Fusion…HA! 2-
The Dead Zone
Part
12 – Superman Turns Bad
It had only been a few minutes since
Frieza had gone on his one-way trip to his second death, but to Vegeta it felt
like ages. He had contemplated many
things in that time. The super power
that was Frieza had destroyed his family, his people, and his planet. Vegeta had always dreamed of killing Frieza.
It was to be his crowning achievement.
Instead the one who got the job done was his son. Frieza was dead, but because Trunks didn't
know anything about his heritage the crimes had not been avenged. Vegeta had realized this after Frieza's
departure.
"I let him go." That was the only thing that he could manage
to say. Before he had cited the fact
that Frieza wasn't himself. He wasn't
the omnipotent ruler whose death was the highest goal that Vegeta hoped to
attain in his life. Now Frieza was now
just another fighter, one who could be killed at will. Still that didn't excuse all he had done to
the Saiyan race in general. Vegeta had
far too much pride to allow him to go… but yet he had.
After
Kakarotto defeated Frieza we all thought that he was dead. Even though at the time I was more than
happy to take my place as the universe's most powerful fighter, I still felt a slight emptiness. When Frieza arrived back on Earth I saw yet
another chance to fulfill part of my destiny, the other part being the
destruction of Kakarotto. My blasted
son saw to it that I never had a chance to try. Just a few minutes ago I had my third chance and I let him go…
Vegeta
had gone over the situation a few times in his head, and the more he thought
about it the more he hated it. But then
he began to smile. Frieza was on his
way to get killed, but no one said that Vegeta couldn't kill him first. He could easily catch up with him and then
bring him to a less volatile place to have the battle. It wouldn't last long at SSJ level. Frieza would know that. That was exactly the kind of reaction that
Vegeta would want. One of fear and
uncertainty.
"Frieza. Years ago you took from me my father, my
people, and my home. You have escaped
my hands on more than one occasion. My
greatest rival and my own son have kept you from finally getting what you
deserve. Now that my greatest rival is
on his way to battle and my son is already [
all ready ] in combat that leaves no one else to get in my way." The fight, the thing that fueled his very
existence, was beginning to build inside of him. The anticipation was uncanny.
Vegeta now wanted nothing more than to get his hands on Frieza.
"Hey,
Spikey." That remark brought Vegeta out from his world and back to
reality. Reality was that he had been
ignoring Garlic Jr. for the last 5 minutes.
That didn't sit well with Mr. Immortality.
"I
have no time to deal with you. Go off
and get shot. I have business to attend to." Vegeta built up his ki to its highest non-Super Saiyan point and
went after Frieza. He didn't want to
give away too much about his newfound levels.
He was sure that Frieza didn't know too much about him now. It was going to be much fun to finally
"explain" how strong he really was.
"Hey!"
Garlic yelled after him, but it was too late.
Vegeta was long gone without a thought of coming back. That bothered Garlic only because he was now
alone and bored. World, even universe,
domination would have been a nice project at such a time of boredom, but with
all the super powers around it wasn't likely that Garlic would get much of a
chance to do anything. He wasn't
stupid. If Boo could absorb him then
something was wrong. Garlic Jr. would
have to find somewhere else to go and rule.
In the meantime he had to find something evil to do, so Garlic started
walking in a random direction. Maybe he
would find some inhabited town to destroy.
**********
Rae and
Aspa were just a few miles away from the lab.
In a little under a minute Aspa would get a chance to obtain the thing
that she said would stop Devil.
Unfortunately Rae was stuck with the job of keeping the good Doctor's
creation busy for all of 20 seconds. In
the long run it didn't seem like such a long time. 20 seconds was only 1/3 of a minute. Of course that wasn't considering that the power levels of Rae
and Devil were a bit uneven. Rae had
grown stronger, but she still wasn't at Videl's level. That would make it more than a chore to
fight her. Aspa was confident that
whatever item or items she had in mind was going to be enough to break Doctor
Boo's hold over Videl.
"Okay,
Rae. This is it. We are almost there. I'm going to break away and try to get in a
little faster. That way you don't have
to deal with her for too long. Are you
ready?"
"…"
Aspa
didn't have to look back to know that Rae was nervous. She gripped Rae's hand and took a quick
second to look back at her. "Have
confidence in yourself." With that Aspa
separated from the group and went straight to Boo's laboratory.
"Confidence…"
Rae's momentum began to fade. Devil's
didn't. The gap between them, which was
closing gradually, was now practically nothing. "Uh oh!" Rae had to twist her upper torso to the side to avoid
the sweeping punch that Videl had intended to hit her with.
"Ha!"
The bio-android was facing her foe again, this time with her hands above her
head. Rae recognized the attack and
used her own ki as a shield.
"Masenko!" The blue beam split
into six as it bled over the shield.
Rae breathed a sigh of serious relief.
I didn't think I could block an attack like
that. Maybe-
All
the chatting to herself had taken Rae's eye off of her target. Devil had pounced in with a shoulder
block. It threw Rae off of her
game. She was unable to get control of
her flight. Devil came in again. This time it was a kick to the face that
caused the damage. Rae's hands went up
to block it instinctively but it was long after the initial contact. In fact they missed her face because it had
jerked back so far. As it began to
settle back down on the neck normally another flying fist came into view. This time Rae made sure to block it with two
hands. It took both to hold it back.
"Videl!"
Rae pleaded. At this point she knew it
wouldn't work, but she couldn't help but try.
Anything to stop the fight.
Instead
Devil used her free hand to send a power shot into Rae's gut. Devil slipped under Rae's curling body and
faced her back to it. She took a hold
of one of Rae's flailing arms. Videl
then did 360 degree before releasing her grip on Rae's hand. The force of the flip had Rae heading for
Dr. Boo's lab like a rocket. She
crashed though a wall. Devil floated in
mid-air for a second. She took a slight
breath and brushed her hair aside.
"Must
eliminate targets." She blinked once.
The mission was simple. In a
flash Devil was closing in on the building and Rae again. Then, from an opening that was not apparent
in the building from Devil's vantage point, Aspa appeared again. In her hands was the item that she had
previously mentioned. It was also on
her shoulder. As Rae pulled herself out
of the wreckage that she had made in the wall (or that Devil had made her make)
she finally saw 'the item'.
Rae
was slightly more than surprised.
"YOU'RE GOING TO BLAST HER WITH A BAZOOKA?!"
Devil froze in her tracks, petrified.
Aspa
lined her up in the sights of the targeting mechanism. "Oh yeah."
The long barrel, easily over 7 feet, was pointing directly at the head
of one Videl. "We needed firepower… now
this is fire power. Dr. Boo specially
made this one to deal with fighters Videl's caliber. Rae's jaw dropped as Aspa launched the rocket. It spiraled around but never lost its
course. Devil finally decided that she
should get out of the way and began to fire up her own afterburners.
Rae
watched intently, wondering if it would ever catch its target. The rocket wasn't gaining any ground, but it
wasn't losing any ground either. At
this rate it was an endurance contest.
Whichever of them gave out first was going to lose. That was what she thought until she saw Aspa
moving toward the both of them. Devil
saw her and changed courses. Aspa
halted and waited.
"Aspa,"
cried Rae from the building below.
"What are you doing?"
Aspa
gestured to her to calm down. "I have
everything under control."
"She's
going to try to make the…" Aspa held
up a single hand that stopped Rae cold.
Something was going on that the teen didn't understand just yet, but she
did have confidence in the Saiyan,
so she stopped talking and resided to being a spectator.
"She
won't know what hit her."
WHAM!
Devil
was walloped by a massive shoulder from Aspa right in the chest and almost instantaneously
plowed through the rocket. It promptly
exploded and engulfed her in a pink goop.
Before she had a chance to wonder what it was Devil collapsed. Aspa was right on top of things and caught
her.
"You
got her," Rae shouted in a mix of surprise and excitement. They could try to un-program her now.
"When
you ram someone into a missile at the speed I just did it isn't hard. The substance that has encased her reacts to
her constant struggle. I can hold her
without problems because it's sapping her strength. The more she tries to get free the more it will keep her
still. Shall we go inside?"
... Aspa motioned to the lab.
Rae nodded. "Do you think that you can
free her from Dr. Boo's power?"
Aspa floated down to the ground and
ran with Devil into the lab without replying.
"Aspa?" called Rae from the sky. She dropped down in behind Aspa.
"Rae." Aspa faced her newfound friend with a look
of extreme confidence, bordering on cockiness.
"You have to remember that I was the brain of the computer he used for a
very long time. If I tap into his other
computers I can basically download all of his data."
"Download? Where?"
The Saiyan tapped her head to indicate
where she intended to store the data. "I have an enhanced brain. I have photographic
memory that I can access like a computer file. If I see something once that's
all it takes."
"Cool!"
The
two women ran down a few hallways until they made it back to the partially
destroyed main laboratory room. Aspa
laid Devil on the floor, taking care to let her down lightly. Devil hadn't done much struggling since
hearing the story of how the goop worked.
It didn't make any sense to get out if she wasn't going to be able to…
yet. She hadn't given up; she was just
biding her time.
Aspa
pressed a button on the left side of the room that opened the room to where the
operation had been performed originally.
"Rae…bring
the patient."
**********
"This
is bad." Piccolo couldn't be more right.
The being known as Boo could have been defeated. Piccolo himself had had a good chance at
it. Even with his power up the fact was
that Boo hadn't improved as much as the Z warriors. They had exceeded him in every aspect of the game. Speed.
Endurance. Power. He was nothing compared to them. Sure he could beat up on Krillan, but he
wasn't intent on killing him as much as someone else.
"I
think you are right." That was the
understatement of the day from Nenks.
Boo had been strong before, despite his not being able to beat the
fusions. If the thought ever occurred
to him to destroy the planet it could have been done. Oddly enough, Boo was on a twisted sort of honor system. That meant he had to kill his enemy before doing
anything else to jeopardize the planet.
Gogeta had to die in a fight and by his hands… then he could commit
genocide.
"You're
wrong," grunted Boo. "It's worse than
that." Boo knew that the situation had
changed. Not too long ago he had fought
both Gogeta and Piccolo. After having a chance to kill both in
battle he found out something that he never thought that he would have to; that it was impossible to beat either
Gogeta or Piccolo. The fusion part of
it wasn't completely out of the question. It was made of two people. However, it bothered him immensely that
Piccolo was also ahead of him. The
Namek's power wasn't anywhere near
the fusion's, but it was still enough to beat Boo. That was why he did what he did.
His brother probably had sensed it coming as well. The merger was almost predestined. This time the good guys would have to deal
with a fusion.
"I
think I need to split." Nenks closed his eyes and let his head rest
backwards. In blur of motion he split
back into Hunter and Trunks. Piccolo
looked at them like they had just smoked crack and offered him some of it.
"Why
did you do that?" he demanded. The
Namek knew that his own power wasn't enough to beat a Super Boo. The fusion would be a great asset. If they were split then they weren't fused,
hence less power. Less power bad.
Hunter
cracked his neck, more because of nervousness than anything. Super Boo was indeed an imposing
figure. Big and buff seemed to be the
way to go.
Trunks
stepped forward. "The fusion didn't
have much time left, Piccolo. The
battle wouldn't be started before we defused.
In the middle of the fight that wouldn't be very helpful. We can try to recharge our time now and hope
for the best."
"You
assume that I will fuse again." Hunter
spat on the ground. His face was turned
up in displeasure. "I think you've
forgotten that I still will kill you and dance on your grave. I did it last time out of necessity. This time you'll have to find another fool."
Super
Boo clapped from across the way. "I
commend you, Hunter. You aren't all
soft after all. Trunks, what will you
do now? Maybe you can fuse with the
Namek."
A bead
of sweat slipped down Piccolo's face.
There was nothing he could do.
Super Boo could snap him in half in a second. There was nothing that he could hope to do for the moment.
"Don't
worry, Trunks," laughed Super Boo. "I
think the cavalry has arrived."
Everyone looked into the distant sky where two figures very close to
each other were skimming the clouds.
Piccolo checked the ki of each to identify them.
"...It's
Dr. Boo."
That
sparked surprise on the face of Super Boo.
It made no sense to him that there would be someone else with his
name. Then again everyone was going to
die anyway so soon there wouldn't be.
"And
it's Gohan!" Trunks cried in exhilaration.
The two figures closed in quickly and hit the ground with emphasis at a
spot apart from the good guys, the bad guy, and the guy with the good guys who
was really probably a bad guy. Gohan,
who was holding Dr. Boo in his arms, set the man down and stood at attention.
"I
wouldn't get too happy, boy," remarked Dr. Boo with an evil smirk. "You see Gohan is under my control. He will do what I say, which includes
killing you. Just a reminder."
"…"
Dr.
Boo then looked at Boo. He examined him
with a keen interest. The new Super Boo
was the most well built fighter the Doctor had ever seen. "I suppose you aren't just Boo. If you were I'd say that you had made a
mistake by bulking up the way you did.
Instead I'm sure that you are a fusion of sorts. You are able to make up for the bulky exterior
with impressive speed. In light of that
fact that you are indeed a perfect specimen.
I would like to propose a challenge."
Boo
raised an eyebrow, nothing more.
"I
give you Son Gohan. He is capable of
immense power. He is able to tap into just
about all of it as a result of his training with a god, but since then he has
grown in power. Now he has lost touch
with his supreme strength, but I have given that back to him. He can't hold back unless I tell him to, so
he can now fight at the potential he was meant to."
"You
are wasting my time. I should kill you
right now." At those words Gohan zanzokened in front of Dr. Boo and became a
human shield. Super Boo did not move,
but was impressed by the Doctor's control over such a strong fighter.
"As
you can see he is ready to fight… are you?"
Gohan's was one of determination.
All he knew was that Super Boo was the enemy and that Dr. Boo had to
give the order before he could attack.
The fact that two very good friends of his were nearby meant nothing to
him. Only to fight Super Boo and
winning.
Super
Boo, though, was less enthusiastic. He
actually began to yawn. "If you must
then send him out to die. I don't mind
sacrificing anybody."
"NO!" Piccolo interjected himself in between every
one of them. He had listened to enough. As soon as Gohan had arrived Piccolo had
breathed a sigh of relief. Gohan was
alive and well, even if he was under the Doctor's control. Now the slimy man planned to sacrifice the
half Saiyan. For what reason? It didn't matter. Piccolo was going to put a stop to this.
"And
just what do you think you are doing?" asked Dr. Boo, as if he didn't know.
"If
you try and order Gohan to fight then I'm going to have to tear your lungs
open. You will not use Gohan as a
puppet!" Piccolo balled up his fists, shaking viciously. The anger flowing through him was
insane. It was taking over and much
like a Saiyan he didn't have a say in it.
By nature Piccolo was able to control himself more, but this time was
different.
"How
are you going to stop him? Fight
him? He'll fight you to the very end,
you know." Dr. Boo rubbed his chin.
"There isn't a thing you can do.
If you try to attack me Gohan will kill you plain and simple. Do you want to risk that? Can you fight Gohan without killing him if
he is trying to kill you? I don't think
you can."
Super
Boo sighed and rolled his eyes. Then he
fell backward to the ground like a falling tree. With a thud he hit, but that wasn't the only sound.
"He's…" Piccolo couldn't get the
other word out. To do so would be to
admit to himself and everyone else around at that point what he didn't want to;
that Super Boo was just that strong.
"Unreal!" was the only thing
that Trunks could say. He too was
flabbergasted by Super Boo's complete disregard for them all.
"Tell me he's joking." Hunter stepped forward and "joined"
Piccolo. He was tired of the seemingly
endless talking. Someone was going start
fighting or he was going to start the fight.
"That's it. I don't care how
strong he is. I'm going to let out some
frustrations on someone."
"Hunter!" This voice came from a little ways off. It caught Hunter's attention and interest
enough to make him look to see whom the source was. It was, in fact, b-chan who had called out. She too looked ready for battle. Krillan was right next to her, but was less
brave.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"This isn't the time to
fight. This is the time to think things
through. You have to get out of here
with Trunks. There is no way you can
beat Boo now." Her face was stern but
she spoke with feeling. She knew the
situation was hopeless. Before it was a
slight chance that Hunter could have stood a fight with Boo. He might not have lasted long, but he would
be able to fight him nonetheless. Now
that was an impossible dream. Hunter
knew it; he just didn't want to let on that he did. It sickened him that every time she said something to him it was
basically true. Hunter was stuck
now. His pride as a loner and his
common sense clashed like titans.
"Trunks… Hunter." Started Piccolo. His voice was low as if he were silently grieving to
himself. "Get out of here. Let me deal with Super Boo. I know how to beat him." That statement took everyone by
surprise. It also managed to stir Super
Boo who had previously been sleeping the whole time. As he sat up he looked as if he was on the verge of busting out
in hysterical laughter. Piccolo, a
Namek, thinking he could beat Super Boo on his own?
"Piccolo." Krillan wasn't much of a whiner. He could be a coward, but a whiner he was
not. He knew that Piccolo at his peak
couldn't beat Super Boo. It wasn't
possible in the least. That meant that
Piccolo had a plan. It didn't take long
to figure it out. Krillan had known the
Namek long enough to understand totally.
He turned to b-chan and whispered something. She nodded back and began to put distance between herself and
everyone else. Krillan approached the
group and headed right over to Trunks.
They both locked eyes together, transferring messages without
words. Trunks then flew after b-chan
and they held off at about 1 mile away from the group. Dr. Boo watched all of this transpire with a
slight interest.
As I thought. They know that they cannot win this battle,
so they are pulling out. They only
person here with a chance to defeat Super Boo is Son Gohan. They will leave him to battle and then will
try to release him from my control. The
fools don't understand that it is useless to try. They can't begin to understand what kind of a hold I have on Son
Gohan. The chip in his brain is
practically indestructible. Son Gohan
himself couldn't break it.
Now everyone but Krillan,
Piccolo, and Hunter remained of the "good guys". Krillan didn't have long to stay, but he did feel a necessity to
try to get Hunter to leave the scene.
"Hunter. I'm only going to say this once-"
"Save your breath. I know what's going on." Hunter gritted his
teeth and fired up his ki. "Don't think
this is the last you have seen of me, Boo!"
Hunter zoomed off in the direction of b-chan, Krillan blinking the whole
time. Finally he left as well, leaving
the Doctor, Gohan, Piccolo, and Super Boo alone.
"Seems we finally are down to
the final four." Super Boo rubbed his chin.
"Unless you plan on fighting, Dr., I suggest that you find another place
to be right now. Before you get any
ideas the only reason I'm sparing your life is the fact that you seem to have
taken control of my opponent. We
wouldn't want him to suddenly stop fighting if I killed you, would we?"
"Enough of this!" Piccolo was staring a hole right through
Super Boo, but at the same time he was making sure to gather his ki to the
highest point that it would go. This
was going to take all of his power to pull off. He had never tried it before simply because it would be far too
dangerous to do on the earth. Now that
wasn't a concern; Super Boo would most certainly destroy the planet if he
weren't stopped before hand.
"Just what do you think you are
doing?" demanded Dr. Boo. Piccolo
ignored him and continued on. Dr. Boo
motioned to Gohan to take him away from the area. They were off in a flash.
Piccolo sighed slightly. If Dr.
Boo was paranoid then Piccolo might get the attack off before Gohan was in
range to feel any of the effect.
"I believe I have the same
question as the Doctor?" said Super Boo.
He wasn't worried, but Piccolo seemed ready to bet everything on one
shot and that always interested him.
Every race had done it at one point and Boo had always seen it as
amusing.
"You'll see soon enough." Piccolo widened his stance on the
ground. As he did the floor began to
buckle under the intense weight of his ki and power. The black energy was striking the floor with alarming
consistency, ripping it apart. Piccolo
stood, relaxed almost, with his fists resting at his thighs. He looked almost completely complacent. He hadn't a care in the world. That wasn't true, but he gave that
impression.
"I can hardly wait."
Piccolo intensified his energy
output and really began to remodel the landscape. Entire chunks were beginning to float up into the air. There they were vaporized by all of the ki
in the atmosphere. Piccolo actually
sank into the ground, the weight of his ki too much for the earth to handle.
"I have seen what you can do,
Boo. Right now you are strong, but you
are not unbeatable." The Namek's head
rose until he and Boo were face to face.
"I don't care how much stronger you have gotten. There is always someone capable of beating
you. In this case it may not be me, but
you won't make it away from the battlefield this time."
Super Boo managed a good laugh
as a result of that last comment. "I
think you are deluding yourself, Piccolo.
What make you think that I would run away from you? You can't begin to compare to me now. I am your superior, plain and simple."
Piccolo's power up
intensified. Still he kept dialogue
with Boo, showing his intensive training in concentration. "I might not be able to beat you now, but I
will die trying if I have to. Remember
that an opponent willing to sacrifice his life is the most dangerous of
all. They have nothing else to lose
because they are all ready sacrificing it all.
Even if I just make a small little dent in your armor I'll die happy."
"Don't count on that happening."
The Namek slowly raised his
right hand up to his forehead and rested his middle and index fingers on
it. "I wouldn't be so sure. I created this technique to kill Goku. It was meant to drill a hole through his
heart. I doubt that will work on you." A power flare from Piccolo's energy surged
up and awakened Super Boo a bit.
"Guilty as charged."
"Keep joking. You won't be laughing so much after I'm
done. This technique in its normal form
would simply poke an easily healed hole in your body. I plan on doing more damage than that. This Kamikaze attack will be the end of you."
A slight yawn escaped from Super
Boo's lips. He was getting bored again,
although the still surging a growing power display before him caused him a very
small bit of concern. "Believe me,
Green Boy, I've heard this all before.
Everyone thinks that they are going to be the one to destroy me, but no
one does. You will be no
different. My body is indestructible
now."
"Maybe now, but was it before?"
That struck a cord with Super
Boo. He didn't like to made to look
weak.
"You know very well that the
last time we fought you had no chance of winning. You had to steal the energy from your brother to get to the point
where you are now. I have achieved all
of my strength through my own training.
Even I didn't know I could get as strong as I am right now. However, I never even considered going down
the path that you have. Regardless of
the outcome of this particular battle, you can consider yourself beaten… by the
green man."
"You never beat me! Prove that now, Namek!"
"Too late. This is a completely new battle. It's 1-0, my favor."
"NO!" Super Boo tore at the top
of his head with his hands, digging his fingers down. He didn't want to hear those words because he knew they were
true. Admitting defeat wasn't something
that he took lightly. There was only
one thing to do about it. "I'm going to
rip you to shreds, Piccolo! I'll
destroy you so completely that you will never again question my
superiority!" Super Boo's power now
began to surge.
"…"
"What's wrong? No comebacks, Piccolo?" Boo's eyes were glowing a bright, blood
red. His mouth was curled up in the
most sinister smile that Piccolo had ever seen. "Let's hear one of those comebacks now. I dare you."
"Loser."
What followed after that simple
word from Piccolo was almost ungodly.
Super Boo let loose a howl of horrific magnitude. Behind it was the force of 20 hurricanes. It was a sound wave with the force of a
planet-destroying beat behind it.
Piccolo was almost tossed from his spot and thrown around in the wind
like a rag doll. Only his determination
to finish his plan kept him rooted where he was and it wasn't doing a great
job. It didn't really matter in the
end. Super Boo was on the verge of
doing exactly what Piccolo wanted.
"How dare…
ARRRRRRRRGHHHHHHH!" Super Boo actually
sounded like he was in pain. He could
try to kill Piccolo, but that wouldn't change a thing about what had already
happened. That wasn't going to stop
him. Letting every bit of anger
overtake him Super Boo pounced like a hungry tiger hoping to get his hands
around the head and neck of the one who dared claim a victory over the most
powerful man in existence.
Piccolo chuckled silently to
himself. The plan had worked and Super
Boo was now using his least amount of power possible. Piccolo had a chance to put a dent in him. If nothing else it would bruise his ego when
he finally realized what had happened.
That much Piccolo would take.
Something as simple as a bruised ego could prove fatal for someone like
Super Boo. As the demon lunged at him
Piccolo gathered all his energy at his fingertips. With the amount that he had stored there it was amazing that it
was possible.
I've reached the final level
that a Namekian fighter can hope to reach.
Still, even after I did so after years of training, it didn't seem to
make a difference. I have already lost
most reasons to continue training. Goku
is no longer my blood rival. Son Gohan
no longer needs my help in his own training.
Despite breaking through my final wall in my own training I have lost
all reasons for doing so. I haven't
just decided to do this because I might be able to take Boo down. That I would have done anyway regardless of
my situation. I need to do this because
there is no other way to use the power that I have finally gained. This is my final warrior's test. I've already evened the playing field a bit. No one can be at full power while as upset
as he is… hopefully. The rest is up to
this one technique. Gohan. I hope you will understand when you become
yourself again. I have nothing else
more to prove and nothing else to lose.
Piccolo smirked ever so
briefly. It vanished just as soon as it
appeared, replaced by a look of complete concentration. With the grace of an eagle he swiftly moved
his two fingers from his forehead to his left shoulder, and then from there to
a point in front of himself where they were pointing straight at their target. Immediately they began to spark with the
life of the energy stored within them.
The full potential of it was apparent in seconds.
"What?" It was entirely too late when Super Boo
finally realized what Piccolo had duped him into doing. He was only moments away and even with his
enhanced everything he could raise his power in time.
There was a calm air around
Piccolo. It was almost silent. Piccolo himself was complacent. He simply stared at his foe with unwavering
eyes. The moment of truth was now.
Goodbye Gohan. You were the first friend I had ever
had. I owe you everything. You made me what I am today. I can't begin to express my gratitude. Son Goku, you are easily the light of the
world. I also have you to thank for
what I have become. Your attitude
towards life and your complete understanding of the battle. It was you who believe that Gohan could
defeat Cell when the rest of us did not.
You are truly amazing. Trunks,
you are only a teen now. Your future
self was much like Goku in that he could not stand to see injustice done. You are a brave boy, taking on the Majin
Buu's of the world and even Hunter. You
are brave to the end. Tenshinhan, the
strongest human alive. You train to
become stronger than Goku. You know you
can't do it, but you go on anyway. You
interject yourself when needed most even though you are outmatched every
time. The sign of a true hero. Krillan.
You are the biggest coward I have ever seen, but you fight anyway. Your dedication to the protection of earth
and your friends is uncanny. You are truly
a good person. Even you, Vegeta. The most arrogant and self-serving Prince I
have ever had the pleasure of meeting.
You always were trying to be one step ahead of everyone. You fought along side and against us, all
the while claiming that you didn't care.
So what did you do? You
sacrificed yourself to save the rest of us.
Even though it didn't work, I didn't thank you personally. This is how I plan to do that. Goodbye everyone. I pray to Dende that you all survive.
All of Piccolo's ki swirled
around his two fingers for a moment. It
was like an intense light/electrical show.
It then was sucked back into his fingers for a brief moment.
Piccolo blinked his eyes once
and then spoke. "Genocide."
**********
Goten was fed up with all of his
problems. He had come back to Dr. Boo's
laboratory in order to free his brother from whatever control Dr. Boo had over
him. He thought he might have found the
main computer that was indeed controlling Gohan. He never had a chance to find out because almost as soon as he
entered the room he was attacked by a bunch of crazed, toy ninjas. As if that wasn't enough for anyone to be
pushed over the edge the ensuing 'attack' was perpetrated by a couple of
delusional monkeys. Goten managed to
get away from all of them, but that didn't help much. The next opponent turned out to be a massive mobile suit. The only saving grace was that it was
piloted by the still crazed ninjas.
They didn't last long. Now Goten
had exited the other side of the room and was making his way out of the
place. A new plan was about to be put
into action.
"This stinks. I still haven't found the main computer that
is controlling Gohan. What am I going
to do now?"
"You could start by following
me, Goten." Rae placed her hand on
Goten's shoulder after he turned around to see her. His face lit up with glee and he embraced her, shaking her around
in mid-air in a bear hug of love.
"Rae! I'm so happy to see you!
What are you doing here?"
"Aspa and I are trying to help
Videl back to herself. Aspa's upstairs
right now working on her. It should
only be a few minutes. Aspa said she
knows exactly what to do to bring Videl back."
"That's great! Can she do the same for Gohan?"
Rae nodded her head, but it
wasn't as positive a reaction as Goten hoped it would be. That meant there was a catch somehow.
"In theory it would work…" Rae
paused in between words, not wanting to convey the bad news, "But in order to
do it Aspa would have to have Gohan upstairs in the lab. He would have to be brought here… and I
don't think anyone can do that except maybe your father."
Goten now understood Rae's lack
of celebration over the good news. Goku
wouldn't be easy to get a hold of at a time like this. That meant Gohan was out of luck for a
while. Goten could try to bring him
back himself… but that wasn't going to happen.
Goten loved his brother, but he knew he didn't stand a chance at the
time being.
Goten wiped his forehead of
sweat. "Okay. I'll follow you upstairs to the lab. After Aspa is finished with Videl then we'll talk about what to
do about Gohan. We have to do whatever
it takes to stop him from doing anything he'll regret."
Rae agreed. Gohan was a potentially dangerous
weapon. Dr. Boo knew that. That was why he chose Gohan as his pet. They would need all the help they could
muster, so waiting for Aspa to finish was ideal. They both silently ran back upstairs, Rae leading the way through
the corridors, to join the Saiyan and the Human Android in the lab above.
**********
18 woke up with a very large arm
around her throat. Not the good morning
call that she would have chosen. Cell
had teleported himself and 18 back to Dende's lookout. 17 had already come to. He didn't dare try to do anything just yet,
though. This was Cell he was dealing
with. Old memories die hard.
Cell grunted when 18 opened her
eyes. "You've finally woken up. I was beginning to think that you were going
to sleep this one out. That wouldn't
make it any fun."
Needless to say 18 began to
struggle with all of her might. Cell
had problems holding on to her, but he succeeded in keeping his grip. 17 could feel his blood boiling inside of
his veins, rage going off the page.
"Let her go Cell, and I might
not hurt you too badly." 17 knew it was a lie, and he knew that Cell knew that
it was a lie. It didn't matter; it
seemed to carry more weight that way.
"No. I don't think so, 17" Cell tightened his grip instead, making 18
struggle more than before. Now she was
trying to keep oxygen in her body as well.
"Instead I think I'll just absorb you and your sister again."
Everyone's reaction was the
same. Speechlessness. Cell's was laughter.
"Didn't think I could do that
anymore, did you? Well I can, and I
plan on doing just that." His face
turned up and he squinted his eyes.
From the 'nub' it had become Cell's tail began to quiver. Suddenly it burst out amidst a surge of
green fluids. It waved around behind
him for a moment before curling itself over his shoulder. He rested the tip on 18's head.
"Get that disgusting thing off
of me!"18 wrenched her entire body to the side and was finally able to squirm
free of Cell's grip. She continued
twisting until she was belly-to-belly with him. At that point 18 had a look on her face that was just plain
scary. Cell was scared.
KA-POW!
18 reared back and smacked Cell
with a head butt to his shoulder. He
lurched back in an awkward position, holding that point on his body. 18 joined her brother, who was relieved that
she had broken free from Cell's hold.
"It seems you've lost,
Cell." 17 placed his hands on his
hips. This was the first time he had
ever had the advantage over Cell in any capacity. "You can't handle one of us on your own. You don't stand a chance against the both of
us. We show no mercy, especially to the
likes of you."
"And don't think we're going to
let you go." 18 moved a strand of hair from her face to behind her ear. "I've got a lot of frustrations I need to
take out on you. You've made my life a
living hell before. I think we should
return the favor."
Cell folded his arms, smirking
the whole time. "Ladies and
Gentlemen. I believe you are
challenging me to a match. Not only
that, but you want to it end with in my death.
If you want a death match you shall receive it, but don't think that
just because you were able to get away from me that you will be able to kill
me." He shook his finger at them. "That just won't happen."
"Like Hell it won't!" 17 hopped into the air. For just a split second he floated there,
poised in a runner's position but not moving anywhere. The next second he was on a collision course
with Cell. Just before impact Cell
launched a punch at him, but 17 slammed on the brakes and went in reverse.
"HAAAAA!" 18, who had snuck around the backside,
rammed the tip of her elbow into the back of Cell's neck. It was a blow that Cell felt all the way
down to the bottom of his feet. It
threw his equilibrium off and he skidded across the floor, fumbling around the
entire time. 18 dove into the ground
and resurfaced right under Cell. She
punched him high into the air.
17 stationed himself in the path
of the shooting star soaring into the air.
"Batter up!" Spinning around one
time for momentum 17 whacked Cell on the back with the second devastating blow
already. Cell than began to resemble a
bullet shot at the lookout.
18 cupped her arms like she was
going to catch him. She waited until
the last minute until he was right on top of her to move. He crashed all the way through the ground
and came out the other time. This time
he was headed toward earth itself.
"Oops. Butterfingers." 18 walked
over to the side of the ground to look over.
17 landed next to her.
"I don't think you have a future
in baseball, sis."
"Probably not, but that won't
stop me from batting him around for a little longer. I think we should finish him now."
17 closed his eyes and breathed
in deeply. "You are right. We don't want to give him the chance to get
ready for us. We'll kill him now and be
done with it."
"Alright. Let's do it."18 dived
down through the air, this time her target being a living being instead of the
ground. 17 took an extra second on the
tower. He had so little time lately to
get into the battles. Everyone was
screwing with his mind and manipulating him.
Finally he was back in control and with a chance to defeat his arch
nemesis. What more could a boy ask for?
"Alright, Cell. I've earned this fight. I want to see what you are made of…
literally."
**********
Author's
Note: I'm sorry
about not posting any new chapters in such a long time. My computer went down for about a month and
then life got in the way after it was restored. Now that I've got things under control I should be able to get
the chapters out in some sort of timely fashion. I really am sorry if I upset anyone by not updating or if anyone
was kept waiting too long. Just know
that not all the circumstances were under my control. If you have any questions, concerns, or if you just want to send me
hate mail you can mail me at saiyanhunter@hotmail.com
Once again sorry and please enjoy the rest of the story