The day has finally come for Son Gohan to have his brutal match against Vegeta! Not only is Gohan nervous about this match, but Chi-Chi and Piccolo are as well! How will Goku's son fare against the prince of Saiyans?

Tale 188: The Power Within!

"Come at me like your life depends on it," Vegeta instructed as he got in a pose, "I will hold back enough so you will not die."

Gohan nodded nervously and got in a pose of his own. His mother watched from the sidelines. She clung to Goku, with Goku keeping a comforting arm around her. Piccolo stood beside Goku, his stare was intensely on Gohan. Vegeta's eyes narrowed and he disappeared from sight. Gohan took too long to make the first move.

SLAMMO!

Gohan was sent flying across the room. Vegeta dashed after him! He closed in on Gohan and swung his fist…only to be met by air! Vegeta's eyes widened in shock.

"Huh?"

POW!

Gohan slammed his fist into the small of Vegeta's back!

"Well done, honey!" Chi-Chi cheered. Piccolo's eyes narrowed as he studied Vegeta.

Gohan may've landed the hit, but the prince wasn't fazed at all by that hit.

With blinding speed, Vegeta's tail slammed into Gohan's face.

"Argh…!" Gohan bounced back, bearing an intense look upon his face. He then disappeared from sight. Vegeta barely dodged Gohan's punch and completely missed his own punch.

"You are very quick!" Vegeta yelled with a grin, "But your hits lack power!"

DOOOOOM!

Vegeta drove his fist into Gohan's stomach.

"OOF!"

Gohan was sent flying into a tree; the impact cleanly snapped the tree in half. Vegeta stood and waited for Gohan to get back to his feet. Gohan shakily stood up. He noticed that his shirt was pretty torn already. So, he tore it off. Vegeta took a moment to check Gohan's power level seeing that he was now without the weighted shirt. He raised his eyebrows in slight surprise.

A significant jump, by 50 points…he, too, bears his father's unique strength…

Vegeta launched himself at Gohan, which Gohan dodged. Vegeta countered, though, and got Gohan with a harsh kick.

"Your son is very unique, Son Goku," Piccolo commented as he watched the match progress, "He has pulled a few surprises on me as well while I was training him."

"He is very crafty!" Goku chuckled, "He gets that from his mom!" Chi-Chi smiled but she could not get rid of her uneasiness as she watched the fight continue. Gohan was already looking pretty banged up.

POW!

SLAMMO!

DOOOOM-!

Gohan flew back violently at a rapid speed. His face strained in concentration and he managed to stop himself in mid-air. He was levitating above the ground, breathing heavily and glaring with determination at Vegeta. The others gasped.

"He mastered the Buku-Jutsu!" Tenshinhan yelled in awe, "At such a young age, too! Incredible…!"

"I had only mastered that the year before we met Goku!" Chaozu remarked.

"Good going, squirt!" Goku yelled in excitement and pride, "I knew you could pull off that technique!"

"We are so proud of you!" Chi-Chi cheered happily.

"I was hoping…to not reveal that I knew how t' do this in this match…" Gohan spoke weakly. He then launched himself at Vegeta. Vegeta dodged but barely.

He's holding up better than his father did in his first match…but he isn't even a fraction of the strength his father was at!

POW!

Vegeta recoiled after being punched harshly by Gohan. He then slammed his fist into Gohan's face several times before kicking Gohan in the stomach. He stared at Gohan as Gohan got back up to his feet.

That punch actually hurt…!

Vegeta hastily checked his scouter for Gohan's power level. His eyes widened dramatically.

In-incredible! His level has gone up by 200 points! He gets stronger the more battered he gets…!

SLAM!

"OOF!" Vegeta fell back slightly from Gohan's blow to his abdomen. Vegeta glared and launched himself at Gohan, burying his head deep into Gohan's stomach.

"HUCK-!" Gohan gasped. Vegeta then violently punched Gohan in the side of the head, causing Gohan to fall rapidly. The boy slammed down hard on the ground below. Vegeta hovered from above, staring down at his seemingly unconscious opponent. Gohan's hand then twitched.

"What?" Vegeta gasped, "He's still conscious?"

Gohan's eyes shot open…and they were red!

"H-his eyes! Is he transforming with no moon?" Vegeta stammered. Gohan flew up with amazing speed and rapidly punched Vegeta several times in the stomach. Vegeta, barely able to catch his breath and stunned due to the intensity of the blows, managed to fling Gohan off of him. Gohan stopped himself and launched at Vegeta with an uncharacteristic yell. Vegeta's eyes widened in realization before he was brutally plowed into by Gohan's head. Gohan's blows were really hurting him now!

"Wh-what happened to Gohan? It's as if he's a different person altogether!" Kuririn stammered in utter shock. The others were now watching Gohan dominate over a stunned Vegeta!

"That is not my child…" Chi-Chi muttered in disbelief. Goku was at a complete loss of words. He twirled and glared suspiciously at Piccolo.

"Did you train 'im to do this?" Goku asked Piccolo. Piccolo turned and looked at Goku with a lost look upon his face.

"This is not my doing. I don't know what this is…! He-he has never done this with me before…"

Goku stared at Piccolo in shock as his expression softened drastically, for he did believe Piccolo.

Meanwhile, Vegeta had his hands full as he managed to dodge Gohan's flurry of punches. Gohan savagely growled as he attacked Vegeta; his eyes were still red. Vegeta grabbed Gohan's fists and strugged to hold the boy still. The glare that Gohan was giving him was not Gohan's glare at all!

His strength is that of his Oozaru form…and he's attacking like an untamed Oozaru…but he is still in his normal form…?! What IS this thing he has become? I must end this before he becomes dangerous!

Vegeta launched himself away from Gohan and concentrated his power. Gohan roared as if he was an Oozaru and dashed towards Vegeta.

I am sorry but I must do this. The boy will live. He MUST live!

When Gohan got within range, Vegeta launched a devastating energy blast that blinded everyone in the room!

"ARGH…! NO!" Raditz yelled as he shielded his eyes, "YOU HAVE KILLED HIM!"

When the smoke cleared, it revealed that Gohan was motionless on the ground. With a roar of fury, Raditz launched himself at Vegeta. Vegeta disappeared from sight and re-appeared behind Raditz. He grabbed Raditz's tail and squeezed it with both hands, rendering Raditz powerless, and causing Raditz to collapse to the ground.

"Calm yourself. The boy is still alive. Look."

Raditz weakly turned to look at Gohan. Though he was pretty battered, he was still alive. Vegeta helped Raditz to his feet, though one hand was still steadily squeezing his comrade's tail just to be on the safe side.

"Promise not to attack me if I let go? I don't want to hurt you," Vegeta asked softly. Raditz gave him a short nod, though it was clear that he was still angry. Vegeta released Raditz from his grasp, "I am sorry that I had to do that. It was to prevent you from doing something stupid." Vegeta then chuckled slightly to ease the tension, "Though if you weren't slacking with training your tail, you wouldn't have been in that position to begin with!"

"For your own sake, be happy that I haven't been strengthening my tail," Raditz spat, "You can't just keep on beating up my brother and my young nephew like that! You are risking killing them both by doing so and you KNOW it! If they die because of you, I will avenge them."

Vegeta stared at Raditz with an eerily calm expression. Raditz, upon realizing what he had just said, hung his head in shame and he then knelt before Vegeta.

"I-I am sorry, my lord…I-I don't know what came over me…" He muttered remorsefully, preparing himself for the worst. Vegeta gently lifted Raditz's chin so he could look him in the eyes.

"I understand, Raditz," Vegeta spoke softly. He gaze then hardened slightly, "…but if you speak to me like that again, I will beat you to an inch of your life."

Raditz clenched his jaw but he nodded. The others stared at the two in an awkward silence. Vegeta noticed the look Goku was giving him. It made him shiver ever-so-slightly. It was a look that was all-too-familiar to Vegeta, one that Bardock had given him a few times when he had done something bad. Averting his gaze to Piccolo, Vegeta cleared his throat.

"I need a senzu bean for the boy," he said stiffly. Piccolo walked over and knelt down to Gohan's side, "I have one for him. Gohan, are you conscious?"

"Err…" Gohan blinked and weakly opened his eyes, "Wha-wha 'appened?"

"Eat this," Piccolo said softly. He carefully placed the bean in Gohan's mouth. After chewing the bean and swallowing it, Gohan's eyes widened drastically and he sprang up to his feet.

"Wow! I feel like I had before the fight! Even better, actually!"

"This is your first time havin' a senzu bean, squirt!" Goku chuckled as he approached his son, "I told ya it felt great, huh?"

"Yeah!" Gohan then looked confused, "…but, what happened? Things kinda went black after a while…"

"So, you don't remember going into that crazy rage?" Kuririn asked. Gohan stared at him blankly.

"Crazy…rage…?" Gohan questioned, utterly confused.

"It was as if you had transformed into your Oozaru form," Vegeta spoke up, "…but you weren't actually transformed. Your eyes were red and your strength was massive but your body remained the same. Regardless, you were not… "you"."

Gohan looked shocked, "O-oh. If I did anything bad to you, I am sorry."

"You didn't," Vegeta reassured him, "If anything, I should be apologizing to you. I didn't want to risk you becoming dangerous. So, my final attack was rather…extreme. For that, I am sorry."

"It's okay," Gohan said, "I don't remember that attack anyway."

"W-well, I am going to prepare a big feast for all of us!" Chi-Chi interrupted with a forced cheerfulness, "Why don't y'all relax while I prepare it! Gohan, why don't chu come and help me, eh?"

"Okay…"

While Chi-Chi and Gohan walked off to start up dinner, Goku approached his older brother and pulled him aside to talk in private. When they were a good distance from the others, Goku turned and stared at Raditz intensely.

"Why didja let Vegeta threaten you like that?" He asked heatedly, "You had every right to be mad at 'im! I almost launched at him myself when you had sprung into action!"

"Vegeta is our Prince, Kakarrot. As his guard and underling, what I did there was punishable by death under normal circumstances," Raditz replied seriously, "I was lucky that he only had squeezed my tail as a consequence," he then frowned, "I was very lucky that he didn't kill me with what I had said to him afterward…"

"So, he can get away with threatening you like that?!" Goku was fuming, "I don't get this "prince" thing at all!"

"Nor would you," Raditz said with an understanding nod, "Though you were born a saiyan, you grew up as an earthling. You don't know the ways of our species." Goku crossed his arms and glared at the ground.

"Prince or not, he had no right to threaten you like that."

"But he did and he does have that right, brother," Raditz stressed, "Look, he did not enjoy threatening me. He knows he did me wrong but he is my prince, our prince. He is our leader. And I overstepped myself with how I acted, justified or not. Sometimes, a leader needs to be stern, even if they were the ones who wronged their underlings."

"I guess you're right," Goku muttered, "Still, I didn't like that he did that…"

"He could've beaten me up instead of doing that he did. Keep that in mind," Raditz reminded Goku, "But enough talk of that. What are your thoughts on Gohan's unique power?"

"It is interestin', to say the least!" Goku chuckled, "I don't recall ever gettin' like that in an intense battle!"

"It seems that saiyan/human hybrids have unique traits," Raditz concluded with a small smile, "With proper training, Gohan could be the first Super Saiyan…!"

"Super Saiyan?" Goku questioned, "But I thought that was just a legend!"

"And I thought you saiyans were legends."

Raditz and Goku turned to see Piccolo approaching them with a small grin.

"But here you two are, right in front of me."

Raditz took a step towards Piccolo, wearing a peculiar look, "You are Gohan's trainer. Do you think he could become the legend someday?"

"After what I saw today, yes."

Raditz smiled, "Then see what you can do to help him harness that power. I will speak to lord Vegeta about this!" With that said, Raditz walked off with a bounce in his step.

"Do you really think Gohan can someday pull off becoming one of those "Super Saiyan" things?" Goku asked Piccolo after a minute.

"I do," Piccolo replied with a nod, "…and I can foresee you becoming one as well."

"Me?" Goku asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes. Where do you think your boy gets his uniqueness from? I have overheard the comments made about you from your brethren. He is not the only one who is unique among the four of you saiyans," Piccolo replied with a grin.

"Why are you grinning? I would think this information would anger you!" Goku chuckled, though he was still slightly shocked.

"I admire your strength, Son Goku. It makes you a formidable foe…and ally," Piccolo muttered the last part. He wore an unreadable expression as he looked at Goku.

"Thanks!" Goku chuckled with a small smile, "I'm gonna help Chi-Chi and Gohan with dinner. Will you be joinin' in with everyone else?"

Piccolo was quiet for a moment but then he nodded, "Yes. I do enjoy your wife's cooking very much."

Goku let out a hearty laugh, "I'll be sure to tell her that!"

"Do that and I will kill you," Piccolo snarled, though he was smiling in an amused manner.

"Whatever you say, Piccolo!"

Is it me or…are Goku and Piccolo getting along? Erm…anyway, it seems that Gohan has a unique quality about him: beat him up and he becomes an enraged powerhouse! This could come in handy in the future, don't you think? Up Next: A ticking clock…