I was not foolish enough to believe I could defeat him.
One mistake.
One miscalculation.
That was all it would take.
Vegeta might not show it openly, but I could tell he had already begun analyzing me. The gravity bombs were finite. Once I ran out, his experience would overwhelm me.
But I wasn't done yet.
"You're not the only one who adapts," I muttered.
With a flick of my wrist, I released sixteen spherical drones into the air.
They spread out instantly.
Eight aligned themselves to generate gravity fields.
Eight more formed a containment barrier around us.
Vegeta paused mid-step.
A translucent dome sealed the battlefield.
He glanced upward, mildly impressed.
"…You're boxing me in?"
"Just evening the odds," I replied.
The gravity shifted.
Ten times Earth's gravity.
Then negative ten.
Then normal.
Then fifteen.
The fluctuations were random.
But not to me.
Oracle handled the timing. Every shift came with a five-second warning in my display.
I was never caught off guard.
Vegeta was.
His foot slipped mid-lunge as gravity inverted.
I countered with a quick strike to his ribs.
He adjusted quickly, regaining balance with raw instinct.
"Tch. Cheap tricks."
"Efficient tricks," I corrected.
The gravity surged again.
Up.
Down.
Sideways distortion.
The battlefield was no longer stable terrain—it was a moving equation.
Vegeta smirked.
"…You have almost no real combat experience," he said as he deflected my punch. "And yet your tactics are impressive."
I blocked a kick and slid backward as gravity lightened.
"A Saiyan like me would never stoop to this," he continued. "But I can appreciate ingenuity."
I raised an eyebrow.
"Appreciation from a prince? I'm honored."
He didn't smile.
But his eyes sharpened.
He was adapting.
Faster now.
His movements were smoothing out despite the gravity chaos.
That meant it was time to escalate.
"Oracle," I whispered. "Increase parameters."
The next shift hit.
Twenty times gravity.
Then negative twenty.
The spike was violent.
Even I felt the strain.
Vegeta staggered for half a second.
That half-second was mine.
I struck.
He blocked—but barely.
His breathing was heavier now.
His movements slightly delayed.
Good.
The rhythm returned to my control.
This wasn't a duel.
It was tempo warfare.
And I was conducting the orchestra.
"You rely too much on your machines," Vegeta growled, forcing himself forward against twenty times gravity.
"I rely on what works," I answered.
He lunged again.
This time, I absorbed his ki blast mid-air, letting it refill my reserves.
His frustration flickered across his face.
No ki advantage.
No stable terrain.
No overwhelming finish.
Only constant resistance.
And then—
I felt it.
A familiar surge in the distance.
Warm.
Focused.
Determined.
Goku.
He was close.
Very close.
Vegeta sensed it a moment later.
His expression changed.
"…Kakarot."
Time to withdraw.
Without warning, I recalled all sixteen drones.
The barrier dissolved.
Gravity normalized.
The battlefield opened.
I leapt backward, creating space.
Vegeta's eyes narrowed.
"You're retreating?"
"No," I said calmly.
"I'm transitioning."
A streak cut through the sky.
Wind howled.
Dust scattered.
Goku landed between us.
Calm.
Serious.
Focused.
I stepped beside Raditz.
We had done our part.
Vegeta's armor was cracked.
His breathing uneven.
His ki unstable.
Not defeated.
But worn down.
Exactly as planned.
He'll use it, I thought quietly.
The technique King Kai taught him.
Kaioken.
The first time.
I didn't ask him.
I couldn't.
Some knowledge is better left unexplained.
Vegeta straightened.
"So you've finally arrived, Kakarot."
Goku's gaze didn't waver.
"Yeah."
He glanced back at me briefly.
A silent thank you.
Then he stepped forward.
This was his stage now.
As much as I wanted to end every battle myself… I knew my limits.
Maybe one day I would be strong enough.
Maybe one day I would not need to step aside.
But that day wasn't today.
Today—
The Saiyan would fight the prince.
And I would watch the equation unfold.