Panacea and I stared as Bob showed me a bright blue floating above the palm of his hand. He was struggling, and the light was flickering in and out. But it was there. Ki.

We stood together in Piggot's office. The others, Assault, Miss Militia, Glory Girl, Velocity, and Armsmaster, stood behind us, while Bob was in front of Piggot's desk as she watched.

"How much?" I asked Panacea. While my new power boost had increased my abilities, she was still my better in ki sensing.

"Less than Vicky, more than Armsmaster."

"Wait, you mean I can do that too?" Glory Girl asked as she watched on curiously.

"Technically any human with a martial arts background and tons of willpower can," I said as Bob released the energy. He staggered back, nearly falling, but Velocity sped forward to catch him. "At least, that's the theory."

"Consider the theory confirmed." Piggot turned her eyes to me, her chubby face set into a glare. "Today has me worried and elated. On the one hand, the five of you were involved in one of the largest busts we've had in a very long time. Lung is now in a cell, with foam containment guns pointed at him. The highest ranking members of the Merchants are imprisoned. And while Kaiser still roams free, we've got Hookwolf and Rune."

Piggot smirked. "Good work."

We all glanced at each other, shocked. "Uh... thank you?" Assault tried. "Am I... saying that right?"

Piggot's smirk fell away. "However, there are two things. First," she looked at me, eyes hard as katchin. "I heard about how you got injured. I expect I don't need to tell you this, as I'm sure your beating yourself up about all ready. But I'll say it anyway. The next time you fight? End it. No one liners, no long speeches, no monologuing. Do your job. Leave the theatrics and showboating to television. Because if I hear you got as injured as you did against Lung because you became obsessed with talking him to death, I'll make sure the only food you get for the next week will be bland protien bars."

I gasped. Later I'd laugh at how seriously I took the threat. But dang it, the three things I cared about thanks to my Saiyan blood were fighting, good food, and breaded eggs. Uh, I mean, fighting while eating good food. I nodded quickly even while Assault chuckled behind me.

"Second, this ki mess." Piggot looked over at Bob, who looked both exhausted and sad. "Bob somehow managed to develop this ability on his own. This could be a huge crisis. We need to look into it further. Did he gain this from mere proximity to you? Did it just activate from his training? Could others in the world develop the same power? Or is your presence making it appear in our city on its own?"

I had to agree with her. A world of ki users sounds cool on paper. But for every Gohan, Goku, and Krillin, there's a dozen Mercenary Taos. Bad people weren't created by shards alone after all. Anyone with a rough childhood knows how close to the edge all people are to becoming someone else.

I'm a Saiyan after all. And in the end, there were more stories of the evil Saiyan race then there are of good ones.

"I agree." I stepped forward, turning to look at everyone. "Ki is one of the most powerful things in existence. It's pure life energy. Potentially infinite."

"How do you know that?" Armsmaster asked.

"I just do." Not a lie, and not a fact. Hopefully enough to fool his lie detection tech. "But I can tell you one thing. Any person with the will to do it can eventually become as strong as I am. And even stronger than that. Willpower is something that anyone can have a heck of a lot of."

I let that sink in for a moment before continuing. "So. What should we do?"

Piggot frowned. "I'd suggest treating them the same as any parahuman."

I barked out a laugh. "That won't work. Ki users won't be people who've triggered. Just any person in the world with athletic ability. A soldier, housewife, and teenager are all just as capable of developing this as anyone else in the world. They just need the will and ability to fight."

"You're saying that this could be a new rise of Parahumans?" Piggot's pinched face told me how she felt about that.

"Not quite," I pointed at Bob and Panacea. "Amy was a superhero long before meeting me. She has unbelievable discipline. Bob had the body of an Olympian, and degrees in fields I've never heard of. Both had plenty of willpower. And they only learned when I joined them. But, if someone is lucky enough..."

"Will they be capable of the same growth as you?" Armsmaster asked.

"No. Nowhere near as fast. My body is built to use ki, to produce it like an engine." I frowned then, looking at everyone. "Okay, seriously. Why are you guys taking me at face value right now?"

"We aren't," Armsmaster said simply. "But right now, you're the only person whose powers allow any insight into this. While it does sound... odd-"

"Crazy more like," Velocity mumbled.

"The sheer possibility is enough for us to listen." Armsmaster continued. "The facts require us to look at all insights. Dr. Stone and Panacea are both exhibiting abilities neither has any reason to. Even if you turn out to be wrong, I'd rather hear all theories." He frowned. "That said, you probably are wrong."

"You sweetheart you," I responded flatly.

"Enough," Piggot interjected. "We need to start testing. Wukong. You'll start training Bob. We'll also have our scientists choose some candidates for testing."

"I can help coordinate the testing?" Bob suggested.

"No," Piggot's eyes narrowed. "As it is, you are one of the test subjects, as is Panacea. We'll need to more Parahuman's as well."

I frowned. "You aren't about to chain us up in a room are you?" She frowned right back at me. She was better at it. "Can't we get some time to celebrate? I feel like we got a big win today. We caught Lung! And Hookwolf! Two of the most dangerous changers in the city. Plus the Merchants I guess."

"Right!?" Glory Girl said with a grin. "Lets party!"

"Pizza," Assault said sagely, crossing his arms. "This requires pizza and soda."

"And spaghetti. And burgers. And a huge amount of salad. And-"

As I continued to mumble the food I wanted, Miss Militia stepped forward with a sigh. "Ma'am, while I feel they could more... respectful, in their request, I do agree that this was a win today. Maybe it would be good to let them enjoy the moment?"

Piggot stared at us. I grabbed Assault and Panacea, pulling them alongside me as I did my best puppy eyes. Assault followed suit. Panacea rolled her eyes.

It was enough. Piggot finally nodded with a sigh. "Fine. Go. I'll have our scientists work up a program to study this. Armsmaster?"

"I'll aid them." He responded easily. "I've already come up with a prototype to sense ki. This program will allow me to refine it further."

"Very well." Piggot eyed us. "Dismissed."

"We'll meet in the training room." Assault said. "I just need to order the pizza. How about you two? You need to call your parents?"

Panacea nodded as Glory Girl chatted with Velocity further down the hallway we all stood in. Armsmaster had left.

"Yes," she sighed. "Though I don't think she'll let us." She gave me a look.

"I know." I nodded at my student. "Don't worry. I'll party enough for us both."

She didn't laugh, but managed a sad smile. She walked off to join Vicky. Assault looked at me, then nodded, leaving to order the food. I turned and walked towards the training room, ignoring the woman walking by me.

Body-Read let me know what she was thinking however. And when Miss Militia finally spoke, I know what she'd say.

"It isn't your fault," she said.

"It is," I responded. "If it wasn't for me, ki would never be a thing."

"You can't know that." Miss Militia sped up a bit to catch up with me as I spun around a corner. "Gohan, you can't control the world. How do you know this ki thing isn't just a natural phenomena. Hell, even if it is because of your abilities, it's not like it's your fault."

I held back a scoff. Of course it was my wasn't my fault. It was the fault of whatever had dropped me into this world. They'd left me in a Saiyan body, then somehow sent ki into every person in this universe. Or on the other hand, somehow changed ki into something more similar to DBZ. After all, my home universe had buddhist monks, people who could supposedly use ki to attain superhuman feats.

Either way, my mere existence was somehow connected to ki. And that wasn't all.

"Did Panacea tell you that Lung almost killed me?"

I looked over at her. Miss Militia was still striding forward confidently, but I could read a bit of sadness in the set of her shoulders. "Yes. You okay?"

"No," I said, a dark filling me. "I was stupid. I decided lecturing Lung was a good idea, when I should have beaten him like a rented drum and covered him in six feet of containment foam."

"Yeah, you should have," Miss Militia gave me a smirk. "Stupid of you not to."

Even with all my anger, I still managed a reluctant chuckle. "Either way, I need to train. I need to be ready for what comes next."

"And what is that?"

I stopped. She took a few more steps, turning to look at me. I met her eyes over her American flag scarf. She was smiling just a bit. I loved that smile.

"I want to kill an Endbringer."

Her smile froze. Pity that. It made her sort of intimidating.

After a few hours of pizza and drinks, I worked. I grabbed my laptop, sat down in the corner of my room, and started to write.

I needed a new training plan. I needed to get a handle on whatever the Zenkai boost had given me, and I needed to get even stronger. And, last but not least, I needed to figure out how to make true ki techniques.

No. Actually, I needed to go a step further.

I needed to go Super Saiyan.

And then, there were two other problems.

First, I wanted to find and speak with Taylor. Easy enough. A quick internet search led me to Danny, and his contact info was public thanks to his position in the union. I had to be careful to use searches that weren't too suspicious of course, considering that Dragon could check my history and might ask odd questions. Easy enough though. I went from 'Brockton landmarks', to 'Boat Graveyard', to Danny Hebert. Not even six degrees of separation. Then again, I also wanted to get a message from the Undersiders. I may not truly need them, but they were still numbers. And numbers have value in any war.

Second, something was coming.

I could feel it in the air. A threat was circling the water, headed for me. I had no idea why I felt that. Hell, it could have been the normal Worm craziness. But even as I sat there, typing out a plan, I knew that someone, or something, was planning to kill me and mine.

But who?

In a motel on fire, a young girl sneezed. She blinked, confused, before shrugging and returning to her work. The flesh under her fingers twitched with every press of the sewing needle as she hummed a cute tune, her blonde hair swinging.

As she worked on the person before her, the sounds of cackling laugh echoed around her. The smell of blood and ash filled the air.

The next day, people would find the horrific remains of the roadside motel, and the people who'd once rested and worked with. Until then, a little girl created her next artpiece.

"Is this place?" Assault asked me. We stood in a suburban neighborhood, looking at one house in particular. He was on his motorcycle, I had run, and we were both dressed in our costumes.

In my case, I used a copy of my destroyed armor, since the newest iteration was still being created. This version's chest was more of a skintight spandex thing, but still pretty tough. Showed a lot more of my body then I wanted it too though.

"According to his coworkers," I looked over at my friend. "Dude, why didn't they believe me over the phone?"

"Because you called them saying, and I quote, 'hi, I'm the superhero Sun Wukong, I wanted to ask your boss something,'" Assault said with a smirk.

"So the problem is?" I quipped. As I did so, my eyes didn't leave the house.

"Bro, are you nervous?" Assault leaned back in his motorcycle seat, crossing his arms as a shit-eating grin grew on his face.

"No!" I winced.

"Riiiiight."

His skepticism was well-earned. I really was nervous.

I looked over at him. "Assault... when I asked Piggot about this, why'd you volunteer?"

He blinked. "Well... cause you're my friend. Why else?"

For some reason, that calmed me. I walked forward. Across the sidewalk. Up the steps, avoiding the faulty one. And up to the door. I knocked, and tried to hold back my excitement.

"I've got it!" A voice, female, called out from inside. My breath quickened, and I quickly entered a meditative state, trying to relax again. Footsteps came up to the door. Moments later, the door open.

She was tall. Her hair was long, black, and curly falling over skinny shoulders. Her lips were thin. She was wearing a pair of glasses, sweatpants, and a brown hooded sweatshirt over a green t-shirt.

We stared at each other for a moment, probably feeling the same sort of awe. The awe you feel when meeting someone who is not only famous, but also famous for good reasons.

"Uh... hi," I said softly.

"Urk," she said back. For some reason, her eyes kept flickering down at my skin-tight suit.

"Taylor?" A man's voice said from deeper in the house. "Who... urk."

Like daughter, like father.

"Hello, sir." I said respectfully. "I'm Sun Wukong. I was hoping to speak with you?"

"I uh..." The pair of them shared a look before he spoke again. "Sure?"