SailorStar9: This Chapter 9 of the Cell Games Saga. Read and review.
Disclaimers: Only the plot is mine.
Chapter Summary: Cell is really fast. The place is rumbling. Vegeta's mad. Goku starts losing. Goku hits Cell. He gets hurt really bad. Dende senses trouble. They put up a good fight. Cell blows up the ring. Now the whole desert is the ring. If Goku dies, he loses. They put so much power into the fight that big rocks break. King Kai acts silly. Goku powers up a huge Kamehameha. At first Krillin doesn't think Goku would be that crazy but once he notices its power he thinks Goku is crazy. Goku uses his 'Instant Transmission' to get right in front of Cell. He makes a direct hit. Cell is lying on the ground without a head and arms.
Chapter 9: No More Rules
The rest of the Z Senshi watched agape as the fight raged on, Vegeta growling in frustration at Goku's immense power.
"Awesome, they're ridiculously fast." Krillin gaped as the fight continued, the ring rumbling from the feet scuffle. "Goku!" he exclaimed when Cell rapidly punched the Saiyan in the face.
Goku dodged the last punch, kicking Cell upwards into the air and teleported behind the Android. He was about to land a punch on Cell's back with Cell vanished, reappearing behind him. The two then continued the 'vanish-and-punch' bout in the air.
"All in all, those guys are incredibly fast, both of them." Krillin admitted.
"You're pretty good, really." Cell noted, ending the stalemate with a punch to Goku's cheek. "I honestly didn't think you would entertain me this much."
"Me too." Goku stated.
"This is the way a fight has to be." Cell remarked. "Now then, I think it's about time we got going.
In Kami's Lookout…
"Yes, previous Kami also stood there often, observing status of Lower Realm." Mr. Popo remarked, as Dende stood on the spot where Kami used to stand.
"Is that so?" Dende inquired.
"Yes." Mr. Popo confirmed.
"You do not need to stain yourself." Ami soothed the Kami-in-training. "The previous Kami also concentrated until he clearly understood the Lower Realm situation. Try to use less force, feel out Ki, just like differentiating quiet sounds." She advised.
"Goku is fighting." Dende related. "It's an incredible fight."
"Yes, now you got it." Mr. Popo nodded.
Everyone, be careful. Ami prayed. The fate of the Earth depends on the outcome of this fight. You have to win the Cell Games, no matter what.
Back in the fight…
The two fighters had resumed the 'vanish-and-punch' bout in the air.
Cell ended the stalemate by using 'Shishin no ken' and slammed Goku back into the arena.
"Watch out!" Krillin warned, as Goku was forced to the ring edge.
"Father." Gohan muttered.
Returning to the middle of the ring, Goku and Cell traded blows once more.
"This is a magnificent fight." Cell noted, the two adversaries taking the battle back into the air. "I would hate to let it end due to an out-of-bound defeat. Let's remove the out-of-bounds defeat from the rules. It doesn't hold any meaning to us."
"What?" Goku frowned as Cell charged up a Ki blast in his hand. "What do you intend to do? Everybody! Get away from the ring!" he hollered, realizing Cell's intention and Cell released his attack, decimating the arena.
"Phew, that was close." Krillin breathed in relief.
"Now, the whole land is our ring." Cell stated after the two fighters landed. "Whoever loses will now be determined only be surrendering or dying."
"I get it." Goku noted. "You want to fight all-out."
"That is what is most appropriate for a fight between you and I." Cell remarked.
"Alright." Goku decided.
"Now then, what do you say we make full use of this expanse right away?" Cell suggested, firing a Ki blast at Goku, forcing him to run as he rained the Saiyan with a barrage of Ki blasts.
Goku flew straight into the Ki blast barrage, countering the attack wave with a Ki energy volley of his own.
After the energy clash, the two adversaries met head-on in a fist-to-fist combat, the combined Ki auras causing the ground to tremble.
"Incredible." Trunks gasped. "It's not just speed, neither one of them is falling behind on power, either."
Both Goku and Cell then restarted their fist fight.
On King Kai's planet…
"Incredible, incredible, incredible, incredible, incredible." King Kai chanted. "No, hold on – don't! Not like that, there, there, there. You got him! No, not like that. Got him! That's the way! That's the way! Go, go, go! Go…" he stopped, seeing Bubbles and Gregory staring blankly at him. "You're here, aren't you? How have you… what a fierce battle." He coughed and regained his composure. "What's more, even though a good deal of time has passed since the fight started, neither one of those two's Ki has dropped hardly at all. If Cell is a monster, then Son Goku is also a monster."
Back in the fight…
Goku slammed Cell into the ground and charged at the recovering Android who released a rain of Ki blasts at the incoming Saiyan.
Goku dodged the assault and took to the skies.
"Goku, what are you planning to do from way up that high?" Krillin gaped.
"Ka… me…" Goku readied.
"It's a 'Kamehameha'!" Piccolo exclaimed. "Is Goku thinking of launching a 'Kamehameha' at full power?"
"You can't shoot a 'Kamehameha' from that position." Cell taunted. "If you did, it would be a disaster for Earth."
"There's no way he'll shoot it." Krillin was certain. "If he did so from that position, it would destroy the Earth."
"Ha… me…" Goku continued.
"Hey!" Cell was stunned.
"Father is planning to fire it." Gohan realized.
"You wouldn't…" Cell gasped. "Holy…" he cursed when Goku teleported right in front of him.
"HA!" Goku released the attack point-blank into Cell's body, disintegrating the entire top half of Cell's body.
Omake
I Know Why the Caged Bird Stings
The Hyuuga Elder was explaining the situation to Hizashi.
Sometime during the night, the Kumo 'ambassador' had apparently tried to kidnap Hinata.
And Hiashi -who would come to regret his actions for the rest of his life - had reacted instantaneously, decades of intense jyuuken training reducing the interloper to a skin-wrapped bag of human smoothie in scant moments.
The ink was barely dry on the fragile new peace accord with Cloud; this incident could well be the spark that would engulf the Leaf in the flames of the 4th Great Shinobi Secret War.
Like it or not, a way must be found to appease their erstwhile enemy.
"So what you're saying is," Hizashi slowly drawled. "You want me to sacrifice myself in Hiashi's place."
"That's about the size of it, yes." agreed the Elder.
"And then what?" Hizashi asked, truly perplexed. "To keep the Cloud from getting suspicious, he will have to take my name, and my place in the Branch House. So really, you'll be right back where you started from."
"Don't be ridiculous!" tittered the Elder, finding the mere thought absurd beyond measure. "Of course he will do no such thing. It's obvious that the Cloud are only after the Byakugan; and after they have returned to Kumo with your body, it will be too late for them to cry, Foul."
"Well, if that's the case," Hizashi suggested. "Wouldn't any body do? I don't want to point fingers or anything, but how about the guard who let the ambassador through the gate in the first place? Where the hell is that guy, anyway? It seems like he should be able to clear up a lot of this mess for us, and justify Hiashi's actions."
"Nobody's seen him," the Elder replied, quickly changing the subject. "I think he has the day off. In any case, Kumo demands Hiashi, not some random Who-ga. That's why we need to send you."
"Oh, right, right; the whole, long black hair, white eyes, angular features and identical white robes thing," Hizashi said, rolling his eyes. "Because after all, a bunch of foreigners who have never actually seen us in person will definitely be able to tell our corpses apart."
"Seriously," Hizashi continued, fixing the Elder with a glare. "This is all because I keep kicking his ass when we spar, isn't it?"
The other man gave an embarrassed, noncommittal shrug.
"Older brother or not, Mom always like me be-"
And then Hizashi's mind exploded in a world of white-hot pain.
"Looks like he took the news well," said Hiashi, still holding the hand seal for the Hyūga Sōke no Juinjutsu as he walked into the room and stared down at the writhing form of his identical twin. "Make sure his son understands that he died to protect the Main House, serving the honor of the Hyuuga Clan as was his duty. I don't need any of this coming back to bite me in the ass later."
SailorStar9: Seriously, what the hell did killing Hizashi accomplish? That's the point I want to make here. Somebody please explain it to me. Stay tuned for Chapter 10: The Fight is Over.