The battlefield was split in two.
Above them all, Frieza watched from his throne of glass and steel, chin resting on his hand, smiling.
Kakarot dropped from the restraints the moment Valerios released him. He landed on his feet, breathing hard, eyes sharp despite the bruises.
Broly stared.
This wasn't the cheerful warrior he'd heard about.
This Kakarot was hardened.
"You're strong," Kakarot said, rolling his shoulders. "But you're… holding something back."
Broly stepped forward, Flow still active—movements precise, silent, perfect.
"I don't want to hurt you," Broly said honestly.
Kakarot smiled faintly. "Then don't lose control."
They clashed.
Not with explosions—but impact.
Kakarot adapted instantly. Every strike Broly redirected, Kakarot adjusted. Every opening Broly exploited, Kakarot closed the next time.
Broly's eyes narrowed.
He's learning me.
A blow slipped through—clean, heavy—sending Broly skidding across the ground.
Broly stood slowly.
Confusion crept in.
Flow showed him everything… but Kakarot kept changing.
"You're incredible," Kakarot said, breathing harder now. "But you're thinking too much."
Something snapped.
Broly's chest tightened.
The fear returned.
What if Flow isn't enough?
Green lightning flared.
The stillness shattered.
"No—!" Piccolo shouted from behind a barrier. "Broly, don't—!"
Broly roared.
Rage flooded back in, swallowing Flow whole. His aura exploded outward, wild and violent, the ground fracturing beneath his feet.
Kakarot barely managed to block the next hit—his arms shaking.
"Yeah…" Kakarot muttered. "There it is."
Elsewhere—
Vegeta slammed into the ground, skidding through broken stone.
Valerios walked toward him calmly, armor barely scratched.
"You fight beautifully," Valerios said. "But beauty is not enough."
Vegeta wiped blood from his mouth, eyes burning.
"I will not fall to Frieza's lapdog."
He charged.
This time, something was different.
Vegeta's eyes crackled—red lightning dancing through his pupils, power compressed beyond anything he'd used before.
Piccolo felt it. "Vegeta…!"
Vegeta struck—harder, faster, smarter. For a moment, Valerios was pushed back.
For a moment.
Then Valerios smiled.
"And yet," he said, driving his fist into Vegeta's ribs, "you still hesitate."
Vegeta screamed as the blow sent him flying.
He tried to rise.
Failed.
Valerios stood over him, energy gathering in his palm.
"Your desperation is real," Valerios said quietly. "But your pride still wants control."
Piccolo shouted from across the battlefield. "Vegeta, get up!"
Vegeta's vision blurred.
He heard Broly roaring in rage.He felt Namek trembling.He remembered Kakarot's face on the projection—beaten, captured.
I can't protect anyone like this.
Valerios raised his hand.
"This ends—"
A scream tore from Vegeta's throat.
AAAAAAGHHHHHHH
Golden light exploded outward.
The air screamed.
Vegeta's body lifted from the ground as his power finally broke free.
Hair flared upward—golden.Eyes burned green-gold with fury and resolve.
Super Saiyan.
The shockwave threw Valerios back several steps for the first time.
Frieza's laughter paused.
Vegeta hovered, shaking, aura blazing wildly—no longer suppressed, no longer contained.
Valerios steadied himself, smiling again.
"Good," he said. "Now you're worth killing."
The battlefield burned.
Broly raged.Kakarot adapted.Vegeta had finally crossed the line.
And above them all—
Frieza leaned forward, delighted.
The battlefield split once more.
Vegeta's golden aura raged like fire caught in a storm. Every breath burned. Every heartbeat screamed power.
He moved first.
Faster than before. Stronger. A brutal elbow slammed into Valerios' guard, forcing him back through shattered stone.
"Yes!" Vegeta roared, following with a knee, then a point-blank blast.
Valerios skidded across the ground, boots carving trenches.
But when the smoke cleared—
He stood.
Armor cracked. Smile intact.
"You've finally stopped pretending," Valerios said. "But look at you—your power is leaking everywhere."
Vegeta attacked again, rage pushing him harder, faster.
Valerios adapted.
Every strike Vegeta overcommitted to was punished. A counter to the ribs. A hammer blow to the spine. Vegeta was winning exchanges—but losing efficiency.
"You're burning yourself alive," Valerios said calmly, driving Vegeta into the ground.
Vegeta screamed, forcing himself up on shaking arms.
"I don't care," he snarled. "As long as I—!"
A kick to the face cut him off.
Broly's rage shook the sky.
Each swing threatened to tear Namek apart. Kakarot dodged, blocked, absorbed—but he was running out of space.
"Broly!" Kakarot shouted, narrowly avoiding a blast. "Listen to me!"
Another punch—blocked barely in time.
"You're strong," Kakarot continued, breath ragged. "But you're fighting yourself more than me!"
Broly roared again—but hesitated.
Just for a fraction of a second.
Kakarot took the chance—not to attack—but to stand still.
"I've been there," he said. "That fear? That rage? It doesn't go away by crushing everything."
Broly's fists trembled.
Piccolo yelled from afar. "Broly, he's right!"
Kakarot met Broly's eyes. "You felt something earlier. That's calm. That clarity. That was you."
The green lightning around Broly flickered.
"I lost it…" Broly whispered.
"You didn't lose it," Kakarot said softly. "You panicked. That happens."
Broly's breathing slowed.
Not calm.
But human.
Across the field, Vegeta was on one knee.
Valerios loomed over him, energy coiling like a blade.
"Super Saiyan," Valerios said. "Impressive".
He raised his hand.
Vegeta looked up, vision swimming.
Is this… all I have?
Broly turned.
He saw Vegeta—broken, bleeding, still refusing to fall.
Something shifted.
Not rage.
Recognition.
Broly stepped back from Kakarot.
"I don't want this," Broly said. "I don't want to destroy everything."
Kakarot nodded. "Then don't. Choose what you protect."
Lightning crept back into Broly's eyes.
Not green.
White.
Controlled.
Flow returned—not perfect, but real.
Broly turned toward Valerios.
Vegeta looked up—and saw it.
"Broly…" he whispered.
Valerios sensed it too, finally frowning.
"Oh," he said. "That's new."
Above them, Frieza's smile thinned.
The storm wasn't over.
But it was changing.
Stone beneath his feet.Silence is heavier than gravity.
The Trial of Pride.
Vegeta stood alone in that endless hall, mirrors rising around him. In each reflection, he saw himself at a different moment in his life—stronger, colder, more ruthless.
Each one smiled.
"Strength is everything," the reflections said in unison."Without it, you are nothing."
One reflection stepped forward—golden aura blazing, eyes cruel and empty.
"You abandoned pride when you stopped chasing power," it mocked."You weakened yourself."
Vegeta clenched his fists then—just as he had during the trial.
"No," he had answered.
The mirrors cracked.
"I didn't abandon pride," Vegeta said."I learned what it was for."
The reflection laughed. "Pride exists to dominate."
Vegeta shook his head.
"Pride exists to endure."
The hall trembled. The reflections began to fade, screaming as they shattered into fragments of light.
"You lived for strength," the ancient voice had spoken then."And strength abandoned you."
Vegeta straightened his back.
"I lived for strength because I was afraid of being nothing without it," he had admitted.
The silence pressed in.
"But I don't need to be the strongest anymore," Vegeta said."I need to be true."
The final mirror showed him standing—not victorious, not defeated—but calm.
That was when the trial ended.
The memory snapped away.
Vegeta's eyes refocused on the present battlefield. His aura steadied, no longer surging wildly.
"I remember," he muttered.
He glanced at Broly—then beyond him, to everything at stake.
"I don't live for strength anymore."
His fists tightened—not in hunger for power, but in resolve.
"I fight so that strength finally means something."
Blue energy flared around him—clear, controlled, unshaken.
The Trial of Pride had not taken his power.
It had freed him from it.