Disclaimer: I do not own DBZ!

The clash of the titans had officially begun! When Goku and Vegeta met in the middle of the ring, the resounding boom shook the entire arena as rocks and stones began to lift into the air from the outburst of energy that the two fighters were putting out. They had both previously agreed that this would be a contest of skill only and power would not necessarily be a factor. In other words, they both agreed to not destroy the arena and stay in their base forms to start with. Of course, many plans fail in the execution step and the two battle hardened warriors could not help but flex their power a bit as one tried to overcome the other. Vegeta had been training, hard and nearly nonstop for the last seven years and it certainly showed! Spending 18 hours a day in the gravity chamber helped his speed to the point that Goku had a difficult time tracking his movements at first. He bounced from point to point, hitting Goku on one side and then disappearing, only to reappear elsewhere. He had also gotten much stronger, owing to his extensive training in the gravity chamber. Goku grit his teeth as his bones creaked under the merciless blows that Vegeta rained down upon him.

But Goku had also been training. For the last seven years, he had trained with some of the greatest warriors to have ever lived! At first, he had simply trained with King Kai. Then, after King Kai had been able to have a new planet, he branched out his training. Then, King Kai had suggested with training with some of the other warriors. Though many of those warriors had not been as strong as him, there were a few that could give him a good fight. That along with going to HFIL to beat back the dissenting in habitants every once in a while, had only helped him to get stronger. At some point however, he had surpassed even the strongest warrior and the vilest of villains. He had trained and gotten as strong as he could. It'll have to be enough for this fight. Goku thought with a grin.

Vegeta grit his teeth and braced himself as Goku tried to use his superior height to push Vegeta back. But Vegeta, being height challenged from birth, had long since learned how to combat the advantage many taller fighters had over him. He dropped to the ground for a leg sweep which Goku leapt over only for Vegeta to bring both legs up to catch Goku under the chin with a double legged kick, sending the Earth raised Saiyan into the air with Vegeta close behind him. Goku was able to quickly recover and both fighters met in the air, their fists a blur of motion. The crowd was speechless as the announcer did his best to narrate the fight. Videl glanced around her to see the other fighters, arms crossed, easily following the movements of the combatants with their eyes as they bounced from place to place.

In the midst of the fighting, Vegeta grit his teeth as he blocked another strike from Goku and threw one of his own, which Goku also blocked. He's definitely gotten stronger since he's been dead. At the same time, Goku was having similar thoughts. Man, Vegeta has gotten a lot stronger than he was before! He must've been training near constantly for the last seven years! Eventually, after several minutes of what seemed to be a stalemate, the two fighters separated and appeared on opposite sides of the ring, staring at each other. Vegeta allowed a smile to appear on his face. "Looks like we're pretty even in our base forms. Are you done warming up yet Kakarot?" Goku had a similar smile on his face. With a nod, that smile disappeared as his powered up to Super Saiyan. With a feral grin, Vegeta joined him and then they leapt at each other with a yell.

Meanwhile, Gohan facepalmed as Videl looked flabbergasted by the scene before her. I thought we were going to avoid Super Saiyan. Gohan thought irritably as Videl looked at him questioningly. Gohan steadfastly ignored her look and kept his attention on the fight. Every blow that landed, landed with concussive force creating waves of energy that reverberated throughout the stadium. They stayed in the sky fighting, moving so fast most of the spectators were unable to follow their movements. Eventually, the two figures plowed into the ground, Vegeta coming out on top, a feral grin on his face as he bound back into the air, preparing a light ki attack to fire at his opponent.

Down on the ground, Videl stared in absolute shock at what she saw before her. "E-everything I've ever been told…i-it's been a lie!" There is no way Dad could have been telling the truth about what happened that day against Cell! And if Gohan's dad is capable of this, then what is Gohan capable of? She turned and stared at Gohan who's attention was stuck on the fight in front of him, an intense look on his face. That would explain every oddity that I've noticed about Gohan since I met him! But why lie about it? After a thought, the answer came to her and she shook her head. I'd have never believed him. But she couldn't let him all the way off the hook. "Hey Gohan!" The boy blinked, surprised as he nervously turned to face her. "Yes?"

"We ARE going to talk later right?" Videl asked, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, I suppose that is a little overdue."

"Well, OUR talk isn't too overdue because I don't know if I'd have believed you before seeing this, but the talk I'm going to have with my dad is very much overdue."

Gohan smiled a little. "Well, I almost feel sorry for him."

Videl shrugged. "If he hadn't had lied all these years, not just to me, but to everyone, then I wouldn't be feeling like my entire life was a lie." Videl sounded bitter. Gohan placed a hand on her shoulder.

"The thing is, I didn't want the credit for what I had done. I had just lost my dad and he had decided to not come back so I didn't want anything to do with it. It sounds irresponsible but I was just a boy at the time."

Videl shook her head. "I know you're right Gohan, but I hate that he lied to me, his own daughter, all these years. I get not wanting to look like a failure in front of me, but to lie about something like that? He and I are going to have a long talk once this is over." Gohan could only nod as they returned their attention to the fight.

Goku was in the middle of a comeback. For a good bit of the fight thus far, he had been on his back foot. Vegeta has definitely gotten stronger! I haven't worked this hard in a fight in a long time! But Goku was beginning to turn things around. Vegeta was an expert fighter, but the Saiyan style was more about power than ability. In ability, Goku was an expert martial artist with a lifetime of experience and training. Vegeta's moves were beginning to get predictable and Goku was starting to block hits that would have struck him earlier in the fight. Vegeta, seeing the turnaround, snarled in anger as the ferocity of his moves increased. I will NOT be bested by this low-class clown again!

With a snarl, Vegeta leapt back and began building his energy. With a snarl of rage, his power leapt higher and sparks of lightening began to strike the ground around him. His hair spiked slightly higher as he ascended into Super Saiyan 2. He smirked as he powered towards his foe who copied Vegeta and jumped straight into the ascended super Saiyan state, following that up with a leap to get out of Vegeta's way. With a snarl, Vegeta turned sharp and followed his rival into the air and the fight began again in earnest.

Gohan frowned as he watched the two battle in the air. Vegeta was trying to hide it, but he wasn't fighting with the hate and the anger that he normally would have fought with. Gohan had a sneaking suspicion that the Prince of all Saiyans had mellowed a bit over the last seven years. As strong as Vegeta was, he had come to care about the family that he had built with Bulma. His dad was a different story. There was a part of Gohan that was slightly hurt that Goku had not come back, choosing instead to remain in Otherworld to train. But that was who his dad was and had always been. Goku loved his family and would die to protect them, but he loved training and fighting to the point that it was the first thing he thought about in any given situation. Gohan was unsure that Goku would have come back at all if not for the tournament. While that realization did sting, Gohan understood that it was his dad's nature just as it was Vegeta's. It wasn't something they could help. Gohan himself felt it to a degree. While he had been training, Gohan had felt that desire for a good fight more than he ever had before. But he knew better than to shy away from his nature. He was a Saiyan and a human and he would embrace both aspects of himself from now on.

Goku was having a lot of fun, more fun than he had ever had in otherworld. He had looked forward to this fight from the beginning, as he and Vegeta had always had a strong rivalry so he knew that this fight would be fun. He blocked another punch from Vegeta and threw his own only for it to be blocked. Goku smiled, they were even as far as their power. He knew that if he ascended to Super Saiyan 3, he'd win. However, he knew that it didn't make any sense in this moment to expend the energy to do that. The possibility of destroying the city, if not the planet, was high since he had yet to master the transformation. He didn't want that to happen so he had long decided he wouldn't go past Super Saiyan 2. It's more fun this way anyway! Goku grinned as the fight continued.

Vegeta, while frustrated that the fight was not going his way anymore, could grudgingly accept that he was having fun. Heh, it's not like Kakarot has ever actually beaten me before. Vegeta swung and connected with Goku's jaw, sending him flying but Goku caught himself just before he could fly out of the ring. Time to end this. As much fun as he was having with Vegeta, Goku really wanted to test Gohan. He knew that Vegeta would not be happy with a ring out, so Goku knew the only proper way to end this fight was to knock Vegeta out. While the loss would irritate Vegeta, Goku knew that he would accept that far easier than he would accept a ring out and it was how Goku himself would prefer to lose. With a smirk, Goku set himself and launched a barrage of attacks at Vegeta, most of which were blocked or deflected. Goku kept this up for a time, waiting for Vegeta to make a move. Finally, Vegeta went low. Expecting this, Goku leapt above and landed a vicious chop at the base of Vegeta's skull. Vegeta fell to the ground, forming a crater upon landing. Goku landed not far away from the crater and waited while the announcer counted. At the nine count he saw Vegeta stir and attempt to rise but due to the blow, Vegeta was still woozy and was unable to maintain his balance and collapsed, dropping back to his base form as the announcer called Goku the winner.

Gohan smiled at the results, knowing that this meant that he would finally get to face his father one on one to prove who was the strongest, to prove that had indeed surpassed his father.

Vegeta slowly got to his feet, a scowl on his face. "That was a lucky shot Kakarot!"

"Yeah it was." Goku said with a smile, rubbing the back of his neck. "Maybe after this is done, we can have a real fight!"

Vegeta grunted and narrowed his eyes. "You better not run off until we've had our fight. Your fight with Gohan better be worth it!" He turned and walked back to nurse his wounded pride.

Goku smiled at his rival. "I know it will be." He could sense Gohan's power, though Gohan was doing a great job at hiding his power level, Goku had begun to get a sense at how massive it was during Videl's fight. Goku was sure that Gohan was at least as powerful as he was before, more powerful even. While he had been disappointed to learn that Gohan had not kept up his training over the last seven years, he understood that Chi-Chi would've had a hand in that,making sure that Gohan stayed in his books as much as possible. But it seemed that now that Gohan was older, she was letting him make more of his own decisions. He was certainly pleased that she was more lenient on Goten at least. It seemed that Gohan's last run in with Broly had really done the trick!

Goku made his way back to where the others were, accepting a sensu bean from Krillin as he eagerly waited for the next fight to begin.

The announcer made his way to the center of the damaged ring. "All right everyone was that exciting or what?!" The crowd yelled their affirmative at him, making his grin go even wider. "Excellent now, before we start the next round, we are going to take an hour break to try to fix the ring a bit as well as to give our fighters a break. Feel free to wander around a bit and check out some of our vendors! But remember, one hour and the excitement starts again!" The crowd cheered as it began to disperse.

"Wow Goku, what a fight!" Krillin exclaimed.

"Thanks, Krillin!" Goku answered with a smile. "Hey, where'd Vegeta go?"

"Oh, he took the sensu bean I offered him and went off somewhere to sulk a bit."

Goku smiled fondly at that as he spotted Vegeta in the corner of the room, eyes closed and arms crossed where he sat. He had missed Vegeta's stubborn pride. Helooked over at Videl, who stared at him in awe. "So, what did you think Videl?"

Videl blinked and the wide smile came onto her face. "It was incredible! That was the best fight that I've ever seen!"

Goku grinned. "I'm glad that you enjoyed it! Is Gohan training you?"

She nodded. "Yes, he is. He taught me how to access my ki, I even learned how to fly!"

Goku was impressed. It had taken him well into his adulthood to learn how to fly. "That's pretty impressive!"

Vegeta watched the exchange with seeming indifference though his mind was another matter. To be that buffoon's daughter, she isn't nearly as incompetent nor as arrogant as he is. Indeed, she is quite strong willed. Vegeta snorted quietly at that. Of course, the boy would be interested in someone so strong willed. It's his Saiyan blood. Vegeta sighed internally. I should make an effort to teach the boy more about our customs. Perhaps explaining more about his Saiyan heritage will answer a few questions. He vaguely remembered Gohan asking questions about the Saiyans over the last several years only to rebuffed by Vegeta. Vegeta sighed, regret rippling through him. We are the last of our kind. They both should know about our race. Though Vegeta had been young when Frieza had taken him, he still remembered the lessons that his father had drilled into him as a boy. Saiyans did not have surnames. It was why when Bulma had insisted on marriage, a concept that was alien to the Saiyans who mated with a single female and left it at that, he had been willing to take her last name. He had understood that the ceremony was important to Bulma so he had made that small sacrifice. He internally made his decision. After the tournament, and after his fight with Kakarot, he would sit them all down, Kakarot, Gohan, Goten, and of course Trunks, and give them a brief history about their race and the customs that went with it. He found, oddly enough, that he was even looking forward to it. He even caught himself thinking up the structure of these lessons.

Vegeta shook his head quickly. There was still a tournament to focus on. He glanced at the Supreme Kai and his minion, who stood off from the others, arms crossed. There was something strange going on here and he'd like to know what and how it involved them. Vegeta nearly snarled. If it came in between them and Vegeta's lessons he'd wring their necks. Unless a good fight is involved. I'll certainly make an exception for that! At that thought, he smirked and then got up to follow the others for a snack. It would do no good to fight a threat to the planet on an empty stomach. He glanced at Piccolo, who met his eyes and then nodded. Good, they were on the same page about the possible threat. He then looked at the others who were blissfully unaware of the thought that had passed between Vegeta and Piccolo which made Vegeta roll his eyes as he followed them.

The Supreme Kai watched the others leave with a frown. "Master, what will we do?"

The Kai looked at Kibito. "We shall let the events play out as they will. I was certain that Gohan would do as you asked and then we could be on our way, but for some reason, he seems surer of himself. I'm not sure what has brought this change about but fate has seen fit to throw us this curve, so we shall meet it and go where it takes us. Perhaps this is the better way forward."

Kibito looked unsure. "What about Majin Buu? And Babidi? They will not wait forever."

"No, I don't think they will. But they will not make their move until their slaves do. Once that happens, we'll follow them back to their base of operations and then we will strike. Hopefully, we can stop Buu from being awoken at all, and avert possible intergalactic disaster!" The Kai exclaimed quietly to his servant, not wanting to draw any unnecessary attention to their conversation. The humans were blissfully ignorant of the threat that existed and he hoped to keep it that way if possible. These powerful earthlings were the only ones who could assist them in this. I only pray that we are not too late. If Buu wakes up, we may all be doomed!

Man, that took longer than expected! I am sorry about that but life has been busy! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter enough to leave a review and let me know what you think!