The artificial moon hung in the sky like a malevolent eye, its Blutz waves washing over the devastated battlefield where titans had fallen. Goku lay motionless, his body broken by the impossible strain of Kaioken times five. Sage's Great Ape form was unconscious, his violet energy extinguished, leaving only the mindless fury of the transformation.
Only two Great Apes remained standing.
Vegeta towered over the fallen defenders, his massive form silhouetted against the false moon. Blood dripped from countless wounds, but his red eyes burned with the fire of absolute victory. Across from him, little Gohan swayed on his feet, consciousness flickering like a candle in a hurricane.
"Pathetic," Vegeta rumbled, his voice like distant thunder. "Is this the best Earth has to offer? A broken fool who destroyed himself, a mindless beast who couldn't control his own power, and a child who—"
"Gohan."
The whisper came from Goku's broken form, barely audible above the wind. But it carried the weight of infinite love, cutting through the Great Ape's primitive fury like a sword of light.
"You're not a monster," Goku continued, each word costing him tremendous effort. "You're my son. You're the kindest, strongest person I know. And right now... everyone is counting on you."
Something stirred in the depths of Gohan's transformed mind. The red haze of Great Ape fury began to recede, replaced by something far more dangerous—a child's desperate need to protect everyone he loved.
Vegeta sensed the change immediately. The young Great Ape's power level, which had been fluctuating wildly, suddenly began to stabilize and climb. His stance shifted from mindless aggression to focused determination.
"Impossible," the prince breathed. "You're maintaining consciousness? Just like that half-breed mutt!"
But Gohan was different from Sage. Where the older Saiyan had fought an internal battle between human conscience and ape fury, Gohan's transformation was pure—driven entirely by love and the desperate need to protect his family.
His power level began to surge.
The young Great Ape's eyes cleared completely, no longer the mindless red of primal fury but sharp with purpose. His massive fists clenched as energy crackled around his form—not the usual white energy of a Saiyan, but something tinged with gold.
"You hurt my dad," Gohan said, his voice carrying a clarity that chilled Vegeta to the bone. "You hurt my friends. I won't let you hurt anyone else."
Vegeta's response was immediate and vicious. His massive fist swung toward Gohan's head with enough force to crush mountains. But the young Great Ape was ready.
Gohan's smaller but incredibly dense form ducked under the swing and drove his fist into Vegeta's exposed ribs. The impact sent shockwaves across the battlefield, and for the first time in the entire battle, Vegeta actually cried out in genuine pain.
"What?" The prince staggered, clutching his side. "Your power... it's increasing!"
And it was. Every second of maintained consciousness, every moment of controlled fury, was multiplying Gohan's strength. His latent potential, the incredible power that had always lurked beneath the surface, was finally being unleashed.
Vegeta's next attack was a desperate backhand that would have decapitated a normal opponent. Gohan caught the massive fist in his own hand, stopping it cold.
The battlefield went silent except for the sound of Vegeta's labored breathing.
"Impossible," the prince whispered. "I'm elite-class. I'm royalty. I'm—"
Gohan's counterattack was swift and devastating. His free fist drove into Vegeta's solar plexus with the force of a meteor strike. The prince's eyes bulged as all the air was driven from his lungs, and he doubled over in agony.
But Gohan wasn't finished.
His follow-up was a massive uppercut that caught Vegeta under the chin, snapping the prince's head back and sending him stumbling backward. Blood flew from his mouth as he struggled to remain standing.
"This can't be happening!" Vegeta roared, his elite-class pride crumbling. "I won't be defeated by a child!"
He poured everything into one final, desperate assault. His massive hands came together as purple energy built between them—a Galick Gun that would use every ounce of his remaining strength.
"GALICK GUN—"
Gohan was already moving.
The young Great Ape's power surged one final time, his golden-tinged energy flaring like a miniature sun. He charged forward with impossible speed, his smaller form driving into Vegeta's midsection just as the prince was about to fire his ultimate attack.
The impact was cataclysmic.
Vegeta's Galick Gun discharged harmlessly into the sky as Gohan's tackle sent both Great Apes crashing to the ground. They rolled across the landscape, trading devastating blows that carved new valleys in the earth.
But Gohan's surge of power gave him the decisive advantage.
His final strike—a two-handed blow to Vegeta's chest—sent the prince flying backward to crash into the ground with earth-shaking force. The impact created a crater fifty feet deep, and when the dust settled, Vegeta lay on his stomach, barely conscious.
"Now!" Goku's voice cracked like a whip across the battlefield. "While he's down!"
Krillin didn't hesitate.
"DESTRUCTO DISK!"
The spinning disk of energy materialized in his hand, its razor-sharp edge gleaming with deadly precision. Years of training and countless battles had perfected this technique, and Krillin poured everything he had into making it count.
The disk flew true, spinning through the air with a high-pitched whine that cut through the night. Vegeta, dazed and struggling to rise, didn't see it coming until it was too late.
The Destructo Disk sliced through his massive tail like a hot knife through butter.
Vegeta's scream of agony echoed across the continent as his tail was severed. The artificial moon's power over him was instantly broken, and his Great Ape form began to collapse.
Within seconds, the mighty Prince of all Saiyans was reduced to his normal size—a battered, bleeding man lying in a crater of his own making.
The artificial moon chose that moment to finally burn out, its Blutz wave generator overloaded by the energies that had been unleashed. As its light faded, Gohan's transformation reversed as well.
The young boy's massive form shrank rapidly, returning him to his normal size. But unlike Vegeta, Gohan remained conscious, his incredible power surge having somehow protected him from the usual disorientation of transformation reversal.
He stood in the center of the battlefield, a small five-year-old boy who had just defeated the Prince of all Saiyans.
Sage's transformation reversed as well, his human form collapsing to the ground as consciousness slowly returned. His violet energy was completely spent, but he was alive.
"It's over," Piccolo said, his voice filled with something that might have been awe. "The boy actually did it."
Vegeta struggled to his feet, his pride keeping him upright despite his injuries. Without his tail, without his Great Ape transformation, he was still dangerous—but his power was fading fast.
"This isn't over," he snarled, blood streaming from his wounds. "I am Prince Vegeta! I'll return, and when I do—"
"You'll lose again," Gohan said simply, his child's voice carrying absolute conviction. "Because we'll be ready."
Vegeta sneered, his eyes blazing with desperate fury. "If I'm going to be defeated, I'll take some of you with me!"
His hands came together one final time, gathering every ounce of his remaining energy into a sphere of purple destruction. This wasn't a Galick Gun—this was pure, concentrated death, fueled by humiliation and rage.
"VEGETA NO!" Goku screamed from the ground, but he was too injured to move.
The energy blast erupted from Vegeta's hands like a miniature star going supernova. It wasn't aimed at any one target—it was a spreading wave of annihilation designed to kill everyone within its range.
Piccolo saw it coming first. "Get down!" he roared, throwing himself in front of Gohan as the deadly energy wave approached.
Tien and Chiaotzu, who laid unconsious but far away from the rest, were caught completely in the open. There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.
it only lasted for a moment before they were vaporized completely, leaving nothing but scorched earth where they had stood.
Piccolo's body absorbed the full force of the remaining blast, his green skin charring as he used his own life force to create a barrier that protected Gohan from the worst of it. The Namekian warrior's eyes met the child's one last time.
"Tell... tell your father... I'm proud to have... fought beside him," Piccolo gasped, then collapsed, his life force fading away like smoke.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Three of Earth's greatest defenders were gone. Vaporized by a prince's spite.
Vegeta stood swaying on his feet, his energy completely spent by the final attack. But the savage smile on his bloodied face showed he considered it worth the cost.
"Now you know," he wheezed, "the price of defying Prince Vegeta."
With what little strength remained, he staggered to his hidden space pod and launched himself into the void, leaving behind a world in mourning.
As the first rays of dawn crept over the horizon, they illuminated a battlefield soaked in blood and victory's bitter cost. Goku lay broken, his body shattered by the impossible strain of Kaioken times five. Sage remained unconscious, pushed far beyond his limits. Krillin knelt in the scorched earth where his friends had died, his shoulders shaking with silent grief.
Young Gohan stood alone in the center of it all, the child who had saved the world but couldn't save his friends.
The Earth was safe. The Saiyan invasion had been repelled. But three of its greatest defenders were gone forever, their sacrifice etched into the very ground where they had fallen.
Somewhere in the void of space, the Prince of all Saiyans nursed his wounds and plotted his return. He had been defeated, humiliated, but his final act of spite had ensured that Earth's victory would taste of ash and sorrow.
The Saiyan Saga was over.
The price of victory had been paid in full.
sage would have wondered if all of this was even worth it or not