Silence presided over the battlefield as two saiyans glared at each other. There wasn't even the howling of the wind or the shifting of dust; it was akin to the calm before a vicious storm.

The two stood, as they had before: one warrior of the light, the other of the dark. Finally, the stillness was interrupted by a slight stirring of the wind as Goku's aura became visible and quickly changed from white to gold. His hair also turned a pale gold in color and his eyes became teal gems nestled within cold, hard ivory as his muscles increased in size. With a cry, his hair became even spikier and blue lightning sparked to life around him. His gaze flinty, he settled into his combat stance and beckoned to his opponent. "Your move, Broly." Broly mentally scoffed. As if I need permission. Without further prompting both of the fighters leapt at each other at with incredible speed: to the human eye, it would have seemed as though both had simply disappeared. In reality however, the two were exchanging blows at speeds far exceeding the speed of sound, indeed, their fight was outpacing the reverberations it was generating. And so it went, block, kick, elbow strike, evasion; on and on their battle raged. It seemed as though the two were evenly matched, blow for blow. One exchange was particularly violent; both fighters landed a hit on the others' face and the shockwave obliterated the landscape in their immediate vicinity. Both were stunned enough to cause a momentary lapse in the battle before they were once again upon each other, savagely waging war. Broly caught Goku's next punch in his hand and delivered a vicious knee-strike to his exposed abdomen. Goku's face contorted in pain, but he had already fired back with swift jab at Broly's chest, forcing the giant back a few meters. Broly retaliated with blast of green energy, which Goku deflected upwards, only to fire a blast of his own back at his opponent. Broly backhanded the blast off to the side and returned fire.

This continued with no apparent end in sight as the two clashed, leaving the barren wasteland even more desolate than before. Mountains crumbled, the ground split into deep, gaping ravines.

Broly was quickly becoming frustrated, even as he furiously blocked or deflected Goku's attacks. What is this? I haven't done any lasting damage to him at all, and his attacks are actually hurting! How powerful has he become, for him to be capable of this? By unspoken mutual consent, the two fighters disengaged, floating apart from each other. "What is this Kakarot? Where did you get this power? I tossed you around like a ragdoll the last time we fought!" Goku allowed himself a small smirk before replying. "This is the Ascended Super Saiyan state, Broly. You're looking at a Super Saiyan 2." Broly's face contorted into an expression of confusion. "Super Saiyan…2? There's a level beyond a Super Saiyan?" Goku nodded. "Actually, there's another beyond that as well. I like to call it Super Saiyan 3, if you will." Broly scoffed in disbelief. "You must be bluffing. That would make you, what, double ascended? Such a feat is impossible. You cannot ascend past your ascension." Goku's smirk only became more pronounced. "Broly, sometimes seeing is believing, and as you're going to find out, SS3 is very real." Broly's face twitched with some unidentifiable emotion, maybe nervousness, annoyance, or fear. "Fine then. Show me what you can do Kakarot."

Goku hunched over as he began to dig even deeper into his energy, bringing it all to the surface. The ground began to shake, even the air began to vibrate from the intensity of his energy. He cried out, but not from pain. No, it was that part of him, his primal side, the saiyan in him that cried out, straining to escape. As his screams continued to fill the air, the shaking and vibrations became even more erratic, the ground splitting directly beneath him. Broly looked on in fascination as Kakarot's screams began to increase in pitch. His power level was climbing to heights never before explored, his aura exploding around him; he greatly resembled a star, the brilliance lighting up the sky for miles. Then, to Broly's bafflement, Goku's hair began to lengthen, slowly growing until it hung past his waist. As Goku's transformation became complete, his aura emitted a blinding light that was even able to penetrate the barrier between heaven and hell. Even Pikkon, normally the stoic and immovable warrior, was stunned. He had known Goku was powerful but this…this was ridiculous. The more Pikkon thought about it, the more surreal it seemed. How can anyone hold that much raw energy? You'd think he'd implode from trying to contain it all! Finally, Pikkon allowed himself a small smile. "He's really something else."

Broly's thoughts on the matter were less appreciative however. This isn't possible. It just can't be! How did he attain this power? I'm THE Legendary Super Saiyan, there is no way that any single being can exceed my strength! As his anger rose, so too did his power. He was not going to lose to Kakarot, not again.

The golden light did not fade, not completely. It merely dimmed to a level that allowed you to see what was at its center. Goku seemed to be aflame, his golden aura dancing like fire. It was intense enough that Broly could feel its heat from his position. His hair sported a nest of lightning that crackled and spat around his body. And those teal eyes seemed to have gotten even colder and harder, if that was possible. It was enough to send a brief chill down Broly's spine. And his anger only grew as he realized that for a moment, no matter how brief, he had felt fear. Disgusted with himself, and furious that his antagonist had managed to evoke such a weak emotion from him, he roared a battle-cry and launched himself at Kakarot.

Goku stood his ground as Broly bore down on him and only watched as Broly threw a heavy-handed right hook. It seemed to approach in slow motion, and had he been of a mind to, he could have easily dodged it. He let it make contact and there was a resounding report, akin to the sound of a shattering slab of concrete. It was as much a test of the Super Saiyan 3 form as it was of Broly's strength. This was only the second time that he had actually attempted the transformation and he had never tested it in battle; this would be a first for everyone.

Though Broly had forced Goku's head to the side, he hadn't managed to make him really budge. Shocked, he soared backward to put some distance between the two. Goku worked his jaw back and forth for a moment before deciding that it would only bruise and that there was no lasting damage done. He turned his head back in Broly's direction, just in time to catch Broly leaping at him once again. This time, as Broly attacked, he tested his reflexes, dodging most of the kicks and jabs and deflecting the ones he could not. After what seemed like hours, though it was really minutes, Broly gave a roaring cry. "Stop toying with me!" Goku caught his next punch easily and looked Broly in the eyes. "As you wish."

Goku's first strike was to Broly's face, delivered by an elbow; the second was a kick to Broly's ribcage. His third strike was a powerful hammerblow which drove Broly into the ground, where he dug himself a rather deep crater.

He lay there in the slowly collapsing hole, his body and spirit broken. From what his body was telling him, he had fractured a good number of ribs, broken his left leg, and dislocated his right shoulder. As the rubble began to swallow him, he slumped deeper into the pit, trembling. He had lost…again. No matter that he had grown stronger, he couldn't even hold a candle to Kakarot. For all his might he was soundly thrashed, like a disobedient child no less. It just wasn't fair! And in that instant, as the crater finally swallowed him whole, he broke his promise to himself and gave into his rage, his despair, and his agony; in one resounding scream.

Goku had barely begun to turn away from Broly's erstwhile 'grave' when the world around him was abruptly shattered by a primordial shriek, causing reality to bend in and around itself as everything was bleached of all color. The world changed its shape yet again and faded to black, before it was altered again in the shade of a dark fluorescent green. Slowly, painfully so, reality warped back to its original state; almost like a puzzle. Goku had been thrown away from the area and had come to rest near a small clump of Razor trees. As he quickly rose to his feet, he extended his in an effort to locate Broly's signature, which he found almost instantly. It was fluctuating, wildly, but was definitely climbing. And it was closing in rapidly. And a heartbeat later, there he was.

Where Goku could be likened to a star, Broly resembled a blackhole, his aura was mixed with dabbles of green and black amidst a hornet's nest of black-blue lightning. His hair had grown down to his waist and become a radioactive green, and his eyebrows had disappeared. His already massive physique had somehow managed to grow even bulkier and: most frightening of all, his injuries had vanished, as had all his pain. Everything was gone save for a single burning passion, like a candle in a dark room; Kakarot.

"Kakarot. KakaROT!" And with that, he launched himself at Goku with a single objective in mind; Get Kakarot.