With her father- no, with Vegeta out of the picture, Trunks wasted no time. She went straight after Cell, feeling the creature's ki spike when fighting something she couldn't sense. Eighteen's voice screaming 'Sixteen, no!' informed her of who was Cell's opponent, the last Cyborg. When she got closer, she saw Krillin, Eighteen and a partly destroyed Android Sixteen facing the monster whose tail had opened up as some sort of absorbing tube. The time traveler's eyes narrowed on Krillin, and against her better judgment, decided that liquifying the whole group was not a good idea. So she rushed down to attack Cell directly. Even with a couple of broken ribs, she could fight and take him out, the monster was that much weaker than Vegeta and herself after all.
When her foot connected, she placed herself in front of Krillin to deflect an incoming blast.
"Destroy the Cyborg now, Krillin-san, we can't allow Cell to reach its goal," she ordered with a cold but brief glance, she couldn't lose sight of the cicada creature too long.
Krillin saw Trunks go after Cell before he could protest.. or admit he'd destroyed the remote Bulma worked so hard on. Though admitting it to Trunks who had just blasted Vegeta without thinking twice about it would be his death sentence, without a doubt. Krillin wondered a second whether he'd ever felt someone with as much desire to kill. Yes, perhaps Vegeta, after he'd survived the Genkidama.
Vegeta cursed in the sea. The blast his heir had thrown at him wasn't as powerful as he feared, Trunks had held back, but he was livid nonetheless. 'The audacity! Insufferable waste of blood.' He thought a moment about the whys and hows they got there, and seeing the teenager so easily turn on him disturbed him. He'd have to solve that problem, once the cockroach was dealt with. The Prince blasted off the water to rejoin the battle field, and searched for Cell.
Cell was having none of it, and since Vegeta wasn't dealing with his kid, he had to be smart about it and quickly set a trap that had thankfully worked before. When Trunks arrived, ready to murder him, clearly having no intentions of having an semblance of fair fight, the bio-android let the teenager get closer to fight him up close. Then, between two punches he did his best to endure without moving much, he promptly used the Taiyo-ken to blind Trunks, and rushed over to finally achieve perfection. Slapping Krillin away with his tail and blasting Sixteen out of the way was quick enough, then slamming down Eighteen to absorb her before Trunks could be back was a bet. A successful one, under the pleased eye of Vegeta, who had just arrived.
"Finally, took you long enough!" Vegeta praised.
Trunks came back, eyes still burning from the technique she completely forgot about, and saw the transformation happen. And she refused to let it happen. She went down to attack Cell, but the ki explosion of his transformation kept her at bay. She saw Krillin nearby, and Sixteen further away, and gritted her teeth. She built up more ki, again crossing her forearms then creating the diamond shape with her fingers, without reserve, and blasted straight at Cell.
For nothing. The transformation happened, and Vegeta laughed at the futile attempt.
Trunks didn't hear Krillin's words about Eighteen, but she saw him attack Cell, now having achieved his perfect form, and Cell absolutely ignoring it. Sure Krillin was no super Saiyan, but he was no weakling either. The kick Cell gave him, sending him half the island away, made Trunks snap out of it, and she rushed over to catch him, super Saiyan thankfully giving her the necessary speed. The neck was broken, and he'd die if she didn't do something. She held him carefully, landed, then searched her pants pocket for one of the Senzu Goku had given her and forced it down Krillin's throat.
"Krillin-san, Krillin-san! Here, eat. Please eat."
When the monk coughed and regained consciousness, Trunks felt relief. She looked towards the fight now happening between Vegeta and Cell, and blasted away an incoming ki shot headed their way (probably deviated or dodged by one of the two).
"Vegeta's going to get himself killed!" Krillin finally exclaimed after regaining some composure after his near death experience.
"What?" Trunks helped him stand, keeping an eye on the battle further away.
"I've been in enough situations-. Cell barely touched me, I sensed his actual ki, he's holding back. You need to help him!"
Trunks frowned. She thought about it for a moment; it was the smart thing to do, but Vegeta would turn on her and she knew it. Vegeta fought alone. She kept her eyes firmly on the ki variations ahead, but eventually refused Krillin's 'request'.
"No. I can't fight with him, his pride won't allow it."
"Trunks, you're holding back too, aren't you?"
The question intrigued Trunks enough to set her eyes back on Krillin, trying to understand what he was talking about, but then she looked away again.
"It seems there is more strength in me, but I can't access it." She doubted, but she still felt something was incomplete with her inner power.
Cell's ki suddenly increased a lot, and the two spectators felt a sense of panic. That was how much Cell had held back. The creature was far more powerful than Vegeta, there was no doubt now. She heard Vegeta's curses and his ki rose as well, but Trunks knew it was anger and despair. Vegeta could not win.
"You've got to do something!" Krillin pleaded. Trunks shook her head no, she couldn't, the man fought alone, and she wasn't exactly good at fighting with allies anyway.
The two of them heard Vegeta challenge Cell into taking his attack, giving them both cold sweats, and Cell actually accepted, with arrogance.
"Vegeta you're going to blow up the planet, you can't do that!" Krillin called out, feeling and seeing Vegeta in the distance, gathering his energy to launch a beam.
"He's completely lost his mind," Trunks breathed with fear, and she and Krillin flew out of the way of the Final Flash attack.
Thankfully, the Prince wasn't completely insane and had given his attack enough speed to just scratch the planet's surface and leave the atmosphere (with a good half of Cell, apparently). Cell acted wounded and shocked, and Vegeta laughed.
Trunks crossed her arms, slowly cooling her head off a moment, and while the broken ribs weren't that much of a problem (the binder absorbed most of the impact and held everything in place), the capsule case she felt on the inside of her denim jacket gave her an idea. She took it out to check, it was still intact. She opened it, and gave one of the capsules to Krillin, who took it, eyes asking what the teenager was up to.
"The Mafuba," she said. "This is the container."
She closed the case and gave it to him as well. Then she gave him the two senzu beans from her pocket, carefully so they wouldn't fall. Krillin put the case in a pocket, the senzu beans in his belt, and kept the precious capsule containing the thermos and seal in his hand. Krillin was suddenly hopeful. They still had a card to play.
"I will do it once Vegeta-san is out or dead. I need to be able to see you, so place yourself in front of me." She explained, giving him a passing cold glance, then she removed her jacket and tied it around her waist. 'I need to fully control my ki for this, it will be easier if my arms are free. He better not get in my way.'
The shorter man didn't comment on the teenager's wording about Vegeta's potential death, not having witnessed Vegeta actually allowing Cell to go after Eighteen. The callous and distant behavior Trunks displayed towards Vegeta's suffering made Krillin shiver. 'He is his son after all..'
The horror on Vegeta's face when he saw Cell regenerate and thank Piccolo's ability to do so somewhat shocked Trunks. Vegeta wasn't fearless after all. Cell had acted wounded just to let Vegeta have a sense of security and superiority, only to shatter it. But the Prince wasn't the kind to give up, despite the sudden influx of despair. His trump card had failed and Cell dominated and taunted him at every turn. Vegeta and Cell were still trading blows by the time Trunks and Krillin flew back to their vicinity. The Saiyan's Final Flash had caused serious damage, and it could have been the winning technique, if Cell hadn't regenerated fully, barely having lost any power, comparatively to Vegeta's sudden exhaustion.
Krillin could feel Trunks' murder intents, but he also noticed the teenager's eyes focused on Cell. The exchanges were short and brutal, and an elbow deep on the Prince's back forced him down on what remained of the last island of the archipelago.. And his hair turned black. Trunks noticed Vegeta was still alive, then changed her mind. That was Trunks' cue.
"Get him out of there and give him a bean, I'll hold Cell until you come back," she hissed. Krillin thanked Kami for Trunks' humanity.
On the Lookout, Piccolo and Tenshinhan were observing the events. Bulma, holding her baby close, was asking them questions about what was going on, and it was a rollercoaster. From Vegeta's absolute domination of Cell, to his letting the monster go, to Krillin destroying the remote (Bulma swore to gauge his eyes out) and as such not destroying Eighteen, to Trunks intervening (Bulma praised his Brief brains), to Vegeta actually attacking Trunks (Bulma swore to gauge his eyes out as well) because of the 'interference', and Trunks actually blasting Vegeta away... And Cell reached its sought after perfection.
"Damn it Vegeta, now you're going to reap what you sow." Tenshinhan was livid. They could've won easily, but Vegeta ruined it all. And Krillin, too, by breaking the remote, but they'd complained about that already.
"Forsaken Saiyan genes," Piccolo growled.
"I'm surrounded by idiots," Bulma adjusted Trunks against her. "You know, it's easy to shift blame, but you all wanted to fight against these Cyborgs instead of being smart about it."
Tenshinhan couldn't argue with the blue-haired genius, but he did spare an apologetic look. She was right, she knew it, he knew it, but admitting it out loud was not an option; it was the warrior's path, after all.
"The Mafuba," Piccolo breathed out when he realized Trunks passed the capsules over to Krillin. "Trunks might actually save everyone. Despite Vegeta's idiocy, the kid kept a plan B in mind."
"Pfft of course he did, he's my son, at least someone has brains down there." Bulma scoffed, and babbled a little at her baby. "Who's the smartest boy, Trunksie? That's right, you're the smartest! I raised you so right." The baby was happy to get the praise and attention and giggled.
"Cell's just so much stronger though," Tenshinhan frowned, ignoring all of the baby talk. He wasn't sure if it would work.
Trunks powered up as soon as Cell landed to finish off Vegea, and kicked the monster out of the way as it was giving some sort of eulogy about the Prince of all of two Saiyans. Krillin landed behind her, grabbed Vegeta, and flew away just as quickly, while Cell came back walking slowly.
"Ah, the 'heir'! Truly a shame, about your father."
"He's not my father," Trunks growled.
"He should have listened to you. Enough about him, actually. Truly, what a change… what happened to you?"
"You will find your answers in hell," she snarled, her elastic snapping, setting her golden hair free, muscles building up slightly, and she launched herself at Cell, ready to fight with as much as she could and stall the monster long enough for Krillin to do what he was asked, and come back.
Cell was far too curious to actually dispose of the teenager, the monster humored the fight and observed with keen eyes, trying to make sense of what was going on. The change of power since their last fight, the change of power compared to the version that tried defending the Time Machine.. And something in Cell was reluctant to fight at full force. 'Exactly when I kicked Krillin. How strange.' Cell frowned at the realization, then promptly kicked Trunks out of his guard. She blocked the hit with her forearm, but was sent back quite a lot.
"It's strange, Goku is alive here. Imagine my surprise when I saw him pop out of nowhere and save Tenshinhan and Piccolo. But you're not the same as the Trunks I killed… Beyond your power, of course."
Trunks clenched her fists. The kick hadn't hurt that much, somehow, and if Cell wanted to talk and waste time, that was actually working in her favor. She took from Piccolo's strategy, and decided to lean into his experience. Cell liked to hear itself talk, so she would give it the opportunity.
"Considering I am alive, yes, we are different Trunkses."
"How does it feel? Knowing you'll succeed in freeing your world and fail at reaping the benefits."
"You have no idea how little I, as well as my dead counterpart, care about enjoying the fruits of my sacrifices, monster." She kept her eyes on Cell, but she saw Krillin come back, thermos in hand, and hover quite further behind. His energy was masked. 'Good'
"How noble!" Cell clapped with obvious disdain. "Letting an enemy reach full potential… Lucky me. Truly, your father should have listened to you."
"He's not my father," the guttural denial left her before she could stop it, anger building up. Trunks loathed it, but she agreed with Cell, and despised how easily the monster had manipulated Vegeta into reaching perfection. She hoped he'd learnt his lesson, and part of her anger wanted to rub a massive 'I told you so' in his face. But for that, she first needed to succeed. And she silently thanked Kami for Cell not having any of her cells; the monster would have ended all fights much quicker if it did take after her… or after Gohan, in a way.
Instead of talking more, Trunks slowly extended her hands forward, slowly increasing and channeling her ki. Cell was much, much more powerful than she was, it was a gamble, but it was worth trying, now that Krillin was in position.
"Oh another 'I dare you to take this head-on' trick again? I might humor it." Cell grinned, but slowly took the same position he had when he tanked the Final Flash.
"Please, since you killed another version of me, you should know ki blasting is my weakest point." Trunks threw the gathered ki at Cell with a roar: "Mafuba!"
She tried to keep a minimum of ki to herself, so she could actually control the wave, but she'd never tried the Mafuba as a super Saiyan, and the amount of energy was incredible. She planted her feet and ignored the pain, forcing her mind to stay focused on her goal. The wave took, and the time traveler trembled. Krillin flew back and stilled himself, trying to resist the surge of power and stay in position.
Cell, taken by the sudden technique, was shocked, then afraid, but its memories fed by the computer data soon realized what it was. The monster powered up with a roar, and broke free before Trunks could direct the flow to the container. She stared in disbelief, her hair returning to its initial lavender, panting, while Cell landed nearby, panting just as much, but still at full power.
"Impressive!" Cell praised with more than a little anger in his voice. "You're far more resourceful than I thought.. Did not think for a second you would pull the Mafuba on me. Too bad I know how it works..."
Trunks' vision blurred, but she didn't fall, she braced herself for her sentence. She failed, and she couldn't avoid her fate any longer. She apologized to her mother as Cell approached, hand open and ready to blast her brains out.
"Kill me already, Cell," she spit out with hate, unwilling to listen to any more of the snarks and humiliating voice.
"Tell me.. is Son Goku getting stronger as well?"
Trunks hissed, she wasn't about to give the creature any answers either.
"You know what, Trunks? I really should kill you. But I won't. You were impressive. And you two, you got incredibly strong in just two days. Tell me, oh pretty please, if I gave you some more time, do you think you can beat me? No Mafuba, straight, earnest, honorable combat."
Stupid Saiyan genes… But for once, they worked in her favor. In her field of vision, she saw Krillin, and now Vegeta.
".. Perhaps. If not me, someone else will." She wasn't as confident in her own strength, and would certainly not face an enemy 'honorably', but it was what Cell wanted to hear, and she wanted to buy time for Goku and Gohan. She trusted them, they would succeed where her and Vegeta failed.
"If Son Goku is going through the same process, that is exciting news." Cell got closer, almost in her personal space. The monster was immensely tall, but she didn't step back. "It's strange, you're like him in many ways, but.." he lifted her chin with his index and looked straight through the teenager's eyes. Then down. A slow realization clicked in, and when Cell's other hand reached to her shoulder, to the visible strap of her binder, she let out a feral growl and jumped back.
Cell looked back at the teenager with curious eyes, and then laughed. "Oh I get it. You know? Seventeen was head over heels for you, how lovely isn't it?" Trunks was filled with hatred the moment the Cyborg's number was mentioned, then looked straight up confused at what the bio-android just said, and Cell only laughed more at the reaction.
"Yes! You should thank him, he's partly the reason I decided to spare you. Here's what we're going to do. You'll go back home, lick your wounds, and you'll watch TV. I'll announce a tournament, like the old Tenkaichi Budokai, in -what, a couple of weeks?-, and test my newfound strength against whoever shows up. Use the time to get even stronger. And not only you! Vegeta, Piccolo, Tenshinhan, Sixteen over there, everyone! This is going to be fun." The monster's voice was darker. Whatever its idea of fun was, it wasn't good news.
"Why?" she couldn't help herself, she asked.
"Why? That's easy. Because I love seeing your faces of despair, when after so much training, so many efforts, I can still best you with my Perfection. Vegeta's despair, yours.. were only an appetizer. Yes, exactly that face you're making."
Trunks couldn't help her disgust, disappointment and despair. The monster could read emotions well.
"I have a tournament to prepare, ciao bella!"
Cell flew off with another laugh, and Trunks finally let herself fall to her knees, punching the ground in anger and hopelessness.