Within the Neutral Territory lied a large city a handful of miles north of where the Plaza was. It was never given an official name, but most like to nickname it "Generic CIty". The name was, in a way, a rightful one- unlike other places, like, say, Neo Riot City, it looked like any other city in the world you might think of. Granted, it was populated by this universe's usual menagerie of diverse species; Granted, the vehicles consisted of a variety of both road-going and otherwise modes of transportation; Granted, some of its places contained technology unlike any you or i would see anywhere; but the skyscrapers were mostly colored a drab gray and were square-shaped and almost non-distinct from one another. The roads were, indeed, black with yellow and sometimes white strips in between, and the sidewalks were full of stuff like mailboxes, small food stands and kiosks, and the occasional streetlamp. Overall, it was as if it was trying to echo a piece of civilization in the ancient past, yet not interesting enough to be considered significant.

Yet, on this day, when the ground began to shake, all of that would change.

The tremors were small at first, practically unnoticeable. Seconds went by, however, and they became a little more stronger yet stranger with each one. Some citizens knew that the earthquakes were impossible to occur in their area, and they quickly noticed a pattern to the tremors. This wasn't some freak act of nature- these were footsteps.

Something was coming. And that something soon entered the city's outskirts.

K.O.'s excited smile did not falter as he made it to the not-so-big city. He stopped for a handful of seconds and took a good look at his small (to him) surroundings. "Wooow-wee!" he exclaimed. "This view is incredible!" The boy continued his walk, ignoring the screams that erupted at the sight of him.

Every footstep K.O. made created small craters on both the road and the sidewalk at the same time, and caused almost violent shaking, making it difficult for some to get far enough away from the giant. Occasionally his feet would carelessly crush either something as insignificant as a mailbox or fire hydrant, or something somewhat more significant as someone's parked car or bus.

Fortunately, nobody so far got seriously hurt, but that didn't stop the public from fearing K.O. After all, what city wouldn't if a towering titan entered it? This, however, wasn't the intention of the titan himself. He simply wanted to see what it was like to go around the city at a very large size. As more time went on, however, and K.O. really got around to his new size, that feeling of power he experienced the first few minutes of his re-growth seemed to slightly grow with him too.

That's why he got the idea to do the following.

K.O's eyes averted to a parked van near the sidewalk to his right. "Hmm, i wonder how far i can kick this with my new size?" He reached out his hand, grasped the van gently in his hand, and placed it closer to the middle of the road. The select and brave few who heard him and saw the giant do this action feared what was gonna happen next. And what happened next wasn't pretty, to say the least- he lifted his right foot back, balled his fists, getting into a readying pose. After taking a deep breath, K.O. immediately swung his foot, making contact with the vehicle with as much force as possible, launching it high to the sky, sending it out of the Earth's atmosphere and into the depths of space, narrowly missing a satellite.

While it certainly wasn't a big and explosive action, it was enough for K.O. to get even more hooked on his new-ish size. Never would he, at his normal size, launch such a heavy vehicle even with all the effort in the world. He was blinded by his newfound strength to realize what he had just done. K.O. had wanted many things, but now he wanted nothing more than to showcase his new power (at least, that's what he perceived it as).

"Haha!" K.O. exclaimed. "Everybody better watch out! Mega K.O. is in the house!" As he said this, he did the one-knee, arms-crossed-to-an-X pose usually reserved for hip-hop fans in the 90s. In response, one random civilian stopped running like a madman and went "Oh, come on! That's not even clever!"

K.O. continued to walk around, looking for stuff to do. Soon enough, he looked to his right, at a building just a little bit taller than him. Curiously, he extended his hand towards the side of the skyscraper facing him, guiding it to its middle part. From inside the building, many office workers, who just hours ago were expecting a day full of menial work, transformed their workplace floor into an insane asylum as they ran all over the place, screaming at the top of their lungs as K.O.'s gigantic approaching hand came into their view.

Once skin met skyscraper, the glass windows too weak to cut him, K.O. was able to grasp a chunk of the building, the rest of the structure surprisingly still standing. K.O. said, as he held the thankfully empty space, "Gosh, these builders really need to improve the sturdiness of their creations. Imagine what would happen if some kind of giant monster came and attacked it!" K.O. chuckled as he dropped the chunk on the ground, not knowing just how ironic his statement was.

Right after that incident, K.O.'s stomach began to growl. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Thy tummy requires fuel!" he walked around the city again, this time in search of a good place to find food. He first considered raiding a reasonably-sized grocery store. "Nah, too many choices." A few more steps later, he encountered a pizza place, which K.O. recognized as such through the obnoxiously large, yet not quite life-sized to him, plastic pepperoni pizza slice mounted on top. "Hmm… i dunno, that is a tantalizing offer, but i'm sorta hungry for another French delicacy. No, wait, was it Mexican? Ah, whatever. I know exactly what i'm talking about…" K.O. eyed another restaurant just a block away from the pizza place, which also had a big plastic replica of a certain type of food.

This time, however, it was his all-time favorite.

"Mmm… spaghetti…" K.O. said as he practically drooled, walking his way towards the poor, defenseless Italian restaurant. As the sound of his footsteps grew closer and closer, those inside, who just 10 minutes ago were enjoying themselves to some good ol' international cuisine, ran out the building in droves, screaming their heads off as the famished colossus approached.

Once the big boy got himself directly in front of the restaurant, he put both hands on the bottom of the fake plate of 'ghetti. Once the effigy was completely ripped out of the roof, K.O. tossed it aside, causing it to flatten two parked cars behind him. Even a child like K.O. wasn't stupid enough to mistake what was essentially a 3D sign made of metal and/or plastic for the real thing. Besides, he was sure that the potential smorgasbord of food inside would be much more filling.

Similar to how he broke the roof of Gar's practically clean off during his last time as a giant, K.O. dug his fingers inches below the part of the roof facing him, and lifted it as high as possible, leaving the interior intact. The place was pretty much empty, save for a group of cooks and waiters cowering in fear. Luckily for them, he wasn't intending to hurt or eat them like they assumed- in fact, he was hungry for something much more edible.

"Hi!" K.O. greeted the workers, giving them no other choice than to look up at him. "Give me all the spaghetti you have, please!" His request perplexed the workers amidst their collective fear. "Wait, what?" one of them said. "W-w-we can't do that!" said another. "Do you know how much time and resources that would take?"

At this size and with this much power, however, the famished K.O. wasn't going to take no for an answer. So, with his smile still eternally visible, he crushed the chunk of the roof his hand held into dust, not saying anything to make the contrast between his happy demeanor and his scary action seem all the more intimidating. This tactic ended up working in K.O.'s favor, as the people inside immediately got to work making his tall (no pun intended) order possible.

It only took a few minutes (and all of the cook's energy), but to K.O.'s delight tray after tray after tray of the famous noodle-sauce-meatball combination was wheeled out of the kitchen door and into the empty dining area. Despite him and the waiters being extremely out of breath, the chef was able to mutter a single sentence.

"*pant* One… *pant* order of every piece of… *pant* spaghetti… *pant *pant* we could muster…" The chef then face planted into the floor, a clear sign he was pretty checked out. But K.O. didn't seem too worried about him- he had more pressing issues to worry about, like whether or not this meal would satisfy his practically endless hunger!

With both hands, K.O. grabbed the three big moving shelves that contained the food, and immediately threw every piece of 'ghetti he could get into his mouth (yes, plates included). And it was certainly a lot- enough to feed every person who could fill the restaurant three times. As he swallowed the very delicious delicacy, K.O. utter a simple yet satisfying "Mmm…", despite the fact that, in reality, it only filled him up halfway. He wasn't bothered by that, though.

Having finished his meal, the gargantuan hero continued on his way… for at least three steps, before he started feeling weird- the exact same feeling from when he grew post-battle. He found the ground below him lowering, his excitement slowly increasing as he grew one foot, then another, then another.

"Hahaha, yes! More bigness! Ooh, i hope i get to outgrow the tallest building here!" K.O. exclaimed. Soon enough, the growth stopped. He didn't outgrow the tallest building in the city, but he certainly outgrew a lot of them. He was now a little over 250 feet, a far cry from his previous height of 150.

Unfortunately for everyone else, his sense of power also grew with him.

"Alright, little guys." K.O. said as he looked around, smiling. "I feel like i've been getting a little too easy on you. Now it's time i show you what i can really do with my new power!" The boy turned towards a skyscraper to his right and uppercut it across the air, never to be seen again as it soared into space. Understandably, this action made the citizens fear him even more than they already did.

Next, he started running as fast as he could through the strip of road ahead of him, causing a great amount of tremors and crushing a good handful of cars along the way (luckily all of their occupants were able to jump out of their vehicles in time). K.O. giggled to himself as he went, only stopping (or more specifically, skidding and sliding to a halt, his heels digging into the pavement) when his eyes caught a red-and-black train riding along a part of the road near the left sidewalk, one of those sleeker and smaller transit vehicles that glide on rails specifically place on the road.

"Won't you look at that…" K.O. said to himself, even though he was loud enough for everyone at a mile radius to hear. "I've been needing to practice my chopping skills somehow!" He quickly grabbed the train, ripping its cars from the tracks that contained it and creating even more fear from the already freaked out passengers inside. Then he held on to both ends of the vehicle, readying himself up for whatever he was gonna do. The action in question was, you guessed it:

Letting go of said ends, launching the cars slightly, and immediately slicing the train in half with a super-powerful chop! Cool as it was, however, it also resulted in major damage to the vehicle as it slammed into the ground.

Yes, it seemed the bigger K.O. got, the more careless he became. And we're not talking about being-all-clumsy careless. No, rather, he was too busy having fun/showing off his newfound strength to care about what or who he was harming. Whatever was affecting his body, also seemed to affect his mental state, only slightly, yet abnormal for those who knew the boy. Carnage was the result- the kind that would inevitably be covered on national news. And who better to cover that news than…

…

"Dynamite Watkins here coming to you live for ACTIOOOON NEEEEWS!" the intrepid and outgoing silvery-haired reporter exclaimed as she pulled a handful of air-punches and air-kicks, showcasing her high and confident energy as she and her camera-headed cameraman, Cam, did their on-the-field report in a part of the city K.O. hadn't touched yet.

"In extremely breaking news, the town of Generic City has become the center of an event that's anything but generic. Right now, it's being under attack- not by a creation of Boxmore, or by a creature from space." Dynamite spoke. "Believe it or not, the culprit is a gigantic 6-11 year old boy!" Those who watched the report on TV saw a picture of a smiling normal-sized K.O., taken while mopping the bodega floor, taking up a quarter of their screens. "The boy, identified as Kaio Kincaid, also known as 'K.O.', is well known as an employee of Gar's Bodega and Hero Supply, And, according to amateur video footage…" The screen then transitioned to camera footage of the fight between K.O. and the Obsidian clone. "... was apparently last seen saving Lakewood Plaza Turbo at his giant size. So, i ask, why is he now going on a non-heroic rampage?" The screen transitioned back to Dynamite. "Could he be brainwashed? Or has the power that comes with being large and in charge have gone into his brushy head? We got into contact with the person closest to him available at the moment, bodega owner Eugene Gar, who had this to say…"

Onscreen, the report transitioned to video feed of Gar speaking in front of Cam's POV outside the still-destroyed bodega. "Ah, well…" Gar started. "I wouldn't say this is the first time K.O. grew, but i suppose this is the first where he's used it for wrongful purposes. There are rumors going around that maybe the kid's under something, so i don't have the heart to fire him for all this. I am, however, considering docking his pay. That is all."

Back to Dynamite. "And that is all for me too, back to-" she was interrupted by loud footsteps, shaking the ground beneath her and almost making her and Cam fall over. Dynamite knew immediately where they were coming from.

"Oh! Looks like K.O. might be available for an impromptu up-close interview!" she exclaimed, still live. Indeed, the mega-kid had turned into the street the two were on, and stopped once his eyes met Dynamite's. "*gasp* Oh my cob! Dynamite Watkins!?" he exclaimed joyfully, his voice so loud the reporter had to cover her ears. "You must be here to document me and my amazing stature!" K.O. said in a boastful tone similar to Raymond's.

"More or less." Dynamite said. "Anyways, how would you like to do a-" "An interview!?" K.O. squealed. "Yes! Please, oh please! What's your first question?" K.O. crouched down to get closer to Dynamite and put his face onscreen without having Cam look up at him. "Well, i'd like to know what compelled you to create all this carnage!" Dynamite asked K.O., still in her determined and confident investigator mode.

"I don't know, honestly. Maybe it was from eating all that candy?" K.O. answered, a tiny bit bashfully. "You mean the candy that's been scientifically proven NOT to have 'compulsion to destroy towns' as a side effect? I have a hunch you're not telling the whole truth. Well, nothing's gonna stop me from getting said truth! Wanna know why, young man? Because…" Dynamite rapidly spun around a few times and aim her microphone directly at K.O., starting her signature move that always guarantees a non-deceitful answer…

"THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW!" she exclaimed as lightning generated around both her and the mic, then shot at K.O., who then…

Didn't say a word. Unless you count "Um…" as a word.

The two awkwardly stood there, Dynamite's move having had no effect, strangely. It was clear Dynamite rarely had this happen to her. But… how? The only way her powers would weaken was if there were no eyes on her, but she was on live TV for an official Action News report, so how come the boy wasn't spilling any truths?

"Uh… hehe…" Dynamite was close to losing her confidence, but wasn't ready to give up just yet. She took a deep breath and spun around again. "THE PUBLIC DESERVES TO KNOW!" As expected, the lightning shot out at K.O. again.

Still nothing.

"No comment… i guess?" was all K.O. had to say before Dynamite and Cam realized the heap of confusion and trouble they were in. The latter two looked at each other, and Dynamite immediately told Cam:

"Cut the feed! And run!"

…

It took a whole lot of running, and massive amounts of energy drained, but Enid, Rad, Carol and Dendy managed to follow K.O. all the way to the city. Unfortunately, they only made it a few yards into town before collapsing from exhaustion, leaving K.O. to begin his rampage. The group decided to relax at a surprisingly still intact (and packed) coffee shop, where they eventually ended up witnessing the Action News report covering their friend's shenanigans via TV.

"So whatever's affecting K.O. is also immune to truth-revealing abilities. Interesting…" Dendy said to herself. "Alright," Carol said to the rest of the group. "I cannot stress this enough: we need a game plan. We know someone put something in those candies to make him act like this and continue the growth process. I know this'll sound dumb, but let's start with the most obvious connection: Obsidian."

Enid and Rad groaned. "Come on!" Enid said. "That's so obvious! *mockingly* 'oh, all this weird stuff just so happened to happen after our battle with Obsidian'. That thing he sent was pretty strong, i think he won't need to worry about him and his failed little plans." "And besides," Rad joined in. "who else would want to control poor K.O. but Boxman? I think-" "I know, i know," Carol interrupted. "but hear me out-"

"Did you say 'Obsidian'? Like, Obsidian Fox?"

All four looked in the direction the voice came from, discovering that voice to be the one of a very familiar rosy-haired, peg-legged and admittedly very attractive teenager.

"Red Action?" Enid said.