Chapter Text
West City slept beneath a sky of calm blue and warm sunlight. Birds drifted lazily on the breeze, kids played in the streets, and the world felt safe, because somewhere out there, Son Goku was alive and smiling.
High above rolling fields, that smile existed exactly where it always did. Goku stood in the open countryside, feet rooted in the grass, sweat dripping down his forehead as he laughed breathlessly.
“Man… you’re gettin’ good,” Goku grinned.
Across from him, Gohan panted, bruised but smiling back. “You’re still holding back, Dad.”
Goku scratched his head sheepishly. “Maybe just a little.”
Their laughter echoed across the valley. Peace. Simple, honest peace. For once, it felt like it might last. Until the sky cracked. Not thunder. Not Ki. Something else. Above them, the atmosphere rippled like shattered glass. Gohan stiffened. Goku’s smile faded. The air turned heavy with a presence neither of them could sense, yet somehow felt. A blinding column of white light tore open the sky.
Then silence.
No explosion. No shockwave. Just a terrifying stillness. Whis appeared behind them in an instant, staff in hand, eyes unusually serious. Beerus followed, arms crossed, tail flicking in irritation.
“Son Goku,” Whis said calmly, “we require your assistance.”
Gohan swallowed. “Is that…?”
Beerus cut in sharply. “Stay out of this, boy. This is beyond you.”
Goku turned toward the rift, expression unreadable. “What is it?”
Whis hesitated. That alone was terrifying. “There is something that should not exist. Something that does not belong to any timeline, universe, or realm. It isn’t energy. It isn’t magic. It isn’t life.” His voice dropped. “It’s awareness. A consciousness without origin.”
Goku’s brows furrowed. “So it’s someone strong?”
Whis shook his head. “That’s what makes it frightening. It is not strong, yet it reached creation itself.”
Beerus scowled. “And it’s calling you specifically.”
Gohan stepped forward. “Then I’m going too.”
Beerus’ gaze turned dangerous. “No. If this goes wrong, planets won’t be destroyed. Concepts will.”
Whis touched Goku’s shoulder. “You will not fight,” Whis warned softly. “You will resist. It may try to speak to you. Do not answer. Do not react. And above all, do not listen.”
Goku nodded, though his curiosity flickered for a moment.
Then the world vanished. The rift was not a place. It was the absence of one. No ground. No air. No light. No darkness. Just existence.
Goku floated in nothing. “Huh… weird.”
His voice didn’t echo. It didn’t even sound like a voice. It felt like a thought that had shape. Then something noticed him. It wasn’t a presence approaching. There was no movement. Simply a sudden, cold awareness brushing against his mind. A whisper without sound.
Goku.
Every instinct screamed. He clenched his fists, jaw tightening. “I’m not here to talk,” he muttered. “Just show yourself.”
Silence.
Then the void smiled. Not visually. Not physically, he simply knew it was smiling.
You do not protect because you care. You protect because you crave the chaos that puts you here. The voice wasn’t taunting. It was stating fact.
Goku’s chest tightened. “You don’t know anything about me.”
I know everything you won’t say out loud.
Images formed around him. Frieza grinning. Cell laughing. Moro feeding on life. The Tournament of Power; universes on the brink because Goku wanted to fight. Every smile he ever wore. Every thrill. Every risk. And people screaming beneath it.
You don’t save worlds, Goku. You create situations where they need saving. So you can feel alive.
His heartbeat thundered. “That’s… not true.”
But the denial lacked strength.
The presence pressed closer, cold and intimate. What happens when the hero admits he only plays hero because it’s fun?
Cracks began spreading through reality again. But this time, they spread through him.
A flicker of anger sparked. “Shut up.”
It didn’t. It whispered like a lover, like a truth he’d buried. You are not peace. You are inevitability. A god born from violence pretending to be kind.
Something pierced his chest. No pain. Just acceptance.
Then…
The world snapped back.
Gohan nearly collapsed in relief when the rift sealed.
Goku hovered in the sky. Still. Silent, expression blank.
“Dad!” Gohan flew toward him. “Are you okay?! What happened in there? Did you destroy it?”
Goku blinked, a second too slow. Then he smiled. Not wide. Not cheerful, just enough. “Yeah. It’s gone.”
Whis studied him closely. Beerus narrowed his eyes. “Goku?” Whis asked gently. “Did it speak to you?”
Goku shook his head. “Nope.” He landed, patting Gohan’s shoulder casually. “I’m fine. Really.”
Gohan exhaled, relieved. Beerus didn’t look convinced.
Whis smiled politely, but for the first time since meeting Goku, He looked worried.
That night, the wind brushed through the Son family home. Chi-Chi slept peacefully, Goten snored, Gohan rested.
Goku sat outside under the moonlight, staring at his hands. They didn’t shake. They didn’t tense. They simply felt different, he flexed them slowly.
That whisper echoed in his head, not loud, not intrusive.
Just quietly, comfortably present. We’ll talk again.
Goku smiled faintly at the empty sky, and for the first time in his life…
He didn’t know whether that scared him, or thrilled him.