Honor Trip
(Season III)
- a Dragon Ball Z FanFiction -
Chapter Forty: Extirpation
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!
Art Update:
I am greatly pleased to announce that Roketto (RyunoOhi) has produced and posted to her deviantART account visualizations of a key setting for an Honor Trip saga to be released in the future. Check out her deviantART account to experience the awe of Frieza's homeworld, Planet Arcos.
And now, the journey continues …
Timeline IV, Earth, outskirts of Orange Star City, Age 786 …
He had been restricted within the confines of Future Cell's body when the tyrant had imperiled the innocent with death, and now, he was restricting Future Cell's body with his own restored powers, imperiling the murderer whose death Trunks was all too eager to fulfill.
Cell completely and unequivocally sympathized with what he knew to be unambiguously true – Future Cell deserved to be executed for his crimes.
For a few brief moments, in the midst of applying his mental powers to restrict the movements of Future Cell's significantly weakened imperfect form, Cell pondered the fact that had he not been blessed with an enlightened mind, he, too, likely would have died at another's hands thinking quite similar thoughts to those of his counterpart in these moments.
It was only by the grace of randomness that he had not permanently succumbed his life to the predetermined malice that Dr. Gero had earnestly wanted him to uphold. Cell acknowledged that in looking upon Future Cell while observing Trunks' phenomenal powers as a Super Saiyan 2, he was in a way observing what his end might have been like had he not had the chance to change.
But in knowing all the particulars of the situation – especially since he was indisputably more familiar than anyone else with all the horrid ways of thinking that had been imprinted on Future Cell's consciousness and which compelled his actions – Cell could not help but believe that to at least a limited extent, Future Cell did not entirely deserve this fate.
It seemed like quite some time ago, not long after righteousness had saturated his mind with wondrous ideas that he previously had not properly considered, that Gohan of the alternate past had been severely close to killing him despite his proclamation that he wished to willingly abolish his evil ways and redeem himself through benevolence. In the moments in which he had been awaiting his death by a grand Kamehameha wave, Cell earnestly had felt that while he had in many ways deserved to die for what he had done, the fact that he had never had a true degree of choice regarding his morality supported the idea that he was at least somewhat innocent and deserved to live.
However, there were stark contrasts between Future Cell's situation and what had been his own, contrasts too significant to be ignored and which would be inherently irresponsible to neglect.
Regardless of even a modicum of what could potentially be considered innocence out of acting purely through a predetermined existence, Future Cell in no way truly regretted his actions because his mind, despite all Cell had tried to do, had never been freed from Dr. Gero's programming. It would be impractical to let him have any opportunity at all to harm anyone else, which his self-centered homicidal narcissism would otherwise prompt him to do for either his advantage or sheer amusement.
Aside from Future Cell's intentions, the situation of letting Future Cell live in some form was further impractical through the fact that the bastard's actions had led to the two sets of Dragon Balls in this timeline becoming inert, such that his horrid actions could not be reversed through their use. Cell's opportunity to assist the Z-Fighters of Timeline III by using the Dragon Balls to maximize the effectiveness of their efforts to rescind the damage he had caused had been a key factor in most of their decisions to accept the sincerity and legitimacy of his desire for redemption, and for Future Cell, due to his own actions, no such opportunity was possible.
Cell relatedly wondered exactly how the Z-Fighters would have treated him had his desire for redemption been sincere but without the support of any Dragon Balls to restore the lives of all the innocents he had killed.
It assuredly would have been a much more psychologically difficult situation for them, with a high likelihood that true forgiveness would not have been afforded at all. It was even more doubtful that the people of Timeline III would have ever in a court of law forgiven Cell had the Dragon Balls not been available.
The Dragon Balls had indeed been responsible for his redeemed chance at life, but in contrast, their failure to properly function in significant ways had been largely responsible for the circumstances that had enabled his counterpart's insanity to be empowered with copious physical strength.
They had helped Cell save his soul, and had ultimately helped Future Cell capture it and send the souls of many to Otherworld who otherwise would not have died.
The consequences of his redemption were unavoidably all too clear, but at the very least, in response to his boundless regret, he could help this timeline by aiding in the eradication of the most recent malignant force that had plagued it.
Cell knew, above all else, that he was helping destroy a manifestation of who he had been and might still have been had he not been fortunate, as Future Cell had not been. It reviled Cell that Future Cell still did not view any of his own significant actions as truly wrong, and Cell shuddered at the fact that he could have been trapped by that delusion forever.
Now, though, he returned his full focus to Trunks' gaze of boundless rage, and much more prominently, to the attack he was forming.
The ground was shaking with the ferocity of the accumulating energy, and lighting was profuse throughout the vicinity, accenting the destructive forces that were being summoned on behalf of peace.
It was obvious that Trunks was taking advantage of the fact that Future Cell's movements were restricted so that he could substantially charge his attack – a wise decision, in consideration of the bastard's regenerative capabilities that had enabled him to escape death before.
His arms were straight forward and parallel to each other, with his palms slightly curved but such that his left fingers were pointing in nearly the opposite directions of those on his right hand. His wrists were not in contact with each other, since his arms were indeed parallel, and in front of his palms, a sphere of white and gold energy was becoming all the larger and more powerful.
"Everyone I ever truly cared about will be avenged by your death," Trunks said, while Future Cell's reptilian eyes remained motionless, coldly observing the situation. "In honor of all the people you murdered, you will suffer under the extreme forces of the attack I'm coalescing now, a combination of one of my own and an attack used by a hero of Timeline III, symbolizing the union of our victory over evil in that timeline with your defeat by my hands now."
As the ability of Future Cell to visibly display his arrogance was limited, and as Cell was allowing him, at this point, to at the very least talk, he spitefully responded.
"Your uncreative symbolism is boring me," Future Cell said. "I would have thought that a fighter whose parents I enjoyed killing would have sought to kill me with a more elaborate and innovative method. At least give me something dazzling to look at, not some rehashed garbage thrown hastily together in whatever the Hell it is you're planning to unleash. Where is the ingenuity you claim to possess? I don't see it."
Trunks' body began to slightly fluctuate in size, while the sphere became all the more destructive.
His concentration was intense, and Cell's suspicion as to the identity of one of the techniques became superseded by confirmation.
"You callously dishonored my father of this timeline and the alternate past by using the technique he developed in the past to kill him here," Trunks said. "In his honor, especially, I'm incorporating his Final Flash technique into this attack."
"I'm glad you were so perturbed by his death that you're foolishly relying upon a weak and poorly-designed attack like that," Future Cell said, angering Trunks further and causing him to increase the rate of his energy coalescence.
"Regardless of what you say, your death will avenge him," Trunks said, while continuing to charge the attack, with the ground still violently shaking and the thunder still violently crackling.
Future Cell's eyes turned toward Cell.
"Of course, you're just going to stand there letting him kill me while simultaneously preventing me from moving, aren't you?" Future Cell asked. "You must really hate yourself to be passively letting this happen."
"We stopped being the same person quite some relative time ago, and soon, this timeline will be permanently free from Dr. Gero's vile threats," Cell said. "You could have been something much more than you allowed yourself to be, and instead, you're still nothing more than Gero's subservient pawn. You're more pathetic than I ever was, continuing to commit yourself to despicable intentions while wasting the access I gave you to truth. Maybe in death you'll finally realize just how brainwashed you've been and how much of a fool you were to continue listening to the will of that madman."
"When I see him, we'll laugh at you together," Future Cell said.
"Hatred among idiots is meaningless," Cell said, while turning his attention toward Trunks.
The attack so far had taken much longer to charge than Vegeta's Final Flash had in the alternate past, and Cell positively viewed Trunks' decision to commit extensive time and effort into making the attack as strong as practically possible.
"At this rate, his cells will be so thoroughly destroyed that not even any of his mitochondria will remain," Cell said. "This is an inherently good idea. As you know, I tried killing this bastard once before but failed because I didn't know that I needed to destroy each of his cells. You, however, have the advantage of that knowledge."
Without turning his gaze, Trunks responded.
"I refuse to take any chances," Trunks said, while the amassing energy glowed with strength.
"And by that, you're honoring your mother," Cell said. "I'll continue restraining this scum until you're ready to launch the attack, Trunks."
Trunks nodded, while the energy coalesced further.
Five grueling minutes passed, and the energy sphere became more than two meters in diameter.
The shaking terrain gradually returned to seeming calm, while Trunks maintained the energy sphere in front of him.
Despite its size, it was teeming with a destructive force beyond any Trunks, Broly, Cell, or Future Cell had previously created, and as such, to Cell's knowledge, was the strongest energy attack that had ever been manifested in this timeline.
Trunks' knees continued to be bent, with his feet slightly more apart in distance than his shoulders, and he manipulated the sphere so that it remained in front of his palms while he moved his arms upward.
Trunks repositioned the sphere so that it was now atop his head, and his arms had remained straight all the while.
"After all that, are you really just going to be using some sort of Spirit Bomb?" Future Cell asked, deridingly. "I had thought that you would at least enable this to be a bit more exciting."
"It doesn't need to be exciting; it just needs to work," Trunks said. "Although now, if the shaking Earth, the thunderous booms, and the fact that this attack is stronger than any you ever created didn't excite you, I think you'll find that this will. And by 'excite,' I mean 'horrify.' You know you can't survive this."
"I know that you and my counterpart are fools, and that you always will be," Future Cell said.
"Enough," Trunks said. "Watch this, because it's the last thing you'll ever see while you're alive."
While maintaining the sphere it its position above his head, Trunks manipulated his energy so that from between his parallel arms, and starting a few centimeters above his head, a wall of semi-translucent golden-green energy began to form. Within the energy wall, slowly forming and slowing rising upward, were a gradually growing number of golden-white energy spheres no larger than three centimeters in diameter. The wall extended about half a meter upward from its bottom extent, such that there was recognizable space above it and below the primary energy sphere that Trunks had formed.
Then, Trunks slowly brought his arms apart from parallel, such that each was moving away from the other, and as he moved his arms, the energy wall extended, with additional energy spheres gradually forming in the new sections of the wall.
Trunks enabled his arms to spread far enough apart that they were at a right angle, together forming a "V", and with each new section of the wall, the former sections were becoming slightly brighter.
Cell then felt Trunks' energy accentuate, and the components of the energy wall began to extend upward many meters, such that without exploding the primary energy sphere, the wall passed through the sphere and extended 10 meters upward from its lowest point.
Suddenly, Trunks' energy spiked in magnitude while the lightning in his aura moved with greater celerity.
Golden-white light rapidly filled the energy wall from bottom to top, matching the primary energy sphere in visual texture and forming a configuration such that the wall contained the primary sphere toward its bottom as a noticeable bulge, now of an even greater concentration of energy in the midst of the wall, which itself had substantially increased in overall power.
Trunks briefly looked toward Cell, beckoning him to adjust Future Cell's position.
"Raise him a meter into the air so we can avoid harming the planet further," Trunks said.
Cell complied, and Future Cell's body levitated swiftly, with its extent still under Cell's rigid mental control.
Trunks then looked toward Future Cell, whose reptilian eyes were flickering with alarm at what was to come.
"For peace throughout this universe and for all time, your end has arrived," Trunks said, right before he suddenly brought the vertical configuration downward, with the configuration moving between his arms as he brought them from vertical and repositioned the "V" to make it a few degrees above parallel to the ground, such that the energy configuration now was pointing directly at Future Cell.
"Final Finish Buster!" Trunks yelled, as the primary energy sphere suddenly vaulted forward, heading straight toward Future Cell. When the sphere reached halfway to its target, the radiant energy wall rapidly expanded in vertical size and shot forward, at just under twice the speed of the sphere, with Trunks continuing to supply copious energy to the rampaging energy wave.
Almost instantaneously after the sphere bombarded into Future Cell's body, the vastly expanded energy wall collided with the sphere and then with Future Cell.
Cell maintained his mental hold on Future Cell's body while the blasts consumed him, decimating his form with forces of overwhelming destruction.
After a few moments, Cell felt his mental grip shift in nature, as so much of Future Cell's body had been consumed by the blast that there was no longer a sizable component that could be restrained with his powers. Cell couldn't sense Future Cell at all within the overpowering blast, and he saw the Final Finish Buster's luminous form reached outward beyond the sky.
Trunks maintained control of the blast and sensed it reach space, alighting the void with its destructive capability.
After a few more moments, Trunks ceased emitting further energy while maintaining his focus on the energy that had already been emitted.
In a few minutes, after he was satisfied that even the closest components of the blast had moved far enough away from Earth, Trunks released the energy of the attack, with a flare forming in space that quite quickly shined brightly and sizably in the sky.
Trunks finally let himself relax his focus, then began to breathe somewhat heavily. The attack, even for a warrior of his astounding strength, had been quite strenuous to perform, although he was proud that it had at last come to pass.
While momentarily arching forward and placing his hands on his knees to brace himself, and in the midst of one of his long breaths, he spoke.
"I can't sense him at all, can you?" he asked Cell.
Cell had been intently observing his surroundings for any potential sign of his counterpart, but for many minutes, he had not sensed even a remnant of his presence.
"I don't detect his life force within the comparative radial distance from here to the sun," Cell said. "That's about 150 million kilometers in all directions."
With part of his Super Saiyan 2 hair flowing with a calming gust of wind, Trunks took a few more breaths, while Cell pondered what Trunks was thinking.
After a few moments, and for the first time in quite some time, Trunks smiled with genuine joy.
"Now, at long last, I can finally say that it's really over, thanks to my mother, father, Gohan, and especially Goku," Trunks said, while returning his stance to one of vitality, reflective of his pride.
His smile then faded when he looked at Cell, and he was somewhat unsure of what to say.
Otherworld …
"If I had a drink right now, I'd be drinkin' it!" Master Roshi said, in the middle of the general sense of celebration that had engulfed all who were present near King Kai and who had heard the good news.
"That bastard deserved every bit of pain he experienced in that attack for what he did to my people and to yours," Moori said.
"We have Goku, especially, to thank for enabling Trunks to even have a chance of defeating Cell," Piccolo said, while he thought of all that had happened.
"His war is finally over," King Kai said. "Goku would be very proud of Trunks for managing to finally end Dr. Gero's campaign of terror."
"But what the hell is Trunks going to do with the other Cell?" Yamcha asked. "Is he really going to let that freak live after all that's happened?"
"The other Cell is a very different guy than the one who they killed," Krillin said. "He used to be a jerk, but from the limited amount of time I spent with him when I was alive again, he seemed sincere."
"I think he even tried to help me during our battle against the evil Cell," Piccolo said. "When the evil Cell communicated with me mentally, I heard someone interrupt him. That was certainly the good Cell."
"We should be thankful that this Cell is peaceful and that Earth is safe again," King Kai said.
A few meters away, Gohan was sitting on the ground in a meditative mood of solemn reflection.
"Thank you for everything, Dad …," he said.
Earth, outskirts of Orange Star City …
A few moments of further silence passed between them before Cell decided to speak.
"It's alright," Cell said, while maintaining his position. "I'm not expecting you to feel in any way comfortable with my presence as a result of all that has happened. In fact, I would completely understand if you hate me even more than you hate my counterpart."
Trunks looked at him, then sighed.
"I'd be lying if I said that I don't hate you for what happened," Trunks said. "But no, you don't deserve my complete and total rage. It's not your fault that he victimized you to become stronger."
"He represented everything I wanted to change about myself," Cell said. "You have no idea how absolutely angry I am about everything he was able to do because of me."
Trunks briefly looked toward the sky, the looked back at Cell.
"Look, Cell, as angry as I am with all the androids, the fact you helped me kill him shows where your true loyalty is," Trunks said.
"He was, like I used to be, a vicious monster that needed to be stopped," Cell said.
"And now he's rotting in Hell where he belongs," Trunks said, before adopting a more aggressive tone. "But Cell, I'm sure you've also thought of the fact that he was only able to do all he did because you were here, and that had you not been here, this would never have happened."
Cell morosely responded.
"I am more than aware of this," he said.
"I should never have listened to you about giving that freak a chance to live a life of peace," Trunks said. "You talked me into it, and look what happened."
"I had no way of knowing the consequences would be this severe," Cell said.
"We should have assumed the worst," Trunks said. "And you know what? Had Gohan killed you in the alternate past, you wouldn't have been in this timeline at all. I could have come back to my timeline, killed 17 and 18, then killed Cell before he would have had the chance to harm anyone, and my mother would have still been alive, as well as millions of other people who are now dead in a universe without Dragon Balls. And speaking of Dragon Balls, my mother and I could have eventually built a spaceship to get to Planet New Namek instead of hitching a ride with you via Instant Transmission. We could have considerably restored the lives of many whose lives had been abbreviated, like we tried to do some time ago, although obviously, all our efforts had been in vain."
"I'm … beyond sorrow for this, Trunks," Cell said.
"Your chance at redemption wasn't worth all this," Trunks said. "You were a homicidal maniac just like the bastard we killed and you deserved to die for your crimes. Yet we let you live, and because we let you live, millions of people in my timeline who didn't have to die were killed and my timeline no longer has any Dragon Balls. This didn't have to happen, and it all happened because we decided to spare you. Your enlightenment wasn't worth my universe being ripped apart by a war far more severe than the one you waged in the alternate past and certainly more severe than the one waged by 17 and 18 in this timeline. Millions of people didn't deserve to die. And you didn't deserve to live."
For many moments, Trunks stared directly into Cell's eyes, before turning away.
"The remaining people of Earth deserve to live in at least some sort of peace," Trunks said, while powering down from Super Saiyan 2 and reentering his normal state. "But now, we both need to think about the most effective way to begin the rebuilding process."
"I'm going to travel around the planet assisting those who need help," Cell said. "Are you going to do the same?"
"It would be the right thing to do," Trunks said. "We'll need to – "
A beam of energy shot straight through Trunks' chest, creating a hole about 10 centimeters in diameter and absolutely interrupting him.
Cell couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Future Cell, with the aura of his Super Perfect form howling wildly, had suddenly appeared with a Full-Power Death Beam already fully-charged, then had struck Trunks when he was off-guard.
"You missed one," Future Cell said, while walking forward and beginning to chuckle at Trunks' expense.
Trunks stumbled wildly and dropped to the ground, such that he now was facing Cell and Future Cell. He instantly became horrified upon seeing the two of them simultaneously, realizing the sordid truth of what had happened. His breathing was rapid and weak, and despite all he had accomplished, he could barely move because of the devastating attack.
As Future Cell continued to walk toward Trunks, with his malicious anticipation all-too-apparent, Cell quickly shifted in front of Future Cell in an attempt to prevent him from further approaching Trunks, only to have the diabolic devil punch him swiftly in the stomach with one hand while holding his back with the other and standing firm, intensifying the effect.
Cell immediately coughed up an abundance of blood, realizing that somehow, despite their efforts, Future Cell had managed to become even stronger than he had been before.
"You … but …," Cell began to say while weakly standing, before needing to pause to breathe.
"Surprised?" Future Cell asked, while his aura crackled with lightning. "You shouldn't be. We already learned as a result of my first near-death regeneration that Dr. Gero made our design superior even to what we had thought possible. Now I can confirm that our design is truly perfect."
While Cell tried to stand, Trunks observed the scene with bewildered sorrow.
Tears began to form in his eyes, while he was still struggling to breathe.
Future Cell noticed this and grinned.
"I have achieved a greater level of power than I ever possessed before, and the two of you are now bedraggled weaklings compared to me," he said. "Your grand effort to stop me merely made me stronger. As I know the secret to this strength, I shall eradicate you, my counterpart, before you have the chance to discover it. And as for you, Trunks, you are going to enable me to fulfill my dreams of ultimate perfection after all."
As Future Cell began to march forward again, Cell jumped backward and entered a fighting stance, unaware of exactly what Future Cell was intending, but resolute to protect Trunks at all costs.
Cell realized that Instant Transmission evidently had somehow been involved in Future Cell's effort to stay alive, and that if he was to try and instant transmit with Trunks now, Future Cell would be far too likely to find them. Cell contemplated instant transmitting Trunks to Otherworld, but that would reveal King Kai's position to Future Cell, and –
Cell gasped in horror upon realizing what Future Cell was likely planning.
Future Cell noticed the shift in his counterpart's expression, and his maniacal laughter filled both Cell and Trunks with further dread.
Thanks so much for reading Chapter Forty!
Up next: The war between the heroes of Earth and the malevolent Future Cell reaches its grand conclusion! With the gap in their powers vastly widened, can Cell somehow manage to defeat his sadistic counterpart, or will Future Cell's ferocious fervor prove ultimately victorious? What of the forces of Otherworld? Be sure to stay tuned for the special two-chapter finale to this tumultuous conflict, to be presented back-to-back:
Chapter Forty-One, "Reflection," is scheduled to be released on Saturday, May 12, 2012, by 5:00 p.m. - U.S. Eastern Standard Time, (10:00 p.m. - Coordinated Universal Time [UTC])
AND THEN, Chapter Forty-Two, "Justice," is scheduled to be released THE FOLLOWING DAY, on Sunday, May 13, 2012, by 5:00 p.m. - U.S. Eastern Standard Time, (10:00 p.m. - Coordinated Universal Time [UTC])
This special two-chapter conclusion to the War Against Future Cell will then be followed, the weekend of June 2, by the double-chapter finale to Season Three!
And then, my friends, we'll be moving forward to Season Four!
In fun and fanfiction,
American Vigor
Chapter Forty: Completed April 21, 2012
Edit Credit: Genescritor
Art Credit: Ruga-Rell
Art Credit: Roketto
