A/N: Oh boy, it's been well over a year, I'm so terribly sorry! I had little time to spare since my last update, due to an internship I had begun, which desperately needed my full commitment. Thank God that's all worked out and I was finally able to acquire a degree-related, full-time job position, after so long! And seeing as how my life is in order at last, I shall grace my fine readers with this much-needed update! But before that, I would like to leave you all with some much-needed advice:
Do not give up! If you give up on life, life will give up on you, but if you continuously strive hard, you will achieve your dreams, without a doubt! Believe in yourself, work as hard as you can and invest as much time as you can, for every second you invest will be returned to you, many times over!
Summary from the previous 2 chapters: After exhausting each other through tireless battle, Vegeta and Android Seventeen decided to work together against their common enemy Cell, in an unlikely alliance that nearly saw them prevailing over the fearsome creature. After losing his grip on the Super Saiyan form at the last second, however, the Prince was fatally wounded by the insectoid villain and left to die. Thanks to Goku's intervention, he is now safe and sound, but Cell is ever stronger, having absorbed Android Seventeen. The dastardly creature is presently on the hunt for his ravishing young prey, Android Eighteen, having failed to grasp the blonde beauty after Tien's valiant intervention. He hasn't the faintest clue though, that a powerful adversary is heading his way: None other than Piccolo, the Super Namek warrior, who is now fully trained after spending over a month in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber! Will the reinvigorated Namekian have what it takes, to deal with this menace? What of Vegeta and Trunks, who have now entered the Time Chamber, for their own training?
Chapter 64: A Saiyan Prince
Mentally mapping out Cell's general trajectory against the geography of the archipelago, Krillin deduced that if the Androids weren't on the run, they were most likely holed up in one of the fringe islands, towards the North-East. And so, that's where he headed, all the while maintaining a fair distance between himself and the dastardly villain, so as not to draw attention. The bald man winced as he heard an explosion not too far from where he was. Cell wasn't pulling any punches it seemed. Krillin's stomach twisted as he sensed the myriad medley of innocent life forces burn away into oblivion, not even having a chance to scream as they met their miserable ends at the cruel hands of that heartless monster. 'Damn you Cell!' He seethed inwardly and resumed his trek towards the Androids. It was crucial that he find them before Cell did. And after that- and after that what?
'Darn it, if only there were an easy answer to this whole Godforsaken mess!'
After rigorously searching the farthest bordering Island for a good while, Krillin didn't know whether to thank the Kais or curse his own luck, as he happened to spot Android Sixteen, slouching against a rocky slab, face badly disfigured. Sitting beside him was none other than the gorgeous, blonde-haired Eighteen. The very sight of her entrancing frame had the bald man quaking with indecision. Well, it was the moment of truth. 'Now or never Krillin, now or never'. Cell was fast closing in on their location. As much as he wanted to do otherwise, he had an obligation to protect this planet and that could only mean the tragic forfeiture of Eighteen's life. Just as Krillin was about to make his move however, he found himself frozen on the spot, as he drew closer and took ear to the heart-rending words of the ravishing cyborg.
"I can't believe he's gone." The blonde abjectly muttered, lips quivering as her harrowed mind shifted back a few days prior to when Seventeen had saved her life from Vegeta and ardently vowed to protect her.
"Are you alright?" Seventeen knelt in front of her.
"He- he was gonna k-kill me." She stammered shakily, shuddering at the thought of how close she'd been to the unwelcoming gates of death.
"Hey come on, as if I'd let him." He placed a solacing hand on her shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze and holding out the magical bean. "Here, take this." Eighteen slowly parted her mouth and her twin placed the senzu there, subsequently getting her to chew and swallow. Within moments, the blonde was as good as new, her bruises vanished, lacerations closed up and ribs mended back into place. (A/N: Refer to Chapter 57)
The soothing lilt of her brother's smooth, euphonic timbre felt like a series of soft, solacing wisps that receded further and further away with each passing instant, unable to shelter her or comfort her any longer, now when she needed to hear him more than ever. The Android's mind drifted back to the moments they'd shared, since their reawakening. Eighteen smiled wistfully, recalling that teasing smirk of his and the ceaseless cycle of banter between the two of them. Just as suddenly however, she was reminded that she would never again see that cocky smirk or hear his heartfelt promises and reassurances that never failed to uplift her, in her moments of doubt. It crushed her broken spirit down to the very core. Neither of the twins had any real recollection of their lives before Gero had abducted them for his twisted, malignant purposes. Flashes of intermittent memory existed here and there, never quite potent enough to get a firm grasp, but enough to know that it had always been them against the world, an everlasting bond prevailing between the two siblings, which not even the dastardly doctor was able to sever, try as he might. And now Seventeen was gone forever and nothing could fill the gaping hole he'd left behind in her forlorn heart.
"I couldn't save him." She let out a dejected sigh, voice drenched in sorrowful guilt and remorse. The blissful memories they'd shared quickly vanished and in their place emerged Seventeen's frantic screams and cries, as his life was ever-so cruelly stolen from him. Doleful rivulets of tears slowly trickled down the blonde's beautiful face as she reflected on her brother's last living moments, spent in indescribable pain and agony, pain that he'd done nothing whatsoever to deserve.
"It wasn't your fault, Eighteen." Sixteen placed a firm, solacing hand on her shoulder. The blonde blinked at him for a few seconds, before falling onto his chest, in a woebegone fit of grief-stricken sobs. Sixteen placed his other arm around his lithe counterpart, shutting his eyes as he closely embraced her, doing his very best to provide her comfort. Damaged and impaired as he was, the robot saw himself as her last sanctuary and the chief purpose of his existence now was no longer smiting Goku, but safeguarding his crestfallen companion at any cost. He would be her shield and protector until his very last moment. No matter what happened, he could never allow Gero's evil agenda to succeed.
Krillin visibly trembled as he witnessed the harrowing, heart-wrenching scene before him, touched so deeply by the soul-stirring display that he felt his own eyes moisten with unshed tears. How could he possibly find it in himself to hurt this angelic creature after she'd suffered so much already, first under Gero's cruel, maniacal hand and now Cell's? Any lingering doubts that he might have had with regards to Eighteen's humanity were immediately dispelled and replaced with an ever-stronger conviction to do all that he could to defend her from her terrifying tormentor, fruitless as it may have seemed. It quickly dawned on him that he could never so much as lift a finger against the entrancing beauty. He just couldn't. She, Seventeen and even Sixteen were all hapless victims, caught in the middle of the sinister schemes of a mad doctor and his vile creation. Cell was the true villain here- him and his malevolent maker. And so he rashly made a move that could very well endanger the entire Universe, but one that he knew was right, from the innermost depths of his heart: He crushed the remote controller within his grasp.
XXXX
The monster had run out of Islands to destroy and as fate would have it, he stumbled upon the last one, almost certain that he would finally discover and claim his delectable prize. He found himself caught in a moment of indecision, however. Should he destroy this Island like all the rest or prowl around for his target, the good old-fashioned way? After all, these were to be his final moments before his glorious destiny was at long last realized. Even in his semi-perfect state no one could possibly stop him, not Piccolo, not Vegeta, not Goku and certainly no one else amongst their trifling team. Why not savor the thrill of the hunt, one last time?
XXXX
Goku smiled at the ebbing figures of Vegeta and Trunks as they ambled towards the chamber door, silently wishing them the very best and hoping for a much healthier rapport between father and son as they relentlessly worked together to achieve greatness.
"You ready for this, Piccolo?" He turned towards the revitalized Namekian once the royal Saiyan duo exited the scene.
"As I'll ever be." The giant replied impassively, placing a hand on Goku's shoulder.
"Give him hell, Piccolo." Gohan smiled, unequivocally confident and assured of his mentor's newfound abilities.
"Don't worry kid." He smirked at his pupil, ruffling his dishevelled hair. "Soon enough, he'll be nothing more than a bad memory."
"Alright, let's do it." Goku vanished from the spot and immediately teleported in front of an astounded Cell on the other end of the planet.
XXXX
"G-Goku, it's you, a-again?" The monster stammered, unable to make heads-or-tails of the eerily redundant situation. "Oh, I see you brought a little backup this time." Cell smirked, appraising the stalwart figure of the accompanying Namekian. "You seem a little different Piccolo, compared to the last time our paths crossed." He chuckled. "But then, I too have experienced a few remarkable changes, as you can see quite clearly." The monster gestured towards himself as though he were the scarcest specimen that ever existed.
"You can cut the small talk." Piccolo scornfully sneered. "I'm here to rid the world of your filthy stench, once and for all."
"You fools never learn, do you?" The insectoid cackled. "First Vegeta and now the two of you. Is it not painfully clear that I cannot be defeated? I am the very embodiment of-"
POW!
Tired of hearing his monstrous adversary's obnoxious, headache-inducing babble, the Namekian ploughed his knuckles right into Cell's flattened face, sending him careening and crashing into the midst of a rocky hill.
"Good luck Piccolo." Goku nodded before teleporting back to Kami's lookout where he would stay tuned to the battle from afar.
XXXX
Down below, the fraught, mechanical pair were awaiting the inevitable until two unlikely candidates arrived at the last minute- not that it would mean much against this revamped monstrosity, who called himself Cell. At least that was the general consensus, until-
"Did Piccolo just manage to hurt Cell?" Eighteen gasped, her glacial eyes ridiculously wide as she watched the unfathomable. "How is that even possible? Seventeen beat him singlehandedly."
"My scanners tell me that Piccolo is immensely superior to the fighter he was before." Sixteen averred, brows creased in concentration.
"But how?!" The flabbergasted blonde exclaimed. "It's barely been a few days since we fought those guys. How could anyone possibly become that strong, that fast?!"
"I do not know." The giant shook his head, unable to make any sense of the inexplicable scene before them.
"Well- I don't care how he did it, as long as he kills that son-of-a-bitch!" She grinned, suddenly getting her hopes up.
"I concur." Sixteen smiled in agreement.
XXXX
In an explosive burst of power, Cell emerged from the outcrop, wherein he was buried.
"You filthy little man-slug, how dare you?!" He snarled at the Namekian, as he pounced forward. "You will pay dearly for your insolence!"
"Just try and make me." Piccolo taunted, simultaneously de-garbing his weighted cape and turban, prompting the incandescent insectoid to attack him without a moment's preamble. Unfortunately for Cell, his nimble opponent was too quick and dexterous for his rash maneuvers. The wicked creature was quickly wrought with frustration, wondering how on Earth Piccolo had acquired such unprecedented skill. It was impossible! Even his fusion with Kami could not have accounted for such a alarming power increase. "You look surprised." The Super Namekian smirked, before countering with a crunching knee to the midsection, followed by an overhand right.
"H-H-How?!" The monster wheezed, clutching his abdominals, as he tried to catch his breath. Those two blows were far more painful, than he'd expected. "H-How could he be so strong?! He's just a Namekian! I should be ten times mightier than he is!"
"You say that, like it's an insult, but truly you know nothing about us." Piccolo spat in disgust. "Saiyans, Namekians and humans alike have produced a proud generation of warriors that've far surpassed any and all expectations and do you know how?"
Cell gaped at him in horror, sputtering inaudibly.
"It's because we fight to protect, not to destroy!" The Namekian zealously vociferated, fists taught. "Time and again we've overcome the impossible, crushing enemy after enemy, even when the odds were against us. Your power comes from absorbing others. Our power comes from within and that's something, which can never be conquered or defeated, not by you or anyone else!"
"You're wrong!" Cell belligerently barked in response. "You may act all high and mighty, but you know nothing of true power, you fool! In my perfect form, there are none who can ever dream of challenging me!"
"You can take that thought with you straight to hell, you freak!" Piccolo fervently declared, taking up his stance. "And when I send you there, be sure to give Dr. Gero my regards!"
"You haven't won yet Namek!" The monster grit his teeth, attacking with reckless abandon, employing every ounce of energy he had into overcoming this unforeseen obstacle. He had to get through this somehow! Dammit all! He was always a step shy from achieving perfection, when some uninvited cretin decided to meddle, where they didn't belong.
XXXX
"Woohoo, you can do it Piccolo!" An effervescent Gohan yelled, throwing a triumphant fist, high up in the air. "You're the greatest!"
"He sure is!" Tien concurred, grinning at Goku. "You know, as strange as this may sound, I'm glad to finally see someone on top who isn't a Saiyan, even if it is Piccolo. And who knows? Maybe one day, I'll surpass him and leave you all in the dust!"
"Unlikely, but you keep thinking that." Earth's hero chuckled. "In any case, I doubt you'll be so happy, once Vegeta and Trunks are finished in there." He eye-gestured towards the Hyperbolic time-chamber.
"Call me crazy, but I can't see either of them reaching Piccolo's level, let alone surpassing him, no matter how hard they train." The three-eyed fighter laughed. "He's in a league of his own now and Cell has no answer!"
"We can't celebrate just yet, Tien." Goku creased his brows. "Cell's been able to pull a fast one on us before and we've gotta be prepared for anything."
"Piccolo won't let anything bad happen, I'm sure of it!" Gohan adamantly declared. "I believe in him!"
"So do I son, so do I." Goku smiled at the young half-breed, gripping his shoulder. Truth be told, the warrior's blood within him boiled for a challenge. He wanted to find out just how strong Cell really was, but of course, he wasn't prepared to face him just yet. Anyhow, Earth's welfare was a lot more important than his own amped-up Saiyan testosterone- or Vegeta's, for that matter.
XXXX
"My God, I've never seen anything like it before." Trunks marvelled, mouth ajar, as he stared dumbfounded into the boundless plains of this eery new dimension. "There's no end in sight here. Do you really think we can- hey where're you going?!" The purple-haired boy chased after his legendary father as he saw him casually wandering into the vast vacuum. "Hold on, wait for me!"
"I don't have time for baby-sitting, boy!" The Prince scowled at his half-Saiyan son.
"But I didn't even say any-"
"And I'm not here to give you a pep-talk either." Vegeta interjected. "If you want to train with me, be serious about it, otherwise you're on your own!"
"But I am serious!" The demi-Saiyan contested. "I wanna get stronger, so that I can defeat the Androids and Cell in my timeline."
A short silence followed.
"And is that all you want?" The flame-haired Saiyan folded his arms, staring pointedly at the half-breed child.
"Well- yeah, I guess." Trunks scratched his head in confusion. Was this a riddle of some kind?
"Then you're not truly serious and you're a waste of my time." Vegeta disdainfully spat, turning away from the young warrior. "Come back in three weeks and let me know if you have a different answer."
"But father, I- oh come on, not this again!" The lavender-haired teen growled, as he saw Vegeta drop to the floor, legs crossed and eyes shut. "You're seriously giving me the silent treatment?! What the hell, father?!"
Nothing Trunks said got through, as the Prince fell into a deep state of meditation.
"You think you're too good for me, fine!" Trunks grumbled. "I'll show you just how strong I can be!" With that, the young demi-Saiyan went elsewhere, resolved to show his hotheaded father that he could be every bit as strong as he was.
A week later…
Trunks was infuriated. Ceaseless training had bored the socks off of him and the sad, demoralizing truth was that he hadn't made that much progress. What the hell was he supposed to do all by himself?! Apocalyptic gore, bloodshed and horror aside, at least he had his mother and a handful of survivors to keep him company in his own timeline, not to mention Gohan when he was alive. Here, he only had an extremely obstinate, boorish and quick-tempered father, who'd spent an entire three days doing exactly nothing, besides sitting down and staring into the empty, as though he were a robot. After that he began training all by his lonesome and whenever Trunks got within a hundred-foot radius, the old man blasted him away.
After a while, he stopped trying to approach him altogether, instead opting to gain progress in his own training- only it was severely boring, not to mention the results were extremely dissatisfying. He needed a guiding hand here and his father clearly wasn't it. The frustration was tearing him apart from the inside.
'Maybe I should've just waited and trained with Goku instead." He crabbily thought to himself, thoroughly embittered. 'Now I'm stuck with this stubborn old geezer.'
"You do realize that I can read your thoughts, don't you?"
An astounded Trunks jumped in surprise, as he heard the unexpected voice of the geezer in question. He turned around very slowly, biting his bottom lip, an unpleasant tightness settling over his stomach as he felt a dreadful deluge of unease and trepidation, wash over him. The blazing, teal-eyed glare of his Super-Saiyan father nearly burned him alive on the spot.
"I- uh- I didn't know you were-"
"Quiet, boy!" The Prince roughly yelled, whereby his future-son flinched and immediately sealed his mouth shut. "So you wish to train with Kakarot, is that right?"
Upon hearing that, Trunks had an abrupt mood-reversal, somehow able to steel himself and glower heatedly at his father.
"Well it's either that or nothing, considering that so far I've been doing exactly nothing!" He vexedly fired back. "If you didn't want me in here, you should've just told me to fuck off, from the very beginning!"
The Prince frowned at him for a moment then chuckled, thereby fueling the lavendered-haired warrior's ire.
"What's so funny?!"
"You have balls but you don't have a warrior's spirit, that's your problem." Vegeta gravely noted.
"What the hell does that even mean?!" He irately demanded, irked at his father's inane riddles, never mind the constant snubbing. What on Earth did he even want from him?!
"Only you can answer that question." The flame-haired Saiyan replied, promptly turning around and beginning to wander off, until-
"No fucking way!" Consumed with rage at the highhanded dismissal and condescension of his father, Trunks ascended to his Super-Saiyan form and sprang forward, without volition. The Prince quickly turned around, easily catching the much-anticipated blow headed his way. "I've had enough of your bullshit!"
"You have, have you?" Vegeta smirked in amusement, setting off the teen even further and inciting him to lash out with everything he had. It was all for naught however, as the Prince effortlessly evaded each and every incensed attack heading his way. "You'll have to do better than that boy."
As he heard those words, a disturbing flashback suddenly sprung from within the confines of Trunks' mind, spiralling his rage to levels unforeseen:
Eighteen laughed, as she dodged a telegraphed wheel kick that was meant to rip her head right off her body.
"You'll have to do better than that boy." She taunted, an evil smile spreading across her face, glacial eyes gleaming with sick, sadistic amusement. "Unless you want to end up like your dearly deceased master."
That was when Trunks' fury had finally reached its melting point and something terrifying and unbridled snapped within him, something he didn't even know existed, pushing him over the edge, like never before.
"I am not a fucking boy!" The teenager roared back, the aura around him suddenly swelling to five times its normal expanse, a blistering new fire burning within his petrifying teal-eyes, as the floodgates of power blew wide open. "I AM A SAIYAN PRINCE!"
Vegeta's eyes widened, overcome with such shock at the bold and abrupt proclamation, that he barely saw the thunderous right fist that broke straight through his impenetrable defences and caught him flush on the vertex of his chin, propelling him nearly a hundred feet back and skidding along a countless array of white tiles.
A few seconds later…
"Oh crap!" Trunks audibly gulped, his rage quickly forgotten as he reverted to his base form and found himself panic-stricken all of a sudden. "What have I done?!" Now he was truly in for the thrashing of a lifetime! His instincts screamed at him to run away as far as he possibly could, out of the time chamber and out of this timeline, in order to escape the hellish wrath of his father, which would inevitably follow him wherever he went- only, he found himself immobilized with unabated fear.
Vegeta propped himself up on one elbow, rubbing his aching jaw and spitting out a mouthful of blood.
'Kid packs quite a punch, when he really means it.' He smirked inwardly and for the first time ever, felt an irrepressible rush of pride soar through him, knowing that this promising young warrior was indeed his son, the bearer of his blood, title and legacy. The Prince released a hefty breath before slowly getting to his feet and strolling towards the quivering teenager, noticing the boy's increasing apprehension with each step he took. He was right to be afraid, but his reasons couldn't be more wrong.
"It seems you really do have something going for you, after all." Vegeta stoically remarked. Trunks gaped back at him incredulously, not at all expecting such a subdued reaction. "A few days ago, a blow like that could very well have rendered me unconscious or worse. That right there is exactly what I was waiting for."
"Wh-Wh-What?" The boy stammered, utterly baffled. Here he was, entirely certain that he would have the living daylights knocked out of him. Instead, he was receiving an astronomical abundance of praise and approval that he'd yearned for, ever since he first came to this timeline and met his morose father. It was as stupefying, as it was gratifying and he felt a surge of reinvigorated breath, fill his lungs.
"That's right, but don't let it go to your head." The Prince squared his gaze. "You clearly have a lot more power than you can fathom, but you still don't know how to use it."
Trunks shook the daze out of his head, eventually finding his voice.
"But that's what I've been trying to do, this whole time!" The half-Saiyan huffed in disappointment. "I still don't feel that much stronger."
"And yet you were able to deliver a solid and decisive hit just now, one that was far beyond your usual capacity."
"Well yeah, but- I- I still don't understand how I did it." Trunks said, more to himself than anyone else. "In fact, now that I think about it, I can hardly believe that was even me."
"A Saiyan's power often resides in places that're difficult to reach, only springing to the surface during moments of crisis or moments of unprecedented rage." Vegeta earnestly explained and looked intently upon his son. "What you felt right now was more than just ordinary power; it was living power. For the brief moment it possessed you, it took on a life of it's own, which is why you didn't quite feel like yourself." He gravely continued, further steeling his gaze. "Only with the right training, can it be properly controlled and that's what you need."
"You- you mean you're gonna train me?!" Thrilled and overjoyed, the teen lit up with frenzied fervor, a glorious gleam of excitement dancing in his brilliant, azure eyes.
"Wipe that smile off your face!" The flame-haired fighter dourly demanded and Trunks did just that. "This isn't a game! You're the last Saiyan in your timeline and that means you carry the legacy of our people! I will not allow you to disgrace it!"
"I- uh- okay, but why train me now and not before?" Trunks frowned, still somewhat miffed at being continuously cast aside for the past week or so.
"I needed to know if you were serious and you've shown me that under the right circumstances, you can be." Vegeta candidly replied. "You've seen a glimpse of your true power. Now you need to learn how to control it. Keep in mind, however, that this training won't necessarily make you stronger. Only you can do that."
"I will do that." Trunks vociferously responded, tightening his fists. "I'm ready, father!" All of a sudden, however, he found himself intrigued by something else. "Oh by the way, you said you were able to read my thoughts? How'd you manage that? I've never come across any such technique, in all the years that I trained with Gohan."
"Another lesson for another time." The Prince stolidly replied, assuming his stance.
"Alright then, let's go." The purple-haired lad smirked. Father and son charged towards one-another. At last, it was time for the real training to begin!
A/N: Pretty wild, huh? Poor Eighteen, losing her bro like that. They truly were tight! I humanized Eighteen a lot more so than the canon, because it makes for a more compelling storyline and opens up a proper avenue into her relationship with Krillin. Piccolo's really whooping ass, isn't he? I really felt he was sidelined in the canon and deserved far more shine, especially as a Super Namekian! The Vegeta/Trunks moments in the time-chamber, were my favourite scenes to write. That was one hell of a punch! Looks like the kid's finally demonstrated his true worth and earned his father's respect!
Hope you all loved it and hope I can make up, for all the lost time! Be sure to leave your thoughts and hit the review button!
Power levels (descending order):
Piccolo: 1.5 billion (with weighted training gear)
1.8 billion (without weighted training gear)
Semi-Perfect Cell: 1.5 billion
Vegeta: ?
To be revealed later.
Android 18: 420 million
Goku: 8 million
400 million (Super Saiyan)
Android 16: 300 million (post-damage)
Trunks: 5.5 million
275 million (Super Saiyan)
750 million (berserk mode - temporary)
Super Tien: 105 million