OPENING THEME

EPISODE 03:

POWERED UP: ASCENSION TO SUPER SAIYAN GOD

"What? Vegeta's son!" This discovery sent Bulma in an uproar.

"It's true Mom," Trunks said.

"Well, you would've think when you decide you want to marry someone you would say something like...oh, I don't know, I have another son! Did something like that just slipped his mind? That man!" she growled in annoyance.

"You can't really expect a man like that to have been waiting around for you to come along, did you?"

A voice from behind startled them all. It was Chi-Chi now making her way down the stairs with a heap of towels of different sizes and a wide bowl filled to the brim with water.

"What?" snapped Bulma, eyeing her evilly. She turned to Goku and demanded some answers, "Why is she even doing here?"

"Chi-Chi and I were on our way in the plane to visit you guys at the hospital." He struggled to pick himself up from the concrete floor and he continued, "Then this huge power level just hit me about the same time the plane lost control and crashed. I had to get her out of there and fast."

"Couldn't you have just flown over, oh, I don't know or use the instant transmission?" barked Bulma.

"Do you think we're uncivilized!" griped Chi-Chi as she made her way over to the boys. She got to work washing the wounds on her son's arms.

"How did you guys know where I was going?" he asked his mother curiously.

"Well, you didn't finish your lunch before you left," Chi-Chi chimed, "Most unusual and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong. Imagine my dread when I called and Dr. Brief explained that you guys were in the hospital. He didn't say why which prompted me to go myself."

"Can't put anything past you, huh, mom!" giggled Goten, realising he had been caught red-handed.

"So why were you guys at the hospital anyway?" she asked now moving on to Trunks' wounds. Already she had bloodied at least a dozen of the white towels.

"Vegeta," Bulma said sadly, "He almost lost his leg but they managed to reattach it in surgery. And he's lost a ton of blood."

Chi-Chi froze. She clumsily stumbled over to the body on the floor, dropping the towels in the water. Upon first glance, she whimpered loudly and slumped back into a nearby couch.

"He wouldn't have had to be there in the first place, Mom!" yelled Trunks angrily, shocking everyone in the room, "It's like you don't give a damn about him any more. You would rather the proud prince of all saiyans suffer in a stupid hospital than to use the dragonballs or get some senzu beans. How stupid and..."

With fire burning in her eyes, Bulma slapped the boy with all her might. Caught off-guard, tears sprung to his eyes as he looked at his mother in awe.

"I might not have been listening before, young man but if you ever dare talk to me like that again, I swear!" she yelled.

The boy held down his head in shame, looking away from his mother but his voice still held anger and frustration, "But Mom, he almost died and yet you didn't do anything."

"I think I've done more than enough. Had I patched him up, he would have gone back out to fight or more like stand there and get thrashed again. He made up his mind that he wanted to die, even though we were giving him a way out. And that's one thing your father does not do, no matter what - is give up when there's a way out."

Trunks looked up at her with understanding and they locked eyes.

"When did all of this happen?" Goku asked infuriated, "I don't understand. Did this guy just come here to kill his own father?"

"And us too - as in all the saiyans," Trunks filled them in, unaware that Goku had been privy to such information first-hand, "And what you saw was him at level 6! Goten and I used fusion thinking we would be on the same level but we barely lasted."

"Level 6!" Goku was lost in shock and disbelief, "W-Wow! That's great!"

Everyone in the room eyed him curiously. How could he be excited at a time like this?

"He's twice stronger than you, why are you so happy about that?" asked Chi-Chi.

"Yeah, but a super saiyan god is times higher than him!" he exclaimed.

"I thought you were already a super saiyan god," Bulma questioned.

"Nah," Goku started, closing his eyes to avoid eye contact and scratching his head in pretense, "Vegeta and I promised we would lay off of training in that form and figure our way to getting there on our own. We had the dragon take it all away and leaving us what we were originally."

"Why would you do something so stupid, Goku!" she yelled at him and waved her fist, "And I have reason to believe it was all your idea!"

Laughing nervously, he tried to calm her down, "It's OK, promise. As part of the wish, courtesy Vegeta's genius, once the transformation is achieved our bodies will accept it immediately."

"But how - didn't you need the others to...?"

Before his wife could finish her question, he had disappeared and a second later, a confused Gohan appeared along with his two-year old daughter.

"Uh..." Gohan started but Goku was gone again.

"But Vegeta hasn't woken," Bulma lamented, "If he ever wakes."

"Huh?" Gohan turned around and noticed Vegeta on the floor. He was overwhelmed with despair at the sight.

"Grandma!" Pan cried out and ran towards her grandmother who welcomed her with a warm hug.

"Heh, heh!" Master Roshi seemed suddenly excited as he bounced and hobbled his way over to Vegeta, "I think I know what will wake him up."

"He drinks to sleep not to wake up," Bulma addressed crossly.

"Oh!" This only peaked his interest, "Is that so?"

"He's been having nightmares for the last few days and he figured that was the only way to cure them. And it seemed to be working for a while until last night happened," she retold the sorry tale, "I've never seen him in such a panic and then he decided he had to go out. Huge red flag right there! Over the years, I've been working on a special type of cannon, you could say, that would produce blasts as powerful as Goku and Vegeta combined at their most powerful. If it wasn't for Trunks and me, he would have most certainly been a goner."

"So that explains why I didn't see you at work this morning," Gohan burrowed his brow deep in anger. He threw off his glasses and hid them in his pocket. His fist shook violently as he tried to keep his emotions under check.

Tears came to Chi-Chi's eyes and she held the little girl even tighter, forcing the child's gaze away from the body on the floor.

"So he likes a swig before bed, eh?" Master Roshi mischievously grinned as he neared his target, popping the cover off the bottle, "I know the feeling. In fact I was getting to that feeling before you morons barged into my house."

"But it's the afternoon," Goten pointed out.

"Don't you dare!" yelled Bulma, darting after the old man.

"Too late," he giggled as some of the alcohol slipped down Vegeta's throat. Bulma managed to snatch the bottle and was about to break it over his head when coughing and sputtering sounded from behind her.

She leapt towards her husband and held his hand, glad to see him finally up, "Oh dear, I thought I was losing you. About last night, what I said, I -"

"Thanks for that," he said weakly.

Bulma smiled and hugged him, "It's about time you realised, you are not your sins - you never were to me, so don't ever think you deserve to suffer like this ever again, got that, you big dope."

"Told ya, your parents are rock solid," Goten gave his friend the thumbs up but Trunks was more concerned about what was happening on the other side of the room.

"It's about time," Vegeta agreed with a smile, resting a hand over hers as the others crowded around them excitedly. His calm demeanour faded away to an alert and terrified countenance, "How long have I been out?"

"14 hours," Trunks said as he alighted before his father. He fought through the pain of his own bruises and hugged his father, "Dad, I'm glad you're OK."

"No!" gasped Vegeta with wide eyes.

Goku reappeared in the room alarming everyone. He lowered his head as he spoke, "Bad luck guys. There's only one senzu bean. Korin says the next batch won't be ready any time soon, so," he snapped the small, green bean in half, "Hey, catch!" He tossed them at the boys who ate it gratefully.

"Hey, look who's up!" He bent down and touched the man's shoulder with a light tap, "You think you've got it in you for a super saiyan god transformation?"

Vegeta nodded, "We have to hurry. He's on his way here."

"What do you mean?" Goku asked alarmed, "He doesn't know where we are."

"Through my dreams. He knows exactly where we are," Vegeta shared much to everyone's dismay.

"That must be how he knew where we were," Trunks realised, growling in frustration, shifting his head slightly over to Goten to emphasise to whom else he was referring, "I had a dream or more like a way too vivid memory just before we left the hospital. He spoke to me and everything - it was weird."

"Yes. He is a part of a race of people who can manipulate your memories and distort them in any way they choose. Sometimes they can pick up information about you and those close to you through these dreams. I had known it was a Mezoran but I would never have guessed it to be..." he grabbed hold of Goku's arm, "Please, I beg of you, don't kill him."

"If you insist," smirked Goku confidently, "But don't worry, by the time I'm through with him, he'll be fit for a good spanking."

Gohan showed his confusion but decided against saying anything.

Vegeta smiled, "Lets get this over with."

The women stepped back as the others surrounded Goku and held hands, offering their energies to him. A magical display of interweaving light escaped their bodies as they converged into one.

"Whoa! I think this is going to be even stronger than last time," Goku said as he looked at his older son with a huge grin on his face, "You really have been doing some serious training, you're even stronger than me and Vegeta combined. A lot stronger!"

"Well, I took Vegeta's advice. Never again am I ever going not even a day without training." He recalled that moment when Vegeta accosted him for not being stronger and thus inadvertently led to the release of Majin Buu - a nightmare that he could have done without.

"Well done," smirked Vegeta proudly.

Soon, Goku's hair changed from a red-purple to a bright blue but the link was broken suddenly by the rattling of the front door and ultimately the crashing of broken wood. They had all sensed the tremendous power level the same time the young warrior stopped suddenly before them. The sight of him sent the women and the old man in a frenzy.

"Well, all of you have gathered just waiting for me!" he smiled, looking around the room with glee.

END THEME:

PREVIEW OF NEXT EPISODE

Goku is in a battle-ready stance, his blue hair whipping wildly in his flaring aura.

"Son Goku here! I wonder if this guy realises just what he's up against. A super saiyan god! And I feel a lot stronger than ever before! However, something's not quite right and I really wanted to fight him, too."

Gohan comes crashing through the roof, perfectly in line with Master Roshi as he scrambles to get out of the way.

"I sure hope Gohan could keep him at bay while I'm forced to stand back and watch. See you NEXT TIME ON DRAGONBALL SUPER: EVENLY MATCHED? - BATTLE OF EGOS"

END CREDITS : Author/Creator of the DBZ series and characters: Akira Toriyama

Author/Creator of this Story/Series; Creator of a drunk Master Roshi; a Gohan who took training seriously especially after the Buu Saga; and a "did Bulma just say she created a cannon that is as powerful as Goku and Vegeta at their strongest!" moment: Chrissi B (c) August 2015