The Awesome Battle! Son Goku vs. Perfect Cell!
"W-we have received reports," Caesar Firecracker said in a picture-in-picture feature that put him in the corner of the screen while the majority of the shot was on Goku getting into the ring followed by she and Perfect Cell in their battle stances, "That along with the blonde woman claiming to be Son Goku, the other participants who have gathered at the Cell Games include former Tenkaichi Budoukai Winner Tenshinhan; former Finalists Launch, Chaozu, and Son Suno; the famous 'Bald Tiger' Krillin; Yamcha, the former finalist and one half of the 'Wolf and Ox' hero-for-hire team; and the being who claims to the be reincarnation of Piccolo Daimaou. The identities of the two blond young men are still unknown."
A third window opened to show the shot of Vegeta that Jimmy had managed to get before the others arrived and a fourth window of helicopter footage that had been taken of Nappa and Vegeta when they had arrived on Earth for the battle in the Wastelands.
"Also," Caesar continued, "This evidence strongly implies that the warrior who arrived first and was identified by Perfect Cell as 'Vegeta' is also one of the two alien assailants who attacked our planet nearly four years ago." The pictures of Vegeta were replaced with grainy, amateur drone footage from a great distance of Goku and Vegeta fighting in the air followed by a quick cut to the beam struggle between Goku and Vegeta before fading away, leaving only Goku, Perfect Cell, and Caesar on the screen. "It is unclear at this time if this 'Vegeta' can be trusted but, at this point, this reporter is willing to accept any help the earth can get. We'll give you more on the story as it develops but for right now, we'll continue to focus on the action."
OoOoOoO
Perfect Cell suddenly stood up out of her guard and clucked her tongue, shaking her head and wagging a finger in admonishment. "Silly me," she chuckled, "I'd almost forgotten my surprise! After all," she went on, "Why should you be the only one with a cheering squad?" She put her fingers to her lips and let out a long, piercing whistle that made Piccolo grimace in pain. "Worth it," Perfect Cell muttered to herself in a slightly pained tone as six lumps of earth rumbled and shook at the side of the ring opposite from the heroes.
"Saibamen?" Suno asked as she scratched the back of her head in confusion. It was the only thing she could think of, although she had no idea how Cell would have gotten her hands on them, or why.
"I sure hope not," Chaozu muttered. "Those guys gave me the creeps." No sooner had Chaozu finished his thought then six brightly colored blurs burst out of the earth and posed dramatically, the sun shining down on their spotted carapaces. They were all almost identical to Perfect Cell except that they were shorter, all of them being an identical five feet tall, with shorter horns and wings and more slender builds. They looked, oddly enough, how Perfect Cell might look if she were meant to be a teenager. They were also all different colors.
"Geki!" The Red Mini-Cell declared in a take-charge and authoritative young man's voice while he struck a rather ridiculous pose.
"Dan!" The Blue Mini-Cell shouted in a slightly nasally young man's voice as he struck a pose of his own.
"Mei!" The Pink Mini-Cell cheered in a bubbly young girl's voice with a skip and a jump into a pose of her own.
"Goushi!" The Black Mini-Cell called in a smooth and easygoing young man's voice as he danced into his pose.
"Boy!" The Yellow Mini-Cell sounded off with a serious and studious young girl's voice as she posed gracefully.
"Kou!" The White Mini-Cell called out in a clear and confident tone as he got into a fighting stance. If it weren't for the fact that he looked almost exactly like Cell, you'd almost think he was one of the heroes.
"Aren't they just precious?" Perfect Cell cooed proudly as she clapped her hands and the six Mini-Cells dropped out of their poses nonchalantly. "I call them my Cellspawn. They're the new, better race of Bioandroids I told Trunks about before. I've got entire planets full of them. Took me a while to get the design right, though. The first batch was a rambling band of ugly, stunted little blue things. But these six are just Perfect!"
"Wait," Krillin observed, "So the yellow one's a girl… but her name is Boy?" Perfect Cell shrugged without ever taking her eyes off of Goku.
"Honestly, I don't know where or how they get their names," she admitted. "They just come out knowing who they are. But don't worry," she added, "They won't interfere as long as you don't."
"Are we going to fight now?" Goku asked somewhat-impatiently, having never gotten out of her battle stance. Perfect Cell chuckled.
"By all means," she said with a tip of her horns, "After you." Goku nodded and they charged at one another, colliding in a tremendous explosion that nearly knocked the other heroes off their feet and sent Jimmy, Hercule, the band, the technicians, and the cameraman flying. Perfect Cell attacked first with a precise chop to Goku's neck that Goku expertly blocked with a forearm before attacking with a jumping knee aimed to catch Perfect Cell under the chin. Perfect Cell leaned her head back with mechanical smoothness before responding with an effortless roundhouse kick. Goku ducked under it masterfully and shot up out of her crouch with an uppercut aimed artfully at Perfect Cell's stomach that Perfect Cell brought her hands down to block, the force of the attack shoving her up into the air. Goku followed her into the air with a series of lightning-fast jabs that Perfect Cell Perfectly blocked, efficiently evading Goku's attacks before grabbing her wrists and driving her feet into Goku's chests with the first real attack, sending her toward the ring. Goku rolled backwards and landed in a three-point stance. Goku immediately jumped back as Perfect Cell smashed a fist down into the ring where Goku had been less than a millisecond before and swung with a crescent kick, cracking Perfect Cell across the jaw and sending her flipping end over end before landing gracefully and Perfectly on her feet.
The Cellspawn cheered and shouted words of encouragement to their mother as Goku and Perfect Cell eyed each other coolly and got back into their guards, smirks on their lips.
"That was a pretty fun little warmup," Perfect Cell said as she rolled her neck and shoulders. "But I think it's time we got serious, right?"
"Sure thing," Goku shot back as she flexed her fingers and bounced on the balls of her feet. This was awesome! She'd never fought someone so powerful and skilled before. It was great!
"W-wait," Trunks stammered as Goku and Cell flew at each other again in a blistering flurry, moving even faster than before. "That… that was a warmup?" The humans were hopelessly lost, catching flickers of gold and green, feeling and hearing the shockwaves from their impacts more than they actually saw anything. Even the special new camera lens that the cameraman was operating was only catching the occasional person-shaped blur, and the camera had been specially built and designed based on specifications Bulma had gotten when she'd asked Goku to show her how fast she could move during the ten days. Piccolo, Trunks, and Vegeta had a slightly better idea of what was going on, following green and golden blurs moving in contrails around the ring. Vegeta was the nearest among them to following along. Gohan, on the other hand…
Suno looked to her son and noticed his intense and resolute expression, his eyes focused and following something that she couldn't see. "Gohan," she asked, "Can you actually follow this?"
"Yeah," Gohan told his mother as he watched Perfect Cell and his mom battle. He could follow everything perfectly. Why was Goku moving so slowly? He could tell Cell was holding back but was she? Was he really that much more powerful than either of them? He still couldn't really believe it.
"Makankousappou!" Perfect Cell cried as she thrust two fingers out, the yellow-purple spiral shooting straight for Goku's chest. Goku actually ran toward the beam before suddenly dropping down to her knees and sliding across the ring, rolling forward up onto her hands and shooting up in a handstand, spinning her legs and cracking Perfect Cell with a spin kick. Perfect Cell went flying backwards and actually went out of the ring… before stopping herself parallel to the ground and floating back up, smirking as she entered the ring again. She charged at Goku again and they met with the force of two colliding asteroids, once again knocking the underprepared non-fighters end over end.
"Hey," Goku asked as she and Perfect Cell dodged one another's punches and kicks by infinitesimal fractions, "How come you even said we could lose by ring-out if we can fly?"
"Eh," Perfect Cell muttered in a verbal shrug that she couldn't physically give with her arms preoccupied. "Nostalgia, I guess? Not for me, obviously, but for you guys, really." Then she swung a ki ball directly into Goku's face, causing her to cry out in pain. She followed up with a combination of jabs while Goku was blinded and an axe kick that cracked Goku over the head and sent her crashing down into the ring. Cell dove down after her and swung with another ki blast, the beam shooting straight into Goku's back and through an afterimage. She clucked her tongue in disappointment. "Come on now," she scolded as she spun to look overhead, "As if I'd fall for something so old." She thrust out her first to where Goku was supposed to be… only she wasn't. Then Goku was behind her, driving her knee into Perfect Cell' back. Perfect Cell cried out in pain before Goku grabbed her by the back of the head and slammed her forcefully down into the tiles.
"Guess you don't know everything, huh?" Goku asked as she hopped away from Perfect Cell, who got to her feet in the blink of an eye and charged in for another attack.
"How did you do that?" Perfect Cell demanded. "There's no way you could be that fast!" Goku just smirked and drove a spear strike into Perfect Cell's solar plexus and Perfect Cell gasped in pain. She'd used Instant Transmission to pop over to Baba before using it again to come back and attack. Perfect Cell growled and grabbed Goku's arm in her armpit, slamming her other palm into Goku's shoulder and causing Goku to cry out in pain as the impact nearly forced the arm out of its socket. Perfect Cell grabbed both sides of Goku's head and growled, headbutting Goku in the face before elbowing her in the jaw. Perfect Cell smirked as she shoved Goku away before Goku caught herself in the air.
"Come on," Goku taunted before spitting out some blood. "This is just starting to get fun!" They brought their hands down to their sides and started firing off rapid-fire ki blasts, filling the air with explosions. The cameraman stayed focused on the action now that Goku and Perfect Cell were actually standing still while Jimmy Firecracker walked over the Hercule, the reigning World's Champion, to try and get a statement.
"Hercule!" Jimmy cried out to get his attention over the din, holding the microphone up to the champ. "Hercule! What are we seeing here? Is this a trick? Some sort of elaborate light show? Advanced military hardware? What the hell is going on?!" Hercule looked at Jimmy in a cold sweat and forced himself to put a smile on his face.
"I'll tell ya what it is," he replied as he tried his best to act like his stage self, "It's a sign that I gotta train more!" He laughed boisterously as Jimmy walked over to the others. Once the microphone was out of his face, however, Hercule couldn't shake the absolute, unshakable terror that filled him as he watched. These two… they were like gods! Even that jackass with the ponytail who'd murdered his master couldn't dream of having their kind of power. What the hell was this?!
"I don't have time to explain ki to you," Krillin told Jimmy dryly as he kept his eyes on the action. "Get in touch with my agent."
"Wait," Yamcha asked as he actually turned away from the fight to talk to them. "Do you seriously not remember the Budoukais where everyone was shooting Kamehamehas? Where Goku turned into a giant monkey and Ten blew up the ring? None of that?"
"I turned into a giant!" Piccolo remarked indignantly. "I destroyed Papaya Island and I tried to take over the world! Twice!"
"What did I tell you about talking to me?" Vegeta asked icily. Jimmy gave up and walked back over to his cameraman whose eyes were still focused on the action. Goku and Perfect Cell had stopped their ki attack and had dropped back down the the ring, grabbing each other in a knuckle lock as they tried to shove one another, each trying to impose her will onto the other. They roared in each other's faces as their powers rose and their auras grew, tangling and intertwining with each other as the earth shook under them. There was a sudden, blinding flash and when the light faded, the ring had completely vanished from sight with Goku and Perfect Cell were still locked in their struggle, as well as Hercule's entrance walk and plane. It had all been vaporized from existence from the sheer power on display. Perfect Cell suddenly jammed her foot into Goku's knee, making her leg buckle and causing Goku to stumble. Perfect Cell grabbed Goku's arm in both her hands and slammed Goku hard into the ground, smirking and flying backwards before launching off a volley of ki blasts while Goku was pinned down. Goku floated up out of the dust and tore off her tattered golden gi top, tossing it away and letting it get blown away in the wind, now just in her blue undershirt and golden pants and boots.
"All my hard work," Perfect Cell sighed as she looked down at the ring. She shook her head and shrugged before looking back up at Goku. "I guess the only way to win now is to be the last one standing."
"I dunno," Goku retorted as she looked down at the ring. "I beat Piccolo by ring out after he blew up the ring. I can kinda still see the outline of this one. So I probably could still win by ringou–"
"My tournament, my rules!" Perfect Cell cried out hurriedly as she slammed into Goku with a flying kick, driving them both down into the dirt. Goku came roaring out of the Earth with a furious eruption of hooking blows to the face and body that pushed Perfect Cell back, digging a trench along the landscape. Perfect Cell avoided one punch with an afterimage and came in from Goku's left with a flying kick that sent her hurtling through the dirt. She unleashed a salvo of kicks at Goku, slamming her feet viciously into the Super Saiyan's chest. Goku coughed up blood before bringing her hands up to her face.
"Taiyoken!" they called out simultaneously as Perfect Cell attempted to cut her off. They blinding flashed magnified against each other and the women clutched painfully at their eyes, both temporarily incapacitated. Still blind, Goku attacked on instinct and threw out a kick to Perfect Cell's chest but Perfect Cell countered, grabbing her leg in both hands and swinging Goku back toward the others where the battle had begun. Goku went sailing before Perfect Cell was instantly on top of her, slamming her fist into Goku's ribs. Goku cried out in pain before Perfect Cell smashed her feet into her chest and then pushed off into the air to hurl hundreds of ki bolts, crying out furiously as she threw them down with murderous intent. The land was blasted beyond all recognition as the fighters fought to stay on their feet and the regular humans were once again sent tumbling end over end, the camera still surviving, the audience occasionally catching glimpses of Perfect Cell's attack as the cameraman flipped over the right way. Finally, after nearly a minute of a constant attack, Perfect Cell finally relented and dropped her hands to her sides, gasping for breath. The others waited nervously as the smoke cleared… but there was no sign of Goku.
'No,' Suno thought as she stared, her eyes scanning frantically for any flash of blue or scrap of gold. 'She's gotta be around here somewhere. I just need to focus on her ki.' Everyone else seemed to have the same idea as they searched among the rubble.
"Come on," Perfect Cell demanded impatiently. "Come on! Where the hell are you hiding?! Don't tell me what was it!" She dropped down to the ground and started searching amongst the rubble, kicking over rocks and sending them hurtling out into space. "We're not done yet, Goku! Don't tell me you've given up!" Once again, Gohan knew exactly where his mother had gone and turned his gaze upward. Everyone else followed his line of sight and even Perfect Cell noticed, looking up into the air and gawking up at Goku, who hovered high in the air above them like a bright, golden star. Her face was a furious mask of concentration and effort as she clenched her fists and her ki rose to its maximum height.
"That power," Trunks muttered as they stared at her. "It's incredible! What's Goku planning?!" Everyone else was wondering the same thing and received their answer in short order. Goku's face screwed up in furious concentration as she slammed her hands down to her side.
"Kaaaa meeee…" Goku boomed with her voice echoing across the land. Everyone gasped in shock while Perfect Cell only chuckled.
"You've got to be kidding," Perfect Cell called up condescendingly. "Do you really think I'll fall for that bluff?! Like you'd really aim for the–"
"Haaaa…" Perfect Cell's mouth puckered shut as her eyes bulged in her head.
"What is Kakarot thinking?!" Vegeta wondered aloud in disbelief. "At that kind of power, she'll easily destroy the planet by shooting down at Cell!"
"I know," Suno remarked. "That's usually your move." She was only so calm because she knew that Goku was bluffing. She had a plan… right?
"Meee…" The blue-white light filled Goku's hands and built up to nearly completely envelop the space between her arms as beads of sweat ran down her face, mixing in to the blood as she grit her teeth in concentration. 'Got to get this right,' she thought as she focused on Perfect Cell's ki. 'Even if I can't beat Cell, I've gotta give this my best shot!' Perfect Cell took her eyes off of Goku for half a second, no doubt planning to make her move and escape or intercept Goku's attack. That flicker of fractured focus was all that Goku needed. In that split-second, Goku was in front of Perfect Cell in a low crouch and pivoting her body upwards. Perfect Cell had half a second to realize what was happening and opened her mouth to scream in horror as Goku thrust her hands forward and roared. "Haaaaaa!" The monumental blast exploded from Goku's hands and caught Perfect Cell flush, enveloping half of her body in its destructive path as it shot off into space. When the light faded, Perfect Cell's body was standing in front of Goku… a pair of legs and a badly burnt abdomen. Goku dropped her arms to her side and gasped for breath as Perfect Cell's corpse fell backwards like a collapsed tree. Goku doubled over and put her hands on her knees, gulping down air, her body drenched in sweat.
"Mother!" The Cellspawn cried in horror as the heroes cheered and hollered. Even Vegeta nodded in approval. Even though it showed him just how far the gulf between himself and Kakarot remained, that was fine. With Cell out of the way, he could commit himself fully to their rivalry.
"Come on, you idiot," Jimmy muttered off-mic as he shoved his cameraman, "Get the shot!" The beleaguered cameraman focused on Goku standing triumphantly over Perfect Cell's obliterated carcass. "And there you have it!" Jimmy crowed. "I just cannot believe it, ladies and gentlemen! Son Goku has defeated Perfect Cell!"
'I knew it!' Gohan thought proudly. 'I knew mom was still the best!'
Everyone cheered… except for Trunks. He never took his eyes off of Perfect Cell's body, glaring at it intently. 'Not yet,' he thought to himself. 'Not yet.' He wouldn't let himself believe yet. He couldn't.
OoOoOoO
People around the world roared and cheered at Perfect Cell's defeat, hugging each other and crying and leaping for joy. It was as if an enormous lead weight had been lifted off the collective chest of the world and everyone could breathe again. The specter of death had hung over mankind once again, and once again–
OoOoOoO
Perfect Cell's foot twitched. Goku hopped away from it as Perfect Cell's headless and torsoless corpse bounded up to its feet. The burned and blackened flesh bubbled and roiled as the heroes stared at it in horror. Without another warning, Perfect Cell's upper body exploded from the ruined flesh of her abdomen, drenched in green fluids and Perfect Cell gasped for air as if she had just come up from beneath the water.
OoOoOoO
The joy everyone felt immediately turned to terror and despair and their cheers turned to shrieks and sobs. Not only because the sight was so grotesque and horrifying but because now it meant they were dead. Of course they were. How could they not be? If Perfect Cell could recover from that then what could possibly kill her?
OoOoOoO
"Knew it," Trunks muttered bitterly as Perfect Cell shook green fluid off of her fingers and the Cellspawn cheered for their mother's recovery.
"Oh!" Perfect Cell gasped as she took in another breath. "Oh, man! I… woo, I forgot I could do that! It… it has been… a loooong time since that has happened."
"Wait, what the fuck?" Launch interjected. "How the fuck did you survive that? Even Piccolo still needs his head to regenerate."
"W-well," Perfect Cell panted out, "You see…" she paused and doubled over with her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. "Oh man, excuse me…" She muttered breathlessly. Then she stood up and took a few more breaths before continuing. "As long as my core cluster of cells remains intact," Perfect Cell explained, "I can regenerate from any damage. Luckily for me, I have such perfect control over every part of my body that I can move that cluster anywhere with a thought."
"Not gonna lie," Goku admitted with a smile, "That's a pretty neat trick. Kinda wish I had some Namekian cells sometimes." It would have probably helped to be able to heal herself about a dozen times by now. 'At least now Gohan knows how hard he'll have to fight to beat Cell once and for all.'
"So," Perfect Cell sighed as she got back into her guard. "You ready? I think that Kamehameha took a lot out of both of us but I'm pretty sure I can take you." Even after several minutes, Goku was still breathing heavily, although Perfect Cell was, too. Only now, she was still covered in cuts and bruises while Perfect Cell's body was halfway-undamaged. She smiled and shook her head.
"No," she told her, "That's okay. I forfeit." Everyone, even Perfect Cell, stared at her in shock. "I can't beat you," Goku continued, "And I kinda always knew I couldn't. I just wanted to test myself against you."
"W-wait," Perfect Cell stammered dumbly, "What're you talking about, 'forfeit'?! You're Son Goku! You don't give up! D-did you miss the whole part about how I said I was going to destroy the Earth?!"
"Yeah," Suno asked her wife nervously, "Did you?!" She tried not to get too worked up. There had to be a game here. Goku had to have a plan.
"Oh, I didn't forget," Goku assured Perfect Cell, "And you are going to die. It just won't be me who does it. 'Scuse me," Then she vanished, returning seconds later with a bag of senzu. "Here ya go," she said casually as she tossed one into Perfect Cell's slack-jawed mouth. Perfect Cell crunched the bean down and swallowed it, her wounds healing instantly.
"Goku, what the fuck?!" Tenshinhan exclaimed in disbelief. Goku looked at him curiously as she tucked the bag of magic beans into her belt.
"What?" she asked. "I couldn't let Cell fight with her energy drained like that. It wouldn't be fair." Perfect Cell was still too gobsmacked to correct her on her name. Then Goku smiled at Gohan and gave him a nod. "It's your turn, Gohan," she told him proudly. Gohan nodded and began to walk toward Perfect Cell.
"Wait," Suno said sharply as she grabbed Gohan's shoulder. "I'm sorry, what?!" She locked her eyes sternly onto Goku's and Gohan could tell his mother was squeezing his arm as hard as she could. "Goku, tell me I did not just hear that. Tell me you are not sending our baby out to fight– to the death– with an opponent that you just admitted you couldn't beat."
"Don't worry, mother," Gohan said reassuringly as he put his hand on top of hers. "I can handle this. This was the plan the whole time. Mom says I can beat Cell."
"Oh!" Suno exclaimed angrily as she threw her hands in the air. "Oh, so this was the plan! Well I'm glad I'm learning about it now! Why the hell didn't either of you tell me before?!"
"Honestly?" Goku admitted reluctantly. "I told Gohan not to tell you. I kind of knew you'd react… like this."
"Of course I was going to react like this!" Suno snapped at her. "He's our son! For crying out loud, I'm the one who brought him into the world, why shouldn't I be upset when it looks like you're trying to take him out of it?!"
"I am not trying to–" Goku started to say before Gohan put his hands between his mothers.
"Mom! Mother!" Gohan exclaimed to get their attention. "That's enough, okay?" Then he turned to Suno and tried to smile for her. "It's okay, mother," he assured her again. "Mom believes in me. She knows I can do this." Suno sighed and nodded reluctantly before grabbing Gohan and pulling him into a hug. Gohan hugged her back before pulling away and walking towards Perfect Cell. Perfect Cell actually seemed to think the whole thing was almost funny.
'Please,' Trunks prayed fervently as he watched Gohan walk toward Perfect Cell. Even though every moment of his life had proved to him that there was no one listening, he still had to try. 'Please don't make me see him die twice…'
"You know something?" Perfect Cell remarked as Gohan walked up to her. "I always knew it would come down to this. Even when I was fighting Goku, I knew it would wind up me and you. I just figured I would kill her first." She towered over the young Demisaiyan but he looked up at her unafraid and got into his guard. "It always comes down to us. In almost every timeline I've been in where you're born, this fight happens. It's almost predestined. It's kind of beautiful, honestly." Perfect Cell chuckled darkly as she cracked her knuckles. "Would you like to know how many times I've killed you?"
"No," Gohan retorted calmly as he looked at her icily. "It doesn't matter. After all, I only need to kill you once." Perfect Cell grinned as they locked eyes for a handful of heartbeats. Then, they attacked.