Disclaimer: I own nada.
A/N: Ah yes, yet another late as hell update. I apologize lol. I'm gonna try be quicker about this and not get sucked up by my other fanfic xD
Chapter 5: Courtesy Call
The building began to shake as people and objects were tossed around the room.
Gohan easily sensed the familiar Ki despite the chaos around him. His eyes flashed green, burning with hatred. "Cell!" growled Gohan as an bright aura flared around him.
"Gohan," started Jazz, attempting to reach out to the Saiyan. "What are you-?!"
Gohan spun and regarded them with a ferocity that silenced them all. Pretty much the entire time they'd known him, Gohan had only ever been a timid and cheerful guy. "This is my fight. All of you, stay here!"
With that, he blasted off.
"Ugh, what the juice is going on?" groaned Randy, moving a disoriented Tucker off of him. "It feels like I just got hit by a train."
"You all are staying put," commanded Forge. "Max, you're with me!"
Max nodded and followed Forge out of the room.
"Wait!"
Max turned to face a transformed Danny. "We're coming with you."
"Yeah, what he said," came Randy's subdued agreement.
Max seemed exasperated. "I'm sorry, but For-"
"Look, you've seen what Gohan can do. What Cell can do. You guys are gonna need all the help you can get."
Max seemed ready to say something when another explosion rocked the base. This one seemed even stronger than the last.
"We don't have time for this!" barked Forge. "If you're going with us, you're going to follow my lead. Understood?"
Danny and Randy nodded. "Loud and clear."
Forge nodded. "Max, take them to Berto so they can get their comms."
"Gotcha. This way, guys!"
Forge turned on the rest of the dimension hoppers. "The rest of you stay here! I'll send some agents to make sure you stay safe."
Gohan blasted out of N-Tek and came face to face with Cell.
"Ah, Gohan, it's been a while."
Gohan growled as he powered up straight to Super Saiyan 2, bypassing the standard power up. "I don't know how you survived, Cell, but I'm gonna kill you!"
The half-Saiyan threw a powerful jab that Cell deftly caught. "Now, now, is that any way to talk to an old friend?"
Cell reared his free hand back and hit Gohan with a powerful backhand. A loud clap echoed throughout the canyon, accompanied by a large dust cloud.
Gohan blinked as he pushed himself up. His vision swam with dots, he could hear the ringing in his ears, and he could taste the blood beginning to pool in his mouth. But more than all of that he could feel the searing rage building in his gut.
He spat out a mouthful of blood on the dusty ground with a snarl. The demi-Saiyan stood to his feet. "CELL!"
With a sonic boom, Gohan shot of the ground and launched a flurry of punches and kicks at the bio-android. Cell smirked as he weaved through all of them and jabbed at Gohan's gut, knocking the wind from his lungs. Ceasing the opportunity, the perfect life form began his counterattack.
Cell punched the Saiyan in the face, and Gohan grunted as his head snapped back. He blinked the spots out of his eyes just as Cell put his hand on Gohan's face and took off for the ground.
Gohan's head impacted with the ground at a blistering pace. The ground cratered from the force, and a mushroom cloud shot into the sky.
The half-Saiyan bit back a curse as he fought to stay awake. Cell hadn't been this strong before, had he?
Cell smirked over Gohan's body. "Come now, Gohan. Is this all there is to you? Where did all your bravado go?"
Gohan grunted as Cell kicked him into a wall. "Pitiful."
Gohan began to hyperventilate as his vision began to swim. He winced from the pain in his side as he propped himself on his elbows. For a second, he felt like he was back in the Cell Games. Just barely hanging on against a ruthless insurmountable enemy.
Except his dad wasn't coming to save him this time.
The half-Saiyan's eyes widened as Cell was struck by a barrage of bullets. He craned his neck up to spot a trio of jets zooming around the canyon with their sights on the android.
"Ah, the cavalry arrives!"
Gohan's eyes widened as Cell's eyes began to glow. "No!"
He swept at Cell's legs, only to wince from pain.
Cell, undeterred, fired an eye lazer, easily clipping of a jet's wing. "You can't stop me, Gohan. You're too weak."
Gohan scowled as he tried to ignore the pounding pain in his skull. He wasn't ready to fight Cell yet. He'd have to stall. If only to divert Cell's attention from the planes. "Then, why'd you come here?! If I'm not worth your time, then why bother?"
Cell cracked an amused smile. "You mean besides you bringing me here?"
Gohan scowled the android's tone: a combination of haughty and teasing. Almost like certain Saiyan Prince. "You know what I mean. Answer the question."
Cell watched the jets whiz around the canyon, looking like the epitome of nonchalance. "I was bored."
Gohan bit back a disgusted retort as he pushed himself to his feet, finally trusting himself to stand without collapsing. "So you're here to toy with us for your personal amusement? How nice."
"That's not the only reason I'm here."
Gohan's widened at this before narrowing. "What else are you here for?"
"To increase your power. You were always the best under pressure, so I thought this would speed things up a little."
Gohan, not for the first time, cursed cells Saiyan genes. "So, when are we gonna fight? For real."
"We can start as soon as your little friends stay out of our private matters."
Gohan changed into a Super Saiyan 2 with a quick grunt, power coursing through his veins. "Alright, fine. I'll get them to back off."
Gohan raised into the air and flew up to the side of one of the N-Tek planes. "Hey, this is my fight! You guys'll get hurt if you keep firing at him!"
The pilot glanced at him, his eyes widening slightly with shock. "Can't do that, Gohan. This is my job, y'know."
The demi-Saiyan growled as all politeness seemingly left him. "Leave, dammit! This isn't a fight you can win! He's going to-"
Gohan was knocked back by a powerful explosion. He gasped as his back slammed into the canyon wall; it's rocky exterior giving way for his stronger form.
As he slid down, he slowly began to regain his bearings. Cell had just blown up the jet and the pilot with it.
Another death. And it was all his fault.
"Hey, tall, dark, and ugly! Over here!"
Gohan's head snapped up. There was no way. . .
Sure enough, Randy was decked out in his ninja suit, taunting Cell. Max wasn't too far off, transforming into a giant bulky fighting suit.
"Hey, are you alright?"
Gohan blinked as he realized Danny was standing over him with a hand outstretched.
With the pilot in his other arm.
Gohan didn't know if he wanted to be impressed, angry, or happy. He settled for a mix of all three.
"What are you doing here, and how did you do that?!" demanded Gohan as he took Danny's hand.
Danny shrugged as he laid the unconscious pilot down. "I just managed to grab him and turn intangible before the jet could explode. It's no biggie."
Gohan couldn't help but laugh. "Thanks, Danny, but you and Max and Randy have gotta get these pilots out of here. They're gonna get killed."
Danny looked up at the jets flying overhead, bombarding the android with lasers. It was easily apparent that they were of little effect. "Alright, I'll get them out of here, but I'm not gonna leave you to fight this psycho by yourself."
"Dan-"
The halfa raised a hand with a smirk. "Believe me, I hate having people fight in my battles. It makes me feel responsible for them. I get that. However, I also know that none of us here can take this guy alone. Including you, Superman."
With that the ghost boy took to the sky.
"Alright, I got his attention now what?!"
Randy couldn't see it, but he could practically feel the disbelief from Max Steel. "What do you mean?! I thought you had a plan!"
Randy grumbled to himself as he narrowly dodged a Ki blast. "Well, at least he doesn't seem so bad."
"I dunno, man. Steel says he's holding back."
Randy groaned in annoyance as he ducked under yet another blast. "You've gotta be kidding me!"
Randy weaved his way through multiple Ki blasts as he tried to make his way back to Max. "Has Steel found any weaknesses?"
"Ah, hold on."
Max stayed silent for a bit before shaking his head. "Steel couldn't find much. There does seem like there's some kind of thing inside him, though. Er, scratch that. Multiple things."
"You think that they're anything important?"
"Probably."
"Alrighty then," said Randy with his sword raised. "Time to exterminate this insect! Ninja Smoke Bomb!"
Randy disappeared in a cloud of smoke as he discreetly moved behind the android. At least, he thought he was discreet.
Randy gaped as Cell easily caught his sword strike. "Is that all you've got, Ninja? What a pity."
Cell tossed Randy across the battlefield, only stopping when he crashed into the canyon wall.
Randy blinked. That didn't feel like a wall. Well, it was something sturdy.
Sure enough, Randy looked up to see Gohan's determined scowl trained on Cell. And he was carrying him.
"Uh, Gohan. Could you, uh, put me down now?"
Gohan looked down at Randy and his cheeks flushed. "Oh, yeah. Here."
He gently dropped the Ninja as Randy dusted himself off. "Where were you? Cuz as much as I love taking on powerful-robot-bug-people, I don't."
"Talking to Danny. Speaking of which, you need to leave."
"Well, shoot, Gohan. That's a little bit har-"
"It's not personal. I just don't want you getting hurt."
Randy gave Gohan the best "seriously?" look he could muster. It was awfully hard to convey with the mask on, though. "Gohan, we're heroes! We're always getting hurt."
Gohan's lip quirked in slight amusement. "Yeah. This one's just a little bit beyond you."
Randy didn't even notice Gohan's hand chop his neck before he slipped into unconsciousness.
Danny swooped down to drop off the last N-Tek jet. It had been long since removed of its pilot by another one of Danny's clones.
He turned back to the battle to see Max standing lone against the android. He was zipping around the android, but Cell was just as fast. Scratch that. Cell was faster.
He was gonna need help.
Danny flew off at top speed, invisible. He soared into the sky before diving down, reappearing at the last moment, and punching Cell in the face.
Cell didn't even look at him.
Before Danny could curse his luck, he was knocked back by the most powerful attack he'd felt in his life. And Cell hadn't even hit him. At least, he hadn't seen him hit him.
Danny turned intangible just before he slammed into the wall. He hovered inside with a scowl marring his features. "This guy is unreal. . ."
He hadn't fought that thing for long, but he knew this was more than a bit above his pay grade. This guy was on another level compared to Vlad, Dark Danny, and even Pariah Dark. And it pissed him off.
It probably would've been smarter to butt out of the fight like Gohan wanted, but screw it. He wanted to make Cell pay.
He flew invisibly and intangibly through the ground, keeping his head above ground so he could still see the bio-android. The battle had progressed well from what he could see.
Which wasn't much.
The only signification of fighting were the thunderclaps of what he assumed to be the clashes of Gohan and Cell. Awestruck, he floated above ground returning to tangibility.
It finally hit him how out of his league he was. This was a fight between titans.
Gohan weaved through a flurry of Cell's blows while throwing some of his own. Cell had gotten so much stronger from his annoying Saiyan cells.
Part of Gohan was convinced that Cell was unkillable. He tried to ignore that thought, but it kept springing back to the forefront of his mind. It made his punches just a little bit slower and a little bit weaker. It shook his resolve.
Gohan launched a kick at Cell's head, which he easily caught. "Still so weak. Pitiful!"
Cell drew his free arm back and punched Gohan hard in the stomach, sending him crashing into the ground. The android floated down into the smoke cloud of his making, landing just next to Gohan's prone form.
"The next time we meet will be our last, Gohan. Make it count."
"Hey!" shouted Max.
Cell turned around to face Max as he morphed into his Strength Mode. "Try that on me!"
Cell smirked before fazing out and appearing right in front of Max. Max's eyes widened as he took a slight step back.
Cell reared a fist back and punched Max square in the abdomen, crashing the teen into the canyon wall. "That's enough of that. Any other takers?"
He blinked in surprise as he was hit with a quick ghost ray, right on the chin. But it didn't do much of anything.
Cell looked down at the intangible halfa with amusement. Before Danny could react, he found himself unconscious against the canyon wall.
The bio-android turned to Randy with a challenging look. Randy gulped as he held his sword in front of him. He sincerely hoped he didn't look as weak as he felt. "Man, this is so wonk. Hey, you aren't gonna attack anyone, right?"
"What?" mocked Cell. "You don't want to fight?"
"Uh, I don't mind not fighting if I don't have to. Y'know, diplomacy and all that. I'm pretty sure we both know how this'll wind up anyway."
Cell smirked as he rose into the air. "Smart boy. For your sake, you'd better hope Gohan doesn't disappoint!"
"Wait! You're not gonna hurt anybody else, right? Your fight is with us!"
Cell laughed. "My fight is with Gohan, and no one else. Once he's defeated, I can't promise that I'll have the same sentiments."
Randy couldn't help the slight twinge of annoyance and fear bubbling up inside of him. Gohan had already lost to this guy twice, and Gohan only had one more chance. With how quick he'd been attacking them, his third attack might have been just around the corner.
"At least give him some time between the third attack or something!" demanded Randy.
Cell paused mid-flight, seemingly intrigued. "Alright, I want to have this fight be satisfying. Very well, I will give him some reprieve."
Randy cleared his throat, trying desperately to find his voice. He really hadn't expected Cell to listen to him. "So, uh, are we talking like a week or something?"
Cell tilted his head, thoughtfully. "Five days."
"What?!" blurted Randy. "No way! That's not enough time to get ready!"
The android watched the ninja evenly. "What do you propose?"
Randy's mind was practically running at hyper-speed. He didn't want to pick something impossibly low, but he needed to pick a timeframe that was too far into the future. He doubted Cell would be willing to wait a year or something like that.
"A month," Randy decided, slowly. "Give him a month, and you'll have the fight of your life! Just think about it. He can only get so much better in a couple of days. Imagine how strong he could get in a month."
Cell didn't respond, aside from continuing his blank stare at the teen. Randy fought the urge to look anywhere besides the machine. He needed to seem as resolute as possible.
Randy had to fight the urge to sigh in relief as Cell smirked. "Your desperate bargain amuses me, so I'll agree to it. One month and we will have a tournament broadcast across the world. Be sure to tell him. The fate of the world will hang in the balance."
With that the android took off. Gone in the blink of an eye.
