Kami's Lookout
"Huff… huff…!" Gohan gasped for air, his golden Super Saiyan aura flickering and dimming around him.
In just a few minutes, he had already reached his limit.
Pouring everything into relentless attacks had drained him fast. After all, the Super Saiyan transformation itself was an extreme strain on the body, and multiplying one's power fiftyfold came with a massive physical toll.
"Mr. Popo… I've only got one last strike left in me," Gohan managed between breaths.
"Hm." Mr. Popo's expression didn't change; calm as ever, like nothing could surprise him.
"Damn it… he's way too freakish…" Gohan cursed inwardly.
He brought his right hand up, fingers together in a sword-hand stance, bracing the wrist with his left. Energy began to condense at his fingertips.
"Piercing Star Strike!"
A sharp beam shot forth, and Mr. Popo casually raised his hand, a faint, almost imperceptible black energy coating his palm. He touched the beam with two fingers.
Pop!
Just like a soap bubble meeting a pin, the beam vanished the moment it made contact.
No matter how much Gohan pushed, that thin black layer was like a terrifying black hole, swallowing his attack completely without leaving a trace.
In the end, Gohan had no choice but to cut off the energy. His aura vanished, and he slumped onto the floor in exhaustion.
"Mr. Popo… I can't move… I'm done."
"Oh? I haven't even started trying, and you're already finished?" For once, there was a hint of mockery in Mr. Popo's voice.
"Ah… y-yeah, yeah, you win. You're amazing… I'm not." Gohan could only yield.
"Hmph. Now you understand how unrealistic it is to think I'd be your sparring partner?"
So that was it. Popo had been waiting for him to admit it.
"I underestimated you, Mr. Popo… I was too arrogant," Gohan admitted without hesitation.
"Good. Wait here. I'll make you a sparring partner you can actually handle." Popo stepped out of the room, off to do who-knows-what.
Gohan sat cross-legged, deliberately not eating a Senzu Bean yet. Instead, he savored the weakness in his limbs and the dull ache in his muscles. Even without direct attacks, Popo's invisible pressure had weighed heavily on him.
By the time his stamina recovered, Gohan realized his combat power had jumped again by several hundred thousand. Popo's pressure alone had drawn out more of his hidden potential.
A full day passed. Hunger finally forced Gohan to chew down a single Senzu Bean.
Creak!
The door opened. Mr. Popo returned, and behind him stood a puppet, identical to Gohan in every detail except for two stitched lines on its face and lifeless eyes.
"A puppet?" Gohan asked.
"This one's built to match your combat power exactly… but I've given it far greater battle experience. Its strength will far exceed yours. Beat it, and you'll undergo a complete transformation."
"Perfect. Thank you, Mr. Popo!" Gohan's fighting spirit surged back to life.
"You can fight here all you want. Your power isn't enough to damage this space. When you defeat it, you can leave." And with that, Popo shut the door. No matter how Gohan pulled, it wouldn't open.
"Initiating combat mode."
At those words, light sparked in the puppet's dead eyes. It fell into the same battle stance as Gohan his battle stance.
"Fine… bring it on!" Gohan tried to sound fierce, though his heart pounded.
The puppet attacked first, copying the same opening Gohan had used earlier against Popo. Its movements, however, were utterly flawless.
"Crap… there's not even a gap to exploit!" Forced to evade, Gohan slipped aside.
But the puppet spun midair with impossible torque, whipping a leg toward Gohan's waist.
Boom!
Gohan, already committed to his dodge, had no chance to react. The kick sent him flying.
"Dammit! Dad said the training puppets focused on defense and evasion… why's mine so damn aggressive?!"
Whoosh!
The puppet pressed forward, peppering him with energy blasts to disrupt his movements.
"This thing's got a mind of its own!" Gohan gritted his teeth, swatting away blast after blast.
The final shot exploded near him, and before the smoke cleared, the puppet's blank face was right in front of him.
Bam! A headbutt smashed into him, sending him tumbling again.
"You've gone too far!" Gohan roared, his aura exploding into golden fury, the shockwave blowing the puppet back.
Unfazed, the puppet's voice echoed: "Engaging limit mode." Its power flared, a pressure equal to Gohan's own.
"In just one day, he made… this monster?!" For the first time, Gohan felt truly hopeless.
Popo's power was already beyond comprehension, but now even his creations overshadowed Gohan's hard-won Super Saiyan form.
For a moment, despair whispered in his mind.
Outside
"…Oops. Maybe I overdid it. This kid's not gonna break from this, is he?" Popo's eyes narrowed, his mind locked on the battle inside.
The puppet kept pressing. Gohan's body moved on instinct, blocking and dodging, while in his mind two voices clashed.
"Give up. No point getting stronger. This world's too terrifying. You'll never rule it."
"Wake up! You're only three years old! You think you'll never surpass Popo? Remember your goal the peak of the universe!"
Gohan's eyes brightened again.
"That's right. Who cares? My life's just starting, and the whole point of getting stronger is to live. Since I'm here, I'll climb to the top and see the view for myself!"
His mind cleared, and only then did he realize he'd been holding out this long.
Inside his aura, a flicker of black light had appeared without him noticing.
Popo saw it. "Good… he's already found his way forward."
Inside
"Come on! I'm not scared of you anymore!" Gohan grinned, now studying and adapting to the puppet's every move.
One day… two days… a week passed.
From constant defeat, to holding his own, to finally gaining the upper hand.
"Thanks… even if you're just a puppet."
It attacked again a punch at his face. Gohan tilted his head early, dodging cleanly.
A sweep kick he stepped back, the puppet's foot barely brushing his pants.
A forward kick he sidestepped.
A downward axe kick he stepped in, shouldering into the puppet's thigh and using its own momentum to fling it away.
"Fall. You can't hurt me anymore."
One simple step forward. One full-powered straight punch.
No flourishes. Pure efficiency.
Boom!
The blow pierced the puppet's chest. It crumbled into dust, vanishing into nothing.
"So it really was just dirt… terrifying. Freakish." Gohan muttered under his breath. No need to say who he meant.
He reached for the door.
Creak!
It opened.
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