Another Path
I didn't think it would take me this long, but better late than never, people. So the conclusion of the Cell Tournament is finally here. I will make a direct jump in next chapter going straight for Trunks fight against the future Androids. That will save some time.
Enjoy everyone!
Chapter 25: Hero of Earth
Gohan stepped into the struggle now replacing his father. Yet the young half alien was emanating much more power than his dad did. If fact, Cell's own power seemed dwarfed now next to the new young Saiyan fighter. The golden hue shone in the desert with a magnificent light equal to the Sun. Now it was Gohan's turn to fulfill everyone's hope in defeating Cell once and for all.
And the best of all, he knew he could.
The reporter Jimmy looked in surprise towards the Fighters on the desert. When he first arrived in the arena the thought of witnessing the most spectacular fight of the universe was the last thing in his mind. Specially if Satan was going to be involved. The nerve of the fraud. But now he was witnessing the event in the very VIP section. That was sure to provide him a raise in his paycheck. He would gladly thank Goku and Gohan later.
The Ultra RR machine stared from above into the young child, thinking in the prospect of the fight. The power was amazing for sure, but not enough to defeat him. The kid was obviously joking. He couldn't defeat him. He was perfect. No, scratch that, he was ultra perfect! No mere idiot of a brat would equal him.
"So your father wasn't bluffing. You do have some powers within you" The Transformed Android said with a small grin floating from above. His response, however, was a short gut fist that bent his towering blue frame over with planet-breaking strength, followed by a knee to the nose that cracked Cell's mouth protection, sending him rocketing into the air through miles. The Android reestablished himself in mid-air but now winded and taken completely by surprise. That speed... not even he could move that fast. And those blows hurt much more than Goku's did.
"You have no idea" The Ascended half Saiyan replied coldly right next to Cell's higher heft in the split of second that took the Android again by surprise. The blue android grunted in anger and spun around, firing a front fist. Gohan side-stepped the attack, a rock mesa miles away shattering down by the sheer air force generated. Cell attacked again, his upper-cut capable of shaking the planet down to its core. But the half alien was two seconds ahead, already behind his enemy by the time the strike hit an after-image. The Ultra machine widened his eyes in astonishment.
"Looking for someone?" The Ascended hybrid commented sardonically, his arms folded over his chest and his lightnings running static over his bulky frame. It took Cell a second to fully turn his body around, enough time for Gohan to land two almost instanteanous strikes, a sharp elbow to the sternum and an open-palm blow to the machine's face, right above the mouth protection almost penetrating into his red eyes. The attack delivery went so smoothly that the Machine only found his pain nerves at full mode two seconds later when his entire body started twitching.
The RR machine had to land, unable to even fly properly. His brain was burned by the unstopping pain signals that he never saw coming.
"Pathetic" Gohan commented darkly, barely paying attention to his enemy and more attention to his finger nails. Should he cut them?
Not that he knew a lot about pedicure but anything was more interesting than the already-defeated machine.
Cell yelled, his hearing obviously catching the demeaning comment. With a dazzling dash, the android went offensive.
Into nothing. Because the true Gohan had been all along floating above the enemy. Cell-Cooler growled, flying into his short-sized enemy. The Ultra Android kept relentlessly firing devastating attacks into the golden-shinning halfa. But the Ascended Super Saiyan smirked now, flying backwards and countering each of Cell's blows with his own. Punches and kicks, all were easily blocked by the same kind of attack. A roundhouse was blocked by another roundhouse, a clothesline clashing another clothesline. Each time the blows connected, echoing explosions equaled to exploding bombs followed not far behind. Cell clutched his teeth behind his half-broken mask in anger and fired a giant yellow blast. But Gohan tagged along, firing his own yellow blast. Both energies collided in mid-air, sparkles of massive power flying away in a flash of blindness.
When the light dimmed Gohan was already on his enemy with his knee cap impacting Cell's forehead like a meteor. The Android lost all of his bearings and Gohan dematerialized in thin air. The Ascended fighter teleported under Cell and grappling his legs the Saiyan whipped him to the ground, caving a crater at the time of crashing, extending for easily five miles.
From the sidelines of the desert the other Z-fighters stared at the incredible opponents going at each other for dominance.
"I see what you did Goku" Piccolo said towards the Saiyan, taking the other's attention towards them "You fought first so Gohan could find any weak spot in Cell's fighting style" The fighters now looked at Goku for confirmation.
"Well, you can't deny that's a possibility" The Saiyan father replied with a small smile of pride on his face, knowing that it was only half-true. Gohan had never needed his help in the first place though. The Z-fighters returned their eyes back into the arena and the super-fast struggle.
Cell grunted in annoyance, his foot trying to connect with Gohan's face. Yet the Ascended Saiyan super speed from behind his enemy, the heel of his hand slashing from left to right into Cell's neck. The Android was sent careening away, his head almost splitted from the body had the Saiyan put a bit more strength behind the blow. The Super Saiyan two chased after his blue-skinned enemy, his lightning-covered aura igniting the air around him like a golden meteor. Cell fired a barrage of deadly purple Death Beams, all of them aimed for the vital parts of the body. Yet Gohan's lightning-fast movement swat every energy into the higher atmosphere. The towering Android clutched his teeth in annoyance, firing more and more energy into the outside. Yet the demiSaiyan kept deflecting all the attacks without loosing strength or energy in doing so.
After a few minutes the Super Saiyan two teleported above Cell, backflipping down and hitting his blue opponent in his giant bone helmet/head. The Android's head almost exploded in gore by the sheer strength, his body falling like a meteor from the sky to the ground again, caving a ten miles-wide crater on his impact. The android stood up drunk punch, his senses rogue inside his brain. Gohan wasted no time in suddenly appearing with Instant Transmission in front of his enemy, landing a sharp left hook to the Android's face. The onslaught of pressure finally sent the mouth protection away and reduced to simple shards. The Super Saiyan two grabbed Cell's right arm so he wouldn't be send flying away and spun his own right leg with a ground-shaking roundhouse to the other side of the bio machine's giant head. This time the transformed android was sent away for a hundred miles away, crashing rocks and rubble in his path and forming a trench. The bio-machine had no way to counter the monstrous strength and light-speed movements against him by the young fighter.
The Cooler/Cell machine backflipped, his feet and hands on the sand while he was flying back, caving a trench until he halted panting. Yet as soon as he looked in front of him, Gohan was already there, his cupped hands right firing a planet-bursting upwards blow to the bio-Android's elongated head. Cell felt his jaw completely reduced to splinters, not even his fast healing properly working to save him. The ground caved for miles by the carnage and the Thunder echoed all over the world, Gero's ultimate Android arriving into the highest parts of the atmosphere, his body blazing by the sheer friction.
Gohan stood on the ground, his aura and lightnings blazing around his pump-up body. He shot after his enemy at near light speed. But there was something off with him now. If one could feel his energy carefully, then something had changed about the Ascended teenager hybrid.
"Guys, can you feel that?" Krillin asked.
"Yes, Gohan looks to be charging an attack" Tien replied, feeling the kid's power. Not even Piccolo could understand Gohan's new change of tactics.
Goku could only smile. Cell was going to go down to Hell today.
Cell yelled, shooting his hands and feet at dazzling speeds, the blows raining over his shorter half alien opponent. Yet even while concentrating on something else, the golden hybrid dodged the attacks.
"Kame...Hame..." Gohan whispered while easily eluding the strikes, his ki power charging. His aqua eyes drove his stare into the bloodshot ones of his enemy. The Ascended Super warrior fired a sloppy hook that the Android easily avoided with evil glee. The Saiyan kept on with his hasty attacks now with his left predictable roundhouse. Cell catched the roundhouse with ease, the booted foot right in front of the Cooler/Cell face. The RR biomachine didn't care that suddenly the attacks were easy to dodge. He felt confident about his powers. That same arrogance would be his undoing.
"Fool, what were you trying to do?" The Ultra machine asked with taunting, his bleeding mouth exposed by his lack of mouth armor.
"Get close enough" The Super Saiyan two simply replied with his own malice, his sapphire eyes burning with the Saiyan pride. The android snickered in arrogance.
"Please, I won't fall for any of your cheap tricks" The RR bio-machine said overconfident. He had the powers of every fighter inside him. He was the strongest. The kid just got lucky shots against him.
"For someone with so many abilities you already forgot the most basic skills" The Ascended hybrid replied with an icy smile, his lightnings noising around his jagged aura "Do you even remember how to fly?" Cell was ready to retort, but a blue sphere of devastating power appeared right in front of his face. The light was to dime and blinded him for a few seconds.
"HAAAA!" The demi Saiyan yelled, his tactics playing and his charged blast taking Cell's head and part of his shoulders off reducing them to cinders in the wind. The blue attack spread for a few miles into the horizon.
On the ground, many fighters looked with eyes opened wide.
"It's amazing. Gohan fired the Kamehameha from his foot alone!" Trunks commented aghast. The others had the same expression of utter surprise.
"Yeah, I told him I did that against Piccolo and he decided to make his own variation" Goku said with a proud face, his arms folded over his chest. If his son knew something was how to be inventive.
"Gohan, you are amazing" The green Namekian could only say in utter admiration. It was obvious the student had become the teacher.
The head-less android body kept floating, Gohan folding his arms in annoyance. He would tap his foot on the floor but he was floating so there was no ground to tap on.
"Oh, come on, Cell! I know you are still alive" The Super Saiyan two said exasperated to the beheaded being. The injuries convulsioned, the new limbs sprouting out. The Ultra Android was panting, fatigue already building up even with his regenerative powers. The proud Saiyan warrior smirked with malice.
"You look a bit drained. Maybe another Senzu Bean can help you to warm me up" The blue-eyed fighter said cocky, his spiky hair moved by the wind his own inner power produced. The half alien shook his head, trying to not get overwhelmed by arrogance. He really hated that. Well sometimes others deserved to receive what they gave. And Cell surely deserved a lot. Of suffering.
The Ultra machine yelled with power, summoning his ki reserves exploding around his body in the Saiyan golden aura, the ground miles beneath them shaking with grade-ten earthquakes. The entire solar system rocked in fear by the power. But fear wasn't an option for Gohan. By the simple fact that he wasn't afraid of the overgrown lizard freak.
"Die!" The golden-shinning machine shot his fist with a crippling power, the knuckles hitting right into Gohan's face. The resulting shock wave washed over the landscape for hundreds of miles, the wind lashing at hurricane speed. The Z-fighters on the desert covered themselves by the crazy speed of the wind.
Yet the Ultra enemy could only stare in disbelief, when his fist did not even moved Gohan from his place, only his head slightly hunched to his side. But there were no marks of injure aside from a trickle of blood in Gohan's lips. The teenager casually cleaned his lip with the back of his hand barely amused.
"Nice try. Mind if I try it myself?" The Superior warrior said with an evil smile. Not actually expecting a response, the golden fighter landed his own balled fist, landing ten times the damage Cell did on him with pretty much twice the aftershocks around the world. Cell floated back, holding his bleeding mouth from where blood oozed. He coughed, his entire teeth dropping out and mixed with his red/green substance.
"Surprised much?" Gohan taunted like Vegeta used to do, though his was now much better and cooler. Cell narrowed his eyes and fired twin blue beams towards his enemy. A casual backhand from Gohan diverted them up in the air. The RR machine clutched his teeth in annoyance, or he would if they had regenerated fast enough.
"Destructo Disk!" Ultra Cell enchanted, firing the yellow cutting attack with his full power.
Just extending his left hand forward, however, the Ascended DemiSaiyan catched the attack with his bare flesh and digits. There was no injure in his skin by the contact against the limb-severing attack. The other Z-fighters along with Cell had their mouthes on the ground in simple shock.
"He... He caught the disk... with his bare hand!" The bald monk stammered while his brain had a complete meltdown. The technique was supposed to be unblockable, no matter how powerful the enemy was. But apparently Saiyans again defiled logics. Well, it was just another Friday for sure.
"Unbelievable!" Trunks exclamed, his father next to him clutching his teeth in anger. The brat dared to be stronger than him! Just when Kakarot wasn't enough.
Tighting the grip on the attack, Gohan shattered the energy construct like if it had been made of fragile glass. Cell narrowed his eyes suddenly dashing forward with a thunderous clothesline. The Ascended Saiyan frowned, tired of fooling around with the weakling lizard. The teenager arched his back down with a monkey flip, Cell passing over him. The Saiyan bent his knees and delivered his double feet kick. The booming impact echoed like a nuke bomb, sending the Ultra machine up in the sky with his chest plate dented inwards.
Cell had already reached the highest parts of the stratosphere when he stopped his flight. He was done! He didn't care for anything anymore! If he had to destroy himself to send the insects to Hell then so be it!
He rose both of his hands, dark orange energy poured into a thirty feet-wide ball of devastation. He smirked. Nothing could survive his Supernova attack.
"Fools, all of you. Face your doomsday!" The android bellowed to the Kais, sending his sphere down into the blue planet's surface. The humongous sphere descended like an incoming star towards the planet to burn everything and everyone to a crisp.
The heroes of Earth tensed. Except for Goku, who could only smile. The result was very obvious to deduce. Not that he ever doubted Gohan.
"That's the best you can come up with?" Gohan said far too annoyed. He sighed, if this was the end then so be it. The Super Saiyan two cupped his hands left, blue energy shinning bright, his lightnings arching around him.
"Kame... Hame..." The Saiyan enchanted, his powers easily escalating above Cell's own. The orange light of ki started to light up the world but the Super Warrior would have none of that "HAAAA!" The Saiyan yelled with his full power unleashed, his hands shooting forward and washing the landscape with a concentrated blue light, the sheer ki causing the arena to kick into a storm.
The blue blast widened over the sky, overpowering the gigantic sphere that shattered, completely overwhelmed by the majestic Turtle wave. The fight was over before it even begin. The blast kept moving up to where the Ultra RR machine was. Cell could only open his eyes before the concentrated heat of the Sun engulfed his towering frame, reducing his mighty Ultra body into useless space dust. Gero's plans of revenge and conquest were gone from the universe for good.
The smoke and dust finally settled over the battle field, Gohan panting slightly with his hands exuding ashes. His spiky blonde hair returned to spiky black with a sigh of relaxation.
A few of the Z-fighters stood up after been lashed out by the gigantic ki wave rippling effect. Only Goku, Piccolo and Trunks were the only ones still standing on their feet.
"Um, is it over?" Krillin asked, dusting himself off "Like really over?"
"I think so pal. I can't feel Cell's strength anymore" Yamcha responded while looking at the sky. Hopefully this time the evil guy was really dead.
"Gohan did it!" Trunks yelled with a smile, glad that everything was finally over.
"Told you Piccolo" Goku said towards his green friend with glee and confidence. The Namek could only nod, knowing his friend had been right all along.
The purple-dressed half Saiyan cleaned some of the sweat from his brow after exerting a bit more power than needed. But knowing Cell, it was better more power than none. One thing for sure though, the Ascended transformation made him a bit more cocky than he had first thought. Not that he cared. Some guys deserved the same payment for their evil deeds.
The next thing Gohan knew was that he was being carried on his father's shoulders, all of his fighter friends cheering for him. Except Vegeta but that was common thing already.
"Man, that was so awesome!" Yamcha said out-loud.
"Yeah, way to go buddy!" Krillin said, high-five with his friend.
"I can see that you are truly Goku's son. Never giving up" Tien commented, earning a group chuckle. Avoiding Vegeta of course, who was the typical grumpy.
For the three non-fighter humans covered in dirt everything had been nothing a blur. They simply couldn't catch a thing but brief glimpses with the camera.
"Em, Can any of you explain what just happened?" Jimmy asked in confusion, getting near the celebrating fighters.
"My son has defeated Cell, that's what happened" Goku said smiling, carrying his spiky-haired son on his shoulders. The man in tuxedo was more than glad to report the good news world-wide.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we heard it from the Martial Arts champion himself. His son Gohan has proven to be stronger than him and has defeated Cell in an amazing fight, that sadly we couldn't tape fast enough!" The announcer said to the microphone the camera pointing at him. Still the part that matter was that he would now be very famous thanks to the two blonde-changing fighters.
"So Satan, do you have any words for our saviors?" The reporter got the electric microphone close to the still mouth-agape human, trying to make him look stupid than he already was. The moustached human quickly regained some of his fighter 'pride', standing up straight like trying to look impressive.
"Oh those were nothing but tricks. Just light shows and a lot of smoking mirrors!" The coward fighter said actually proud of himself, making his typical V sign with his hand. The camera man and Jimmy actually sweat-dropped. Was he for real? The planet could have exploded anytime, even they knew it. And yet the guy still had the balls to defy what had been the most obvious exposition of logic ever.
Before the moustached man could say anything more embarrassing, there was a sudden mouth gag covering Satan's mouth. It materialised out of nowhere.
"Thanks Piccolo. If he had said another world I might have put my fist in his mouth and I'm already dirty enough" Gohan mentally thanked his green teacher.
"Don't worry kid. After saving Earth, you and everyone need some rest. Specially from so much stupidity" Piccolo thought back while Gohan snickered by the human man's failed attempts of removing the gag "I materialised some glue behind the gag so he won't be taking it out anytime soon"
"Alright guys, grab hands and we can go to the Lookout for the Dragon Balls" The palm-haired Saiyan said cheered up by the fact his home was safe, grabbing hands with the other fighters. Even Vegeta, though the prince was very much reluctant.
They left with the air shimmering around them leaving a very stun reporter and a wild audience in their homes.
"Just amazing people! Our saviors left with some kind of teleporting ability!" The reporter commented again "Will we ever see our champions again? Will they reveal how they can perform so many marveling techniques? Only time will tell" The camera went off and the news crowd left, glad that the threat was over and that they were surely going to become famous.
Satan was still trying to take the gag off so no one paid heed.
Less than a second later, Earth Special Forces were already on Kami's Lookout. Or better, Dende's Lookout. And just in time, the green Namekian got close to Gohan and healed whatever lingering damage the boy had. Gohan would have used a Senzu but the result would have been the same. The half Saiyan flexed his now healed arms, feeling a bit stronger thanks to his special alien heritage.
"Thanks Dende" The hybrid thanked his friend from another planet.
"Dende are the Dragon Balls ready?" Krillin asked and the Namekian nodded. The bald Turtle student moved forward towards the seven shinning balls "Arise Shenron!" He enchanted.
Immediately the bright sky got darker and the Seven spheres came alive into the mighty Eternal Dragon. Even after years of knowing Shenron, the fighters were always awe-struck by his presence. His long snake body coiling enough to easily cover the entire Lookout, his ruby-red eyes staring stoical towards his summoner.
"Speak your wish. I can grant two as long as they are within my power" The reality-bending reptile said in his thunderous voice.
"Alright, please bring back everyone killed by the Androids, except for the bad guys of course" The monk joked with the dragon. The dragon's eye shone red for a moment.
"Your fist wish has been granted. Speak your second wish" The dragon said ominous.
"What should we wish now?" Tien asked to the group.
"How about Shenron killing Satan?" Yamcha asked with glee and expectation.
"Shenron still has the original limits Kami placed and he can't murder anyone" Piccolo chimed in, arms folded over his chest "Besides, it would be wasting a wish for nothing"
"Then why don't you tell Shenron that he isn't needed for the time being?" Dende suggested getting the attention into him "If Shenron doesn't grant one of the wishes then his recharge time will only take six months and he will be ready for any threats that might show up"
"Really, is that possible?" Krillin asked his little green pal, who nodded "Shenron, we don't have anymore wishes!"
"Farewell then!" The dragon replied, shinning in golden light and disappearing back into slumber, the star-framed golden balls spreading around the green planet.
The group of heroes remained silent for a few minutes, basking in their triumph over Cell. But something broke the ice.
"Alright Goku, explain" Piccolo said now towards his former rival "How could you and Gohan become so powerful? Even with one day at the time chamber your powers couldn't have improved so much"
"Well, you are right Piccolo" The palm-haired fighter said confirming, smiling by his friend's intelligence "But Gohan and I used our day to its fullest. We did not only master our Super Saiyan transformation"
"We also used the Kaioken while transformed" The half Saiyan continued when his father stopped. The others looked in utter surprise.
"The Kaioken as Super Saiyan? That's way overkill!" Krillin said in shock.
"It is. I mixed both when I first fought 13 but my heart disease didn't allow me to go all out" The full-blooded Saiyan explained "But once inside the chamber and with our Super Saiyans perfectly controled, we started pushing our bodies with the Kaioken further than what we thought possible"
"Good thing we are Saiyans. Every time we sparred we only got stronger" The demiSaiyan said, glad to be a fast healer. Some of his wounds back there could be described as plain and simple autopsy by the depth of them.
"And so one day we finally ascended into Super Saiyan two" Goku said, rubbing his son's black-haired head "Well, Gohan did first and since then he was the strongest of the two of us. I just couldn't catch up anymore"
"Then why didn't you use the Kaioken on your fight Goku?" Piccolo questioned again "You are saying you can combine the two abilities but yet you didn't" Goku was only eager to reply.
"I didn't because there was no need to" The palm-haired warrior explained "I already knew how powerful Gohan was, so we decided to let him have a shot in beating Cell"
"But what if Gohan had failed?" The Namekian asked again.
"I wouldn't" Gohan replied now with a trusting smile "In the rare event Cell managed to play dirty on me, then I was ready to take the Kaioken up to ten to finish him off before someone died"
"And even if Cell managed to take Gohan down, then I would have simply interfered and defeat him myself, screw any of the tournament's rules" Goku said now. The entire pack of allies were just baffled and without words to complain. Here were two amazing warriors fighting for the sake of their family and friends. It was obvious to see both were family.
The Saiyan prince had enough of the stupid chit-chat! He would no longer stood there and hear how they mocked his royal lineage!
"Kakarot!" Vegeta grunted, his golden aura suddenly coming alive, his muscles bulking up more than a normal Super Saiyan. The white tiling beneath him shattered a bit by his ki "Fight me!" The others backed away from the golden maelström, except for Goku and Gohan, who pretty much remained in the spot not threatened by the arrogant Saiyan.
Goku sighed, transforming into Super Saiyan without moving a muscle. Vegeta was just too stubborn, that was for sure. Gohan side-stepped, letting his father beat Vegeta as much as he wanted.
The bulky prince shot into his enemy, who simply stood there unmoving. Vegeta shot forward with a charged punch capable of destroying Earth, which was firmly intercepted by Goku's stronger hand palm. The bulky warrior widened his eyes. The Prince just didn't know how Kakarot and his brat could be stronger than him even when he was an Ascended Saiyan with his speed not hindered by his bulk.
Apparently he didn't hear the explanation Goku and Gohan said just seconds. Or maybe he did but simply decided to forget about it. With Vegeta, that was the easiest theory to believe.
"Seriously Vegeta. I'm way ahead of you so better give up before I knock you hard cold" The Full-powered Super Saiyan said, almost feeling merciful for the Saiyan prince. Unlike him, Goku had his Saiyan energies fully controled and could remain transformed for days or weeks if he so wanted. The bulky Super Saiyan, however, could only keep the form for a few hours at most, the ki seeping away and wasted for nothing.
"Shut up!" The royal Saiyan growled, his other hand going for a sharp uppercut. Goku's image disappeared at fast light speed, arriving behind the bulky Super Saiyan and firing a backwards elbow to the back of the head. Just like Goku had first said, Vegeta was out cold back to black-haired widow peak, lying in the tilling floor. Goku also returned to black hair palms, his enemy down in front of him without putting as much of a fight.
"Dende, heal him" The Earth Saiyan said to the Guardian, feeling some pity for the prince. Pity that one day he would surely run out off. Gohan wanted to shook his head by the stubbornness. Hopefully the battle had knocked Vegeta down a few pegs. But knowing Vegeta, it might be hoping far too much.
The Saiyan prince opened his eyes, rubbing his head. Even healed, the strike's aftershocks were still rattling his hard skull. The prince sent one last death glare into the Son family before flying off to train even harder than before.
Trunks sighed. If this was his same father from his time, then he was a bit better without one.
"So Trunks, what are you going to do now?" Krillin asked to the time traveler, trying to change topics from the very-easy fight.
"Well, I'm going to rest tonight and tomorrow I'll head back to my time" The lavender-haired hybrid explained.
"Maybe I'm rushing things, but good luck" Gohan said towards the other half alien with a smile of confidence and a thumbs-up. Trunks smiled in reply. While the guy in front of him was a younger self of his trainer, the Saiyan from the future could see there were practically no differences. Always confident that something could be done.
"Well guys, I think Gohan and I have to go home. Chichi might be sick worried" Goku commented and his son nodded.
"Goodbye pal. You too kiddo" Krillin said goodbye to his friends "I guess we'll see each other on the next Martial Arts Tournament" The monk flew away, hoping to have improved a bit more by that time.
"I hope you guys train" Tien commented "I might not last but I will train as hard as ever" The former Crane student took off to increase his training. The desert bandit followed, knowing he needed a sparring partner. Trunks waved goodbye too and left towards Capsule Corp to rest for the day and embark into his journey to the future at the next day.
"You coming Piccolo?" Gohan asked his green teacher.
"Sorry kid. Not yet. I prefer to rest a few days from all the ruckus that has been going on" Piccolo explained, floating in meditating stance. He smiled to himself, happy that the powerful kid he helped in training was still a humble but honorable man "Don't worry though, I will visit for a sparring if you or your father need a few kicks in the ass" The Saiyans laughed heartily before waving goodbye to Dende and Popo.
The two aliens of Earth were flying towards Paotzu when the hero of Earth widened his eyes. With so much happiness he forgot Lime might have not heard about the result of the fight.
"Hey dad, you mind if I go somewhere else first? I'll catch you later at home" The half Saiyan asked to his father. Goku wanted to smile in pride. Even after saving the world and proving to be the strongest person of Earth, Gohan was still asking for his father's permission to do something.
Goku thought that all those years he had trained a great fighter. Now he realised his son was not only a proud warrior but also a great man.
"Sure son" The palm-haired warrior replied, keeping his path home. With his son gone for some time, maybe he could get some 'private time' with his wife.
Gohan took off into another direction. Hopefully, Lime did hear the good news. Besides it gave the Saiyan a reason to visit his friend.
Notes from Chapter 25:
Yes, Gohan was a lot more arrogant than cannon. And I like that.
As much as I want to kill Satan I still need to embarrass him a bit more. Actually, a lot more if possible.
To explain a bit what Gohan and Goku tried to say about their training: They can take the Kaioken up to 5 while Super Saiyan. But as Super Saiyan 2 their bodies are strained so they can only take it up to 2 or 3 (It might not sound logical, but Toriyama was never one to use logic when he decided to invent the Manga). And remember that they have their tails which helps with power control.
Sorry for the Vegeta fans who don't like the prince beaten. But trust me, Vegeta is better that way.
As I wrote before the start of the chapter, next chapter will go straight for Trunks going into the future.
Power Levels:
Goku:
Base form: 1.5 billions
Super Saiyan: 75 billions
Some energy restored after fighting Vegeta (very little Zenkai): 1.55 billions
Gohan:
Super Saiyan 2: 175 billions
Base form, energy restored (Little Zenkai): 2.2 billions
Vegeta:
Base form: 800 millions
Ascended Super Saiyan: 60 billions
Healed (Little Zenkai): 850 millions
Cell:
Transformed: 140 billions
The fight with Cell and the Red Ribbon is finally over. Can the Z-fighters have a period of very-needed peace? Unlikely!