"Die, Jiren."
Vegeta's aura swelled. Android 17 didn't lag behind; a beam charged in his palms and snapped to full output.
Boom.
Two lances of power, one gold and one blue, slammed into Jiren at once. The crossing blasts detonated midair, a thunderclap that shook the ring.
Vegeta exhaled. The instant his guard dipped, a red line of ki drilled out of the smoke and carved a boulder behind him clean in half. Jiren burst through the dust and, too fast to track, drove a heel at Vegeta's ribs.
"Vegeta, heads up."
Vincent crashed in, shouldering Vegeta aside and cross guarding the kick. Even braced for it, he was jackhammered back and buried in stone. Jiren's palm gathered light again, ready to erase him in one strike.
"Jiren, I'll be the one to finish you."
Vegeta roared back in, bull rushing Jiren off balance. His fists fell like rain, forcing Jiren to give ground.
Another blast boomed from behind Jiren. He glanced back for a hair's breadth.
"Eyes front."
Vegeta's hook crashed into Jiren's jaw. Goku arrived a heartbeat later to pile on.
"Cowards."
Jiren's snarl was ice. He caught Goku's punch, then answered with a straight and a snap kick that hurled Goku away. Vegeta lunged again, but Jiren blurred, ghosting behind him. A whip kick smashed into Vegeta's waist.
Side fire. A cluster of blasts hissed in, forcing Jiren up and away.
"Going somewhere."
Vegeta burst from below, fist cocked.
"Clean form."
Jiren raised one hand and checked the punch without blinking. "You are one of the few to harm me. That is all."
His right hand flared crimson.
Wham.
The body blow felt like a freight train. Bones cracked. Bile surged up Vegeta's throat as Blue winked out, and he tumbled end over end.
"Vegeta."
Vincent shook the numb out of his forearms and vaulted in with Goku. He armored his vitals in Armament and Goku lit Kaioken x20 over Blue.
"Tricks."
Jiren caught both punches at once, then kneed Goku into the air and drilled Vincent in the gut.
Clang.
The hit rang like steel. Vincent pinwheeled away. Jiren glanced at his own fist, flexing through the tingle. That guard was absurdly tough.
Goku was already back, but three clean counters folded him again. Jiren's hand cupped a scarlet sun, the same execution shot he used on Vegeta.
Goku's outline shimmered and vanished. Instant Transmission snapped him to 17's side. Together they charged a combined blast, pouring everything in.
Jiren didn't even move. Scarlet heat sheeted over him. He punched upward once.
Boom.
Their braided beam shattered, speared by a red pillar that rebounded toward them like a tide turning. Goku grabbed 17's shoulder and blinked them out to Vegeta's position, both panting.
"Running again. Hm."
A hand latched onto Jiren's forearm. "Got something to show you."
It was Vincent. His right arm swelled with flame, fist roaring as it came down.
Boom.
Fire swallowed them both, a rolling bloom that scorched the tiles. Even from yards away the heat bit like teeth.
Then the flame doubled, a second eruption.
"That kid."
They tensed. A figure tore free of the inferno and skidded to a stop beside them. Vincent's arms still burned, his whole frame wrapped in living fire.
"Broke through a bit," he said, eyes never leaving the blaze. "He won't be down. Not from that."
The flames blew apart. Jiren stepped out, clothes charred and torn, a fist-sized crater still burning in his back.
"So that's it. Thanks," Goku said, a spark of excitement in his eyes. "I think I see how we beat him."
"Oh?"
"If we hit him before he braces, he can't get that defense up in time. We force an opening with pressure, then land something bigger than what you just did."
17 nodded, already tracking along the same line. "If we can draw his guard and hit the blind side, it might actually put him out."
Vegeta's mouth worked, pride warring with pain. He finally roared and flared. Deep blue flames boiled off him. The proud prince let go of everything but the win.
"If it saves Universe 7, I don't care what it costs."
"Vegeta and I pull his eyes. 17, Vincent, you take the shot when it's there," Goku said.
"Understood."
"Got it."
----------------------------------------------------
The deeper he goes, the more the truth unravels. Don't wait read ahead and witness Vincent's rise before the world catches up!
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