The stars stretched like glitter across the black sky as Trunks and Goku reappeared on a distant planet. The ground was solid, reddish rock, cracked and dry like a wasteland. A faint breeze brushed against them, and Trunks took a slow breath.
"Oxygen," he noted. "Good. We won't suffocate mid-fight."
Goku grinned. "That'd make fighting hard, huh?"
Trunks couldn't help but let out a small laugh. "Yeah, it does, because we won't be able to breathe."
They separated, a few meters between them. The alien soil cracked beneath their boots. Trunks raised his guard, a stance Vegeta drilled into him thousands of times.
Goku immediately recognized it. "Ohh, you fight like Vegeta! That's exciting!"
Trunks rolled his eyes playfully. "Don't flatter him. He'll never shut up about it."
Golden light erupted around them at the same time. Super Saiyan. The ground shook with the pressure of two prodigious Saiyan auras.
Okay, same power. Trunks focused his breathing. "If I can fight him evenly, I can test how far my technique and experience matter and have progressed."
Goku's grin widened as he disappeared.
Trunks barely caught his fist.
"He's fast!"
He blocked again , a kick to his ribs. Goku was fluid, unpredictable , hands relaxed, stance open, completely at ease, the kami style at full display, molded and modified by Goku's experience. Every move was perfectly efficient, with little wasted energy.
"This is fun!" Goku shouted mid-combo, his strikes unrelenting.
"Fun?" Trunks grunted, barely managing a counterpunch.
How is he smiling right now?!
Goku had fought martial artists across the universe, demons, and aliens.
Even though he did not reach his peak in experience, it was enough.
He read Trunks like a book, anticipating every stance, every adjustment.
Trunks was strong, undeniably, but Goku lived for this. Fighting wasn't survival for him. It was freedom.
"If we're equal in power. He'll always win." Trunks realized, sweat forming at his brow.
He landed one clean right hook hit across Goku's jaw, a lucky opening, and Goku skidded back into a nearby mountain, crashing, chuckling.
"You're learning quick! That counter was pretty cool."
Trunks shook his hand out. His knuckles burned. "You keep praising me like that and I'll get cocky."
Goku winked. "That's the idea."
They clashed again, fists, knees, shockwaves. Each impact sent dust flying into spirals. But slowly, steadily, Trunks fell behind. His arms numbed. His guard slipped.
A punch to his stomach blasted him back. He slid across the ground, boots carving trenches.
He held his chest, breathing hard. He tried to get his breathing under control, but Goku was attacking relentlessly, leaving no chance.
"He's better in every technical way. even if we're tied in ki. He would beat anyone this way. He doesn't need power, just skill."
Goku waited patiently, bouncing lightly on his feet, aura humming. "You done already? I was just warming up."
"Heh," Trunks wiped a bit of blood from his lip and smirked. "Yeah, well, so was I."
His aura exploded brighter, thicker, fiercer. The shockwave sent boulders flying, and even Goku's eyes widened.
Trunks had finished testing his combat skills and experience. Trunks pursued absolute strength, not absolute skill, but skill would be helpful.
"Whoa, I felt that!" said Goku as he powered up to his limit as well.
Trunks didn't hold back anymore. This was all his power, full base strength multiplied by Super Saiyan full power.
His muscles tightened. His tail swayed behind him like a whip.
Goku's grin softened into admiration.
"So that's your true strength."
Trunks rocketed forward, a punch to Goku's gut sent him flying. The earth cracked under the recoil. The shockwaves are changing the very landscape of the planet. Trunks was already there, above him, elbow coming down like a hammer.
Goku tried to guard.
Too slow.
He crashed into the dirt, a crater forming beneath him. Trunks didn't let up.
Every strike came faster, sharper, cleaner, controlled.
Goku dodged, blocked, but each impact pushed him back further. Trunks could see it now. He could feel it.
"This is the difference. This power. This is mine."
Finally, Goku leapt upward, firing a rapid barrage of ki blasts, desperate to get some distance.
Trunks swatted them aside and appeared behind him with Instant Transmission.
Goku froze in surprise. "I forgot you could use that too?!"
Trunks smirked. "Yardrat has good teachers."
He hammered Goku down with a kick, sending the Saiyan crashing into a canyon wall. Dust shot into the air in an explosion.
Silence.
Then, laughter.
Goku climbed back to his feet, brushing dirt from his torn yadarat clothes. "Man, you're incredible! Stronger than me right now, that's for sure!"
Trunks exhaled slowly, letting his aura drop. "I still have a long way to go. But. Thanks."
Goku gave a thumbs-up. "Oh, don't worry. I will catch up!"
Trunks chuckled, shaking his head. "Yeah, I figured you'd say that."
Goku calmed down his aura. he calmed his heartbeat; something clicked in his mind. A faint idea a deeper path. His aura had felt smoother when he stopped holding back. like the transformation itself was evolving.
"No wasted energy. Pure focus. Super Saiyan has more potential than we know."
That spark of understanding felt like a door opening.
Goku stretched. "Next time, I'll have something new ready. So don't slack off!"
"Oh, I won't," Trunks replied confidently.