Honor Trip
(Season II)
- a Dragon Ball Z FanFiction -
Chapter Twenty-Four: Clash
Disclaimer: Dragon Ball, the glorious franchise it is, is not in any way a property I control. I can only wish to supplement its mystique with stories such as the one herein. The same is in regards to related characters, symbols, plot elements, etc.
With that said, I hope you enjoy the story!
Author's note: This chapter explores a topic you need to be careful with when you're reading about it: the question of whether or not there is such a thing as a universal good or whether there is no such thing, with good instead something that people decide for themselves based on their own beliefs. The discussion about this could be extremely unsettling or disturbing to readers who are not used to thinking about this sort of thing. Again, I'm offering this cautionary note because the discussion can be an upsetting one, but rest assured that, based on the OVERWHELMINGLY AGREED UPON OPINION of the philosophical community, of people in general, and this author, grievously harming or killing other people (other than murderers who committed homicide intentionally) for any reason is NEVER ACCEPTABLE. And now, without further ado, the content:
Future Cell wound up his fist, gathering as much energy as he possibly could, and launched the fiercest punch he could muster at his counterpart.
Cell didn't budge an inch.
"You should have listened to us," Cell said as Future Cell gasped with a mix of fright and awe at the sheer ineffectiveness of his attack.
Cell hadn't moved from the fighting stance he'd gotten into, but truth be told, he hadn't needed the stance at all.
"Trunks and I tried to warn you of how much stronger we are than you," Cell said.
Future Cell didn't entirely know what to say.
And so instead of saying anything, he kept on launching punches at Cell, wailing with the anger of a madman, hoping that something would work.
His attacks were so effective that Cell, who had become bored with staying in his current fighting stance, then shifted to another without interruption. As he raised his right knee and bent his left, entering into what in many forms of martial arts is known as the Crane Stance, he accidentally made contact between his knee and Future Cell's jaw, sending the other spiraling upward, even though Cell had not been moving all that fast.
Trunks couldn't help but snicker as Future Cell waved his arms wildly in the air, trying to regain his sense of balance.
Future Cell finally stabilized himself, about 100 meters above the ground now, and was breathing heavily.
'How in the hell am I going to defeat him, let alone Trunks, too?" he asked himself. 'I can't give up! I can't!'
"You know, Cell, all you have to do is just agree to not absorb or hurt anyone, and this could all be over," Cell said to Future Cell. "We could then go to New Namek and make you good … for good."
Future Cell responded by quickly flying downward through the air and kicking Cell.
Again, the maneuver didn't work.
"Come on man, what are you doing?" Cell asked Future Cell as Future Cell rapidly kicked him as hard as he could.
Cell, to try and convince his counterpart how futile his efforts were, then stood up straight and stood calmly, as if he wasn't being kicked by someone moving faster than the speed of sound at all.
"Stop mocking me!" Future Cell screamed as he diverged from solely kicking and then did a combination of punches and kicks.
"I said that line when I fought Gohan," Cell said. "Imagine if he was here now and you had to fight him."
All that comment did was make Future Cell even more furious.
However, instead of trying yet another maneuver to vent that fury, Future Cell suddenly stopped, to Cell's welcome surprise.
"Had enough?" Cell asked.
"No, you bastard," Future Cell said as he wiped away some sweat from the top of his head. "I'm going to find some way to defeat you if it's the last thing I do!"
"At this rate it will be," Trunks said. "You know you're outmatched. Just give up already. You might as well concede this needless fight and join Cell and me. Otherwise, you'll just be throwing away your life."
"Fighting for what I truly believe in is not something I would classify as 'throwing away my life!'" Future Cell said.
"You only believe what you do because Dr. Gero told you to," Cell said. "Open your mind. Embrace the possibility of accepting the alternative. It's so much better for your soul."
Future Cell grunted, then brought his wrists together, deepened his stance, and brought his hands to his right side, charging up a beam of energy between them.
"Let's see how you like this!" Future Cell said right before he launched the attack.
"Kamehameha!"
The energy wave proceeded forward, and Cell effortlessly deflected the attack, causing it to collide into a nearby mountain peak, breaking the tectonic splendor apart.
Future Cell was exhaling rapidly.
'I'm running out of options,' he thought to himself.
"You still haven't done anything truly wrong yet," Cell said. "It's not too late to change."
Future Cell eyed his counterpart cautiously. He then diverted his gaze to Trunks, and then focused again on Cell.
All of a sudden, Future Cell started laughing wildly.
Cell was taken aback by this, as was Trunks.
"Have you lost your mind?" Trunks asked Future Cell.
Future Cell stopped laughing.
"No, but Cell has," he said, pointing a finger toward his counterpart. "You couldn't possibly be any stupider, Cell. Don't you realize that your whole concept of what is good and what is evil is flawed?"
Cell 's expression became blank.
"What do you mean?" he asked Future Cell.
"What's good to one person isn't necessarily what's good to another," Future Cell said. "And the same is true about evil. Some people think it's wrong to steal. Others believe it as perfectly acceptable and that there is no reason to think there is anything wrong with it. Some people think that in order to be good they should help the poor. Yet others legitimately feel no remorse by not being charitable, nor do they think they're committing any sort of sin by not giving anything."
Trunks didn't like where this was going, but before he could say something Cell beat him to it.
"What are you suggesting?" Cell asked.
"Isn't it obvious? What you consider to be 'good' isn't necessarily universal. It isn't what 'good' means to everyone," Future Cell said. "For me, I have no moral problem with absorbing anyone I want to in order to achieve greatness. I don't think I'm evil for these desires. I think it's morally wrong, given my life's purpose, to deny myself strength that I could otherwise have. Yet you're coming from the perspective that my desires are inherently evil, because you think they're evil. I don't think they're evil. I'm not willfully pursuing something I consider to be wrong. I consider what I want to do to be right."
Cell was lost for words.
"But …."
"Let me finish," Future Cell said. "Now, granted, sometimes the universe produces beings who honestly believe that what they're doing is wrong, and they're conscious that it's morally reprehensible, but they do it anyway. Frieza knew that oppressing all the people he did and killing for the thrill of it was the wrong thing to do. He didn't think he was upholding any standards of righteousness when he slaughtered countless lives. He knew, based on the morals he believed in, that he shouldn't have been doing what he was doing and that he should have spared his would-be victims. But did he? No. He really was evil, and he knew it. I, however, don't view absorbing people as wrong. I view it as right. And even though Frieza's cells are a part of me, our value systems are different in this way. I'm not evil. I'm good for wanting to achieve the greatest strength I can by any means necessary."
"Then you're insane, and I'm glad not to be anymore," Cell said.
"You're missing my point," Future Cell said. "The fact that you went through so much of your life thinking the way I do, and even after that you still don't seem to truly understand what I'm talking about, proves to me that you really did lose your mind when you got hit in the head, as I suggested before."
Cell thought about how best to respond.
"You're wrong, Cell," Cell began to say, "good isn't just something that people make up. There's a universal good out there, and it doesn't take a genius to know that hurting innocent people is wrong. It's naturally better to want to help people and to want them to be healthy and well, and while it's partially because that's what you'd want for yourself, it's not just because of that. The fact you don't seem to care about what happens to other people, even thinking that it's alright to harm them so you can be happy, shows the wicked insanity of Dr. Gero, the same wicked insanity that madman interwove into your design. Sure it's not the worst thing in the world to lie once in a while, even though that's generally considered a bad thing, but different things are naturally either better or worse than other things. Breaking someone's arm on purpose just to see him cry is a whole lot worse than stealing a small amount of money from him. People know that not just because they believe it, but also because it's true in the truest sense of the word. And I'm not saying all this simply because it's what I believe, but because the overwhelming majority of people in the universe believe this, even without necessarily consulting each other about it. We understand the truth. And Cell," he began to say, sorrowfully, "I was … I was just hoping all this time that you would, too."
Future Cell chuckled to himself.
"Believe what you want to, but I have this more pertinent question for you," Future Cell said. "You made a wish with the Dragon Balls to be 'good' forever. But you know very well that the Dragon Balls make wishes come true based on the intention of the wisher, and not based on what the words actually mean. And so I ask you, what did you wish for, really?"
Cell, about to say something, suddenly found he couldn't.
He pondered Future Cell's words, and just didn't know how to respond.
"You know what I think?" Future Cell asked. "I think you wished to make your delusional state of beliefs permanent, that's what I think! You solidified what should have been nothing! You deprived yourself of your birthright and of what you had always valued as acceptable. You honestly believe you cast aside evil? Hah! You forfeited greatness, that's what you did!"
"Enough!" Cell screamed. "You're wrong, and I know for a fact you are. I can feel it in my soul that the way I am now truly is the right way to be. I'll never turn back to the darkness again. I'll never kill innocent people and then laugh about it afterwards again! If this is really how you're going to choose to live your life, then you must be stopped, even if I wanted with every bit of my soul to help you overcome the darkness in your heart."
"You're pathetic," Future Cell said, as he quickly, without warning, soared straight into the air. "All this nonsense won't be important in a few moments, anyway."
Cell wondered …
"What do you mean?" Cell asked, anxiously.
The sun was behind Future Cell now.
Future Cell suddenly put his hands by his eyes and flexed his fingers apart from each other. Cell realized way too late what was happening.
"Solar Flare!" Future Cell shouted as the sun's rays intensified in Cell and Trunks' eyes, causing both of them to be unable to properly see.
Future Cell reduced his power level so he could not be easily detected.
'Now's my chance!' he thought to himself.
He moved swiftly to the ground, then landed behind Trunks, who was still covering his eyes and could neither see Future Cell nor sense him.
Future Cell's tail swung forward toward the back of Trunks' neck.
'One hit in the right spot and he will be paralyzed, enabling me to absorb his energy without dispute!'
Right before the point of his tail made contact, he saw his tail become suddenly stopped.
It wasn't Trunks, who hadn't heart the tail coming.
It was Cell, who was grabbing Future Cell's tail, staring him in the face with a look of anger.
But it wasn't the type of angry look that Future Cell might have expected, as it was not one distorted in rage, as Frieza commonly displayed. It was a more calm anger, one suggesting disappointment, as if an expression Goku would have made in a situation like this was superimposed onto Cell.
"How did you do that!" Future Cell exclaimed.
"Unfortunately for Dr. Gero's plans, he enabled my perfect form's eyes to perform way too well against you," Cell said. "I can see fine."
"You shouldn't have attained proper vision for another two minutes!"
"And you should know how strong I am," Cell said, continuing to maintain his hold on his counterpart's tail.
"Let me go at once!" Future Cell protested.
"I had such high hopes for you," Cell said as he then, while maintaining his hold on Future Cell's tail with his right hand, swiftly moved forward with his left, punching Future Cell in the gut, causing the other to gag in horror and pain.
Cell then let his counterpart's tail go, and Future Cell fell backward, placing his hands toward his stomach, reacting to the immense impact.
He was gasping on the floor, trying to prevent himself from exhaling too quickly.
"Now that you've seen the pain that this form can cause, I hope you've gained a greater appreciation for why I can never let this power fall into the reach of those who would abuse it," Cell said. "May no one ever have to feel such pain again, yourself included. This is your last chance, and you know how strong Trunks and I are. Will you abandon your ways and join us?"
Trunks, whose vision was now blurry but somewhat functional, watched as Future Cell struggled to stand up, then stood as firmly as he could.
"I despise you!" Future Cell screamed, as he continued to struggle with maintaining a stable stance. "I despise everything about you! I refuse to ever be like you!"
Future Cell tried to rush forward, but tripped over himself.
Cell's punch had been a forceful one, and it had damaged him severely.
"In the time that Trunks and I were waiting to meet you, I decided to do something that will directly affect what happens next," Cell said as Future Cell stared at him, nervously.
"I don't care," Future Cell said, stepping backward while he said it.
"I had been using the Z-Fighters' techniques all my life, the ones Dr. Gero stole from them, ones they never suspected would be used against them," Cell said. "And so I decided to make up for this by developing my own."
Future Cell's eyes widened.
"I feel sorry for you," Cell said. "I wanted to help you, especially since I knew that as a version of me, with the blood of the Z-Fighters running somewhere through your veins, you had the potential to change. But unfortunately, this is where we'll have to part ways."
Future Cell, horrified, found enough energy within himself, scraping every last bit he could, to elevate slightly and then dart through the air, moving as far and as fast away as he could from Cell, who remained on the ground.
"I'm sorry, my friend," Cell said as he rose both of his hands and brought them together, directly in front of his face, with his palms facing the ground and his thumbs touching each other's side.
He split his thumbs slightly apart from each other, and there was a line of white light between them. He then moved his left hand in a curved motion, down and to the left, while his right hand simultaneously moved in a curved motion down and to the right, with his palms now facing each other. As his hands had moved, the white light moved with them, and now there was a half-circle that formed the shape of an arch emanating from his hands.
He then completed the circle of white light by moving his left hand in a curved motion down and to the right while he simultaneously moved his right hand in a curved motion down and to the left. When his small fingers touched each other, he then moved both of his hands toward himself as the circle of white light became complete, floating in the air where his hands had traced its path.
Cell then placed his left hand near the left side of the circle and his right hand near the right.
"Shining Nova!" he yelled as he then thrust both his hands forward, causing the white circle to rapidly move in Future Cell's direction, homing in on him.
Future Cell, sensing the energy, looked back and saw the ring coming closer and closer to him, gaining speed and becoming larger.
The white circle then caught up with him, surrounded him, and then spun rapidly to form what looked like a white sphere.
Within the sphere, energy bombarded Future Cell from the inner side of the rapidly spinning ring, preventing him from escape.
Future Cell felt the destructive energy coursing all around him, destroying his body and decimating all he had hoped to achieve.
The white ring then began to progressively slow down, spinning slower and slower as the energy blasting from within became less and less potent. The white circle finally stopped spinning altogether, facing perpendicular to the ground as it had when Cell had formed it, and then slowly faded away.
Cell then looked for the other's energy, trying to sense it.
He sensed nothing, and stared into the sky for a few moments.
Then, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"You did the right thing," Trunks said, rather solemnly.
Cell turned around to face his friend.
"Let's go," Cell said as the two of them took to the air and accelerated toward West City, where they planned to briefly consult with Bulma before their next course of action.
Now that what had been done had come to pass, it was time for a long-awaited reunion….
Up next: Season 2's two-part finale begins! What awaits our heroes? Find out in the next chapter of Dragon Ball Z - Honor Trip!
I hope you enjoyed this chapter as much as I had fun writing it!
In fun and fanfiction,
American Vigor
Chapter 24 completed: 1/7/2010