"Dragonball AS: 32nd Budokai Saga"

Chapter 54- "Clash of the Titans"

By- Tiny

The repairs to the ring had taken less than a half hour after Vegeta and Goku's fight, but it had taken considerably longer to repair the two fighters. Gohan had only taken an hour to finish up in the medical wing, but Goku and Vegeta were in there until almost three hours straight. When the two finally did get out, the Saiya-jin prince wasn't happy to say the least...

"I can't believe that after all my struggles and hard work, I still lost to some third-class clown!" Vegeta snarled, "This is absolutely...."

"What you deserve?" Goku snickered, "I thought so, that's why I was sure to give you what you had coming."

"Shut up Kakarot!" Vegeta snarled, "If we weren't in the med lab, I'd...."

"You'd what?" Goku interrupted, staring down the prince, "Beat me up? I'd like to see you try."

Vegeta looked about ready to take Goku up on his offer, but before he could do it a very breathless monk burst into the door to the med lab. The two Saiya-jin took a quick glance at the elderly man and almost laughed at how winded he was, but decided it was best not to.

"Umm....Mr. Son?" the monk heaved, "They're ready for you now in the ring, so Bardock told me to come and get you."

"Alright then, sounds good to me," Goku smirked, his eyes turning blue, "I'll have to see to you later Vegeta..."

Vegeta watched in anger as the younger man stalked away out of the medical wing, flaring up to the second form of LSSJ as he went. The Saiya-jin prince's scowl soon turned upwards again, however, as he let loose a small chuckle before leaving the room himself.

"Oh believe me Kakarot, you will see me again," the smaller man chuckled quietly, "And next time, you will not be the victor..."

Bardock was sweating like a pig as he waited for the two finalists to show their faces in the waiting area, since both had been in recovery until just recently. The crowd was clearly getting very restless and a few items had been thrown at the announcer, but that ceased as soon as Bardock incinerated a few soda cans. Just as the Saiya-jin announcer was about to give up on waiting, he noticed two figures walking into the waiting area's doorway, bringing a small sense of relief to the Saiya-jin man.

"Alright ladies and gentlemen, the time has come to give you the fight that you've all been waiting for!" Bardock smirked, "In this, the final round of our Adult Competition, we will be seeing two men that are probably two of the greatest fighters in this world or any other for that matter! Please give a big hand for Son Gohan and Son Goku!!!"

The crowd cheering loudly as the two Son men stepped out through the waiting area's massive archway, both already powered up to their fullest. Goku was in the same clothes he had been wearing against Vegeta in the semi-finals, which were now ragged and torn all over the place. Gohan, on the other hand, was wearing only a pair of blue jeans and his favorite black sneakers into the ring, much to everyone's surprise.

Energy crackled between the two fighters as they went into the center of the ring, both with almost identical looks plastered on their faces. Goku was proud that his son had come so far in the Budokai, anyone could see that, but everyone knew that the older man would cut his son no slack in the battle.

"Okay guys, let's make this a good one," Bardock smiled at his son and grandson, "Ready.....FIGHT!!!!"

Gohan made the first move of the match, launching himself at Goku and throwing an elbow at his father's head. The older Saiya-jin ducked under the blow and retaliated with a punch aimed towards Gohan's exposed middle. The hybrid managed to jump above the strike, though just barely, and managed to land a kick to the side of his head. Goku skidded across the ring floor for a few feet before jumping to his feet and throwing a ki blast at his son's head.

The younger Saiya-jin deflected the blast into the air over them, but that was all the distraction Goku needed to phase behind him and land a kick right on Gohan's back. The younger man flew forward a few inched before his father drove a knee into his son's chin, knocking him into the air rapidly. Gohan stopped himself quickly, however, and reached out just in time to block one of his father's punches.

"Not bad Gohan," Goku smirked, "I see you've gotten a lot better."

"I learned from the best," Gohan chuckled, "Wouldn't you say, Dad?"

"Yes, indeed you did," Goku nodded, "That isn't going to save you though!"

Gohan ducked as his father threw out his elbow as though he would strike the hybrid in the head, but Gohan was caught off guard when Goku's other hand drove into the younger man's stomach. The hybrid warrior coughed out a little bit of blood as his father jumped up into the air again, coming down to strike his son while he was distracted.

This time, however, Gohan was more prepared for such a move and threw his foot up into the air and slammed his father right in the face. Goku soared back almost ten feet before stopping dead in his tracks, looking around to find that his son had vanished from the area.

"Where did he go this time?" Goku grumbled, "He can't have gone far..."

Goku didn't even get time to finish his thought as a powerful knee rammed into his stomach, causing the Saiya-jin warrior to lurch forward in pain. Gohan smirked at his success in catching the older man off-guard, following the initial blow up with an elbow down on his father's back. Goku coughed out blood, but tightened his jaw muscles in frustration as he swung around to connect a blow with his son's head.

Gohan didn't have time to avoid the attack as Goku's attack hit him right in the face, knocking the younger man over a few feet. While he was still moving, Goku zipped past his son and kicked him in the side from above, knocking the younger fighter down towards the ring again. Gohan wasn't about to allow himself to be taken down so easily, however, and landed on his feet with a loud crash that cracked the tile in several places.

"Nice moves Dad, but let's see you pull them off after this," Gohan smirked, raising his fingers to his head, "I finally managed to master this move..."

Goku looked confused at first, not understanding what Gohan was talking about, but then it finally dawned on him what was going on. Energy cracked around the tips of Gohan's fingers as he chuckled lowly at his father, who had put his arms over his chest in defense.

"This is gonna hurt...bad!" Goku winced, "Like a big needle..."

"LIGHT OF DEATH!!!!!"

Goku tightened his arms defenses up as the spiraled beam of energy came straight at him, but the attempt to defend himself was futile. The beam moved off to the side a little bit and barreled into the Saiya-jin's right shoulder, bursting out the other side and going off into the depths of space. Blood gushed out of the open wound as Goku tried to cover it up with little success, finding that he could no longer even move the arm around..

"This certainly complicates things," Goku growled, "I don't think I can last long at this rate...."

Gohan seemed very shocked at the effect his attack had had on his father, cursing himself mentally for using such a damaging move in a Budokai. Goku didn't seem to worried about it, however, as he landed in the ring across from Gohan and cupped his good arm at his side, a blue ki ball forming within it.

"Let's end this quickly before I go to meet King Kai again!" Goku smirked, "Ka...me..."

"Whatever you say Dad," Gohan nodded, "Ka....me..."

"Ha....me...."

"Ha...me..."

The crowd fell silent instantly as the two warriors charged up their attacks, their brilliant blue color filling the stadium as the looked on in wonder. Even the other Z fighters were on the edge of their seats, anxious to see just who would come out on tip in the battle of the energy blasts.

"HA!!!!" both men shouted at once, releasing the two massive blue energy attacks upon each other.

The two Saiya-jin were in a virtual deadlock, neither able to overpower the other thanks to Goku's injury, the sheer force of the attacks kicking tiles up off the floor. Sweat was pouring off the brows of both men's foreheads, neither willing to give an inch to the other in spite of being related to each other.

"I will not give up!" Goku snarled, "I can't give up!!!"

Increasing the size of his blast slightly to try and win the match, Goku found himself struggling to maintain LSSJ2 and his consciousness. Gohan increased the power of his blast as well, causing a giant sonic boom that sent a blinding flash of light throughout the entire stadium. The light finally died down enough for people to see again, revealing Gohan kneeling on the ring in his basic form....

....and Goku passed out on the grass just outside the ring.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there you have it!" Bardock exclaimed, only after making sure his son was taken to the med labs, "Thanks to his crippling attack earlier in the match, Son Gohan has managed to emerge victorious in this match and claim the title of World Champion that once belonged to his father! Let's hear it for this amazing young man!"

The crowd erupted in a frenzy of cheering and chanting of Gohan's name as the new champion waved excitedly to the people around him, that famous family grin spreading from ear to ear. Chi-Chi was sobbing her eyes out as Raditz led her out of the stands and towards the med lab to see her injured husband, a slight look of disappointment on the Saiya-jin man's face. Still, most everyone was quite happy to see that Gohan had won the match and were cheering along with everyone else even after Bardock spoke up again.

"Since Gohan has won this fight against his father and become the new Budokai champion, we still have one more match to go through," Bardock coughed, "That match would be the champion of the Junior Division against the champion of the Adult Division, so would Kimuchi please report the ring?"

In the stands, one small boy with very long hair froze almost as solid as a rock, the look on his face one of sheer terror as his friends teased him. It almost looked as though he had seen a ghost....his own!

"Just great!" the son of Raditz gulped, "I'm a dead man..."

NEXT TIME: Against superior odds, his own father, Gohan has emerged victorious in the tournament and claimed the coveted title of World Champion! Now he has to face the Junior World Champion, Kimuchi, in the ring right after the narrow victory against Goku in the finals. Does the son of Raditz stand a chance against his older cousin or will he be back in the tank again before the day's out? Find out in the next installment of Dragonball AS!!!!!!