Deep space. Three days out from Namek.
Inside the capsule ship, the gravity machine screamed as it climbed past 100× Earth normal.
Goku stood in the center of the chamber, shirt shredded, sweat pouring off him in rivers that floated like red balloons before the gravity crushed them flat.
Every breath felt like inhaling concrete.
Every heartbeat was a war drum against his ribs.
He grinned through the pain.
Because it hurt.
And pain meant he was still moving forward.
In his mind, the voices of the dead still echoed.
Piccolo's gruff respect.
Yamcha's fire.
Tien's quiet determination.
Even King Kai's half-joking "worst case you die again."
They were afraid for him.
He understood.
He was afraid too.
Vegeta's golden aura had shaken the entire afterlife.
One hundred and fifty million base.
Super Saiyan pushing past a billion.
Numbers that made Frieza look like a warm-up fight.
Goku closed his eyes.
He remembered the look on Vegeta's face on Earth: the prince who had everything and still lost.
That same prince had just killed Frieza like it was nothing.
Goku's fists clenched.
"I'm not going there to die."
He opened his eyes, calm, steady, burning.
"I'm going there to catch up."
He raised his arms.
The gravity machine groaned in protest as he began shadow-boxing.
Slow at first.
Then faster.
Faster.
Until the air itself ignited around his fists.
He could feel it: the edge of something vast and golden waiting inside him.
Not rage.
Not yet.
But the spark was there.
And three days was a long time when you refused to waste a single second.
On Namek, far below the eternal daylight, Vegeta stood on the bridge of the captured flagship.
Golden aura dimmed to nothing.
Base form.
He stared at the star map.
Earth was a tiny blue dot.
Three days away.
He flexed his fingers once.
The metal deck beneath his boots warped from the pressure alone.
Kakarot was coming.
Good.
Let him come.
Let him see what a real Super Saiyan looked like.
Let him try to catch up.
Vegeta's lips curved into a small, sharp smile.
"I'll be waiting."
The golden age had begun.
And the rivalry that would shape the universe was about to reignite.
~~~~~~
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