The desert floor was already scarred beyond recognition—glass plains, fissures glowing faintly, dunes turned to jagged black teeth. But even that ruin wasn't enough to contain what Vegeta was about to become.
The false moon hung above the battlefield, a sphere of blinding silver that pulsed with unnatural rhythm. Blutz waves cascaded downward, invisible but heavy, a pressure that pressed against every cell in his body. His tail twitched like it had been waiting its whole life for this signal.
Vegeta threw his head back and roared. Not a warrior's cry—something older. Primal. A sound from the deep memory of his species.
Bones cracked, elongated. Muscles swelled, armor splitting along seams. Fur erupted across skin, black as vacuum, catching moonlight and turning it into menace. His frame quadrupled, then doubled again, until the crater could barely contain him.
A shadow swallowed the ridge.
Oozaru.
Krillin froze, jaw open, voice caught somewhere between a scream and a prayer. "H-he's… he's turning into—"
"A giant ape," Gohan whispered, his voice small, his body trembling, but his eyes too wide to look away. "Piccolo told me about this… this is what Saiyans really are."
The ridge beneath them shook as Vegeta's massive hand slammed into the ground, claws digging trenches wider than houses. His eyes glowed red, intelligent even through the primal mask, and his mouth split into a grin too large for any human skull.
The System did not flinch. Its words cut through the transformation like surgical notes during a storm.
[Great Ape Protocol Engaged]Host PL: 22,400 → 180,000 (approximate).Control: 92% (Ethan Integration stabilizing primal pathways).New Skills Unlocked:
Graviton Stomp (AOE shockwave, wide-radius).
Roar of Command (Fear induction, 40% chance stagger on weaker foes).
Primal Crush (grappling finisher).Warning: Energy Efficiency reduced (-15%). Collateral: Extreme.
Goku staggered back, sweat already pouring from Kaio-Ken strain, his gi torn and burned from the beam struggle. His chest heaved as he looked up, up, up at the towering silhouette blotting out the false moon.
"…No way," he breathed. "He… he multiplied his power like that?!"
His scouter was gone, destroyed, but his instincts screamed the truth: the gap between them had just become impossible.
Krillin yelled from the ridge, "Goku! What's the plan?! Can you even—"
"I don't know yet!" Goku called back, voice cracking with honesty. He clenched his fists, aura flaring red, but his body trembled with each pulse of Kaio-Ken. "I'll figure something out!"
Vegeta's voice boomed out of a throat that had been remade for destruction, deep and guttural but still clear, still him.
"Look at you, Kakarot. You burned your little body just to scratch at my power. And now? Now I'll show you why Saiyans ruled worlds before your kind learned to light fires."
He raised one colossal foot and stomped.
The shockwave rippled outward, a circular wall of raw force. Glass shattered, dunes collapsed, ridges broke like ribs under a giant's fist. Krillin and Gohan clung to the rock face, their hands bleeding from the effort to stay anchored.
Goku skidded back, arms crossed against the gale, teeth gritted. His legs sank inches into the sand just to hold his ground.
The System chimed again, clinical:
[Threat Analysis Updated]Opponent (Kakarot): Current PL ~30,000 (Kaio-ken x4 max). Severe physical strain detected.Host Advantage: Overwhelming (6:1 ratio).Recommendation:
Crush target swiftly → Reward: Super Saiyan Progress +3%.
OR: Prolong engagement to farm Rivalry Node → Higher long-term yield.
Vegeta's eyes gleamed red with cruel delight. Farm him, Ethan's soldier voice whispered inside. Make the pain instructive. Make every second serve you.
He lowered his massive head, teeth bared in a grin wider than Goku's courage. "I'm going to savor this."
Goku leapt, aura blazing, fists glowing with condensed ki. He struck at Vegeta's chest, blows like meteors, each one enough to crater mountains. But against the Oozaru? They were sparks against an ocean.
Vegeta swatted him aside with a single backhand. Goku flew hundreds of meters, smashed through two ridges, and skidded across glass that sizzled against his skin.
"Dad!" Gohan screamed, voice raw.
Krillin grabbed him by the arm. "Stay back! If you go down there, we're all dead!"
Gohan's fists trembled. "But he's—he's gonna kill my dad!"
Vegeta's massive hand came down where Goku lay. Goku rolled, barely escaping, the palm crushing into the ground with force that carved a crater wider than a village. He came up panting, aura sputtering red, veins bulging against his temples.
"I can't… Kaio-ken's already… eating me alive…" he muttered.
The System whispered, almost kindly, as Vegeta lifted his foot for another stomp:
[Rivalry Node Status]Observation: Opponent near brink. Emotional resonance: High.Super Saiyan Progress: +5% (cumulative).Projected Zenkai Post-Engagement: 22,400 → ~40,000 PL.
Vegeta's laugh rolled over the desert like thunder. "Do you hear that, Kakarot? Even my fate is grateful for you. You're making me better with every second you struggle."
He lifted both hands, Ki gathering between them in a sphere that dwarfed mountains, a sun born to end a planet.
"Die knowing you were useful."
The false moonlight painted his grin silver.
Goku braced, aura flickering, body begging for surrender. He whispered one word, almost to himself.
"…Kaioken… times… four…"
Red fire exploded around him, brighter than before, reckless, suicidal. His scream tore the desert's silence open.
He launched upward toward the descending titan.