Cell finished his transformation and stared at his hand. He stood in complete silence as he looked at the smooth textures of his hands, in disbelief of his newfound power and appearance. Vegeta simply stared at Cell from a distance, not very impressed by Cell's new look. Trunks was seething in anger at the foolishness his father had displayed in letting the android attain his perfection. Nappa lay on the ground, has spine too damaged to even get up.

Meanwhile Krillin was on the verge of tears in a mixture of sadness and absolute rage, his anger towards Cell being more than he'd ever felt in his entire life. "That bastard. Cell! I'll never forgive you!" The earthling flew over to Cell and started attacking the android in a blind rage, his emotions blinding him from seeing that none of his attacks even made the android budge an inch. He then flew backwards and formed a Destructo Disc, tossing it at Cell, snapping out of his rage as he saw his ultimate technique simply shatter against the monster's neck.

Cell had barely even noticed the attempted beating on the back of his head, still trying to get a gauge on his newfound form and power. He started throwing fist at nothing, getting an understanding of his speed, the earthling unable to even see those punches being thrown and Nappa's eyes were just barely able to keep up with that level of speed. Once he properly understood his new strength, he grins and turns his head around to stare at the Earthling.

Krillin didn't even get the chance to blink before the android was suddenly right in front of him, his eyes didn't even see Cell make a move. "Oh c-!" He wasn't even able to finish his sentence before Cell's leg collided with his neck, hurling the earthling across the island and nearly falling into the ocean.

"Krillin!" shouted Trunks, rushing forward to help his friend who's neck had nearly been broken from that attack. He lifted the Krillin's head off the ground and reached into his armor, pulling out one of the two senzu beans that Goku had given him. "Come on, eat up."

Vegeta, having witnessed that pathetic display of strength, remained unimpressed by Cell's strength. "You must feel so proud, nearly killing an earthling like him."

Cell turned his attention towards the saiyan prince, smiling as he faced him. "Pride isn't something I value as much as you do Vegeta. But if you want, you can help me warm up."

"Very well, but I won't be holding back any longer so if you die in your little warm up, I can't be held responsible." responded Vegeta, getting into his signature fighting pose.

Nappa dug his fingers into the dust as he felt even more helpless than he ever has. He was a lot more level headed than Vegeta was and could clearly see something wasn't right. Even in his base form, Cell could have easily taken care of Krillin in that single attack and yet the earthling was still alive after a blow from Cell's perfect form. "Vegeta, don't fall for such a simple provocation!"

The saiyan's words fell on deaf ears as Vegeta already went in for his attack, swinging his leg in for a high kick, followed by an elbow strike to the skull. Neither attack landed their mark as Cell blocked both attack with his hands, though the android did strain to hold them back, amazed how strong the saiyan was against his supposedly invincible perfect form.

Perfect Cell thrusts his arm right for Vegeta's head, Vegeta managing to block the palm strike and leapt back after that hit, his arms stinging after that attack. Cell would then leap back a safe distance, grinning quite cheekily as the saiyan prince stood there with his arms shaking. "What's the matter, Vegeta? You look a little sore already."

"This is impossible! I achieved the next stage of Super Saiyan and yet you're able to block my attacks so easily! How?!" shouted Vegeta, losing his cool very quickly.

"Don't sell yourself short. You're a lot stronger than I had expected to be compared to my current form. Be that as it may, I did say that this would be a warm up." Cell chuckled, his calm composure only making Vegeta's panic even worse. "And to think you nearly paralyzed your pathetic underling just to see me in this state."

Vegeta felt his blood turn cold as everything ran back to him, remembering what he'd done to Nappa just a few short minutes ago. His ice cold blood then began to boil as his rage at both himself and Cell was pushing him over the edge, his next words sounding very quiet yet sinister. "You shut your damn mouth."

Cell became curious at the sudden change in tone from the prince. "What's the matter, did I just touch a nerve? I'm just saying that you saved me the trouble of having to make an example out of him."

Vegeta's energy suddenly erupts as the veins in his head become visible from his rising anger. "I said shut it!" His muscles start to get even bigger than before as the shortest of the saiyans started to grow to be as tall as Goku.

Trunks turned his head to see his father grow far stronger than a moment ago. "I can't believe it. I thought I'd surpassed my father, but he's achieved the form I discovered in the chamber."

Nappa watched as Vegeta's anger triggered a rise in power in his friend, trying to be impressed but the sharp pain in his back leaving him feeling betrayed. Even so, the saiyan elite decided to give one last shot to give Vegeta advice. "Vegeta, don't go berserk and attack wildly! Focus your attacks and take him down!"

Vegeta grinned as Nappa was still trying to be helpful even after what happened. The prince knew that the only way Nappa would ever forgive him would be if he managed to kill Cell, something he planned to do quite thoroughly. "Any last words Cell?"

"Please, are you trying to intimidate me? Getting bigger isn't going to accomplish anything but take up space." Cell crossed his arms as he waited for the saiyan prince to make a move. "But I'll humor you and give you a chance to hit me."

Vegeta immediately acted on those words. He rushed forward and slammed his fist right into Cell's skull, sending the android flying backwards over the ocean. Cell tried to process how Vegeta's power had grown so drastically to actually harm him, though that thinking gave Vegeta enough time to get above Cell and clasp both his hands together, slamming them right between Cell's crown, driving the android into the ocean with a very large splash. He then turned to face Trunks over on the island. "Give Nappa one of those damn beans. I'll be fine without one!" He slammed his arm down to collide with the incoming energy blast from Cell, creating a cloud of smoke.

Trunks snapped out of his amazement and flew over to Nappa and fed him the spare senzu bean. Trunks could hear what sounded like Nappa's spine fixing itself though would notice that the saiyan's tail didn't grow back, showing a bit of worry. As the saiyan managed to get back up, the three of them still on the island could see that the two of them fighting had become evenly matched in terms of strength. "Since he's become that stronger state, there's no point in holding back anymore. I'm going to help him."

Nappa grabbed the half-saiyan by the shoulder and shook his head. "Don't bother. You know he'll refuse your help, now even more than ever." He let go of the kid's shoulder and crosses his arms, watching the fight intently.

"But why? You cannot be telling me this is all about his pride!" Krillin shouted, still pretty angry for everything Vegeta's done up until now. "Trunks, if you get involved now, he'd have no reason to refuse your help!"

"It has nothing to do with his pride!" Nappa turned Super Saiyan to emphasize his argument. "He's doing this because it's what he has to do." He powers down and returns his gaze to the fight. "In his eyes, killing Cell by himself is the only chance to receive our forgiveness."

Krillin and Trunks looked at each other and noticed Vegeta starting to take several hits from Cell, the saiyan prince coughing up blood as his blows cause Cell to do the same. Krillin clenched his fist as he could understand where Nappa was coming from. Trunks was having a harder time forgiving his father.

Vegeta and Cell slammed their fists into each others' faces and knocked each other back, Vegeta spitting out blood as Cell fixed his broken nose. "I'm honestly impressed Vegeta. Despite that new form of yours being clearly slow, you've managed to time yourself to keep up. Maybe I've completely misjudged your skill."

"Ever since I saw the undeniable growth of Raditz and Kakarot upon arriving to this planet, I knew there was an untapped potential within the entirety of the saiyan race. That fact became ever more clear when Kakarot arrived on Namek and Raditz showed up and was able to confront Freeza." Vegeta looked down to the water and saw his reflection. "That's why I trained endlessly, to balance out my raw power with the indomitable skill that those brothers achieved."

Cell narrowed his eyes as he looked at himself, getting an idea and smiling. "You bring up an interesting point. I've achieved this level of strength simply by absorbing other living beings and haven't trained a day in my life." He looks up from the water, his eyes holding a sinister enjoyment and holds both his hands up, preparing a Gallick Gun. "I have a little proposition for you. Should you manage to survive this attack, I'll give you all the time to prepare for a second round. You were nowhere near this strong a few days ago so I'll hold an event in 10 days to see if any of you can give me a true challenge. But that's if you survive this."

Vegeta watches as the arrogant Cell makes such a declaration while preparing the prince's signature move. Vegeta grinned as he held out his hand to his sides, a yellow crackle surrounding his hands as he begins to build up energy for a brand new attack. "You'll regret that Cell. I have no plans to let you leave here alive. Even if I did, you'd have not just one saiyan to deal with, but 4."

Krillin stumbled backwards as the wind pressure from their charging attacks was almost suffocating "Guys, you don't think they'll be dumb enough to let those attacks clash, because that close to the planet's surface and we might not survive."

"Trunks, you said you could use that same form as Vegeta?" Nappa's focus never left the two powerful warriors preparing to fight. Trunks gave a nod that Nappa clearly couldn't see, though the saiyan still continued speaking as if he did see it. "I want you to take the form and be ready to knock away Cell's attack should things seem too dangerous."

On the Lookout, Raditz had been in the healing pod long enough to be fully recovered from everything he'd been through against Cell. Everything had been quiet for some time as the three fighters who could feel what was going on just stayed quiet in concentration as Bulma was too nervous to even ask what was going on. It was Piccolo, who's excellent hearing and faint understanding of the Dragon Clan's mystical abilities allowed him to actually know what was going on, who broke the silence. "Looks like Vegeta's finally taking things seriously."

Bulma jumped as the namekian finally spoke up after several minutes of silence. "You mean he wasn't before? What exactly is going on over there?!"

"I'll be honest, I'm a little lost myself." replied Tien, who's just looking off the edge of the Lookout without being able to see the fight. "I know that Vegeta and Cell are fighting on equal footing now but I don't quite understand the sudden ferociousness coming from Vegeta."

"Vegeta's proving he has a conscious buried deep under that overwhelming ego of his." retorted Raditz, still very angry at the fact that Vegeta had the chance to kill Cell before he could achieve his perfect form. "If I had to guess, he can't rely on that new form of his forever, so he's planning to hit Cell with everything he's got." He turned his head to Piccolo. "Don't you agree?"

"Right, though there's no telling how strong that new move of Vegeta's is gonna be compared to Cell's unrestrained power." Piccolo faced the inside of the Lookout. I hope that you know what you're doing in there Goku, because we may very well need every saiyan to take Cell down at this rate.

Cell continued pooling power into his Gallick Gun, even after it was already ready to fire. The android was in quite the good mood and wanted to give whatever Vegeta's new technique is a fair chance to scale. "Taking quite some time to prepare, aren't you Vegeta?"

Vegeta just stayed silent as his muscles twitched from building up this attack. He never had any plans to use such a slow transformation but was pushed to do so to make sure he had any chance of destroying Cell. Having pushed his reflexes so that he could counter Cell's blows, his body was already aching and preparing this attack was helping in no way possible. Feeling that it was ready to fire, he slammed his hands together, aimed at Cell as lightning from the building attack was starting to rampage wildly.

Krillin jumped back as one of the bolts of lightning had nearly hit him, the wild energy having torn a line through the island with ease. "Guys, I don't think it's a clash that we have to worry about. If Vegeta fires that, winning or not, it's bound to hit the surface of the planet and destroy it in no time flat." He ducked to avoid yet another bolt of lightning.

"Yeah, I'm getting that impression too." Trunks had bulked up to the same level of Super Saiyan that his father had, though wasn't as confident in it after seeing it in action by a more capable fighter. He watched a stray bolt of lightning come his way and simply slammed it away with his hand, his hand burning from doing so even at his level of strength. "Though at this point, I thing it's too late to stop it."

Both were surprised to see Nappa starting to laugh. "Absolute amateurs, do you really think Vegeta is that careless?" The saiyan leans his head to the side to dodge one of the lightning bolts, some of his beard stubs getting singed. "Back on Namek, we were completely cornered by a guy named Zarbon. I was already in bad condition and we had no means to win that fight. Even with Zarbon present and overwhelming us, Vegeta managed to hit me with a blast that sent me flying several miles away without killing me." Besides, you're not dumb enough to destroy the only home you have left, are you?

Vegeta felt every muscle in his body scream at him as this technique was finally ready. "You better not hold anything back, Cell. I plan to vaporize you with this attack!"

"Trust me Vegeta, I'd never hold back after you made me wait this long." Cell thrust his hands forward and fired the pinkish beam at Vegeta with great speed. "Gallick Gun!"

Vegeta darted his eyes straight for the android as he shouted at the top of his lungs. "Final Flash!" He fired his attack forward, the beam slower than expected but much larger than the Gallick Gun. Where everyone expected a beam struggle, they saw the larger yellow beam completely decimate its way through the pinkish beam, parting the ocean in its wake as it completely enveloped Cell. Once the beam had met its mark, Vegeta swiftly thrust his hands upwards, redirecting the beam from its path and directing it into the void of space where it wouldn't collide against anything important.

Krillin got flashbacks of the time they fought the saiyans, his Scatter Bullet technique having done a good job to slow down Nappa back when they were fighting for their lives. "He actually did it! I can't feel Cell's energy at all!"

Trunks took a deep breath as he powered down from his enlarged transformation. "Thank goodness. He managed to avoid directly hitting the planet too."

Nappa didn't relax however, knowing that it was nowhere near that easy to take Cell out after all the effort they'd done to keep him from reaching this state. "It's too early to celebrate. The last time we assumed we won, 3 of us ended up dead. Keep your eyes peeled and your energy sharp!"

Krillin stiffened as he was reminded of the most horrific moment of his life, one that gives him nightmares to this very day. Trunks wasn't positive of what they were on about but allowed himself to listen to the more experienced fighter, powering up at least to base Super Saiyan.

Vegeta meanwhile had reduced his form to base Super Saiyan as well as his body had been too strained to continue fighting in that absurd form. "You damn bastard, you never planned to take that attack head on. You used the earthling's technique to duplicate yourself and moved out of the range of that blast, didn't you?"

"Of course. You've all been far too frustrating today for me not to have a backup plan." answered Cell, who was casually hovering back to back with Vegeta, neither of them making an attempt to attack the other. "But I will keep my word about sparing you all, for now at least. See you in 10 days, Vegeta." The android then began to fly away from the battlefield.

All of the spectators were about to fire upon the fleeing android, but lowered their arms as Vegeta held out his, his back turned to them as he couldn't bare to look at him after what he's done.

Piccolo furrowed his brow as he stared off the edge of the lookout. He tried to understand the process of events that had just happened, though was still at a loss for words, making it hard to explain to everyone that was asking for a play-by-play.

Bulma cleared her throat to try and break the silence before speaking. "So.. Is everything okay now? Did Vegeta win?"

Piccolo shook his head. "No, Cell is still very much alive. But for some reason that I'm unable to understand, he left everyone alive and is giving us 10 days to prepare." He groaned and sat down, getting into his meditation position to think about it.

"It's pretty obvious, isn't it?" Everyone turned to look at Raditz, who was actually smiling, much to everyone's discomfort. "He's letting my brother's love for battle and Vegeta's overconfident ego hold center stage in those cells of his, wanting us to get stronger so he can enjoy himself." He walks up to the edge of the Lookout beside Piccolo and clenched his fist tightly, to the point of making his hand bleed. "And he's gonna regret doing so, since I'm going to be the one to take him down."

Fucking hell, where do I even begin? Guess I should start with the fact that I'm not dead. I've just been supremely busy with life that I eventually forgot about this. Then I remembered it and tried to continue it despite things always getting in the way. Now that excuses are out of the way, explanations. I know that the turnaround with Vegeta is a bit too sudden for most people's liking, but it's a lot more enjoyable than letting things play out how they normally would and see him get curb stomped. There's definitely going to be repercussions for what happened to Nappa, but that's better handled through a psychological approach than him pretending he did nothing wrong until a sudden change of heart like his feelings on Trunks. Now that I'm out of that part of the Cell arc, I can prepare a lot of preparation for the Cell Games, which I hope I can please people on. That's all for me. I'm back and will try to get this story back on track and not let it go that long again. Tune in for the hopefully swift release of the next chapter of Dragon Ball Z: A Saiyan's Tail.