Ch. 33: The Power of Vegeta and Kakarot

"You want an interesting fight? You'll get one. I promise!" After Goku said those words, he started groaning as everyone could feel his power spiking through the roof. Unexpectedly for Vegeta, it grew to the point where it was close to Vegeta's maximum power.

"Kaio-ken attack!" Goku shouted, taking a huge leap into the air and punching Vegeta in the face. In a flurry of punches too fast for the current Vegeta to keep up with, Goku beat Vegeta, the latter having no change to block or counterattack at all.

With a mighty blow, Goku launched Vegeta into the air before following up to deal more damage, but Vegeta'd gotten his bearings by then. With a scream, he unleashed a portion of the power that he had been keeping under wraps in order to match Goku's speed and react to Goku's charge with a kick to the stomach that launched Goku away from him.

"That Kaio-ken attack of yours... That your trump card? You honestly think a little enhancement will make you equal to me? The strongest Saiyan in the universe? Don't make me laugh. I've encountered something just like it before!" Vegeta told him, chuckling at Goku's foolishness.

It had been an incredible trick, though. Had the gap between the two of them been any smaller, the Kaio-ken attack may have managed to close it, ensuring Vegeta's defeat. Fortunately for him, Goku's weakness was absolutely inferior to his strength, "Don't tell me that's all you've got? If it is, you'd better quit!"

Sweat dripped from Goku's brow as he responded, "Heh, funny... As grim as this looks, I'm kind of excited right now."

"A Saiyan through and through, alright." Raditz muttered to himself. 

"Yup. Definitely an idiot." Hanna answered Raditz, though the Saiyan hedgehog hadn't actually been wanting an answer at all.

'He's still smiling and ready for more, huh? Who does this low-class think he is? What kind of power could he possibly be hiding? I'll just have to find out, I guess. Better power up to maximum, then.' Vegeta thought to himself, a little concerned. Outwardly, though, he showed no weakness.

"That's it? That's your best? I've got some bad news for you... You may be stronger than anyone else on this planet, but even at your peak, you're no match for me!" Vegeta gloated.

"Wanna bet?" 

"No need to wager... Behold, the true power of a Saiyan Prince!" Vegeta gloated, beginning to concentrate his power. Since he hadn't done it in such a long time, it was rather destructive, but he only laughed and groaned in concentration and ecstasy as the very planet around him shook.

"Oh man... I think the whole planet is actually shaking!" Goku noticed. I simply floated a bit off the ground as I ate my noodles, acting nonchalant in a passive effort to piss Vegeta off. Surprisingly, I was pretty sure that Goku and Raditz hadn't even realized that I was still stuffing my face behind them as Vegeta's power exploded in front of them, though Shay had... 

'How dare that jerky... Jerk interfere with Mistress's lunch time! He deserves death! No! Worse! He deserves to have his face dunked in lava until he can't move anymore, then...' Shay was having some sort of tirade, angry at Vegeta for spoiling my lunch, which I was only eating to annoy the Saiyan Prince in the first place. Honestly, I was pretty sure that I was in the wrong, but I could tell that I wasn't going to have any luck explaining that to Shay.

"What power! Amazing..." Goku muttered as the winds generated by Vegeta's power-up threatened to knock him out of the air.

"Yes... I never realized that Vegeta's power was this incredible." Raditz agreed with his brother.

Finally, I could sense that Vegeta was pretty close to finished with his power-up, as he started screaming, his power exploding to another level that almost made me drop my noodles in my lap, opening up another tirade from Shay as everything instantly calmed down around us as a Vegeta's body let out a flash of blinding light.

"I think it's finally over..." Goku said, panting. "Whoa, that was incredible. And now everything is calm... Too calm."

"Kakarot!" Vegeta called to show Goku where he was, "Farewell... You're finished." Instantly, Vegeta closed the distance between him and Goku, headbutting him before hitting him with his elbow. By the time Goku gained his bearings, Vegeta was gone like the wind.

"What's the matter?! Can't find me?!" Vegeta yelled.

"Kakarot, above you!" Raditz shouted, causing Goku to look up as Vegeta tossed a power ball at him from behind.

"Kaio-ken... Times Two!" Goku shouted, avoiding the blast and the beam that followed it with scarily close timing.

"huh... Missed him. He can go further with that enhancement of his, huh?" Vegeta noticed. 

"That's not good. The double Kaio-ken attack is barely able to keep up with him at all." Goku muttered to himself, "Guess I'll do a triple. My body can still take that."

"What's the matter, Kakarot? You don't seem too eager to continue! Don't tell me you already need to catch your breath, we were just getting started!"

"Don't wait on me! Feel free to lead off any time! Or maybe... Kaio-Ken Times Three!" This one seemed a bit more difficult for Goku to do, but he managed it after only a moment. By this point, his power level was probably in the mid 20,000s, just like Vegeta's. They were both at their maximum safe power.

"What? No way!" 'Is he stronger than me now?' Vegeta realized with a start. After powering up to his full potential, he'd honestly expected nothing less than this to become a full-on one-sided smackdown, leaving him just barely enough energy to deal with Raditz and the child. Goku's new explosive strength boost was changing the scales in his head, and he didn't like it.

"HAAH!" Goku blasted off of the rock that he was perched on, intent on putting this fight into its final stage before Vegeta powered up to the point where he'd need Kaio-ken times four.