Chapter 2
He created some distance by leaping back, landing softly on the soil. As he twirled his staff, a cloud of dust rose around him. A small smirk played on his lips. "Heh, not bad, Vegeta," he commended.
Vegeta, the proud Saiyan prince and now God of Destruction, descended slowly to the ground. Arms folded behind his back and a scowl etched on his face, he wiped away a bead of sweat from his forehead before responding. "Not bad, huh? It would be a different story if you weren't relying on that damned technique every time we spar," Vegeta scoffed, reclining on the grass.
"Hey, it's not like I can just turn it off," Goku retorted, an angelic aura hinting at his elevated status in Universe 7. He approached his friend, extending a hand to help him up. "Besides, we didn't really have a choice, Vegeta," he added, his voice calm but avoiding eye contact.
Vegeta, glaring at the angel, took Goku's hand. "We promised," he replied tersely, before attempting another punch, which Goku effortlessly dodged. "To never," Vegeta continued, his legs working in tandem to unbalance Goku as he blinked behind him, "talk about it." Fists raised, he launched another furious barrage, but his efforts were in vain against Goku, who now possessed the same divine technique shared by all angels across the multiverse.
Goku dodged Vegeta's attacks with grace and, with a flick of his staff, delivered a deceptively gentle nudge to Vegeta's abdomen. It was far from gentle, though, as Vegeta coughed up blood before being flung toward their palace.
Before the structure could suffer damage, Vegeta halted himself with a two-fingered technique, reappearing behind Goku in an instant. "AAGH!" With his ki manifesting as a purple aura, he unleashed a destroyer's blast towards Goku, who simply flicked it away with a finger.
"Stop," Goku said softly.
And that was enough. Vegeta, despite his anger, had to follow the command of his mentor. With a sigh, he dissipated the destructive energy and checked his outfit for any disarray. He had never been fond of the formal attire, but it was a requirement set by the Grand Priest and the interuniversal code.
After ensuring they were presentable, the two warriors sat down. Goku planted his staff in the ground, taking a moment to address Vegeta not as an angel or as a mentor, but as a friend. "We've been through this, Vegeta," Goku said, his gaze fixed on the dim forest that stretched beyond their planet.
Vegeta exhaled deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose in resignation. "...We have," he admitted.
Goku watched him silently. They had discussed this countless times. Centuries had passed—perhaps over three by Earth's measure—but to them, it felt like mere years since they had been ascended by Zeno to serve as the Angel and the God of Destruction.
"Maybe you could consider Beerus's offer. He did say you could hibernate for a year—"
"I won't take the coward's way out just because we're destined to live for eternity!" Vegeta snapped, gesturing emphatically with his hand.
Goku returned his attention to the forest, contemplating his next words. It was a fate neither had chosen: to be the universe's protectors, their roles predestined before Earth's very dust had coalesced into a planet. Vegeta's raw power and Goku's purity of heart had been crafted not by their lineage but by destiny itself, ordained by Zeno, the king of all universes.
The early decades of this new reality had been marked by despair for Vegeta and a wavering spirit for Goku. They had pleaded with Zeno to release them, to let them return to their loved ones, but they were only given insight into the grand design of their journey—a trial set by Fortune itself.
And so they stood, an Angel and a God, bound by duty and by an eternal bond that transcended time itself.
Shaking off the grass from his attire, Vegeta cast a meaningful look at his comrade before striding towards the massive structure that housed the God of Destruction.
"I shall train alone, Kakarot," he declared firmly.
Goku simply nodded, his understanding implicit. He knew that Vegeta would immerse himself in the grueling regimen of the celestial room, where gravity intensified to an extreme, millions of times heavier than that of any ordinary planet spread across the universe.
Left to his own devices, Goku would then traverse the planet's surface, his solitary journey stretching endlessly until Vegeta's eventual return, when they would spar, refuel, and continue their symbiotic cycle. This pattern had become their shared rhythm through time.
Goku often mused over Whis's incredible endurance, having withstood countless eons before even Beerus came to be. Now, with centuries behind him, Goku began to glean an understanding of the perpetual benevolence characteristic of the angels.
He had initially believed angels were innately divine beings, a stark contrast to mortals. However, this belief was challenged when Zeno abruptly summoned Vegeta and Goku from their celestial reprieve, bestowing upon them new duties as Beerus and Whis were finally granted respite.
The transformation had been profound — Goku's skin, now a pale reflection of his mastery over Ultra Instinct, and Vegeta, radiating the formidable strength of a God of Destruction, marked their evolution.
With a heavy sigh, Goku prepared for the long wait, setting his staff's timer for a century.
"We will meet again in a hundred years, my friend."
After setting the timer, Goku swiftly manipulated the staff, scanning the cosmos for any emergent threats that might disrupt the tranquility of innocent worlds — or perhaps offer a diversion from the monotony that loomed ahead.
"Vegeta's century-long training has just started, and here I am, already bored," he mused, his gaze locked on the orb.
He navigated from one sector to another, each housing innumerable galaxies, a testament to the vastness of their task. It was an expansive, yet preferable alternative to the solitude of the palace's empty halls.
An hour passed without incident; the universe appeared calm, free of tyrants or conquerors threatening the balance of the galaxies.
But then, within the 9315th sector, Goku's attention was snared by an enigmatic glowing orb, pulsating and shimmering with a rainbow aura.
Such anomalies were typically left undisturbed, as they could signify either a harbinger of destruction or a miraculous savior. For gods and angels, these events were usually inconsequential.
Whis, however, had been an exception. Before his departure, he had recounted tales of his solitary expeditions to observe these cosmic spectacles, sometimes even guiding entire civilizations towards betterment. It was astonishing to think that Whis, like Goku, had once embraced such adventures, only to grow weary due to the Grand Priest's admonitions against angels meddling in mortal affairs, as it could lead to dire consequences for the universe.
But who says I must reveal my angelic nature?
Placing his staff beside the celestial training room — Vegeta's celestial training room — Goku ensured it was secure.
"Vegeta never leaves his training," Goku thought out loud, but still, he engaged the staff's movement lock on the room's door. Should Vegeta emerge before the century's end, the staff would enable Goku's instantaneous return.
Gazing skyward, a thrill coursed through him, a feeling reminiscent of the excitement he once felt before entering the World Martial Arts Tournament.
Memories of a simpler time, when he was a naive youth hungry for battle, flooded his mind.
He smiled, and with a flourish, his angelic garb transformed into the familiar orange gi, the fabric evoking a surge of nostalgia. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he reminisced about the battles fought and the life lived as Son Goku.
"It's good to be back," he whispered.
With a last glance at the orb outside the palace, Goku locked onto the sector harboring the anomaly. His heart raced with the anticipation of the adventure that lay ahead.
Taking a deep breath, he ascended towards the heavens, then, with a burst of light and sound faster than the speed of light, he shot off into space and the embrace of the unknown.
Meanwhile, in a secluded spot between a mountain and a forest, Vegeta stood with his arms crossed. His keen senses hadn't missed Goku's departure.
"Hmph, you thought I wouldn't notice, didn't you?" Vegeta smirked before sitting down, a gentle smile playing on his lips
He assumed a meditative posture.
"You need this, Kakarot. Until we meet again... my friend."