Shift of Hearts, the first Dragon Ball Z / Tenchi Muyo! crossover posted here in about a year.
And the seventh in three years, I forgot to mention that.
By P. Dizzle tha Prime Legend Champion
Disclaimer Stuff: This story is an original concept, I own none of the characters except the Madri Scholar (though his appearance and a slight part of his name were inspired by the Madri Priests from X-men Legends II), no money is being made off of this, I'm tired of putting that on all my stories, etc.
Rating: T, as is everything else I've done, just for safety purposes.
NOTE: No details on the Madri Scholar, or his special visitor, or what the heck happened to Gohan and Tenchi during their training. Strange… oh well. I did it for a reason.
Chapter 11: Rise of Power.
Cell stood in amazement at Gohan for a second, knowing that once again, his power has grown long enough to destroy pretty much anyone else. I wonder… h-how does he go it? How does he get so strong all the time after coming out so weak to begin the war?
"On this day, I see clearly. Everything has come to light," he finally stated, regaining a some of his composure whilst quoting Alterbridge's song "Metalingus", the entrance theme for a guy named Edge in WWE. But that's a different story for another day. Back to this. "So, you've augmented your power once again."
"I can see you're still as calculating as always," Gohan also figured out, his gaze unrelenting as he stared down the enemy he destroyed in the past as a child.
"Perhaps even moreso, now that my I'm part of a team of bad partners. They think almost as much as I do, which is what impresses me most," Cell explained, a smirk coming on at those words. "I'm telling you, they are starting to rub off on me."
"You mean those killers? The ones who terrorized Eighteen and did away with Krillin and Yamcha?" Goku needlessly yelled in the direction of Cell. He already knew the answer, as well as who they are, but his sentiment of vengeance towards the murder of his childhood friends was not a forgotten emotion. The lines by which Nagi crossed were extremely wrong, and there was nothing that could change such a thing, even if she is a woman. And that would probably only have a real chance of working in the face of Master Roshi.
"Terrorizing Eighteen? Killing Krillin and Yamcha? Why, those may be the highlights in your eyes of why we need to be killed in your opinion. But to tell you the truth, Goku, as if you didn't already know this about any of us; that is only the beginning," Cell explained vaguely, though not too vaguely for the Son brothers and their father to fully confirm their understanding of what their current enemy and his friends were capable of. Back inside the house, Chichi was about to go on the verge of fainting, and probably would have without her father's hand to keep her company, although he, too, was paralyzed with fear.
"Now, as for why I attacked all of you, I'll tell you again," Cell continued. "Everyone in this area is going to DIE!" Upon saying that last word, Cell rushed towards Gohan, ready to attack the Kai-boosted half-Saiyan at full might. He was surprise to find out, though, that Gohan blocked his punch. Cell then threw a high-speed kick towards Gohan's midsection, but the warrior blocked it fully, giving Cell feeling as if he had run into a wall of the strongest metal in space. If he'd been watching carefully enough, he'd know that said strongest metal in space was associated with Gohan's training for a few seconds during the war with Buu. Cell started to grind his teeth, sensing the inferiority in the picture. Gohan smirked at that, sending an aura of a lacking of confidence into Cell. This led to Cell furiously assaulting Gohan with punches and kicks: the flurry was at an incredible speed that the untrained naked eye could never hope to fully sight. Yet for each and every attack Cell threw at Gohan, he either felt it stop, or he didn't feel it hit anything at all. Soon, he stopped his attack, grinding his teeth in anger at the concept that he could ever be inferior to this kid again. He concentrated the majority of his power now into his right leg for one single kick. The kick landed at the side of Gohan's ribs, and delivered him excruciating pain. However, it was more of a major stinger than a real injury, and Gohan quickly got over it, turning around and forcing Cell away from him with a ki wave which knocked back the monster. Gohan and Cell looked at one another, with determination and fury in their eyes. A few marks appeared on the face of Cell's person as he furiously ground his teeth and clenched his fists, the frustration building within Cell. However, just as quickly, that frustration faded, and his face stopped showing signs of the grimace, and began to display the appearance of a focused warrior who just discovered something key to his mission.
"So, that strong, huh?" Cell finally spoke, a tint of surprise coming upon his voice. "I love it. I can tell you now that I know this isn't going to be a squash match. However, as you can see, I've gotten stronger, too. And what's more is, it was something from Hell that helped me out, yet your uncle Raditz has absolutely no idea how that happened."
"And nor does anyone else, but is that supposed to matter at all, Cell?" Gohan demanded calmly, his concentration not being broken in the least.
"Yes, it is supposed to matter, for both body and mind have been trained excessively, for the sole reason of revenge and destruction!"
"You're kind of overusing that last word, Cell. Is that any way to make friends?" Goten - who had gotten up during the first part of Gohan vs. Cell - quipped in confusion, causing Goku to crash to the floor in disbelief.
"Actually, Goten, it has helped me make friends. Three friends, in fact, who think like I do in a vague sense," Cell answered after looking down to face the kid. "Now, I hope you're ready to go to the Other World, because that will be your home from now on, as well as that of everyone else in the universe that refuses to bow down to me and my friends!"
"Oh, great? When were you interested in world conquest?" Goku asked now
"Let's just get one thing straight. I don't want to be a tyrant conqueror. That part of our goals come from Garlic Jr. and Kagato. I'm merely entertained by the notion of suffering, pain, and the word I've been overusing," Cell responded, careful not to use said word although it was obviously a part of his point. "Now, back to the imminent destruction of one Son Gohan."
"Imminent destruction?" Gohan stirred, questioning Cell's overconfident judgment. "You really need to work on knowing your enemies."
"And what exactly do you mean by th… huh?" Cell stopped himself in the midst of his question as soon as he realized at an energy wave was building in Gohan's right hand. Once he had built it up long enough and it took Cell's attention, Gohan finally fired the blast, which went on to strike Cell. It did have a good amount of marginal impact on him, and although he didn't exactly get knocked down by it, Cell knew that he was in for a fight. But he had no time to sort out his thoughts, because Gohan was coming at him. Gohan came at Cell with a flurry of punches of his own, which seemed like he was coming with seven powerful fists instead of two. Cell managed to block most of the punches, but a few hit his gut, and finally, he managed to separate himself from Gohan using his feet. In the ensuing stare down, Gohan and Cell both ended up catching their breath a little bit. However, as furious as this fight was at this point, Gohan and Cell both knew something about this fight.
"I see, Gohan. You're not using any more strength than you feel you have to for any certain piece of the fight. Not only have you re-augmented your power, you've grown wiser as well," Cell realized aloud, a smirk coming on his face at that. "You won't use everything until the time is right, whatever that ends up meaning, for if you do expose your assets too soon, you get taken advantage of. Big time. Whether in fighting, or in life. And in only a couple of years in high school, you're a veteran."
Finally, Cell's eyes widened, as well as sharpened, after which he stuck his arm out forward and let out a huge scream, sending some wind into Gohan and knocking him back with his energy. After this attack, Cell finally lunged forward in the air towards Gohan and went for a few more flying fists. Finally, he hit Gohan with a couple of hard punches, but the fast-paced burst mode style action continued to go on, as Cell and Gohan traded the advantage in this fight. Meanwhile, Goku and Goten looked on from above, and as Goten's eyes scrambled to follow the pattern of booming lights that came from this fight, Goku had a much better grasp on exactly where they were.
Whoa. They're moving so fast, and so well. I know Gohan is about as strong as me again with this new Mystic power, I've known that since last time this happened. But to be that much of a match for Cell is… kind of mind-boggling, for several reasons.
Far away from them, though, Nagi was watching, behind a tree in the woods. Even she was beginning to struggle with the art of having a grasp on exactly how this battle was going. She was amazed at the speed and the flux of power that was present within this battle, and easily failed to keep it from being written all over her face. The action is so fast between these guys. I never expected this. I'm gonna have to spar with Cell a little bit to get used to this, just in case I have to go against one of them.
Meanwhile, over at the Masaki house, Ayeka was in the middle of watching soaps on the TV in the living room when Raditz came down the stairs and noticed her. He looked over at the Princess of Jurai, who seemed to be spaced out a little bit. She was watching the soaps, but while she would have normally reacted to some saddening segment or another, there were several "tear-jerkers" that she seemed to completely miss. He figured that she was worried about Tenchi and that he shouldn't have anything to do with it, but wanted to go talk to her anyways. He needed something to do around here, and since Ryoko was asleep, Tenchi wasn't here, and there was no way he'd take the risk of getting experimented on by Washu just to talk to Yugi and Sakuya or disturb anyone else around. And if all else is abandoned, the only course of action possible to take would be to converse with the prim and proper purple-haired princess.
"Hey, Princess," he called to her, before walking over to the sofa she was sitting on. "Mind if I join you?"
"Huh?" Ayeka stirred, turning around to acknowledge the presence of the newcomer. "Oh, certainly." She scooted over a space or two so as to give him room to sit without being immediately next to her. "What is it?"
"Nothing, but I notice you're not exactly jumping out of your seat in objection or welling up as usual," Raditz told her, during which he sat down, leaning back against the sofa with his hands behind his head. At that, Ayeka immediately gasped and blushed in embarrassment, which she quickly recovered from. Another feeling surged within the girl, an admittance of defeat, as she sighed and bowed her head.
"There's no use masking it. I'm only watching these for routine today. I'm completely worried about Lord Tenchi," she finally spoke aloud. Sasami was passing by behind the sofa when she heard the admission from Ayeka, and finally turned around and came a little closer. Oblivious to the third party in the conversation, Ayeka continued: "I don't know what changes he has or hasn't made, and the possibilities… quite frankly, they leave me in fear."
"He's exactly like Kakarot. Pure, virtuous, and driven by an ever-flowing care for his friends. Chances are, all that happens is he's stronger, better, and more skilled as a fighter and as a man," Raditz nonchalantly predicted, to which she replied by turning around and asking him, "Are you sure?" He merely gave her a thumbs up for an answer. This gave Ayeka a sense of relief, causing her to smile a little. Sasami, watching from behind, knew that Ayeka was now comforted at least for the moment and walked on upstairs with a highly content and innocent smile on her face. It was at this point that Raditz and Ayeka noticed her. They turned to watch her as she left, then to one another.
"Was she listening behind us?" a slightly annoyed Raditz asked.
"She has a habit of such things. But it's all in good nature," Ayeka took her turn to reassure him. "I thought you would be training with Ryoko and the blond girl."
"To be honest, I wanted to train with you this time. And not in the normal training around, either. I don't want to get caught by Katsuhito," Raditz answered, not masking the fact that he was not willing to get shown up by an old man.
"I see. You have a fear of Yosho," she wittingly concluded, ticking him off a slight bit.
"I do not fear him!" Raditz stormed in reaction, standing up as emphasis. "I just seriously dislike the fact that an old man can actually be more powerful than me!" Immediately after yelling out those words, Raditz suddenly felt something. It was two familiar powers, though both were larger than he was ever used to them being. One was completely pure and had only its own vibe, while the other was a shade of total corruption followed by about a thousand mixed vibes. He immediately knew who was fighting in this one.
"It's Gohan vs. Cell… again!" Raditz shot out, stirring Ayeka as he immediately ran out the window past the TV and flew out of there.
Back on the makeshift battlefield which was pretty much right outside the Son family home, Gohan and Cell continued to trade attacks, and the fact remains that it was phenomenal. The advantage was being traded back and forth all over the place, and the ones following this battle were all getting lost. Gohan was beginning to take a more dominant edge this time, however, as he was starting to back Cell up. Soon, Cell's defense was finally completely penetrated, and Gohan had the free floor to completely pummel him. The high school hero did exactly so, with high knees, uppercuts, straight hooks, and jabs being among the hits that he landed on Cell. After a point, he hit over fifteen straight punches to the gut of Cell, followed by a spinning kick which sent Cell plummeting down to the ground. Gohan didn't even wait for any sign of life to come out of Cell, knowing that he hadn't finished him off at all. Gohan dove down and crashed his two feet straight into the back of Cell, before jumping off and getting back into a fighting stance.
"Attaboy, Gohan!" Chichi screamed out from behind the window inside the Son home. "Knock that stupid monster's socks off!"
"Yeah!" Goten cheered, next to Goku as they watched on from close distance. "That's how you beat up on Cell, big brother!" As they were prematurely celebrating the mere art of impact, Cell struggled mightily to get back up on his feet. He managed to get his face up off the ground and get up to his knees, but almost as soon as he started to further boost himself up, the stinging pain in his back kept him down to his knees, and would have forced him down lower had he not pushed against the ground with his hands. However, while it took awhile, he did manage to finally suck it up and get himself back up into a vertical balance. No later than that did he double over, and he was now grimacing in pain and favoring his midsection. Wherever you could see scratch and tear marks, there they were all over him. Purple blood wounds began to appear on his face as well.
"Gohan! Finish him!" Goku instructed immediately, knowing that his son had the edge. As Gohan readied himself to put his hands together, Cell began to regain himself, the pain starting to subside a little bit. At this point, Gohan held his hands forward, crossed over his head. A yellow energy bell was starting to form in front of his hands. Had Piccolo been watching this fight from up close, he would have known exactly what move Gohan was going for. This was the move that he had learned from Piccolo as a child, back when he was being trained for the arrival of the Saiyans. Cell, having cells of both Gohan and Piccolo within his systems, immediately recognized the move that Gohan was going for. He hadn't forgotten it growing up after all…
"Okay, Gohan! Show me what you've got! I'm not finished with you yet!" Cell shot in defiant anger, opening himself to the attack. Nagi had started appearing from behind the woods, before she heard this and immediately backed up in shock. What the heck is he thinking? Is he trying to get killed? Doesn't he understand I need him if I'm going to catch Ryoko?
"Masenkoooooooo!" Gohan called, the yellow ball over his hands getting a tad bit larger, and its shine more defined. Cell saw this, and actually began to build up and gather his ki, though not for any attack. The yellow glow emanated from around his body, and he was in the ever so familiar power-up position. The situation had officially started taking a small bit of a strange turn. On one end, Gohan just about had his Masenko blast charged up and was about to seriously burn Cell, putting the monster in position where he was prone to finish him off. But on the other hand, Cell was actually building up his ki, getting ready to boost his power, going into a more power-weighted version of this Super Perfect form.
"Gohan! He's building his power! Hurry up now!" Goku warned his son yelling at the top of his lungs, having noticed that the boy's window of opportunity was running out. Gohan duly noted the call from his full-blooded Saiyan hero of a father and, with a loud scream, launched the Masenko beam with much more ferocity and power behind it than he ever had charged it with before in his life. As the wave shot on its course, heading directly towards Cell, closer and closer to the green monstrous being, its shooter was keeping on the strong push, hoping and praying inside that this was going to be enough to finish Cell. That way, it would become the beginning of the end for the alliance of sentient villains they were confronted with, and soon, hell and high water would no longer have any impact on anyone ever again, at least not in this form. However, Gohan's chances would decrease, even as his push increased slightly, when Cell finally released all the latent energy he needed to unlock in order to fully establish himself as the supreme perfect being. The power surge was more ground-shaking than anything this world had ever felt or seen. Obviously, the Son home was struggling to keep itself upright. No, wait, it couldn't keep itself upright. It was blown away into the sky, along with both of the people that were stuck inside. Even some of the trees in the woods where Nagi hid began to rustle ever so slightly, forcing her to back up further, probably to where she would not be able to see the Son family and Cell's fight, unless she wanted to eventually get discovered by the enemies. As for the Masenko blast, Gohan was now having a bit of a hard time getting through the hemispheric barrier that formed around the bio-android Cell as he boosted himself. One guy was building up his power and protecting himself at the same time, while the other guy was trying to penetrate said effort in order to injure him. Completing Cell's power-up, a bright light started flashing throughout the entire mountain area, as if it was fireworks popping up, set off merely by Cell's enormous power. Finally, the Masenko blast made it past Cell's little firewall, but he was not even hurt at all by the impact. His power was building, and not even the worst of Gohan's fury could penetrate it and damage him in the least. Also, the light from the blast stopped flashing and fully came on due to the blast and the final end of the power buildup.
Once the light was done, you could see that Gohan had worn out a little bit. The electricity was faded from him, and so was the phosphoric glow, and he was panting and perspiring slightly. Meanwhile, Cell still had his battle scars on him, but now was smiling, glowing, and electric, just like he had been before, when he first returned from that explosion under his super perfect form. It was during this that the Son family home finally landed, strangely enough, in one piece, and at the exact spot where it had been before. Inside the house, Chichi and the Ox-King were right behind the front door, laying there, both completely dazed and dizzy, with hypnotic symbols for eyes. The outright grand surge of power that flowed within Cell was sensed by Goku, who now had a look of fear in his eyes for a second: the fear that his son was not only on the losing end of this, but would probably now end up rendered completely unable to defend himself against this monster called Cell.
Cell laughed confidently. "I can see that you've used up quite a bit of energy. While I am back, in full mode, and better than I have ever been! Please tell me how you could possibly stand a chance against me at the moment! Ha ha ha!"
"YAAAAAA!" Goku shouted angrily as he released a wave of energy from his right hand towards Cell. The monster was caught off guard, but managed to recover himself in time to play a little defense, going into guarding position and successfully blocking it from getting into full impact. However, he did notice that Goku's hair and outfit were starting to blow in a wind, which meant that he was ready to power up himself. Goku's buildup was faster, due to not having to fight through pain on this one, and he was able to release it very soon. It shook the ground we walked on, but didn't generate any special lights on this occasion. However, you could see that his hair was about as long as that of Raditz, and he had no eyebrows. Now, he had a phosphoric glow and electric feel to him that was almost as great as that of Cell. Wait a minute, did I just say "almost as great?" That is a clear sign that Cell has indeed improved in power. Cell's slightly egotistical stance stopped at that point, and his face almost immediately became serious. It was going to be time to go it out with a fighter once again. No words needed to be spoken in order to explain the situation. Both Goku and Cell had that warrior's look in their eyes, as if they were ready to take each other down. Cell turned his lips upside down once again to form a smirk, provoking Goku into charging for the first move. The Super Saiyan 3 warrior acted accordingly, coming at Cell with a flying shoulder block. The bio-android dodged the move, leaving an after image behind. He appeared behind Goku, trying to get him with a diving kick, but Goku evaded the blast and left an after image of his own. Cell was scrambling and looking around, when Goku went at him with a flying elbow attack, and even then, he left an after image. After that, he quickly broke the apparent cycle of what is going on, by not going for a physical attack. Instead, he shot a barrage of ki from above Goku, stunning and doing harm to him for a while before Goku suddenly flew upward out of the smoke that was quickly building up from the constant ki balls. Once he escaped the targeted area, flying around the blasts, Cell saw that Goku was not getting harmed from the assault, and quickly stopped his attack. However, it was too late, for Goku's uppercut quickly caught him in the jaw, clocking him as a result of this. After this, Goku caught Cell and hit him with a devastating combo of twenty-something punches, then elbowed the top of the monster's head, forcing him right back down to ground level. Goku extended his arm and palm down in front of him where Cell was, during which an energy ball developed in front of that arm. It soon launched as a wave, which exploded that part of the ground and left a thick cloud of smoke behind. However, there was one small problem with that. Cell was not behind the smoke covers, yet his signal was still there.
As Goku tried to figure out where he was, he heard several shots coming from a further distance away from him than the cloud of smoke. He ran forward, past the smokescreen, and found that Gohan had recharged his batteries and was deflecting energy beam shots, batting them into the air to do so. The ki beams were being shot by Cell, who had backed himself up a safe distance. Goku saw this as an opportunity and decided to start throwing away energy blasts at Cell as well. As soon as Cell noticed Goku shooting away at him, he had to stop shooting away at Gohan in order to deflect these hits. Cell found himself deflecting away about ten blasts of energy per second, which got increasingly frustrating once Gohan joined the fun and basically turned it into twenty. By then, he was forced to cross his forearms in front of his face in defense position, after which Goten finally managed to get himself back involved in the battle, throwing more ki energy waves of his own as well. Though he did not have as significant an impact at this as Gohan and Goku did, Goten turned out to be a little bit more of a hassle for Cell to have to deal with at this point. He was being backed up, even with himself on guard. The combined force of Gohan, Goten, and Goku might start turning out to be a little too much for him. Nagi, watching this, knew that now was as good a time as any to step in. But before she could start sprinting out of the forest in order to try and save Cell from this vicious assault, luck would turn out that she didn't even really need to do so. Cell activated his energy field barrier, which blew away all incoming ki beams, as well as stunned the three Son boys into stopping. The three of them then put their hands together in perfect position.
"Kaaaa… meeee… haaaa… meeee…" they chanted simultaneously, as the blue energy waves started building within each Son's united hands. Unfortunately that display would be all in vain, as Cell stuck his hands out in front of his eyes with fingers spread apart and shouted the words, "Solar Flare!" The energy of the sun then generated a light which blinded everyone in the area except for Cell himself and anyone who was already knocked out or dizzy. All three of the Sons' eyes were practically wired shut by the pain of light, which Cell gladly took advantage of with a charging right hand hook to Gohan, a charging left hand hook to Goku, and a charging upper kick to Goten, which sent him into the air. Cell then charged up his own Kamehameha wave, and chanted the entire word at a high speed rate, not concerning himself with patiently charging up power. He wanted to take advantage of Goten's bad predicament in order to destroy him. As Cell's Kamehameha finally launched upward and went to shoot at Goten, Gohan finally recovered and saw it, then ignored all the pain that was throbbing at his face from that hit, shooting an angry wave of his own straight its way. Luckily, Gohan's interception worked in time, completely stopping Cell's Kamehameha and forcing it to explode before it hit its target. It was around this very same time that Goten finally regained his balance and managed to stop himself, extending all four of his prone limbs to do so.
Goku now recovered from the Solar Flare, and he went flying at Cell. With a leaping spinning kick, he knocked Cell back a few feet before the monster regained his balance. Goku then shot another energy wave, which hit Cell and staggered him a little bit. Meanwhile, Gohan was flying towards him in an arch for a hard double axe handle to the top of his head below. It hit its target perfectly, knocking Cell silly for one moment in time. However, he quickly shook it off and hit a huge roundhouse kick straight to Gohan's head, sending him rolling sideways and falling flat on his stomach. Goten tried to charge in from above, but Cell noticed it, and he immediately stuck his arm and palm out in Goten's direction and screamed, supported by a burst of wind which immediately sent Goku's youngest son flying high into the air. Goku took advantage of Cell's taken concentration, rushing over to get him with an open palm strike straight to the gut. However, Cell quickly recovered from the hit and took Goku's arm, using it to throw him aside. He landed on one of the trees, but wall-kicked off it instead of going right into it. As Goku dove at Cell, the monster shot out a large ki wave, before Goku used instant transmission to teleport out of it right behind Cell, where Goku struck him with an elbow to the upper spine, as difficult as that was because of the hard black wing thingies on his back. However, Cell recovered from the blast with a huge turnaround backhand strike to the side of Goku's head. Gohan took the opportunity to punch Cell straight in the forehead, which sent the very tall super being sliding down a few feet, flat on his back. Once Cell got up, he found himself the target of a sandwich ki wave attack between Gohan and his little brother Goten, who had stopped himself again and landed on the ground behind Cell. However, these two brothers were not as successful on this occasion with ki waves as the wrestlers Edge and Christian often were with chairs, for Cell was able to fly above the blasts, allowing the to collide into each other and explode. Cell then extended his right arm across himself, flaring up for a green Power Blitz wave. (he had acquired the ability to do that move from Seventeen and Eighteen back when he absorbed them) He fired it straight into the place where Gohan and Goku were, as the SS3 warrior was starting to stand again. Gohan noticed this and quickly charged and fired a Masenko blast to intercept the Power Blitz. It succeeded in doing so, which bought enough time for Goku to get back up on his feet.
Cell teleported behind Gohan in order to strike him down with a Power Blitz from behind, but before he could swing his arm forward to fire the beam, he found his arm blocked by Goku, who smiled and chuckled at him before punching him right in the face and sending him rolling back a few feet. However, Cell quickly regained his ground as Goku charged at him, and was able to activate his energy field again, knocking Goku back harshly. Also, this gave Cell an opportunity to stop the fast pace and slow things back a little bit. Unbeknownst to him at the moment, it would go on to do more than that.
Nagi was watching in the woods, as has been eluded to a thousand times before, and at this point, she had gone from amazed to irritated. She saw the power that Goku and his sons held, and knew that if Cell had gotten really careless at any point in time, this three-on-one would have ended in a disaster for Cell, and if she was found, for Nagi as well. What the heck is he trying to do? Get himself killed or something? Usually I'd say it doesn't take this long to gauge somebody's power and then destroy them, but these guys are a little too good for him to face all by himself. Besides, I want to see how much success Garlic Jr. and Kagato have had in locating that ship of his. It was with those thoughts motivating her that the evilly reformed bounty hunter finally sprinted towards the area where they were fighting and ran past the Son boys in order to get to Cell. He quickly looked at her with confusion and irritation coming in her voice.
"Cell, stop! These guys are way too good for you to be trying to face them all alone like this in their home area," Nagi warned him, sticking her hands out as a measure of emphasis to her statement.
"Nagi, get out of my way!" Cell quickly shot. He was enjoying this fight due to the spirit of the Saiyan cells within him.
"You're having a little too much fun here. It's clear to me that you're going to have to expend yourself if you want to destroy these three, and quite frankly, I don't think that would be a very good decision," Nagi tried to advise him. However, he wasn't listening.
"You've been watching this fight, Nagi. I know that. Surely you must see that I am stronger than each and every one of them," he argued himself, wanting obviously to continue the fight until Goku and his sons rested in peace.
"Yes, but you're not as much stronger than them as it would take to be able to kill all three easily. Maybe the little one's expendable, but these other two are not to be underestimated. If I remember what you told us right, didn't the one who stayed with the black hair just now kill you in the past?" Nagi persisted, this time finally striking a chord. If there was any moment in his life that Cell would want to forget, it was that great battle of the Kamehameha hemispheres. Cell grimaced in thought about the fact that he had been beaten in that battle, destroyed, and sentenced to what seemed like it would truly be an eternity in Hell, by a ten-year-old boy with one arm available, the other damaged by Cell himself. There was no way in hell he would ever want to relive that day ever again. It was with those memories and those thoughts aching his head that Cell finally decided to calm down his energy and get out of his fighting mode. He stood down.
"Hey, Cell! What are you doing?" Goku immediately demanded, wanting to continue the fight just as much as Cell did in the past. "Are you too scared to continue?"
"Actually, no, Goku. Nagi here just reminded me of some urgent business I've got to get to," Cell explained, somewhat falsely. He did remember about the Souja because of Nagi's intervention, but it had nothing to do with any of the words she said. But as soon as she uttered Nagi's name, a thought entered Goku's head: Nagi? This is the one that killed Krillin! I can't believe I forgot! "You!"
At that point, Cell and his partner turned around towards the Sons, Nagi putting a smile on her face.
"I see you recognize us for doing away with your weak friends," she finally spoke to Goku. "Well, I'm pretty sure you know by now that I don't exactly care that much for what anyone else feels, either about me, or about my partners. Your friend Ryoko is the reason my pet is near death."
"From the sounds of that story, it sounded like a complete accident!" Goku shot in defense of his strange new friends. "Ryo-Ohki was probably just experiencing some discomfort because of how close the portal forced her and your ship to be! Your cabbit may have been hurt, but it didn't sound like theirs did anything on purpose!" His tirade soon took a more emotional turn, as a tear began to form in each of his eyes. "Sure, the injuries and the misunderstanding may have seriously hurt your pet spaceship… but Nagi, that does not justify you killing Krillin and Yamcha like they were nothing! Those are my friends, who I met long before any of this Tenchi business came along, and they didn't do anything to you!"
"Shut up! Normally I would've cared about that, but I think you forgot, I've rid myself of those virtues and emotions by taking in some of Garlic Jr.'s Sacred Black Water!" Nagi reminded Goku and his sons with a loud fury etched in her voice.
"What the heck is so sacred about evil water that causes someone like you to kill our friends?" Gohan retorted in anger.
"I don't think you understand! That drink gave me a new lease on life! It gave me a new edge, a new raw determination to get your new friend Ryoko and everyone she ever did or would hold near and dear, because of what she and her stupid she-cabbit did to my Ken-Ohki!" Nagi continued to explain furiously, refusing to let any of Goku's words cause her to relent in her cause. "I'm a cold and ruthless warrior now. And I've joined a dark alliance! But it's the only way I'll ever destroy Ryoko Hakubi! This used to be about getting back my stainless record as a bounty hunter… but it's so much more than that now! In the past, I would have wanted her to get arrested or to rest in peace. Now I want her to rest in pieces!"
The words of this ominous message finally struck Goku as to the true unwavering emotion of bitterness flowing within Nagi. He realized once and for all that while there was hope for other villains to reform in the past, there was no hope for bringing her back to whatever was her old self. At that, she put the hood of her black robe back over her head, and Cell put a hand on her shoulder, as well as the middle and index fingers of the other hand onto his own forehead. Locating what was probably the area where Kagato and Garlic Jr. were, Cell vanished into thin air with the bounty hunter.
They found themselves at the same dark planet, except this time, their partners Garlic Jr. and Kagato had recollected pieces of a once trashed ship littered on a floor near them as if this was a landfill.
"So, this scrap metal was once a ship?" Cell asked the partners as he and Nagi moved towards them and the ship material.
"Well, it's not made of your Katcheen, but it's actually quite solid. It won't take me too long to put it together, at least not with your help it won't. And once we do, we will finally be able to take our mission further. The domination of the universe will be at hand, and no one will be able to stop it! Finally, evil's destiny awaits!" Kagato prophesized, with the backing of his own wicked laughter echoing through space.
END OF CHAPTER, PREVIEW OF THE NEXT
-Goku: "Well, the fight's all over between me and my sons against Cell, but I can tell you this much, the war's not over yet."
-Raditz: "So, Kakarot. You couldn't kill him, or keep him here long enough for me to?"
-Gohan: "Sorry, Raditz, but we failed to keep him here."
-Raditz: "Damn! I knew I shouldn't have spent that time talking to Ayeka!"
-Goku: "You spent time talking to Ayeka? You really are changing."
-Madri Scholar: "Finally, my plans are beginning to come into fruition. Next on Shift of Hearts, the first Dragon Ball Z / Tenchi Muyo! crossover posted here in about a year, we take a look at why this story is titled "Shift of Hearts" through the view at Chapter 12: Warming Up the Scene."
-Ryoko: "Could I possibly be getting less interested in Tenchi?"
