Chapter 11: Things are getting reeeally ugly for the gang... Someone better ascend before it's too late!

Disclaimer: You already know it.

/

In a throng of elfin-eared, Mohawked people, one foreigner staggered through them, searching desperately for a resting place. She eventually spotted a stone bench in a shaded area against a small hovel made of the same substance.

'Gods, what's wrong with me?' Midori sat down shakily on what seemed like the hundredth public bench in the previous two hours. Through droopy eyes, she watched the hustle and bustle of the primitive marketplace around her.

It had been a solid week since Midori had received a blood transfusion from Broly of all people. Being a saiyan, she had recovered easily enough by day five; she was already up to light sparring with Paragus. But when day seven arrived, Midori noticed herself behaving a bit differently. It had started with signs anyone would overlook: irritability.

But of course, the fourteen year old saiyan blamed her snappiness on fatigue. There was nothing out of the ordinary wrong with her at the time… She'd just have to force herself to rest more.

'So why,' Midori pondered on day nine '…do I feel so horrible?' She let out a shuddering breath as she leaned forward slowly, elbows barely keeping her propped up on her knees. On the inside, her heart was thumping unrelentingly hard against her chest, despite attempts to calm the rapidly beating muscle.

A few natives observed Midori with concern as they passed by; in the few seconds they entered and exited her area, they eyed the slumped girl who stared straight at the dirt between her feet, with her mouth hung open despite not being out of breath.

'Just… relax.' Her mouth and eyes slid shut as she put effort into taking deep, even breaths. 'Block out the noise around you…'

But life continued on as noisily as ever. In fact, as the beating drum in Midori's chest echoed through her ears and blood rushed through her veins in an increasingly painful rate, the moderate murmurs surrounding her began shouting, screaming.

One curious man approached the now panting saiyan as she clutched her chest through the thick, long-sleeved tunic she wore. "Miss, are you feeling okay?" This simple, lightly-toned question struck at Midori's ears in an explosively loud pitch, causing her to flinch violently away from the him, her back hitting the stone wall inches behind her.

This display alarmed the good citizen, who moved closer to inspect Midori. "Do you need medical attention?"

Midori's eyes snapped open, moving wildly over the male's face—then past him, where more natives had paused the producer-consumer cycle to see what the matter was.

'What's happening to me?' It was as if her insides were fighting to jump out of her skin. She breathed heavily, her chest noticeably heaving as more concerned bystanders began to surround her. 'I can't take this anymore!' The patron's voices screeched at her, the blood in her body gushed excruciating through vessels too small, and the world was spinning.

Midori finally stood, using the wall behind her for support. "I… I can't—I…" Her bangs covered most of her face at the angle she hung her head.

"I'm a doctor… Please, young lady... just come with m—" An ear-splitting scream from his person of inquiry stopped the man as his eyes widened in shock.

His words were left hanging in the air as Midori moved faster than most could see. Her fang-like canines fully exposed, eyes bulging, she leapt onto the unsuspecting doctor and plunged her fist into his open mouth and out through the back of his skull.

The onlookers close behind the newly deceased man were sprayed with his blood and spattered with flecks of brain. It took a full three seconds of astonished silence for the first person to scream in horror. Utter chaos ensued; people ran for their lives, shrieked, cried, and hollered.

Midori caught one thing through the storm of needle-point painful screeches: "HER EYES—HER EYES!" She then proceeded to grab the closest being, unconsciously powering up and blasting the poor sap into the next world. The corners of her line of sight were slowly filling with red until it was all she saw.

It didn't make sense that the townspeople were running towards her; she would just pluck them from the fray and tear them apart with her bare hands. Or… maybe she was the one running to them..?

Her bloodied vision suddenly became darker, her ragged breathing and growling drowning out the screams of the citizens until she could no longer see, or feel. Everything went black…

…

…

"Midori… I know you're not sleeping, open your eyes."

As if being summoned awake by her name, Midori did indeed respond as commanded, and was met with a disconcerted looking Broly. He stood over her sprawled form, his faintly tanned features stark against the gloomy sky.

A light drizzle had begun.

His soft voice drifted in one ear and out the other as her eyes shifted over the deserted scenery. "I can't imagine what these people did to make you do this... I don't really care. Your energy... it's dropping…" His voice faded into an indistinguishable echo as Midori's eyes widened in panic.

She could barely bring herself to move, regardless of the lack of pain. Her body had become incredibly heavy… But that was far from her concerns.

'I did this?' Her head rolled laggardly to the side where her left cheek rested in the mud. Blood-painted walls invaded her sight; dead bodies littered the square, some even within arms reach. But her heart wouldn't pick up on the distress her brain tried desperately to communicate. "What—why—how could I?" She breathlessly demanded to an invisible being that would not answer her.

Broly knelt down to pick up his senseless, rambling companion and bring her back to his father.

Soon after that incident Midori would fall into a short-lived coma, waking up later, feeling as if none of the previous ailments had ever occurred...

"GUYS—" Goku shouted as Cell's miniatures flew straight at the cliffs—at us. "BE ON GUARD, THEY'RE ALL INCREDIBLY STRONG!"

Vegeta took the initiative to transform, letting out a fierce battle cry as I powered up alongside him. Three long seconds later, I was finally faced with one of the giggling, shrieking, child-like copies of Cell.

My brother attacked right away, and no sooner did I follow his lead, adrenaline keeping me from standing stupefied any longer.

At first, it seemed all too easy. I pounced on the tiny, blue android, nailing it on the very top of its armored head with my fist. As it fell forward from the blow, I moved quickly behind it and swung my leg; my foot sent it skidding across the cliff's surface. Jumping toward the motionless "Cell Junior", I landed lightly with a smirk. But then something snagged my attention:

Glancing left and right, I noticed just how the rest of the men were fairing. They were struggling and on the defense... each and every one of them…

I turned back to my foe a moment later and saw blue as my forehead erupted in pain—"Aagh!" It was as if I had taken a hammer to the face! I was sent hurtling back from the worst head-butt I'd ever known (and hopefully would ever know). My back hit the floor hard, both hands cradling my surely cracked skull. 'Fuck!' But I couldn't nurse myself for long. Despite my swimming vision, I rolled to the side, and a dark form lodged itself in the now cracked ground where I had been laying.

Up on my knees, I squinted at the small creature; it removed its legs from the earth as it carried on like someone who had just heard a great joke. Its laugh was high pitched and wild—grating on the nerves.

There was a small wildfire spreading across my forehead, but that didn't stop me from charging the little creature as he unstuck himself. 'He's not fast enough to avoid this—' I raced forward, and just as my outstretched hand was inches from the mini's neck, it ducked low, then plowed upwards, both fist slamming into my stomach.

It was all I could do to keep from throwing up as I was sent into the sky.

I eventually caught myself in midair, doubled over and watching with shaky legs as the Cell Junior snickered up at me from a dozen meters below. I managed to wheeze out to myself, "You would think these things were weak…" After all, weren't they a part of Cell? When he'd split himself into four, he had split his power into four parts. There were eight of these things!

I growled openly as my opponent came at me. "This shit doesn't make any sense!" I then quickly dodged the tiny fist aimed at my face, and continued to do so, in time making it back down to the cliff. But the more I evaded, the harder it became to do so—the Junior was tiring me out as I moved close to top speed— (I was also surrounded by fourteen other fighters…very cramped), and my combatant was becoming less jovial. He expressed this by finally catching me firmly on the right cheek with his tiny fist, sending me spinning backwards through the air and flat on my back again.

'Kais, these little bastards know how to pack a punch!' I could already feel my neck stiffening up, which was much more bothersome than a soon-to-be bruised cheek.

Somehow I was on my feet again, one hand on the base of my neck, knees slightly bent. How many blows had I received? Surely not enough to have me this exhausted! 'Damn it…' I took a step back as it approached me, mockingly slow. A second later, something firm made contact with my back, causing me to gasp, but… 'It's just Goku.'

I knew he must've been in worse shape than me (I distinctly remember seeing Tien and Yamcha intercepting two Juniors for him), but was glad to have him there anyway.

"This is crazy…" was his winded greeting as he pressed his back more firmly into mine.

"Tell me about it," I replied, hands ready in defense.

Then an idea came to mind as my opponent took to verbal taunting. "Goku." I turned my head slightly and nudged him with the back of my elbow. "You're facing one as well?"

"Regrettably…"

I let out a dry laugh to his response. "Well, I've got a plan. I'll bet anything they're going to charge at the same time, since they've got us surrounded… When they do, do me a favor and don't move…" He didn't have a chance to respond as both androids leaped at us, spouting out all sorts of high pitched squeaks and giggles.

'…Now!' The Cell Junior on my side was just yards away when I flexed my hands—smirked at the crackling electricity—and let out a small triumphant laugh as two simultaneous THWAP sounds resounded from the overly enthusiastic fiends slamming headlong into my barrier.

Goku stood a bit straighter, his back still glued to mine as he inquired, "What now?" in a slightly more composed voice.

"It's about to get better…" I looked back and forth, waiting for the miniatures to snap out of their stupor. Just as they attempted to push themselves away from the invisible wall, I bent my arms in a ninety degree angle, elbows level with my waist, clenched my fists and—

"HAAA!"

…which certainly added an extra boost to the tangible lashings of electricity that took hold of the small androids and reduced them to convulsing, screeching, blue heaps on the floor. Goku let out a barely audible noise of awe as the energy sparked and blew the twin Cells away. It was similar to a cartoon character touching some high voltage machinery and being blown back by the shock, skin charred and smoking.

A bit of dust clouded what would be just high enough to conceal the dwarves' bodies outside of the barrier, but their dark figures were soon distinguishable.

"Thank you, Midori." I felt him bend his arms in a similar manner to mine.

I glanced back briefly. "No need… I only weakened them. We still need to finish the job…" Just as I trailed off they began to stir, still slightly twitching, but more than able enough to growl and hiss in their irritating, babyish voices. "You aren't too tired are you?" I lifted an arm up, resting the top of my hand on the back of his shoulder.

He turned halfway at the touch, but didn't respond right away. "No…" he finally stated. "You?"

I smirked, fully ignoring the awful mixture of a sore stomach, pounding head, and stiff neck, knowing he was probably doing the same thing. "Never."

There was an unspoken understanding that it was time to go on the offense as I relinquished my force field and the two of us jumped in opposite directions.

I could say right then, that I'd never fought anything that tough (Broly, being in a league of his own, didn't count.) I had to move as fast as possible to avoid taking any more damage, and when I did strike back, the favor was returned two-fold. I wasn't the only one having problems: Piccolo, Vegeta, Trunks, everyone—

I took in a sharp breath as one clone came uncomfortably close to my face (in the overcrowded battle, many partners had been changed). Thinking quickly, I dove backwards, bringing my legs up just as it snatched at my chest and kicked it up and over my body into a large rock.

But the crash never came.

—!

Before I knew it, I was flat out on my back again, small pebbles poking me, with a wide-eyed, cackling Cell Junior blocking out most of the bright sky behind it. Tiny hands had found their way to my neck and squeezed with murderous intent. The first thoughts to come were coated with anger: Did this little thing really think I would just sit there and let him choke me to death?

'But...'

My eyes widened in fearful realization.

'Why can't I move?'

The ability to breathe was slowly leaving me, and all I could do was twitch my fingers and toes! "S-sto-haah-op!" My eyes darted around madly; the others would never get to me in time—they were busy enough keeping themselves alive as it was.

I let out a strangled cry as I saw the real root of my problem: One small, yet sturdy foot had been planted firmly into the dirt, between which my exposed tail was being crushed.

'No, no, NO! My tail! Not my tail!'

Try as I might, I could and would never be able to fight back with the pressure on my extended spine that rendered me paralyzed. My lungs were screaming for oxygen—chest burning like a torch placed between my breasts.

'No…' I wondered if anyone could even hear my choking and gagging over all of the fighting…

The world was a sickening blur, different shapes melding into a large, multi-toned, blue and brown canvas before my very own eyes.

"N-no-ooo…" The gloomy canvas was getting brighter… redder…

There were a few exclamations in the background … but… why were they so loud..? Damn…like… right in my ears.

My vision came back into focus. There, seated on my chest: a small, blue spawn of Cell stared back down at me with large, dubious, somewhat angry eyes. The grip it had on my throat was much less painful, albeit its fingers embedded deep into my skin. Why was that…? Maybe it was just that my body… as a whole… was in far more pain. Yes… like my innards were pushing against my assailant instead of me.

Oh… So it was happening again.

"HhhrrrrRRAAAAAAAAH!"

The tiny cyborg was under me with a flattened face before he could screech properly in fear.

I felt an animalistic pleasure rise as its face snapped from side to side under my fists, until its pale features turned red—red like the rest of it—like the sky—like everything.

I knew what was happening to me... I knew not to fight it; I knew fully what I was doing… unlike the first time… Broly was saving me again; saving me with his mutated DNA. It was his blood inside giving me the violent adrenaline boost to keep me from going under. Hopefully I could destroy the monster below me before I crashed.

"NOW DIIIIIIIE!"

But my right hand froze in midair. The eardrum-bursting noises all around me suddenly ceased as I searched our elevated battle field for the source of energy that was being concentrated so heavily. I spotted it right away through my tinted vision and my jaw dropped in dumb awe. "Brother…?"

He was brighter than the sun… so bright… bright enough to somehow sap the red mist from my eyesight.

"FINAL FLASH!" Brilliantly energized ki was let loose from Vegeta's smoking hands as everyone watched his colossal attack zone in on one of the Cell Juniors… who caught the blast as if it were nothing and kicked it a mile away.

Shit.

When it finally hit the earth, the whole cliff was bathed in white light, the halves of our bodies facing away dipped into darkness. It was then that I noticed my hearing had returned to normal… I didn't have the impulse yank my guts out anymore… The overwhelming energy I'd been briefly granted had run out.

"Oh… not good…" I could feel my power level deflating like a popped balloon as I fell feebly to the side, unable to hold myself up. I was in a much poorer condition than I had been minutes ago—and there were no more life-saving juice-ups coming to my rescue.

"Hang on!"

But there was Goku…

Similar to the time he'd scooped me up to escape from the exploding planet New Vegeta, Goku wrapped one arm around my waist and jumped back, away from not one, but two blue monstrosities. I could feel him inhaling and exhaling shakily against my ribs and knew his batteries were almost drained as well.

I tried to persuade him through oddly breathy words—"Just… put me down…"—my wobbly knees making it harder for him to keep me on my feet.

I glanced up just in time to see a knee dig deep into Goku's stomach—inches from my face, blood speckling my forehead as he dry-heaved. A second later we were both headed for the floor. I happened to twist sideways as he fell like a rock onto his stomach.

My eyes gave one hazy sweep over the area. 'I hate… being so useless…' I couldn't even push his heavy arm off of my side; he had unintentionally pinned me down.

The saiyan eventually pushed himself up on trembling arms, muttering "Sorry…" over and over again as he hung his head low. "So sorry, everyone…"

Both pursuers were circling around us like "sharks", as the humans would say; laughing, evil sharks…

… …

"No—don't!"

… Had I blacked out? I was suddenly on my stomach, and Goku was running towards me.

A startling pain caught my lower back, causing me to suck in a sharp breath through my teeth. 'Now what?' I looked back, and a paralyzing fear took hold of me, 'No, not again!'

For perched on the back of my thighs, inspecting my tail with rapture, was a Cell Junior. I couldn't even elicit a scream. A flash of a smirk and a squeeze later, I was a stiff, gasping mess with my arms splayed before me from being dragged backwards.

I brought my gaze up as the sound of resistance grew closer; not from the others, but Goku also on his stomach, fighting to shake an adamant Junior off of his leg. Shocking me out of my numb daze, another surge of pain traveled from the base of my tail, and up my spine.

Oh Kais, no. This was not happening!

I began panting, hysterical noises making their way out as my fingers jerked in an attempt to move. Another jolt of pain. I used the only thing left to me—my voice.

"PLEASE, SOMEBODY!" Hot tears brimmed my eyes. "IT'S GOING TO RIP MY SPINE OUT!" My frantic pleas were answered with a high cackle and a few outcries in the background.

The bound saiyan before me gasped in horror, then seemed to find new wind as he pushed himself forward, a confused android still attached to his dark boot. "Hold on, I'm—" He paused to turn back slightly and land a solid kick to his captors face, successfully knocking it off. "—coming!"

The agonizing pulling on my back persisted as I stretched my fingers out. 'I'm going to die!' There were no more if, ands, or buts about it. 'I'm going to die!'

Goku rushed forward and was no sooner slammed down again, his calloused fingers just barely brushing mine. Desperation reflected in both of our eyes; his quivering, blue pupils and my watery, dark ones.

Another yank—sparks flew up my spine, through every nerve in my body, causing me to have an involuntarily spasm as I screamed what might be my last scream. The pain was immeasurable as the monster leaned back to put more muscle into its tug.

"NOOO!" Goku's voice was the last thing I heard as the ground beneath us gave a sudden lurch.

…Huh?

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

A new voice roared across the canyon, echoing over its walls and up the cliffs to us. My eyes shot open to full hilt as the screaming continued and the ground shook with the fury… of… Gohan?

Down below us, Gohan was enveloped in a fierce windstorm of golden ki. One that blew away the foundation of the ground beneath him and left it concave. His screams were drenched in so many things: Rage, despair, frustration—it was a never-ending cycle.

My tail had long since been left in peace (the harassing creatures having flown away) as I gaped at the boy wonder, though I felt I might pass out.

The pads of Goku's fingers brushed lightly over my knuckles as he gave a weak laugh. "That a boy, Gohan…"

'H-how... How can someone so young have all that power? He's... much stronger than Goku!' Needless to say, after the dust cloud dissipated, Gohan revealed unto us a whole new person… physically and mentally. Stalking up to Cell, he looked like a smaller version of Goku with hair that stood straight up. 'And… oh? I didn't just take a short nap did I?' last time I had blinked… Gohan did not have the bag of Senzu beans in his hands…

Wow. So much for me being the quickest around. I'd barely seen him snatch them away from Cell!

It didn't cross my mind how close Goku and I were to the edge of the cliff until he turned forty-five degrees to his right and gripped the ledge overlooking his newly awakened son.

"You were right…" I grunted slightly, trying to turn his way. "Your son has extraordinary powers…" I trailed off, watching with a grateful eye as the boy cleaved one of Cell's mini monster's heads right off with his bare hands.

And only ten years old... Was Broly that strong when he was a boy..?

Goku responded with another frail laugh (grimacing slightly from the effort), and a light-hearted "I told you so…"

A streak of gold shot across the plains, down into the depths of what was once the arena.

From there on out, the Cell Juniors were to be made an example off: An example of what happened to those who caused pain for fun. One more had its head kicked off—another received a foot through the stomach. The remaining five were mere play things after that; batting them away and then blowing them back with just energy and no extra movement whatsoever… Gohan was a sight to see.

Out from the skies, Piccolo dropped down a moment later, his beady eyes straying over to Gohan before regarding us. "Goku, are you okay?" He then looked over to me a few feet off. "Can either of you stand?"

I nodded and Goku replied with a "Yeah" as I attempted to get to my feet. Thankfully, I hadn't been left paralyzed after the terrifying ordeal, but I could feel little to nothing of my legs when I stood up.

Just to prove me wrong, a small pin-point shock seemed to wake them up, as well as throw me off my balance. Halfway back down, a green hand grasped my right bicep, pulling me upright again. I muttered a sheepish thanks; Piccolo was now supporting both me and Goku (who had one arm draped over the Namekian's shoulders).

"Didn't I… tell ya so?" Goku asked, eyes slightly twitching from some source of pain. "He's going to do it, Piccolo…" He trailed off and smirked as Gohan made fools play of the Cell Juniors and their borrowed techniques.

I smiled as well, trying my best to keep from swaying as the brunt of several explosions blew at us.

In less than a minute's time after that, the final remnants of Cell's creations were a bluish-black smoke, eventually disappearing in the wind. Then, the boy of the hour spoke up in an edgy tone with plenty of ground in contempt. "Pass these around, Trunks." He tossed the bag of Senzu beans to my nephew without taking his eyes off of Cell. I could only imagine how Gohan felt towards the locust-like android at the moment…

…

I stood up straight, raising my arms and stretching my back once I'd received one of the healing beans. "Miracle workers..." I sighed, glancing up to the clouds where Gohan was putting little effort into his fight with Cell.

"I still have to get around to father," Trunks added, shaking the small bag to make sure there were more to go around.

I nodded, and the two of us moved quickly to where Vegeta was, leaving Piccolo behind to interrogate Goku on why the saiyan would choose to fight first if knew he was no match for Cell… For Gohan to learn the android's fighting style, maybe?

"Brother!" I called out just before my toes touched the red terrain again. "I see you came out in better shape than me… heh." I smirked at his heated stare, a bit envious that he was so much tougher than I was. It seemed all he had to worry about was the shoulder he was gripping for the time being.

Trunks approached his father (for I surely wouldn't when he was glaring like that). "Here." He offered him a bean. "Take this."

Vegeta, being as proud as he was, shot daggers at the outstretched palm before complying with an equally stubborn remark of "I hate when I'm forced to take these!" But as my brother chewed begrudgingly, he became visibly less tense, and inquired in a tamer (more sarcastic) manner, "While we're all getting cozy in front of the fire, you may as well explain what happened with your power level earlier…"

My lower eyelids rose as he stared sternly at me.

"A spark like that and then nearly all of your energy vanishes?" His eyes gained an accusing glare. "What kind of stunt did you pull?"

Trunks willingly stepped up for me when I remained silent. "It wasn't a stunt, father! She has—"

"Trunks…" I placed a hand on his shoulder. He obviously knew my condition and was ready to spill the beans on that little secret. "Vegeta, do you remember the scene of Broly's death?" He glared when I answered his question with an inquiry of my own, but humored it nonetheless.

"Kakarot punched a hole through his stomach…" He blinked slowly, and then added, "His blood was green." Exactly what I had been hoping for.

"Yes, well… almost sixteen years ago, I'd lost a lot of blood… fighting Broly, of course." I rolled my eyes at the unpleasant memory. "Since he had had his blood tested numerous times, the doctors knew that Broly was a matching type, and went ahead with a transfusion."

"You mean to tell me that those fools pumped that freak's green blood into you?!" His voice had gained volume.

I sighed. "Paragus didn't tell the doctors what the scientists knew." My narrow-eyed brother inclined his head in a questioning manner. "Which was basically that there was a mutation in his genes… and that his blood had become uniquely infused with… whatever gave him his overwhelmingly unstable supply of energy…"

I went on to explain the blunt truth: That Broly's "legendary" blood served as an emergency resuscitation; like a giant tube that pumped more energy into my body than it could handle…

Almost blacking out from lack of oxygen is what triggered it. If I had somehow found a way out from under the little monster then I would have been in okay shape; better than the energy crash that followed the overload. I remembered how maddening it had felt the first time, and with that I could relate to Broly… but his trigger was anger; it was mental for him, unlike me. That... I could not relate to.

"Hmph. There's an easy solution for that." Vegeta turned his back on Trunks and me, frowning as usual. "Be stronger than your opponent."

Heh. If only it were that easy…

'Well… it might be...' I mused, watching Gohan dominate Cell up and down the battle field. The frustrated android made a fancy light show of a particular rock they were on, but nothing much else came of it… But, wait… Had I heard that drifting echo right?

I cocked my head to the side in disbelief. "Did I just hear Cell say he was going to fight at full strength?"

Vegeta growled. "Where is that fiend hiding all of his power?"

Cell couldn't get that much stronger, could he? Well, he showed us once again what he was made of.

I was forced to my knees when heavy gusts (highlighted with phony Super-Saiyan yellow) threw me off balance, my lower back twitching uncomfortably when I tried to right myself. Sigh, it would be easier to stay put if I was lower to the ground, anyway.

… But would he be able to match Gohan? When the commotion finally settled I squinted slightly to make out a newly fuming Cell, who had just punched Gohan square in the face and failed to even knock the boy off his feet.

'But that looks like it hurts!' I cringed as Gohan's arm sunk halfway into Cell's gut, and was followed by a lovely uppercut to the cyborg's chin.

Cell staggered backwards, looking more injured than he had all morning. If I'd seen right, his eyes bulged and purple bodily fluids were dripping from his mouth. 'Blood, maybe?' A few times he tripped and fell to the floor, struggling to get back up.

Served that maniac right…

Goku landed quietly in front of me, and my tail suddenly stood to attention. I cleared my throat lightly. "…Behind you."

He turned sideways so he wasn't completely facing away from the fight. "Hmm?"

"Thanks for looking out for me earlier." I flashed him a smirk and he returned the gesture.

"You don't have to thank me." Goku's expression then turned for the sillier. "I mean, your brother would have killed me if I let your tail get ripped off!" He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes.

"Besides," he continued, a light smirk coming back as he held a fist at waist level. "I already planned on fighting you someday. I want you alive and at full power."

"Heh, of course." I smiled at the spark in his eye, then glanced over to where Cell was making rather unflattering faces at a stationary Gohan. "You let me know when..."

Keeping his eyes on the fight, or lack thereof, Goku spoke softly. "I saw what happened to you before you collapsed..."

That again…

"Your eyes where glowing red, then green."

My jaw clenched as I stared straight ahead. "Yes." I was hoping nobody had noticed…

"And then they were blue... like a Super Saiyan's."

He finally looked back at me and I met his calm gaze with surprise.

I... had never been informed of that last fact! ...Like a Super Saiyan? But females couldn't do that...

Goku finally turned away with a mysterious smile, replacing his focus back on Cell. Knowing him, he must've had ideas of false Super Saiyan transformations.

Throughout our hushed conversation Gohan had given the speckled android a good kicking around, even deflected two razor sharp energy discs.

'I can't get over how good this kid is!' I shook my head when he brushed aside Cell's rip-off of Piccolo's Special Beam Cannon. The attack spiraled high above us and exploded, where it rained down from a cloud of smoke like a hundred shooting stars.

Cell was getting desperate, for sure, but… "I just didn't think he would fly… away..." I stated dully, watching as his form grew smaller and smaller.

But after I realized what was actually happening, I could feel my body slowly stiffening into a suit of horror. My head tilted back, simultaneously shrinking into my shoulders as my mouth and eyes stretched open wide. I wasn't looking at any comet Kamorai, no, I was looking at an insanely charged Kamehameha in the sky! Cell was ready to end it all.

The breeze picked up as my legs began to tremble. "I… I can't…" It was about to touch down. "I can't shield us from that!" I didn't know if Goku heard me or not, but it made little difference. With Gohan standing motionless, the Kamehameha yards from his face, it didn't look like we (or even the Earth) would be around much longer.

But then the familiar screeching whistle of the attack doubled in volume; Gohan had unleashed his own Kamehameha against Cell's!

I couldn't say I was particularly relieved at the moment, though… not when I was blown off of my feet, onto the dirt, and gradually buried under the sand.

'He could have done that about ten seconds earlier!' On my stomach, facing the opposite direction, I pulled the collar of my shirt over my nose with one hand and held onto a sturdy rock with the other. I could feel the waves of sand slowly engulfing my legs, thighs, and waist… Soon the outer world was muffled by hot sand. That was my cue to hold my breath and keep my eyes shut tight.

Maybe thirty seconds later the ground seemed to be shaking less, but it was my objecting lungs that finally sprung my head up from beneath the desert grain. I took in as much air as I could, whilst other members of our group emerged in the same fashion.

Somewhere in the background I heard Piccolo's rough voice make an exclamation of Cell's remaining livelihood, which I disappointingly felt to be true. I saw, after turning around, the android high up in the clouds, a mangled and bloody mess. And for all the time it took me to focus my eyes and notice these things, I wondered why Gohan wasn't taking his time to finish Cell off.

A few others muttered similar thoughts, but Goku was finally the one to get fed up with his son's leniency. "Gohan! You've got to take Cell down now, before he can regenerate!" Luckily, Gohan happened to be close enough to hear us.

Retying my belt after letting sand fall out of my shirt, I distinctly heard Gohan's rebellious reply: "No, I think I'll wait… I'm going to let him suffer for a little while!"

I clicked my tongue in disapproval. The boy was letting his strength go to his head. 'It's not always the strongest who comes out victorious…'

"GOHAN!"

I turned towards Goku in surprise; I'd never seen him this aggravated.

"LISTEN TO ME, YOU'VE GOT TO GET HIM—DO IT NOW!" To this, Gohan merely quirked his lips into a smirk, giving his father reason to continue. "WE ALL KNOW YOU HAVE THE POWER! IT'S TIME TO USE IT!"

But before Gohan would even think of lifting a finger, Cell had already burst forth all necessary body parts in order to be whole again. It was an understatement to say the android was angry; he was beside himself. So much so, that he had grown about… four times his normal size—into a growling, foaming-at-the-mouth behemoth.

My mouth hung open incredulously before muttering, "That is seriously disturbing…"

Krillin, next to me, agreed wholeheartedly. "Yeah!" My short companion continued to say, "Looks like Cell is back to his old, evil self!"

The green devil was lunging and swinging wildly at Gohan, who was breezing through each attack as if dodging a butterfly.

Hell, even I could have danced around Cell if wanted to… Not that I wanted to get in front of that. But the point was—his new growth spurt had hindered his speed greatly.

'Uh-oh. Here we go.' Finally, the moment we'd all been waiting for arrived: Gohan struck Cell once—twice—and the android fell to his knees, cross-eyed and drooling buckets of saliva onto the ground. I allowed myself a small, toothy grin as I edged closer to the cliffside where the others were congregating. 'I wouldn't be surprised if Cell chucked up an organ or two from a kick to the gut like that.'

The creature's chest was bulging, like his insides had gathered to one spot and were trying to break free. The mass began moving upwards—his neck was inflating—and soon enough…

I shrunk back in disgust, bumping the Namekian's arm. "Ugh, what the fuck?"

Even my brother was caught off guard—"What? What's that?"—though he was much more eloquent than I.

"It's Android Eighteen!" someone shouted from behind.

I thought I'd seen it all. Shit. Where the hell had Cell been hiding an entire body inside him like that? He didn't seem that big before! Well, looks could be deceiving…

I took a long side-step to my right and leaned over to my nephew, who was gawking just as much as the next guy. "I've seen it all now, you know... someone vomiting out a whole person…" I eyed the young, blonde woman covered in thick spit, lying unconscious.

"Yeah," he replied slowly. "But if she's free, then what does that mean?"

I brooded on that question for a moment. Cell had "absorbed" Android Eighteen into his body to become stronger; she was half of his "perfect" power source. So wouldn't his energy… decrease? Maybe… he would revert into something else?

I was pleasantly surprised when my assumptions turned out to be true. Cell was changing. His bright green body was darkening, small human traits like a nose and thin lips had disappeared, and finally, a long orange tail sprouted from its previous retracted place. I noticed that he seemed less, erm… attractive than his previously perfected state.

There was a round of relieved sighs.

'Well,' I placed my hands on my hips. 'How about that?' The monstrosity's power level was laughable; If Gohan decided he was tired with his toy, I would gladly step in! It was only a matter of time before we would be able to go home with Cell's ugly face existing only in our memories…