaa…. meeeeeeeee…." an intense ball of blue formed in Goku's hands. The power of the ball crackled in intensity. This was clearly several orders of magnitude greater than the first. "….haaaaaaa…meeeeeeeeeeee…." Galactus looked down on the minute form charging a vast power. For a moment, Galactus considered scrambling his molecules. Instead, though, he began to reach his giant arm forwards. "HAAAAA!" screamed Goku as he released his full power.

The beam raced up under the outstretched arm of Galactus to strike the colossus in the chest, the beam wide enough to cover its entirety and yet incredibly dense. Galactus began to be pushed backwards by the great concussive force. The world devourer exerted all his effort to resist the tide of that power. Seeing this, Goku shouted, "FULL POWER!" and the beam doubled in intensity, the saiyan exhausting all his stores in this single epic attack. The mighty saiyan maintained the beam of energy, by far the greatest release of ki ever witnessed in the Marvel Multiverse.

Galactus was flung back away from the planet. He resisted the press of the beam, yet still he was knocked back until he was finally pushed back to the great bulk of Taa II. There he was held until Goku's massive strength gave out.