Chapter 30: Perfect

Fun fact (okay, just a fact): Just to change things up, I was going to have Yamcha and Eighteen have a scene together instead of her and Krillin. But Yamcha was dead at the time, due to me only thinking of Yamcha's sacrifice at the last minute.

Lightning split the sky as rain poured down onto the battlefield. Cell was laughing maniacally as Eighteen disappeared into his absorption-ready tail, while two saiyans looked on—Raditz with horror, Break with anticipation.

A bright green glow erupted from Cell, completely obscuring his form. Jagged, electric bolts of power shot up and down as he began the metamorphosis to his long-awaited perfect form.

"Break!" Raditz growled. "You've put all our lives in danger out of your bloodthirsty need to fight!" Just like I noted in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber…it seems her rage on becoming a Super Saiyan gets worse the higher she ascends…of all the women on this planet, it had to be the one whose DNA would cause this, didn't it?

Break just grinned. "Come on, Cell. Don't…disappoint me."

The light began to flicker, and flashes of Cell's body could be glimpsed inside. Then, the glow expanded suddenly, growing to unbearable intensity until it could be seen from space, the massive levels of energy scrambling satellites' instruments and bringing down communications networks all over the planet.

And with that, it faded. A humanoid figure, shorter than Cell has previously stood, was standing in a crater in the ground. The light finally vanished, revealing Cell's final form.

He was a little shorter than his first form now, still larger than any of the others there. He was, as before, mainly green (though now a lighter shade) with black touches, but the orange was gone, and his features were much more refined, with a human-like face. He had retained the crown-like structure on his head, and his wings had returned. Everything about him was smoother, less monstrous and more artificial. There were small blue streaks down the sides of his otherwise light-grey face. He stood still for several seconds, silent but for the storm, and then smiled. When he spoke, it was with the refinement of an educated being for whom tone and inflection are nothing less than an art form to be mastered along with everything else.

"I…am…perfect."

"Hey!" Break flew down to Cell, loudly announcing her presence and breaking the silence. "This…is perfection?"

Cell slowly turned his head to Break. "That is correct."

"HAH!" She indicated to herself. "Remember…who let you. You know…what I want."

"Break—" Raditz landed behind her.

"No!" She held a hand out. "Mine!"

He shrugged. Fine. She can have it her way. When she's down, I'll step in—I can probably fight better without that maniac in the way.

Break begin to advance towards Cell, who turned to face her. "Fight me," she demanded.

"All right. Have it your way." Cell raised his arms in a peculiar defensive stance, arms fully outstretched, one hand resting on top of the other. "You should be honoured—you will be the first to sample my new power. Care to help me warm up?"

"Not playing…your games, Cell!" She shouted, launching herself at the completed bio-android. So, this is her maximum! Raditz thought. Just as I thought, she's been taking it easy so far…her power may exceed mine!

"Very well." Cell spun ninety degrees right as Break swung past him, angrily twisting and kicking at Cell. He caught her leg in both hands, throwing her away head over heels. "That's quite some power you've got there," Cell told her. "For an inferior life form, that is."

Raditz frowned. Well, there's no doubt he's got Cooler's cells in him…

Break charged back towards Cell, enraged. "Die!" But her fist swung through empty air. She balanced herself, her head sweeping back and forth. Where'd he go? She froze as a slow clap rang out around them. Slowly, she turned to see Cell standing several feet behind her, sarcastically applauding. "Yes, yes. Very well done. Now, I've tested my speed. How about my strength?" He vanished, appearing right in front of Break and landing a straight punch to her stomach before she could even move to defend herself. There was a noise like a mountain being split in two, and Break folded up and dropped to the ground, hissing in pain. "Satisfactory," Cell decided.

Break pulled herself up, gasping for air. "You…rrr…kill you…" she threw an uppercut that crashed into Cell's jaw from below, but he didn't flinch.

"And endurance is satisfactory as well," Cell said. "Thank you very much for helping me assess my perfect form. I'll dispose of you now…"

"How…?" she choked, unable to believe that Cell had taken her attack without making any move to defend himself, yet emerged completely unharmed. Her eyes narrowed. "Don't care…how strong…I'll win!"

"Win?" Cell chuckled. "You poor, deluded thing. This isn't a fight. You've helped me warm up, so I've got no further use for you. Good-bye." Faster than she could follow, he kicked at her head, sending her flying away. A distant dust cloud was thrown up as she landed, and then silence fell again, for the few seconds it took Cell to feel for her energy. "Ah…it seems she's still alive," he noted with disappointment. "I suppose I should have put more power into that attack. Ah, well." He smiled. "What will you do now, Raditz?"

"I'm trying, dad!" Gohan panted, collapsing after another day's unsuccessful attempt to transform into a Super Saiyan. "I can't do it!"

"I know you can, Gohan." Goku sat down next to his son. "You have the power inside you, I'm sure of it. Don't worry, it's not your fault."

"No...it isn't." Gohan sat up, a strange look in his eyes. "It's yours!"

"Huh?"

"You're always keeping me back, trying to protect me! I'm tired of it! You made me stay home when you went to fight Vegeta! Then I could only go to Namek when I had Bulma, Tien and Yamcha to babysit me!"

"Uh, calm down, Gohan…" Goku recoiled from his enraged son. This is a bit sudden…he was calm a minute ago…

"No!" He fumed. "It's why I can't transform! It's why I've never been any use when I do fight! I got beaten up by those saiyans, by Frieza and Cooler—when Kuriza attacked Earth, you let me stay in bed while you almost died! Then you didn't let me fight the androids—I had to stay home while Mom watched me do homework!"

"Hey, you're just a kid…"

"Well, what were you doing when you were a kid? Having adventures! If you want me to be a real fighter, you've got to stop holding me back!"

"Gohan…I'm sorry, I just…"

"No! You don't 'just' anything! I'm not there when you need me, or if I am, I can never help! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" The beast heard the call, and awoke. Golden light burst out of Gohan's body, lifting up his hair and throwing Goku back. He breathed out. It worked…

Raditz was standing behind Cell, shaking with anger. Drops of rain slid down his face, the bleak weather seeming to reflect his thoughts. Break really was even more powerful than me…but Cell just brushed her off without any effort! I guess I've got to get tactical. I died in that future timeline earlier on, and even before that, I didn't have much reason to train for any particular threat…that means he won't know anything I've developed over the last three years. Four, if you count the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"I know I'm outmatched, Cell…but giving up's never really been my way. That girl was blinded by anger, but she's got a good heart. She's already seen one world devastated by Dr. Gero's creations—I won't let it happen again!" He somersaulted over Cell, spinning and throwing a barrage of red energy bullets from one hand. "Blitz Cannon!" Cell jumped into the air to avoid the attack—he wasn't afraid of being injured, just that the dust it threw up might get his perfect form dirty—but Raditz had predicted he'd dodge like that, and threw a second, more concentrated attack up at him. I was never really one for originality—so thanks for this one, Jeice… "Crusher Ball!" The flickering red sphere arced up towards Cell, but Dr. Gero's ultimate creation simply stuck out one hand, catching it without any real effort. Almost gently, he closed his hand, crushing it between his fingers. "A clever ploy indeed. Futile, of course, but clever." He floated back down to the ground, landing with graceful poise.

"That…didn't just happen, did it?" Raditz asked himself. "He's too much! How am I supposed to beat something like that?!"

"I'm feeling generous today," Cell said. "Achieving my perfect form has put me in a good mood. I'll give you one more chance to attack me before I retaliate—how does that sound?"

"Hyaah!" Raditz ran straight at Cell, throwing a straight punch that Cell caught easily.

"Is that all? You saw me fighting your daughter, you must have known a strike like that wouldn't work." Raditz swung his other hand, and Cell caught that too. "Pitiful…"

"You think so?" Raditz grinned, grabbing Cell by the wrists. "Let me show you something I discovered in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. At first I thought it was an even higher form above Super Saiyan…" He gritted his teeth, lines of energy sparking up and down his body. "Haaah…Hrrr…" His muscles bulged out even more than before, and it seemed to be taking all of his concentration just to keep his power under control. His hair became elongated, sticking out in all directions like a mad, twisting bush. The pupils vanished from his eyes as he continued to grow more heavily-muscled, then reappeared as he finished. "Of course…rrr!…This isn't really a 'form', as such. I've just bulked up my muscles. The Ascended Super Saiyan form is really the limit of how far you can get just by simple 'powering up'. Past that, you just add brute strength at the expense of speed…which is why I made sure I had a hold of you before powering up!" Cell's eyes widened as Raditz squeezed the "perfect being"'s wrists between his massive fists. "Aargh!" Cell yelped, knowing if this kept up his arms would eventually break. He pushed off of the ground, kicking Raditz in the head with both feet, and as the Super Saiyan let go and fell back, Cell backflipped away and landed upright. He twitched to the side as Raditz's fist slammed into the ground next to him, throwing out cracks through the Earth for a mile around.

And now I need speed! Raditz 'relaxed' back into his Ascended Super Saiyan form, kicking up at Cell, who ducked under the attack, elbowing Raditz in the side and bringing him down. Raditz rolled away, trying to ignore the pain.

"Heh heh heh…Well, it seems you do have some fight in you…" Cell said. "Not only do you know how to make yourself stronger, you know when it's a bad idea to have excess muscles slowing you down! Impressive! Of course, it's useless when even your maximum, 'un-weighted' speed is nothing compared to mine…but I thank you for being a small challenge, however briefly. If it's any consolation, when you bulked up, you were stronger than me, at least in terms of physical, 'brute strength' as you put it…"

"But what good does it do if I can't catch you?" Raditz muttered. "And adding strength just makes me even slower! I've lost!"

"You lost before the battle begun, Raditz," Cell said. "Did you ever truly believe you stood a chance against the perfect being? Still…you were surprisingly powerful. How did you accomplish that so quickly?"

"We just did," Raditz spat. "None of your business."

"Very well…could you do it again?"

"What?"

"I'll put it in words of one syllable," Cell joked, "then maybe you'll understand. Could. You. Get. Strong. Er. A. Gain?"

"Yes! But we'd need time! I mean, you're probably going to blow up the planet or something…" he paused. "Say, what is your purpose? Now you've become 'perfect'."

"Well, I'm still going to kill Goku, as Dr. Gero intended," Cell said. "But after that…I'm not sure. I'll decide soon. However, I do know one thing: this world—this universe—belongs to me now."

"Somebody will stop you," Raditz growled.

"Yes, 16 said that too." Cell shrugged. "I really don't know who this 'somebody' is you're all talking about. I suppose it's in the nature of good-hearted people to be optimistic."

"Good-hearted? Me?" Break had said something similar. Raditz began to wonder…had he truly changed? Even Cell considered him a good person…No, that couldn't be right. Cell only thought that because Raditz opposed him. Fighting for good once or twice didn't erase half a lifetime spent fighting for evil.

"Sorry about that, Dad," Gohan said. He was sitting next to his father, powered down to normal, breathing heavily. "I just realised that I wasn't getting anywhere by trying to 'power up'—I had to get angry at something, I had to need to transform."

"So…" Goku looked down at him. "You made yourself angry at me?"

Gohan nodded. "And myself. For not being able to compete in these battles. I didn't really mean that…well, I did, but not to that extent."

"Has anyone ever told you that you talk like an adult already?"

Gohan grinned. "Mom says I'm 'very eloquent'." He giggled, and suddenly seemed a child again.

"Hah!" Goku rubbed his growling stomach. "That reminds me—we should grab lunch soon."

"What? How does that remind you of food?"

"Well, everything does..." They got up and walked back towards the living area. "But you thought of a way to turn Super Saiyan all by yourself? See, I knew you had potential!"

"But back to the point!" Cell announced. "What if I gave you time? Could you get a lot stronger?"

"If you…gave us time?" Raditz considered this. "Well…I guess with a few weeks, we could—"

"Excellent." Cell's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't want to leave my perfect form untested—and you, here on Earth, might be some of the universe's strongest warriors. You have one week. If you don't face me then, I'll destroy this planet. You'll be able to find me—I won't bother concealing my power. Now excuse me."

"Excuse you…where are you going?"

"Well, to my chosen battlefield, of course," Cell replied. "But first, I'm going to steal your Dragon Radar."

"Wait, what—" In an instant, Cell was gone, leaving Raditz to stand in the rain, contemplating his defeat. He spun around, trying to follow Cell's energy signal. He's moving so fast! If he's capable of that kind of speed, he must have been holding a whole lot of power in reserve when he fought me! I could use Instant Transmission to follow him, but what would I do when I caught him? He powered back down to his normal state, walking over to Break's unconscious body. I can feel Nail, Zarbon and Krillin around here, too. I guess I'll need to make several trips to get everybody back—to the lookout, I guess. Still…stealing the Dragon Radar? I don't like the sound of that.

Goku stood silently, reaching within himself for the hidden power he knew was there. Opposite him, Gohan sat cross-legged, meditating—a skill he'd learned from Goku (who had learned it himself while training with Kami) and had taken to doing more and more often in the Chamber—currently trying to maintain the ideal state of 'inner peace' as a Super Saiyan. It was just an idea that had occurred to him one day, and finding it suitably challenging, he'd applied himself to it wholeheartedly.

"Gohan." Goku called, and Gohan looked up. "I've found it!" He shouted with focused effort, transforming first to Super Saiyan, then going a step further to the Ascended form Raditz and Break had discovered. "All right! Take a look at this power! Hmm…" He tilted his head one way, then the other. "I could go even further, but I think I'd just be slowing myself down for the sake of more strength…this is about as far as I can power up without losing speed."

Gohan smiled. "You figured that out just now?"

"I've been thinking about this for a while now. To be honest, I could've transformed hours ago—but I wanted to make sure I had it just right."

"Okay…" Gohan frowned as Goku began excitedly testing his new power, throwing punches, kicks and energy blasts that detonated with satisfying boom's, laughing with delight the whole time. Gohan looked up, then slowly shook his head. "I don't know, Dad."

Goku stopped. "What do you mean?"

"I mean—you're really powerful, but I'm not sure if that's enough."

"I…still don't follow…"

"Well, it always uses up a lot of energy to transform—and now, you're having to transform twice. That's quite a lot of wasted power…"

"Well, I don't know how we get around that. I mean, without transforming we don't have enough power to fight Cell…to fight…to, uh…" Goku scratched his head. "Gohan…how long have you been a Super Saiyan now?"

"Huh?" Gohan blinked. "I'm a…oh yeah, I am. Uh…a few hours, I guess. I lost track of time meditating…"

"And how long could you stay transformed when you first unlocked Super Saiyan?"

"Not very long. Less than an hour, I think." Gohan looked curious. "What is it, dad?"

"The problem you pointed out? Wasting energy—plus this powering-up limit I'm running into…I think you've just solved it, Gohan."

"Oh!" Gohan stood up, running over to his father. "We need to practice staying as Super Saiyans for as long as possible, right?"

"That's it! We can make it more natural—less effort. We won't waste as much energy when we transform." Goku patted his son on the head. "Well done. It would have taken me a while to figure that out on my own—I'd have just been stuck with Ascended Super Saiyan's limit. At some point, you've got to think beyond just powering up, I guess." He looked down at his heavily-muscled transformed body. "Okay." He powered down to his regular Super Saiyan state. "Let's get started, Gohan. Train as normal—but stay transformed as long as you can. Got it?"

"Right!"

"And he just took off, faster than anything I've ever seen," Raditz was saying. He'd taken Nail, Zarbon and Krillin to (formerly) Kami's lookout, before teleporting back to Kame House and bringing the others as well. Now, assembled on the lookout, they had just finished listening to Raditz's account of the battle with Cell—although Nail and Krillin had told the parts before he arrived.

"So we've failed…" Roshi said gravely. "Cell has achieved his perfect form…you can't beat him, and you can't power up any more either…the situation just keeps getting worse."

"Wait! He's coming this way!" Krillin jumped to his feet, tensing himself. "You don't think he's coming…up here, do you?"

"No…he's stopped." Break frowned. "Right underneath us…what's he doing? He said he'd choose his own battleground…but that'd mean…"

Raditz nodded. "Korin Tower—or at least the surrounding area. I'll go and see what's going on. Stay here and wait for me."

"What if something happens to you?" Launch protested. "Let me or Break go with you!" She'd become very attached to the girl after finding out she was her daughter.

"What are you going to do? If it comes to a fight, we've already lost. I'm hoping to avoid confrontation…he did say he'd give us a week."

Raditz appeared a few metres from Cell with Instant Transmission, causing Cell to open his eyes, looking slightly bored. "I was wondering if one of you would come along to check on me…I do hope you're not looking for a rematch already."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid."

"I'd disagree."

Raditz ignored this. "Why here?" He indicated the tall, seemingly-impossible architecture of Korin Tower, that stretched up to the sky, towards the lookout.

"I suppose it's fitting." Cell smiled. "So close to home, as it were. This is where Goku became a true fighter…it's where he rose to greatness. And it's where he'll fall. With the rest of you."

"What did you do with the Dragon Radar?"

Cell laughed softly. "Well, stealing it was child's play. With enough speed, the weaklings of this planet won't even notice your passing. And all the fighters had left Capsule Corporation unguarded, conveniently enough. Anyway." He indicated the surrounding area. "After destroying the radar, I stole one of the Dragon Balls. They're inert now, of course, since Kami fused himself with Piccolo and Nail—and since Nail's a warrior-type Namekian, he can't create Dragon Balls. It took me quite a while to find the thing, inactive as it was, but I managed—and why shouldn't I? Bulma found one entirely by accident in her basement—but I brought it here and buried it several miles from here. So, even if you find some way to revitalise the Dragon Balls, it won't do you any good. It takes more than a week to build a Dragon Radar, if my information is correct, and you can't find the ball without it. I don't want some troublesome wish stealing away my victory."

"So, I guess we can't bring Tien or Yamcha back until we defeat you…" Raditz realised.

"Defeat me? Go ahead and try. In a week's time, of course. Go on and train—however it is you increased your strength last time, do it again! I'll be waiting."

Raditz frowned and vanished.

It was the next day by the time the door to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber opened. Goku and Gohan emerged—smiling, orange gi's ripped and torn (Goku had discarded his overshirt, leaving the blue one underneath), and at the moment, Super Saiyans. But they seemed different somehow.

"Hey!" Chiaotzu pointed at the emerging pair. "Gohan's a Super Saiyan!"

"Yes, I expected that…hold on." Raditz peered at the pair. "What's this? Your energy feels…calm. But you're Super Saiyans. What am I missing?" He noted also that their eyes were a gentler shade of blue, and their hair was less rigid and a lighter colour. In addition, the usual glowing golden aura was absent.

"Well—" Gohan began to explain, but Chi-Chi tackle-hugged him to the ground and started fussing over his hair, forcing Goku to take over. "Well," he explained, "you can thank Gohan—he gave me the idea. Transforming uses a lot of energy—and just ascending like you did has a limit."

"Yes, I found that too." Break nodded. "My father didn't quite reach it, but I did. I didn't think it was a problem, though—I felt so powerful, I could have sworn we were invincible. I guess that fuelled my overconfidence. I…" she turned to walk away. "I'm sorry, guys. It's my fault. I let him win."

"Don't talk like that!" Raditz stepped in front of her. "You weren't in control of your emotions. What happened—it's in the past. Let it go, all right?"

"You'd do well follow your own advice," she shot back. "You still won't admit you're a good person now!"

"That's because I'm not," he growled. "A moment of folly causing us to lose a battle is one thing. What I've done is completely different!"

"You know what, never mind." She held up a hand to try and end the argument. "I don't have the energy to keep arguing about this. Goku, continue."

"Okay…" Goku looked from one to the other, shrugging and putting it out of his mind. "So we practiced staying as Super Saiyans as long as possible—making the transformation more efficient. In effect, it sort of raised our power base—so we start out higher. It's sort of hard to explain…but it broke right through that limit you got stuck on."

Raditz snorted. "A higher power base, you say? Well, forgive me for saying this, but your power doesn't feel that high. And it's not like you can suppress your power while transformed…I mean, transforming to increase your power is kind of the opposite of reducing it to hide…"

"Hehe!" Goku grinned. "That's the point, Raditz! Super Saiyan is now just as easy as our normal form now! So yeah…we can suppress it. Want to see some of our real power?"

Break gulped. "I'm not sure if I do…"

Raditz nodded, stern-faced. "Show me."

Goku looked serious for a second. "Raditz. Move every non-fighter off the lookout. This is going to get intense."

"Raditz! We need to talk…" Launch put a hand on his shoulder. He sighed.

"We will. I promise. But I have to see this, okay?"

"I understand. I know how important it is to you…" she said, "…to be up there with the strongest." Raditz teleported the non-combatants away, and shortly returned. Gohan stood back as Goku took a deep breath. In front of him, watching intently, stood Raditz, Break, Nail, Zarbon, Krillin and Kuriza.

"All right!" Goku said, exhaling slowly. "I'll show you about half of my power! Haaaa—AAAAAH!" He screamed, as a golden Super Saiyan aura burst into life around him, power exploding from his body and shooting out from it. Krillin was swept straight off the lookout, as Zarbon clung to the edge by his fingernails. Kuriza hurriedly transformed into his final form, digging his fingers into the floor to keep himself from being thrown away. Raditz and Break both transformed to Super Saiyans almost as a reflex, using their enormous ki to anchor themselves to the lookout. "What?" Raditz hissed. "His power…no way!"

Roshi—standing on the beach of Kame House with the other non-combatants—flinched as if struck, then turned in the direction of the lookout. "Is that really…Goku? I didn't even know that kind of power was possible…"

"HAAAAAH!" Cracks spread out from Goku's feet, spidering throughout the entire lookout's floor. Mr. Popo, the servant genie who attended the place, was currently cowering in a corner inside the main building, believing the lookout to be under attack—nobody remembered to tell him what had gone on until several days later.

"That's…enough!" Raditz shouted through the enormous roar of energy. "You'll destroy everything! Goku!"

Goku stopped screaming, and his power died down. "Okay…how was that?"

"That was incredible…" Break said as she and her father powered down to normal. "That can't be only half your power?!"

"Yup!" Goku walked over to Raditz as the others clambered back up and made their way to them. "What do you think?"

"Even half of your power is greater than my maximum…" Raditz smiled. "Good for you, Goku. You've come a long way, little brother. In fact, you're even stronger than the power Cell put out when he fought us."

Gohan spoke up. "That's a funny way of saying it…you don't think it was his full potential?"

"Not even close." Raditz looked grim. "I'd say what we sensed before was just a fraction of what he's capable of! Still…if that was only half your power, who knows?" As he spoke, the world seemed to begin to shake. "What the—"

"It's Cell!" Zarbon exclaimed.

"Yeah, you're right," Krillin said, nodding. "He's powering up too…he must have felt Goku…"

"He took it as a challenge," Goku said grimly, "and this is his answer…" They continued to observe with their mind's eyes, struck silent with fear as Cell's energy, far below them, continued to climb to unbelievable heights. "No way!" Kuriza cried, as Cell's power passed what they'd previously felt from Goku, and kept on climbing (Gohan had taught Kuriza how to sense energy, when requested). "I don't like this!"

Finally, it built to a crescendo, and abruptly vanished—Cell hid his power even quicker than he'd revealed it.

"That…was insane!" Goku gasped. "That was about as high as me at full power—and we have no way of knowing whether he was still holding anything back or not! His real power could be twice that for all we know!"

"It is troubling…" Raditz nodded. "Come on. We've got a week—let's get back to the others and plan."

"That simple, huh?" Krillin muttered. "I'm telling you—we're doomed…"

"Ever the optimist, huh?"

And Cell is complete, replete and ready to compete. Hey, I'm a poet and I don't even know it. But seriously. This doesn't look good. I couldn't say this in-story, as it would be too awkward to fit in, but here's some changes from canon:

—Cell is much less prone to playing around. He didn't take as long to 'warm up' as canon Cell. He gave them less time to prepare, and didn't make it an official 'tournament' (so no Cell Games).

—Goku, never having trained under King Kai, missed something of an important stage in his spiritual 'education'. He needed Gohan's help to figure out Full-Power Super Saiyan. Gohan, on the other hand, is a more emotionally balanced person due to not being abducted by a demon, having his father killed and having to live alone for a year of his life. This made it easier for him to achieve greater feats of meditation, such as remaining a Super Saiyan for long periods of time, which is what inspired Goku.

—Upon realising Cell may be stronger than him, in canon Goku was relaxed, as he'd 'discovered a secret' in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Here, he's worried. No such secret discovered.

Q: Simply awesome.
I like that yamcha wasnt a joke for once.
Heres hoping we get some vegeta soon

A: Er…depends how you define 'soon'.

Q: Close to canon, yes. But it had a small nostalgic feeling to it. Sort of like BoD. I would've preferred it though if Cell's transformation was in a separate chapter and the fight between Imperfect Cell and 16 could've lasted longer.

A: Well…I'm not sure how I'd have stretched out 16 vs. Cell quite that long. I mean, half the chapter was Semi-Perfect Cell fighting the Ascended saiyans and hunting Eighteen…but point taken. Might have made that battle a little longer.

Q: Break's instability was a great substitute for Vegeta's overconfidence, but why didn't Raditz just IT her to the other side of the planet then IT back to fight/kill Cell? Oh yeah, no story if the characters make smart decisions, lol (that gives me an idea for a humorous yet tragic fic...)

A: Um…A wizard did it! But yeah. When his (smashman42) aforementioned story comes out, you should read it! I think it's going to be about the fighters not being affected by Plot-Induced Stupidity, and for instance, using Solar Flare+Kienzan to kill Frieza. Or Nappa. Or something like that. And then the consequences of therefore not getting the opportunities to power up and finding future enemies harder. I think. Anyway. If he (he? I guess?) does write it, sounds like an interesting read. What? No, he didn't pay me to write this. Really.

Q: Biggest thing missing from this chapter is talking about what's going on in Break's head: I guessed that her powered up form is messing with her mind, thanks to Launch's genes, but other readers may not have caught that.

A: Hopefully I cleared that up in this chapter, but in case I didn't, that is what happened. Got it?

Q: Very well written i am surprised at how well you made Raditz take Vegeta's place as an Ascended Super Saiyan, although Since you killed of 16 how will you Introduce SSj2? or will they defeate Cell another way?

A: How indeed?

Well, if I get lazy, I can just write a filler episode. "Goku continued to scream as his power grew. Cell very s-l-o-w-l-y walked towards him, making hundreds of inane and repetitive comments about how Goku stood no chance, Cell was the ultimate being, etc., etc. Cell declared he'd win the battle in five seconds! (three chapters, 1,583 punches and 829 kicks later) Cell laughed. 'You're almost defeated—only one second left!' Yes, those three chapters, including lengthy debates about the relative powers of the two fighters between the onlookers, all took place during four seconds. Goku and Cell began to power up…" See? It just writes itself.