"So the life energy Moro stole from all those people... it's being separated from him too?" Piccolo looked toward the sky, where more pale-blue energy continued streaming out of Moro and scattering into the distance.
Vegeta glanced back at him with a grin. "It works on fusion too, you know. I could split apart all those Namekians you absorbed if you want to give it a try."
Piccolo stared at him.
Vegeta's grin widened. "Come to think of it, if Nail and Kami were separated from you, you probably wouldn't be able to use Orange Piccolo anymore."
Piccolo decided not to dignify that with an answer.
Goku, on the other hand, looked genuinely impressed. "That's amazing, Vegeta! I never managed to learn Forced Spirit Fission when I trained on Yardrat."
"Of course you didn't." Vegeta folded his arms proudly. "Give us the same training and I'll always get more out of it than you. This time, I win, Kakarot."
After so many years of chasing Goku from one breakthrough to the next, Vegeta looked dangerously close to getting emotional over finally being able to say it.
Goku only smiled.
Merus watched Moro's condition continue deteriorating and relaxed slightly. "At this rate, the outcome seems pretty clear."
"Don't count Moro out yet," Ken said. "He should still have something left."
Merus immediately understood where that was going. "I suppose that's good for me. If Vegeta simply wins here, I won't get my chance to push myself to the brink and come back stronger."
Ken looked delighted. "Congratulations, Merus. You're learning to answer before I even say it."
Merus had nothing to add.
Moro suddenly erupted from the ground, dark-gold energy flaring around his increasingly aged body. Lightning burst from his hand toward Vegeta, but the Saiyan avoided it and appeared above him in the same motion.
His kick crashed down.
Another mass of stolen energy was driven out of Moro's body.
The ancient wizard roared in frustration and retaliated wildly, but the battle had changed too much. Vegeta could now evade attacks that had overwhelmed him earlier, and every clean hit made the next one easier.
"I've always hated this kind of crap," Vegeta said as he fought. "Absorption. Fusion. Combining with someone else and pretending their strength is yours."
He slipped past another attack and drove a fist into Moro's side.
"If you want to fight me, then use your own power."
Moro caught him with a punch before he could finish gloating, smashing Vegeta out of the air and straight into the ground. The impact left a crater, but Vegeta had managed to block the worst of it and emerged moments later without serious injury.
He dusted himself off with a smirk. "What's wrong? Without everyone else's energy holding you up, can you even stand on your own?"
A kick sent Moro sailing across the battlefield.
By now, the wizard's white beard had grown noticeably longer, his face reverting toward the ancient appearance he had possessed before restoring his youth. Energy continued leaking from him in waves, leaving Earth and passing through the connection between universes before scattering toward the planets of Universe 7.
The power Moro had stolen was going home.
Even New Namek received its share.
Across the distant planet, Namekians who had collapsed when Moro drained their life energy began stirring again. One after another, eyes that had remained closed for months slowly opened.
Back on Earth, Piccolo suddenly went still.
"Vegeta only trained on Yardrat, right?"
"Yeah," Goku said. "But Ken was there with him, so I'm guessing he helped with the training too."
"That explains a lot."
Piccolo's attention shifted away from Vegeta. He had just sensed something he hadn't felt in months.
Namekian ki.
At the Lookout, Eska felt it too.
His eyes widened as he focused on the distant traces coming through the connection with Universe 7.
"No way..."
Dende turned toward him. "What is it, Eska?"
"I can feel them!" His face lit up. "Some of the Namekians on New Namek are alive again!"
Dende stared at him. "Alive?"
"They must be the ones Moro didn't kill directly. The people who died because he drained all their energy."
Mr. Popo looked puzzled. "But they've been dead for months. Wouldn't their bodies have dried out by now?"
Eska thought about it. "Maybe the Dragon Balls left on New Namek were protecting them somehow, keeping their bodies from completely dying while their life energy was gone."
Whatever the exact reason, the result was undeniable.
Vegeta wasn't merely weakening Moro.
He was undoing part of the devastation Moro had left behind.
The beating continued. Nearly every successful strike forced more energy from the wizard, and with each loss, Moro looked older and weaker. The hatred in his eyes intensified as Vegeta systematically stripped away everything he had accumulated since escaping the Galactic Prison.
"I'm making you give back every bit of energy you stole after breaking out," Vegeta said.
Piccolo watched him for a while before turning toward Goku.
"Did you ever think Vegeta would end up like this?"
Goku smiled. "Not really. I knew he'd get stronger, but I never imagined he'd learn something like this."
"That's not what I mean." Piccolo's gaze returned to Vegeta. "His strength isn't the surprising part. It's how much he's changed."
Goku looked at him curiously.
"When Vegeta first came to Earth, he came here to conquer it," Piccolo continued. "Now he's fighting to protect it. And watching him return all that stolen energy... I think part of him is trying to make up for what he did before he came here."
Goku's expression shifted. "You mean when he worked for Frieza?"
"He killed a lot of innocent people back then."
Nearby, Jaco looked toward Vegeta and briefly seemed to remember that, technically speaking, the Galactic Patrol probably had quite a few reasons to arrest him.
He wisely suppressed the thought.
"Saving the universe from Moro might be Vegeta's way of settling some of that debt," Piccolo said.
Goku looked back toward his rival. "Huh. Vegeta thinks about some pretty complicated stuff."
Piccolo smiled faintly. "And a lot of that change started after he met you."
"Me?" Goku pointed at himself. "I just like fighting strong guys."
"And you've never changed." Piccolo's smile grew. "You probably shouldn't."
Goku eyed him suspiciously. "Was that supposed to be a compliment?"
Piccolo ignored the question and looked toward the battle again. "You know, if Tights really did turn our whole story into a novel, I don't think Ken would be the main character."
Goku blinked.
"You would."
A brief silence followed.
"You probably shouldn't let Ken hear you say that."
Piccolo gave him a confident look. "It's fine. He isn't paying attention to us."
Almost on cue, Ken turned his head and looked directly at him.
Piccolo stiffened and immediately lowered his gaze.
Goku burst out laughing. "Told you."
Ken didn't seem offended. If anything, he looked amused.
"Piccolo's right," he said. "If someone really wrote all of this as a story, Goku would always be the main character."
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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