Chapter 10

As the battles raged around them, two warriors stood their ground. One cocky, prideful, and certain of his victory. The other serious, slightly excited, and ready to defend his home to his last breath.

Vegeta smirks at Goku as his scouter reads Goku's power levels "Well Kakarot, I have to say your battle power is quite impressive. Having a power level of 10,000 is quite impressive. But, it is still not enough to defeat me."

Goku just lowers himself into his stance, his focus completely on Vegeta. "I don't know what these power levels are, but we should begin fighting."

Vegeta just scoffs, but lowers himself into his own stance. "You obviously have a death wish Kakarot, but very well."

Goku glares at Vegeta from his lower position, his body lowered and ready to spring forwards. Vegeta just smirks from his higher position, his body ready to guard and counterattack.

Just as his stance showed, Goku launches at Vegeta with incredible speed. Goku's eyes narrow as Vegeta only reacts with a larger smirk. Goku throws a punch at Vegeta, a lot of his power behind it…

Only for Vegeta to block it with ease. The saiyan prince sends his own punch back at Goku, who just tsks in irritation and dodges. He sends a kick, only for Vegeta to dodge it.

The two begin sending more blows, testing the waters of their opponent's abilities. Despite the situation, Goku couldn't help but feel excited. A small grin forms on his face as he realizes just how powerful Vegeta is.

The two jump away from each other, having gathered the information they needed. Goku smiles and says "You are strong! This is getting exciting!"

Vegeta just crosses his arms again. "At least your saiyan blood flows strong. The thrill of battle has not diminished at all within you!"

Goku eyes Vegeta, then rushes forward without another word. Vegeta grins and dodges the punch lazily, then jumps backwards rapidly. Goku quickly follows, jumping after the retreating prince.

Or maybe, retreat wasn't the right word.

Just as Vegeta reached a rock that was higher than he was jumping, he did something unexpected. He rebounds off of the rock, increasing his speed, but he doesn't go for Goku. Goku's eyes widen in surprise as, instead of going straight for him, Vegeta goes to the ground. Then, Vegeta rebounds towards Goku from below.

Goku crosses his arms, the only thing he could do before Vegeta reached his position. Vegeta slams his fist into Goku's guard, nearly breaking the hastily put-up defense. Goku grits his teeth as he is launched into the air, the force of the punch much more than he expected.

As Goku begins to right himself midair, Vegeta suddenly appears behind him. Goku's eyes widened for a brief second before Vegeta sends him back down with a hammer blow. Goku spirals through the air, then slams into the ground with enough force to shoot up a massive cloud of dust.

Not done just yet, Vegeta brings his energy to his hands. He grits his teeth, then sends a volley of ki at the earth-raised saiyan. Screaming the whole while, the area was lit ablaze with the warrior prince's energy.

Goku could sense what Vegeta was going to do and quickly flew out of the way, using the cloud as cover. Safe away from Vegeta for now, he quickly hid behind a rock and prepared his next attack.

Vegeta sends one last energy blast into the cloud, before quickly catching his breath. He looks around, not seeing anything trying to escape. He grunts and presses a button on his scouter. "Can't ever be too sure."

His scouter flashes with numbers and text only the prince knew, before signaling that something was behind a rock. Vegeta grits his teeth in annoyance, realizing that Kakarot escaped before he could land a hit. Not only that, but Kakarot's power level was rising, and fast!

Goku breathes out as he focuses energy for a Kamehameha. Hopefully Vegeta won't notice it until it's too late… His train of thought was instantly derailed as Vegeta seems to warp in front of him, a smirk on his face.

Goku's eyes widen in surprise, gaping at the prince. He wasn't supposed to be able to sense energy, he needed… those… machines… Oh. Goku mentally slaps himself as he stares at the machine on Vegeta's face.

Deciding to try and get something out of this, Goku quickly sends forwards the energy he sent into his hands. A beam of blue instantly fires forward, catching the prince completely off guard, if his cursing and screaming was anything to go by.

Goku quickly ascends back into the sky, his senses on high alert. He was losing this fight, and badly. He knew Vegeta was going to be strong, but this is ridiculous! If only he was an ally… then maybe Goku could learn something from him!

Shaking his head to clear those thoughts, Goku grits his teeth as he hears Vegeta scream in rage and blast back towards him. He could also feel his friends finishing their fights, but that was something to address later.

Goku tenses, preparing himself for his next move. He raises his hands to his forehead, knowing that rage induced enemies tend to be a little reckless. He chuckles and says to himself. "I didn't think I'd need to use this move already, and it is only experimental, but I have little options left."

Vegeta re-enters his line of sight, and just as the taller saiyan thought, he was in a blind rage. Not damaged much, but certainly angry. Goku grins, his plan falling into place.

Vegeta sees Kakarot in a peculiar stance, but doesn't care. He rushes at Kakarot with an energy-enhanced fist. "How DARE YOU, some low class SCUM, damage ME, an ELITE! DIE KAKAROT!"

But then, he realizes something was wrong. Kakarot was grinning. Vegeta's eyes widen and he tries to stop his charge, but he gained too much momentum. Kakarot grins even wider in what looked like slight amusement and excitement, then shuts his eyes tight. "Solar Flare!"

Vegeta's eyes were then assaulted by a blinding flash of light. He yells out in pain, instinctively gripping his face in pure agony. "AGH! What the hell was that?! KAKAROT!"

Goku quickly backs up, then charges energy into his hands. He grunts in exertion as he pours as much energy as he could into his single fist. Soon, a blue glow seems to be emitted from Goku's hand, flaring wildly.

Goku grits his teeth as Vegeta continues to try and diminish the pain in his eyes. His energy seems to go from blue to a bright gold. Goku, satisfied with the energy he had, charges forwards.

His hand pulled back and ablaze with golden energy, Goku screams. "DRAGON FIST!" He sends his hand forwards, and his energy flows around him, ending at his now extended fist. A rough image of dragon seems to manifest within the energy, roaring as it charges down its prey.

Vegeta's sense flare wildly at him to move to the side. He heard Kakarot scream, and he didn't want to be on the end of an attack that powerful. He grits his teeth and flies to the side, just as he feels, FEELS, a powerful attack barrel past. He didn't just feel Kakarot's slipstream as he moved, but also the RAW POWER contained within that one attack. If Vegeta was hit, he would've died for sure.

Goku grits his teeth, dispersing his energy and recalling as much as he could. Despite his efforts, he still only got to half a tank, maybe even less. That was his attempt at trying to end the battle right then and there. He needed to, Vegeta was too strong. But now… now things looked grim.

Vegeta rubs his eyes, then freezes. His hand slowly reaches up to where his scouter used to be… and he grabs nothing but air. His eyes widen as he realizes something. That last attack must've destroyed his scouter as it passed by. If he didn't have enough confirmation of his close death, that would be it.

Vegeta grits his teeth as he stares down Kakarot. His opponent was crafty and powerful. Not as powerful as him, but the tricks made up for it. He needed to defeat Kakarot quickly before he could utilize any more strange techniques.

The saiyan prince quickly charges down Kakarot, ready to finish this battle. Goku grits his teeth and dodges, only for a kick from Vegeta to hit him square in the stomach.

Goku gags loudly as his breath leaves him. Then, Vegeta slams his elbow on top of Goku's head. Goku is sent crashing back into the ground once more, but Vegeta wasn't making the same mistake twice. Instead, he pulses his energy and sends a blast of wind at the cloud, dispersing the dust.

In the middle of a small crater, Kakarot was laying down, breathing heavily. His body was beaten, but his clothes were still intact. It showed the power Vegeta had that he could beat Goku with just his fists.

Vegeta grins widely, finally seeing his opportunity to kill Kakarot. He instantly rockets towards the downed saiyan, his fist pulled back for the finishing blow. 'THIS IS IT KAKAROT! YOU WILL NOW MEET YOUR DEMISE!"

Goku eyes Vegeta with tired eyes. He grits his teeth, his eyes closing. "I can't fall like this! I just can't! I need to live, to protect my friends! I don't care how, I just need to protect everyone!"

Move

Goku's eyes snap open, and his body jumps away from the impact zone. Vegeta slams into the ground, erupting a column of dust and breaking the earth. Vegeta glares at Kakarot, who sends the glare back tenfold. Vegeta involuntarily shivers at that glare. It was the look of a man cornered, with no other options, but not willing to give up.

The silver eyes might have helped.

Pushing down this new sense of fear, Vegeta roars in irritation and annoyance and tries to strike down his opponent.

Duck

Goku moves underneath the blow with this barest movements. Vegeta's eyes widen in surprise, but not at Kakarot avoiding the blow. No, he was surprised because he could've sworn he saw an afterimage made purely on Kakarot moving.

Goku narrows his eyes, his now silver eyes flashing. He grits his teeth, then yells out as he sends a fist at Vegeta. A powerful shockwave erupts from his punch, sending Vegeta flying backwards.

Goku breathes heavily as he desperately tries to control whatever he just experienced. It was as if his body had a mind of its own, guiding his own actions to the best available option.

Pursue

Goku doesn't question the subconscious command and blasts towards Vegeta. The saiyan prince grits his teeth, his stomach like mush. "W-Where the hell did this power come from?!"

The younger saiyan roars loudly, just enough for Vegeta to realize what was happening, but not soon enough for him to react. Goku slams his fist into Vegeta's stomach, making the prince hack up blood. Goku's digs his fist into Vegeta's stomach more, then sends the prince into the air with another blast of energy.

NOW!

Wasting no time, Goku blasts at Vegeta with an energy ball in hand. He roars once more, his voice seeming to be overlayed with another roar. The primal sound of fury, of a beast with no equal. Vegeta looks down at Kakarot, and his eyes widen. He could clearly see the silhouette of an Oozaru behind the saiyan, roaring at the prince with defiance.

Goku reaches the prince, and the two lock eyes. One wide in shock and wonder, and the other narrowed in pure determination and power. Goku sends the blast forwards at point blank range, roaring in tandem with the massive beast behind him.

Vegeta screams in pain and rage as his body is consumed by the massive blast of blue. It was tearing into his skin, ripping apart his armor, destroying his very being. Goku just roars even louder, pouring all of his power into this one attack. This was the final blow!

As this was happening, the other Z-fighters had finally arrived at the battle scene. Their eyes widen in absolute shock as they watch Goku seem to pummel the prince with ease. Krillin chuckles and says "That's it Goku! Destroy that invader!"

Piccolo watches the battle with narrowed eyes, still breathing heavily from his battle with Nappa. "What is this pressure? Goku… have you been holding out on me?"

Gohan's eyes were wide with awe, his face glowing with pride in his father. He pumps a fist in the air and screams "DEFEAT HIM DAD!"

Goku seems to hear the cry as he drains his reserves to almost empty with one last roar of defiance. Vegeta's screams were drowned out completely as the blast fills the area with its power, asserting its dominance over the being trapped within its wrath.

With that last boost, the blast finally begins to die down, showing that the prince was no longer present. Goku breathes deeply, his arms falling limp to his side. He slowly descends, then hits the ground.

A searing pain shoots up from his legs, and his eyes widen in shock. His eyes convert back to their normal black color, and black lightning arcs around the saiyan in small bursts. Goku grits his teeth as his body is filled with a pain unlike anything he's ever felt. It was as if all of his nerves were being seared with fire!

The pain seems to diminish after a short while, and Goku pants in both exhaustion and pain. "Whatever that boost was, it seems to have a massive backlash. If it ever happens again, I need to be careful of it."

As Goku tries to rest, the other Z-fighters run over and cheer in victory. Goku grins at them, his tired face relieved to see them all present. His eyes linger on Piccolo's battered form for a second, before his friends all embrace him. He chuckles and tells them of the pain he felt, making them simply give him verbal congratulations.

Piccolo watches from the side, using his regenerative abilities to slowly heal him. He didn't want to rush it, just in case, so he was healing his wounds at a rate that wouldn't be taxing.

Then, a spike of power hits his senses. He turns to the sky in shock, his eyes wide and full of fear. The other Z-fighters notice this, and then the power hits them too. They all look up, and see a sight that was haunting.

Vegeta was floating above them, staring at them with rage and contempt. He was breathing heavily, and his body was damaged quite a bit, but he was still very much alive.

He stares at Goku, who was looking at him with wide, fearful, black eyes full of disbelief. His eyes narrow and he quickly comes to the conclusion that Kakarot's strange power boost was gone now.

Goku looks at Vegeta, then at his friends and screams "RUN! Get out of here, you can't win this battle!"

The Z-fighters look at him, then instantly fly away. They knew better than to question Goku when he told them to retreat. Piccolo goes to Goku's side and says "You know that I can't run Goku. If we die, then so be it."

Goku eyes him, then chuckles. "Thanks Piccolo." He grits his teeth and shakily rises back up, looking at Vegeta and ready to battle. But, Vegeta wasn't looking at them. He was looking… at his friends!

Vegeta grits his teeth as he hears Kakarot issue a retreat. The others begin flying away, but it was pathetically slow to him. He growls, then raises a hand to blast them into oblivion. "You won't just run away from me!"

Goku's eyes widen in shock and he screams "Vegeta, no!"

Vegeta doesn't pay him any mind and sends the charges blast at the group. The retreating figures feel the blast and turn around, their eyes wide. Goku and Piccolo stare with shock as the blast travels at them, set on a course to kill them all.

When suddenly, another blast hits the other, making them explode before reaching the Z-fighters. Everyone's eyes widen in shock, and the turn to where the blast originated from.

"I wish to be a hero of the multiverse, but coming in at the last second like this is a little cheesy."

Everyone's eyes widen even more as they see just who it was. Black gi, red belt, and the kanji for 'Kai' on the front. Zamasu narrows his eyes at Vegeta and says "I am your opponent, saiyan. Now come face your retribution."

Chronoa closes the book with wide eyes. She looks around, then says "Um…" She frowns, wondering how to word this. She shrugs, then grins widely. "Yesssss….."

She turns and waves. "Thanks for reading!"