Chapter 46: The Final Battle to End It All Comes to a Close
The Saiyans in unison attacked the mighty Cell using a massive cavalcade of edged-weapon-shaped Ki blasts, with each blast narrowly missing Cell by a hair despite him not moving a muscle in response to their attacks.
"C-Curses! W-Why?! He isn't budging from his position there at all, so why exactly are all our attacks missing?!" yelled the Trunks from the main timeline.
"That thick, ethereal blue aura of his… It must be the answer," muttered Goten, "after all, it's said that the aura of a God carries mystic properties. The sheer density of his aura compared to ours… It's like a passive barrier, he's keeping these attacks at bay just by releasing his aura!"
"Then we've got…" said Bra.
"A PLAN!" yelled Pan.
The two then promptly performed the Fusion Dance in mid-air, instantly merging into Brapan. The fused fighter emerged in her Ultimate state – her eyes sharpened and glistening with a sterner spark to its appearance, and her hair sharpened akin to that of a Super Saiyan but remaining its natural color of purple and black. Brapan quickly gripped her hands together and yelled, "Kikoho-dama!" as she formed a rectangle of Kikoho-shaped light energy that condensed itself into a powerful sphere of Ki that spun like a drill and launched itself toward the utterly relaxed opponent – Cell, who still had yet to budge from the spot he stood. The blast released a massive spark of light that appeared to blind everyone in the vicinity, only for Future Trunks – himself in Ultimate state – to sneak up behind Cell and draw his sword aiming for Cell's neck. Cell quickly saw through this and blocked the swing with his blade-shaped stinger and then pinned the warrior's weapon down on the ground, muttering "What a bore… You strike me with transparently your most devastating attack, knowing full well that it wouldn't damage a hair on my body… Assuming that the influx of energy I release would subconsciously concentrate around the area exposed to your Kikoho attack. And of course, what came after was a run of the mill surprise attack from the opposite direction. Is this the extent of your tactics as warriors?"
"No… the decoy… IS ME!" yelled Future Trunks as he formed a Ki blade on his leg to bind Cell's tail in a scissor-shaped cutlass formed of the dual blades and then held Cell's neck with his elbow before releasing a small-scale but potent atomic explosion akin to Vegeta's Final Explosion attack. He then yelled telepathically, "His aura is diffused now! Go ahead and attack his scalp, going for his core!"
At this time, the present Trunks and Goten had merged via the Potara to once again take the form of Potara Gotenks, instantly going Super Saiyan 3 before attempting to drive their large blade in Cell's skull. Cell, however, quickly overpowered Future Trunks' grip and held him in place as a meat shield, stopping the Potara Fusion in his tracks. He then attempted to kick Future Trunks aside, only for Trunks to block his strike adroitly with his knee and then counterattack at a far faster speed than before, causing Cell to actually feel a hint of shock as he finally had to defend himself from Trunks' attacks at last. Potara Gotenks joined in and attacked Cell with an onslaught of sword swings as well, only for Cell to then block all of their blades with the mere grip of his hand and then let out a powerful shout, blasting them both backward and causing both Future Trunks and Potara Gotenks to drop out of their highest powers. Potara Gotenks then grunted, "Damn!" as Cell suddenly appeared behind him and said, "So you're hiding yet another pair of those earrings, aren't you? Attempting to use them as a surprise trump card in case your Fusion expires?" as he snatched the extra pair of earrings from him.
"To deduce that just from a faint clanging sound in my pockets… You've quite a pair of ears, blue-colored bug – " said Potara Gotenks before he then found himself surrounded by a hexagonal barrier not unlike the one Baby used on his Metamoran Fusion self – however, instead the direction of the rapidly-moving, time-dilating layers of energy was reversed, and Potara Gotenks found his hour of Fusion time nearly elapsing before even a few seconds had passed. Badly threatened, Potara Gotenks desperately took his Super Saiyan 3 form and kicked Cell in the neck upon teleporting out of his barrier, only for Cell to smirk and shake off the attack without the slightest sign of injury. Furiously, Potara Gotenks then took a full-force swing to the tip of Cell's skull, only to slightly crack his scalp before Cell then headbutted the fused fighter with such immense force that he fell onto the ground and was completely paralyzed upon impact. The Potara earrings quickly lost their light as the Fusion then came undone, placing the defeated two, separated, in a humiliating position that somewhat resembled a plank. The two mustered up all their willpower to stand back up on their feet, only for their legs to give out. It was clear that it was the damage from Cell's attack that defeated Potara Gotenks – not the time limit. Cell had merely sped up their diffusion to illustrate the futility of their efforts even more brazenly.
Future Trunks, gulping upon having seen Potara Gotenks defeated soundly, came down to the site of the spectacle that had taken place and then said, "So, Cell… I suppose it comes down to a contest of wills between you and me," as he pointed his sword menacingly at Cell. Cell then replied in turn, saying "Trunks… I don't know what you've done to acquire such power on your own without the need for Fusion… But at the moment, you're still nowhere near the perfect warrior that I'd hoped to groom from the threat of universal destruction. You're still relying on your allies… Not unlike the allies I slaughtered on M2. Why hang onto such useless baggage? As powerful as you are, you must know that the truly strong stand alone. Alone at the top!"
"They are not baggage! It's only thanks to the kindness of so many around me – in this timeline or the past – that I stand before you here today! And I'll take your head off full force, once and for all!" yelled Future Trunks as he charged at Cell before activating his skin-tight Ki shield that allowed passage between solid surfaces. Cell then smirked as if utterly dumbfounded and then let out another shout – one that instantly drove Brapan, who'd been behind Future Trunks attempting to carry out the same joint attack they launched at Super #18, to immediate paralysis. Cell then split her apart with a mere finger flick as he then suppressed Future Trunks' own Ki with his own and immediately dispelled the energy cloak of intangibility he imposed on himself. Cell then slashed Future Trunks on the stomach lightly with his stinger, knocking him back several feet before then whispering in his ear, "Once a beaten dog powerless to protect his friends, always a beaten dog… Do you not tire of these repetitive tricks?! I called you out to be a true fighter, NOW BEHAVE LIKE A WARRIOR!"
Cell then delivered a crushing kick to Future Trunks' left arm, knocking him back hundreds of miles and forcing him down on the ground. When Trunks stood up, he found blood trickling all over his forehead and when he tried to wipe it with his left arm reflexively, he found only to his chagrin that it slipped off as if torn callously and clumsily with a crude force. As Trunks screamed a moment later, Cell lightly smiled and muttered, "Slow… Even to notice your impairment. I'd kept myself from defeating you instantly because I'd hoped to see more of that burst of strength you showed when you blocked my attack… Or was that just your last wind?! If you shall continue to disappoint, you will all die!"
Cell then formed an explosive sphere around himself and detonated it, causing the entire surface of Planet Plant to be reduced to a pile of rocks that once was the crust of the planet – not unlike the fate that befell New Namek in the alternate timeline. The heroes had no time to speculate as to if this had indeed been intentional irony on Cell's part as they'd teleported out of the blast's range with Goten's Shunkan Idou just in time, as Cell mockingly commented, "Hah! Of all the things you could be good at, it's of course running with a tail between your legs! That alone, you excel at like no one else!"
"Huff… Huff… Hate to say it, but he's right… Another blast like that would kill us instantly, and I'm already out of power….!"
"Then face your defeat like true men! And die with the weak wenches that you brought to this sacred battlefield!" yelled Cell as he then began to charge a large Ki sphere in earnest, causing Rou Dai Kaioshin to remark, "T-That one blast has enough power to wipe out most of this universe! He's trying to finish this in style!"
"Gwa ha ha ha ha ha ha ha! That'd be too easy, wouldn't it?! I shall adjust the radius of the blast just enough to cover Earth… and ensure that you all survive! So that the last thing you ever shall see shall be evidence of your failure to protect your beloved planet… And the taste of complete defeat will rip your heart asunder!" yelled Cell maniacally.
"Y-You won't!" yelled Future Trunks as he concentrated all of his Ki into his forearm and formed a powerful Ki blade, after which he yelled to his allies, "G-Give me… Give me your power, guys! P-Power… Power to deflect his blast… And keep this timeline that Gohan-san gave his life to save… SAFE!"
Goten, the other Trunks, Bra and Pan did as their leader commanded and donated the bulk of their power, allowing Future Trunks to once again energize his Ultimate state after his body's ability to maintain the power ebbed away with the expulsion of most of the Ki inside of his body in the form of the blade. However, try as he might, his blade – and his most valiant and best efforts – were completely powerless before Cell's attack. Just as Future Trunks' blade snapped in two as he swung it to try and deflect the massive Ki sphere, Goten and Trunks suddenly took out Senzus and performed the Fusion Dance upon ingesting them, transforming once again into Super Saiyan 3 Gotenks.
Gotenks then yelled, "We've had to go and whip out our real ace in the hole… The one trump card we hid from even you, to support your back! You better not fail at deflectin' this!"
"T-Thank you…!"
Filled again with determination and hope, Future Trunks re-energized himself, his Ki synchronizing with Gotenks', and managed to keep the blast at bay. A bit annoyed that beings he viewed as so far inferior to himself were able to actually defend themselves against one of his attacks, Cell pointed his finger toward the sphere he launched and fired off a finger beam, detonating it.
"GWAAAAAARGH!" yelled both Future Trunks and Gotenks as the explosion of the blast drove them into complete disarray and left them in near-death states. Cell then landed near the crater the blast created in its eradication and then grabbed Gotenks by the collar of his vest before punching a hole through his stomach, causing him to split instantly. After this, Cell simply batted the two defused Saiyans away with a swash of his tail before then turning his attention toward Future Trunks.
"That sure soured the mood, did it not…. I shudder to think that after I went through the trouble of infiltrating that horrid abode you called the 'mother' planet and assumed this beyond-perfect form, one of -my- attacks was actually nearly repelled by the worthless likes of you… Friends aiding you or not. But this… is the end, Trunks. All you've done to change destiny… IS TO MAKE ME MORE POWERFUL!"
Cell then suppressed his power and began to beat around Future Trunks with swipes of his tail, which had now assumed a blunt, unsharpened shape rather than the blade-esque shape he typically used to perform attacks with. Watching her dear brother horribly tortured, the contents of the letter that he wrote to her suddenly sprang into Bra's eyes, as though she were flashing back on the events of her life as she saw her end approach her ever more…
"Dear Bra,
I'm sorry for involving you in this… If I had known that such a dangerous enemy had lurked in the midst of this timeline, I never would have brought you here… But I will tell you this. Being with you gives me HOPE. Hope that just as my father's death was averted and the other me grew up knowing not only Gohan-san, different as he may be, but had another person he could call a brother to grow up with, you represent to me a hope that can never be tarnished… Hope that fate isn't etched in stone, that we -can- return to the rebuilt Capsule Corporation and not have to worry Mother anymore. That… the results of this Final Cell Game will be just the same as any other ordinary martial arts tournament. You have no idea what you and Pan-chan mean to me, not just as fellow warriors, but as extensions of the legacy that Gohan-san and I created, that hope is with us and that history wasn't changed for the worse… Please, please do survive this battle, Bra. And when we do… I will tell you everything. Everything about how Gohan-san inspired me to fight onward even when all hope really seemed lost, that carrying on his legacy was what allowed me to continue even in the depths of despair… Yes, to believe in HOPE… HOPE that his sacrifice wasn't in vain…
With warm regards,
Your brother, Trunks"
….
….
As Bra's eyes once again returned to glimpse vividly at the reality of their predicament and Future Trunks' situation, tears streamed out of her eyes as she yelled in her heart, with her lungs and larynx too badly damaged for her to be able to yell out of her own mouth, "G-Gods of this universe, wherever you may be now… Where are you? My brother Trunks… even if we may come from different timelines… H-He means everything to me, and he's already lost everything… The friends he loved, his best friend and mentor, and even the likenesses of the people he'd fought along with and protected for four years… What else will destiny rob from him…? Is it even fair for one man to shoulder this kind of heavy destiny?! T-Trunks…"
"TRUNKS! Don't let… DON'T LET GOHAN-SAN'S SACRIFICE BE IN VAIN! DEFEAT HIM!"
"HWAAAAAAAAAARGH!" yelled Future Trunks as he suddenly caught a second wind and activated his Ultimate state, kicking Cell with all of his might. Cell, however, didn't so much as flinch from the attack and then proceeded to grab Trunks' leg and twist it, after which he licked the blood that spurted from the wound and said, "Game… Over, Tr –"
Suddenly, the Z Sword that broke against Cell was thrown straight at Future Trunks' leg with a finesse and technique that could only have come from an individual who was accustomed to one-handed throws, and the blood that was expelled from the amputation of the limb completely blinded Cell.
"G-Gwaaaargh! W-Who did that?!"
"Sorry about that, Trunks, but it was the only way to make the most of this distraction. Oh, and here's an additional one!" yelled the mysterious figure as he cupped his one hand toward his forehead and then entered the Super Saiyan 3 state, yelling, "Taiyo-ken!"
A blinding burst of light erupted from the one-handed warrior's forehead and completely blinded Cell, after which he then yelled, "Kaioshin-sama! Grab the other four and we'll run for it!"
"As you wish, Gohan-san!" yelled Kibitoshin as he, with the Book of Namekian Legends in one arm, quickly amassed the half-dead bodies of the other Saiyans and then teleported to the Kaioshin-kai. Future Gohan, fully revealing himself from the shadows, then put his fingertips on his forehead and did the same, using his father's signature Shunkan Idou.
"G-Gohan… GOHAN-SAN?! H-HOW?!"
"Long story short, I was able to use my day among the living to return to this world. Ordinarily this wouldn't have been allowed because Uranai Baba-san was already killed by the cyborgs, but the Kaioshin-sama were able to use their authority to make an exception."
"More importantly, time is of the essence, Gohan-san! Cell can and will teleport back here within a moment's notice!"
"Y-Yes, that's right… And to perform the Super Saiyan God ritual, we can't suppress our powers or anything… This is quite the pickle," said Future Gohan.
"S-Super Saiyan… God?! T-The legend that… Kaio-sama spoke of…? There's a ritual to summon him?" said Future Trunks in a weary, half-conscious state.
"It's not so much a summoning as that we'll MAKE you into him, Trunks. And here's how…"
Future Gohan donated large chunks of his Ki to Goten, the other Trunks, Pan and Bra and brought them all back into a conscious state.
"H-Huh?! W-What?!" yelled all four of them, at which point they were automatically elevated to their Super Saiyan states. Future Gohan, having spent the bulk of his power, then dropped back to a regular Super Saiyan, after which he quickly cupped his hands together with everyone else's, yelling, "Now, everyone! I have no time to explain, but imagine all of the lights of your heart and soul erupting inside of your chests… And assembling themselves inside my disciple Trunks! Do it now!"
Quickly realizing that there was no time left, the four closed their eyes and concentrated all of their Ki and the "lights" of their hearts within Future Trunks, after which Future Gohan then assembled their powers inside himself and muttered, "The five Saiyans whose hearts are righteous shall assemble onto a single, chosen Saiyan whose heart is completely pure and just… And he shall be made… GOD OF THE SAIYANS!"
The light, once yellow as the aura of the Super Saiyan glows the Saiyans were engulfed in, then turned a bright and shimmering blue and poured inside Future Trunks, transforming him into a state entirely new. Future Trunks' hair returned to the style of his normal state before turning a scarlet-tinged red as did his eyes, and his body took a reddish-pinkish hue as all the wounds on his body completely healed themselves. Even the arm and leg that were amputated were regenerated entirely new, and the blue maelstrom of Ki completely subsided as Future Trunks stood in its nexus born anew.
He was now a Super Saiyan God.
"I-I… This…"
"Is the realm of the Gods, Trunks," said Cell as he immediately appeared behind Future Trunks, causing everyone worry, although as drained as they were after the ritual, they couldn't so much as move a muscle.
"So, this is it… the realm of the Gods… I can actually sense your Ki now, Cell," said Future Trunks as he cracked his knuckles and poised himself for battle.
"Fuhuhuhuhuhu… That alone is proof that you've achieved the level of the Gods, Trunks. The Ki of a warrior whose power and energy has reached the realm of the Gods cannot be sensed by mortals, but we can sense each other… However, let's not forget that you've achieved but the entrance-level form of the Gods, the ordinary Super Saiyan God… While I've transcended beyond! This is the blue power that slays even Gods!" yelled Cell as he powered up to his absolute full power, causing all of the grass on the Kaioshin-kai to be immediately scorched.
"You forget that Super Saiyan God isn't my only power, Cell!" yelled Future Trunks as he then activated his Ultimate power up in conjunction with the Super Saiyan God power that he had already awakened, causing his calm and ordinary hairstyle to once again stand on end as his eyes entered a completely focused state, and the gentle, flame-like aura around him intensified to resemble an explosion of magma.
"!"
"You face your end now, Cell! DIE!"
Future Trunks immediately launched himself toward Cell, knocking him straight out of the Kaioshin-kai and straight out of the confines of the afterlife as the dimensional barrier broke from behind him, putting them back in the mortal world. Future Trunks gasped for breath for a second, only to quickly poise himself and quickly kick Cell straight into the stratosphere of Planet Plant, which wasn't far from where they were at. He then once again gathered his breath and said, "Wow… Of all the places that we could have ended up in when the dimensional barrier was broken, we ended up right where this final showdown was agreed upon to take place…!"
"That… My friend… Is the true way to wield the power of the Gods! You've managed to manipulate reality, to an extent! But that applies to myself as well!"
Cell formed a barrier around himself that instantly encompassed the entire galaxy, after which he caused his energy to spin around in such flabbergasting speeds that time itself was sped up in a manner similar to, but on a far and incomparably greater scale than that of Baby's time-speeding barrier from the battles he had against the heroes years prior.
"Speeding up time…? Just what good will this do…?! My power still outclasses yours, Cell! This is the end!"
Future Trunks landed a heavy blow on Cell, destroying his head. However, as quickly as he did so, he suddenly began to flicker in and out of the Super Saiyan God state before realizing that Cell had sped up time so much that he had caused the Super Saiyan God form, which was prophesized to only be available to its master for a short time, to exhaust its temporary lifespan.
"I told you, you've done nothing but sign your own death warrant! In the end, I WIN!" yelled Cell as he regenerated his head and headbutted Future Trunks straight into the ground, stunning him and leaving him nearly paralyzed.
"Impressive… It appears that through experiencing the power of the Gods, your base power level has also increased significantly. That attack would've busted your skull open had you remained the same power you were before."
"I-It's over…!" said Goten and the other Trunks as Cell closed in on Future Trunks, intending to finish off the Saiyan once and for all. Just then, Pan went and yelled, "No, it's not! Kaioshin-sama, do you still have Boo's shell on ya?!"
"Y-Yes, we confiscated it from the planet M2! A-And it was filled with energy! Energy that was never in the end used to revive him!"
"Then give me the device Babidi used to put that Ki inside him! But use it in reverse!"
"Y-Yes, Pan-san! Y-You are a genius! Truly the daughter of a great scholar!"
Using his healing powers in unison with Future Gohan's teleportation, Kibitoshin restored Pan and Future Gohan's Ki as they then assembled the combination of their powers through a full-power Kamehameha fueled by the power formerly trapped inside of Boo's shell. Cell instinctively dodged the blast, only to realize a second too late that it wasn't meant as an attack – but as an energizing blast.
"Y-You little shits! How dare you get in my way!" yelled Cell as his dandy and gentlemanly demeanor completely melted away and he lunged toward the once again drained heroes, only for Future Trunks – once again a Super Saiyan God – to grab his wrist, and then reactivate his Ultimate state in tandem with his godly powers.
"Nobody… NOBODY… HURTS MY FRIENDS! THE NIGHTMARE IS OVER, CELL! PERISH, FOR ALL ETERNITY!"
Future Trunks then punched Cell in the face before grabbing him by the tail and hurling him powerfully toward the night sky. He then charged all of his energy into palms as he formed a powerful, massive sphere of heated-up Ki around himself.
"!"
Cell realized, as though his life was flashing before his eyes in much the same fashion that Bra had experienced earlier – that the fate he was about to meet was entirely parallel to that of his original self, the Cell that this timeline housed before he witnessed all of the events of the alternate pasts and futures.
"N-NO! I-IT CAN'T END LIKE THIS! I-I AM CELL! I-I HAVE MASTERED DESTINY! I-I ALONE AM PER – "
"BE PERFECT… IN THE DEPTHS OF OBLIVION!"
Future Trunks launched his final and most powerful blast, and in the blink of an eye, Cell was no more. The blast, colored red and orange in the same fashion as Future Trunks' magma-like aura, completely eradicated and eliminated Cell without a trace. The battle… was finally won.
"Huff… Huff… Huff… Huff…"
Future Trunks reverted to his normal state and collapsed, and Goten, the other Trunks, and Bra then arrived at the battlefield using the former's Shunkan Idou. Barely managing to sit himself upright, Future Trunks raised his hand towards them, formed a fist, and raised his thumb. The long battle to secure the fate of this universe was finally laid to rest.
"Now, what to do with this Boo ball…" said Goten as he began to tap it gently, only for the shell to crack powerlessly, deprived of all the energy that sustained it.
"G-Goten! Look what you did!"
"H-Hahahaha, it's not just your face that resembles Dad, you have his careless temperament, too, my little brother! Hahahaha!" yelled Future Gohan as the smoke produced from inside Boo's shell coalesced into a rotund mass of pink flesh, which dropped into the ground and assumed a half-solid state.
"J-Just wait! Let me finish this guy!" yelled Future Trunks as he attempted to turn Ultimate again and use his power to eradicate Boo, at which point Pan stood in the way and said, "No, Trunks-san! Remember, whether he did it intentionally or not, this Boo's energy is the only reason we won this battle! A-And…. I'm sure Satan-Ojiisan would be sad too, to see his friend die… Even if they are in different timelines! This Boo isn't such a bad guy, Trunks-san! Just give him a chance! When we leave, he's going to be the only ally you'll have left!"
"G-Grr…" grunted Future Trunks begrudgingly as he realized that Pan raised a very good point.
"Yup, she's got a scholarly side to her. Couldn't have said it better myself," said Future Gohan.
"B-But him living among the populous of Earth would be dangerous, no…? A-And there's the off chance that he may split his evil side from within him as the other Boo did in the other time…" said Kibitoshin.
"Oh please, if he does so, he'll be no match for Trunks…! Remember, our father only turned over a new leaf because he was given a chance, too! The other me knows what to do!" yelled the alternate Trunks.
"Then everything… is in its rightful place. Let's all go home…!" yelled Future Gohan as Bra wiped a tear from her eye, saying quietly, "I'm glad… I'm just… so glad…!"
One week later, when everyone had recovered naturally from their wounds and the time machine had once again charged using the energy source that they'd brought back from the other timeline, Bra was about to join the other three Saiyans in returning to the past.
"Bra, before you go…"
Future Trunks levitated himself above Bra and tapped his palm gently against Bra's forehead as he, with a quiet and peaceful yet fierce fervor, turned Super Saiyan God, using his divine powers to impart onto Bra's mind all the memories of his battles in the rent, future world.
Bra then understood the true depths of Future Trunks' struggles, and why it was important above all else to never relinquish hope.
"Y-You went through all of this stuff… For so many years, Onii-chan?! A-And you still never gave up…? H-Hehehehe, don't make me jealous, it's like you're trying to make me all jealous that you're stronger than me…! Hahahaha!"
"One day, you'll surpass me, Bra… Keep believing in that and push forward to break all of your limits."
"I'll do my best, Onii-chan! A-And… Thank you."
"No, thank you, Bra. Without you, this victory wouldn't have been possible."
"Hate to break up this heartwarming moment, but I've been holding onto something of yours, other me!" yelled the Trunks from the other timeline as he opened up the hatch of the Time Machine to open up a capsule, its contents being revealed to be Future Trunks' sword that he used with the original Resistance on the Mother Planet of the alternate past.
"Y-You've held on to this… The whole time?!"
"Yep! And with that, our slates are wiped clean! I don't owe you anything, and you don't owe us anything! You'll keep this timeline safe, and we'll keep ours safe! Don't you ever worry about us, you hear?!"
"Mhmm! You make your trip back home in one piece… And… GOODBYE! Say thanks to Gohan-san for me… And to Father as well!"
Without so much as a word, the other Trunks, Goten, Pan, and Bra all raised their thumbs and waved goodbye to the future world they'd come to hold dear as if it were their own. Beneath them, as their figures turned translucent and dimmed as they went back to their original timeline, Future Trunks' sword shone dimly.
GAIDEN: FUTURE TRUNKS – THE END
