A/N: Hello! It's a quicker update, but a shorter chapter. However, I feel like I got my point across with this one. Little info regarding the Cells, just keep reading, it should all make sense, since I do try to make sure the reader knows who I'm talking about. Also let me know if I have any spelling mistakes, I'd like to correct them.

And head ups, I'm sorry...

Across Time: Eternal Hope

Vision blurred, purple blood and saliva spewing from his bruised lips, the once more Semi-Perfect being gawked at the unconscious and sullied Android, trying to comprehend just how he could allow this to happen to him again…again by the same person, the monstrous child, the seemingly unstopping force that was Son Gohan. Stumbling back from an unseen crack on the dusty terrain, his clouded blue eyes looked at his rapidly morphing perfect ivory hands, the sickly green color that replaced it making him want to hurl all over again. His blown shoe-like feet staring at him mockingly, he heard a deep throaty laugh pounding through his squared ears. Looking up, he glazed at the shadowy slim figure before him, the gloating jaded orbs sending chills-

Wait….jaded? Upon blinking a few times to remove the murky fog obscuring his vision, he was finally able to bring light to the shadowy figure, changing its shape. Fear was taken over by anger when he saw the true culprit of his unfortunately state of imperfection:

An almost spitting image of himself.

A Tragic End

"You-you're a monster…"

His counterpart blinked, double taking. "Takes one to know one." He countered, calmly.

"I-I will get you for this you…you bastard!"

Cell, with pure uncontrollable rage pushed off the ground, his feet rupturing it, his animalistic clear blue eyes giving a hard stare at his purple doppelganger. Cocking his fist back, he threw it at his foe's smirking face, honesty not surprised in the slightest when he caught it, pushing it aside from him with a twisting thrust. Regaining his footing, he tried again, but upon getting the same results he then used his legs, in which Semi-Perfect caught also, reeled him into an awaiting purple fist, grinning nastily when he heard cracking bone.

And from there, it was all pretty much a recap of what happened earlier and well the three Z-Warriors didn't want to really watch this brutality again, so instead they chose to plan their next course of action; the Saiyan Princess spoke first.

"So as I was saying before….that happened," She briefly paused do to the shiver that raced up her spine upon her ears catching disturbing…uhhh crunchy sounds. "Yeah…so Krillin you're gonna go and convince Seventeen to leave, and yes you can get your saliva clad 'love interest' too."

Krillin, ignoring the 'love interest' comment, said. "But what if he doesn't want to listen and just attacks me?"

Tien spoke this time. "Hey, weren't you the one that said that these Androids might not be as bad as the ones from Trunks's timeline? There is no better time than now to find out."

"Plus, do you seriously thing he's going to waste his time coming at us when he's on Cell's lunch menu? I'm sure saving his sister is his biggest concern, so hell you could probably win him over by mention you're willing to help her." Bra added.

Just as Krillin turned, the Princess grabbed his shoulder. "Wait, he's in the open so get as close to him as possible without getting spotted-"

The former monk sighed. "I know what to do!" he might be small but he most certainly wasn't a child and was also no stranger to sneaking around, the events in Namek coming to mind.

Bra hand her hands up. "Okay! Sheesh! I'm looking out for you…you and I were never really close but I still care…" her lips curved slightly as a fond memory of a five year old aqua haired child, with a mouth full of tasty chocolate ice-cream came to mind, the small man in front of her laughing genuinely.

Krillin, shocked at her sweet smile, blushed. Even though he might not be interested in her, she was still quite a sight. A sudden terrifying glare from Vegeta (and Goku?!) slapped the blush off his face, setting him straight with a nod.

Turning away from the sneaking short man, Bra looked at Tien. "You and I are going to wait until the purple Cell is done with the other. Then we Tri-Beam his ass."

The triclops was taken aback. "You know Tri-Beam? Who taught you?"

"Yes and you taught me."

"What? Me?"

Bra rolled her eyes, smiling. "Yup! Believe it or not, while I trained with my father and Goku, I also trained with you. You were the only one, besides my father of course, that didn't learn from Master Roshi and because I thought it was awesome, I wanted to learn that Tri-Beam shit." She actually had said that to him too. "Unlike Krillin, you and I were cool. Plus being the strongest human, you were pretty bad ass."

"Okay uuhhh thanks I guess." No one really compliments him, so he felt kinda awkward hearing it. "I just fine it hard to believe..."

"Why?"

"Well you Saiyans get immensely strong in such a short amount of a time..."

The half Saiyan grinned. "And you think since I was training with father and Goku, I'd wipe the floor with you" She finished for him.

Tien frowned, remembering how Vegeta insulted him earlier. "Something like that."

"Actually back then, you'd be surprised how easily you discipline an arrogant hot-headed teenage brat," She said, her cheeks tinting pink with embarrassment. "But yeah... our training usually focused on the mind as well as working on my technique."

Tien smiled. "Sounds like a story worth hearing sometime. Anyways, how is Tri-Beam going to do anything? While it is my most powerful move, it's life draining…"

The half Saiyan made a face. "Yeah…but listen, you remember my story with the Bojack guy I was talking about at the Lookout?" Tien nodded. "Well the you from my time told me that before he transformed into his most powerful state, you actually managed to hold Bojack back for a while. The others tried to tell you to stop but you kind of did it until you passed out, nearly dying. So when I asked you if it even harmed him, you said no, that all the attack did was hold him back."

"So you're not really sure."

"Yeah…no…maybe?" Bra laughed, sheepishly scratching the back of her head just like a certain Saiyan did. "But it's are best bet."

Tien sighed. "Don't you have a more damaging attack? What's you're strongest?"

Bra flicked her eye towards the fight, wincing when she saw an arm crash against the ground. "Final Shine, but unlike Tri-Beam, I can't shoot that attack multiple times. I'll just end up putting all my power in that attack and I'll be finished. And if it fails, you can predict the rest."

Upon seeing Tien's unsure expression, she gave him a reassuring smile, which was as bad as the odds they were currently facing. "We can do this."

Behind a rocky wall, just a couple of feet away, Krillin gulped as he looked at the unsuspecting blond haired Android, who couldn't seem to look away from the battle, his jaded eyes dropping to his unconscious sister indecisively. Oh boy, here goes nothing…

"Psst!" Seventeen didn't seem to have heard, his eyes till glued to the fight.

So he tried again. "Pfft…Seventeen!"

"What is it baldy?" Krillin's eyes widen at his response, even though he had expected it. "I heard you the first time, just was hoping you'd go away."

"But I, no we came to help."

Finally removing his eyes from the battle, he eyed Krillin quizzingly. "We?"

The midget nodded, jerking his thumb to Bra and Tien, who were in a deep conversation.

Seventeen snorted. "And what do you losers plan to do? We didn't even stand a chance against those things, which means you all definitely don't either."

"You're right, we don't…but we don't want to fight them. We just want to get you and your sister out of here."

"And you think they are just going to let me go? If it wasn't for the warning look that the purple bastard gave me earlier on, I would have been long gone. Also why would you help? After what we did to you all…" His voice faltered, sounding somewhat defeated.

Krillin sighed as he inches a little closer. "Look, we don't hold grudges. We, we are the kind of people who give others second chances and I…I believe that you, your sister and the big guy should get one too. Tien, Piccolo, hell even Vegeta have changed so I'm sure you can too."

Before Seventeen could respond, an audible explosion echoed through the air, causing his attention, along with Krillin's and his group to turn to the source.

Semi-Perfect was eying his barely breathing weaker-self with an evil smile, slowly pacing towards him confidently. Reached down, he gripped his forearm forcefully, making his copy groan painfully, his half lidded icy blue eyes struggling to stay open.

"Well, I've had my fun with you."

Cell's eyes shot open when Semi-Perfect yanked him upwards and with a powerful thrust, sent him spiraling into the sky. He flailed wildly while airborne, unable to stop himself from the momentum as Semi-Perfect faced towards his fading form, extending his hands to the sky.

"Here's a parting gift!" He hollered gleefully, a deep golden circle forming on the ground around his legs. His body lit up, a brilliant bright column of light illuminating the evening sky as a massive yellow energy blast shot upwards, heading towards his counterpart at an alarming.

Finally stopping himself from going any higher, Cell breathed a sigh of relief, which was short lived when he saw the thick golden blast heading his way.

"NONONONONOOO! THIS CAN'T BE! I CANN'T DIE-AHHRUGGGAAAAAA!"

The energy attack slammed into, Cell screaming in agony as his body began disintegrating, breaking down piece by piece and even as his copy's jaded orbs laughed at him, his final thought were not of him, nor even Gohan, but rather of Goku….Goku….W-wait…Gok-

And then he was gone, everything turning black as his consciousness left him.

The remaining Cell clapped once, spreading his arms to the side. "That was a beautiful light show, don't you think Seventeen?" Cell looked below at the blond Android, who stiffened.

"I'll let you." Seventeen suddenly blurted out, making Cell and the group of heroes give him a look.

"Let me?"

His voice trembled as he continued. "I-I'll let you absorb me…as long as you leave my sister alone!"

Krillin nearly yelled in protest as Tien and Bra's fists tightened, readying themselves and well Cell…he just smiled with delight.

"Oh, Oh sure! I will. As I said before, I only need two of you anyways." He responded. Of course he was lying; he was going to kill her, along with the planet after he absorbed him. Or perhaps he should try to absorbed her too after? However, according to Dr. Gero, he stated that he wouldn't need to take in another Android, not that he couldn't. I'll think about this later, when I'm perfect…

"You promise?" He knew this was freaking stupid. The bastard was obviously bullshitting but he just didn't know what the hell to do! Maybe while he's occupied with him, the bald midget and his friends can save his sister.

"You have my word."

Despite seeing from the corner of his eyes the waving hands of Krillin, silently pleading him to not do it, Seventeen started making his way towards the grinning purple monster, each step becoming heavier and heavier do to the mental battle he was having within himself.

Bra's glowing fist winked out, her form silently pulsing with the extra energy given to her by Goku. As her aura converted to gold, her hair following suit, Tien spoke.

"How are you even doing that? You look like you're super charged but I can't sense anything."

Bra smirked, "It's something you and I developed during a few of our training session. Well, the technique only worked for me for some reason…and it's kinda unstable at time."

"Unstable?"

"Like my-power-can-spike-at-any-time-screwing-us-over kinda unstable."

"Right."

The Saiyan Princess frowned; her face matching Goku's when he means business. "Listen, as soon as I fire my first few Tri-Beam and you see that he is struggling to move away from my path, you jump in, otherwise don't bother."

"No, I'm not-"

"Don't. I don't know how, but I'm not dying today. Ready? Cause surprise attacks are my specialty!"

Tien's hesitant nod gave her the greenlight and then she was off.

Seventeen clutched his eyes tightly, Cell covering the remaining distance between them as he then excitedly raised his thick purple tail, opening it like a funnel. He was only seconds away from sliding his tail onto the Android's head when Bra, in her Super Saiyan glory, slammed her two feet to the side of his head, sending him hurling away at sonic booming speed.

"Krillin! Get the Androids out of here! NOW!" Bra hollered, taking off after him like a golden shooting star across the now night sky.

Seventeen, frozen in shock at the turn of events, hurriedly located his sister, who was now in the arms of Krillin, the former monk running pass him, yelling, "Come on! Let's go!"

The blond Android nodded, following closely behind.

Then Cell appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, blocking their path, with an aqua haired Saiyan in a death grip.

"You're all fools! Did you really think I couldn't sense you!?"

Bra gurgled, her hands trying to pry his thick locked arm around her neck. "H-ow?" She managed to ask.

"You can thank Sixteen for that. He's different from the other two Androids, in that he has an internal energy signature scanner that is much more precise than the norm. Also, it seems like he was able to sense Seventeen and Eighteen, which is something that shouldn't be possible since they don't have energy signatures. You know what that means Seventeen don't you? You can run but you can't hide!" He sang, laughing at the angry expression on the blond Android's face.

It wasn't completely true. He could lock on the Androids, but he has to be a certain amount of distance near them for it to work.

Bra's eyes drooped; her form slackening and Cell couldn't help but laugh." I have to admit, this pest shocked me. I knew she was coming, I just hadn't realized how much power she was packing in that one attack! I'll enjoy snapping your little neck!"

The Saiyan Princess's aqua orbs snapped open, reawakening in a panic-like state and with one mighty scream, her body exploded with golden light, temporary stunning Cell, breaking his hold. A powerful Explosion Wave left her and as soon as she threw herself away from the purple monster, she shouted, "NOW! TIEN!"

She hoped to Kami that the triclops can make this work since the plan got screwed. She had used more than half of the power she was supposed to use for the Tri-Beam attack in order to break his death grip hold on her.

Soon as Cell recovered from his stunned state, he whirled around when he felt Tien's energy signature above him, his hands cupped in a triangle formation, aiming directly at him. The triclop's eyes widened, his focus zooming in on the purple being before he shouted, "NEO TRI-BEAM ATTACK!"

The triangular attack slammed into him so harshly, that to his astonishment, it had actually thrusted him downwards, causing him to tear right through the ground. Seething with anger at the nuisance of an attack, he shot towards the triclops, who let loose another Tri-Beam, sending him spiraling down again. Eventually he was forced to halt, the non-stop wave after wave of Tri-Beams keeping him at bay.

Leaning on her side while remaining on the ground, Bra gave a weak grin at Cell's fruitless efforts to escape. Still having strength left, she was able to push herself onto her feet and reactivate her Super Saiyan power, her eyes narrowing with determination as she flew to Tien's side, who was already showing signs of weariness.

"Don't just stand there you dolts! Get your ass in gear and get the hell out of here!" She urged, causing Krillin to make a break for it, hands clutching the comatose brunette, Seventeen not far behind.

Cell growled as he witnessed the retreating form of his prey, raging coursing through his body, the numerous yellow energy blasts pushing him further down, fuelling his fury even more. Having enough, the large purple being ignited his aura, shooting upwards. Just as he was mere feet away from his target, the female Saiyan beside Tien exploded with power, the harsh winds whipping her golden hair about as she mimicked her ally. His jaded eyes widened as the added force clashed into him, yelling in frustration when he was back where he was before, unable to ascend.

"Damn the both of you!" The monster roared, his back hunching with each blast.

Noticing the triclop's energy dipping too low for comfort, Bra shouted, "I'll take it from here Tien!"

Sweat drenching his forehead, he shook his head. "N-Not until they are as far as possible from h-here!"

The Princess wasn't surprised at his response, already knowing how stubborn he could be at times. So she took matters into her own hands. Releasing a small grunt, her golden aura expanded, sending a Kiai to the unsuspected triclops that was only strong enough to thrust him back harmlessly. Landing on his feet, he lifted his half lidded gaze to the daughter of Vegeta.

"What do you think you're doing!?"

"Saving your ass from getting-Ahhh!" A sharp pain traveled through her fatigued body, causing her rapid fire to cease.

Cell grinned.

Tien cried out the half Saiyan's name as he watched their foe collide into her, the two of them skidding on the ground, Bra tumbling ungracefully while Cell grinded on his hands and knees to a stop. With a heavily frown, Cell teleported to the gasping Saiyan, who was struggling to lift herself, sending a kick into her open mid-section. Saliva sprinkled from her lips as her form curled, her knees pressed against her stomach as a large purple clawed hand clamped onto her throat, preventing her pained screams from escaping her mouth.

"You-" He threw his fist towards her soft belly, making her suck in a strangled breath.

"Little-" his fist connected again, her legs dangling as her toes curled.

"Bitch!" He hissed out, giving one final thrust to her sore abdomen, the force of his knees sending her upwards, however he halted her ascent when he materialized from sight, appeared above before giving her an elbow to her spine.

Her mouth went agape, her eyes whitening as she was propelled back to earth, the ground quaking when she crashed down. Hair turning back to its natural color, Bra groaned, weakly standing, only to kiss the dirt again when he came down stomped onto her back. Crouching while still on her back, making her scream in agony, he flew high into the air, looking down at the fallen Saiyan as he stretched his hand out.

"Be gone!" He yelled out, firing a small yet deadly green energy blast at the helpless Saiyan Princess, who could do nothing but stare at the ki ball coming closer and closer with every second.

As the attack landed, dust and debris scattering everywhere, the entire area rumbled as fissures spread so widely, that the ground now resembled something akin to a spider's web.

While Bra was surprised and horrified at what she saw before her, Cell just grinned with satisfaction as he became witness to a mangled warrior, whose body jerked to the left, falling to the side.

Needless to say, the triclop's eyes didn't open again when they fluttered shut.

A/N: ...

(Posted: 5-27-15, Afternoon)

~Gater~