"I… I can't believe it," Krillin gasped. His jaw twitched for a few seconds with nervous ticks before tears could squirt out from his eyes and his ajar mouth formed a vague impression of a smile.
"You did it, Gohan!" Piccolo wheezed out through pain and fatigue, pounding his fist into the dirt while struggling against tears of immeasurable pride he felt in his pupil.
"Heh…" Gohan smirked as the last energy traces left his body, vanishing with a golden tuft that left his hair spiky and black. Lacking the strength even to hold himself together, the young Saiyan collapsed into a weightless hover in space with Ultimate One-Nine sweeping in to scoop the young Saiyan up and drag him to the ship.
Chayote's eyes traced the Ultimate Artificial Human with distrust and slight surprise at first. She hadn't seen this Android before, but her appearance was enough of a hint about who Ultimate One-Nine was. Still, the One-Nine Chayote knew wouldn't have flicked her fingers to help. Now she was handling Gohan like he was the last other person alive, grabbing and handling him as gently as she would have handled a baby and giving anyone who even looked in their direction warning stares.
"Took your sweet time…" Lapis hovered up to Chayote, properly pummeled and bruised, but otherwise alright. "Still, if it weren't for you, we'd have probably all been goners, so… Thanks."
"I had my own problems to solve. Unfortunately, the kid offed Cell himself, I'd have liked to get my hands on that megalomaniacal lab tube baby and rip it apart myself," Chayote growled before slowly fizzling down to Legendary Super Saiyan, then slimming down to Super Saiyan, Wrathful State and back to her slender base form.
"A curious outfit you've got there. Long story, I presume?" the Artificial Human pointed at Chayote's threads that had been wholly substituted by a version of the robes worn by the Supreme Kai of Time.
"I'll tell you about it during one of our get-togethers if you bother to show up. Speaking of more urgent matters, as an expert on monsters, what's your take on this shit?" Chayote turned to point at the remaining group of Cell Jrs all rushing into the smoke and the immense plasma storm brewing where the strident Kamehameha beam struggle had just resolved.
"Hmm?" Lapis scratched his chin. "Could it be?"
"H-H-Huh!?" Krillin cried out after Lazuli helped him stand up, pressing his forehead against the porthole of the defunct spaceship. "N-No way… Is that… Cell!?"
Everyone who thought to have survived Cell's harrowing menace gasped and turned at the dissolving electromagnetic phenomenon, raging where the triumphant Father-Son Spirit Kamehameha tore through Meta-Cell's Perfect Kamehameha and, allegedly, obliterated the bio-mechanical monstrosity. Krillin's worries proved to be true when the pulsating nova of energy dissolved enough of its luster to reveal a limbless, charred, and pathetic, malformed creature inside its core.
"This looks like one of those good news, bad news situations," Lapis gnashed his teeth, clenching his fists and stumbling back in astonishment at Cell's relative survival, if one could call it that. "Good news–you'll get to put your hands on Cell after all, bad news–there may not be a way to truly destroy that abomination!"
"Had I not met gods before, I'd be convinced of their work right about now," Chayote clenched her fist with a smirk of excitement. Just like the hysterical Saiyan, the Ultimate Artificial Human kicked the hatch of the defunct ship she was hiding in to dash out and charge at Cell with a one-track-minded goal of obliterating the monster.
Much slower, led by duty to finish what he had started, beaten and bruised, Gohan also hovered out from the same defunct spaceship, moving in at the pace of a half-squished snail to deal finish his duel with Cell. It was only when the creature's voice bleated out a loathsome yelp for mercy that everyone eager to rip into Meta-Cell halted in confusion.
For some reason, the ravaged, charred, turned inside-out living corpse that resembled more of some kind of cyberpunk fetus than a living being cried uncle with feeble and woeful "Please… Stop!"
And stop everyone did. Some of them may have stopped because they had no more strength left to fight and merely attacked with a mock charge fueled by nothing but false courage, some of them actually felt a splash of pity for the charred and quartered monster with a swollen and bloated with cysts and blisters. A face so misshapen that it could no longer achieve a modicum of decency to mask its voice with and could no longer control any of its vocal properties.
"I… I lost, you win…" whatever miserable pile of flesh and molten metal was left of Cell spewed out. The monster's voice became stuck in its throat as Cell began to wheeze and try to cough something out. Instead of clearing its throat, Cell vomited a mouthful of blood and gut porridge, but where most would have seen only gore and viscera, a glint of orange caught Chayote's eye as she swooped in to catch the Ultimate Dragon Ball which Cell had surrendered willingly.
"Do you think that absolves you of your end, freak?" Ultimate One-Nine hissed as her eyes turned red with sparkling eye beam energy, withholding a finishing blast only to hear the last words of the abominable monstrosity. Also, perhaps, out of spite of forcing her hated enemy to linger in this miserable state for as long as possible before ending its life. A punishment more suitable than any in the eyes of the Ultimate Android.
"I…" Cell gargled, trying to produce something again, but ultimately turning to a Cell Jr., who dashed in and ripped open the molten shell protecting Cell's chest. From inside its dying body, Cell revealed a familiar-looking doll. The sparkling, scarlet eye beams vanished from One-Nine's eyes as the Ultimate Android extended her hand and ripped the doll out of Cell's body with a psychic tug, securing her hands on it and stroking the doll's hair lovingly. "I am… Defeated," Cell finished its earlier proclamation of surrender.
"That was all I wanted to hear from you," Gohan said, glaring at the miserable lump of tumorous flesh, organs, and metal with regretful pity. "If you regenerate back, we won't attack you anymore. We can all go back home to Earth and coexist peacefully."
"Not on my Monster Island…" Lapis crossed his arms and looked away. "Cell's already burnt that bridge."
"Over my dead fucking body!" Chayote growled, making veins ravage her forehead and her exposed arms that ripped through the Supreme Kai robe and began bulking up, threatening to send the Saiyan woman careening off into the Wrathful State.
"Do you really think that's still possible, Gohan-kun?" Ultimate One-Nine turned to Gohan with an icy stare. "This monster turned my mother into a doll and killed my brother, he killed No. 16, Gohan-kun. You couldn't even begin to list all the lives it's taken all across the universe and Earthling lives too."
"Well… Yes, I understand that, but…" Gohan was about to plead Cell's case before another of Cell's distressed howls robbed him of the opportunity.
"I am… Grateful, Gohan, but… It's no use. I… Can't regenerate anymore… I'm done for… I can feel… My body… De…grading," Cell yelped out, twitching as more and more of its remains were turning to dust and vanishing away, scattering across to hover around the devastated space sector that once hosted the Galactic Arena.
"It must be the genki," Gohan's face became sullen with disappointment and profound sadness that this turned out that way. "Genki is the energy of wellness itself, without it, even an immortal or rejuvenating body can't keep going. Your body must be robbed of all traces of its energy, health, happiness… All that defines genki."
"In that case… I'm glad that I won't last long. Living… With all happiness, all energy… All vitality… Blown out of you… No way to live at all," Cell bleated out as more and more of its body began losing coloration and turning to something resembling wet sand, then chipping off its degrading body and floating off in a decently sized cloud of bitter, ash-like dust. "I am fine letting it all end that way… But… If I… Could ask for just one thing…?"
"I can't make any promises, but, the only way to even give it a shot is to tell me about it," Gohan said, wiping away the trails of tears from the corners of his eyes and facing the impending death of his enemy as a proud, young Saiyan warrior he was.
"I understand… I am beyond redemption… Machines like me… They don't reincarnate… We only live once. And… What a life it was… So much torment, so much misery and pain… And yet, I got to taste freedom in the end… In Monster Island, I even got a brief blink of happiness. The delectable sweetness of pure bliss that I sought to relive, no matter the cost… I got to travel across the universe, see multiple timelines… I met… So many wonderful people. So flawed… But each unique. I've seen the universe… I sought to rule it, to fix it, but… Yes, I made errors… I've killed people, I caused pain the same way my maker hurt me… I think I always knew that, whenever someone brought it up. I did… What I felt I had to do… Now that I look back at it… I see that… My dream is true. I lived my life… And I lived it my way… I've been right… I've been very wrong… I may have faced hardship, a life of pain, and a desperate attempt to escape it, but I've known happiness, if only for a little bit, and for that… I'm grateful, but… These little imps… These… Cell Jrs… They are yet to live their life, yet to experience their happiness. It's too late for me to redeem myself. What I've done, cannot be redeemed, but... Not them... They can still... Do better... Big brother… You once said that Cell is a one-of-a-kind, special species… That I could make my own choices and change my life's path. Before my end, I'd just like to ask… That you extend that to these… Little rascals," Cell uttered before screaming out in pain as something bloated and burst bloody from inside its body.
A chain reaction of minute bangs spilled over Cell's remains, ripping them apart before they vanished into one big blast. And just like that, Cell was no more. With all the wellness stricken out from its body, even Cell's immortal and invulnerable body couldn't continue living an existence devoid of spirit, health, and happiness and the transcendental apex predator perished.
The surviving Cell Jrs hovered around their maker, twitching and tearful, before bursting to tears with even Gohan's eyes becoming sullen with the blues. Among the crowd that heard Cell's last words, only Chayote and Ultimate One-Nine seemed utterly unburdened by any regrets of failing to communicate and stop Cell without it ending in tragedy. Admittedly, a much tamer tragedy than could have been, but a tragedy nonetheless.
"I, of course, am willing to give these little twerps a shot. That was my original intention, but… It's all going to be rather meaningless either way if we don't return to Earth in time, won't it?" Lapis ran his hand across his hair, with an emotionless admission of acceptance of Cell's last will.
"I guess I can live with not having to exterminate a species of children," Chayote sighed in relief, venting out her stress and losing pounds upon pounds of muscle with one deep sigh. "Motherhood has made me soft."
"I'll leave these critters to you then, No. 17," One-Nine didn't look happy about the Cell Jrs getting to live, then again, she didn't seem particularly willing to die on the hill of exterminating them all either.
"It's Lapis now," Lapis flashed an icy stare before turning around toward the ships. "Did any of you manage to get one of those ships started up? We need to be on Earth, and all those portals disappeared after the demise of the Big Gete Star!"
"No luck!" Lazuli waved back at the group while Cell Jrs shyly bundled around the Monster Island ranger, accepting the fact that Lapis was their leader and father now with no objections. "We're stranded here, but the ships have oxygen that'll last us longer than the scraps of this wrecked station!"
"That's just great!" Lapis barked out, crossing his arms over his chest with frustration clear on his face. "Cell's dead, we've gathered the Ultimate Dragon Balls, but we've got no way to get home! Even if we can survive in those ships, we're essentially just sealing ourselves in our graves. Not to mention, we need to get all those survivors back home somehow…"
"Perhaps the Cell Jrs know Instant Transmission?" Gohan turned to the bundled group of blue, miniature Cell Jrs. Like puppies, the grouped-up imps glared back at Gohan with round and reflective eyes. "I guess not…" Gohan deflated. "In any case, we need to try to snap Yamcha-san out and wake him up somehow. He's our only hope to get home!"
"This ogre flew across half the universe on her own to get here. She looks like she's strong enough to drag the ships across all the way to Earth on her own," Ultimate One-Nine pointed at Chayote, earning a scowl from the hysterical Saiyan as the two beamed aggressive looks at each other.
"I don't think that's quite possible," Gohan shook his head with saddened eyes. "I don't even need to do the precise calculations, but I don't believe these damaged ships could withstand traveling at even one percent of the speed we'd need to go at to reach Earth in time."
"Besides, I had some massive battle powers beckoning me to get here. Earth's not exactly packed with them right now, and I can't navigate on my own like that," Chayote grumbled, crossing her arms and turning away with a pout. It was safe to say she wasn't a fan of the Dragon Team's newest ally, then again, she barely tolerated Vegeta either, so it was becoming a trend.
A cascade of booms rattled the fabric of space-time and deafened everyone still lingering around the wreckage of the Galactic Arena, forcing them to crouch down and deal with it in their own way, ripped across the sector. In a blink, one ship after another appeared. All of them white and purple. Also, all of them carried the Galactic Patrol insignia.
"Fear not, the Galactic Patrol has come to the rescue!" a familiar voice echoed through the speakers somewhere inside the ship, resounding all across the lingering whiffs of artificial atmosphere that still had some rare semblances of air pockets where noise could travel through. These ships rushed here at faster-than-light speed, implying a hasty take-off from somewhere nearby. Chayote squinted as this convenient arrival of the Galactic Patrol aroused her suspicion.
Smaller fighter vessels took off from the massive carrier ships, scurrying around the alien tourists, spectators, and journalists to rescue them from their predicament. The remnants of the Dragon Team standing on a lone drifting continental chunk of wreckage covered their eyes as one of the carrier ships positioned itself above them and cast a beam of light down upon them. With high-pitched rumbles, more spaceships spilled out of the carrier ship, surrounding the defunct spaceships where some of the other survivors hid themselves in, as well as the remnants of the Dragon Team who witnessed Cell's ultimate demise.
A gently whistling jet leveled itself with the drifting chunk of wreckage. The glass dome on top opened up, letting Jaco, the Galactic Patrolman himself, take a graceful dive out of the jet and, after a handful of elegant and flashy flips in mid-air, assisted by the patrolman's jet-pack and the lackluster gravity on the drifting rock, landed before the bunch with open hands and a smile.
"The Galactic Patrol has come to the rescue! Patrolman Jaco reporting for duty!" Jaco sang out while twirling on one foot and a slight frontal lean, still maintaining a T-pose.
"Took your sweet time," Chayote crossed her arms, dismissing Jaco's self-righteousness outright and prompting the distressed patrolman to stumble and nearly fall on his face. "Who are you trying to fool here? You guys waited around at the edge of the star system to see how the Cell Games would play out and only showed up once everything was done and wrapped up neatly for you to swoop in and take all the glory."
"H-How dare you!?" Jaco gasped, acting out a grave offense on his part as he leaned in on Chayote. "We, the Galactic Patrolmen, observe peace all across the galaxy! Do you have any idea how many other important issues we had to handle while you were duking it out here?"
"It's because the hostages are journalists, isn't it?" Lapis pointed at the alien cameramen and reporters being gently guided into rescue carriers and taken into the larger freighters. "If they died while broadcasting, it would make you guys look bad…"
"What is it with you Earthlings!?" Jaco clamped his fists and shoved them down while leaning over to Lapis' side. "Do you guys have an aversion to gratitude for your heroes or something!? Oh, well… It's not like heroes do good deeds to be thanked, they do it because it's the right thing to do!"
"It's also your job, so you HAVE to do it," Ultimate One-Nine joined in on the Jaco verbal abuse, pointing at the tiny purple and light blue alien with her finger and a haughty stare.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Jaco-san!" Gohan laughed out, stumbling only for Ultimate One-Nine to catch him and keep him up by sliding under his armpit and holding the weakened Saiyan still. "It's just been… A long day. If it's okay, we really need to get these Ultimate Dragon Balls to Earth in time."
"Heh!" Jaco straightened and stiffened his back like a board and saluted the slumped and exhausted Saiyan. "The Galactic Patrol protects and serves the Universe!" Jaco saluted while the bustling patrolmen rescued all the nearby survivors and retrieved anything left of value in the devastated Galactic Arena.
Jaco's eyes met with one of the Cell Jrs with the rest of the batch, also glaring back at Jaco casually. After a handful of nonchalant blinks, Jaco lost his composure and screamed out, staggering back and pulling his blaster, holding the remaining Cell Jrs at gunpoint. "H-Hold it, you… Y-You're under arrest for countless crimes across the universe!"
"Sorry, can't let you do that," Lapis stepped in between the blaster and the curious Cell Jrs. "They're kind of the property of Monster Island now. If you open fire or try to take them away, as Monster Island ranger, I'll see it as a probable cause for the use of force to protect Monster Island wildlife."
"Gkh…!" Jaco's breath got stuck in his throat as the patrolman fumbled his gun, unable to keep hold of it in his hands. "Are you serious!? Do you have any idea the trouble these guys are causing all across the universe!? Cell left these guys on countless planets, causing them to terrorize the local populations and take them over as the dominant species!"
"I acknowledge that," Lapis crossed his arms behind his back, standing his ground. "However, they too are Monster Island property. As Monster Island ranger, I am willing to offer my temporary services in retrieving them and transporting all of them to Monster Island."
"Hmm… I'll need to bring this before the Galactic King, but… Someone of your battle power would benefit in cleaning up Cell's mess all across the universe. Very well, for now, I'm granting you the rank of Temporarily Deputized Patrolman!" Jaco pulled out a black marker and sketched the Galactic Patrol insignia on what scraps remained of Lapis' Monster Island ranger uniform after all the heated fighting. "How about everyone else?" Jaco looked around with the marker in hand.
"Sorry, Jaco-san, I'll have school to attend to…" Gohan politely excused himself. "I'll be willing to lend a hand if you need help, though."
"If this marker comes anywhere near me, it'll go right through your eye, shorty," Chayote grumbled, rearing her teeth with a growl.
"Pass, I'm not yet sure what I'm going to do now, but… I'd like to stay on Earth and help protect it," One-Nine declared, attracting everyone's attention.
"Hmph… Good luck getting Bulma to sign off on that…" Chayote smirked cockily, crossing her arms and turning her nose up.
"Lazuli and Krillin won't be interested. They recently married so they've got their family lives to go back to," Lapis waved it off. "You can ask everyone else on their way home."
"Wait, what about my mother?" One-Nine raised the doll she held in her right hand with a curious look in her eyes as if everyone were overlooking something.
"What about her?" Jaco blinked a few times in rapid succession, stunned.
"Won't you ask her if she wants to help?" One-Nine asked. Her tone and facial expression relayed seriousness and gravity.
"S-She's a doll…" Jaco squinted in complete befuddlement. "Even if she wants to help, she'll be of little use, I'm afraid."
"Good point…" Ultimate One-Nine nodded, opening her hand and navigating the doll through the air with psychokinetic force before tossing it into the air and forming her fingers in the shape of a finger gun. "Doll Beam!" she exclaimed, firing a sparkling scarlet jolt from the tip of her finger that hit the doll square in the middle, engulfing her in a crimson sparkle. Before the amazed eyes of all the spectators, flashing red and black, the doll reached human size and plastic joints and limbs began turning into a metallic skeleton coated with flesh and blood.
Before long, Ultimate Artificial Human No. 21 was restored to her Android self and hovered down, gently correcting the resting spot of her spectacles over her nose while scanning the rest of the group with an analytical stare.
"Hello there," she said with lively energy and a slight dislike for most of the people she was surrounded by. "I take it that Cell is finally done for then?"
It appeared that some catching up was due. Then again, they'd have plenty of time for debriefing and figuring out where to begin picking up what was left of the pieces after Cell's rampage on their way to Earth. The Dragon Team was kind of working against the clock here.