Chapter: 29

:The match between Rivals ends

:An Unexpected Conclusion

Disclaimer: I Do Not Own Dragon Ball Z. All rights are owned by their respective owners,Toei, Toriyama, etc. This is purely a fanfictional work done by a simple fan done for fun. I do no get profit from this in any way.

Goku still had his arms up and pointed at the sky when the light of his amazing Kamehameha, that was just a twinckle in the sky like the brightess star, finally shimmered out. At that point Goku lowered his arms and looked panted his breath while covered in sweat. The effort from his Kaioken powered Super Saiyan Kamehameha really exhausted his powers right then. In fact the upsurge in power nearly tore him apart. But there he stood in one piece victorious, if somewhat exhausted. Goku then looked up in his exhausted stance and the people close to him expected that he looked up in remorse for what he'd done.

Indeed, many people looked up to where he was looking, expecting to see Vegeta gone, killed by Goku and vaporised by his attack. But that was not the case as people saw Vegeta floating down, holding his right arm with a hole being torn on his blue spandex suit at his right shoulder, his left knee, and left elbow as well as having his Saiyan battle armor being cracked and his body being marked all over by scuff marks. Vegeta floated down until he landed and staggered on to the floor.

"Daaaaaaammmmmmnnnnn Yoooooouuuuuuu Kakarot!" cursed out Vegeta. Goku just breathlessly stood up straighter and stood his ground under Vegeta's hateful glare. "Man Vegeta, your tougher then I thought. I was actually worried that I might've killed you with that last attack. But now, it's over for good. You energy was reducing even before that attack and now... you've taken so much damage and your energy is so low that there's no way that you can win anymore." warned Goku. Vegeta however was not willing to give up yet, to admit that he was beaten again. But at the same time in the pit of his gut he knew that Goku was telling the truth.

"No way! Never Kakarot! I will never submit to you. You will either have to finish me or kill me before I submit myself to you Kakarot." shot out Vegeta, stubborn as ever. "Didn't I tell you already? It's over! You can't win. Give up." pressed Goku. But meanwhile, Vegeta's mind started running flashbacks going back to all the times Goku had either bested or humiliated him going all the way from the first time he'd defeated him. His mind ran the image of Goku beating him in the Kamehameha/Gallic Gun duel from the past and compared it to the one from just right now. It was the same exact way as last time, it was as though nothing at all had changed between them all this time. "Daaaarrrrnnnnnn Yooooouuuuu Kararot! Why is it that always all the time must you best me!? Why must time and time again must you prove yourself better than me? Why? Why? WHY? AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggg!" screamed out Vegeta in endless frustration and anger at being forever eclipsed and overshadowed by Goku.

However as his level of aggrevation and frustration reached new levels, he somehow unconsciously unlocked a new power. Vegeta reared back and started screaming at the top of his lungs. "AAAAaaaaaaaarrrrrrrggggg!" he screamed out in angry fury and an explosion of energy burst forth from him with the force of a hurricane. The tiles at his feet cracked in a spiderweb formation and his Super Saiyan aura grew to a giant size and caused powerful winds to blow at everyone in the stadium. Blue lightning sparked to life around his body and started permeate the yellow aura. The winds kicked up a dust cloud and soon everything around Vegeta was obscured. But soon the power trip and the hurricane subsided and the large yellow aura shrunk to where it was obscured by the thick dust cloud. But then the dust cloud parted, and revealed Vegeta standing there as a Super Saiyan 2, proud and maniacal grin attached.

"V-V-Vegeta... H-How did you?" stammered Goku, being totally flabbergasted at this unseen for transformation. Vegeta for his part just looked down and flexed his hands, checking his power and having a look on his face that said 'I'm liking this. I could get used to this.' and then he looked at Goku with a look of complete satisfaction. "Well Kakarot, it seems that I have ascended. I've finally ascended to the brat's level. Now it seems that the shoe is on the other foot and now I have the advantage." said Vegeta, looking confident as hell. "Well Vegeta, this is a surprise." said Goku, looking oddly excited. "Indeed, even more so to me. I've finally surpassed you Kakarot. So now what are you going to do?" asked Vegeta, looking exhilarated at the prospect of finally, after all the beatings and all the strife, he was finally going to beat down his deeply hated rival.

"Well, looks like I have no choice, but to do THIS!" returned Goku. At that point, Goku bent his knees, pulled back his arms at the elbow and clenched his teeth as he sat in the "power up pose". He gave a grunt and a sharp yell and then a sudden burst of his aura and accompanied by wind indicated that he'd powered up. The sudden burst of wind quickly subsided and revealed Goku with blue lightning entwining his body and even spikier hair adorning his crown, having swiftly transformed to a Super Saiyan 2.

The maniacal grin on Vegeta's face disappeared, replaced by clenched teeth and a closed fist that was shaking. He was agitated alright, but all his anger seemed to boil down to one question. "How long has it been since you were able to do that?" posed Vegeta, clearly holding back from going off to tear Goku apart. "Not long, I've only been able to do it about a good two weeks now." responded Goku. "So you've been holding back on me this whole time Kakarot?" accused Vegeta, clearly this pissed him off even more. "Not really, I wouldn't exactly be calling it "holding back" this whole time. I'm still pretty rough at it unlike Gohan whose had a year to master it. It was still too wild and radical for me to risk using this form against you. But now that you've done it I guess that it forced my hand. But now that we both can do it and Gohan's little friend can do it too why don't we call it something different? Ascended Super Saiyan is too long, so what do you say we just call this Super Saiyan 2 from now on?" suggested Goku. The grin on Vegeta's face returned. "So, a battle between two Super Saiyan 2's? I can't wait." was Vegeta's response. "Yeah... " was Goku's single response denoting his excitement at the prospect. And then the two just charged headlong into combat with one another.

They both leaped into the air and just charged at each other, engaging in a fierce up close battle of fist and knees with a fierceness not yet seen it the tournament. Their auras were so close they seemed to combine and the blue lightning from their forms seemed to permeate around them like an electrical storm. Some sparks could even be seen sparking up in between the tiles of the ring floor like static electricity. And the two entities seemed to be fighting inside in the middle of this storm of blue and yellow.

The battle was intense inside but it finally stopped when Goku caught one punch at the wrist and then swiftly caught another one, like one after the other. Vegeta then went for a knee but Goku countered it with his own. The two then went into a battle of just hitting with knees simultaniously one after another. But then after a while Vegeta broke this monotony by headbutting Goku and causing him to break apart due to the pain as he fell back clutching his face. Vegeta then took advantage by punching several times to the mid-section with brutal one-two combinations. He then followed it up with a left knee to the back of the neck followed by his right to the stomach and finally with his right elbow to the back of the neck for a powerful and ruthless contorting combination. The various people in the audience, both some friends and bystanders, winced at that maneuver.

Meanwhile the fighting managed to resume as Goku and Vegeta somehow got out of that position and continued to fight at a blistering pace. But then Goku caught Vegeta with a kick to the gut that embedded itself and forced his midsection to contort further back and Vegeta's arms and legs went forward. But Goku pulled back to deliver a follow up blow. Pulling back his left fist at the midsection and air seemed to channel itself into the fist, readying for a super high velocity blow. But when Goku shot to deliver it Vegeta managed dodge it by shooting upwards and then coming down behind Goku and gaining his backside. Veget then leaned back his right leg, bottom half of his leg angled back from the knee, ready for a right haymaker kick. But then when he shot it Goku managed to block it by leaning his body back and blocking with his forearm and bicep. He then went for an immediate heavy counter-punch but Vegeta blocked the heavy hit with his forearm. Then counter after counter was blocked and then the two sped up their fighting to where they were once again fighting at a fiercely high intensity pace.

"Wow! Would you look at those two go? They're really laying into each other." commented Yamcha, amazed at the level of brutally and intensity that the two were going through at this pace. Not only that, but it was amazing even to most Z-Fighters how they could tactically go into each others moves like they did. "Yes indeed, but remember that these particular two are real veterans when it comes to being as warriors. They know each other better than anyone else when it comes to being out there. They know what things come and so they're just simply cutting each other off at the pass. And the increase in their power is offering for some pretty devastating results." commented Piccolo, stoic as usual. "Yeah, because remember that these two are Super Saiyan 2s now. Their aggressiveness have been amped up along with their anger as well as their speed and power. It's the drawback to the Super Saiyan 2. Your anger takes over more then even the usual Super Saiyan." said Gohan, speaking from experience as he continued to sit at his bed and watching from the window. "So in other words a double edged sword?" Tien generally summed up. Gohan just turned to him and gave a reluctant single nod. The gang then went back to watching the brutally intense match.

To the bystanders who were just watching, it was one of the most brutal displays of veteran combat than anyone had ever seen. It was monumentally different from any match up to date as it seemed that these two were real veterans when it came to their powers and were really knowing what they were doing with their crazy or innovative ways in which they would either defend or attack. It was brutality at it's smartest and most technical and it shocked people. This was a whole new level of fighting. And no matter how brutal, they just couldn't turn away.

Somewhere along the lines Vegeta knocked down Goku with a kick. Vegeta then raised his left hand, gathered a small yellow ball of energy and then launched it at the descending Goku. But Goku managed to flip before hitting the floor and hopped himself up on one leg thereby missing the beam Vegeta had thrown which exploded harmlessly at the spot that Goku had just leaped up from and while simultaniously shooting a beam with a straight up right arm as he came right back at him. All in one move.

But then Vegeta just swatted away and deflected the beam that Goku had thrown and then when Goku arrived at him they both then started to fight furiously again. The fight was evenly matched as they both fought fiercely and started trading offenses back and forth but eventually when Vegeta got his turn on the offensive he started to sandwich Goku with kicks from both legs whic Goku had to block. Again and again Goku had to sandwich himself between these kicks, but finally when he caught the left one he went in with a counter kick of his own with his right. But Vegeta caught that kick and the two found themselves in the same position mirroring each other with caught kicks, an even trade once again. They both then immediately broke away from each other and then went back in to fighting with each other at an evenly matched furious pace.

Ripples of power echoed with sounds that were like far off explosions as they appeared every now and then from inbetween the two fighting figures. Such was then power of their shots that they were trading that they were creating power ripples from in between themselves even though they were still only fighting in close with one another. But then they started to vanish and reappear somewhere else, still in the middle of fighting and their fight climbing higher up with each new appearance. Then they just disappeared altogether, their super speeds having reached where they were no longer visible to the common audience and even the Z-Fighters. And all that was left as evidence to their fight was the air ripples in the sky that denoted the power of the shots they were slinging at with each other. This concussive display rained down on the senses of the audience for a bit of a while.

But then suddenly the two fighters reappeared in the sky above and then started winging seemingly hundreds of blasts of energy at each other and they were ALL being cancelled out by each other's. It was quite the fireworks display as far as the audience was concerned as the sky was filled with bright yellow streaks that were impacting each other and blowing up in a brilliant display. It was quite the switch from the air ripples they'd been dealing with earlier, an even worse assault to the ears then even before, if that was possible. But eventually this cataphony of beautiful destruction came to an end. Both Goku and Vegeta suddenly stopped shooting blasts at each other and switched to cupping their hands in very contrasting but very familiar stances. Those of the Kamehameha and Final Flash respectively.

Having come to this point where it was rather obvious that neither of them were going to make any headway with each other intercepting one another's blasts perfectly and cancelling each other out, that they had opted to switch to the big guns. "KaaameeehaaaMEEEEEE!" chanted Goku. "FINAL!" simultaniously chanted Vegeta in turn as they both powered up their attacks. To those in the audience they had at least a little idea to what was going on. But to those who actually knew the two and their history they had every idea as to what was going on. "What!? Their unleashing the Kamehameha AND the Final Flash up there!?" exclaimed a pretty scared shitless Piccolo. "Uh Oh, this isn't good. With their power levels at Super Saiyan 2 there's no telling how dangerous this could get. Even from up there." warned Gohan, who looked pretty worried himself even. "Everybody! GET DOWN!" cried out Piccolo, trying to warn both his comrades and the audience, but it was too late.

"HAAAAAAAHHH!/FLASH!" simultaniously cried out both Goku and Vegeta as they both fired off their attacks at the same time. The two attacks hit each other and when they did a large "globe" of energy that was half blue and half yellow was created from the two "bulbs" of the attacks crashing together. The two attacks stood still as neither side was able to get the upper hand. And as they two warriors struggled they kept pouring more and more power into the beam clash as they urged more and more to try to overwhelm the other. But as they poured more and more power they only just kept feeding it's size as it just grew bigger and bigger. Pretty soon the "ball" of energy grew to a giant size that covered just about the size of the stadium and reached accross to touch on both Goku and Vegeta's positions. The combined energy then overloaded itself and in a brilliant flash of light, both Goku and Vegeta were overwhelmed by the sheer force of the resulting explosion of raw energy.

When the light subsided and the audience could uncover their eyes all they could make out was two figures plummeting to down Earth and more specifically the opposite sides of the ring down below while both were trailing smoke. Both fell down with a resulting crash and were soon found laying face down on the ring floor near the edges of the ring on opposite sides. The audience was stone silent as they held on waited breath at this dramatic event. Even the announcer himself was speechless as his mouth was hanging open.

Finally, the two determined warriors finally stirred and started to slowly get up shakingly. Each moment of painfully slow shakiness as the two determined warriors struggled to get was an agonizing tease to the aghast audience. Finally the two managed to prop themselves standing up with their chests heavily puffing in and out as they looked exhausted even though they continued to stare determinedly at one another. Clearly that last move had taken its toll on them but they were still no less determined to continue their duel. Both of them reactivated their auras and stood there in their exhausted stances, waiting for the one to make the first move.

"You know Vegeta? *Huff*Huff* That was pretty dangerous what you did up there*Huff*Huff*." stated Goku as he panted heavily. "Perhaps, but so did you if you haven't forgotten. *Huff*Huff* But your power level is dropping fast. That last attack seems to have taken quite a bit out of you hasn't it Kakarot?" rebutted Vegeta. "Yeah, but the same could be said about you." smirkingly returned Goku. "Dghh!" choked out Vegeta as he didn't have any rebuttal to that.

"I'm amazed Vegeta. Even down at this stage we're still completely even. I've got to admit I didn't think things would last this long. You've lasted a whole heck of a lot longer than I thought you would." admitted Goku. "Hmph, I could say the same thing about you Kakarot. But no matter what I'll be winning today in the end. I've waited FAR too long for THIS to lose now. Ever since I first met you you've been like a wall I can't overcome. You've always been first when it comes to me and it's high time I change that. A Prince of Saiyans reduced to being ranked below a low level clown. I refuse to live my life as YOUR second. That time is over now. I will no longer let myself to lose to you anymore." ranted Vegeta, the bitterness and frustration as well as even a bit of regret emotionally coming from the expressions on his face. HE was going for the win come hell or high water. Goku seemed to have an impassive, but, strangely understanding look appearing on his face. "Well, I guess if that's how you really feel. Then I guess I have no choice but to see this through to the end. I'll give it EVERYTHING I've got. Let's finish this Vegeta!" replied Goku. "Yes! Let's finish this fight... And... ALL THE FIGHTS LEADING UP 'TIL NOW!" screamed Vegeta as he and Goku prepared for one last showdown. They powered up their auras even more one last time and waited for the other to make first move. The wind blew in between them and kicked up small waves of dust while they just stood there, like two gunslingers in a showdown. You could cut the tension with a knife.

Finally there came movement as they just rushed at each other. They both caught a punch coming from the other and then they both crossed their arms across their front forwards in order to make the others arms useless to them. But then they found themselves in the weird position of having both of them being tangled up and then they both resorted to headbutting each other. It was a weird position seeing them come forehead to forehead with both of them having angry sneering faces. The audience was split between the two of them as time and time again their heads came together and it was hard to tell who was going to win this contest. They both poured in their powers and their auras grew bigger as they tried to overpower the other but to no afail.

Then they finally both let go of their hands and Vegeta was the first to try to take advantage by trying a kick from the left. But Goku blocked it with his forearm. Vegeta then used the momentum to get passed Goku and put his hands on the ground to try to handstand kick Goku in the chin but Goku managed to dodge his chin out of the way. Goku then rapidly took advantage of Vegeta's precarious position to lift up his knee and knee Vegeta in the gut. But Vegeta used the momentum to flip from the upside down to the rightside up again. But then as he saw Goku coming for him out of the corner of his eye, he dropped down his left hand to the ground and tripped up Goku. But Goku managed to get back putting both his hands on the ground and handstand flipping back up. But Vegeta was now running at him and as soon as he was standing he barely dodged the incoming punch coming for his chin. Goku then used the momentum to flip away again and then came from above with a weird roll in order to come and smash the back of Vegeta's head with a double Ax-Handle. But Vegeta used Goku's own airborne momentum to grab his leg and the slam him down to the floor. Goku then barely rolled out of the way of a foot that embedded itself in the place where his head used to be. Goku got back up but Vegeta was rolling in with a second kick that Goku just barely ducked. In fact a few strands of golden hair were clipped from his precious head of hair. But Goku used the positioning to trip up Vegeta with his hand. For a moment in time, both Goku and Vegeta were sailing off balance less then a foot off the ground and they both saw on each others faces great smirks of enjoyment. THIS is what they wanted, THIS is what excited them and THIS is what they lived for and what they understood deeper about each other than anybody else. And they now both knew it from the other. (A/N: Basically think of that famous sequence from near the end the fight between SSJ2 Majin Vegeta and SSJ2 Goku in the anime. The one where they ended up with both of them being tripped and they both had smiles? This is exactly that same sequence.) Although their moves had been slow by comparison to the point of even the average person could see them move. Mostly due to their exhaustion at this point. But the sequence of moves had been mind blowing nonetheless and the audience was impressed to say the least.

Then, both Vegeta and Goku hopped up and connected with each other, with blocking both a shin and a forearm. then they both returned to fighting for a few seconds but then both swinging passed each other with punches. But then Vegeta swung away and touched one hand to the ground to flip himself to his feet and then launched a beam at Goku. But Goku flipped and did the same and then both their beams hit each other and the resulting explosion blew them both back. When the smoke cleared both Goku and Vegeta were laying on their backs, laid clear out.

Everybody who was watching looked on in stunned silence at this dramatic turn of events. But finally, after several seconds of stunned silence, which by the way he had mostly been throughout this match, the announcer guy finally found his voice and stammer through some lines. "Woah! Ladies and gentlemen, after an epic match between these two, it appears that both are now down and out. In that case it appears that I'll have to begin the count. 1..." started the announcer guy, as he began to count down to the 10 count.

Both fighters then began to stir, their legs and arms twitching as they struggled to even move. Both had been taken out of their energy and ther exhaustion was to the max. 'Got to... get up...' they both thought almost simultaniously. "2... 3..." continued the announcer. Both fighters were now struggling to get up, their determination as warriors on the line.

"4... and 5..." still continued on the announcer. They were now just struggling to get to one knee. "6!" continued on the announcer. 'Got to beat him!' they both determinedly thought, nothing short of full victory fuelling them. Both Goku and Vegeta were now on one knee, but they were both struggling to make to full a vertical basis. But Vegeta seemed to pulling up as Goku just stayed at one knee no matter how he tried, his legendary determination not making his body move this time.

"7... and 8..." still continued the announcer. 'GOT TO WINNNN!' screamed out Vegeta as he managed to somehow rally enough determination to push past his broken body and push through get to a vertical basis with one last rush. The look Goku's face was one of just sheer shock and stunned amazement as he was still on one knee.

"Amazing! Amazing ladies and gentlemen! Vegeta has just beaten the count and has gotten up to a vertical basis first!" declared the announcer. A totally proud and self-gratifying grin was etched on Vegeta's face as he cast it at Goku as if to say 'In your face! Yes I've finally done it! I've beaten YOU Kakarot!' but he didn't say it.

But then, out of nowhere, there was a buzzer noise. The announcer and everyone else looked to a corner where they heard the noise come from and they saw the judges box. One judge in the middle waved his hand as some sort of signal and shook his head. The announcer guy nodded as he seemed to acknowlege the signal and then turned to address the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen, it appears that the 30 minute time limit has expired. And due to the incomplete nature of this bout we must end this as a draw." declared the announcer guy.

"Oh! #% $%# %$ #!" sweared and cursed Vegeta. He had been sooo close to finally beating his hated rival when this had to happen. He was so mad he couldn't even see straight as he stomped on and pumped his fists in some sort of angry dance. It would be actually funny if you didn't already serious this was. That and plus just how dangerous he could get when he was angry. Though people there watching could feel for the guy, coming so close to winning but just having it ripped away. But the general public could see just as well as the Z-Fighters themselves just how much of a jerk Vegeta could be, so they couldn't all feel that badly for him.

"YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME?! Not now! I had him!" raged Vegeta as he pointed at the announcer. "I'm sorry but that's in the rules. This is still a semi-final bout and as such it's subject to be contested under the rules that govern the rest of the tournament matches. Since the contest ended without a decisive winner, even with under the cloud of... extreme circumstances surrounding the bout, we have no choice but to rule this a draw." exposited the announcer guy. "But what about the judges? You mentioned in the rules earlier at the start that if the fights went to decision they would be ruled by judges did you not? Surely they saw that I was winning the fight all the way around and that surely they could see that it was my victory?" motioned Vegeta, pointing at the announcer guy.

The two of them then turned to the panel of judges who the head judge just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. The announcer guy then turned back to Vegeta. "I'm sorry but apparently the judges couldn't determine what was going on exactly throughout most of the fighting due to the uhh... *Cough* extreme movements involved. I'm afraid they couldn't reach a verdict about who's fight was actually won so they had to rule it a draw also." again explained the announcer guy. "Damned weakling human judges and their weak senses. They couldn't appreciate a true fight even if it kicked them in the head. They couldn't appreciate the true greatness of my victory." muttered Vegeta under his breath as he turned to sulk. His mutterings may be low but they were just loud enough for Goku and the announcer to hear him. Goku for his part, still holding his spot at one knee just chuckled at the whole situation.

"Heh heh heh... Sorry Vegeta, looks like you don't get your victory today. Looks like you'll have to settle for a draw this time." said Goku. "Oh shut up Kakarot! If it wasn't for this tiny ring and it's confining space and confining rules of this tournament you would've been finished. If this had been a true fight somewhere out on in the open I would've been able to truly cut loose and I would've been victorious." snapped Vegeta. "Heh heh heh... Sorry Vegeta, but looks like we'll just have to do that next time." continued to chuckle Goku. "Grrrr... Kakarot! Next time we'll be doing this the proper way. Somewhere out in the open!" demanded Vegeta, pointing his finger accusingly at Goku. "Your on." simply returned Goku.

But then suddenly, Vegeta seemed to collapse. Falling to his knees and his hair going back to it's normal black. His energy down from the fight and the adrenaline from yelling at the announcer that had been the only thing keeping him up was finally wearing off. Goku as well slumped down as his hair returned to it's normal black spikyness. "Medics! Get these two out on stretchers!" shouted the announcer. A pair of stretcher teams quickly carted off both Goku and Vegeta. But as he was carried away, a grin seemed to etch itself onto Vegeta's face. As he thought back to this last fight, for some reason he didn't feel all that mad. Sure he may not have won, but at least he managed to walk away with a tie as they both would have to. And that, strangely enough gave him a sense of peace. After all these years he had at least gotten some pound of flesh out of his eternal rival. And it felt gooood.


Author's Final Thoughts: Well, Vegeta transforms to Super Saiyan 2 for the first time in his life and we get a mega round 2 between two Super Saiyan 2s. So in the end they both go to a draw. I wanted to give Vegeta at least a little sense of triumph after all these years and I think that a tie is as best as he can get. I think that in at least equaling your rival you can find a sense of triumph if you keep just getting beaten all the time. I know that Vegeta normally should be fuming at this result, but I think that it's not all that unreasonable that after all these years of failure that a perfect tie would suit him just fine. In his mind, I'm making him think that he was just one step closer to beating Goku. But unfortunately for him, we all know that that'll never happen.

And so with the battle between the two Super Saiyan 2s I couldn't exactly repeat the exact performance that they had when they fought in the Majin Buu Saga since this is a different time and setting after all. They couldn't use all the same wide area moves as this is a stadium and a more closed environment. I tried to use as few of the original moves from the Canon as I could as well so I could save them for a possible sequel in the future. There's no telling, and I think that with a tie like this that could still mean a showdown just like the cannon could still happen later on. I wanted to save some moves for that possible future showdown. And I think that I managed to do that while using enough moves to show that they were their Super Saiyan 2 selves and they fought like it while still being original and showing them in a different time and setting. Hope you enjoyed all the same.