The Lookout
"Dende, I'm leaving the seven Dragon Balls with you for now. If King Kai reaches out, summon Shenron and revive Vegeta."
Gohan had dumped the prince on King Kai's planet and, once back on Earth, gathered the orbs and handed them to Dende.
"Got it, Gohan."
"See you."
Gohan flashed away and went back to school.
A year slipped by.
Age 762, early June Summer break, at last.
Mount Paozu
"Finally vacation!"
Gohan was five now, still small by human standards and only a little taller than he'd been about 1.2 meters despite all that training. Raditz had explained it already: Saiyan bodies surge at around ten, shooting up to a teen frame, then again at eighteen into their adult build, after which they hold that youthful prime for a very long time.
Vegeta, meanwhile, had spent half a year on King Kai's planet, then after Dende revived him refused to linger on Earth. He went straight to Bulma, had her build him a ship, and vanished into the stars.
Whatever his power was now, only he knew.
As for Capsule Corporation after salvaging the Cold Force fleet's ships its valuation and tech both rocketed to the top of the world, now openly interfacing with off-world civilizations.
"Where to…? Hm. Let's check on Vegeta first."
Gohan closed his eyes, cast his awareness into the dark, and searched the universe for that flinty, razor-edged ki.
Three minutes later, his eyes opened. "Found you."
He blurred from sight.
West Galaxy A desert world
Vegeta stood on a high ridge facing the sun. Sweat tracked down his cheekbones.
Shff
"Gohan. What do you want?" he said without turning.
"Nothing urgent. School's out, my fists are itchy so I came to see you. And to fight."
"Oh?" Vegeta's eyes flicked over. "From what I've gathered, Kakarot's stronger than I am. Why not spar with him?"
"We're too familiar. I can read him like a book; it gets boring. Come on I'll suppress to your level."
Gohan let his ki thrum. White flame climbed his frame, the pressure of it ripping the sky.
"My battle power may not match yours," Vegeta said, aura flaring in answer, "but I'll crush you in ring craft. I've been waiting for this."
"Save the speech. Fight!"
They shot forward at the same instant.
Bam!
Fist met fist; shockwaves tore the dunes to tatters.
Then it was nothing but hands, knees, elbows hundreds of exchanges in heartbeats, the two of them brawling up off the sand and into the air, their collisions drumming the sky.
Dust boiled up like a false night, the desert heat hissing into a momentary chill beneath that tawny cloud bank.
Muscles burned; spirits soared. Keeping his ki pinned to Vegeta's, Gohan turned every trade into a draw clean, brutal, exhilarating.
Crack
They slammed knuckles a final time; compressed air detonated between them, kicking both warriors apart.
"Photon Crusher!" Vegeta leveled his right hand to his cheek; a blue-white sphere spun into being.
"Masenko!" Gohan wound up like a pitcher and hurled a golden shot to meet it.
The two orbs collided and went nova, a mushroom cloud blooming so massive it would've been visible from orbit. Neither fighter spared it a glance; even as the light faded, they were already closing again.
This time, Gohan drew on something he'd honed up on the Lookout with those earthen training golems his movement turning fox-quick and trackless, steps pinning the ground like iron spikes, entries snapping in like a gust.
Vegeta speared a straight to Gohan's midline
and Gohan didn't trade. He slanted right, brought a left knee up like a piston, and hammered Vegeta under the ribs.
"Urgh !" The prince doubled, acid stinging his throat.
"Damn it," he growled, stung more by the adjustment than the pain.
"Saiyans are born for close-quarters," Gohan said lightly. "Technique matters."
Vegeta blinked, then smoothed his face. "You're right. I was being precious. Again."
He pressed first this time; Gohan yielded half-steps and countered at will. Left hook, uppercut, whip kick Vegeta threw the book, and Gohan slipped every page, tagging him back in the seams. After only minutes, Vegeta's breath hitched; his aura frayed. Gohan hadn't so much as broken a sweat.
Since making that wish to survive unprotected in the vacuum of space, extremes of heat, cold, and radiation just… didn't bite anymore.
"Gohan, I'm done sandbagging. Kaio-ken times ten!"
Crimson flame erupted around Vegeta, lancing upward.
"Kaio-ken, huh? You're throwing tens like it's nothing now," Gohan grinned. "All right then I'll get serious. A little."
On King Kai's planet Vegeta had learned to wield x10 reliably. Because his body had been unmade, Dende had used two wishes to bring him back first to rebuild his original body, then to restore his life. After time to re-mesh soul and flesh and a punishing regimen, he could finally draw out everything that body held.
His base power now: five million. With Kaio-ken x10 fifty million.
Gohan bled out a touch more ki, balancing perfectly to Vegeta's surge.
"You really are a monster," Vegeta said, not hiding either the sting or the respect. "Your base aura cancels my x10."
"If I didn't have to study, I'd probably be even stronger," Gohan said, not bothering to hide his pleasure at the praise.
The past year aside from a short winter burst he'd mostly gone point-to-point to class. Not that it was wasted; constant high-strain training leaves shadows in the body. The rest let him clear those out, and his control over ki had climbed to Goku's level clean, exact, absolute.
"Fight!"
Vegeta surged Kaio-ken gulped stamina; he had to end it fast.
Round two began.
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