Chapter 69: Calm Before the Storm
"Are you three about done with your dick measuring contest? If so I'd very much like to see if your claim is true."
Vegeta turned to see the one he came looking for, Cepa smirking back at him.
Behind him both guards immediately dropped into low bows leaving no question in Vegeta's mind who had just found him. The legendary Saiyan Queen Nappa had told him about.
Vegeta couldn't suppress a smirk of his own as he sized up the Saiyan Queen, even now seemingly completely at ease she had an impressive air about her. She seemingly matched to a T the traits most befitting of a Saiyan warrior. "Good just who I was hoping to meet. If you're looking for a fight, I'll show you just how far Saiyans from my time have come!" Vegeta declared confidently.
Cepa's smirk didn't waver for a moment, she simply turned and took to the air, indicating for Vegeta to follow.
Vegeta didn't hesitate as the pair left the city.
After he caught up to the Saiyan Queen she spoke again. "How long has it been since you ascended?"
"Hmpt if you must know, around 6 months." Vegeta replied confidently.
"Really now? I suppose we'll have to test if that's true." She replied as an excited thrill began to buzz through her body as she gave Vegeta a predatory stare.
With a confident smirk, Vegeta ignited his aura and quickly entered his Super Saiyan state.
Matching Vegeta, Cepa also transformed, only powering up to a resting energy.
A look of shock briefly crossed the Saiyan Prince's face as he noticed the massive amount of energy swirling around the relaxed, Saiyan Queen across from him.
His surprise did not go unnoticed. "What's the matter? This isn't your first time facing another Super Saiyan is it?"
"It's nothing." Vegeta muttered pushing away the slight nervousness trickling into the back of his mind. Although she appeared to be more powerful than him at the moment, he was sure he would prove superior once he reached his top fighting form.
"Prepare yourself to witness a power not seen for 1000 years!" He boldly declared before beginning his transformation.
As Cepa watched the transformation going on in front of her, her excitement rapidly began to fade as she realized the truth behind Vegeta's ascension.
Vegeta noticed her smirk fading and immediately took it as a sign of his superiority.
Before he could begin to boast, he was cut off; "Is that it?" Cepa asked a look of disappointment on her face.
Vegeta's eyes widened in shock, "I've ascended beyond a Super Saiyan, is that not enough for you?!" Vegeta asked anger beginning to creep into his voice.
"No, you haven't" Cepa replied evenly, "That's the same pretend-transformation my Uncles tried to use to defeat my father after he gained the throne. All you've done is puffed your muscles up with some extra energy. If you're using this ineffective form I'm assuming you haven't even fully mastered the first level of Super Saiyan yet." The Saiyan Queen added with a chuckle.
"Wha...What? I will show you the true might of a Saiyan Elite!" Vegeta snarled his entire body beginning to shake with rage at this affront to his pride.
Without any further warning Vegeta launched forward intending to make the other Royal pay for her disrespect.
His fist found home on his first strike crashing across her cheek, only to simply move her head to one side. A small trickle of blood erupting from a freshly formed cut on the inside of her cheek the only real sign that the blow had even registered.
"If that is your idea of might, you're even more of a disappointment than I originally thought." Cepa replied her tone turning icy.
Without warning Cepa's knee had embedded itself in Vegeta's stomach forcing the Saiyan Prince backwards.
Before he could resume his offensive, or even recover he was assaulted by an overwhelming wind. "Allow me to show you the true power of the Super Saiyan transformation." Cepa declared.
Vegeta watched on in a state of shock as Cepa's power exploded, she was more powerful than anything he had felt before by a large margin and still rising.
Cepa's power exploded outwards. She was far more powerful than anything Vegeta had come across.
Finally, her aura peaked, and faded out, leaving Vegeta in a state of disbelief. He couldn't believe this was still supposedly not ascending beyond the first Super Saiyan state.
"This is the level that you must reach if you want to be considered a Saiyan elite." Cepa explained. "Now, I will give you the honor of seeing the next state yourself." She added with a mischievous grin.
Lightning shot out in all directions as Cepa's power spiked again, this time much more intensely as a true transformation began to take place.
Vegeta was forced to cover his eyes from the intensity of the light generated in front of him and the incredible torrents of dust flung his way by the transformation.
Finally, the storm had passed and Vegeta could take in the full majesty of the warrior before him. He couldn't even feel the end of her power, it was like looking into the sun.
"This is the true legacy of the Saiyan Race. Although you have earned the right to be a part of my army. The pitiful form you've achieved will never allow you to be considered a Saiyan Elite." Cepa bluntly added.
Vegeta hung his head and tightened his fist in frustration. "It doesn't matter that you're beyond me at the moment. You see I won't be staying in this realm long. And when I return to the land of the living I will surpass you, but not before killing that bastard Cell"
"And what makes you think you can escape hell? I've been here over 1500 years. Or are you intending the other tail-less Saiyan to ferry you back to the mortal realm?" Cepa asked, her eyes glowing with curiosity, while still noting the name of Vegeta's referenced killer.
Vegeta's face twitched revealing his irritation at himself for letting that bit of information slip, "Death doesn't limit us anymore. There exists a way to return to life."
"Could others return with you?" Cepa asked unable to hide her desire to be out of this place. A strange feeling considering for how long she considered it to be a paradise.
"It's possible…" Vegeta admitted. "What would I gain from bringing you back with me?"
Cepa's lips curled into a smirk. "How about this, I will make you a deal, if you do return to life, and somehow manage to ascend. Wish me and my army back and I will allow you to challenge me for the true Saiyan throne" She offered.
Vegeta returned her smirk, it was a tempting offer, to fight supposedly the mightiest Saiyan to have ever lived and ultimately prove yourself their superior, not only that but to finally be the King of a true Super Saiyan army. "I will consider it."
(In West City.)
Cell couldn't help but smirk at the looks of abject horror one the faces of the citizens around them. Word of his attack on the King's command center appears to have been circulated worldwide already.
It was just this sort of circulation the perfected being hoped to take advantage of for the next step in his plans.
Arriving at his desired location, Cell didn't bother waiting for the automatic door to open, as he simply walked through effortlessly shattering the glass.
The security officer inside nearly had a heart attack, as he began waving his feeble gun about trying to work up some sort of bravado. Cell ignored the pitiful creature, instead rising up through the ceiling, emerging on the second floor. He repeated this process two more times before finally arriving at his desired floor. Around him the human new crew began to shatter as he emerged, the evening news of the largest metropolitan area left on the planet completely disrupted.
Turning to the one remaining, stunned cameraman Cell spoke for the first time. "Please make sure to get my good side." He said with a smirk, turning fully to face the camera.
Unable to think of anything else to do the terrified man complied adjusting his camera.
"Hello citizens of Earth. As some of you already know, I am Cell, a being that has finally reached the zenith of perfection. You might know me as the being that destroyed Central City." Cell paused for a moment to allow his words to sink in before continuing. "In 10 days' time I will be hosting the ultimate martial arts tournament, with the fate of the Earth at stake. Yes, that's right, if no one manages to defeat me during my tournament I will destroy the Earth and move onto a new world. It will be open to all challengers, in case there is anyone out there who thinks they are capable of keeping up with me." With his message delivered, Cell simply floated up once more exiting through the ceiling and eventually the building's roof, leaving the stunned Camera man to collapse in shock and awe.
The training regimen that Nappa and Goku were undergoing could only be described as extreme. Endless hours of sparring had stretched out over the last 4 months, broken only by individual training, eating, and a few hours of sleeping. Their results could also be described as extreme, they had each grown significantly more powerful during their stay.
Nappa had moved out on his own during the last few days. Vegeta's claim of ascending beyond a Super Saiyan still in his thoughts. It was an intense process but he finally had done it, he had ascended beyond a Super Saiyan. Every muscle in his body was pumped full of Ki, in this form he was sure he could even give Piccolo a good fight.
Nappa lifted into the air, eager to show Kakarot the results of their training.
In a matter of minutes, he was on his way back to where Kakarot was training, closer to the exit to this bizarre dimension. As he made his way over Nappa began to notice a flaw in his current transformation, he was slower than he should've been. It wasn't by much, but for a warrior who was used to be somewhat more sluggish than the smaller fighters he routinely fought, even he could notice it.
Goku had finally noticed Nappa's massive power level heading his way and stopped to wave to his training companion as he came in. "Hey Nappa! I see you figured out how to reach that form too!" Goku yelled to him as he came into ear shot.
Nappa proud smirk had already long faded to and look of irritation but knowing that even Kakarot had found this form before him was just an added blow to his ego.
"You don't look very excited." Goku noted, "Did you already figure out the weakness of that form?" He asked.
"Yeah, slows you down too much." Nappa admitted reluctantly. "I'm surprised you figured out all that before me." He grumbled.
Goku sheepishly scratched the back of his head and grinned, before shifting back to serious once more. "Hey I want to try something different if you are up for it?" Goku asked.
"I'm all ears." Nappa replied as he dropped out of his ascended state and crossed his arms.
With that Goku quickly began explaining his new idea.
(The next morning at the site of Cell's ascension)
The ruins of Central City were nearly completely silent, the only exception being the occasional sound of metal scraping on the ground.
13's entire body was on the verge of failing, having suffered massive external and internal damage from Cell's betrayal.
Finally, though he had arrived at his target, reaching out 13 made contact with his lower half, the semi-liquid nature of his design activated almost immediately as he body began to absorb his missing lower half.
A few moments later his body was mostly back together. Without any further delay he began walking around the battlefield picking up 16's pieces. "Don't worry 16, you're helpin' me avenge ya and Dr. Gero too." The enraged Android continued to mutter as an eerie glow began to surround him.
24 hours had come and Goku and Nappa finally emerged from the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. Unlike the excitement that had greeted Trunks and Vegeta though, the two Super Saiyan Warriors were immediately greeted with sullen looks, in addition to a few looks of surprise at seeing the two appear already transformed.
"Why the long faces?" Nappa immediately asked noting that Vegeta currently was the only one not on the lookout.
Piccolo stepped forward to explain quickly so he and Cooler could begin their own training. "Vegeta is dead, Cell killed him and then managed to absorb another one of the Androids becoming practically unbeatable. I hope you two got some serious training in, Cell's supposedly hosting a tournament in a week's time to determine if he is going to blow up the planet or not." Piccolo said before nodding for Cooler to follow him and heading off into the chamber. "Try not to get killed while we're gone." Piccolo added.
Goku had a look of shock on his face, one of his main rivals, and pseudo-friend, had just been killed.
Nappa's reaction was much more visible. Veins began to bulge on the Saiyan General's forehead. An instant later the entire lookout was shaking from the incredible power Nappa was giving off.
"Incredible, you're even stronger than Vegeta was." Piccolo managed to say as Nappa's power leveled out near his own.
Before Nappa could snarl at Piccolo, Goku put his hand on the giants' shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll make sure to wish Vegeta back for the tournament. I'm sure he'll be itching to fight Cell again." Goku reasoned.
Nappa's rage subsided to a manageable level at least. "Yeah...you're right, Vegeta is going to want to kill the bug himself." Nappa agreed, although on the inside he was still seething mad.
(In a random field around the time Goku and Nappa emerged)
Cell had been hard at work preparing a proper tournament arena for the clash of titans that would begin in a matter of days when he felt a pleasant surprise. "So Nappa has managed to improve even more than Vegeta. I wonder if he made the same mistake as Trunks." Cell ideally thought out loud his lips curling into a smirk.
An uncomfortable though trickled into the bio-android's mind though, as he remembered how other great fighters had fallen in the past. Most notably Cold. 'I suppose I could level the playing field a bit in case they get desperate.' He decided.
(In Hell)
Vegeta had spent roughly an hour answering Cepa's questions before the Saiyan Queen finally grew bored of their game. Instead she invited Vegeta to watch her battle one of the other more powerful fighters in Hell.
As the two fighters crossed the endless plains of Hell, Vegeta began to pick up some truly massive power levels fighting in the distance. His fists slowly tightened in frustration as he began to realize just how low his status was here.
As they finally arrived at the battlefield Vegeta was met with a startling realization. One of the creatures that had exceeded his own strength by such a magnitude was a being he had helped put here.
"Slug?" Vegeta managed to mutter just as Slug's mutilated body began to regenerate.
Almost Immediately the furious Namekian warrior noticed who was standing near him. "Vegeta...so you've finally come to join me. Is your companion also here?" Slug's voice was barely restrained.
Vegeta still couldn't believe that the Namekian warrior in front of him was generating so much power. It took him several seconds to remember the annoying quality that had made him so difficult to put down while he was alive. "So, I take it the wish is still in effect?" He realized
"Of course." Slug replied, "Hey Tawas, I know you're getting a kick out of fighting me, but I think it is my turn to have some fun." Slug said to the Saiyan he had been fighting for the last several days.
"Go ahead, we'll have plenty of time to continue." Tawas replied with a smirk, before giving the newly arrived Saiyan one more look over. He certainly didn't recognize him, and if Cepa actually had an interest in him there must be something unique about him.
Vegeta's fists tightened, "Fine, I'll enjoy killing you myself this time." Vegeta replied as he began to power up.
After he was finished he could tell Slug was unimpressed.
Vegeta didn't care though, his own pride as a Saiyan warrior refused to be defeated by yet another inferior creature.
In a flash both fighters were off, attack after attack rained down on Slug's defenses, the attacks never had a hope of landing though. To the Namekian warrior they were as if they were in slow motion.
After the dozenth attack Slug caught Vegeta's blow and let loose a powerful kick colliding with Vegeta's side.
The Saiyan Prince's body bent painfully before rocketing across the landscape.
He never got the chance to slow himself as Slug appeared behind him in an instant, planting his knee deeply into Vegeta's back with a level of force that Vegeta had never been made to feel before.
Even if he had been braced for the attack there was no way Vegeta could've protected himself from it. His body completely bent the wrong way, his spine snapping under the extreme forces.
Vegeta let out a yell of agony, as the shock of his injury cut through his body and then the feeling vanished from his lower half.
His body flailed as he rocketed upwards with the speed of Slug's latest attack, higher and higher until he finally hit the hard limit of this world, the barrier separating heaven and hell.
Hitting the barrier proved much worse than even colliding with solid stone as all of the kinetic energy was left with no other way to spend itself than to wreck Vegeta's body.
In the brief instant it took him to come to a halt, the Saiyan Prince was left on death's door once more, his body little more than a mangled mixture of meat and bone fragments, left to fall helplessly back towards the ground.
Goku wasted no time contacting the Namekians again, they had finally finished collecting the Dragon Balls and were ready to accept Goku's wishes.
Goku made sure Vegeta would be brought back to life with their first wish.
With the second he wished Dende back and finally Mr. Popo.
He then put two fingers to his forehead and began his round trip to pick up those who were just wished back.
Vegeta's body hit the ground, leaving him in a state that would've left him dead in a matter of a moment or two if he wasn't already.
"Well that was disappointing." Tawas mumbled.
"Don't worry, I think there is more to him than meets the eye." Cepa replied. "Even if it might not be obvious today."
Slug slowly floated downwards towards Vegeta's body. Just as he was about to reach him though something peculiar happened, Vegeta's halo disappeared.
"Well that's interesting." Tawas said his eyes wide.
A moment later it got more interesting as three new beings arrived, one of which appeared to be a Super Saiyan.
"Vegeta what happened?" Goku called out to Vegeta's mangled body. As Dende rushed over to begin healing the fallen prince.
Vegeta couldn't respond for the time being, his body had been wrecked far too badly.
Slug, who had been approaching Vegeta intent on continuing his fun, was stopped in his tracks for a moment. "Another Namekian? Here?"
"You're the one who helped Nappa escape hell aren't you?" Tawas hollered over to Goku as he and Cepa made their way over to the group.
"Oh hey! Yeah I took Nappa back to Earth. You two are Saiyans aren't you?" Goku innocently asked, before a shocked look crossed his face as he felt the overwhelming pressure radiating off of the transformed Tawas and Slug. Even Cepa felt incredibly powerful and she wasn't even transformed.
"Yes we are. I am Queen Cepa and this is Tawas. How did you manage it? We've been here over 1000 years and have yet to find a way out." Cepa asked.
Goku began to realize the two Saiyans before him were probably down here for a reason but figured there couldn't be much harm in telling them. "I can move around with a technique called instant transmission. I think I can only bring living back and forth though." Goku answered honestly. "Do you know what happened to Vegeta?"
"I did." Slug answered proudly. "So, you're another one of those pitiful Earth warriors who tried and fight me during my visit there."
Goku's eyes met Slug's before hardening, "You've attacked Earth? You must be Slug then." Goku wasted no time igniting his Super Saiyan aura, knowing he would have to protect Dende and Popo until they finished healing Vegeta.
"That's enough for now, I was in the middle of speaking." Cepa's tone gave Slug little doubt as to his fate if he took another step forward.
"Yes ma'am." Slug quietly mumbled not interested in drawing Cepa's ire.
With an approving nod Cepa went back to her interrogation. "You say you think you can only bring the living back and forth across the barrier? Would you mind if we went ahead and tested that theory?" Cepa said before nodding to Tawas to be the guinea pig.
"Umm…" Goku began to feel that denying that request could turn dangerous not only for himself but for Dende and Popo as well. Quickly he looked over to Dende and Vegeta making his intention of leaving obvious.
Cepa ignited her aura intended to capture Goku before he could have a chance to escape, but she was too late, Goku in his mastered Super Saiyan state was still fast enough to touch his forehead and appear next to the small group to his left.
"Grab on to each other!" Goku shouted as Cepa, Tawas, and Slug all lurched forward after them.
At the very last second, the connection was made and the entire group vanished back to the land of the living.
Cepa's fists tightened in frustration, she had been hoping to enjoy at least a short stay in the land of the living. Slowly she let them go, as frustrating as it was to have such a chance slip through her fingers, she couldn't help but notice that the mysterious Saiyan who could cross dimensions at will had seemingly mastered the first Super Saiyan transformation. Something Vegeta had obviously not known about while he was alive. She couldn't help but think of what new creatures would be joining her down in hell.
Piccolo and Cooler had been in the time chamber for weeks and Cooler still had yet to even master a simple Kaioken times 2.
"Why the hell isn't this working!" Cooler shouted in frustration as he forced his weary body off the ground. For whatever reason whenever he tried to use Kaioken the power would surge inside his body faster than he could bear, each time it did his entire body was on the verge of burning out, leaving him collapsed on the ground.
"Damn it, I told you to focus." Piccolo snarled. He couldn't understand how a warrior as powerful as Cooler had managed to get as powerful as he was with so little Ki control.
"I am damn it!" Cooler snarled back, before shakily rising to his feet again. His rise was short lived though as he was forced to drop back down to one knee, as his form began to revert to his natural form.
"Give it a rest for now. We'll try again later." Piccolo said with disgust as he left to continue his training on his own.
Cooler was left there in the blank wastelands that seemingly stretched on in all directions. After a moment he relented and allowed himself to lay on the ground, his mind searching for a reason to his failure. He had never been one to failed like this at anything he had attempted. He among all of his siblings had survived the family rivalries and endless scheming to take part in the finale, and in the end outlived even his seemingly invincible father. Not only that but he had even created his own new transformation, something that had never even been attempted to the best of his knowledge.
Yet as soon as he arrived on the forsaken planet he had been met with nothing but defeat. Now with his chance to finally claim the role as the most powerful warrior alive was in his grasp, something was preventing him once more.
The minutes began to stretch by as his strength slowly began to return as his mind was still lost examining his own inadequacies.
Cooler's fist tightened to the point of drawing blood, his frustration on the verge of boiling over. "Why can't I do it! Piccolo and the humans can. Even that Saiyan Goku can and he can transform as...well...:" Cooler's voice dropped off as a stray thought struck him. Immediately he began replaying every memory he had of the technique being used.
As time continued to slip by, Cooler began to notice something, "He never used it while transformed..." A smirk crossed the Frost Demon's face as he rose fully to his feet once more. Staying in his natural form he began to focus his energy as Piccolo had previous instructed, and for the first time began to feel his power rising.
His smirk slowly spread into a triumphant grin as he released the power and allowed his tired body a while longer to recover. He had finally done it.
"Gohan, Raditz change in plans. We're meeting Pyros on planet Torappu. He says he's found something that will make even the Tree of Might obsolete." Turles' somewhat amused voice rang out over both Saiyan's scouters.
"Seriously? Sounds like a trap to me." Raditz replied taking a pause from eating the arm of the dead native he had caught an hour or so ago.
"Of course, it's a trap, just be there in one week and be ready to take the fool's head." With that Turles cut out.
"Good I've been waiting to kill him." Gohan replied his anger flashing briefly at the very mention of Pyros. Even after all these years Pyros was still at the top of his to-kill list. With his appetite ruined for the time being Gohan jumped to his feet tossing the animal limb he himself had been eating behind him and heading back towards his pod. He was eager to be the first one on the planet, that way he could ensure he was the one to finish Pyros. "Are you coming?"
Raditz let out a sigh, "Fine. At least we're already done with this harvest" Raditz replied bringing the arm with him as he made his way to his own ship.
"Vegeta? Vegeta!" Bulma called out to the Saiyan Prince trying to rouse the still unconscious warrior.
Dende had already finished healing his body, but he still wasn't awake.
After a few moments of Nappa shaking him though, Vegeta slowly began to open his eyes. Realizing where he was for the first time.
Quickly he looked above his head, the halo that was once there had now vanished. He quickly pushed the idea that his time in hell was nothing but a dream, it had been a much too painful experience to be a dream.
"Hey! Welcome back Vegeta!" Nappa shouted, slapping the Saiyan Prince on the back.
"Father...I'm sorry, I should've-" Trunks started to say before Vegeta cut him off.
Vegeta's face had contorted into a scowl. "You fools wished me back right after I started fighting someone in hell." He snarled, purposely leaving out the fact he was being beaten badly.
Nappa backed away, an old habit of years of being scolded by Vegeta.
Trunks too shirked back under the sharp rebut.
"Hey it's not our fault! We just wanted you back as soon as possible!" Bulma replied.
"Can this wait until after we've filled Vegeta in on what's happened the last day?" Lime cut in expertly breaking up the brewing fight.
Vegeta turned to Lime, a serious look on his face as he remembered he had a very large score to settle with Cell. "Fine then. Tell me where's Cell?" Vegeta snarled.
"Um...well after he killed you, he absorbed another Android and defeated Piccolo and Trunks. Then he decided to let them go so they can take part in some sort of tournament he is hosting next week." Nappa quickly explained.
"Fine if he wants me to wait a week to destroy him, I'll play along." Vegeta replied with a cold tone. It was then that Vegeta noticed something strange, both Nappa and Kakarot were in there transformed states. "Is there a reason you're both Super Saiyans?" He asked.
"Oh, we've been in this state so long I sort of forgot we were even transformed." Goku said sheepishly scratching the back of his head.
"You what?" Vegeta asked surprised, as he remembered what Cepa had said earlier. Vegeta's body began to shake, somehow, he knew Kakarot had surpassed him once again. Not only that but it appeared Nappa had as well. Nappa was likely once again more powerful than he was.
"Nappa! We're training in the time chamber again right now." Vegeta ordered jumping to his feet.
"Uh Vegeta, Piccolo and Cooler still have 12 hours left." Krillin cut in, before shrinking back under Vegeta's glare.
After taking a moment to compose himself he spoke again, "Fine then, I will return in 12 hours, and when I do, I will surpass you once and for all Kakarot." With that Vegeta took to the air and left the lookout, Nappa quickly following behind him.
The days passed quickly leading up to the tournament as Piccolo and Cooler emerged fully confident of their abilities to confront Cell. Vegeta and Nappa then took a turn in the chamber and were met with limited gains. Finally, Goku and Trunks took a turn in the time chamber together in which Goku helped train Trunks to master his Super Saiyan state. By the time they emerged there were four Saiyans constantly staying transformed at the lookout.
When Trunks emerged a second time though, he couldn't help but notice that Lime was gone.
"Hey Videl, did you see where Lime went?" Trunks asked his now much younger friend.
Videl caught herself staring at her friend again and quickly shook herself out of it. "She said something about visiting someplace and then took off." Videl replied, her cheeks still slightly blushed.
"Oh...well how about we go find her? It's not like we have anything else to do for the next few days." Trunks suggested, already lifting off the lookout.
"Sure!" Videl replied following her friend.
With that the two youngest members of the Z fighters took to the air in search of Lime.
After an hour of searching the duo found their target. Sitting high in a tree overlooking an elderly man and his granddaughter as they went through their daily chores.
"Hey Lime what are you doing up here?" Trunks asked as he and Videl landed next to his babysitter, who was suddenly much closer to his own age.
"Trunks, Videl? How'd you find me? I was masking my energy." Lime said surprised.
"You weren't doing a very good job if that's the case." Trunks said before laughing.
"I didn't think she was doing such a bad job." Videl said, honestly, she had no idea how Trunks was able to pick her out from as far away as he had.
"Whatever." Lime said before crossing her arms and turning away from Trunks.
After quickly apologizing Trunks reiterated his initial question. "So, what are you doing out here Lime?"
"Well this is actually my home. At least it was before everything fell apart." Lime said a distant look in her eyes.
Videl and Trunks immediately exchanged a mischievous glance before rocketing down towards the younger version of Lime down below before the elder Lime could even react.
"Lime behind me." Mr. Lao suddenly said as he caught movement in the distance.
"Hey is your name Lime?" A teenage boy said from above, seemingly appearing out of thin air.
"Uh…" Lime looked up at the two flying children in shock.
"Who are you?" Mr. Lao said stepping between his granddaughter and the two flying fighters.
A few years ago, he would've thought such a sight was impossible. But with the recent news broadcasts from King Furry and the disasters that were seemingly popping up around the planet with increasing frequency. He was forced to assume these children could be a problem.
"Trunks, Videl!" Get back here Future Lime shouted desperately, arriving a few seconds after they had begun speaking to ghosts from her past. "Please excuse them, they're supposed to be in training right now." Lime quickly lied, hoping that her grandfather would buy.
He looked up at her before looking at his grand-daughter and back to her once more. "Lime?"
It had taken several hours from the trio to explain the whole situation to Mr. Lao and the present timeline Lime. Even then the story had to sound like something out of a sci-fi anime.
Surprisingly both appeared to believe them though. The present-day Lime immediately wanted to explore the forest with her newfound friends. While Mr. Lao had a few more questions for his future granddaughter.
"So, I take it the fact you're here reminiscing instead of training for this upcoming tournament means you aren't sure there is much hope, right?" Mr. Lao bluntly asked.
Lime looked to the ground for a moment, "I'm not sure. Cell, he's a monster, more powerful than anything I've ever seen before. Even worse than the Androids we had to deal with in the future."
"All the more reason to keep training, right?" Mr. Lao responded.
Lime was silent for a moment. She didn't know what she could do. She had trained practically her entire life and she still had proven nearly useless even against a single Android. Now she was left feeling like nothing more than a spectator as the more powerful fighters trained to try and defeat this new threat. "Yeah I guess you're right." She finally admitted trying to give her grandfather hope at least.
From beneath the open window Trunks was eavesdropping on the conversation. Somewhere in the distance he heard Videl and present Lime calling his name trying to figure out where he went. Quickly he went to rejoin them. In his mind though he couldn't help but think. 'Lime, I promise we'll make sure this timeline goes better than ours.' He silently promised.
The rest of the week sped by quickly, finally coming up on the day of the tournament. Every fighter of note got a chance to have at least a single day in the time chamber, hoping to boost whatever contributions they could make to the defense of the Earth.
By the night before the tournament that would decide the fate of the world, each of the fighters had returned to their own homes, hoping to enjoy what could be their last night on Earth.
For Goku and Chi Chi this was no exception. For the first time in nearly 3 years they had only their own family at their house. Trunks and Lime had gone to stay with Bulma in West City. Piccolo and Cooler were on the lookout deep in meditation. And Videl had returned home to her own mom as her father was still in otherworld.
Dinner had been a strangely quite affair, even with Goku's animated eating, and Gota herself being quite fussy during the meal. The weight of tomorrow was hanging on both of the Sons.
Shortly after dinner Gota had been put to bed, giving the two time alone. They lay in bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Goku...what do you think Gohan is doing right now?" Chi Chi suddenly asked.
Goku was quite for a moment, he realized this was the first time either of them had spoken of Gohan in at least several months, potentially even longer. The old sense failure began to eat away at him for a moment. "I'm not sure." Goku finally answered. This momentary dip in his confidence was short lived though as he realized he just had another reason to make sure they won tomorrow. "But, after we win tomorrow, we'll finally be able to bring him home." Goku added.
A small smile crossed Chi Chi's lips at the thought of her family finally being whole again. They both lay in silence for a short while longer before Chi Chi began to move again. "Well, in case tonight is our last night, there is one last thing I'd like to do." Chi Chi said as she leaned over, loosening the tie on her night gown.
"What's that?" Goku innocently asked, only beginning to catch on when Chi Chi's lips met his own.
Dawn came quickly for the Z fighters, many of whom had managed to get little to no sleep the night before, whether from nerves or other reasons. Finally, though it was time to go to the tournament. All across the world, anyone who looked to the sky had a good chance to witnessing at least one of the fighters heading to the fight against Cell. The fate of the world would be in their hands.
(The day of the Cell Games on Planet Torappu)
"This is the world that Pyros said to meet him at, right?" Raditz asked a confused look on his face.
"There's nothing but barren rock here." Recoome said disappointedly tossing a boulder aside.
"Just be patient. We'll see what sort of trick Pyros has planned for us." Turles replied from high watching from his ship. Once they found Pyros he would land, but until then he wanted to keep an eye on things from above.
To his left Gohan anxiously awaited Pyros' arrival. Finally, he would finally get a chance to avenge Shizen after all this time.
A quiet beeping alerted them both that a ship had entered the star system. "Well, well, well, it looks like the fun is finally about to begin."
Hey everyone, sorry for another long delay. I thought I would be getting more writing time when I finished up my applications, but I got the nice surprise of my hours getting cut at my job so I had to scramble and pick up a couple of other part time jobs as well. So I've been swamped lately. Anyway here is the latest chapter, I hope it is worth the wait.
A huge thank you to gamerfreak102 for helping me clean up this chapter. My rough draft was a mess.
I do apologize if the last few scenes are sort of rushed. Writing was taking way, way too long so I condensed things down so I could finally get the chapter posted.
Reviews:
super mystic gohan - I'm glad you enjoyed that twist. Yeah I thought he was over due for a stint in otherworld. He would've been able to give him a better fight at least. Yes I'm very excited for the big fight! I hope you enjoy it :)
serus black antihumannature -
I think everyone will be surprised with some of the stuff I have planned for the Cell games. At least I hope everyone will be. They used up the namekian Dragon Balls but the Earth Dragon Balls are active again.
Guest - I'm glad you enjoyed it! We will be seeing Gohan and Raditz again in depth soon. So I hope you enjoy it when it comes :)
Brian Awesome - Thank you for the review! Believe me they are lol. There's just a smaller group that are capable of fighting him, not that the weaker fighters don't try. There are plenty of super saiyans and plenty of room in hell to fight in.
Anonymous -
Thanks for the review! Yes Trunks has had a very hard road so far in the story, it is intentional though.
So the reason Trunks' power got as high as it did is he pushed the form even further than his canon counterpart did. He filled his muscles up with so much ki that he was literally one more push from popping. Yes USSJ is the next stage of the Assj, which is a sort of false super saiyan 2 in a way. It is a form that fighters can achieve and make them think they actually transformed, in reality all they did was pump more ki into their muscles. Fssj is a bit different. It is mastering the first Super Saiyan form, so it eliminates the drain of holding the form, which is a major draw back to Ssj when you first unlock it.
Overdrive won't aplify Cell's entire power, just the portion he gained from 17 and 18. It will still be a sizable gain either way though.
Gohan will be appearing again very soon ;)
Sorry again for the long wait, hopefully it won't be as long next time.