Stretching, Goku balanced his energies and sighed deeply. After the android fiasco, he never had gotten any time to recuperate and just be calm. Whenever he managed to do that, he was sure his power would increase once again. For now, however, he needed raw power more than balance, and he had a few ways he could get some fast. Flitting into the air he flew off to Korin's Tower.

A long time ago, he had been tempted to drink the water and have his power level doubled. But he had restrained himself for a time when he needed it more. Now was such a time. The cat attacked him, but Goku blocked it with one hand. The force of the block was enough to send it to the ground. Leaning over beside the pool, Goku sipped and felt the energy running through him.

The ground trembled, the sky darkened and became cloudy suddenly. Rocks began to float up into the air and swirl around him, blue lightning flashed in the sky.

"What's happening?" he yelled to Korin. The cat laughed.

"The pool cannot double your power level over one billion!" the cat cackled. "If it is more then that, he who drinks from the pool is destroyed!"

Everything began rumbling further, the ground cracking around them. What was going on, Korin wondered? This magic pool of water was just a trick, a goal to boost power in other ways. It had no real power, did it? A giant bolt of silver lightning came down and struck Goku directly and with incredible force. There was a blinding flash, then everything was still.

Goku opened his eyes. Birds were singing, the sky was blue and cloudless. The rocks were scattered everywhere, and the tower was slightly damaged, but everything seemed normal. Korin was staring at him, looking shocked and worried.

"How is this possible?" the cat stammered. Goku smiled as he felt his power level.

"One billion exactly." The cat gawked. Goku flew up into the air and moved back toward Kami's Lookout. That was as much as he could boost his power level in a short amount of time, he'd have to train to get higher. One billion, Goku whistled. That was very high. But Perfect Cell had even more, he reminded himself, and he would be training in this time as well. Goku wasn't sure if he could beat him in Super Saiyan, but he didn't want to take his chances.

A short while later, Goku stood in front of a table at his house. He pulled out both of his capsules with the androids' energy in them. First he took out the Android 19 capsule. The purple ball of energy appeared. Goku smiled; he was going to show Cell why no one messed with Earth and the people he cared for.

Suddenly Goku realized what he was thinking. People he cared for? Who did he really care for? Android 18? Maybe so, but the thought disturbed him. He hadn't cared for anyone for a long time, not since he had learned the truth and his eyes had changed. But now was not the time for speculation, now was the time for action.

Placing his hands on the orb, Goku attempted to absorb it. Energy washed out, obviously malevolant, trying to blow him away with its sheer power. Because it wasn't strong enough it switched strategy, trying to burn out his system. Goku could easily handle that amount of energy, however. This wasn't going as well as he had hoped. Goku removed his hands from the orb.

Glancing down at his android hand, Goku considered it. While he hadn't begun to understand exactly how it worked, Goku did know his hand could do quite a bit more than before. As he attempted to place it on the orb alone, it shifted to a metallic version of his former hand.

Shocked, Goku ripped his hand away from the orb, and it instantly became flesh again. Comparing his hands, Goku found he couldn't tell the difference between them. True, his metal hand was rock hard, but so was his other hand. There seemed something wrong about his hand being metal, though. Sighing, Goku decided there was nothing he could do about it, at least not now. What was he becoming?

Placing his hand on the energy, Goku found that he easily absorbed it. Pulling out Android 16's energy as well, Goku began to absorb it. For a brief moment his body seemed to overload as new and unfamiliar ki blazed through his system. Using his own ki rapidly, Goku managed to balance the new ki in with his normal. A bit burned out, Goku dropped to the ground. But his new energy began to creep into his system, fill him with new power. Mentally, he decided he would never try to absorb another's energy like that again, he should have just used his old life draining technique. Somehow, he doubted it would work on any warrior who was strong enough.

Shaking aside thoughts and getting to Kami's Lookout, Goku landed and walked into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He still had one day he could spend in there, then he would have to train outside for the rest of the time. Once again the training began, and he went all out, hardly stopping to eat or sleep. In his mind, he mentally reviewed what Kami had said about this place. Every day that passed while he was inside the chamber was only a day outside. But inside, he got an entire year's worth of training in. It was just unfortunate that he could only use it twice in his lifetime.



Looking below, King Vegita considered everything again. At one point, he had thought he had everything under control, he was the master of his fate. But now? Things were nothing like they had been once. His own son had killed him, and now all the others were in the Afterlife, killed by the androids.

King Vegita was there watching almost constantly, there more than anyone else. None of the others ever asked him why, because they didn't want to know. But he knew. Everyone else didn't want to pry into the mind of their former leader, before he had been killed by his own son. Bardock would watch his "son" in the screen, but even he spent less time at the screen then the King did.

Why? The question seemed meaningless to him. But he had an answer. He was watching his son. What? anyone would ask, your son's here with us! Yes, he'd reply, but that son isn't one I ever want to see again. I'll watch my other son. What other son? they'd ask. And he wouldn't answer them, because it's his secret.

His son was like him, vicious, backstabbing. It was just too bad Vegita Jr had decided to kill him. But that wasn't the son he wanted to think about. He wanted to think about his other son. That was a secret only a few people had ever known. But they didn't now. He'd killed them all, and upon arrival in the afterlife, erased them from existence as well. They'd never tell.

So it was his secret alone. The secret that he had a second son. But his second son had been a weakling, a horrible weakling. He had been so ashamed that he had thought up a scheme to save his honor. King Vegita had placed his son elsewhere, to be found by another parent. Never would he have suffered such an indignity. Still, there had been a few loose strings, and Frieza had almost seen him. Even now, he wasn't sure how much the changeling knew about what was going on.

But now one of his sons hated him and had killed him. So he didn't matter anymore. And of all things, his other son, the weakling, now occupied most of his time. His other son had grown up and gotten stronger, much stronger. Now, as he training even more to fight this impossible opponent, King Vegita found a flicker of pride appearing in his heart.

His other son. Kakkarrot.



Everyone would have been shocked, had they learned his secret. But now, would it be a bad thing? His son Kakkarrot was by far the most powerful say-jin ever to walk a planet, and more skilled than anyone there. It was just too bad that he had lost his say-jin memory. If only there was a way to reach him and reawaken it again.

That was what worried King Vegita most of all. The visual screen only went so far, it couldn't tell him everything. As his son became more skilled at masking his ki, it became harder to get a solid reading on him. There had been a few times, when he had been in a battle, that his ki had exploded to its full power, and then they had gotten a clear picture, but the rest of the time it was more difficult. He just wished that he could somehow be there himself. Sighing at the impossibility, he lowered his head and watched once again.



Gazing out in the endless white expanse, Goku silently gathered energy around himself. Filled with the ki of himself and everything there, he rushed forward, flying into the emptiness. Everything got heavier and heavier as he went further, and by the time his starting point was just a speck, he could barely stand. Getting to his feet carefully, he powered up and sent energy flying everywhere, willing himself to remain on his feet.

Focusing, he moved as fast as he could, attacking swiftly. Pivoting, he kicked and then nodded, satisfied with his performance under that level of gravity. He went deeper, and continued his training. By the time he had worked up a good sweat, he decided it was time to try another level. Yelling, he threw his head back and let his energy go, power flooding around him. In an instant he was Super Saiyan, and he pushed harder, attempting to go further. When his golden aura had obscured all vision he stopped, unable to do much more.

Falling to the ground and out of Super Saiyan, Goku abruptly decided to train his technique. With years of being sick, he was a bit rusty. Plus, with all the raw power being thrown around among the androids, his power was far wilder than he liked it to be. Control would have to be one priority.

But if he just came at Cell with his old moves, it would be a deadly mistake. Right now, he needed an edge, something that would give him the advantage in the fight. Concentrating on keeping an aura up at full strength, he considered what he could do. While he realized he had no understanding of what had happened during the lab, he knew that it had granted him many new abilities; he would have to consider those well and refine them. Remembering back to the moves the androids had done, he smiled. There was a good chance he could do some of those as well. Not that he wanted to do something as ineffective as 24's boomerang attack, but there were some real possibilities in others.

Flexing every muscle to it's max, Goku shot his energy out around him and pulled it back as fast as possible, creating an explosion of power. He deflected the ki that crackled across the plane as a result and gathered energy. Firing, he launched a gigantic attack, then flew around to the other side of it to deflect it away. Returning to the other side, Goku deflected it again, but could no longer keep it up and just dispelled the attack.

Goku panted for a brief moment, then forced himself to run at top speed back to the door. Exhausted, he sat down and meditated , allowing his ki to focus and clarify itself. When his mind was quiet again he took it up a few notches, levitating fractions of stone around him in a whirlwind. As he became more and more concentrated, it moved faster and more violently. Struggling with his control, he finished and then headed over to one of the giant hourglasses on either side of the buildings by the door.

Watching the sand, he spread his perception as far as he could, and the air seemed to thicken and the world around him became darker. At first imperceptibly, the sand began to slow, dropping at a slower and slower rate. Sweat poured down his face as he tried to take it further. As he managed to get it to barely move, he fell backward, unable to do any more. Tomorrow was another day.

Eventually getting to his feet, he stretched and leaned against the side of the building. For an instant he struggled with an emotion formerly alien to him- apathy. Why did he bother? No matter what he did, no one would ever care. His best efforts were in vain, when attempting to stop all that was happening. All physical opponents could be defeated, but how could one fight hate?

Taking a deep breath, he struggled to remember purity. He remembered things that weren't tainted. There was so little, but they shone gloriously bright. But what had he to live for? Part of him wanted to give in, to end it all and join Piccolo in the Afterlife. Another part, a stronger part, refused. Don't give up, it told him, there is yet a reason. You yet have a part to play.

Listening to his own heart, Goku made his decision. Now that he had caught his breath, he began resolutely moving out away from the door. When he felt like he was far enough he gathered his energy and became a Super Saiyan. The energy from it expanded outward, seeming to shake the very walls of the miniature universe he was in.

"I will end this," he told the endless void, further focusing his power, "I will."

"Can Cell be that powerful, Master?" the apprentice asked Dai Kioshin.

"I don't know," he was forced to say. "His power is incredible. I had not thought that even Evil had a power level that high. We may count ourselves lucky that he cannot come here."

"Yes, Master." The apprentice bowed low.

"And Goku is far too powerful." Dai Kioshin's anger rumbled through the heavens. "He's keeping a lock on it now, and I can't read him, but he could be stronger than we have thought. And still he progresses."

"Yes he does, Master."

"Look closely, my apprentice. His body grows stronger even when he doesn't train, he gains strength every day. He is staying constantly young, he may never grow older or die of age. That would be incredible, but I think we can stop it. He can breath in water, and in space; his energy has incredible endurance. We have all of our strongest working to keep him down, but we are having little luck that way. At least the great seal is not breaking."

Both glanced nervously at the seal.

"Would the seal not have turned silver, Master?" the apprentice asked.

"The legend does say that when the Legendary One is born the seal will turn silver," his master agreed, "and it is always correct. But I think that this Goku could be a problem, even though he's not the Legendary One. It doesn't matter, his inner drive is going to push him beyond even us. I fear if he continues to wreck the world, the seal will break under the strain, and we will have no way to foretelling the Legendary One."

"Does the legend not also say that the seal will have a crack run across it when the Legendary One comes to full power?"

"Stop all of this legend talk!" Dai Kioshin said abruptly. "I was there when we made the seal. Everything in the legend is true, but we ourselves made the legend. The seal tries to keep the Legendary One from coming to power. It turns silver as soon as they are born and it has to start working. When it cracks, they will begin dipping into their true power. If the crack reaches all four portions of the seal, they will have their full power and the seal will be useless. We set it up so that if the crack reaches all four parts, the seal will try and heal itself, so they will not have their true power for long."

"But why do we not want the Legendary One to come to power?"

Dai Kioshin was silent for a long time.

"Because it might be a human, a namek, a saiyan, anything but a Kioshin. We must be the strongest warriors in the universe. Not anyone else. Not even the Kais. Eventually the Legendary One will be one of us, and then we will take down the seal and allow that Kioshin to reach his full potential."

"And you want it yourself, you old geezer." Dai Kioshin glanced at his apprentice in shock, but his apprentice looked just as surprised as he did, and he was looking forward. Dai looked forward as well and saw one of the last people he wanted to see.

"Piccolo!" He spat out the name.

"Well, I'm working my way up in life," Piccolo chuckled. "First I annoy a Kami, then a Kai, and now the greatest Kioshin himself!"

"You impetuous Namek!"

"Impetuous?" Piccolo looked innocent. "All I do is tell you the truth. If you don't want to hear it, that is your own problem, not mine."

"The game's not over yet," Dai Kioshin growled.

"It is," Piccolo said, shaking his head at him. "You just don't realize it. Oh, maybe there's some time left in the game, but I know which team will be on the winner's side. There isn't anything that you can do now to stop us from winning."

Whirling, Piccolo walked off, his cape flapping behind him. Leaping from his seat, Dai Kioshin launched red lightning from his fingertips to strike down the Namek. The lightning hit him and he staggered, but then it surrounded him in a sphere, no longer harming him. Suddenly Dai Kioshin's own energy came back, now blue, and hit him hard. He was on his knees, barely able to move.

"Don't try to attack me," Piccolo said tersely. "Especially from behind."

The Namek was gone.



Goku smiled and flexed his hand. It was time to go to the Cell Games. He had heard them announced just a brief second ago, and now it was time to see if all he had done was enough to beat Cell. His power level was nearing one and a half billion, a lot better than it had been before.

He was soon in an entirely different landscape. Ruined cities surrounded everything, the scent of death and decay floated everywhere. A group of toppled skyscrapers were knocked into a circle. Goku couldn't figure it out, but then felt the kis that surrounded the area. That was where it would be.

Flying there, Goku arrive just in time to see Cell's next competitor step up. Cell moved back and something fired from the small tube on his back where his tail had been. A tiny, blue version of Cell flew out and easily backhanded his opponent over the wall. Cell turned to see Goku.

"Well, you finally made it," he said dryly. "I was beginning to think you'd leave me waiting forever. None of these idiots are even strong enough to stand up to a Cell Junior, much less me. How do you like them? Tiny little replicas of me. They're very powerful too, if not quite my power."

Cell's eyes tightened with pleasure. "My power level is far greater now, Goku. I've been absorbing lots of energy. I think I'll see how you do on the Cell's Juniors first. Maybe I'll send a few sets to wear you down a bit."

The five Cell Juniors that had already been created leaped up suddenly and attacked Goku. Going Super Saiyan, Goku let them hit. They all moved over his body, attacking him from every possible position, but none of them did any good. Goku grinned. His power was a bit much for them. Putting his aura up around him, all of the Cell Juniorss were badly scorched, suspended unmoving in Goku's aura.

Barely visible amid the golden flames, Goku could be observed only by the destruction he left behind. Here a Cell Junior was blasted by an energy attack, here a kick tore through one. In mere seconds the Cell Juniors were no more. Stepping back to the center of his aura again, Goku dropped the aura, and the Cell Juniors dropped to the ground.

Flying to the first one, Goku touched it, then absorbed all of its energy into himself. He did the same with all the other Cell jr.s then flew back up to where Cell was, dropping out of Super Saiyan form and still fresh from the energy he had absorbed.

"I wouldn't advise doing that again, Cell," he said. "My strength has gone to a new level."

"You are still no match for me," Cell laughed. "But I must admit, you did a wonderful job of destroying all those little weaklings. You're smart, Goku, that's why you'll be so much fun to kill."

Flying forward, Cell charged at him. Goku just barely managed to go Super Saiyan and get out of the way as fast as he could. He kicked Cell back, knocking him almost to the ground. Cell flew up in a flying kick, but Goku easily dodged, grabbed his leg and tossed him into a large pillar. Cell got up and hovered in front of him.

"That's impossible! You cannot be faster than me! I am a perfect warrior, without flaw!"

"I don't know if I am," Goku said simply.

"Let's find out."

Flying forward, Cell began punching toward Goku as quickly as he could. Goku dodged all of his punches and blocked only one, moving back just a bit to keep Cell moving forward. Finally Cell panted and slowed his punching, tired out. But Goku wasn't tired yet; he kicked Cell as hard as he could in the chest. Cell went flying backward, then righted himself.

"Solar-"

Before he could finish, Goku threw up a reflective shield and closed his eyes.

"Flare!"

The burst of pure light bounced off Goku's shield and reflected back at Cell, who was blinded. Goku leaped forward and started having an open season on the green machine. Cell recovered and punched Goku away from him, Goku struggled to fly steadily again and then faced Cell.

"I don't just have your moves." Cell grinned, still confident. "I have everyone else's!"

Goku charged all of his energy up, waiting to see what Cell would do.

"Final Flash!"

The giant blast was aimed right for his former location, but Goku wasn't there. He suddenly came flying directly toward the blast at top speed from a different angle.

"Galic Gun!"

The energy disks slammed into the blast, each impact knocking it backward, blasting it into Cell, who fell, then righted himself again.

"As you can see," Goku said, smiling just a little bit, "I can learn Vegita's moves too."

Both attacked briefly again, then parted. Charging up energy behind him, Goku began his signature blast.

"Kaaaa-meeeeee-"

As the monster began to prepare for the blast, Goku launched it before he even pronounced the third syllable. Caught off guard, Cell was blasted backward. Getting up raggedly, he glared up at Goku, who allowed himself to drift above the monster.

As Cell charged up again, Goku tried to anticipate what he was going to do. If he could keep getting the jump on Cell by intelligence like this, he could very well win this battle, even though he was outclassed in power level. Just then he realized, possibly too late, what Cell was trying to do.

The kienzan sped for him at top speed. Goku got out of the way, caught the kienzan as he went past him, then slingshoted it around without losing speed. Without breaking motion, he went through with the swing and threw it back at Cell. Cell tried to dodge, but it nicked off the front half of his arm.

Grimacing, Cell made the arm regenerate and moved on Goku again. Obviously, Piccolo was included in Cell's genes, if he had Namekiian regeneration. They fought, Goku winning, but he failed to notice that Cell's tail had quickly regrown. It swept down, chopping off his arm. Yelling in pain, Goku fell to his knees. Cell laughed at him and bent close to spit in his face.

Suddenly and unexplainably, Goku's arm grew back again. Tendons knotted, skin and bone appeared from no where and his arm became whole again, the remnants of the old one fading. Goku grabbed Cell's neck with one arm and used his new arm to uppercut him hard enough to send him into the sky. What had he just done? His arm had just been regrown, just like Piccolo could. How had that happened?

But Cell was back down now, and he looked very ticked off.

"You may have learned how to regenerate," Cell growled, "but your power cannot match mine!"

"Kamehameha!" They both yelled it at the same time, their beams clashing in the exact center of the battlefield. The buildings around began shattering as power flooded from the collision of the two blasts. Goku put his head down and forced his energy into the beam. There were people counting on him, he needed to do this. He almost shook his head, who really cared? But no matter how few, he needed to stop this menace. It was important to keep going as long as possible. If he could there was a chance- his thoughts were broken by Cell's shout. Goku looked up and saw that his beam was almost on Cell. Giving it a last burst of power, Goku blasted Cell. He went flying backward, severely damaged and stunned. Cell got up, not yet beaten.

But now Goku realized that his power was actually greater than Cell's. It was time for him to try out his new move. He had never thought this ability would do him much good, as it wouldn't work on something as strong as Cell, but now he had a chance. Running forward, three claws suddenly grew from Goku's right hand. Leaping into the air before he got to Cell, Goku came down, the three razor sharp claws slicing Cell.

They split him down the center into four parts. All four fell down, looking shocked, and he retracted the claws. Goku worried anxiously. Would it work? Before his eyes the middle two parts of Cell melded together, forming Cell again, a first-form Cell. It was laying on the ground, weakened. The two side pieces turned into Androids 17 and 18. 17 was on the ground, but 18 was standing, sobbing.

Moving over to her, Goku patted her on the back sympathetically. Tears flowing freely, she turned and hugged him fiercely. Goku let her; if this would let her get rid of her feelings, that was fine with him. Still, some small part of his mind was slightly disturbed. Eventually she got more in control of herself and moved back, self-conscious. But by now he had another problem, as Android 17 had gotten up as well.

Flipping to his feet, he got in a fighting position in front of Goku.

"Dr. Gero is dead, 17," Goku said softly. "You don't have to fight me anymore."

17 didn't move.

"You have one chance." Goku's voice was a bit harder now. "You can pick Gero's way, or whatever way you want, I don't want to hurt you."

"It wouldn't matter," 17 spat out. "I want to finish off the humans. Dr. Gero's way is my way anywa-"

His voice cut off. Goku had flown forward at full speed and launched a punch. Time seemed to slow a second after Goku had struck, as all observed the devastating effects. Goku's fist was flaming, 17 was falling backward, breaking into pieces. The flames covered him and consumed him. It all happened in less then an instant. 17 was gone, nothing but ashes remained. Landing, Goku moved back over to 18, who gawked.

"The nightmare is almost over," he whispered, to himself or to her, it wasn't certain. Then he moved back to Cell, who was getting up.

"I'll self-destruct!" Cell warned. "It may not hit you, but it will kill everyone on this planet!"

Cell started rumbling and shaking. Goku flew forward and grabbed him, doing Instant Transmission. An explosion began and-



Cell and Goku appeared out in space, nearby a small asteroid with a few humans on it. Goku pushed Cell away from them in the last instant he had. There seemed to be a single instant when time stood still, and Goku found himself amazed at all that went through his mind. Was this the end now? Perhaps that was what was necessary. Cell would be gone, the Earth would be safe. He had no fear of 18 damaging Earth. With any luck, she could have a happy ending as well. Piccolo would be there, he knew, whenever he reached the Afterlife. Then, perhaps, he could find peace.

The second shattered as Cell exploded, energy washing out from the point of impact, everything nearby shattering into smaller and smaller particles. There was a magnificent flash, dwarfing the nearby supernova, and then the light faded into the eternal darkness of space.



-



Look ma! A cliffhanger!