NOTICE: This is a Recap page, so all spoilers will be left unmarked, per wiki policy. Read ahead only with caution! You Have Been Warned.
Antiheroes, walking the mysterious gray line between good and evil; they do what they want, however they want, when they want.
Vegeta, prince of the Saiyans and rival of Goku. And Shadow, the ultimate lifeform and rival of Sonic.
The twelfth episode of the first season pits legendary companions of equally renowned heroes, sometimes friend, sometimes foe, against each other. As the hosts see superhuman durability versus unstoppable power, ki strength versus chaos force, Vegeta and Shadow will hold back none of their power against each other, all to see who would triumph over the other in a death battle.
Wizard and Boomstick begin the episode with the history behind Vegeta, prince to the warrior race of Saiyans, until the majority of his people were slain in an act of genocide by the tyrant Frieza. Frieza, however, left Vegeta alive, forcing Vegeta to work for the tyrant, forming him into a brutal killer. While this plan worked for a while, it would could back to haunt Frieza later when his domineering grip on the boy led Vegeta to fight back; with the aid of fellow Saiyan Goku, Vegeta put an end to the warlord, moving on to live life on Earth and defend the planet from any other threats it may face.
It is thanks in part to his Saiyan capabilities that Vegeta has been able to perform the feats he has done. Fast enough to reach hypersonic speeds, Vegeta is also quite capable of thriving deep underwater and in the vacuum of space, helped even further by managing to survive a nuclear explosion. On the offensive front, Vegeta has a natural, inner energy called ki that he can weaponize in many forms, from his signature Galick Gun to the area-of-effect Big Bang Attack, but the crown jewel of Vegeta's techniques would be the Final Flash, a golden planet-buster of a beam. By focusing his ki, Vegeta can also unlock a form stronger than even his base self; the legendary status of a Super Saiyan. Super Saiyan Vegeta is far more durable than his already-impressive base self is, multiplying his power by a magnitude of hundreds, with another increase in power possible (labeled Super Saiyan 2), though at the expense of draining more of Vegeta's ki faster. However, as the hosts note, while Vegeta can reach the level of Super Saiyan 4, he can only accomplish it with the help of a machine made by his wife Bulma and is considered outside help; as such, Super Saiyan 2 is the highest level allowed in the fight.
However, even a Saiyan warrior like Vegeta has pitfalls that his powers can't cover. Arrogant and self-confident, Vegeta seeks to be the strongest warrior and will fight whoever he can to do so; oftentimes, his enemies play on his Saiyan pride by offering him a better fight and a chance to become stronger if he allows them to reach greater forms in return. Such an acceptance to fight his enemies on these grounds has killed Vegeta twice, but he always manages to come back, ready to fight his foes in a quest to become a stronger warrior.
- Vegeta: I am a Super Saiyan! (readies a Final Flash) And you can burn in hell!
After wrapping up studying Vegeta, Wizard and Boomstick move on to his opposition, Shadow the Hedgehog. Created with alien genes by the professor Gerald Robotnik to cure his ill granddaughter Maria, Shadow soon abandoned his purpose in life when Maria was killed to become a living weapon of mass destruction, but, ironically enough, his attempts to destroy the world only managed to save it.
Given Shadow's physical attributes, it would stand to reason he could possibly destroy the world if given another shot. Much like Vegeta, Shadow can travel at hypersonic speeds and is durable enough to survive blows that could kill most other beings; in Shadow's case, a free-fall from low-earth orbit at over half a million feet per second. Shadow also has a link to the Chaos Force, a never-ending pool of energy that, also like Vegeta and his ki, he can use in a multitude of ways, such as the projectile storm of Chaos Spear and his own area-of-effect explosions labeled Chaos Blast. To support his offenses, Shadow can manipulate time and space with Chaos Control and possesses a pair of inhibitor rings that restrict his ability to control the Chaos force; when removed, these rings increase his powers drastically, but also wear down his stamina. Lastly, when Shadow gathers the seven Chaos Emeralds, he can reach the state of Super Shadow, which multiplies his powers a thousand-fold, turns him invincible, and let him fly at near lightspeed, their only drawback being how they improve Shadow's abilities for a limited duration.
Though he was created to be the ultimate lifeform, Shadow's inability to sustain his Super form naturally, as well as his inhibitor rings keeping a lock on the potential he has to control the Chaos Force keep him faintly away from his goal. He knows how to work with what he has, though, and uses them to fulfill whatever his current goals may be.
- Shadow: (holding a Chaos Emerald) That's not all... I'm full of surprises!
With both combatants studied, nothing stands between the outcome (beyond an advertisement for audible.com on YouTube. It's time for a death battle!
The prelude for this death battle opens on Shadow, skating across a grassy plain. Only when he sees Vegeta does he stop, having sensed the Saiyan prince's power. Vegeta prides himself on his strength before seeing the talking black hedgehog in front of him leads to curiosity takes ahold of his mind. Both Saiyan and hedgehog exchange banter over who between them truly is the ultimate lifeform, but all it takes is a comment on Vegeta's height for the spark of battle to ignite.
FIGHT!
Shadow starts the battle with a leap towards Vegeta, but to no avail, as he finds himself blocked and kicked away. Already, a single Galick Gun seems to be taking its toll on Shadow, before Vegeta unleashes the legendary golden glow of a Super Saiyan in the hopes of intimidating Shadow. Though Shadow gazes upon a form of Vegeta far stronger than what he had just seen, he refuses to back down. Shadow leaps into the air, Chaos Emeralds at the ready, and unleashes his own superpowered self for Vegeta to behold. The prince of Saiyans is less than impressed seeing Super Shadow, but the hedgehog treats it as a minor inconvenience, tearing into Vegeta with an array of strikes, helped with his Chaos Force abilities letting him strike his foe numerous times.
In the midst of a Chaos Spear barrage, Vegeta manages to shrug off his adversary's attacks, and now the ball lies in his court. A knee to the gut gives way to Vegeta kicking the hedgehog into the path of a volley of energy bullets; but when the dust settles, Shadow is to be found not admist the wreckage, but behind the Saiyan prince. Vegeta can't get another attack in before he finds himself underwater.
Shadow, his Chaos Control seemingly ending the fight and now floating above the water he warped Vegeta to, prepares to leave the scene before his foe bursts from the bottom of the sea. Shadow can only take so much of Vegeta's criticism before he again warps the Saiyan away, this time to the moon. By now, Vegeta has had well enough. With a fierce punch downward, Vegeta launches the moon at the earth, sending it barrelling towards Shadow. Shadow can only stare in horror briefly before he can come to his senses and cast aside his inhibitor rings. With his already-immense power increased further, Shadow uses a third Chaos Control to warp the moon back to its original place. Even then, he still has Vegeta to deal with. A pair of red spirals begins surrounding Shadow, ready to unleash a Chaos Blast. Vegeta shields himself as the spirals cover the landscape in a glow of red energy.
It just happens to be Vegeta's lucky day, though; without the inhibitor rings, Shadow's power has been drained, and the Chaos Blast does nothing but bring Shadow down to his normal state. Vegeta takes this chance to end the battle once and for all, another Galick Gun vaporizing the hedgehog into ashes.
K.O.!
Wizard explains that with Super Shadow at his disposal, all that matters to Shadow is if in his enhanced state, he could defeat Vegeta before his form ran out of energy. However, Vegeta has proven in his home series he can endure beatings by those far more powerful than he is, so being able to survive an onslaught of attacks by Shadow in an enhanced state would serve as no trouble. In addition, his Saiyan pride also helped him further, pushing Shadow to use up more energy quicker. In the end, even with all his abilities at his disposal, Shadow simply isn't strong enough to get the job done in time.
- Boomstick: Looks like Shadow's time was up!
Wiz: The winner is Vegeta!
Vegeta vs. Shadow contains examples of:
- Casting Gag: Instead of casting a VA to act like the original Vegeta, the show brought Lanipator to do his role as the Abridged version.
- Deadpan Snarker: When Vegeta sees Super Shadow after his own unveiling of the Super Saiyan form, he snidely remarks "... Wow! What a ripoff." Doubles as a meta reference, since Yuji Naka admitted that Sonic and Shadow's super forms were intended as an homage to Dragon Ball Z, with the Chaos Emeralds serving as homages to the Dragon Balls.
- Made of Iron: Both Vegeta and Shadow are noted to be incredibly durable, just that it's Vegeta moreso than Shadow.
- Mythology Gag: A Ducklett from Pokémon is seen on the moon, where Vegeta is teleported, wearing a space helmet. This is actually a reference to the "Space Duck" joke in Dragon Ball Z Abridged.
- Oh, Crap!: Shadow has three of these reactions during the fight; once when Vegeta bursts out of the ocean, again when he sees the moon being punched at him, and a last one when he runs out of energy.
- Planetary Relocation: The Moon gets knocked out of orbit. Shadow uses Chaos Control to teleport the Moon back into orbit.
- Talking Is a Free Action: Shadow goes on for a few seconds to state that Vegeta is done for before unleashing Chaos Blast and then his Super Shadow form wears off.
- Tranquil Fury: After Shadow snarks back how Vegeta is pretty small to be the ultimate lifeform, Vegeta calmly hisses "You just sealed your fate, fool."
- You're Insane!: Shadow's reaction to Vegeta punching the moon just to kill him.Shadow: No! IS HE INSANE?!
