13 – Black Rock Shooter

Whatever confidence Miku had possessed upon entering the arena was now gradually waning as she stared at Cell. A smirk was etched on its face, its piercing, belittling stare mocking her and her attempt to stand up to it.

"What are you waiting for, Hatsune Miku?" Cell taunted, "fight me."

Miku grit her teeth, narrowing her eyes at Cell. Clamping down her fear, she launched herself forward, swinging her leg at Cell. It vanished in an instant, but Miku took this in her stride, springing off her leg and launching herself into the air, throwing Cell a direct punch.

It caught this with ease, eyeing CV01 with a plain look on its face, and jabbing her in the chest with his free hand. Almost lazily, it released her, to smash her head with both hands.

As quickly as Cell had dodged her first attack, Miku blurred out of Cell's line of sight, catching it from behind with several energy blasts.

Miku grinned as Cell was surrounded by smoke. She could handle this.

She was too late to notice Cell rushing towards her from above, dropkicking her to the arena floor with a huge crash.

Slowly, the android picked herself up onto her hands and knees, watching Cell from the corner of her eye. It hung in the sky, staring down at her with a cold, calculating look.

Optimistically, Miku prayed that she'd taken some toll on Cell, but after running her scanners briefly, her hopes were crushed.

Considering my infinite energy…we're back to square one.

The kick hadn't particularly hurt her, but it had stung, and that bothered her. Blindly charging in wouldn't work; Cell was far too skilled for that, and any more slip ups like that could be fatal.

She needed to be smarter…

Her hands gripped the dirt in the crater that had been formed in her impact with the ground.

Dirt…not stone.

She clawed at the dirt, digging a little hole, and placed her hand over it. A bubble of energy formed in her palm, nestled in the hole. Cell wouldn't be able to see this; her back was blocking its view of the ground where she'd dug the hole.

Carefully, she covered the hole with dirt, and backflipped out of the crater, launching herself from the other side of the arena at Cell. At the same time, the energy bubble sped towards Cell from the crater.

Cell did not look as surprised as Miku had hoped, as it glided upwards, above where Miku and the energy bubble's paths converged.

In an instant, Miku swung her leg, catching the bubble with her foot, sending it rocketing at Cell. With no chance to react, it took the attack full force, the bubble exploding in its face. The bioandroid was sent flying further into the air.

Now's my chance!

If I can get on the offensive, I can wear him out!

No, I should ring him out. I can't risk this fight dragging on. I don't wanna mess up again.

Miku rushed at her foe, delivering a powerful blow to its body. Giving it no room for retaliation, she grabbed its leg, twisting her body and delivering a powerful knee to Cell's head. She swung Cell, full force, hurling it at the ground below.

This is it!

A ring out for sure!

There was no crash. No sound of impact.

Miku dropped to the arena floor, her eyes never leaving Cell's unmoving body. There was a chance- if even one part of it was touching the ground, then no matter how much it had slowed its descent, the match would be over.

The android girl tried not to look crestfallen as Cell hovered mere inches above the ground. Its eyes met Miku's, giving her a sly smile.

"Are you having fun?" It sneered. Miku attempted to respond, but in an instant, Cell was standing behind her, throwing her off guard.

"Because, if I'm to be honest…this is slightly dull."

It took a step forward. Miku instinctively took a step back.

"Perhaps you're holding back on me? Or maybe I'm just getting impatient. I've been waiting to punish you for a while, see. I almost regret giving you all those ten days."

Miku had no allies. She was cornered.

She was going to die.

"It may be because I was in a far lesser form, but you were certainly more threatening back on that island. Clearly, you've mellowed out. A shame, that. I got my hopes up too high. I suppose you are just a prototype, after all."

What could she do? Was there any way out of this?

"Well, I guess it's my turn now. I should at least attempt to salvage this warm up," Cell's nasty look vanished, all humour gone from its face, as it headbutted Miku. The android winced, leaving herself open to a flurry of attacks, finished with Cell backhanding her, sending her skidding across the arena. Suddenly, Cell was behind her, elbowing her head, throwing her directly at the ground.

Cell surveyed its arena, its eyes narrowing at the various craters and cracks caused by their fight.

It clicked its tongue in annoyance.

"What a mess. The Cell Games hasn't even officially begun yet. Ah, well. I can get something out of this, at least."

Miku, rubbing her head, staggered out of the crater.

"Dr Gero had a high opinion of you, you know," Cell said, scowling at her visible pain, "I can't say I understand why."

"Can't help you there. Bastard made life hell for us," Miku said.

"…Indeed."

"One hell to another. If it's not Gero, it's you."

Cell smirked in response.

"Hmph. Ready to end your life? Happy to oblige."


Having spent half an hour getting his mother to promise that no, she would not be coming with them, and no, she would not be following them after they'd left, Trunks used the flight to the Lookout to calm himself for the day ahead.

Luka, respecting this, decided not to strike a conversation with him.

Instead, to her surprise, he started the conversation.

"Are you ready?"

"I should be the one asking you that," Luka responded, "I can't do much to help."

"Of course I'm ready!" Trunks said, "what about…after the Cell Games."

"Oh…"

"Second thoughts?"

"No chance."

Trunks allowed himself to smile, as the two touched down on the Lookout.

They were met with a visibly distressed Goku and Gohan, Piccolo looking typically stoic, along with Krillin, Tien and Yamcha. Vegeta was nowhere to be seen; he'd probably gone on ahead.

Neither was Miku, which Luka enquired about.

"She was gone when we woke up," Goku explained, "I'm worried. She may have…"

"Done something stupid," Piccolo finished, "everyone's here. Let's go. It's almost time."

The others nodded, each leaping and soaring off the Lookout, Goku leading the group to their toughest battle yet.


Despite looking severely beaten, Miku still had her infinite energy, and her steadily rising frustration. She hadn't been able to get in a single solid blow, and Cell's energy level hadn't wavered in the slightest.

Vegeta had arrived; he looked irritated by what he saw, but he had no intention of interrupting the fight. And Miku knew better than to expect help from him- in fact, she'd rather die than get help from him- so she was still very much alone.

But the twintailed girl had no intention of giving up.

She just needed an opening of some kind…

Cell drove its fist at Miku's side, who caught it, spun around Cell, and delivered a kick to its back. It stumbled forward, regained its balance, and whirled around, immediately being struck in the face by Miku's fist.

The android girl outstretched her palm, and after a moment of concentration, waved her hand above her head, forming several energy balls above her. When Cell rushed towards her, she flung one energy ball at its head, and another at its leg. The former was batted aside with ease, but the latter found its mark, allowing Miku to slide under Cell and snap her leg upwards, kicking it into the air.

Three more energy balls were thrown at Cell, but they harmlessly flew upwards, as the bioandroid had vanished. When it reappeared, thin red beams shot from its eyes, blowing up the remaining energy balls right beside Miku, sending her flying.

She rolled, avoiding several more eye beams, and flipped onto her feet, weaving, ducking and evading each attack.

They're too fast! I can't get good footing-

Maybe I should take to the air?

"This is far more entertaining than it should be," Cell chuckled, "keep dancing, Hatsune Miku!"

Miku grit her teeth, ready to respond, but was thrown balance while avoiding a beam to her foot, leaving her open to another, aimed at her chest. Twisting to the side at the last moment, it pierced her shoulder, as she let loose a yell of pain.

Cell smirked, ceasing his attack. Miku's left arm wasn't moving; to her horror, the beam had loosened or destroyed a connection to her arm.

She tightly gripped her wounded shoulder with her right hand, digging her nails into the skin around it.

"Shit…" she hissed, "damn you, Cell!"

"You still want to fight? You're as stubborn as those Saiyans."

I still have one chance remaining.

I just need…time.

"This is rapidly turning dull. Shall we put an end to this?"

Miku let her right arm drop to her side, hoping Cell wouldn't notice the small glow emanating from her arm.

In a stroke of good fortune, a certain group of high powered fighters dropped out of the sky, capturing Cell's interest.

Goku was here at last.


Its eyes never left Goku. All of its cells, every fibre of its being hungered for this battle.

It would triumph, naturally. It was perfect.

That's not to say it wouldn't be a good fight. No, in fact, it would be the greatest clash of the strongest warriors the universe would ever see.

"Miku! What are you doing?" the Saiyan in question yelled at the android girl.

In Cell's peripheral vision, it could see Goku's friends behind him, arguing with some unfamiliar loudmouth sporting an afro and the lowest energy level in the area.

Not worth paying any heed to. It only cared about Goku.

It followed the warrior's gaze, becoming aware of Miku's glare boring into it.

"I'm going to destroy Cell," she said, her voice cracking. She was almost broken. She was almost done for.

Soon, it'd have the satisfaction of destroying this prototype, and finally, it would be able to get into a real fight.

"Really, now," it scoffed, "and just how do you intend to do that?"

Miku hesitated, shifting uncomfortably on the spot.

A failed attempt at hiding her last resort?

Cell smirked, and floated into the air.

"Go on!" it demanded, "show me what you can do!"

Unlike Vegeta, who had been…theatrical with his last-ditch attempt, Miku's confidence seemed to be dwindling, much like her spirit.

Cell wanted to see her final attack. It knew not to be careless this time; it'd simply evade the attack, and break the prototype into tiny pieces.

The girl raised her working arm, her fingers curled as her palm was pointed straight at Cell. The arm itself was trembling, sparking and glowing. Whatever the attack was, it was definitely a last resort.

Their eyes met, and there was a brief pause.

"Black Rock Cannon!"

A gigantic orb of energy burst from Miku's hand, vastly different from anything the android had used against it before. The energy orb was more like a void- it seemed to suck in light.

And, most importantly, it was…incredibly slow.

Cell hovered above it, watching it sail past and above it, snorting in amusement.

That was it? I'm almost disappointed.

The bioandroid continued observing the strange void, as it slowly dissipated in the sky above. Another caught its eye, this one faster and closer…

Another?

What happened to my leg?

Cell growled as it realised the first attack had been a mere distraction, the second one had somehow devoured its leg, and now…it'd been made quite the fool of.

It spun around furiously, trying to keep its face as passive as possible, as it looked down on the prototype. Several more energy voids of varying sizes filled the space between it and her, slowly closing in on Cell.

Miku was still firing more- somehow- with each volley causing her heels to dig deeper into the arena floor.

Cell had to prioritise. It had to regrow its leg, but it wouldn't be able to move while doing that. And currently, this barrage of energy voids was preventing it from staying in one position for too long. It had to stick to the air, too: it only had one leg to stand on, which was a disadvantage on ground.

Purple energy gathered at its fingertips, as it eyed the largest void heading towards it. With a grunt, Cell fired an energy wave at the void, testing to see what would happen.

The resulting explosion blinded Cell, throwing it backwards and scattering everything in the air. As soon as it regained its vision, it dropped to the ground, evading the new wave of attacks Miku fired. The leg would have to wait. It needed to capitalise on this opportunity.

It sprung viciously at Miku, darting around her and ensnaring her hair with its fingers. Cell's eyes gleamed victoriously, which soon faded and was replaced with a frown of confusion.

Purple blood sprayed from its hand, as its fingers fell to the floor in pieces. Miku turned around, flipping her hair behind her, grinning as she pointed her arm directly at Cell.

"Dr Gero would never have given me this much hair if it was just going to be an obvious weak point," she said, relishing the moment, "the fibres in my hair can harden when I need them to, making them razor sharp."

"Guh…dammit-"

Miku blasted Cell at point blank range, with more force than usual, knocking it backwards, collapsing onto the floor with a crash.

"Checkmate," Miku declared triumphantly, "With my infinite energy, I can keep this up all day!"

Cell looked lifeless, its body splayed out on the ground, purple blood leaking around it. Every onlooker watched in stunned silence, while Miku froze in place. She could barely keep her balance.

"D-did I win…?"

The only response to Miku's utterance was the booming laughter erupting from Cell's body. Green fluids splattered and mixed with the purple blood on the ground as Cell's missing limbs burst out of its body, the hole in its chest filling itself in.

The bioandroid brushed itself off as it stood up, narrowing its eyes at Miku, who'd resumed pointing her arm at it.

Cell shook its finger, and made a small 'tut'ing sound.

"Careful now," it said, "attack me out of match, and I'll destroy the planet. Those are the rules."

Amusement was plastered on its face as it watched Miku's confused look turn into abject horror; her eyes were fixated on her foot, which was now outside the arena.

"No…"

Her eyes rested on the trail her feet had dug out, due to her Black Rock Cannon's recoil force. She clenched her teeth, and starting quivering.

This was almost too much for Cell. By far, the most entertaining outcome possible.

"Now then," it said, casting its attention towards Son Goku and his friends, "who's next?"

"I'm not done yet!" Miku yelled, her shaking more apparent, tears forming in her eyes. Cell opened his mouth to taunt her more, but stopped when Goku put his hand on the girl's shoulder.

"Miku," he said calmly, "that's enough. You did good."

The android shook her head, jerking away from the Saiyan, and rocketed into the air, flying far away from the arena. Goku watched her leave, his eyes narrowed as he turned to face Cell.

"So, you're up next, huh?" it mused, "disappointing. I was hoping to save the best for last. Please, excuse the mess. My warm up got…slightly out of hand."

"Was that really necessary?" Goku said.

"Hm?"

"It was clear you were stronger than her. You didn't need to toy with her like that."

"Aha…on the contrary, I think I was being pretty lenient on her," Cell responded, folding its arms, "while her power didn't interest me in the slightest, I will admit, I do have a score to settle with the CV androids. They're…an eyesore."

Goku paused before responding. His mouth curved into a smirk, but there was no humour behind it.

"You're surprisingly petty."

"Personally, I'd call it fairness."

Cell paused for a moment, mirroring Goku's facial expression.

"In fact, to show how fair I can be, why don't I give you some time to warm up? I'm ready to go all out, but I should give you the curtesy of a warm up. I want this to fight to be a good one, after all."

Goku leaned into his fighting stance, standing where Miku had before the previous fight had started.

"I can live with that."

"Very well. You have one minute before I get serious."

Cell savoured the looks Goku's friends gave the two fighters as a thunderous clash signified the start of their fight.