Chapter 74: Desperate Times
Bulma had been so busy reorganizing her remaining cameras, she almost didn't notice the screens had all been filled with nothing but white light. As she looked over finally noticing it, all the cameras on one side of the planet blinked out at once, leaving nothing but static.
"Trunks…" Bulma managed to mutter under breath, in the pit of her stomach she couldn't help but feel that her son was in terrible danger. Quickly she rushed to finish preparing the backup cameras for launch.
As they took off into the air, the entire lab began to shake, but it wasn't focused just on her lab, the entire planet was shaking.
Videl pulled herself out of the rubble and looked out at the crater spreading out in all directions.
Around her several of the weaker fighters of the EDF were in rough shape. Even as far away as they were, many of their members had either died in the blast or were currently in serious condition.
The stronger members, who had escape serious injury were in a panic trying to deal with their injured comrades.
Videl's first instinct was to try and help, but at the same time there was another part of her wanting desperately to find Trunks, he had been so much closer to the blast than she had been.
A sense of relief rushed over her as several fighters emerged from the rubble near the crater's edge, it only took her an instant to spot the distinctive hair of her best friend.
Trunks' body was shaking, not from the attack that had unfolding in front of him, but from the memories that brief sighting had caused him. The creature that had grasped Cell, that had destroyed the greatest threat the Earth had ever known, was none other than the very creature who had destroyed his world. The last image of his mom, his real mother flashed before his eyes, nearly forcing him to break down. The only reason he didn't was knowing that Cell was gone, the monster was gone, and his family, at least this timeline's version of them were finally safe.
Piccolo's eyes quickly adjusted to his new surroundings. It wasn't his first time dying, so the sight of King Yemma's office was very familiar to Piccolo. Piccolo's face contorted into a scowl as he noticed a certain bio-android missing.
'Could he really have survived that blast?' Piccolo asked himself as he replayed his final moments.
Cell's body vanished in an instant vaporized by the extreme power of 13's attack.
To Piccolo's left Goku was desperately reaching out towards him, while trying to focus long enough to complete a jump using his instant transmission. There was no way he could succeed. If he didn't leave now they would both die.
Piccolo steeled himself and pushed his Kaioken beyond anything he had ever tried before. Multiplying his remaining power by 10 he threw himself in front of Goku, generating a brief shield with his remaining energy. As his body began to vaporize he shouted in his mind to Goku "GO NOW!"
With that the blast enveloped him, he had bought Goku the instant he needed to escape.
"Ah Piccolo, long time no see." King Yemma said looking up from his mountain of paperwork. "We're very backlogged today so if you wouldn't mind, just go on ahead to King Kai's." Yemma said waiving the hero through without any further discussion.
Piccolo nodded "Before I go, I have a quick question. Did Cell already pass through?" He asked hopeful.
"Cell? No, I haven't seen anyone with that name today. I'm sorry I'm severely backed up. You could ask King Kai to locate your friend." King Yemma said with a dismissive wave.
Piccolo grimace but relented, if he wanted answers he would have to ask King Kai himself.
As he made his way out of King Yemma's office, to where he would regain control of his Ki and therefore allow himself to fly again, he noticed the man standing judgement before the judge, a large orange alien, with a higher than average power level. Piccolo couldn't help but think he would've made for an interesting opponent back on Namek.
Turning his attention back to the problem at hand though Piccolo took flight, heading towards King Kai's.
Goku had barely managed to escape joining Cell and Piccolo in the afterlife, he had initially teleported back to where Chi Chi was floating, where he was able to block the majority of the attack from his wife and several of the other fighters around her. Even at that distance though the feat had been no small effort.
By the time he had dropped his shield, his body was drenched in sweat from the exertion. He couldn't quite believe how powerful 13's final attack had been.
Now that the battle had ended Goku felt a mixture of emotions. Relief that the threat had been beaten but at the same time part of him was disappointed that he never got a chance to fight Cell one on one.
Goku turned around and embraced his wife. "It's over. Now we can focus on bringing Gohan home."
As Goku and Chi Chi embraced Vegeta starred out over the crater. His inner frustration building. Not only had he failed to defeat Cell, but the chance to ascend his own limits had been stolen from him by a rusty bag of bolts.
As he continued to stare out over the crater the Saiyan Prince noticed a small distortion in in the smoke.
Before he could defend himself, or even mutter a single word, the world around him turned upside down and began to spin.
It had happened in an instant, one second everyone was celebrating their victory, the next a shock silence had fallen over them all as Cell stood at the very center of the group. Seemingly appearing out of thin air. One bloody arm extending straight out hovering over Vegeta's now headless body. An instant later Vegeta's body fell lifelessly to the ground.
Cell's smirk said it all, the power he felt now was beyond anything the bio-android had thought possible. He was now truly perfect. He had been so naïve before thinking that only contributions from 17 and 18 would be enough to achieve this state. No, it had taken the combined contributions from all of Dr Gero's creations. He was finally complete.
A thrill ran through him as his eyes met each of the Earth's defenders. Most were looks of utter disbelief. A few though, the most powerful were more entertaining. They had had longer to process the scene before them. Their looks ranged from dread or defeat to anger. There was one though that surprised him. Cooler looked more frustrated than anything else.
Making a mental note of this Cell decided to continue his show. "That's much better don't you think? Without Piccolo and Vegeta, hogging my attention you will all finally get your own chances to defeat me. We wouldn't want to waste too much time with a third rematch, would we?" See said with a taunting smile.
Nappa's mind hadn't wrapped around the situation in front of him, he'd failed again. The most important job he had ever been given was making sure Vegeta survived, and here in less than a week he had failed twice. He had failed not only his king, but also the man who had essentially become his own son.
A surge rushed through him, as a burst of lightning cracked around his body. His rage was bringing a surge of power within him a familiar feeling. It was like the first time he ascended. He beckoned the power onwards. But even with all of his fury the dam within him wouldn't break.
Trunks continued to stare at his father's body. His father had been alive less than a week and he had already been sent back to the afterlife. His body began to shake causing the world around him too began to shake as well. He didn't even stop to think about how vastly overmatched he was, the only thing that mattered to Trunks was the burning anger within him.
His aura burst forth in all directions and launched forward aimed right at Cell.
Cell couldn't hide his smirk as Trunks rushed towards him, luckily, he hadn't made the foolish decision to bulk his body up. Unfortunately for him, in his current state he was utterly underwhelming.
Just as Trunks was about to reach him Cell's arm lashed out chopping down at the base of the child's neck.
In an instant the child's body broke through the rocky surface embedding itself deeply in the planet's surface. His hair fading from golden to his usual white before the rocks had even settled around him.
A high shrill voice called out "Trunks!" Cell quickly noted it was Videl, the plucky newcomer to the Z fighters.
"How disappointing." Cell muttered as he pointed his hand towards the unconscious child's resting place preparing to finish him off.
Inside his own head Nappa watched Trunks' hopeful assault end in less than a second. Now here he was still standing still watching Vegeta's heir about to meet his end. He was hopeless, always weaker than the other Saiyans. He was the oldest of the surviving Saiyans and here he was rooted still while a mere child tried desperately to avenge his father's demise. A demise Nappa had been duty bound to prevent.
Another surge of power rushed forward inside the Saiyan General, this time he was able to grab ahold of it and began to will it outwards. He had to stop Cell, he couldn't allow this monster to get away with the crimes he had committed against the Saiyan race, against his own family.
Cell was just about to fire his attack when Nappa let out a bone-shaking yell, his body momentarily disappearing behind a flash of golden energy and lightning.
Cell was forced to raise his hand to shield his eyes. It was almost as bright as a solar flare.
Finally, the transformation was over. To Cell's pleasant surprise Nappa's power had at least doubled and possibly was even triple what it was before.
"Well now, this might be fun after all." Cell chuckled. The Saiyan race never failed to amuse him.
Just as Nappa was about to lurch forward though, a purple hand grasped him by the shoulder.
Nappa and Cell both turned, surprised to see Cooler cutting in at the start of their likely climactic fight.
"Let go." Nappa snarled his rage not even close to being contained.
Cooler looked back at him impassively before replying. "If you want to die, or worse make him stronger then go on ahead. I won't stop you." He said as he released his grip to Nappa's surprise. Then before he lost the enraged Saiyan's attention he continued. "But if you want to kill this genetic abomination, then you'll need me fighting with you to have a chance."
Nappa started to rebuke Cooler's offer. He never had fully trusted the Frost Demon. But there was something in the calm, collected look Cooler was giving him that made the Saiyan General think better of it. Clearly Cooler could see how much more powerful Cell was now, and yet he wasn't rattled. He still believed he could win. "Fine, just don't get in my way." Nappa replied.
"I think that's my line." Cooler said with a smirk as they both turned their attention to the bio-android.
Cell wasn't sure if he should be amused or intrigued by Cooler's proclamation. In his base form he clearly was no match for Cell, but even his evolved form was utterly useless compared to Nappa, Piccolo, or even the likes of Vegeta or Trunks. Which to Cell meant Cooler had a new trick up his sleeve. Either he had found a new transformation of his own or had developed some technique he thought capable of finishing Cell off once and for all.
"By all means. All of you can attack me at once, it won't make much difference in the end." Cell directed his reply to all of Earth's guardians, not just the two currently facing him down.
Without further ado Nappa launched off towards Cell, Cooler right behind him just much slower than the Saiyan warrior. Nappa at least was by far the fastest of the Z Fighters.
Completely ignoring the untransformed Cooler for the moment Cell watched Nappa close in on him and lazily raised one arm to defend the Saiyan General's opening attack.
Just as Nappa's fist was about to reach Cell's arm though, Cell's body suddenly lurched forward into Nappa's fist.
Cell's eyes widened in shock as he realized Cooler had somehow gotten behind him in the brief instant he had taken his eyes off the Frost Demon.
The sudden lurch forward allowed Nappa's fist to get through Cell's defenses, crashing home against the bio-android's cheek.
Cell's body contorted beneath the pressure of Cooler's kick and Nappa's punch. Any other creature would've likely been paralyzed from the vicious blow as his spine was stretched to its utter limit.
He didn't have a chance to recover before the next wave of attacks began to rain down on him. He managed to block Nappa's next punch, only to have Cooler's fist collide with the back of his head.
Cell's head swam for a moment, as three or four more powerful blows rained down on him from either side. Before he could recover enough sense to try and escape from the current situation.
Willingly taking Nappa's punch to the jaw, Cell used his momentum to try and flip over Cooler before the Frost Demon could land his next attack and stop the two-sided attack.
Before his body could gain much speed though, his momentum was completely stopped by a sudden downward tug. It only took Cell an instant to realize Cooler's tail was wrapped around his leg.
Without any hesitation Cell launched his own retracted tail outwards trying to skewer the surprisingly powerful Frost Demon, but Cooler dodged the attack, without breaking his hold on Cell.
Nappa took the opportunity to continue his assault, swinging both fists forward with all of his might, he managed to catch Cell's temples between his fists.
As the blow landed Cell briefly saw stars, before his world momentarily went black.
Cooler took the opportunity for what it was and threw Cell downward with all of the force he could manage. Without hesitation he quickly charged up a Death Ball and unleashed it at Cell.
As soon as Cell's body hit the ground, the bio-android was groggily forced awake. As he opened his eyes, his vision was instantly filled with red light.
The area around him vaporized in an instant, as the powerful attack tried to dissolve him.
Any idea of hiding his full strength any longer vanished from his mind, as Cell unleashed not only his full power but his overdrive as well.
The blast that had been surrounding him detonated immediately, spraying out in all directions.
As the debris cleared, Cooler couldn't hide his irritation, that attack would've easily finished Cell if he had fought him first. Instead Vegeta had gone first and set up a series of events that made any chance for victory a completely uphill climb. Behind that irritation though was a small seed of dread, just beginning to take root. In the brief second before his attack detonated he felt it, the true depths of Cell's power. His earlier assessment that it would take himself and Nappa to even have a chance was right. This was the only chance they had.
Nappa on the other hand had been too blinded by rage to pick up on the surge of power before the detonation. "You idiot! We had him right where we wanted him!" He shouted at Cooler, his entire body trembling with rage. Revenge was the only thing on the Saiyan's mind.
Before Cooler could explain himself, and without even the slightest hesitation he rushed forward again intending to continue the assault.
"Damn monkey." Cooler muttered to himself before igniting his aura, even if it was a disadvantageous frontal assault he had to go with Nappa, if one or the other fell, their chances of victory would drop to zero.
Vegeta's arrival in the afterlife was somewhat less dramatic than last time. His rage was burning white hot, but he knew he wouldn't be able to take it out on anything until he arrived in hell. At least this time Instead of appearing at the back of an endless line of souls and being forced to wait, his Ki suppressed by a strange power, he instead found himself immediately before the giant red judge that apparently decided the fate of souls. His arrival in hell would be quick at least.
"Another repeat?" King Yemma asked his assistant confused. His current judgement interrupted for the second time in a matter of minutes.
Vegeta briefly eyed the man standing before King Yemma and immediately recognized him. "Paragus?" Vegeta asked surprised. How had an elite level Saiyan survived so long in the galaxy without him knowing.
"Prince Vegeta?" Paragus said, unsure what to make of seeing the man he wanted revenge against already dead.
King Yemma's schedule didn't have time for side conversation and so he cut in. "Well Vegeta, not much has changed since the last time you were here so I'll make this quick. You're sentenced again to spend eternity in hell. Hopefully this time you'll stay there." King Yemma quickly made his judgement, with a single swing of his mallet, Vegeta fell down into hell once more.
(Back on planet Torappu)
"That was fun, but now it's my turn." Broly said, a deranged smile on his lips. He could barely contain himself as he watched Gohan's expression go from confusion, to realization, and finally despair. It was like chum to a shark or prey feeling to a lion, the look Gohan had on his face pulled at his instincts, the hunt was about to begin.
As Gohan tightened his fists trying to convince himself he still had a shot. He watched the glowing Saiyan vanish before his eyes.
Immediately his eyes scanned around him, he even looked behind him but to no avail he couldn't locate him. Finally, the hairs on the neck of his neck began to rise and something told him to look up.
There just a mere foot from his eyes was Broly's grinning face.
Gohan immediately dropped trying to get some distance between them.
Broly for his part didn't move. The words left unspoken in the exchange were now clear. Broly was letting him know he could kill Gohan whenever he liked, but not before he played with him some more. The gap in power was clearly every bit as large as it was before, the hope he had had of winning was just about extinguished.
As Broly watched Gohan come to that realization his kept reminding himself that the climax would be much better if he played a bit longer.
To that end he decided to get started.
Again, before Gohan had a chance to react he appeared directly in front of him. Waiting the few fractions of a second it took for the smaller Saiyan to register that Broly was on top of him again and try to mount an attack, Broly took the liberty of hitting first. Burying his fist deeply in the smaller Saiyan's stomach and launching him high into the sky at speeds well beyond escape velocity.
Gohan's eyes were distant, his mind struggling to stay awake, knowing if he lost hold of the power he now possessed, he'd never have a chance to achieve it again.
As he continued to rise higher and higher into the atmosphere his hair continued to flicker between gold and black, like a lightbulb mere seconds from burning out. Finally, though, near the edge of space he forced himself fully conscious long enough to stop his momentum.
With that done, and behind the immense pain radiating from his abdomen, a new worry began to assert himself, his lungs were completely out of oxygen. His attempts to breath this high above the planet were completely fruitless. With pure desperation Gohan rocketed straight downwards. Not caring how close his trajectory was taking him to Broly, only hoping to get low enough to breathe again before he blacked out.
Broly had stayed still admiring his handy work wondering if the child would regain consciousness before escaping orbit completely. Finally, he did, a small golden flash showing that Gohan did in fact flare his aura to stop himself.
Just as Broly prepared to pursue his likely frighten and desperate prey though, something unexpected happened, his prey was rushing back to him as fast as his body would take him.
Broly stopped in his tracks for a moment. Pondering what he was seeing. No one ever was so brash to try and take the fight back to him when he so clearly was superior. The child should be desperately fleeing like all the others. It took Broly a moment to realize the difference between this child and all the others though, he was a Saiyan, more than that though he was special among the Saiyan race.
As he continued to mull this over another thought struck him, Gohan had been the one to free him from Paragus's control. Had the child picked up on the fact Paragus was holding Broly back? Had he truly planned on releasing Broly's true might? It seemed ridiculous but the way he was acting now virtually confirmed it to Broly. Broly's deranged predatory smile quickly shifted to one of feral excitement. All these years and he had finally found another with a desire for combat just as fierce as his own. A creature cut from the same cloth in a way.
"You've got the same hunger as me, do you? Well then I'll give you all you can stomach and more!" He shouted still well outside of hearing range and ignited his aura closing the gap between them at a pace the child could hopefully follow. He'd never been as excited as he was now.
(Back on Earth)
Goku watched on eyes wide in shock. The fight above them was unlike anything he had ever seen before, at least the few limited scenes he was able to see. Although the first few seconds appeared promising, once Cell had unleashed his full power, the balance of the fight had completely changed.
He had intended to jump into the fray immediately, but he couldn't even follow their movements. Even with instant transmission he would be a sitting duck if he tried to intervene. He'd only put Nappa and Cooler in harm's way. And so, the Earth's greatest defender was forced onto the sidelines. A fact that was utterly killing him.
"Goku can you see what's going on?" Krillin asked unable to follow any of the fight unfolding above them.
The rest of the fighters had gathered in close to Goku, knowing he was the only one left capable of deflecting any of the stray attacks. At the back of the group Chi Chi and Videl tended to the still unconscious Trunks.
"Not much, but what I can see isn't good. We're losing." Goku responded, not taking his eyes off the sky for an instant, if he did he'd lose track of them again.
"I was afraid you'd say that." Krillin muttered. "I have an idea." He added, but I need you on standby incase Cell realizes what I'm doing ok Goku?" Krillin said, a look of utmost seriousness on his face.
After Krillin explained his plan there was only one thing Goku and the others could say, "Sure it's worth a shot." With that Krillin and Goku flew a short distance away from the battlefield as they both raised their arms high in the sky asking the creatures of Earth to lend them their energy.
Cooler swung downwards with all of his might only for his fist to effortlessly be caught in Cell's grasp. At the same time Nappa launched upward from the crater Cell had just used him to form an instant ago, bloodied but every bit as enraged as he had been before.
Just as Nappa was about to reach him Cell stomped downwards, the bottom of his foot crashing into Nappa's head like a sledgehammer causing the large Saiyan to crash back into the Earth.
With Nappa subdued for the moment, Cell turned his attention back to the rapidly fading Frost Demon. With one swift movement he planted his foot underneath Cooler's armpit and gave his arm a quick powerful twist behind his back.
Cooler let out a yell of agony, as his arm broke at the elbow, the tendons and ligaments all throughout his arm snapping in an instant.
With the damage done, Cell gave a slight push, allowing Cooler to get the distance between them that he wanted.
Nappa rose shakily to his feet, standing in the middle of yet another large crater. His head still ringing from the block Cell had delivered just an instant before.
When the fight turned it had turned fast, all because of Cooler's impatience. He never liked the Frost Demon to begin with. He, like his brother, had such a superiority complex, but when it came to fighting they were overconfident idiots. In an even fight they would never stand a chance against a Saiyan.
Now here they were getting their asses beaten to a pulp, because Cooler had given Cell the chance to escape. Nappa's rage began to glow brighter, as did his aura. Like a rocket he blasted upwards once more.
This time Cell let him try his best to land a hit, always staying just outside of Nappa's reach.
As Nappa struggled in vain even to land a hit, Cooler took advantage of his brief respite recover as best he could. His entire body was covered in sweat as he blocked out the immense pain radiating from his mangled arm. He wasn't sure how much longer he could sustain a time twenty Kaioken and he wasn't sure he could handle a times 25 in his current state. He had barely achieved a times twenty before his time in the time chamber had come to an end.
He needed one of the magical beans, or to have one of the Namekian healers work on him if he was going to continue this fight much longer, but with how things were going he doubted Nappa could provide enough of a distraction to let him get near Goku to teleport him away.
With his free hand he began charging up an attack, maybe he could at least injure Cell with a concentrated attack and flee while he recovered.
Power had gradually flowed in from the nature all around the world. It wasn't nearly enough to finish Cell, but they were making good progress. If Cooler and Nappa could just hold out a while longer, they might be able to defeat Cell once and for all.
Gohan finally made it low enough that he could fill his empty lungs with air. As he took deep breaths still flying lower, he's mind wondered about how he was going to escape this situation. It was clear now victory was not achievable, and as much as he'd like to have his revenge, he knew the most important thing at the moment was survival. If he could escape, he could become stronger, somehow, he'd become strong enough to beat this monster. Even if he had to destroy half the galaxy to achieve that level of strength, he knew if he allowed this creature to run wild everything would be destroyed.
As Gohan was busy rationalizing with himself, he failed to notice Broly's rapid approach until it was too late.
One moment he was flying downward, the next he heard the faint buzz of something cutting through the air. He looked up just in time to see Broly's fist aimed right at his face.
The next thing he knew he was rocketing backwards, blood streaming from his nose. He stopped his momentum as soon as he could; realizing he had just willingly flown back into the lion's den.
In the next instant another massive arm appeared out of thin air swinging back down towards him again. This time though Gohan was expecting it and desperately raised his arms to protect his head.
The shock of the attack made both of his arms go numb, but somehow, he managed to deflect it.
He was defenseless against the follow up attack though as Broly's knee slammed upward into Gohan's chest.
Blood and spittle rained down from Gohan's mouth as his ribs buckled under the force of the attack.
Gohan squeezed his fits hard enough to draw blood as he forced himself to absorb the blow. Then without any warning, he propelled himself forward as hard as he could manage, his forehead crashing into Broly's nose.
For the first time since transforming Broly was caught off guard, a slight trickle of blood trickled from his nose. As soon as he tasted it his lips twisted upward in a smile.
Before Gohan had a chance to move Broly had the child in his grasp. Gripping on each Gohan's shoulders he smashed the child's face into his own forehead, a crazed laughter escaped Broly's lips as he smashed Gohan's over and over again. Gradually Gohan's struggled petered out as Broly lost himself in his attack. Finally, he released Gohan, who's limp body feel straight to the ground.
The minutes had ticked by and Cell was gradually growing bored of Nappa's feeble attempts to kill him. He knew Cooler was charging a powerful attack a few hundred feet away, further on he could see the spirit bomb Goku was apparently charging for him, while the humans stood guard scattered about the battlefield. As if they could actually even slow him down. He chuckled at how predictable the Earth's defenders were proving.
Finally, Cooler decide it was time to act. Just as Cell kicked Nappa away yet again, a singular blast cut out piercing right through Cell's heart. It didn't end there though, as Cooler sustained the attack, dragging his finger upwards slowly bisecting Cell.
Cell allowed Cooler his moment in the sun before channeling some of his excess Ki to form a shield over himself. Now it was simply a matter of waiting out Cooler's rapidly diminishing Ki reserve.
Cooler kept his attack going just a moment longer before it died out completely, his body was completely drained. He could barely keep himself afloat.
As Cooler and Cell floated silently for a moment Nappa rushed forward again, finally landing a blow to the back of Cell's head. The attack barely tilted Cell's head forward.
"I'm bored of this game." Cell said looking Cooler in the eyes.
A sick ripping sound cut through the air as a spray of blood coated Cell's backside.
Cooler's eyes twitched slightly in surprise as Nappa began to convulse, his mustache fading from a spiky golden to its normal black before his arms dropped lifelessly to his side and his head sagged low.
With another simple movement Cell retracted his tail, revealing the appendage had cut straight through the Saiyan General's heart.
Before Cooler had a chance to react Cell pointed one hand towards him.
It was over in an instant, Cooler's body was completely vaporized in a mere instant.
In another instant he was in front of Goku. "Well it looks like it's finally time for our bout Goku."
Goku's eyes met Cell's a look of grim determination flashing briefly as he dropped his arms, the light from the Spirit Bomb began to rapidly fade, somewhat slower than Cell had imagined. But then again it was a massive amount of energy.
Broly looked down at Gohan broken body with disappointment. As he reached down and grasped the bloody child by the skull, he prepared to crush the life out of him like he had the others. It was his favorite form of death, a slow and painful one. But for once the prospect didn't excite him.
What he desired was another fight, like the child had given him before Broly had been forced to transform. For all of his strength, he was too small, too weak to give him a true fight. He tried, boy did he try. It was the best fight Broly had had. It was a shame they had the misfortune of crossing paths now. In a few years the fight would've been even better.
A strange thought struck Broly then, what if he didn't kill the child. A Saiyan always grew stronger from injuries, the worse the wound the better the boost. So, if he allowed him to heal, logic would say the next fight would be even better. Broly's fingers twitched, instinct telling him to give him a little squeeze and end it. He couldn't but think about their next fight though, or the one after that.
'I can make him stronger.' He realized. Each fight the child would lose, and next time he'd come back even stronger. Eventually between the mounting injuries and the natural growth Broly himself had experienced, and was still experiencing, the child's strength may rival his own in time.
Broly's lips twisted into a dark smile. When that day finally came, and the rest of the universe had already been reduced to ash, they'd have their fight. A true fight, a fight worthy of being the universe's finale. The winner would be only a hair more alive than the loser, and when they passed on, it would signal the end of life in the universe.
Broly pulled himself from his fantasy. He'd made his decision. Tucking Gohan under his arm he made his way back towards his ship. He'd put the child into hibernation to slow the progression of his injuries while they made their way to their next victims. Then when the child was fully recovered, Broly would nurture him into the perfect warrior, the mirror image of himself, the harbinger of the end that the universe demanded.
Hey everyone, sorry for the long unexpected wait for this latest chapter. If I had known things would've dragged on so slowly I would've waited a bit longer to make the last update, just to space things out a bit more. I have great news! I finally have a decision made on graduate school! I got offered funding at a much better fit than the previous school I had mentioned. I've been busy scrambling to find an apartment I could afford this late in the game, and getting utilities set up, new furniture bought (since I had to toss most of the stuff I had before) and stuff like that. So between that and having to go back to work after my surgery I haven't had much free time. It's my hope to have the arc finished before the semester starts in late august, just so we can start the real meat of the story the same time I am starting the real heart of my education :)
Thank you everyone for all the support and calls for the story to continue, I appreciate the passion. Unfortunately sometimes I have really busy patches of real life like the last few weeks that cause my writing to grind to a halt. I do try to keep everyone updated to such unexpected pauses on my profile. I don't update it often, but I try to give you some relevant info from time to time.
Reviews: Sorry in advance if some responses are short, I've already written answers multiple times to the first few, I keep finding creative ways to accidentally delete all my responses somehow... I'm trying hard to get this chapter up tongiht and it is very late and I'm not running on much sleep so if my responses don't make sense just message me and I will straighten it out when I get more sleep.
DarkFalconZ, RKF22, JOEL, Bro 123, Wetham 444, Bob, Raj2001, Bro123, HERGE 8 , Arc238, T hank you for the reviews! And the patience! I hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Luke - I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter! I hope you enjoyed the rest of the fight! Sorry again for stealing Ginyu from you :,(
Dragonmaster1296 - Yeah Piccolo came as close to victory as possible while still losing. The main reason 13 went so far was he thought he was taking out all the enemies to the red ribbon in one go. He's nothing if not loyal. Thanks for the review!
tarrangar - That was always something that bugged me in the actual show. I figured it had to do with how many times they had been wished back like you suggested. I'm sorry I made you wait so long since you were looking forward to it. Hopefully itwas worth the wait. Yeah I sort of go a bit heavy on the cliff hangers I guess. I still remember the kinds of responses I would get all the way back in the Saiyan Saga fight. Yeah those are fun cliff hangers.
super mystic gohan -
Yeah Piccolo did a great job. Yeah Cell made plenty of preparations, which helped a lot in the end. He got the senzu beans way back when he was first introducing himself to the Z Fighters. Right before his introduction he grapped the senzu's the Z fighters set aside as too burnt to be usable and decided to make do. Sorry for the long wait I hope you enjoyed it.
Anonymous -
Yes he does, and exactly he's getting the zenkai without the self healing draw back. So the way I always imagined is that the worse the injury you come back from the bigger the zenkai and the way I saw it coming back from the dead is about the worst injury you can come back from. Might just be my weird way of seeing things though. I'll try to give it more thought another time. Sorry.
I hope you've enjoyed the next round of the Cell fight. That's what you think! Lot of good it did him though.
Thank you very much! It is incredible this story has come so far. I've gone a bit back on forth on the long term effects of the fruit. I'll try to give a better answer to that when I am a bit more with it. Basic ssj for now.
ABCD -
Glad you enjoyed it, you're not the only one confused about Vegeta vs Goku. I'll review the last power levels in the morning. I do intend for Vegeta to be stronger currently. 2 trips in the time chamber and coming back from the dead and all. The ssj boosts generally have to do with the training you undergo while in super saiyan. But I could've goofed so I will check it out int he morning. Sorry for the long wait.
Spirax 570 - I knew that would be an unexpected twist. I hope you enjoyed the latest chapter too.
JOEL - Thanks for the review! At the moment he does not understand that. His potential is basically limitless. Yes he is. In a way he will be partially responsible. Some are aware of it. I will try to work that in soon since we have a few characters arriving there now. Sorry for the long wait.
Nick -I plan on continuing it until my planned finale in 50-75 chapters. It's a very, very long story especially when I get side tracked in new things I think up for it. That is a really good question. I think Monster carrot's effect would be like Ultimate Buu's candy ray against Vegeto, it'll transform him, still might die afterwards though. Not sure about devil man though I'll have to think about it. If so he is pretty over powered lol.
Spirax 570 - Sorry for the long wait story is still on just very busy. Sorry for the scare. If in doubt just check my profile I try and keep everyone updated there.
Gremlinite -
Thanks for the review! Yeah fanfic can definitely cut into study time a bit (reading or writing lol) Yes we are! I've been building towards this for a very long time, this is just the first taste! I think a lot of people are going to be very happy with the next few arcs. I mean even with their 'low' power levels they are among the top 0.0000001% of the fighters in the galaxy easily. Thank you for your patience, sorry for the long wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter too.
Thanks again for your patience. I hoping for mid august for another update at the latest I will keep you all informed if that changes. I'm hitting the hay. I have to move in a matter of days so that's going to be crazy. Anyway sorry again for the wait and the probably higher than usual gramatical errors.