26 Chapter 26: Father-Son Bonding

As I was on the verge of punching Dad in the face, his explosive yellow aura halted my momentum, pushing me a few feet.

As I slid backward, I looked at him with surprise. He was a lot stronger than I initially anticipated, but that wasn't the only thing that took me by surprise. No… when he had transformed, his muscles inflated like balloons as if he nearly gained an extra hundred pounds. His Ki, it had skyrocketed. He wasn't in his regular Super Saiyan state. He had ascended further beyond, much earlier than he was meant to.

'Yep… I definitely blew everything out of proportion when I traveled back.' I thought to myself.

I had already figured that I had damaged the time stream beyond repair. Seeing my father in the state that he was in only cemented my suspicions further. At this point, any form of knowledge that I had about this universe would mostly prove inefficient. Instead, from now on I had to rely solely on my intuition when it came to any form of big decision-making.

"How bold of you to rush an opponent without analyzing his capabilities beforehand. Your recklessness could have gotten you killed if this was a battle to the death."

He grimaced.

"You got buff…That's new." I commented.

Standing up, I dusted my Gi off while not taking my eyes off of him.

"Damn right, it is. What you're looking at right now is the new and improved version of myself. I am no longer the Vegeta that you once knew as your father. No… in this form, I've surpassed any former rendition of myself." He announced, crossing his arms arrogantly.

"That right?" I asked with a brow of suspicion.

"Of course. My state is living proof." He said, pridefully pointing at himself.

In all seriousness, putting my smart-ass remark aside, with his new power-up, Dad was probably the strongest person that I ever met, surpassing even Goku and Bojack. In a way, it kinda excited me. I hadn't gotten the opportunity to fight with such a strong opponent in a while.

"…"

For a few seconds, I just stared blankly at him, sizing him up. In doing so, I realized two things.

The first was that his power level was far superior to the Cell of my time. I wasn't certain if he was stronger than Perfect Cell, because I had personally never met that particular version, but I knew that for a fact, Semi-perfect Cell wouldn't give him any difficulty at all.

Dad was already ready for the Androids of my time. Possibly, even the ones of the current timeline. But that statement in of itself was assuming that the androids of my time were weaker than the ones of the present.

"For some reason, you don't look as surprised as I expected you to be. Why?" He said, frowning his brows.

"Well, you'd be mistaken. I really am surprised. How'd you manage to get this strong?"

His strength made me wonder, just how strong were Gohan and Trunks at full power?

During Their fight, Trunks had my heavy-ass swords on his back, so his power level was definitely suppressed. As for Gohan, from what I understood, his full potential could only be achieved while in an emotional state. In a strange way, I understood why Dad wanted to test him so badly.

I now theorized that Dad had only managed to achieve his current level of power after losing his limbs, otherwise, Bojack and his crew would have already been dealt with long ago. If I hadn't taken out Bojack, all 3 of the other Saiyans would have probably done the job themselves… Then Again, I didn't know how strong Bojack's multiplayer was in his transformation.

All I knew for certain was that in the period that I was gone, Dad managed to discover Super Saiyan grade 2, possibly 3, knowing him. That was something Goku hadn't even done yet.

"The answer to your question is simple… I unlocked this form through pure anger, rage, and dedication."

"Well… I could have guessed that." I replied.

"I assume that you want a deeper explanation, correct?"

To his question, I nodded my head.

"Alright. Allow me to be more specific then. When I met my miserable defeat to the soulless ginger-haired brute, I was broken into 1000 tiny little pieces. It shames me to say this aloud, but on the day that it happened, I was stripped of not only my limbs but my pride."

"On the dreaded day that my arm and leg were ripped off, for hours, I laid alone face down in a crater, bleeding out. And as I was slowly losing consciousness, I realized that the possibility of me dying a dishonorable death was more than likely. There was no one around, leaving me alone with my thoughts and a damaged ego."

"I had achieved what I thought to be the pinnacle of power; The Legendary Super Saiyan transformation… Yet, I lost to someone, not of the same species, but a mere bandit? Me? The prince of all Saiyans!?"

"..."

"At the time, I felt as if my defeat contradicted all logic. I failed to understand the reason why I had ended up in the situation I did… I was stronger than Freiza, the man who enslaved my people. I was free of any form of shackles that had previously bonded me, disallowing me to prevail. My potential as a warrior should have been limitless… Or So I thought… And I continued to think. Why did I lose to a self-indulgent microbe? Was I just not good enough?"

"… and after what felt like an eternity of contemplating my place in the universe, something deep within me snapped."

"There was but a moment that I contemplated destroying the planet… But before I could, your mother and your counterpart arrived. It was then that my lapse in sanity diminished. I remembered that I now had 2 children to worry about. I also had a wife, and an unborn child to protect. That was when the image of you popped up into my mind."

"Me? What about me?"

"I remember what it was like facing you in that grotesque muscle form of yours. No… Even before that, I noticed while you were fighting Kakarot that your Super Saiyan form was somewhat different compared to either of ours. When I first sensed your energy, I noticed an odd sense of stability within you that the rest of us lacked. When you achieved your muscle form after unlocking your potential, The gears started to turn. I came to the realization that there was more to the Saiyan race than what history led me to believe. It was through you that I found a path to evolution." He declared, analyzing his body.

"It was then that I discovered that you were the key to my transcendence. Or rather, the route you took. When I obtained the legendary form, that was only the beginning. There was an entire evolutionary tree that I needed to climb. And so, from that moment on, I strived to better myself. And in just a few months, I became Super Vegeta. What do you think of your new and improved Father." His smirk returned as he clenched his fist.

He arrogantly pointed to himself, to which I smiled. Not because I was looking down on him, but because I felt somewhat proud of him. He really had come a long way in such a short amount of time. If he continued with his progress. As his son, I was proud. If he kept the same level of dedication, maybe he would eventually be a good sparring partner for me.

"Well… firstly, I think that you're very goddamn unhinged. For future reference, please don't blow up the planet the next time you go through an identity crisis. I don't think that explosions are very environmentally friendly." I said, sarcastically.

"*tsk*"

"What does it matter? I didn't blow it up in the end. Stop dwelling on the negatives and be positive for once. You sound just like your mother… Get over it and praise your father for obtaining a better form than yours. Mine doesn't make the user lose all forms of rationale. Maybe I'll teach it to you if you ask nicely." He teased. In turn, I rolled my eyes.

"Moving on to my second point, the name you picked for that form is stupid."

"What did you say, bastard?" He questioned with a large vein popping out of his forehead.

"You have the naming sense of an 8-year-old."

"Now you listen here, I created the form, so I can name it as damn well please!" He spat.

"About that…" I mumbled

"...Scar. Don't you dare ruin this for me." He muttered, grinding his teeth.

"Alright-alright," I said, raising my hands defensively.

"Even if you did have the form in your timeline, you're acting as if you have a better name for it than something as superb as Super Vegeta."

"In my timeline, we called it Grade 2. Has a better ring to it, in my opinion. It's 50% stronger and faster than the original form but consumes a lot more energy."

"*tsk*"

"If you're so knowledgeable on Super Vegeta, prove it. Transform into it."

"I would… But I don't think I can."

"Ha!"

"The laugh was unnecessary."

I said, squinting my eyes at him.

"You making the wish to the Namekian dragon was unnecessary, yet here we are."

"Wow… Just wow. Going that low?"

He held his tongue and remained silent at my question. I could tell that he only reflexively spoke and felt kind of guilty.

"Anyway, while we're on the topic of my Super Saiyan form, every time I try to go golden, I just turn into a giant monster. Granted, I can control it now, but it's not really easy on the eyes." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Serves you right for cheating your way to power. I almost feel bad for you. That big bulky form of yours has even worse energy retention than my current form."

"Well… Not exactly. I could probably stay in it indefinitely if I wanted to. I haven't really had much time to test it, but my new version of Super Saiyan multiplies my power by roughly around 200 times." I let out.

To be honest, I was still lowballing my transformation. My prime form was a gateway to something completely undiscovered. Perhaps, after my spar and wishing everyone back, it would be time to unlock more of its secrets.

"What?!"

He looked at me as if he wanted to rip my head off. I had to fight the urge to laugh.

"Before you get depressed, you were right with your line of thinking. There are even further states in a Saiyan's evolution. Before I got locked into this form, I managed to reach a 5th grade of Super Saiyan. I called it Super Saiyan 2. Right now, In your Grade 2, you're stronger than I was."

"Was that pity? I will unalive you, you mother fu-!"

"No, jackass. It was pride. I'm proud of you." I interrupted.

"*tsk*"

"Your words are vomit-inducing… but I am curious about just how far I've come. You took my chance at redemption with the pirate, so now, you're gonna be my new punching bag. And don't you dare hold back." He said, getting into a combative stance.

"Wait, before we fight… Aren't you worried about me breaking those robot pieces?" I asked with concern.

"Worried about my well-being? Disgusting… If you must know, when I told Crybaby the last known location of your swords, He brought them here. When he did, that was when your mother's scientific intrigue got the best of her. Long story short, she found out that the material they were made out of came from a star a few galaxies away. One thing led to another, I now have a new arm and leg that works almost as well as the originals with better durability."

"Alright then. Let's fight until one of us can't anymore." I declared.

"I wouldn't have it any other way. This time, I'll attack first."

With our verbal exchange out the way, Dad rushed at me far faster than the speed of light with a javelin-like fist.

Seeing this coming, I leaned back, attempting a deadly game of limbo. When he arrived mere centimeters above me, my senses screamed at me, telling me that there was impending danger. That was when I noticed him smiling as if I had fallen into his trap.

That was when he stopped right above me, attempting to strike me with a fist capable of piercing through my body.

Using my Ki, I forced myself to the floor like a magnet, rolling over and avoiding his strike.

"*Boom*"

Dad's fist penetrated the ground, narrowly missing my head.

Quickly pulling his arm back, he attempted to strike again, but like before, I rolled over once more, dodging the attack. But unlike last time, it was time to counter.

"*wack*"

With my tail, I smacked him across the face, with enough power to draw blood. But in doing so, I realized just how strong his defenses were. My Tail was throbbing in pain in what felt like the equivalent of stepping on a Lego brick.

The good news was that with my counter, I gained a comfortable amount of distance from him.

As we both stood up, we shared the exact same smile.

"Haha. Interesting… seeing you put that tail to good use makes me almost miss my own. Unlucky for you, you'll be missing yours too once I rip it from your spinal cord." He said as he wiped his bloody lip.

"Is that right?" I asked with a head tilt.

Clicking his tongue, rushed toward me again, but this time, I would meet him In the middle.

"*boom*"

Our knuckles clashed over and over again as we began to take flight, neither of us retreating.

"*boom-boom-boom*"

***

The two combatants had been caught in the rhythm of their clashes. When one punched, the other would counter with a kick.

Realizing that he had been caught in an endless loop, Trunks decided to channel his purple Ki into his fist, preparing a strike that had enough energy to power a city in the palm of his hand.

Reasonably not wanting to get hit by the strike, Vegeta determined that his best action was to block, channeling his own Ki into his own arms.

Unfortunately for him, Trunks' intention wasn't to punch his father out right. His charged-up fist was only a means of distraction. Instead, Trunks planned to grab Vegeta by his shoulders, restricting his movements.

Once Trunks had a hold over his father, without any warning, with all his might, Trunks pulled Vegeta in for a powerful knee to the sternum.

"*Boom*"

But even with the wind knocked out of him, Vegeta held on to his composure. And like a ferocious tiger, he attacked, Headbutting Trunks with all his might right atop the bridge of his nose.

Because of Vegeta's immense strength, Trunks was sent Flying, but Vegeta wasn't finished with his assault.

While Trunks was still being flung through the sky, Vegeta cupped his hands together, pulling them over his left shoulder. As he did, Purple plasma began to rapidly manifest in his palms.

"Galick-GUN"

Releasing his charged attack, a giant purple beam was ejected forward which made the entirety of the battlegrounds shake.

No longer stunned, Trunks was left with no other choice but to activate his signature technique, The Adephagia Shield. Almost instantly, his body was shrouded in a purple outline, a tell-tell sign that his skill was ready for use.

Once the Galick Gun made contact with Trunks' body, its energy started getting absorbed into his being, causing his vessel to glow even brighter.

Shocked by what happened, Vegeta froze. He was confused. His Ki wave was enough to turn most people into ash, meanwhile, Trunks had used a strange skill to disperse it as if it was never shot by him in the first place.

Now harvesting the Galick energy, Trunks zoomed to Vegeta like a blazing comet parting the skies. From his hands, he launched two powerful beams hot enough to obliterate a city. Not only had Trunks redirected Vegeta's energy, but he had also added his own Ki to the attack.

As the beams approached Vegeta, he began to panic.

Normally, he wouldn't have been able to sense Trunks' Ki, but in combination with his own, he was allowed to perceive the potential destruction of the entire building.

'Damn it-Damn it- Damn it! I knew we should have gone outside for this! This little goblin is no one to be trifled with.' Vegeta internalized.

He couldn't allow the beams to hit either the walls or the ground for fear of spontaneous combustion. He was left with no other choice but to remain on the defensive.

"*buzzz*"

Catching the beams in his hands, Vegeta felt a searing pain in one of them while in the other, his metal prosthetic began to heat up intensely, causing even his stump to burn.

"Ugh!"

Attempting to nullify the beams, Vegeta began to pour his own Ki to condense them into fiery unconcealable orbs in his hands. Since the orbs were like fire, he needed to smother the flames with his own, securing his safety.

After what felt like a long time, Vegeta Finally managed to disperse the orbs, exhausting a great amount of his energy which angered him. The battle had only just started and yet he was sweating like a pig and already had multiple injuries.

But something as trivial as injuries was all the fuel that a Saiyan needed. If he was angered or in pain, he planned on using it as an advantage against his enemy. But he just needed a few seconds to catch his breath first.

The problem was, Trunks had no intention of letting him rest and had disappeared from his sight which put Vegeta on high alert.

He began to dart his eyes from left to right, but there was no one in sight.

'Then, you must be...'

With a smirk on his face, Vegeta swiftly twisted like a snake, launching a Ki wave to where he thought Trunks had teleported… Only, Trunks wasn't behind him.

Before he could rotate in any other direction, Trunks' knuckles were already making contact with his chin.

"Below." Trunks smirked, knocking his father into the ceiling with a powerful uppercut that would have killed him if it weren't for the fact that Vegeta was in Super Saiyan.

"*Boom*"

Like a bizarro version of an ostrich, Vegeta's head was installed into the ceiling like a chandler.

'This little bastard! He just hammered my head into the roof cartoonishly like a damn ostrich! He will not get away with this.'

Vegeta was angered. He was tired. But he was also full of resolve. He had no intention of letting his battle with Trunks end so one-sidedly. He had grown. It was time for Trunks to realize just how much had changed since the last time they had an exchange.

Plucking himself out of the roof, Vegeta glared at Trunks who floated in the air, staring at him leisurely with a blank expression.

"Alright, Scar. It's about time that I get serious."

Vegeta stated, cracking his knuckles and neck.

"I thought you were already serious. You sure you can keep fighting with that messed-up hand?" Trunks taunted.

"Ha… Funny. I think I'll manage. This is nothing to me. Personally, If I were in your shoes, I'd be much more concerned with that broken jaw of yours?" Vegeta smirked.

"The hell are you talking about? My jaws not-"

Before Trunks could continue his sentence, Vegeta had already closed the distance between the two.

"*Boom*"

With a punch that entailed Vegeta's full strength, Trunks was launched backward at Mach 7. As Vegeta watched him soar away, he noticed something. Even though Trunks was definitely hurt after his attack, as his back slammed against the wall, he was smiling. A smile that Vegeta was very familiar with. It was the same smile that manifested on his own face when he faced a worthy adversary.

'I guess he's taking me seriously now.'

Vegeta smirked.

"I wouldn't have it any other way." He mumbled to himself.

"*Whoosh*"

Vegeta flew at top speed in Trunks' direction, but Trunks only stared at his father with a grin on his face which slightly unsettled Vegeta. Was this some sort of trap that his son was luring him into? Why wasn't he moving?

Whatever. It didn't matter. Whatever Trunks was plotting didn't concern Vegeta. If it was a cowardly trap, then Vegeta was sure he could react to it in time. Just in case he couldn't, he made sure to coat himself in a thick layer of Ki which acted as an armor for him.

"*Boom*"

"*Crack*"

Striking Trunks dead in the center of his rib cage, Vegeta dealt a devastating blow that would have critically injured most. He even heard and felt bones cracking underneath his fist as the wall began to warp from extreme force.

Vegeta couldn't stop the corners of his mouth from curling. I brought him great satisfaction knowing that he was able to injure such a strong opponent. It appeared that Trunks was even trembling in pain while Vegeta still had his fist on his chest.

But while Vegeta was celebrating internally, he soon realized that something was wrong.

When he looked up… Trunks was still smiling. No. The psychotic beam was even more intense than before.

"*cough-cough*"

"Haha."

Trunks chuckled while Vegeta examined him carefully.

"Boy… What the hell are you laughing about? What's so damn funny?" He said, baking up a few feet.

"..."

To his comment, Trunks remained silent and slowly dug himself out of the hole in the wall.

"Scar… You better not have slipped back into that beast you once were. Because if that's the case, I swear that I will end you before you even-" Before he could finish, Trunks interrupted him.

"Now look who's nagging." He said, resting his hands on his damaged ribs.

"I didn't lose control. I'm just genuinely happy right now." He remarked while wheezing slightly.

"Happy? Why would you be happy about your current situation? Did I knock a screw loose hitting you so hard?" Vegeta asked, raising a brow of concern.

Shaking his head no, Trunks chuckled once more.

"No… I'm pretty sure that I was missing the screw when I came out the factory… But the answer to your question before when you asked me why would I be happy… I'm happy because you're strong. To be honest with you, it's been a while since I had a decent fight like this."

"Are you implying that you didn't face off against Kakarot in Otherworld?"

"Oh, No. I did. Plenty of times too. You see, the thing is, I can't really call those fights."

"Elaborate."

"Sure." Trunks then began to limber, stretching his arms and legs, ignoring the pain he felt.

"When I was up there, the only thing I did in our fights was dodge. That's what I did when I was up there training every day. Not just with Goku, but with everyone else there too. I didn't really get the opportunity to go blow for blow with anyone."

"Dodging? You mean to tell me that you were up there for months and you only prioritized dodging? I find that hard to believe considering your current physical state." Vegeta spat.

"Oh. No. I'm telling you the truth. Also, don't get ahead of yourself, little guy. I'm only as screwed up as I am right now because I'm not focused on self-preservation. I have the ability to teleport. I could have avoided every last one of your attacks."

At his words, Vegeta gritted his teeth in spite.

"If you're gonna lie, at least come up with a good one. That teleportation skill probably has a limitation on it that you haven't informed me about. That's the reason you haven't been using it"

Vegeta didn't believe Trunks for a second. If he had decided to take his words at face value, it would have been a jab at his ego. That was something he couldn't handle in his current state, so he decided to forge his own reality.

Trunks then shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly.

"Believe what you want to. Today, I just want to have an all-out brawl."

"An all-out brawl, you say. I guess us being a warrior race has gotten to your ego." He smirked.

"Good. Because I want that exact same thing."

Lunging forward, Vegeta manifested an orb of Ki, slamming it into Trunks' face like a cartoon pie which caused his son's head to fling back.

Even though the explosion of the blast was painful, Trunks fortified himself, giving Vegeta a spinning back kick to his chest.

But once the kick had made an impact, Vegeta caught his foot with both hands.

Vegeta then hurled Trunks to the ground.

"*Boom*"

Bouncing off the floor, Trunks quickly recovered and dashed straight toward Vegeta, punching him in the stomach, causing him to cough up a small amount of blood.

But one strike wasn't going to stop the prince of all Saiyans.

Vegeta then headbutted Trunks, momentarily stunning him.

While he was stunned Vegeta put one hand out in front of him and condensed a large blue Ki orb.

'I'll have to reduce my energy output if I want him to remain alive… Even then… This attack will probably siphon most of my remaining energy… Screw it.'

"Big Bang Attack!"

The orb quickly expanded, hitting his son's body at point-blank range, hurling him to the distance like a frisbee. Not only that, but it started to burn the adolescent's skin.

Realizing that he was in a compromising position, Trunks wrapped his arms around the orb, creating a purple dome around the sphere.

The longer the Big Bang stayed in the dome, the more its intensity began to diminish until it eventually vanished, leaving only sparks of energy behind.

Trunks began to breathe heavily. Not just him, but Vegeta as well. He was drenched in sweat.

It was obvious that the two were nearing the end of their battle. It was time for one side to overtake the other.

"Ha… Cool technique." Trunks commented.

"It's new. Take joy in being the first one to see it." Vegeta added.

"Alright… What do you say we end this?"

"I'd say that you took the words right out of my mouth."

Vegeta laughed.

Then, they dashed at each other for one final collision so powerful that it destroyed the facility they were in.