Chapter 3: Maximum power

The fighters stood still, overcome by Vegeta accepting the stranger's challenge. The scene was deadly silent. Vegeta stood up tall separated from the group. The clearing was full of dust and fallen trees from the landing. The brown patchy ground would occasionally spur to life from a gust of wind picking up dust and rolling it over the fighters boots. Trunks, Goten and Bosta all stood behind Vegeta about two metres ready to spring into action if any foul play was to be present. Trunks' cold blue eyes pierced into Zeta's, he was warning him to watch his back. Zeta just stared straight back then turned his attention towards his target. The invading warrior was a menacing sight. His whole body was clad in jet-black armour save for his face, which beamed out from the shadowy figure.

"Okay then" Zeta said to Vegeta "lets get this show under way". As he said this he un-clipped his scouter with his right arm and quickly threw it to the ground. The transparent screen along with its earpiece skidded along the ground. Vegeta still stood strong; his old battle instincts telling him to stay put and let Zeta make the first move.

"A scouter huh?" Vegeta exclaimed "haven't seen one of these things for years. Nifty little devices in my time, very useful but not as useful as the real way of detecting power levels" Zeta scorned at this remark. How dare Vegeta accuse him of not knowing such a basic technique as sensing another person's life force.

"If you're implying that I can't sense a power level, well your mighty wrong about that old man!" Zeta answered, "I can sense your power levels easily, my scouter is only for communication purposes. And by my calculations, you're not as strong as I thought. You're all actually quite weak!" Vegeta couldn't believe this guy; he couldn't even work out that their power levels were being suppressed.

"I suppose you haven't considered that we're hiding our true power, you fool" Vegeta calmly said. He then thought how much this so-called distant cousin resembled him when he himself was young. Zeta was very headstrong and full of determination as was Vegeta when he was at that age. Zeta suddenly weighed the thought. Could Vegeta be telling the truth? How could he, Zeta, heir to the throne miss such a detail? No matter he thought, the other saiyans will stay out of this fight and everything will be fine.

Behind Vegeta, Trunks was having words with his best friend Goten. "Listen Goten" Trunks started, "this fight doesn't seem right. This new threat is shrewd. I don't believe him to be a true saiyan warrior. He will definitely have a way out of this if something was to go wrong" Goten nodded in agreement.

"What shall we do if anything is to go amiss Trunks? Are we just going to step in, I don't believe that to be honourable" he asked. Trunks looked at his younger friend. He had known him all his life and been through thick and thin with him. They both respected each other equally and are now the prime protectors of Earth. Goten was always very mischievous as a younger boy along with Trunks, but he always had a quality about him, which most likely came from his father Goku. Goten always honoured a fight between two people no matter how dodgy it may seem.

"Goten, you may stay back if you wish, but if something is not as it should, I shall step in and defend my father"

"So will I" answered Goten "I've never let you fight alone, and I won't break that trend today"

Vegeta still stood perfectly still, waiting for Zeta to move. He started psyching himself inside, getting ready to power up into his ultimate form. He willed all his energy to be ready to release. This was the perfect chance to do that. No evidence was shown that power was building up, well it actually wasn't being built up. The power was being readied to be exerted. This allowed for a quicker and more efficient transformation.something he learned off Goku. Of all the people in the world, he actually learned something of the person he used to long to destroy.

"Trunks, Goten, Bosta!" Vegeta suddenly boomed. "Move away from this area now!" The three fighters obeyed the old warrior and flew backwards, slowly still facing the fight area. They moved off only about twenty-metres then rose high in the air to get a better view. Gohan was still watching the stand off between the two saiyans. Vegeta's eyes flicked over to him and he knew what he wanted. Gohan suddenly disappeared, more to the point; disappeared from the untrained eye. He used his super-speed and instantly moved next to Trunks in the sky and said nothing.

Zeta smiled. An evil smile of satisfaction because he finally had his way. He was now facing the one his whole planet fears, alone. A real challenge for him that will prove he is the true ruler of Planet Barados.

"Lets do it" Zeta whispered to himself. The young saiyan suddenly moved. He separated his legs to steady himself. His feet were then forced into the ground for added support. The ground crunched under his feet. Zeta hunched over a bit and then looked at Vegeta with a frown on his face. His arms came out to the side; fists clenched and arms upright in a weight lifting position. Zeta's arms were at stomach level and then it happened. Every muscle tightened in his body and a murmur started to rise from his mouth. The noise became louder and louder. Zeta's arms bulged. His biceps blew up like balloons. The forearms of each arm also bulged out with the clenching of his fists. Zeta's legs; calves, hamstrings and quads all suddenly flexed into an enormous size. Veins atop his forehead, muscles of each arm and leg suddenly showed. His murmuring sound became louder. An aura suddenly swirled around Zeta's body. It was the sign his power was increasing dramatically for it moved all the dust and soil from beneath him and blew it outwards more. The aura was white and was becoming more intense with every raise of Zeta's voice. It was like a bending transparent shield around him, it reminded the fighters about the look of smoke or haze on the horizon on a hot day. The fighter's could feel the energy building around the area; it was like a shadow creeping over them. The sudden rise of power didn't fade Vegeta though. He still stood there with a curious look on his face. Zeta's hair started to waver around and fade from gold to black. His eyes also began to change from black to green; the effect was like someone switching a light on and off.

"I haven't done my full transformation in ages" he thought to himself, "this will rock their world.literately" The shadow of Zeta's power grew extremely big, extremely fast.

Then, his transformation happened. The loud groan suddenly turned into a scream of rage. Zeta lifted his body to the sky, looking to the heavens, eyes closed and mouth opened wide. His arms outstretched and his whole body flexed. The screaming filled the near by mountains, then came the eruption of power. Zeta's hair exploded upwards in a golden colour followed by the segments of the Earth being ripped from the surface. All different sizes, being torn from the immense power that was being wielded. The rocks and other debris exploded while they rose from all the pressure, which surrounded Zeta.

Vegeta looked on in amazement, he had underestimated the boys power. It was definitely a force of great power. But he knew Zeta hadn't finished powering up yet. For the final thing happened. A giant flash of gold energy, followed by an enormous sphere of energy, which spread outwards from Zeta's aura. Such was the power that it carved a giant crater underneath the fighter with such ferocity that it sent out debris in all directions. The hole spread out stopped suddenly and the remaining energy of the sphere spanned out not quite as fierce but it still took some trees with it. Zeta still screamed, willing as much power as he could muster, and then his voice started to fade from the ear and then ceased.

The Z fighters looked upon the carnage that lay waste to the land right underneath them. They couldn't believe how powerful this stranger was. "How it this possible?" Trunks asked, "if I'm sensing this right, the power given off is more than my third transformation."

"Same here" Goten stuttered "I wonder what he looks like?" Bosta just hovered in the air, almost speechless. His father had powered up to his max before and Bosta couldn't believe what he felt. This was completely different. Zeta's power was at least ten million stronger. Gohan wasn't fazed by the sudden increase, this was expected and he knew who would win.

On ground level, Vegeta had created an energy barrier around himself for protection from the flying debris and dust. He stood silent, and his old curiosity was awoken. He wanted to know what the boy looked like after transforming because he was surely stronger than Trunks and Goten. Vegeta waited still, patiently for the dust to clear. A slight whirring noise could be heard from the thick of the cloud. Vegeta guessed it to be Zeta's aura. The stand off continued while the dust settled, then suddenly a slight gold tinge could be made out in the brown cloud.

It grew a bit bigger and someone came into view. The figure floated above a giant crater made in the ground. It was large, and still smoking from the energy, which carved it out. The figure's aura was gold and it surrounded his whole body. His arms hung loosely by his sides, except the muscles were large and tight. The biceps of the arms bulged, so did every other muscle on the figure's body. His chest looked as though it could explode any second by the size of it. Even though the man's body bulged to the max, much like an ascended saiyan's, the armour still fit perfectly, must be a self adjusting one thought Vegeta. The hair was now twice to three times it's original length, it hung in the air and spiked out in all different directions. The hair was also a bright gold colour, quite the opposite of its normal colour. Vegeta looked into the man's eyes and also saw the change; they were now aqua green and very calm, his eyebrows were also transformed into his hair's colour.

Vegeta now saw Zeta standing before him in all his glory. Powered up to the max and ready to fight. Vegeta deduced that Zeta must be at the second super saiyan transformation (not including the ascended saiyan form). His power level would be uncountable and it was unusually high for the transformation he was in for it was higher than a saiyan's third transformation. Zeta must have trained extremely hard to reach this sort of power.

"Well, you have finally seen my most powerful form, I will let you do what you must to prepare for battle.now hurry" Zeta exclaimed. His voice was a little calmer and less cold than before, but his eyes still pierced like giant swords.

* * *



Up on Kami's lookout the boys still train, while Goku stands at the edge watching down below, sensing the battle which will take place. He waits, putting all his concentration into getting a view of the scene. Goku was once the most powerful warrior in the world, well he technically still was because his second son Goten hadn't surpassed him it. But he probably couldn't beat Goten because he himself was old and probably wouldn't last long. He was still held in high regard by all that knew him, for he has sacrificed himself on many occasions to save the Earth from certain doom.

He reminisced back many decades ago when his brother Radditz came to Earth to find him and destroy everyone there. It was that day when Goku found out he was one of the last of his kind; the saiyan race. Radditz kidnapped Goku's son when he found out how much his brother had changed; he wanted to protect the Earth! So Radditz ordered his younger brother to bring hundred dead people to him unless he wants to see his son dead. This didn't faze Goku, as he enlisted the help of Piccolo who was at the time his enemy. Goku sacrificed himself to rid the world of Radditz. He held him while Piccolo charged up an attack to destroy them both.

Goku also remembered the fight on Planet Namek against Freeza. The one being which triggered his super saiyan powers at the expense of his best friend Krillen. The changeling, once finding out it was impossible to destroy the now super saiyan Goku, used an energy blast to destroy the planet's core thus making it unstable. The planet eventually exploded and Goku made it just in time. He floated off into space in a battered space pod, not knowing where he was going.

He suddenly remembered the horrible time against Cell. The monster created by Dr. Gero of the Red Ribbon Army. The insane man had fused the cells of the greatest fighters in the universe to create an ultimate being to destroy the planet. Goku, after admitting defeat to Cell, thrust his own son into the fray. Gohan was a little stronger than his father but didn't have enough to destroy Cell until he started torturing Gohan's friends and then brutally killed Android 16. The effect was instantaneous; Gohan went beyond a super saiyan to a much higher level, balancing out speed and power. Gohan easily had Cell on his knees begging for mercy. Except the creature started a process of self-destruct that would wipe Earth out of the solar system. Goku stepped in and teleported Cell to King Kai's planet with himself where he blew up.

Goku truly was the Earth's greatest fighter and saviour. The old saiyan still wore his trademark outfit, an orange gi with a blue undershirt. The wind on top of the lookout calmly brought him back to the present and to his current task.

"What the hell" he suddenly blurted out, "is that possible" As Goku said it, the whole ground seemed to be shaking and then a sudden power was sensed by all the warriors of the lookout. It was Zeta's power that had reached them, his power was enormous.

* * *

Vegeta's composure was still calm, he could take this boy. All he had to do was avoid any hits and he'll be fine.

"You should have kept your tail fool" Vegeta yelled, "if you had kept it you would have the ultimate power" Zeta just looked at him through his cold green eyes.

"What, you mean your gonna turn into a giant monkey" Zeta laughed "well, if you wish old man"

Vegeta had enough of this child, he would show him the true power of the saiyan race.

"Just watch, the power of my tail unleashed!" Vegeta yelled. And with that he started to power-up.

Vegeta readied himself in the same position that Zeta was in; legs out, arms bent, fists clenched. Except he stood up straighter. The old saiyan uncurled his tail slowly, and let it hang in mid-air. His transformation was much quicker for he was ready to do it.

Vegeta tensed his muscles and a huge explosion surrounded him in a terrifying eruption of dust and rocks. All the space from twenty metres in was torn up and destroyed. A scream of rage filtered out of the giant dust cloud. The scream of Vegeta. Then came the transformation; Vegeta could barely be seen in all the carnage, but he stood there on a pillar of rock in the centre of a crater. His aura spread out wide and was extremely violent towards anything it touched. His fists were clenched but his muscles didn't bulge out like Zeta's, they just flexed and looked a tad bigger. Another huge screamed could be heard that rocked the island they were on so ferociously that it almost collapsed under the pressure. Huge cracks split around the crater that Vegeta made. Suddenly, a bright light surrounded Vegeta's body and it was growing. The light was blinding, it started to move out slowly in all directions, Zeta was forced to cover his eyes from the light's intensity. Then the light unexpectedly shot out in all directions covering most of the island in a second and then there was silence. The violent shakes stopped, the light had dissipated and the dust had lifted. All that could be heard was a faint whirring noise.

It was Vegeta. He stood there; arms by his sides, flexed and his fists clenched. He stood up straight, a gold aura surrounding him. The pillar of rock crumbled as he lifted himself by flying over the crater and onto solid ground. Zeta looked up at his foe and almost shit himself. The now transformed Vegeta stood for all to see. No longer was there an orange gi on him. Zeta still stared at Vegeta's new look. He couldn't believe it. Could this be the power of a saiyan's tail?

Vegeta had longer hair now. The colour remained black except it grew down to shoulder length. The side burns were longer and the back grew down and sat on his shoulders. The orange gi was no more, and it its place was fur. Red brown fur. It covered his whole body expect face, hands and spots on his chest where his breast and abdominal muscles stuck out. His legs were covered in dark aqua green pants, which were rather tight. They went all the way down his legs where they met a pair of boots.

Zeta looked into Vegeta's eyes and also saw a change. His eyes were no longer black, they were a pale, ghostly yellow colour. They looked at Zeta like a lion, but what surrounded them was what made him look even more imposing. Vegeta's eye rims had a thin red line traced around them, like someone used a red marker pen around them. Zeta stood up straight again, keeping his composure.

The two saiyans now powered-up to their maximum stood facing each other waiting for the other to move first.

"Ok" Vegeta started. His voice was the same, except had a sort of icy edge to it, "lets begin". He then flicked his left eyebrow and disappeared using his super-speed.

"What the." Zeta hadn't being playing much attention to Vegeta's movements, just his imposing transformation. Suddenly, Vegeta could be heard right behind him, speeding up almost invisible. A punch came out of the air suddenly, followed by Vegeta's whole body, the light had caught up with him and so did Zeta's eye just in time. The right-handed punch swung in to hit the side of the head, but Zeta was fast and a muscular arm was raised and blocked the attack.