The Saiyan of Namek
Chapter 24: Amusement Park Battle; Raijin vs Imperfect Cell
Raijin had flown to a stop alongside Tien and Piccolo; the three standing in a triangle formation; Raijin clenching his fists; frustration rising as all his fights until now he had lost or fought to a draw like he had with Vegeta; opening his mouth to speak before Tien cut him off.
"Raijin, what's wrong?" Tien asked; his voice hinted with concern.
"I think we should split up; each one of us goes to a place full of people; masking their powers so Cell doesn't sense us, and then we're there when he attacks the populace" Raijin explained; trying to hide a desire to fight Cell himself.
Piccolo quickly noticed Raijin's hidden desires; though he didn't want to let Raijin have his way since he knew exactly what Cell was capable of, "It's dangerous to fight Cell alone; but splitting up is out of the question".
"Why do you want to split up? Wouldn't it be better if we fought Cell as a group?" Tien added further to Piccolo's shut down of Raijin's intentions.
"We can still fight him as a group; if one of us found him; we could power up to our maximum so the others could sense it; keep Cell busy until we all are present; and destroy Cell as a team" Raijin explained; "And by splitting up we can cover a greater area".
Tien and Piccolo looked to each other; a long moment of silence passed between the two as they kept Raijin waiting for the answer.
"Very well Raijin; you can go, but Tien and I will stay together… just be careful and if you find lots of random clothes left abandoned on the ground; it means Cell has been there or is near." Piccolo spoke, his voice solemn; looking at Raijin as if he was seeing his friend for the final time.
Raijin's smile beamed with happiness; glad to be allowed to chase Cell on his own; his white aura flaring up as he charged off into the distance; chasing after Cell on his own while Piccolo and Tien would follow to the closest settlement; Nicki Town.
Raijin flew for another two hours; dropping down and out of the sky, landing in the middle of an Amusement Park; but it was strange, normally Amusement Parks were rife with people clambering to ride Roller Coasters; children eating candy floss; begging their parents to let them ride the Carrousel; but this Amusement Park was empty; not a sound to be heard; only the abandoned clothes that lay strewn over the ground, on benches, on the Tea Cups Ride as well as every other ride present.
Raijin was instantly on his guard; keeping his power levels low so not to be sensed, his dark eyes scoping around; trying to catch even the slightest sight of Cell; a shadow or the whip of his tail.
Suddenly hearing a woman's scream; Raijin looked for the source, jumping upwards and floating just high enough to scope out; hearing another scream only this time from a man; picking up on the source and flying headlong into the Hall of Mirrors.
Crashing through the ceiling and into the Hall of Mirrors; Raijin was struck with fear as he was faced by the multiple reflections of Cell; his tall green form changed to blue in the poor lighting within the Hall, faced with a man and a woman Cell had been preying on with the intent of absorbing them both into his being; raising his right hand and firing a ki blast through a wall of mirrors and through the exterior wall; creating an exit for the pair, "Hurry, Run".
The couple didn't have a moment to spare; Cell came charging out from the darkness with an alarming hiss; eager to absorb the two humans only to be met with a spinning back-hand strike from Raijin; Raijin's fist colliding with Cell's beak-like mouth, buying enough time for the couple to flee the Hall of Mirrors and regain their safety; the woman shouting her thanks as she fled.
"You will pay for interrupting my hunt" Cell spoke; his voice a hissing sound that sent shivers down Raijin's spine.
Raijin gritted his teeth and clenched his fists; letting out a shout as he transformed into a Super Saiyan, the shockwave he unleashed cracked or shattered all the mirrors surrounding himself and Cell.
"Oh, another Saiyan; no matter; I can already sense you're not strong enough to face me" Cell's beak-like mouth curled into a smile; the sight un-nerved Raijin.
"That punch seemed to leave an impact though" Raijin retorted; smiling in the face of great evil.
"You merely took me by surprise; nothing more, nothing less" Cell retorted back; hissing as he charged, stabbing at Raijin with his tail; the razor-sharp stinger narrowly missing Raijin as he backflipped to gain some distance.
Raijin kept up his guard; having to worry not only about Cell's fists and kicks; but that Tail too.
Cell attacked again, swiping with his tail, following up with a forward punch; Raijin easily dodging the Stinger by dodging to his left; Cell's punch hitting Raijin's right shoulder.
Raijin knelt and closed in for his signature move; a point-blank ki blast, smiling as he closed into Cell's monstrous body.
"Point-blank; really? What a waste" Cell spoke; smiled with his hissing voice; his four sharp teeth bared.
Raijin ceased his attack at the last possibly moment; Cell's tail striking him in his ribs while the stinger slashed across Raijin's white tunic; an acid burning a trail across the clothes.
"Well Raijin; you seem capable, but you are not strong enough to defeat me" Cell spoke, his hissing voice reminiscing of that vile mocking tone Vegeta or Frieza spoke in.
"How do you know my name?" Raijin asked; being put off-guard for only a split moment.
"Oh, its very simple; in the Timeline I came from, you had been killed by Android 18; but Gero's Supercomputer still had data on you and your techniques" Cell spoke again, informing Raijin on why and how the monster knew him.
"Time Travel is weird" Raijin remarked to himself; flinching as he felt a burning on his arm and chest
Raijin quickly shed the tunic; tossing it to the ground; witnessing the acid burn his tunic to nothing; grimacing at the horror Cell continued to exude with his myriad of powers, Raijin chose a hasty retreat; flying off the ground he stood on and fleeing the Hall of Mirrors leaving Cell inside; still smiling and staring at Raijin with an intense interest.
Raijin brought up his hands for a ki blast; yelling at he fired the yellow blast from both hands "Masenko ha!".
Cell fired a ki blast of a yellow colour exactly the same as Raijin's own; the two beams colliding and exploding the same instant, the Hall of Mirrors crumbling to nothing but shattered glass and rubble in a matter of moments, Cell came rushing out; his tail raised like the pincer of a scorpion.
Raijin smiled in the face of the monster; dodging to the right to dodge the stinger; raising both his forearms to punch Cell's left haymaker punch; the impact sending Raijin sliding backwards on his feet; causing the concrete to crack under the force.
Raijin span out from under Cell; leaping from the ground to the top of the Ferris Wheel, raising his left hand; tracing up the length of his right arm; his ki crackling like lightning as he prepared his ultimate ki blast.
"Zeus Storm Cannon!" Raijin roared; his blast roared like a bolt of thunder as it was fired; a golden yellow current of energy that forked and edged like a thunder bolt; he blast strikes Cell with all of its force and impact; the path of the blast tearing through the concrete and obliterated the Pirate Ship and Carrousel in its path; the cloud of destruction leaving no visible sign of Cell.
"I did it, I defeated Cell" Raijin spoke to himself; allowing himself that pat on the back as he slumped to the ruined pathways; the golden light fading from his hair; reverting out of his Super Saiyan form.
"I'd check again if I were you, Saiyan" the hissing voice resounded from the rubble; Cell stood as he emerged from the dust; missing his left arm; left wing and his right hand; letting out a shout as he regenerated all of his missing body parts as well as his wing; each dripping with his acidic liquids.
Raijin grit his teeth; he'd poured everything into that blast, a swell of anger at his own weakness; realising what Piccolo had meant… Piccolo was stronger than a Super Saiyan now and even he was not able to defeat Cell; and Cell got stronger with every victim he absorbed, he'd need to ascend like Vegeta was trying to, and he needed to do so either now or very soon.
Raijin's black hair stood up once again; powering up to Super Saiyan, his rage tuning his blood into a boiling flow; his rage giving Raijin power.
Cell stopped; his smile dropping from his beak; watching Raijin; Raijin felt the full power of a Super Saiyan course through him; his hair and aura blazing with a golden radiance; smiling at Cell as Raijin had not felt the power of a Rage-Boost since he'd fought Frieza one-on-one.
Launching at Cell with his Rage-Boosted powers; Raijin smirked as he landed a punch into Cell's chest; forcing the monster to drop to one knee, Raijin sliding on his heels; spinning around Cell's knelt down figure and delivering a swift heel drop onto Cell's head.
Groaning with pain from Raijin's two strikes Cell rose back up to his feet; his pink eyes looking for Raijin who had vanished, dropping from the top of the Ferris Wheel; stomping down on Cell's head and bringing the monster crashing into the concrete under its very feet.
Raijin powered down again; the brief power-up vanishing from his body; panting for breath after the trio of seriously physical attacks; glaring at the crater he'd left Cell in after his still-incomplete Shock Drop Attack.
Raijin allowed himself a smile as he sensed the energies of Piccolo, Tien as well as Krillin; the four Z Fighters arriving to his aid; Piccolo quickly spotting Cell laying in the crater; shooting Raijin with a surprised look.
"How did you manage this?" Krillin asked before Piccolo could, Krillin earning a glare from Piccolo
"I'm not quite sure myself" Raijin dropped to his knees; exhausted from Cell's ferocious attacks and his Rage-Boost; only now noticing the acid burn on his left bicep and chest.
"Don't count me out just yet, SOLAR FLARE!" Cell screeched; leaping from the crater with a shriek; using one of Tien's techniques yet again to ensure his escape from the Z Fighters.
The Solar Flare blinded everyone but Piccolo and Tien; both of whom anticipated Cell's trick; witnessing the monster fly further to the east.
Piccolo immediately began yelling for all to hear; "Tien and I will chase after Cell; everyone else go to Kame House and transport Goku somewhere safer; The Androids will search for him there, my suggestion would be The Lookout" With those words spoke; he and Tien flew off the continue chasing after Cell.
Raijin and Krillin stayed on the ground; waiting for their eyes to recover; once they had Krillin gave Raijin a long look; "You're going to catch a cold with no shirt".
Krillin lifted off his orange gi; thankfully he still wore the blue weighted t-shirt; Raijin put the gi on; the size was rather small for him and hug his frame tightly.
"You know… orange looks good on you, not as good as it does on Goku though" Krillin remarked.
Raijin smiled; often enjoying Krillin's remarks, taking in a deep breath and lifting off the ground in flight.
Krillin nodded and did the same; "Come on; The Androids could arrive there at any time; we need to be there to defend Goku".
Raijin gave a nod; the two flew off and headed east; both trying to reach Kame house before The Androids did.