Man, is this late or what? Hey, guys, Liz here. So, I know this chapter is late, but I've been busy. It's the end of the semester, which means final projects, papers, and exams are flying at my head faster than I can comprehend. So just to let you all know, I might go on hiatus until the middle of May with both this main story and the Divergent Paths. However, Chinku's birthday is this Tuesday coming up, so I might try and get out a small side story with her. If not, maybe I'll draw something. Who knows. I guess we'll see how it goes. (More info at the end of the chapter).
Anyway, last we left off, the Z-fighters had arrived on the scene of the Cell games. How will it all go down? Find out now!
The Son Squad Ch.59
As the Z-fighters stood there next to the ring, 16, who was on the other side, started walking towards them. He said nothing until he was right next to the group and smiled towards Gohan, Chiyo, and Krillin. "Good to see you again, 16," Krillin greeted. "You look like a new man, er, android."
"I owe you a great deal of gratitude for helping me," 16 expressed to Krillin. "Without your intervention, I would not have been repaired."
"Yeah, well, it wasn't that big a deal," Krillin replied. He kind of thought Goku would have done the same thing. And any extra help in this fight would be needed for sure.
Goku glanced over his shoulder towards 16 and slightly turned his head as he looked up at the big android. He wasn't what Goku thought he'd be, and technically speaking, this was his first time seeing a newer android other than Cell. In a way, 16 kind of reminded Goku of Eighter from his childhood, and from what Goku remembered from Chinku, 16 was a quiet yet gentle soul, just like Eighter. Wanting to test to see if 16 was as kind as he was led to believe, Goku walked over to the android and held his hand out for a handshake. "Best of luck to you," Goku told the large android.
Instead of taking his hand to shake like Goku expected 16 to do, the red-headed android glared at him. "I cannot accept," He told Goku, a slight growl coming from him as he did so. "I was built for the sole purpose of destroying you. You would be wise to remember that."
Well, that answered that. Guess Goku wasn't going to be making friends with another android anytime soon. Oh well, it was time to get down to business anyway. Cracking his knuckles and stretching his arms out, Goku spoke aloud to everyone else: "You guys don't mind me stepping in first to fight Cell, do ya?" He asked the others, who all looked at him like he had two heads or something, except Vegeta, who looked more annoyed than anything else.
Cell smirked at the proposition. He liked the idea of not dealing with the small fries and getting to the main bought of strength. It meant he wouldn't have to waste time and energy fighting the others. This was sure to push him and Goku to their limits.
"Goku, are you sure about this?" Trunks asked, concerned at why Goku would want to go first.
"We don't need to go in guns blazing, do we?" Chibiko questioned her Father as she tried to figure out what his strategy was by doing this.
Ignoring the questions from the two future fighters, Goku glanced over his shoulder and looked to Vegeta. "Well, what do you think, Vegeta?" Goku asked his rival.
"Do what you want to do," Vegeta replied, barely even looking at Goku while his arms were crossed over his chest. He didn't care what order the fighting would go since it would end the same. "Just know that I'll be the one to finish the job."
"Welp, the prince has spoken, people," Daichi shrugged, trying to relax his somewhat shocked nerves. He didn't like the idea of his Dad being the first one to fight Cell, but he still trusted his Father's judgment, at least for now. "Kick his ass, Pops."
"Hey, who said you all could decide who goes first?!" Mr. Satan shouted from the arena. He couldn't believe he was being ignored. Didn't these chumps know who he was? He was the world champion, gosh darn it!
Trying to figure things out more, the reporter standing next to Mr. Satan walked over to the Z-fighters, mic in hand, and asked them outright the same question most of the people watching were wanting to know; "Um, excuse me, but are all of you really going to be competing as well?" He asked.
"That's right. Well, some of us are," Goku answered, so no one else had to.
Hearing this seemed to infuriate Mr. Satan, and he said as much to Goku and the others. He spouted off how the Z-fighters had no idea what they were stepping into and how he was the greatest thing since sliced bread. It was a wonder to the group of recent arrivals how Cell hadn't decided to just kill the guy right then and there. At about halfway through his little speech, half the group either tuned him out or just looked on in wonder how this guy was "the champ of the people."
"He really thinks he's all that, huh?" Chibi mumbled as she glared at Mr. Satan. "I say let him go first. If worse comes to worst, we bring him back with the dragon balls. Otherwise, can we just get this whole thing started?"
"Don't you think that's a little bit heartless, Chibi?" Gohan questioned his future sister, slightly concerned by her callous remarks.
Chibi shrugged. "It's not like he'll listen to us anyway. Stupid is as stupid does, Gohan. Just let the guy fight. He'll last a minute at most, then we can get on to the real deal."
"I think you're giving him too much credit, sis," Daichi commented, smirking a bit. "At most, it'll take probably thirty seconds."
"What did you punks say?!" Mr. Satan shouted. How dare these young punks to say that about him! He'd show them what for!
(Insert pointless Mr. Satan fight here because I really don't want to have to write all that out, and I'm sure most of you don't want to waste time reading it).
Everyone watched as Mr. Satan was smacked into the mountain by Cell. No one thought he'd survive the attack, but somehow, he walked away with a bump on his head and no broken bones. (Okay, so maybe he was tougher than they all thought because that simple attack from Cell should've killed him for sure).
"Enough of this nonsense," Cell remarked, looking over to the Z-fighters. He merely entertained the afro-fool (no offense to people with afros, I swear), and that was it. Now, he wanted to get down to the meat and potatoes of it all. "Let's get on with it. Which of you will be my real first opponent? Any of you are welcome to step into the ring."
"All right, then," Goku said, stepping foot onto the ring with a confident smirk on his face. A shiver of excitement went down his spine as he stepped up to take on Cell. He couldn't wait to put all that training to the test. "I'm ready, Cell."
As Goku stepped onto the arena, the Z-fighters felt the tension they did before the Mr. Satan nonsense. Goku was really about to square off Cell. The four Son kids looked between each other as they watched their Father get closer to Cell. A part of them wanted to shout at their Dad to come back, but they all knew that there was no way to convince him out of it.
All right, Pops, I've backed you up so far. Let's see what's made you so relaxed, Daichi thought as he clenched his fists at his side. He was hoping, praying that his Dad had a good reason to be so calm, but there was still a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that something was going to go wrong. How he hoped his instincts were wrong.
"So then, you'll go first?" Cell questioned as Goku got down in a fighting stance. A bit of an unconventional choice, but who was he to complain? He didn't make a rule about who would go first, and besides, he knew how it would go with the others. All Cell cared about was testing himself against Goku. Everybody else was small fries. "I thought you'd want to save the best for last, but if this is what you want, I guess we'll make this tournament go by more quickly."
Goku smirked back at Cell. "We'll see about that," He remarked back with the same calmness he had been showing off to everyone else. "And from what I've heard, you've got some of our techniques."
"Something like that," Cell snidely stated back, getting into his own fighting stance. This was going to be fun.
Everyone waited in breathless anticipation about who would throw the first punch. Would it be Cell or Goku? Then, without missing a beat, Goku charged at Cell, throwing the first kick and punches towards Cell, who easily dodged out of his way. Cell then threw his own attacks at Goku, who just as easily avoided as well. Both were moving at a speed that no ordinary human could track, but all the Z-fighters were able to watch as Goku and Cell exchanged blows between each other. Each move was more precise and calculated than the last. Goku even managed to knock Cell off balance and almost got him out of the ring. Still, if it were that easy to beat Cell, then everyone wouldn't have been so worried. Cell simply floated back onto the ring and smirked. No way was he losing on a technicality.
"Of course, it wouldn't be that easy to get him," Chibi mumbled to herself while standing next to Chiyo. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared as Cell smirked at Goku.
"You think Cell would stop if he did get knocked out like that?" Chiyo questioned Chibi, a few beads of sweat visible on her face as she turned to ask her sister.
Chibi shrugged. "Who knows," Chibi replied. "He didn't kill that Mr. Satan guy after he got knocked out, so there's that. But then again, it was like he wasn't even there by Cell's account. If you want my opinion, though, even if he fell out of the ring, the fight wouldn't be over: he'd still be an issue we'd have to deal with."
"Yeah…I thought so," Chiyo sighed. She knew very well the only way to stop Cell was to kill him, but doing so would require her Dad to push himself beyond what he was doing right now. Please, Dad, beat him, Chiyo thought as she slightly glanced over to see Gohan staring at his Father like she had been.
The battle was soon taken to the air for a brief moment before being brought down to the ring. Nothing major was going down, though; both Cell and Goku exchanged what amounted to be shallow hits and kicks to each other, not giving each other any real damage. Gohan even pointed out as much as Goku was sent smashing down to the ring but not sustaining any actual injury: "What is Dad doing?" He questioned aloud. "If he was fighting like he meant it, he wouldn't be this sloppy."
"Wait, what?" Trunks questioned after hearing this. Goku was fighting sloppy? He couldn't tell, considering this was his first time seeing Goku fight.
Vegeta smirked after hearing this confirmation from Gohan. He thought it seemed like Kakarot was off his game, but it was just his rival's way of accessing the Cell. I thought that's what Kakarot was up to, Vegeta thought to himself. And Cell's doing the same as well.
"If this is Goku just assessing Cell, then it makes me a bit nervous to think about what he could be holding back," Krillin stated, slightly tugging at the collar of his shirt after hearing this.
"Now then, I think our warm-ups have gone on long enough," Cell said to Goku as he came back down to the ground. "Shall we actually push ourselves a little bit further?"
"Yeah," Goku replied and nodded. Then, with a quick crouch down, Goku began to charge himself up, the familiar golden aura a super saiyan usually has no surrounding his body as he began to charge up his power. Each second that he stood there charging himself up sent shivers down the spines of the on-looking Z-fighters.
"Damn you, Kakarot," Vegeta muttered under his breath as he felt Kakarot's power grow more and more. He didn't think the lower-class saiyan had that much energy hidden inside. It nearly dwarfed his own.
"It's just continuing to rise," Piccolo commented as he watched it all unfold in front of him.
"Has Pops really been hiding all of this the entire time?" Daichi questioned as the power continued to grow and grow.
"Is it enough?" Chibi questioned, sweat dripping down her face as she watched the scene with wide eyes.
Off to the side, Gohan looked over to Chiyo, not saying a word to her as he did so. She looked over to him, and she noticed that he was unfazed by what he was seeing. Then he turned his attention back to the fight. Gohan didn't think this was all Dad had within him. It couldn't really be all that he had because his Father had been nothing but calm about everything. If he was so calm, he had to have more power than what he showed to everyone else. There had to be something more if they wanted to beat Cell.
Then, a single burst of energy came from Goku, kicking up dirt and dust in all directions and nearly knocking some of the weaker onlookers down. There was no denying the power that Goku had. It was unlike anything anyone had felt before, and it was terrifying in a way to think that Goku could have that kind of strength hidden under the nice-guy attitude he had for the past few days.
As everything slowly died down, Cell smirked and decided to let loose his own power. Now, this was something else; his power almost did knock Krillin off his feet and sent fear into the hearts of everyone who witnessed the display. The others watched, most of them shaking, as the dust and dirt settled. Gohan remained stone-faced as he looked between his Father and Cell. Come on, Dad, Gohan thought to himself as Cell now had the same aura as a super saiyan.
A lump began to form in Chiyo's throat as she watched her Dad smirk and begin to walk over towards Cell. Her Father was strong; there was no denying that, but she got the feeling that it might not be enough. I hope he knows what he's doing, Chiyo thought.
That's when Goku quickly struck Cell in the chest and then sent him flying with an attack from behind. It was shocking to watch, but relieving for the others to see Cell was not as invincible as everyone thought he would be. Cell was able to bounce back from it, but there was still a sense that they could win this. Soon, the duo was going toe-to-toe, matching each other blow-for-blow. At some point, they were both only appearing for nanoseconds before almost disappearing entirely. Their speed was nearly impossible to watch. It was only when they came down from their escapades in the sky that they were able to be spotted again.
Even though it seemed like things were finally going their way, Cell laughing sent everyone back to an uneasy state. Everyone's suspicions were confirmed when he split himself into four separate beings, momentarily shocking everyone and raising the anxiety level up a few notches. Goku didn't let it get to him too much, though, because he quickly took them down before they could cause any real damage, putting Cell back into one being. Things got dicey when he tried firing a full-powered Kamehameha at Goku, threatening the integrity of the planet. Still, Goku was able to get the attack directed at him in the air before anyone could get hurt. (Thank goodness for instant transmission).
"Well, wasn't that an interesting little trick?" Cell remarked as Goku came back to face him on the ground. "Not a scratch on you."
"Instant transmission will do that for you," Goku replied. "But tell me something, Cell: if I hadn't flown up into the sky, would you still have fired the attack even though it could've destroyed the Earth?"
Cell chuckled. "Possibly. But I also knew you had no choice but to go to the air. You fail to understand, Goku; if the Earth is destroyed in the process of our fight, then so be it!" And with that proclamation, Cell picked up speed and started tossing Goku around like he was a rag doll. Goku could barely keep up as Cell landed blow after blow on him. The brief look of fear on his face said it all to the others.
Watching the incident on the TV from home, Chinku felt the hairs on the back of her head standing up as she watched her Dad continue to fight Cell. She could barely keep up with all the moves he and Cell were dealing to each other, and the camera sure as heck wasn't helping capture the scope of the fight. She had to rely a lot on sensing the action from where she was. Every time Cell and her Dad hit each other, she felt it, like she was the one receiving the damage.
Glancing to the side, Chinku saw her Mother and noticed the look of worry on her face as she sat in front of the TV with little Chibi in her arms and little Daichi gripping her arm as he watched the TV.
"I-I can't tell if your Father is winning or not," Chi-Chi admitted as dust covered the primary lens of the camera. Her nerves were shot as the fight raged on. She wanted to scream at her husband to quit before it was too late, but she knew he wouldn't hear her. All she wanted was for this to be over. She couldn't stand this constant back and forth between her husband and Cell. Something had to give.
Chinku wished she could be there with her friends and family instead of staying at home. Every time an energy signature slightly changed, she thought that that would be the straw to break the camel's back. Why couldn't she be there? If she had the option, she'd leave right then and there and be at the arena in about half an hour at the least. But there's no way she could do it without her mother noticing. "Daddy, you just gotta win," Chinku mumbled to herself as Cell, and her Father continued to clash until they ended up floating in the air once more. They were too far away for the camera to pick anything up, but something about the whole thing seemed ominous.
Then, Goku shouted loud enough just for the camera to pick up, "GET AWAY FROM THE RING! CELL'S ABOUT TO DESTROY IT!"
Goku and Cell were going at it without the ring and its restrictions, full force; no holds bar style. Each strike was deadlier than the last. All the others could do was watch on in both awe and horror as each attack hit its mark. The two opponents seemed to be slowly winding one another down, but it was clear that Goku was the one taking more of a beating than Cell. He was nowhere near done, yes, but each attack seemed to knock Goku down a peg.
After a ruthless set of energy blasts hitting him, Goku took to the air and glared down at Cell with such anger and contempt.
"Uh, anyone has any idea what he's planning on doing from up there?" Krillin questioned as he looked up at his best friend. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say Goku was-"
"Ka, me," Goku growled as he cupped his hands together in a familiar pose. He was so loud that everyone from the ground could hear him clear as day.
"H-He's not doing what I think he's doing, is he?!" Yamcha squeaked out.
"A Kamehameha?! He couldn't be!" Piccolo yelled, his body slightly shaking at the prospect of Goku actually doing what he thought he'd do.
"You're bluffing!" Cell shouted at Goku, thinking that there'd be no way Goku would go through with this. "There's no way you'd blast off an attack that could risk destroying the planet."
"Ha, me," Goku continued, showing no signs of stopping, making Cell second guess himself.
"…H-He's really gonna do it," Gohan stuttered out, showing his actual first instance of fear this entire time.
"Now, I'm no expert here, but firing from that kind of angle…won't that take the Earth out along with Cell?" Daichi nervously said as he watched his Father floating from above.
"He's lost his mind!" Chibi shouted. She could feel the power growing more and more as her Dad continued to prepare his attack. Her heart was racing as she thought about what this could do if it went off. "Dad, don't!"
Then, in a quick flash, Goku disappeared and then just as quickly reappeared at Cell's side, pointing his attack at him from an upwards angle. Cell had no time to move. "HA!" Goku shouted, letting out the attack and blasting the upper half of Cell's body clean off. All that was left of Cell was the lower half of his body from the waist down. After firing off the attack, Goku was panting heavily. That attack had winded him more than he thought it would. His lungs felt like they were on fire, but he got it under control when he thought Cell wasn't going to get back up from having his upper body blown off.
"Goku did it!" Tien proclaimed aloud after the dust settled. No way Cell could come back from an attack like that. It was all over now.
However, the others didn't seem too convinced. After all, they all could sense energy still coming from Cell. Then, without warning, the lower part of Cell jumped up, and, in an absolutely disgusting display, his upper portion just popped out. Why couldn't things just be easy for once? Why couldn't the bad guy stay down after having half his body blown up?
Knowing there was nothing else he could do but get back at it, Goku sprung back into action against Cell, who wasn't at as much power as he was before. Both fighters were fighting at such ferocity that the Earth literally began to shake and beneath them. They both were panting after a while, but Goku looked to be the more winded of the two. He was starting to lose energy at a pace that made everyone else nervous. But if he was losing power and stamina, that could only mean bad news. Still, Goku persisted with his attacks, putting Cell on the ropes at one point with a barrage of energy blasts that seemed to signify that Cell was done for. If only Cell didn't have a force field, I could confidently say that Goku had beat Cell.
Goku knew he wasn't doing so well. After that last attack failed, he knew there wasn't much else he could do. He was winded for sure. His lungs hadn't hurt this bad since his fight with Frieza all those years ago. Even the heart virus that almost killed him didn't make his body hurt like this.
"Looks like your power just dropped, Goku," Cell stated from the air above as Goku went to the ground. "I suggest you eat one of those little senzu beans to keep up."
"That's actually a good idea," Trunks said aloud. He hated agreeing with Cell, but this would be the one exception. This could be their shot to take down Cell. "Krillin, toss Goku a senzu bean; then we can all take on Cell at once!"
"That might actually work," Yamcha said after hearing Trunks' suggestion. He'd feel better fighting Cell with the others if Goku was back to full health.
Krillin, however, didn't do it. He wanted Goku to be back to full strength, but there was no way he'd ask for the bean. Krillin knew his friend too well to know that Goku would fight without relying on a somewhat cheap trick like that to win.
"Krillin, what are you doing? Come on-" Trunks shouted at Krillin.
"That's enough, Trunks!" Vegeta interrupted his future son, catching everyone's attention. He glared daggers Trunks' way, angered that his offspring didn't get what was at stake. "Kakarot has neither asked nor wanted any help. You spit on your saiyan pride with that nonsense of yours. Win or lose, this is his fight."
"It's not just his fight, though! The entire planet is at stake here!" Chibiko shouted back at Vegeta. Who cared about pride when this could be their chance to end this. "We should take the opportunity to finish this!"
"…He won't take it, Chibi," Daichi finally spoke up, gaining his sister's attention. Daichi stared down at his Dad as he panted there, knowing his Father was too proud to take the senzu bean. "Pops is gonna go out his own way. I hate it, too, but that's just the reality of the situation."
Chibi gritted her teeth, unable to comprehend how pride was more important than saving the Earth. Pride was what got Cell into his perfect form; pride was what created the androids; pride is what got the fighters of the future killed. What good was it if all it did was wind up killing people?
"But he can't win if things keep up the way they're going," Trunks finally said.
"No question about it," Vegeta agreed. "Kakarot's going to lose."
A sense of shock swept through the Z-fighters as they heard this. No one wanted to actually admit it, but Vegeta was right. At this rate, Goku was going to lose. The thought was unnerving. He had to win. If not, then what?! If Goku couldn't take down Cell, then who could?!
Chiyo had a sneaking suspicion on who that would be. Please, don't let it be who I think it'll be, she thought to herself as she glanced over to Gohan and Piccolo, who was standing to her right before looking down at her Dad. Dad, you promised…
Then, right before everyone's eyes, Goku powered done but still remained in his super saiyan form. He smiled before saying, "I'm done. I'm throwing in the towel. We'll call it here. Now that I've fought you, I've realized I can't win, Cell."
"He what?!" Everyone practically shouted after hearing this. Goku, calling it quits?! Impossible! There had to be more to this! He couldn't just quit!
"What is he thinking?!" Piccolo growled. Was this some sort of trick he was pulling? He couldn't be serious!
Cell was just as shocked as the others. Goku was giving up? That couldn't be. Cell was sure Goku still had some fight left in him. This was supposed to be his and Goku's ultimate battle, one where only warrior was left standing! "You mean to tell me you're giving up before we've even begun?!" Cell shouted at Goku, still trying to comprehend how the saiyan warrior could be calling it quits.
"That's right," Goku nodded.
"You're serious, aren't you?" Cell was starting to believe it. Goku must have been out of it, but if that's the case, he could just blow up the planet right then and there. Surely there'd be more opponents he could fight out in space. "Well, if that's the case, Goku, I hope you're prepared to accept the consequences. I'll reduce this planet to rubble since there's no one else who will challenge me."
"Not so fast, Cell. This isn't over, yet," Goku stated to the bio-android. "Just because I'm giving up doesn't mean the tournament's over. You've still got a fight on your hands."
"Are you joking?" Glancing over to the mountains, Cell looked between all the Z-fighters. He guessed he could get a decent fight from Vegeta and Trunks- maybe even Chibiko and Daichi if they trained with their Father like he suspected they had- but none of them were capable of giving him the fight he had craved from Goku. "Don't tell me one of those pitiful specimens is going to fight me. Trunks, Vegeta, Piccolo, Daichi, Chibiko; none of them stand a chance against me."
"Look, if you want, I'll pick the next fighter for you." There was no hint of worry from Goku. He seemed utterly confident in what he was doing. "I know they'll do better than I did."
What is Kakarot thinking? Vegeta thought as he looked down at the lower-class warrior. Kakarot had a gift for fighting, and he was claiming to be no match for Cell. What made him think anyone else would be able to take the android down?
Rolling his eyes, Cell finally agreed to go along with this little game of Goku's. He'd humor the guy for a bit and see what he was really up to. "Fine, Goku. Who is it, then? Who will be my next opponent?"
Chiyo's stomach dropped as she knew all too well who it'd be. She knew exactly who her Dad was going to pick to finish this fight. She wanted to shout at the top of her lungs at her Dad to reconsider, but she knew it'd be no good; his mind was made up. He's gonna say it. He's gonna say-
"It's time for you to jump in, Chiyo!"
"HUH?!"
Yep, I'm leaving it off on a cliffhanger. I know, I'm awful. Can Chiyo handle herself against Cell? What is Goku thinking by sending her in next? Find out next time on, the Son Squad.
So I know I kind of glossed over Goku's fight with Cell, which is also why this chapter is so late since I had a hard time trying to figure out how I wanted to handle this, but also, nothing really changes in the fight. He might be slightly more winded, but that's about it. I know some people might be upset with this, but I just don't think dragging it all out will make it very interesting since nothing is really different about the fight. It's more the little interactions I want to capture between everyone else that I tried focusing on. There's a huge cast of characters here, and it's a bit difficult making sure everyone gets a chance to be in the spotlight with Goku being part of the big fight with Cell. Plus…I gotta admit I've been kind of discouraged about things lately. Stress with school and other junk have made me doubtful about my work. I'm not wanting to quit, but I think this hiatus will do me some good. I hope you all will understand.
Anyway, that's enough sad time hours for now. Have a good day everyone, and remember to wash your hands!