[Author's Note: Regarding power scaling, I believe the writers of Super did a horrible, horrible job throughout the series. They were basically looking for a way to make other characters relevant, and chose to do it by powering everyone up for no reason and powering Goku down for no reason. They SAID Gohan is very powerful, but then went and made everything he did irrelevant. I'm a HUGE Gohan fan and this really flipped my pancakes, especially when RIBRIENNE got more screen time than him. I'm also a huge Vegeta fan, but Vegeta had plenty of great moments. Anyway, here's the power scaling in this story, presented as a relative scale in order from strongest to weakest ("and" means these characters are on the same general level, most of the time):

Before Chapter 1 (after the tournament of power): Whis - Beerus - Goku and Vegeta - Freeza - Gohan and 17
Before Chapter 5 (before the ritual, after months of training) : Whis - Beerus - Goku and Vegeta - Gohan - 17

We still don't know how strong Gohan is compared to Freeza. Anyway, back to the story]

(Low Earth orbit)

Vegeta soared upwards, followed closely by the newly transformed Gohan. Vegeta, still in his base form, stopped suddenly. Gohan stopped as well, and they both hovered for a few moments, high above the earth. At these altitudes Gohan could see the world below him extend for hundreds of miles in every direction, a sparkling blue-green gem covered by a feathery blanket of clouds, and above him the limitless void of space. Before he could admire it all, however, Vegeta attacked.

The saiyan prince opened with a flurry of kicks and punches. Every one of his strikes was parried by Gohan's arms or legs, each hit followed by a thunderous shockwave powerful enough to be heard by the spectators on the ground. To Gohan it seemed that Vegeta was moving in slow motion, but he noticed his opponent's relaxed attitude and could tell Vegeta was only testing him.

After a few seconds of furious attack, Vegeta smiled and fired a massive ki blast. Gohan deflected the gigantic blue orb with a quick movement of his left arm, but that moment gave Vegeta enough time to power up. Gohan could sense it more clearly than ever before, and detected Vegeta's divine aura flare and extend while remaining untransformed.

Gohan reacted before Vegeta had time to finish powering up, charging at his opponent and attacking with powerful spinning kick. Vegeta had no time to parry or dodge properly, but with a quick burst of ki he managed to propel himself just so, and Gohan's kick connected with his shoulder instead of his elbow. The impact was much more powerful than Gohan had anticipated, releasing a shockwave that cleared the atmosphere below of clouds and launched Vegeta away. Gohan was surprised to see Vegeta bruised but relatively unharmed. It took him a few moments to realize what happened: As his father had mentioned in the past, the power of the god transformation required the warrior to channel and direct his ki much more precisely. Gohan simply kicked Vegeta as he normally would, channeling his ki inside his body and giving no thought to the divine energy carelessly released by the blow.

Goku, Krillin, Goten, Piccolo, Tien and 17 were watching the fight from below, hovering in the upper atmosphere along with the silvery robot Goku. Krillin was struggling to keep up with the saiyans' movements, but Gohan's mistake was plain to see. "If Gohan doesn't focus," Krillin thought to himself, "Vegeta is going to pummel him into next week. Maybe I should make sure Korin has some beans, just in case..."

Gohan's moment of introspection was enough for Vegeta to power up even further, and the half-saiyan was surprised by Vegeta's next move – a lighting-fast charge that ended with Vegeta's fist buried in Gohan's gut. Gohan was launched backwards, flaming red aura flaring and sputtering, but he recovered only a fraction of a second later. The distracted Gohan was caught by surprise, but he barely even felt the attack.

Vegeta was only beginning. The prince powered up to super saiyan with a silent yell, Vegeta's yellow aura expanding furiously as his hair turned golden and his eyes green. This gave Gohan the time to charge an immense energy blast and launch it at his opponent, first flying beneath Vegeta so the blast would travel away from Earth. Vegeta just barely dodged the house-sized orb of energy, and Gohan's blast exploded above them, temporarily lighting up that entire area of the world with fiery radiance.

As part of his dodge, Vegeta flew in an arc around Gohan and began firing a rapid series of smaller blasts from both hands. Gohan watched the advancing blasts travel towards him relatively slowly, and started deflecting them deeper into space without even bothering to dodge. He didn't see Vegeta's smile, and the prince powered up even further while his rapid-fire attack continued. As a result, Gohan was almost overwhelmed by a massive swarm of energy blasts that were much faster and deadlier than the ones he started deflecting moments before. With a silent shout and a burst of divine ki, Gohan's aura flared and he launched himself away from the arc of blasts at a speed that left Krillin and Piccolo speechless.

"Vegeta is toying with him", the Namekian thought to himself, "he's constantly powering up while Gohan is still getting used to the transformation." Piccolo hoped Gohan would reveal some hidden power and wipe away Vegeta's annoying smirk, but the prince's power, already at unimaginable levels, just kept rising and rising. "He's on a completely different level from Gohan... dammit... Vegeta is using just a small fraction of his full strength, Gohan doesn't stand a chance."

Gohan effortlessly evaded the rapid stream of Vegeta's energy blasts, rotated to face Vegeta while still flying in same direction, and fired a kamehameha beam at the saiyan prince after making sure the planet wasn't in the way. Vegeta's smile widened as his lust for battle intensified; the searing blue beam was too fast for him to dodge, he had no choice but to block. Vegeta braced himself against the attack a fraction of a second before Gohan's energy engulfed him. For a moment Gohan thought his kamehameha had overpowered Vegeta, but as the beam dispersed he could see his opponent in his full glory, surrounded by the intense aura of Vegeta's super saiyan blue transformation.

Vegeta shook his slightly bruised arms while his eyes met Gohan's, and charged again, this time almost too fast for Gohan to see. Vegeta appeared in front of Gohan instantly, unleashing a flurry of punches and kicks that Gohan barely managed to block. After a series of strikes left Gohan's midsection vulnerable, Vegeta lashed out with a powerful kick that hit Gohan in the ribs, impacting with tremendous power and launching Gohan deeper into space.

"Vegeta!" The attacking saiyan paused for a moment, hearing Piccolo's telepathic shout in his mind. "What are you doing?! Don't kill him!" From his higher vantage point, Vegeta looked down at the Namekian for a moment, smirking, and flew after Gohan. "Oh, when I'm through with him Kakarot's brat will wish he was dead," Vegeta responded telepathically. Piccolo looked above him at Goku, who hovered nearby and followed the combatants' every movement. Goku didn't seem to be worried, so Piccolo forced himself to relax as well. "Crazy saiyans..." he thought to himself. Goku turned to look at him and smiled. "Oh relax, Piccolo," Goku's mental voice was as cheerful as ever, "Vegeta knows what he's doing".

Vegeta flew after Gohan, appearing behind the dazed half-saiyan before Gohan could come to his senses. As the prince prepared a devastating blow that would send his younger opponent plummeting back down, the newly transformed saiyan god suddenly rotated in place. Vegeta's earlier kick probably broke a rib or two, but Gohan managed to overcome the pain and aim a devastating punch into Vegeta's chest as the older saiyan raised his arms and prepared to strike. This time Gohan could feel the godly energy beginning to expand in all directions, and managed to funnel it into one point – his striking fist – an instant before contact.

The shockwave from the powerful attack battered the spectators below and caused Krillin, Goten, Piccolo and Tien to scatter. 17 and Goku just hovered in place, apparently too involved in the battle to notice.

Vegeta was flung away, taken completely by surprise. He regained control a few moments later, giving Gohan a few moments to recharge and prepare another kamehameha. Gohan was wounded, his broken ribs sending waves of pain throughout his body with each breath. He knew his time was almost up, and this was his last chance to attack.

The older saiyan hovered in place some distance away, looking at Gohan with anger. "How is he even standing up to me?! That's it! No more holding back!" Vegeta spread his arms and legs, gathering his divine ki into a knot deep in his stomach. He imagined Gohan's god aura fading, the ritual failing, all because he couldn't give it his all. He had to drive Gohan to the brink of death to make sure the half-saiyan's body absorbed the god ki, otherwise the ritual might fail. Normally he wouldn't care about another's weakness, but... Vegeta couldn't forget Gohan's overwhelming strength all those years ago. The young half-saiyan had chosen him as his mentor and Vegeta accepted the responsibility. He made a promise to Gohan, and the prince didn't intend to go back on his word. Concentrating on the energy compressed inside his body, Vegeta released all his ki with a silent shout. His blue aura expanded even further, erupting with turquoise light as he transformed into his ultimate blue form.

The rush of air and energy could be felt even by the people on the ground. A sudden wind threatened to topple Bulma's tent, and the light coming from outside suddenly grew brighter and changed in color, casting double shadows that drew Oolong's attention. Oolong peeked outside, and quickly returned to his chair, his face pale. The gathered friends were huddled around Bulma's screen, most of them not paying attention to what was happening outside. "Hey, guys..." he stammered , "there's another sun up there, and it's blue. Nothing special, just letting you know."

The two opponents faced each other high above the earth, Vegeta's aura a vortex of bright blue light and Gohan surrounded by red, unstable flames. Vegeta slowly brought his arms closer together while extending them in front of his face, a blindingly bright orb of energy growing between his palms. Gohan's palms were cupped at his side as he powered up a divine kamehameha. Silently, Gohan extended his arms forward just as Vegeta's final flash erupted towards him. The two massive energy beams clashed between the combatants in a furious vortex of power, lighting up the entire hemisphere and causing streams of aurora borealis to appear in the sky all around the world. As Gohan struggled against Vegeta's overwhelming might, he could hear Vegeta's telepathic message. "You are much more powerful than I was when I first transformed, but not powerful enough." Vegeta diverted more divine ki into his attack, slowly pushing Gohan backwards. "Accept your defeat, boy!"

Gohan gave it everything he had. Gritting his teeth and fighting through the pain, every drop of his energy and willpower were poured into this last kamehameha. The effort was enough to halt Vegeta's push, but the older saiyan increased the intensity of his attack until it was too much for Gohan to resist.
The final flash broke through the kamehameha, dispersing it and engulfing Gohan in an angry stream of white-hot energy.

As the energy beam dissipated, Vegeta's eyes opened in surprise. Gohan's aura was gone, the boy was drifting in his base form, apparently unconscious - but Vegeta could clearly feel him powering up with even more divine ki! As Vegeta, Goku and the others flew closer to inspect Gohan, they could all feel heat waves emanate from the young half-saiyan. "What's happening, Goku?" Asked Krillin in a terrified mental voice. He couldn't sense Gohan's energy at all, and for a few moments he was certain Vegeta's attack killed his friend's son. But the heat radiating from the young man was very easy to feel, and was constantly rising.

As Goku, Vegeta and 17 flew closer to Gohan, the rising heat forced the others to retreat. Goten tried to shield his face and fly towards his big brother, but the mechanical Goku grabbed him, hugged the child close and flew back towards the ground.

Goku flew close to Gohan, powering up to super saiyan blue and joining Vegeta. 17 remained behind the two warriors, his force field protecting him, Piccolo, Tien and Krillin from the unbearable and constantly rising heat this close to Gohan's unconscious form.
"Vegeta," Piccolo's angry thought reached them all. "What did you do?"
"I don't owe you any explanations, Namekian," Vegeta responded telepathically, "but I did nothing to the boy."

17 could hear the others converse, but couldn't respond. Instead, he tapped Krillin's shoulder to draw the small warrior's attention. The android then pointed at Gohan, powered up a blast in his palm, and mimed releasing it at the earth.
It took a moment for Krillin to understand. "Uh, guys," he thought, "Gohan is sending out some serious heat out here, we need to do something or the entire earth is going to turn into one huge barbecue."

"I think I know what's going on," Goku's voice reached their minds, this time sounding much more serious. "Gohan absorbed the god ki into his base form, like I did. But my son did that ritual with Elder Kai years ago, so all his power from his super saiyan transformations is there for him without even transforming. Super saiyan blue is the super saiyan transformation of a super saiyan god, so I think he is trying to control all the power of blue without any training at all, and he's exhausted after the sparring session. Gohan is going to burn up if we don't do something."

"Gohan is wounded, but he's been through worse," thought Piccolo. "He shouldn't even be unconscious. If something is wrong, it must be inside his mind."
Goku concentrated for a few moments, and then frowned. "I can't get through to him with my thoughts, he's blocking me. If he's really unconscious he should be wide open."
"I've been trying to enter his mind ever since the battle ended," came Piccolo's telepathic answer, "he's going through some kind of nightmare and is either blocking or ignoring me."
"I can't reach him either," Krillin thought. "What if we team up and try to reach him together?"
Piccolo frowned. "Group telepathy isn't exactly easy. We need to meditate together first, and that will require some time. The entire planet may be burnt toast by the time we're ready."

Vegeta intervened in the telepathic conversation. "Is there anywhere we can store him for a while to buy some time? We can't just bring him down to Earth, he'll burn up the entire surface in a few moments if he keeps this up."
The others tried coming up with ideas, but Piccolo spoke first. "Dende told me Gohan made two strange wishes a few days ago, maybe he knew this was going to happen. He can survive in all environments now, we could just transport him into deep space while we help him telepathically."
The others looked at him in surprise after hearing the unexpected news. Vegeta was the first to react. "Namekian, you seem to be the most powerful telepath here. Can you maintain contact with Gohan, even across vast distances?"
"Yes," Piccolo answered, "as long as he's in the same dimension I should be able to reach him anywhere at this point."
Without warning, Vegeta released a powerful telekinetic burst, and Gohan was flung away into deep space at an unimaginable speed.
The others looked at him with varying degrees of anger and disbelief. "Oh relax," Vegeta smirked, "the boy may be unconscious, but he's so powered up right now he could survive much worse."

"We need to do this now, Goku," thought Piccolo. "But Gohan's mind is rejecting all contact, I don't know if we can get through to him, even if we work together."
"I might know a way," Tien spoke telepathically for the first time. "I think Gohan's mind will accept telepathic contact with his wife, or maybe his mother or daughter. We're all warriors, maybe in his mind we're all associated with combat and terrible calamities, but he might relax around Videl or Chi Chi."
"Oh, not Chi Chi," smiled Goku sadly, "she's not very... relaxed. But maybe Videl can help us."
"It's decided, then," transmitted Piccolo. "I'll remain here to maintain contact with Gohan, there are less distractions up here. The rest of you fly back down to earth. Goku and the rest of you, get in mental contact with Videl and then contact me, all of us together might manage to get through to Gohan and fix whatever is wrong with him".