A PRT van rolled up later to start picking up the baddies. An ambulance came before that, followed by several others. Assault and Battery wanted to go back and report, but I couldn't help but feel we should do something to help with recovery. I had no idea why the other superhumans looked so surprised at the idea, but they agreed the instant I suggested it.

I ended up picking up cars off people alongside Glory Girl and Battery. I did a lot of the work by necessity. While Glory Girl and Battery were either strong enough or could become strong enough to match me, and Battery could become more than fast enough to outpace me at times, I had a stable balance of strength and speed to take advantage of.

That was soured by the fact that Glory Girl was flying. Now that I wasn't in combat, watching her swoop through the skies with a proud smile was both awesome, and damn galling. I resolved to learn how to master my ki as soon as possible.

Still, I had a lot to think about. One thing on my mind was new techniques. Watching the various parahumans in action had been amazing. Battery's charge up, Assault's kinetic absorbtion, Glory Girl's instinctive flight speed, and Stormtiger's air blasts. Some part of me burned to find out if they could be replicated. More than that, I wanted to see if they could become better, if I could teach others somehow. Battery's charge up was strong, but it bothered me that it could only work in short bursts. Stormtiger's blasts were great at long range, but they'd be even better if he used air currents to speed up his movements, or kept his claws to simply slash things at close range.

But how I was I to know how their powers worked? Did shards (Or Cauldron serums in Battery's case) have a lot of room for development across the range? Could they train and develop their powers? Or was there a cap? And hell, should I even try?

In the end, the fight against the Endbringers and Scion was coming. I'd made no plans to really face them other than getting strong enough myself. But what if I could take it a step further? Start training people, do more than rescue people like Dinah Alcott, Amy Dallon, and Taylor Hebert, by helping them become powerful to stand on their own?

Not to mention those who were in various stages of jeopardy right now. Theo Anders was still trapped in the Empire 88. Garrote was still in an insane asylum because she couldn't control her powers. Bonesaw was still under Jack Slash's thumb.

Though if the last was really in jeopardy or needed to get taken care of was up for debate.

I needed to start long-term planning. Stop thinking like Vegeta or Goku. Go for a different alien. Piccolo. The tactician, the guy who was hailed as the most conniving bastard in the Z-fighters. I needed to decide what to do about the greater threats I knew about, and begin tracks on seeing if I could train others up. Because as things were, a lot of shit was coming that I wouldn't be able to stop by just punching it to death.

I sighed, drawing a glance from Battery.

"You all right?" She asked me.

"Yeah, just thinking of what I have to do next."

The superheroine nodded, apparently understanding my mood, even if she didn't know the full details. She sped away when she noticed Assault trying to get an older man out of his car, leaving me to work.

I pushed another car out of the way so that the PRT could bring in another van to pick up some of the Empire guys. Glory Girl dropped down next me, an unconscious bald white man and Asian man in each hand.

"How did this all start?" I asked her, shocked at how many gangsters there seemed to be.

"Don't know," She said casually. "Me and my sister were shopping, then some ABB guys started acting tough with an Empire guy. I don't know why they were in the same territory, but the next thing I know I had to get costumed up."

At the mention of her costume I remembered something from earlier. "By the way," I looked her over. She didn't seem to mind, cocking a hip proudly and placing a fist on it as she smirked at me. "Why the tiara?"

"Huh?" She blinked, apparently not expecting my question, then reached up to touch her golden crown. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know, just throws me for some reason." I said. "Looks good though. Plus maybe you can do a little moon tiara action." I mimed grabbing a tiara off my head and throwing it. "Get all Sailor Moon on bitches."

"The hell is Sailor Moon?" Glory Girl asked.

I wanted to explain the humor. Here I was, the closest thing to Goku in this universe, and I was trying to make Glory Girl my Sailor Moon. The nineties anime rivalry reborn.

"Vicky," Someone called out. "Where were you? You disappeared in the middle of everything."

We both turned, and a soft smile appeared on my face. Panacea.

She looked much the same as the last time I'd seen her, though she had obviously gotten some sleep since that time. She still looked exhausted, but the fact the ambulances seemed to only be carrying wounded gangsters in handcuffs told me why.

"Hey Ames!" Glory Girl hopped over to join her sister. I hung back, letting the two sisters chat.

"Defiant." Battery said, jogging up to me. "We got everyone squared away. The PRT are going to transport the unpowered gangsters to the police station. They want us to go with Stormtiger, make sure no one tries to break him out."

"Sounds good." I said.

"Good." She looked around. "Best we can guess, Stormtiger was supposed to give his people an escape route. The other Empire escaped in unmarked vehicles, so I'd say he came in with one of the others, they organized a retreat, and he was supposed to join them later."

"Why even start this though?" I looked to my right. Battery looked as well.

We both stared at body bags. Filled with civilians and gangsters alike. Maybe twenty-five in all. I'd never seen so many dead bodies. I didn't look over at the place I'd thrown up earlier. The sight of blood, brains, and the smell of voided bowels had forced me to speed over to a tree where no one could see me.

The sight of the bags being picked up and put into morgue vans sickened me further, but I pushed it away. Battery patted my shoulder, sighing a bit as we watched. Someone tapped my other shoulder, and I turned around to see the smiling Glory Girl.

"So, this is Panacea!" She said, twirling her cape aside to show her sister behind her. "Ames, this is—"

"You!" The small biomancer squeaked. Then she looked down, eyes widening, before bouncing her eyes up to stare very pointedly at my face.

"Sup." I said awkwardly, rubbing the back of my head. "How are you?"

"G-Good!" She stuttered, apparently unable to focus. "Where is your shirt?"

"Destroyed." I said. "Stormtiger apparently works for the fashion police, because the first thing he did was rip it apart."

"Wait, he hit you directly?" Battery asked, worried.

I was going to explain I was okay, but Glory Girl had a more important question on her mind.

"You know each other?" She stared between her sister and myself suspiciously.

"He's the guy, remember?" Amy whispered. Victoria stared at her sister blankly. "You know. When I called you to the clinic. The one with the…" She waved a hand behind her, trying to mimic my tail.

"Monkey Cape!" Glory Girl said, sounding delighted. "That's you?"

"What, did you tell everyone before me Kong?" Assault came up and wrapped an arm around my shoulders. "I'm hurt."

My tail tightened around me in a comforting hug. I threw my head back and sighed.

"We live in a world of giant monsters, supermodels who can punch through steel, and little girls who can kick a grown man's ass with their thoughts. Me having a tail cannot be such a big deal."

"I was more talking about you turning into a giant monkey." Assault said.

"You can what!?" Glory Girl and Panacea said in unison, the former in awe and the latter in shock.

Suddenly Assault was yelping, trying not to move too much. Battery had his ear in a pincer grip, her face stern as she tugged. "Honey, let's not spit out everything about our friend before he can be announced, hmm?"

"Y-yes Puppy!" Assault said in a stammer of pain. Battery let go, and he immediately started rubbing his ear. "Damn! Should we talk about domestic abuse charges?"

Glory Girl and I watched the whole thing with wide grins on our faces.

"Excuse me?" I turned back to Panacea. She fidgeted slightly, but there was a strength in her eyes I had to approve of. "I need to ask you questions umm…" She looked up questioningly.

"Defiant or Kong for now." I told her. "Assault's called me both today."

"Kong." Panacea nodded slowly. "Can we talk in private?"

Intrigued, I gave her a nod. Glory Girl looked between us. "Ames…"

"It's okay Glory Girl." Panacea said firmly. "I just want to know something."

-

We walked over to a spot behind a van. Panacea seemed to concentrate, then nodded. "Okay, there's no one around."

"You can check that?" I asked her. "Huh. I didn't know you could use your powers that way."

"I couldn't." She looked up at me. "Well, I could, but this is different. When I healed you. Something changed. I could sense something in people." She took a deep breath. "I don't know how to explain it. Like a light, inside people. It can big, or small. But everyone has it."

There was confusion for a moment. That didn't sound like anything Panacea had been able to do in the books, or even the fanfics. She could only sense biological things, like how someone's heartbeat was doing. This sounded more like—

I almost fell over from the shock of realization. Ki. Panacea was sensing ki.

"Holy…" I opened and closed my mouth.

"You know what it is!" Panacea must have seen what I was thinking on my face. She grabbed my arm. "I hoped you would! What is the light?"

Shit. What was I supposed to do here? Panacea sensing ki? Did that mean she could learn to fight with it?

For an absurd moment I considered how she would look bald.

I discarded the thought and focused. "You can sense what I have inside me?"

She frowned, then closed her eyes. "It's a lot. More than anyone else I've felt."

Is it wrong to feel proud of something like that?

"What is it?" She asked me again.

"It's… it's power. Life itself in a sense." I shook my head. "Honestly, I wasn't sure other people would have it. The fact they do is actually pretty welcome, as surprises go."

"What's it called?" She asked. Her voice sounded eager, like she was on the cusp of a great realization.

On a whim, I accessed a skill I'd learned from Crane and Alexandria's videos. Crane seemed to have an instinct for the movement of others, while Alexandria was able to read body language to understand opponents. I doubt I could use it to the same extent they did, as their thinker powers no doubt allowed them to come up with conclusions I wouldn't be able to, but it was enough to figure out some things. From what I could figure out, the difference between what I'd learned and could actually do was very different.

The best description I can give is martial arts related. In ancient times, the first martial artists took inspiration from the animals around them. They couldn't mimic the claws, muscles, and instincts of those animals. But they could learn from their example. If a tiger lunged a certain way, using gravity to assist in the blow, a martial artist could do the same thing.

That was what my powers had done with Alexandria and Crane. I had none of the powers that let them do their thing. But I could copy the way they studied their opponents, the way they focused in on certain details to predict the next move, and use that as a base to body-read a person at a very rudimentary level.

I hadn't used it in the fight as reading body language is useless when everyone is moving in slow motion to you. So I was surprised at how much information I was getting. Granted, I was simply looking at what was important and using my own experiences to decide on what it meant, but I promised myself to grab some texts on body language to improve the ability.

From Panacea, I got a few things. She was a bit nervous about me, if I was dangerous, but not too much. There was a discipline there. She was sweet, but also carried a ruthlessness I really liked. She was hopeful as well.

Huh. Why hopeful?

I had to dig deeper.

"It's called ki." She mouthed the word to herself. "And it doesn't just sit inside people. You can learn to control it." I smiled. "You can even learn to fly."

The idea seemed to shock her to her core. Wait, it really did shock her, Alexandria had shown me how to read the signs. Then she cocked her head in adorable confusion. "Wait, you're a Trump? You can give people powers with this stuff?"

"Ha! No, any person who's been educated can learn to use it." I rubbed her head affectionately. "I'm just a dude. But I can tell you this. If you come to PRT Headquarters tomorrow, we can figure this out."

"…and you can really teach me how to fly?" There was a desperation there. The kind any kid feels at the thought. She may have been a badass teen superhero, but every kid in the world wants to fly.

Me included.
Still, there was a hesitation as well. The thought was big. Possible, in the world of Earth-Bet though.

"Come by tomorrow." I told her in response.

Hopefully I'll at least be able to sense ki like you can by then.

Seriously, it was unfair that she wasn't even a fan of Dragon Ball and she still learned how to sense ki before me.

"So… you can feel it in everyone, right?" I asked, making sure.

"Hmm?" She'd looked up, probably imagining flying through the air, but lowered her eyes to meet mine. "Oh, yeah. It's… amazing." She smiled.

"I bet." I pushed down my jealousy and sighed. "It's pretty cool though. No matter the person, no matter the stuff they've done in their life, hardened criminal, normal person, or superhero, we all have a light inside us."

"That's… an odd way of thinking of it." She sounded like I was about to say something crazy.

"Not really." I looked over my shoulder. Some more ABB guys were being put away about twenty feet away. "I mean, look at those guys. They live in a city with no work, and they end up working for a guy who would torch them if they even thought of leaving. If they want to get food for their families, they have to sell drugs, or worse, fight guys like Stormtiger. But they have that light anyways."

"They had a choice." I turned to look at Panacea. She was staring at the gangsters with an anger I hadn't expected. "They could have found work! They could have left! They choose to be gangsters." She looked at me. "They're criminals."

"…Can you feel their ki?" She frowned, but nodded. "Then understand this. Ki is potential. It is life. It is power, and like all power it is shaped as much by the environment around it as the container that guides it. And the fact is, sometimes people find themselves getting into a crappy place for reasons they can barely understand, so they waste their potential.

"I mean, think about some villains." I told her. "Parahumans have to trigger in traumatic ways. So a lot of us end up hurting someone without meaning to the first time, and that ends up marking them. We don't get a lot of leeway in court, and if we kill someone..."

"That doesn't mean you should become a villain!" Panacea said.

"You're right… it doesn't." I shrugged. "I'm not saying you should go easy on bad guys. Just remember that they're humans that make mistakes. Some are like Kaiser, and don't deserve mercy. But others are just people in a tough spot. Hell, you think because someone robs a bank, they won't buy ice cream for a kid? Al Capone was an asshole, but he still opened the first soup kitchen."

"Really?" She asked.

"Well, one of the first, I think." I said. "As heroes, I think part of our job as heroes is to be both an example and a wall. We need to show them there's a better path, and help them once they find it."

"…I don't know if it's that complicated." She said. "My mom has always told me that there are good guys and bad guys."

I chuckled. "Well, sometimes it is that simple. But you can sense ki now. You can see the beauty that is every man, woman, and child on the planet. The fact is, humans are anything but simple. We are a complex bunch. We protect people we're jealous of, love someone even as we hate them for making us love them so much," She flinched, eyes widening up at me. I continued as though I hadn't noticed. "And can be strong when we're at our weakest."

There was a peace in me. I really did believe what I was saying, and that made it easier. "I'm glad things aren't always black and white. Humanity has never been something that can be explained in two colors. We are an infinite tapestry, floating against the infinite blackness, screaming with happiness, love, hate, and sadness in a loud burst of noise." I smiled at her. "And ki, the fact it shines in all of us, is just proof of that to me."

I patted her shoulder. "Anyways, thanks for listening to my weird theories. See you tomorrow."

Then I skipped away, because why the heck not?

-

"Good job with Stormtiger." Piggot said.

I was standing next to Assault and Battery. I was on Assault's right, Battery was on his left, and we were all facing Piggot and Armsmaster. I'd borrowed a bulletproof vest from a PRT Guard, and was wearing that.

"Thank you ma'am." I said.

"That said," Her voice was icy, angry. "You ran in on your own, disobeying an order to pull back, then did so again when warned against engaging a veteran parahuman alone."

"In my defense ma'am, I had Glory Girl with me."

She cocked an eyebrow. "And would you say her aura affected your judgement?"

That was something that made me think. Had Glory Girl's aura affected me? Or was that just normal Saiyan confidence? God, it was actually pretty disheartening to think that I could be getting influenced from multiple directions.

"Possibly ma'am, but I wouldn't blame her." I said honestly. "If her aura did push me to overconfidence, it was to a decision that I would have made regardless, and I'll defend it if you like."

"Hmm." She leaned a hand on her face, eyes digging into mine. For some reason she wasn't as intimidating as the last time we met, but I decided to treat her with respect no matter what.

"Explain that." Armsmaster said. He'd been silent for most of the meeting, ignoring the jaunty greeting Assault gave him in favor of looking at us seriously. "Why do you believe that was the right decision?"

"…If I hadn't jumped in—the way I did with Glory Girl—there was a chance Stormtiger would have attacked civilians. The Empire were pulling out, but I didn't know that. According to the information I had, they were moments from getting more parahuman assistance. So I acted to take down Stormtiger so that I could remove him as a threat from the field."

"Ma'am." Assault stepped in. He sounded oddly serious. Piggot looked over at him, then nodded. "Battery and me weren't on the field, but security footage we were shown says that his read on the situation was solid. Kong did good work, and between him and Glory Girl smashing their forces, the ABB and Empire didn't do as much damage as they could have. If he'd waited for us, then…" He shrugged, leaving the rest unsaid.

"And do you agree?" Piggot looked at Battery, who looked thoughtful.

"Even with our motorcycles, we couldn't match Gohan's speed. I've seen him at his fastest, and I'd need time to charge my powers for about a minute to outpace him. If Velocity had been there then he could have been there in time. But as it is, we had civilians in the field, and someone who managed to reach them in time to save lives."

"Not fast enough." I said softly. The image of body bags set next to each other haunted me. A small grinding sound brought my gaze to my fist. The knuckles had gone white. I loosened it, growling a bit.

"Very well." Piggot took a folder off a massive pile of them and opened it. "There is something else. You were apparently filmed on a camera phone. Footage of you has leaked on the internet."

"Really?" I said.

"Really." Armsmaster said. "There's been some outcry. While you were hard to catch on camera, more than a few people got good angles. The footage of you breaking arms and legs has brought some negative attention."

"Yes," Piggot raised an eyebrow at me. "Most of the public who has been following things seem to like you, but there are some who are calling your actions excessive."

"And what do you two think?" I asked.

"Be more careful next time." Armsmaster said. "We can't let the public see us as violent or untrustworthy. I can understand putting down a threat hard, but we have dozens of men and women from both gangs being treated for broken bones and concussions."

Piggot looked at Armsmaster, then sighed. "I'd say, considering how many people were in that parking lot, and the fact there was no way of knowing how long each gangster could have been knocked out for, finishing them in such a brutal way was the only to prevent them from attacking other civilians while your back was turned."

"Ma'am?" Armsmaster asked, surprised.

"Yes, PR is important." Piggot said, though she seemed somewhat irritated by that fact. "But as it is, we can call this a win for us. We arrested a good chunk of both gangs, Stormtiger is in custody, and all anyone can talk about is Assault, Battery, Glory Girl, and Kong fighting to protect Brockton."

"Kong?" I asked, startled.

Piggot smirked. "Apparently Assault's nickname for you was recorded." Assault smirked so wide I could almost hear his cheek muscles stretch. She sighed. "Is there anything else?"

"Yes, actually." I said.

"And what is that?" Piggot said.

"I've invited Panacea over for a training session." Might as well be honest about this. "I believe another part of my powers might be available. According to her, I have an energy inside me. Something similar to the theory of life energy in martial arts mythology."

"What, like the Force?" Assault asked.

"Kinda." They had Star Wars here? Guess they weren't complete barbarians. "But this is only a theory. Still, with Panacea I think I'll be able to know for sure."

Piggot stared at me for moment. Then she looked over at Armsmaster. "I'd like you to monitor their session. Create sensors as well. If he does have a power source within him, I want to know about it."

"Yes, ma'am." Armsmaster said.

I couldn't help it.

"And let me know if I get over nine thousand."

He stared at me, confused.

Barbarian.

-

A while later Assault and Battery escorted me to the cafeteria. We were followed by two PRT guards, rather than the four I'd gotten used to. I decided to spend my time walking there trying to get to know them.

"So we can talk now right?" I asked one of them.

"Technically we were always allowed to talk to you." The voice was slightly muffled, but clearly male. "We just aren't allowed to be unprofessional, sir."

"That makes sense I guess." We turned another corner. "So can we talk while you guys are off-duty? I mean, we're going to be working together. We should probably get to know each other."

"I don't know," Assault had apparently been listening in. "For some reason the guys up top don't like Parahumans and PRT getting friendly."

"Why not?"

"I don't know, maybe they think we'll end up giving them powers by proxy or something."

It took me a moment to come up with a theory of my own. The director of the PRT was also a Cauldron member. So maybe Contessa saw something that made keeping a distance between the two groups important.

"Well damn, that's bullshit." I growled, raising my hands up to wrap them around the back of my head. "We are literally fighting the worst people on the planet. Hell, the supervillains here either outnumber us, or can take on Leviathan. And we're supposed to ignore you guys?" I directed the last to my PRT guards. "Hell, we should be training together! Figuring out ways to back each other up! I bring the muscle, you guys bring the foam!"

"That wouldn't be a bad idea." Battery said thoughtfully. "I do want to say that you should maintain some distance."

I sighed, but felt better when we got to the cafeteria. The room smelled like old food, plastic, and spices. The floor was made of blue linoleum, the tables were red plastic things similar to what you would find in hospitals, the room was half full of people, and the food looked amazing under the fluorescent light bulbs. I ignored everything in favor of heading to the buffet and piling two trays full of food.

You have no idea how disappointed I was at the fact physics refused to let me pile my food three feet high. I thought it would work, but apparently being a Saiyan didn't let me follow anime physics, so I decided I'd settle for one foot.

When I got to a table, Assault and Battery had waved over Miss Militia and two others who'd entered.

"Gohan," Battery said as I sat down. "I'd like you to meet Velocity—"

"Hi." The super-speedster held out a hand and gave me a polite smile.

"You already met Miss Militia."

"Gohan." The scarfed hero nodded.

"And Dauntless."

The other hero had a lance and shield on his back, and a wide grin on his face. "So you're the new guy, huh? Heard you took down Stormtiger."

"With Glory Girl, yeah." Honestly, I didn't even feel proud. Not because it hadn't felt cool, because I feel like I looked really badass after beating my first supervillain.

But all that was ruined when I saw the bodies. All the people killed by gunfire and melee had been bad enough. Seeing the ones killed by air blasts slashing them to pieces and sending shards of concrete and steel into them had made me want to rip Stormtiger in half.

I pushed those thoughts away as fast as I could.

"Good work." Dauntless sat down and reached out for my tray, apparently ready to grab something off my plate.

I didn't say a word, instead emptying the tray he'd reached for into my mouth at super-speed, enjoying both the feeling of a mouth full of hot dogs and mashed potatoes and the look of shock on his face when his hand hit an empty plate.

Assault started laughing, and Dauntless chuckled, apparently not offended. "So, what is your powerset anyways? Super-strength and speed right?"

"Might be more actually." I said when I swallowed the food in my mouth. "I also ramp up. Kind of like you I guess, it just happens to my body instead of my stuff."

He gave me an odd look, his lips thinning, and his nose twitching. "How fast do you do it?"

"Well as long as I'm working out, it should be really fast." I said. "Combat increases my power too. And eating I guess." The last was a lie, I was hoping if I said that people would give me more food.

"…maybe you should slow down a bit there, bud." Dauntless said slowly.

I blinked at him around another delicious hot dog. He sighed, then got up. "I'm gonna head out."

Velocity watched him walk off, then turned to me. "He doesn't like you."

"Ha dazdt?" I swallowed, and tried again. "He doesn't? Why not?"

"I think he's gotten used to the idea he's going to be Triumvirate level one day." Miss Militia said.

"He's not a huge asshole about it or anything, but pretty much all anyone talks about is how he'll be the most powerful dude on the planet in a few years." Assault said.

"So, what, he thinks I'm competition?"

I'd never been competition before.

"Anyways, finish up and we can visit the Wards." Battery said.

"I'm going to be introducing you." Miss Militia said helpfully.

"Huh." I thought about that for a moment.

Then I looked at Miss Militia. My eyes went down to the knife I'd brought over for my steak. She followed my gaze. Her eyes widened when she saw the steak knife, then rose and narrowed at me. I reached out for the steak knife. She stared into my eyes. I stared back. Slowly I picked up the knife, and began to cut into my steak. She didn't move as I lifted up my portion and bit into it.

"What the hell is happening here?" Velocity asked Assault in the background.

"I don't know, but I feel like I should be filming this in case they start making out." Assault said.

I swallowed the steak wrong at that, and spent the next few seconds coughing out the steak as a worried Battery slapped my back.