Chapter 23: 2 vs 1

Vegeta was speechless after seeing Nappa's defeat, he never thought that brat would turn out to be someone so strong.

He had not only defeated Nappa, but he had also done so without unleashing the full power of him. What kind of monster was that little guy?

"No doubt I'm surrounded by useless" Vegeta frowned as he clenched the knuckles of his hands, "It's my turn to take care of you microbe"

This time, Gohan didn't dare to utter any reckless comments. His opponent was in another category of power, if he held back he would die!

"You are amazing Gohan, even without Goku this battle is won!" Krillin exclaimed with great enthusiasm and Tenshinhan nodded excitedly.

"No, I'm afraid it's not like that Krillin" Gohan muttered drawing his attention, "That Saiyan is much more powerful, there is no comparison"

No matter how many contingency plans he had, his adversary was Vegeta himself. Besides being a prodigy, his fighting power was terrifying.

'Ironic, he's one of my favorite characters' thought the boy smiling bitterly, 'I don't know if I'm feeling fear or excitement right now'

Krillin saw that little Gohan's hands were trembling slightly and he lowered his head, but they still had one last hope...

"So, we'll have to fight until Goku comes" Tenshinhan spoke seriously and Gohan nodded slowly, "Uh, it won't be easy"

"Piccolo, we must fight him together, otherwise we will die before my father arrives" Gohan warned, looking at the Namek.

"You didn't have to say it brat" Piccolo took a step forward, "Besides, I want to see how strong you've become" he commented smiling.

Gohan smiled slightly upon hearing him and walked to a stop at Piccolo's height. They both stood before Vegeta ready to fight the Saiyan.

"So you guys are going to fight me" Vegeta spoke up with a smirk settling on his face, "Ha! Don't make me laugh you two insects!"

"Why don't you stop yapping and start fighting?" Piccolo asked sharply and got into a fighting stance just like Gohan.

"We better attack him!" Gohan exclaimed flying towards the prince and Piccolo followed him to start the final battle for the planet.

Vegeta smiled confidently and seeing the two of them coming towards him with the intention of punching him, he instantly rose into the air.

Flush!

"HAA!" Piccolo and Gohan fired several Ki blasts in unison, but Vegeta deflected them all with ease, not even moving.

"Is that all stupid?" asked the saiyan smiling. Then, both of them launched themselves at Vegeta attacking in a very coordinated manner.

After all, they had been together for more than nine months and each knew the other's way of fighting, that's why they moved so well...

But despite that great coordination, they weren't capable of harming Vegeta. The Saiyan's power vastly surpassed what the two of them had.

"Gohan was right, that guy's power is incredible" Krillin spoke with a frown and Tenshinhan just gritted his teeth after hearing him.

Vegeta got tired of dodging, so he switched from defensive to offensive mode and hit Piccolo's left side with a powerful elbow.

"Piccolo!" Gohan yelled with concern but suddenly Vegeta appeared before him and kicked him hard in the chin sending him into the sky.

Flush!

The Saiyan appeared higher up and, joining his hands, he attacked Gohan with an ax blow in his head.

But Gohan reset before the fall, and even so, Vegeta was faster and kicked him in his back sending him crashing into some rocks.

"Gohan!" shouted Krillin uneasily making a move to go towards him but Tenshinhan held his arm preventing him from doing so, "But I...!"

"For now, let them take care of it" Tenshinhan recommended with a very tense face, "They still haven't fought with their maximum power"

"You're right" Krillin murmured more calmly seeing that little by little Gohan began to get up from the ground, 'I know you can do it'

"Don't tell me that was your limit... what a disappointment!" Vegeta declared crossing his arms in total arrogance, he had overestimated them.

"How are you Piccolo?" asked the little boy wiping the trail of blood that danced on the corner of his lips, "Ugh, he's very powerful"

"I know that, we have to fight with everything" Piccolo answered, getting up and without wasting any more time he took off his turban as well as his cape.

'Oh, his fighting power has increased to 3500, it seems that those clothes restricted some of his strength' Vegeta thought certainly intrigued.

"HAAA!" Piccolo let out a great scream and then a white Ki aura engulfed his body. Vegeta was puzzled as his scouter beeped.

"What?! It's impossible, his fighting power is increasing nonstop" indicated the saiyan with eyes as wide as saucers, "7300... 7800!"

"Here I come, HAAA!" Gohan yelled as he unleashed his great power and Vegeta gasped when he saw the figure his tracker was marking.

"His power… it's over 8000!" Vegeta exclaimed in surprise. Specifically, Gohan's power was 8300 units, "T-this is... impossible!"

Flush!

"Take this!" Gohan and Piccolo shouted at the same time extending their fists and successfully hit the torso of the saiyan prince, who spat blood.

PAM!

The boy punched Vegeta's left cheek and Piccolo punched the right. Then, both connected a powerful kick to the Saiyan's abdomen.

"Ugh…" Vegeta brought his hands to the hit area and groaned slightly, despite all that attack managing to lightly damage him.

And just as they were going to give him another punch combo, Vegeta snapped back looking at them with an unfriendly face… he was very upset!

"Wretched insects!" Vegeta didn't hold back and slammed his punch into the Namekian's face, "You will never be able to defeat me!"

Vegeta grabbed Gohan's head and using his own head hit him several times causing the boy's forehead to bleed.

"Leave Gohan alone!" Piccolo yelled, flying towards Vegeta, who launched a large ki blast in his direction that hit him squarely.

"Where's that great confidence you had against Nappa, you little bastard?" Vegeta asked, grabbing him by the neck with great force.

Gohan tried to break free, but the gap between him and Vegeta was almost 10,000 units. There was only one thing left for him to do, he had to do it now!

"H-here it is... TAIYŌKEN!" The little boy yelled, generating a powerful light that blinded Vegeta, so the Saiyan ended up letting go of his neck.

"Argh! My eyes! What did you do to me brat?" Vegeta yelled with his hands over his eyes in pain and Gohan dropped to the ground.

'He's very strong, at this rate I'll have to use my technique or I'll die' Gohan mused as Krillin, Chiaotzu and Tenshinhan came to where he was.

"How are you Gohan? Can you keep fighting?" Tenshinhan asked helping him up and the boy nodded gratefully to him.

"But I need you to obtain some time for me" Gohan spoke looking at them, "I have a technique that could keep him at bay and even hurt him"

Yes, he had no choice. In the manga, even Goku's twice-enhanced Kaiō-ken couldn't hurt Vegeta... he had to increase that power!

"A-a technique? W-what is it about?" Piccolo asked getting up, his body was injured but he could still stand without difficulty.

"It's very similar to your Makankōsappō: it gathers energy in one point and triples the power" Gohan replied leaving Piccolo surprised by that.

The others were also surprised, if Gohan could triple his power with that attack, then he sure would have a chance!

"But the difference is that it doesn't take as long to gather my Ki and I concentrate it in my hand to have a greater range" he added.

'Now I understand why he was away at night in the hyperbolic time chamber, that brat is just unpredictable!' Piccolo thought.

"That is incredible!" Krillin exclaimed excitedly.

'But the biggest drawback is that it requires some of my life energy, so once I use it I'll be a bit exhausted' the little boy reasoned.

"Okay, then we'll fight until you have your attack ready" Tenshinhan declared clenching his fists, "And how long will it take?"

"Less than five minutes... please friends, hold out as long as you can" Gohan said looking at the group with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.