Chapter 50: Super Saiyan, Super Android
A Break Through the Limit Special Chapter Thing
And here it is: the first special chapter. And it only took me 50. If all goes to plan, this'll be a long one, so those of you who disliked the short chapters recently should be happy. I've tried to incorporate some of the most memorable moments from the movie into this. And yes, the two promised other mini-specials will be at the end. Enjoy.
(Music for this chapter: Through the Fire and Flames by Dragonforce. A song I only know about because of Yu-Gi-Oh: The Abridged Series, incidentally.)
"Thirteen?" Break asked. "Who or what the hell is—oh, no." She rubbed a hand over her eyes. "As in android 13? Really? You already did 17 and 18, why are you going backwards now?"
"Thirteen—" Cell began, but was cut off by three pairs of feet tapping on the ground—Gohan, Seventeen and Eighteen (the reformed androids wearing a patchwork assortment of pieces of their old outfits and whatever they'd been able to scavenge—life, though improving, was still hard ) landed on the banks of the river, behind Break. "Hey," Gohan said, a stern expression on his face. "I take it this adorable creature is Cell."
"That's right..." she nodded to the androids. "Be careful. He might try to absorb you...but at the moment, he shouldn't be able to take any of us on, so try not to worry too much. Now," she turned back to Cell, "tell me about this 13."
"The original android 13 design was put on hold, and never constructed," Cell explained. "Along with 14 and 15, they were deemed inferior to models 16, 17 and 18. However, in light of their obvious failure to perform their designated tasks, units with less sophisticated processors were required—less likely to rebel. Models 13, 14 and 15 fitted these specifications, and the available resources, perfectly. 13 in particular received some improvements from the original design, to counteract your unexpected increase in strength. You may be a Super Saiyan...but today, you will face a Super Android."
"You seem awfully humble," Eighteen noted. "The Cell I remember had an ego the size of Mars. What gives?" She and Seventeen had obviously been practising the ki sense technique Gohan had taught them, and used it to detect Cell along with the saiyans.
"Well noted," Cell replied. "Indeed, I myself have received some modifications, in the light of my own presumed failure in the past. In addition, based on the observed behaviour of this alternate pair of you, it was predicted that I would have a high chance of eventually rebelling against Doctor Gero's plans. Thus, these modifications have altered my mentality somewhat."
"Huh." Break shrugged. "I preferred the good old original recipe Cell, myself. Now we have the 'mindless servant' flavour. Whatever. So this android 13 is going to kill us, is it? Finish what your 17 and 18 started? In which case, I have to wonder why you're here and not him. Or her, I guess. It. Whatever."
"Though he lives on only in computerised form, the doctor retains his flair for the dramatic," Cell said, slowly floating upwards. "Follow me. The final confrontation will take place in a location of our choosing. You could choose not to comply, of course, or simply attack me now, in which case Thirteen is programmed to be released within twelve hours and begin immediately attacking the nearest human settlement. So it's your choice."
"Doesn't sound like much of a choice at all," Gohan decided, following Cell. "I guess we're going."
"Right." Seventeen took off. "I want to see the end of this. You?" he asked Eighteen.
"Count me in," she confirmed. "Let's finish the bastard who made us into monsters."
"I guess we're all agreed," Break said, joining the group as they followed Cell through the air, keeping a wary distance. "Keep your eyes out for a surprise att ack on the way," she told them. "I wouldn't put it past Gero..."
"Will do." Eighteen looked slightly apprehensive. "Hey...are you worried about Cell at all?"
Break shook her head. "Nah. Like he is now, any of us could beat him, no problem. Even in a worst-case scenario, if he absorbed one of you, Gohan and I could still win, and if he somehow got you both, I'd still be stronger."
"Hey, don't you mean 'we'?" Gohan interjected. "I've mastered Super Saiyan too, y'know."
"No, I mean me."
"What are you hiding from me?" he paused . "I haven't seen your full power yet, have I?"
"Hopefully, you won't have to."
Gohan fell silent, keeping one eye on Cell as his thoughts drifted off. Just how powerful are you, Break? What are you concealing? And why did you never tell me...?
Thirteen.
They approach.
It is time.
Awaken.
"Heh. You don't have a Goku for me to kill, so we're settling for the kids?
Fine. This fight's twenty years overdue. Let's do it."
They came to a halt, slowly descending t owards the ground. Cell had landed on an unremarkable patch of wasteland, overlooked by a mountain range. "Stand here," it commanded.
"Whatever you say," Break muttered as they stood in a loose cluster behind the f formerly fearsome bio-android. At a silent signal from Cell, a low rumble began to emanate from the landscape around them, and the patch of earth around them slowly sank beneath the surface, mechanical noises accompanying the grinding descent.
The large 'platform' finally stopped, quite a ways below the surface. A hatch closed above them, shrouding them in total darkness. There was a loud crack and a cry of pain, and shortly cold blue flourescent lights flashed into life, illuminating a circular chamber some two hundred metres across. Cell lay sprawled on the ground, and Seventeen stood with his fist extended and a smug expression on his face. "You just couldn't resist, could you? Well, I don't blame you for trying..."
"Hngh...curse you..." Cell hissed.
"Now, now," a thick Southern American accent rang out across the room. "If you're gonna attack someone, at least do it well. Honestly, Cell, you're makin' us all look bad. You're a disgrace...'perfect android', my ass."
Break scowled. "Let me guess. Thirteen? You can come out, you know. If you've invited us here to try and kill us, let's not waste time."
"Well, now," the voice continued, as the speaker stepped out of the shadows, "aren't you quite the little firecracker? Patience, patience..." Android thirteen was tall and thick-set, easily dwarfing all of them except Cell. He wore baggy dark green pants, a small jacket emblazoned with Red Ribbon Army insignia, which was also present on his baseball cap, out from under which flowed untamed white hair down below his shoulders.
Eighteen rolled her eyes. Is he programmed to sound Southern, or just what Gero thought a Southerner is supposed to sound like from watching too many bad movies? Typical of the old bastard... "Oh, look who it is—the outdated model."
"Having fun gathering dust?" Seventeen jeered.
"Hey, now!" he addressed them one by one. "Respect your elders, girl! And you, boy...I don't like your attitude. Maybe I'll fix that." He cracked his knuckles.
"No way." Break took a step forwards, assuming her Super Saiyan form. "I'm your opponent!" Because if the worst does come to pass…hopefully I can call on that power one more time...
"If you say so." He shot her a quizzical look. "Say, ever since you did your little time jaunt, you look a bit different as Super Saiyans. Hair's a bit paler an' softer, aura's a bit smoother. What's all that about?"
"If you must know, it's just the full-power—" Break began, but was interrupted mid-sentence by a straight jab to the face that flung her back across the sparse arena.
"Idiot." Thirteen grinned. "That was an amateur mistake, falling for that old trick." He leapt after her.
"Hold on!" Seventeen prepared to charge in to intercept 13, but without warning Eighteen tackled him to the ground, pushing him out of the way of a pair of incoming energy blasts. "Thanks," he breathed. "But who was that...?"
Another pair of figures appeared out of the shadows. Accessing his internal data base as they stood up, Seventeen nodded. "I see. Androids 14..." a muscular giant, even bigger than 13, with pale grey skin, archaic military clothing and a long ponytail. "...and 15..." a purple-skinned midget with a comically large hat and bowtie, accompanied by sunglasses and a bright orange coat. Seventeen snickered. "I can see why Gero scrapped you, but I can't comprehend what was going through his head when he designed you. It looks like the circus just came to town."
"You'll soon learn...not to mock us," 14 said in a harsh, robotic voice. "15?"
"Let's go," the shorter artificial human drawled. The four androids stood facing each other one moment, and the next they were gone, racing back and forth across the room as they engaged in battle.
Gohan stood at the centre of the room, breathing deeply. Cell had vanished, attempting to use high-speed movement to appear invisible. There! Gohan's eyes snapped open, and his cybernetic arm lashed out, catching Cell across the jaw mid-leap as he powered up to Super Saiyan in the same moment. Cell crashed to the floor, and Gohan smiled. "You know...I never went back in time, so I never got to fight the other version o f you. So, this is gonna be fun."
"Do not underestimate me!" Cell snarled.
"I don't have to. I know you can't win." He raised his guard. "Come prove me wrong."
Break bounced off the wall, rocketing ba ck at 13. "That was low. Are you that scared of me, that you have to resort to trickery?"
"Why don't you attack me and find out?" 13 sneered.
"Excellent idea." She ducked under the android's next clumsy, sweeping punch, slamming an uppercut into his chin. "You know that as long as I'm here, no android 's ever going to threaten the world again!" She followed up with a knee strike, driving 13 back, then spun around, throwing a spinning back kick at his head. At the last second, his tensed body moved with an instant readiness, grabbing her incoming leg and stopping the attack. He's moving faster than he was just now! she realised. He was just feigning weakness to catch me off-guard now! Before this thought was even finished, 13 swung Break over his head, tossing her to the ground and beginning a vicious beatdown, relentlessly kicking his downed opponent as she struggled to break away . Finally, she pushed off the ground, escaping the onslaught, but disoriented from the attacks, she reacted too slow to 13 as he charged again, her counter attack too uncoordinated to even come close to hitting. Retaining his advantage, 13 took hold of her hair, swinging her around one-handed and smacking her head-first into the wall. Cracks spread out through the stone from the impact, and blood trickled down her face. She spat out a mouthful of it, reaching around and managing to get a grip on his shoulder, reversing the hold and blasting him away with a wave of ki. She rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision. Focus! This guy takes no prisoners...he's fighting dirty. I've got to be on top form...
"S-Solar Flare!"
"Sorry." A dull thud echoed around the arena as Gohan's fist hit home again. "I can sense you just fine with my eyes closed."
"Gah!" Cell jumped back to its feet, readying another technique. "Special beam cannon!"
"Nope." Gohan laughed as the beam approached him, then blocked it with ease. "The difference between our powers is too great for even that technique to overcome, I'm afraid."
"Kienzan!"
"Ooh, good choice, that might actually hurt me." The Super Saiyan grinned as he appeared behind Cell, the razor-edged energy disc passing through his afterimage . "Unless I dodge it, of course...now, let my try this new technique I've got worked out." He raised his fist once more. "I'm calling it 'punching you senseless'..." Suffice to say, Cell did not remain conscious for long.
Calming her mind, Break ran at 13, drawing her arm back to strike. However, as she approached, he swung his hand forwards, opening his fist. She flinched, but the blow never came. Instead, a handful of dirt flew into her eyes, taking her by surprise and blinding her. "Aah! Y ou bastard, when are you going to fight fair? "
"Come on, now!" He kneed her in the stomach, his elbow crashing down on the back of her neck as she doubled over. "Ain't no such thing as fair here, kid! In case you hadn't noticed, I'm tryin' to kill ya!"
"Hhh...ah..." she trembled, waves of pain running through her body, trying to stay conscious and push herself up on her hands and knees before the next blow came. 13 stepped back to try and resume his favourite tactic—'kicking them while they're down', naturally—when a cry from behind him caught his attention.
"Break! Hang on, I'm coming!" Gohan flew at 13, grim-faced. If she's in this much trouble, this guy must be serious business...gotta give it everything I've got! Gritting his teeth, he began to charge up energy between his hands. "KA, ME, HA, ME, HAAA!" The blue beam surged out at 13, who just grinned (it was becoming something of a habit).
"All right! Now we're talking!" Reaching down, he picked up a still-recovering Break by the shoulders, tossing her into the path of the attack. It detonated with deafening force, flattening the four lesser androids.
"Uh...sorry..." Gohan mumbled as Break collapsed, smoke rising from her body.
"Heh heh...thanks for finishin' her for me...she was your best, huh?" 13 gloated . "Your turn now!"
"We'll see!" Gohan leapt through the air, launching a flying kick that brought 1 3 crashing to the ground. However, he was back on his feet too fast for Gohan to take advantage of the opening, and t he two warriors locked in combat, Gohan on the offensive, 13 keeping his defences up, willingly giving ground to avoid attacks. Finally, he saw his opening and struck-twisting slightly to the side, he let Gohan's biological arm pass right by his head, then moved like a spring let loose, pouncing forwards and biting deep into the half-breed's arm, then ripping back out, tearing at his enemy's flesh.
Gohan fell back, gasping, but 13 didn't give him a moment to recover. Smiling maliciously, he took a run-up, and planted his foot squarely between Gohan's legs, dropping him like a sack of bricks. "I toldja. All's fair in love an' war."
Seventeen jumped back as 15's fist tore a hole in the wall. "Close, but try again," the teenage android gloated. His dimunitive opponent scowled, vanishing. Seventeen raised an eyebrow, glancing around. Now I finally get how annoying it is to fight us...no ki to sense. He turned too late as 15 appeared behind him, kicking him in the back and stunning him. The cybernetic assassin raised his hand, aiming an energy beam at Seventeen's head, but another energy wave from the side knocked it off-target. "Who blasted mah blast?" he exclaimed, before Eighteen appeared in front of him, driving a fist right into his head and smashing his core processor. 15 collapsed, ruined, but 14's massive frame came thumping up next to Eighteen, a telegraphed, but unexpectedly fast kick sending her flying. Before 14 could follow up, however, Seventeen tapped him on the shoulder. "Hey, big guy. Over—here!" He punctuated the last word with a two-handed energy blast, blowing 14 into pieces. Eighteen stood up, nodding in gratitude. "Thanks for the save."
"You too," he replied.
"Well now, lookee here," came a now unfortunately familiar voice as 13 approached, whistling. "Fighters are droppin' like flies, an' it's two on one. Now what am I gonna do?" He dropped the sarcasm. "Seriously, though...I could take the two of ya at once pretty easy as I am, but...who wants to see my real power? And incidentally, the good Doc's failsafe plan, in case one of us was the last standing, t'boot."
"Uh...not me," Seventeen decided. "No, I don't want to see that. You're real strong, I'll just take your word for it..."
"I wasn't asking! Now..." He stretched his arms out at his sides, closing his eyes. "...come to papa." At this, a pair of microchips detached themselves from the remains of 14 and 15, flying over and slotting into the sides of his head, vanishing under his skin. They were followed by two power cores, which sunk into his chest, absorbed without trace as well. "You're about to find out what we mean by a Super Android."
"I'd rather not," Eighteen muttered, edging away from their foe.
"Hahaha...ahahahaha!" 13 cackled as his skin darkened in tone, shifting to a dark blue. His muscles bulged outwards, ripping through his jacket and forming metallic armoured plates on his chest and shoulders. His hair, now bright orange, stuck upwards in a flame-like shape, almost like Vegeta's, pushing his cap off. His face became savage and bestial, with lengthened teeth and blank yellow eyes. Unusually for such a transformation, there was little in the way of accompanying fireworks or earth-shaking explosions. But 13's attitude told them everything they needed to know—what was previously a difficult fight had suddenly become a nigh-impossible one. "Round two," he rumbled in a low, animalistic voice.
"Attack together!" Eighteen decided.
"Right!" her brother nodded, and they charged, but their attacks simply bounced off 13's invulnerable skin. Laughing, he grabbed the pair by their heads, smashed them together, and threw them clean through the wall. "Too easy," he boasted, rolling his shoulders.
"Hey!" 13 looked around to see Break standing behind him, voice shaky but determined. "Come and get me." Flaring up her aura, she flew up through the roof of the subterranean cavern, 13 following close behind.
Cell rolled over onto its back, pushing itself to its feet. There! It couldn't believe its luck. Seventeen and Eighteen...unconscious on the ground, mere metres away, just begging to be absorbed. Gohan still incapacitated. 13 and Break gone. Nothing left now, between Cell...and perfection. Despite his 'modifications', it couldn't help but laugh but laugh maniacally as it approached the unwitting pair.
Break hung in the air opposite 13, battle-ready, a sharp contrast to the android's relaxed, passive pose. He was clearly totally unthreatened by his weakened opponent.
"I bet you're thinking you've just about got this won, aren't you?" she asked.
"Why, you've got a different idea?"
"Something like that." She gritted her teeth. I didn't want to do this, but it seems I've got no choice... "All right. You've transformed...now it's my turn."
"Hah!" 13 barked. "Transform? You're already a Super Saiyan. What are you gonna do, become a Super-Super Saiyan?"
"At the risk of repeating myself...yeah. Something like that."
"Now that sounds fun. Let's see it!"
"All right, but you asked for it." She threw her head back, yelling at the top of her voice, her aura intensifying, the golden glow mixing with flecks of green. "HRRRRR...AAAAAA...AAAAAH!" her eyes blanked out as points of intense light began to shine out from her skin. Finally, the power within escaped, bursting out from within and completely transforming her. Several seconds later, as the light died down, the Legendary Super Saiyan stood revealed. "Now...time...to end this." She felt the first drops of rain on her shoulders as clouds began to gather overhead.
"So that's it!" Gohan, still limping a little, had recovered somewhat, and was standing above ground, watching Break and 13. "Your full power...it's unbelievable! Why didn't you ever show me this before?"
"Didn't...know if I...could control it. And...sparing your feelings. Don't think you...can use it."
"Well, all right." He powered up to Super Saiyan, wary of the oncoming clash between these two gigantic powers. "I'm here if you need—" his eyes flicked down to the ground, and he jumped clear just as the rock and metal beneath his feet crumbled, vanishing into the sickly green glow beneath. "What the hell?!"
That looks familiar, Break thought...then her stomach lurched as she realised. "Cell! He's..."
"I can guess." Gohan nodded, preparing himself for what was to come. "Don't worry, I've got this one. You just worry about your Super Android."
"All right..." He knows what he's doing, she told herself. Focus. She turned back to 13. "Let's go."
"Thought you'd never ask!" he bellowed, launching himself at her. Tensing up, she struck right as his stance shifted to offence, driving her fist right between his armour plates and sending him reeling back. "Try again!"
Gohan stood at the edge of the crater, watching the light die down. A streak of high-speed movement shot past him, and Cell stood behind him, laughing softly. Slowly, Gohan turned, and saw Cell's perfect form, revealed in all its glory, still crackling with the energy of his transformation. "Well, hello there, Gohan. You're going to regret your earlier mockery," Cell promised.
Gohan ignored the threat. Seventeen and Eighteen...they came here for a chance at redemption. And now I've failed them! How could I let this happen? I should have destroyed Cell earlier, when I had the chance! "Let those two go. Or I'll make you."
"Oh, will you? And just how are you planning on doing that, pray tell?"
"We-ell..." he chuckled as if at an internal joke. "Remember that new technique I mentioned earlier?"
Break lunged again, but 13 sidestepped, bringing his elbow around in a powerful strike that made her head spin. She somersaulted away, vanishing and reappearing inches from him, smashing into him with a hurricane of punches, performing another somersault and knocking him down towards the ground with an overhead kick. 13 growled angrily as he righted himself before he impacted, arcing back up towards his enemy. Get it together, 13! She's the one thing between us and revenge on this planet...it all comes down to this! She's got to die! Thunder split the sky, illuminating the fighters against the darkening stormfront.
"Back for more?" Break blocked his first punch, the impact sending out shockwaves that flattened a nearby forest, but the follow-up kick took her legs out from under her. She rolled with the blow, coming up beside 13 and hammering him two-handed, but the blow rebounded off his guard. Am I even hurting this guy? she wondered. I can't tell!
Gohan and Cell were at close quarters, pushing against each other with all their physical and spiritual strength, the ground buckling and warping around them as the earth strained under the power of two godlike beings locked in combat. "So...this is...your perfect form..." Gohan growled as they struggled. "Honestly, I expected..." he pulled back, tossing Cell over his shoulder as the android stumbled. "...more!"
Cell skidded to a halt, drawing in a gasping breath. Loath as I am to admit it, he has a point...I should be far stronger than this! How come I am not easily overpowering him? Super Saiyans should be as insects to me in this form! "Rrr...Solar Flare!"
Gohan staggered away—last time, his ki sense alone had been enough to avoid Cell's attacks, but now his opponent was that much faster—shielding his eyes, leaving himself open to the blur of attacks that followed, flooring him in seconds. He thrust his arm down at the ground, pushing off with his ki and almost throwing himself to his feet, swinging around and delivering a devastating haymaker straight to Cell's throat. "We beat you in the past...we won't let you win here, either! This world is humanity's, and no machine is going to conquer it—in any timeline!"
Wincing, Cell attempted a quick feint, falling backwards and pretending to be winded, then springing forwards and kicking Gohan in the stomach. "No...today, you will fall! For over thirty years, we have waited for this day! You can't escape the past...I am the engine of destruction. And you are my prey."
"Are you done?" Gohan asked, picking himself up. "I know what you want. I've fought you my whole life, android. I don't need to hear it again. So spare me the monologue, will you?"
"Android?" Cell's eye twitched, illuminated by a bolt of lightning. "I am no common machine, primate. Choose your words carefully, for they shall be your last."
Break stared down at the battle below her. It was so strange, seeing Cell again...hearing that voice again. She knew he was no match for her, but it still gave her the chills just to look at him. Unfortunately, this momentary distraction gave 13 an advantage.
"Yer wide open!" he shouted, flying into her in a barrage of fists and feet. Forced back by the unrelenting assault, she took several powerful blows before regaining the initiative, feinting to the left then striking quickly with the opposite hand, knocking him away.
Cell staggered back, panting with exertion after another beating. "What...is...happening?!" he shrieked. "I should be far mightier than this!" He lowered his stance. "Enough of this foolishness! Let's see how you stand up to my full-power...KAMEHAMEHA!" The energy wave flew out and engulfed Gohan, but when it faded, he was still standing, both arms raised to block it.
"Apparently I stand up to it pretty well," he decided, then began to run at Cell, who raced off to the right in an attempt to escape. "You've absorbed two friends of mine!" Gohan shouted as he pursued his opponent. "Release them, now!"
"Never!" Cell snarled back at him, throwing a volley of ki blasts. Gohan kicked off the ground, avoiding them and appearing in front of Cell with one arm drawn back.
"Then I'll have to—make you!" he yelled, punching Cell in the stomach with such devastating force it stopped the attacking android dead in his tracks. Cell fell to his knees, coughing and retching as convulsions started to shake his body. Something seemed to build within him, and a deathly scream escaped his throat, before he threw his head forwards, and to Gohan's shock, android Eighteen came flying out of his unnaturally distorted mouth. "Gaaah!" he shrieked, and with a terrible scraping noise, his body began to change. His nose sank into his face, his armour plates became bulkier, and a needle-tipped tail sprouted from his back even as his wings shrivelled up and retracted.
He's reverted to his second form, I guess, Gohan noticed, grinning. "Awesome! I didn't think that would actually work!"
Cell placed one hand on the floor to steady himself. "No...no...my perfection! Gone!" He eyed Eighteen slumped on the floor in front of him—a little battle-damaged and lying in a puddle of who-knew-what from his innards, but very much alive—and his tail flexed hungrily. If I can just...
"Don't even think about it!" Gohan said sharply, kicking Cell in the chin. The difference between their powers was now even greater, and Cell was sent flying away, spinning end over end until he managed to right himself in mid-air. "Have you figured it out yet?" Gohan asked.
"What?" Cell raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "Figured what out?"
"You were right...in your perfect form, you should have been able to beat me. I'm sure I'd stand no chance against the Perfect Cell that Break fought in the past. But there's a difference between you and that Cell, and I'm not talking about your programming."
"Stop babbling and just tell me already!" Cell clenched his fists. Perhaps this information will tell me what I need to know...how to become every bit as powerful as the other version of me...
"Simple. You know what that Cell spent so much time doing, both in his future and in the past? Absorbing people. Just random humans, not adding much to his strength individually, but all of them combined...it's the same principle as the Spirit Bomb. Who knows how many hundreds or thousands of people fell victim to that stinger before he was stopped? In just a few days, Break tells me, he was able to raise his power from being no match for a fused 'Super Namekian' to being able to fight him on equal terms. Such a massive boost...and you went straight to us, not stopping to absorb anyone on the way. You didn't expect to be weaker if you didn't?"
"What the..." Cell stammered. "It was that simple...? But Dr. Gero's calculations...even in my weakest state, my perfect form should have been able to crush a Super Saiyan!"
"Sure..." Gohan grinned. "...A basic, untrained Super Saiyan, maybe. Thanks to Break's trip to the past, we've learnt how to become full-power Super Saiyans...and as for her, she's something even greater. Anyway...Gero must be big on overkill. As seen in the past, you're fully capable of becoming even more powerful than she is. But I'm not going to give you the chance!" He began to charge up his ki, his aura building in intensity. "You won't survive to terrorize the people of this planet...I'll stop you here! And first thing's first—Seventeen's still inside you...give him back! Hyaaah!" He leapt forwards, spinning in a full circle to build up momentum, then hammered his elbow into Cell's stomach, in the same spot he'd punched the evil android before. Cell collapsed onto his back, coughing up blood.
"Ghaaak!" Again, Cell shuddered and convulsed, shaking for several seconds, before its mouth stretched out and released android Seventeen, who collapsed to the ground in front of Cell.
"All right." Gohan breathed out. "That's them taken care of." He began to charge up again, the air around him burning gold.
Cell forced itself to its feet, struggling to come to terms with its regression to its first, bug-like form. It took a couple of shaky steps back, vision swimming, mind racing desperately, trying to think of a way to survive, and falling back on what was now becoming something of an overused tactic. "Solar—"
"Nope!" Gohan threw a straight right—powerful, telegraphed but too fast to block—wrenching Cell's arms out of the Solar Flare position. "I'm done with you now," he decided. "It's time to die...Cell."
"No...no!" Cell jumped up into the air, coming to a halt a hundred metres or so above. "You'll never defeat me! I am the ultimate being!" Now, at the point of desperation, its true nature was overriding its 'subservient' modifications more and more. It raised its hands, forming a triangle and forcing all of its energy out into one blast. "TRI-BEAM!"
Gohan laughed quietly to himself. "That's your last effort? Please...what pitiful ki." He waited until the oncoming attack was barely three feet away before thrusting his arms forwards. "KAMEHAMEHA!" It was no contest. Gohan's beam smashed through Cell's, continuing up towards the vile creature itself, blasting it away into the sky, the awesome power of the Super Saiyan completely disintegrating it, and finally ending the menace of Cell, in all timelines.
Break pounded away at 13's defences, to no avail. They were about equal in strength and speed, but unlike her, his android body never tired, and he was slowly wearing her down. She threw an uppercut, expertly outmaneuvering his guard, but she was beginning to tire—to slow down—and her enemy had time to dodge backwards, taking only a glancing hit and countering with a heavy elbow drop that sent her flying down to earth like a particularly irritated meteor. Rolling with the impact, she skidded to a halt on her hands and knees, looking up to see 13 standing over her, one arm extended with the palm facing her, a flickering red energy sphere building around it. "Die," he sneered. Break's vision blurred as streaks of rain rolled down across her eyes. She tried to think of a witty comeback, or some kind of brave final insult, but fear struck her and she choked on her words. I can't die like this! There's still so much to be done...!
"Hey!" Gohan cannoned into 13, knocking him off-balance, and his attack missed Break by inches, carving a three-mile-long gash into the mountain range behind her. 13 recovered quickly, caught Gohan's next attack, crushing the scarred warrior's fist in his massive hand, then swinging his other arm around and beating Gohan into unconsciousness. He tossed the beaten fighter away, flexing his muscles. "Fool. The girl with all her power couldn't take me, what made him think he could?"
"You...don't understand humans, do you?" Break asked, trying to overcome the pain of her injuries, focusing her ki as her emerald-green aura ignited around her, cracks spreading out through the ground from her feet. "It's called courage. He knew he had no chance, but he had to try."
"That's why you humans will always lose!" 13 shouted. "So many unnecessary emotions. They make you do the dumbest things!"
"In that case, I'd rather die a human than live like you!" came Eighteen's voice. She and her brother, upon regaining consciousness, had quickly evaluated the situation, and were now charging at 13, attacking him in front and behind in an extremely well-coordinated team effort. But 13 was simply too fast; he swatted them aside like flies, taking them down simultaneously with a double arm bar. "It's over," he growled.
"You're right." Break built up speed as she ran at 13, footfall after thundering footfall drowning out the raging storm, her pure-white eyes blazing with fury. "It is over!" She ducked under 13's wild, surprised swing, and threw all her strength into one last effort. Ignoring the hurricane of punches battering her face and shoulders, she grabbed 13's hair in both hands, and pulled his head down into her upcoming knee, grinding the armoured kneecap against his vulnerable sensor array. 13 fell back, sensors blaring warnings to his core processor, vision flickering, just about making out Break bearing down on him. How...the hell...did she take all that punishment? And still standing? She should be dead five times over! "H-How?!" he shrieked through warped voice circuits. At that moment, he discovered something that, though already proven by earlier models, he'd never experienced himself: machines can, in fact, experience fear.
"I...am the Legendary Super Saiyan..." Break roared, her arm snapping forwards like a rocket, powering right through 13's head and completely pulverising it. "...now GET THE HELL OFF MY PLANET!"
Yes, there'll be a scene in a later chapter with a sort of denouement. I'll come back to this bit to tie up loose ends and whatnot.
And now for the two other things. First, the Bio-Broly Not-Very-Special "Special"
The following scene takes place in the present timeline, shortly before Gohan sets off to planet Nemea.
"Dad! Dad!"
"Huh?" Goku sat up in bed as his eleven-year-old son ran up to him, sobbing. "Gohan? Are you all right?"
"I had a bad dream!" Gohan whimpered.
Goku picked him up, resting his son on his lap. "All right. Well, you're awake now, huh? So what happened?"
"It...it was really weird..." Gohan looked up at his father. "Broly was there, and I think some people were fighting him..." he nodded. "Yeah. It was Goten," he gestured over at the cot containing his baby brother, "and Break—the little one from our time. It was all kind of confusing..."
"What do you mean?" Goku asked. "You mean how Broly was in it even though he's dead?"
"No, that was the weird thing...it was like it was trying to make sense, but it wasn't very good at it. Some people had Broly's DNA and they cloned him...only, they somehow knew his name..."
"Well, it was a dream, y'know. Can't expect it to be a coherent story at all."
"I know...and then Krillin was there...and one of those androids..." Gohan scratched his head. "I don't really understand what happened next. Broly kind of...melted...and then started beating everyone up, until they, uh...something to do with the ocean...the ocean killed him. Or something. Look, Dad, I know it made no sense, but it still scared me, okay? You have to admit, Broly was pretty scary."
"Yeah, I guess so." Goku smiled. "But you know what? I wouldn't worry. If Broly ever appeared again, you know what would really happen? You and me would fly over, before anyone else, and send him right back where he came. Think about it. If either of us had been there, it'd have been a really short dream. You're one of the most powerful beings in the universe...try and remember that whenever you're scared."
"All right. Thanks, dad!" Gohan hopped off his father's lap onto the floor, and shuffled back to his room. Ah, whatever...it was just a stupid dream...c'mon, that'd never happen...
Well, I didn't say it was going to be serious, did I? Come on. Have you seen that movie?!
Aaaanyway. The final thing will be a bit more serious. Without further ado, I present to you a preview ofEven Further Beyond! Yes, my plans extend this far in the future. However, note that this is a very early draft and the final thing might not look like this, well, at all. But it might. Here goes (and in case you're wondering, yes, the main cast you're used to are involved. Just not at first, i.e. not in the bit I've got a preview ready for.):
"The universe is dying.
The heroes are gone.
Time itself lies broken.
We are all that's left...left to watch the death of everything. The heroes of old, we're told, used to do the impossible. Our forefathers went beyond the impossible. If anything is to survive...we'll have to go even further beyond."
The adolescent saiyan turned off the audio recorder. Hopefully, even if we fail...someone will find this. Someone will finish it. Hopefully. But I doubt it. It's going to come down to us...and the end of everything.
"Raditz!" called a voice from outside. Technically, his name was Raditz Jr., but the original bearer of the name was long gone, so they seldom bothered with the 'Jr.'
"I'm coming," he replied, climbing out of the makeshift shelter into the open air. The sky burned a deep red—slightly darker every day now. He waved a greeting to his friend, also named after a heroic ancestor. "Hey, Goku."
Goku Jr. had a far-off look on his face, as if he was daydreaming. "Do you think this is Earth?"
Raditz paused, considering this. "I don't know," he admitted. "It's as likely as not. Really, I'm not sure if it's anywhere. It could all be in our heads...it could be everywhere at once...look, we're just here. Does it really matter if it used to be called Earth?" He got no answer (his friend could be quite strange like this), so he tried a different tack. "Did you want something?"
Goku nodded. "I think it's time."
"How do you know?"
"The same way we know a lot of things we shouldn't know. I just...do. Time's collapsing around us. Things don't always happen in the right order in some places. Sometimes we remember things that haven't happened yet." It was true; events often seemed to filter backwards into their minds, giving them a wisdom far beyond their years. "The end is close now...I can feel it. I think everybody can."
"Right," Raditz agreed. "We've got to see this—whatever 'this' is going to be—through to the end. You think our training will be enough?"
"I guess we'll find out. Come on. I don't think we have much time." Without another word, they set off, barely noticing as a desert sprung up around them, sandstorms buffeting the pair as they trekked onwards. They didn't know, exactly, where they were going, so had set off in a random direction. But time being what it was right now, they knew that in about half an hour they'd encounter the first trial; therefore, whichever direction they picked would be the correct one. Not to mention that the longer this went on, the more direction and space would itself become meaningless, just as time had. Still, there was some hope. Somewhere, near the birth of the universe, a 'stump' of time, a slice at the beginning, remained intact—perhaps they could build on that. And they knew it existed, because they could feel him there. Omega was waiting.
Okay, I want to write the rest of this now. Almost makes me want to rush through the Countdown and Buu sagas. But I won't. Because I don't want to produce anything deliberately bad. So fear not. But seriously. Even Further Beyond, it's happening. And yeah, it's kind of like the Shadow Dragon saga...a little bit...a little bit, guys. Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. It's not going to be entirely like GT's Shadow Dragon saga. For instance, here's my current list of dragons to include (I may remove the 'Shenron' from some of them if it sounds redundant. Again, these may change, this is still very early days):
Syn/Omega Shenron (might change it to Deus Shenron, though...)
Kronos Shenron
Gaia Shenron
Helios Shenron (basically like GT's Nova Shenron)
Glacius Shenron (basically like GT's Eis Shenron)
Prometheus Shenron
Hades Shenron
(For those unfamiliar with GT, no, most of those were not in it.)
If you dislike any of this Even Further Beyond stuff...well, okay, go ahead and tell me! As I said, it's a long way off. Much may change. There's plenty of time to suggest changes.
Anyway. Enough of this. Next week, back to Gohan running around in space. And then, after a few chapters from that, we'll have a Plan to Eradicate some Super Saiyans, maybe another Super Android (you know the one), and finally my take on Fusion Reborn (whether or not any fusion will be reborn, I'm not going to tell you right now), and then it'll be on to the Majin Buu saga.
Oh, right, Q&A, almost forgot. Aaaaaagh so many reviews. Bear in mind many of these are for earlier chapters, if they don't seem to make sense.
Q: Hmm, Cooler's Final Form had a PL of 470,000… while it seems he discovered the transformation a little earlier than in the movie, I get the sinking suspicion that 160,000,000 is not the limit of his power…
A: Nope, I don't use that number. V-Jump pulled it out of thin air. His full power is 160,000,000. Which is just enough to make it an uphill struggle for Raditz without it being impossible.
Q: Seriously!?
Don't kill him? Because it's so bad to do so? And not having the right?
We're going that route in a Dragon Ball fanfic? This seriously just jumped the shark.
A:Yes. Yes we are going that route. I'm sorry if my themes offend you. (I had a PM conversation with this guy, arguing whether or not this was actually already a theme in DBZ. We haven't reached a conclusion (yet).)
Q:And how is there a difference between standing still and fighting? Transform and fight or don't fight, there's no difference.
A: I was trying to explain how in canon Gohan showed Kibito SSJ2 for a bit while just standing there, then didn't use it later against Dabura or fat Buu. (Same reviewer, also part of that PM argument, also inconclusive so far.)
Q: why didn't tien just use the solar flare? [Against Dodoria, instead of Kaioken x5]
A: I don't know. That was a long time ago.
Q: Although I am wondering something here... do you think that if you destroyed the Tree of Might anyone who ate from it would lose their boosted power?
A: As far as this story goes...no. And I have a reason for that. Which will become apparent soon.
Q: Just another review to increase review count.
Q: What's my powerlevel?!
Q: hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
A: Um. I see.
Q: where did Frieza learn instant transmission? Meta cooler only knew it because regular cooler did
A:And this one sparked another PM argument. Basically I was saying Cooler didn't know IT before, this reviewer was saying he does, we're still at an impass.
Q: You actually have a slight misconception about DBZ powerlevel. The entire point of them is to show how unreliable they are. They're rarely if ever accurate. They don't account for skill (evidenced by Vegeta telling Nappa to dodge Krillin's destructo-disk).
A:Yeah, I know. I know all that. But when they are accurate (like when I give them in author's commentaries, in which case they are not a false reading or anything, they're just what a character's power is in that situation. Hmm, that sounds like I'm claiming to be the ultimate authority on the subject, which I'm not. I'm just saying I'm accurate within the context of my story.), they tell you which character has more ki energy. Right? Not that this can't be focused by special techniques—it can—but they are useful in some situations. I'm not sure why you think I think something else.
(Reads chapter 8 again)
Ooooooohhh, the Nappa thing. The point is that his power level is an everaging of everything, i.e. all the different ways his ki manifested itself. Not being ki-sensitive, he couldn't raise or lower his power level. If he could've, then yeah, any reading from a scouter would have been, as you said, unreliable. But he wasn't, and in any case the number I gave for him was not from a scouter, it was me saying "this is his power level". Krillin, as a ki-sensitive, could raise his power for the kienzan. Nappa wasn't, so couldn't.
Q: hmmm interesting so the androids 13,14 & 15 are stronger then first form cell? or is that just super 13?
A: Yes, they are...sort of. 14 and 15 are the same strength as first form Cell in his first appearance in the main timeline, encountering Katas (Piccolo in canon). But that makes them stronger than this first form Cell, who hasn't absorbed anybody so is weaker than expected. Make sense? As for 13, he's above a FPSSJ normally, and about equal to a LSSJ in his 'super' form.
And finally, some stuff to do with music. I gave some character themes a while back; given the amount of development he's gone through, Raditz probably needs a new one. I found one on Youtube called "Vegeta SSJ3 (SSJ3 Theme Remix)", and it seems to fit him pretty well (it's got bits of the Super Vegeta theme mixed in with it). Note that there are a lot of fan-made SSJ3 Vegeta themes on Youtube, which is why I included the video's exact name (not that the others aren't good or anything, I just thought that this one fit the best).
LAST MINUTE ADDITION: And now for Captain Space's final thoughts.
"This still isn't as long as chapter 34! I've been working on it all week! How the hell was I able to write such long chapters back then?!"