Escalation

AN: This story is spawned from events that took place in another story of mine, Superhuman Fight Club. Feel free to check that one out after your done here.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Thanks to S&D for Betaing.

Chapter 1- The Encounter

Shockwaves of pure energy were sent blasting through the multiverse after the collision between the two gods. The destruction of the Infinity Gauntlet disrupted the balance of power in reality itself, altering the lives of every single thing it touched. Ripples rushed across a million different realms, dimensions, worlds, and universes, changing everyone it touched in some way. But of course, some changes are more significant than others.

In one dimension, Clark Kent truly became the nerdy reporter he was always trying to be. In another a spider themed hero was able to successfully thwart an attempt to switch his body and murder him. In a third, a demon fox overwhelmed the attempts to trap it within a child and leveled the entire village. A white haired man and his raven haired protégé lead the survivors on the path to rebuilding their home, eventually allowing them to become the strongest village their world had ever seen. On a fourth world, a chicken decided against crossing a road, thus eliminating an endless supply of tasteless jokes from ever existing.

It is in a fifth world where this story begins. A small ten year old boy was trekking back towards his mountain home after managing to catch a fish large enough to be considered supper. Said fish was nearly three times the size of the ten year old carrying it, and had been caught while attempting to snag the child's tail. Checking the sky, the boy increased his pace slightly, wanting to be home before the full moon came out. He didn't want to accidently run into the monster that killed his Grandpa Gohan.

When the boy reached his home he set up a fire to cook the fish and went inside his small shack. The only furnishings to be found were a small bed and a shrine with an orange ball stars sitting on top of it. The four red stars gleamed on it's surface in the dying daylight. The boy walked straight up to the shrine and kneel down before the ball.

"Hi Grandpa, I hope you are doing alright in there. I really miss being able to talk to you. Don't worry, I'm doing alright. I even caught a really big fish today! It should keep my tummy nice and full for a whole day! I would give you some, but the last time I did that it just sat there until it went bad, so I don't think that you can eat in there. I've been practicing all of the fighting moves you've taught me and I think I'm getting loads better! I beat up one of the dinosaurs that live in the woods this morning!"

The orange ball made no response, yet the boy seemed content to just continue talking. He chatted with the ball for the entire twenty minutes it took for his meal to cook, and then returned to continue telling of his day the minute he finished eating. Eventually he grew tried, and with a lazy wave the child went to bed. By the time the full moon rose above him, the young boy was sleeping soundly.

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In another realm a different child was staring up at the moon. The red haired nine year old had just barely escaped a slave camp where she had been forced to work from sun up to sun down every single day in an attempt to construct a magical tower. In a fit a desperation she picked up a sword and led the prison's first and only revolt. She had nearly succeeded in freeing everyone, only to be betrayed by her best friend and made out to be the enemy.

Instead of fighting their way to freedom together like she had dreamed of every night, she had been cast adrift, stuck on a small boat with no guarantee of surviving back to the mainland. It had taken her more than a day to maneuver the ship back to shore safely only to find herself on a deserted beach that led into a massive forest and no sign of civilization. With no options available to her, the girl had entered the woods in an attempt to find someone that could help her. Her one good eye constantly scanned her surroundings, never letting her guard down for a second. The betrayal was still fresh in her mind, and now that she was alone there was absolutely no way she would allow herself to relax again.

By the time night had come around she had already forced herself to travel nearly a dozen miles through the woods without a single break. When she had finally stopped for the night, the first thing she did was collapse onto her back. Her lone eye stared up at the sky to drink in the sight of the moon as it cast it's pale light across the forest. The sight reminded her of nights where she and her friends had gazed up at the sky from their jail cell, dreaming of freedom. Now she had finally found it, the girl wanted nothing more than to be back in the cell with the people she loved. She didn't care about being free anymore if there wasn't anyone for her to share it with. With tears trailing down her face, the girl rolled onto her side and slept.

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The young boy had woken up shortly after dawn, intent of spending the morning training before he needed to track down more food. After grabbing his red staff and attaching the sheath to his back he took the first step out of his home, hoping to find something to fight. Instead he caught sight of a strange discoloration in the air above him. The distortion was a sickly green and was gradually expanding around the area above him. The light slowly grew brighter and brighter, practically boiling the air until it exploded in a colorful flash. When the energy faded away there was nothing more than a crater where the boy and the house had stood. Several more of these explosions happened around the world, leaving half a dozen other craters scattered across the planet.

This world would later be put in peril when a green skinned demon rose up to take over. Without any heroes to match him the planet fell to his rule for nearly a decade until a long haired alien arrived. Enraged at being unable to find the person he was looking for, the alien slayed the demon along with every single living being he could find on the planet. The world was later sold to an intergalactic conqueror who turned it into his 94th vacation home. The tiny alien lived there comfortably for three years until he died at the hands of his gold haired lieutenant. So it goes…

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The young girl glared at the group of men surrounding her. Five men, all clearly part of some sort of bandit gang. They were currently discussing how much they would be able to sell her to their connection in the underground slave trade.

"Seriously man, just looking at her I can tell she'll be a dime when she grows up! I bet we can probably push for an extra grand with her!"

"No way, she's damaged goods. See that eye patch? We would be lucky to get the regular full price in the shape she's in. It looks like she hasn't eaten anything in days, she can barely stand up."

The red head scowled at this. They were right. Between the rebellion, her journey on the boat, and the trek through the forest she was quickly approaching her physical limit. She hadn't eaten any food in nearly three days and had barely been able to find herself enough water to keep going. She had no weapons, no supplies, and the only piece of clothing she wore was practically a repurposed pillowcase. The men around her were all wearing some type of light leather armor and wielding large spiked maces. They had come across her small camp in the early morning, catching her by surprise before she even had the chance to fully wake up. Now they were talking about her like she wasn't even there… like she wasn't even a threat to them! Not only that, they were planning on selling her straight back into slavery like what she had just escaped! She wouldn't let that happen, not after everything that she had already gone through! She would not let them take her! THEY WOULDN"T TAKE HER!

"RRRAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Calling on the raging energy that had allowed her to escape from the tower, she screamed. The sudden release of the girl's power caught all of the men off guard. An aura of light purple energy caught all five men's weapons, ripping them all from their grasps and smashing them into each other's heads. The weapons then began flying as if wielded by phantoms, hammering into the men far harder than any 9 year old had a right to hit. All five ended up being pounded into the ground in a matter of seconds. Completely spent, the young girl collapsed to her knees. Her head hung down as she tried desperately to catch her breath. her vision was already blurring, such a huge burst of power was far too much for her to safely manage in such horrible shape. She doubted she would even be able to stand for the next few hours.

"Well damn, you're a tough bitch aren't you?" The girls eye widened in shock as she looked up to see one of the bandits standing over her, a blue glow covering both of his hands.

"Too bad you didn't know that I'm a mage as well, otherwise you might have had a shot. Now though, you are at your limit and I'm going to cash you in. Mages at your age can go for quite a pretty penny." The bandit brought his hands together, the blue energy combining to form a single pulsing sphere.

"Alright bitch, time to go to sleep!" The bandit's leapt forward to strike, intent on knocking the girl out before she could recover. The red head merely closed her eye, accepting yet another miserable turn in her short life.

"POWER POLE, EXTEND!" The girl's eye snapped back open when she heard the yell, regaining her focus just in time to see a red bo staff smash into the side of her attacker's face. The man was sent sprawling backwards and the energy from his attack dispersed harmlessly back into the air. The man returned to his feet just in time to receive a flying kick to the face from a young boy with spiky black hair. The bandit was immediately knocked unconscious, the surprise attack having left him no time to defend. After a quick glance around at the other bandits, the boy turned to the young girl, offering her a hand with a wide grin.

"Hi! I'm Son Goku, what's your name?" The girl looked at the hand for a moment before clasping it, allowing the boy to help her to her feet.

"My name is Erza. Erza Scarlet."