Val felt her hands heat up a bit. She shook one out and then another, switching the staff from hand to hand so she did not have to let it go. She felt relieved that Cell at least had stopped blasting at all the islands when Vegeta got to him. "You're... Vegeta!" Cell said, surprised by the sudden arrival of the Super Saiyan Vegeta before him.
"Yeah, and you're Cell," Vegeta said with a cocky grin. He nodded towards the ground. "Go down!"
"What's happening now?" Bulma asked, standing close to Val.
Val looked over at her, thinking to her chagrin that she will have to explain play by play to Bulma. "Put your hand on her shoulder," Piccolo said, nodding from Val to Bulma.
"Just don't curse her," Tien rushed out once he understood what Piccolo was advising her to do.
"She can only do that once," Bulma said dismissively.
"What?" Tien said, mouth hanging open in a quick burst of shock.
"It's fine," Bulma said, shrugging her shoulder before putting Val's hand on her shoulder. "It turned out for the better," she teased out vaguely.
Val turned her attention back to the fight about to start, trying to ignore and block out how both men were staring at her now.
Cell was talking, "why'd you come? It can't be that you hope to defeat me."
Vegeta grunted, "I didn't come here to defeat you. I'm just here to rip you to shreds."
"You're going to do that to me?" Cell asked. Val noticed they had the same cocky grin, which made her stomach squirm.
"It was a big shock to me to learn that my genes were used to create a big, ugly monster like you. I wished a better job had been done," Vegeta trash talked. "You're definitely no child of mine. Or any of ours for that matter."
Before Cell could trash talk back, Trunks landed nearby. "I see you've got some help," he teased. "It doesn't matter how much help you get."
Vegeta shook his head. "He's just here to watch. I've got what it takes to beat you."
Cell laughed at him. "What do you mean you're good enough to beat me? To the point of ripping me to shreds, even."
Vegeta powered up. "That's why I said. Got a problem with that?"
Cell grunted, "no... but it was so unrealistic. I couldn't believe my ears."
Vegeta raised his fists. "Take a good look, Cell. I'm going to wipe that smug look off your ugly mug." He powered up even more, making Val break out into a cold sweat, sensing him even miles and miles away up at the Lookout. He screamed, powering up even more.
"It has begun," Piccolo said, breaking the silence up there.
"His ki is growing stronger by the second," Val commented, smile on her face.
"Wow, could he really do it?" Bulma asked.
"That's a strong ki," Tien said in awe with a hint of jealousy.
Piccolo grunted, stepping away from them and summoning up his head gear and cape without any issues. "He's still getting stronger!" he gasped.
Val felt her hands heat up, sensing it. Then she felt a smack on her hand. "Don't burn my shirt," Bulma warned her.
"Sorry," Val mumbled, watching from remote viewing below.
Vegeta bulked up to the point where he was as massive as his ki. Energy waves were rolling off of him. Even Cell looked intimidated by him. Then he charged, punching Cell in the gut. Then over and over again, knocking him away. Cell stumbled to his feet, hand on his front, gasping and looking livid. "Cell, you can do better than that," Vegeta taunted.
"It seems that you can fight a little," Cell spat out.
He charged Vegeta, but Vegeta dodged his attacks. He grabbed Cell by the leg and threw him down to the ground before punting into a cliff side. Vegeta pursued him with Cell having his back to the cliff behind him. "It looks like I'll have to get serious," he grumbled.
"I thought you were already serious. But if you're not, go ahead. Don't worry about me."
Cell grumbled, pulling himself up and taking a fighting stance. He screamed, powering up himself. He panted when he was done.
"It's not high enough," Val commented, feeling her confidence in Vegeta build up.
"Your fighting strength's gone up a lot, but it doesn't make a difference," Vegeta commented. Cell charged, striking Vegeta right in the face. Vegeta's smirked, looking down at him smugly. "I thought that was supposed to be your best shot," he said, wiping his mouth. "Looks like I trained too hard and got too strong."
"Just kill him already," Val willed vocally only.
"That's impossible," Cell groaned. "You're Vegeta, aren't you?"
Vegeta cocked his head. "Not exactly." He pointed his thumb at himself. "Now I'm Super Vegeta."
Cell looked dumb found. "Super Vegeta? What's that?"
"It'd be too much trouble to explain it to you. I'll leave up to you to imagine how it's like." Cell threw him a sour look. "You should more worry about what's going to happen to you. Even with all your might."
"I... I won't..." Cell started, drawing a deep breath. "I won't let this happen!" he shouted, powering up anew before charging at Vegeta yet again.
While Vegeta seemed a bit slower than normal, but Cell could still not keep up with him. Vegeta struck him again and again before tossing him into the water near the island they were fighting on.
Cell pulled himself out of the water, groaning and grumbling as he did so. Vegeta called down to him, "now I'll tell you something that will really shock you. That guy over there's name is Trunks. He's not as strong as me, but he's pretty close." Cell looked over at Trunks, standing there and watching the fight. "It looks as this is as strong as you'll get. I'm disappointed! I wanted a really strong opponent." Cell looked up at him in shock. "It'd be silly of me to kill you now."
"Just kill him already," Val grumbled.
Cell roared, screaming at the sky in rage. "Damn it! Damn you!" He brought his head down and then there was a quick glint in his eye. "If only... If only I had my perfect form... I'd never lose to someone like you!"
Vegeta was looking at him, clearly to Val thinking over Cell's words. "Don't," Val said under her breath.
"Damn it!" Cell kept shouting.
"So you're saying that if you had your perfect form, you wouldn't lose to me?" Vegeta asked curiously.
"Fuck," Val swore.
Cell looked up, that glint back in his eye. "That's right! I wouldn't lose to anyone! I'd have perfect power! Perfect speed! Perfect reflexes! A perfect brain! I'd be perfect in everyway! That's what the computer told me!"
Vegeta unexpectedly launched himself at Cell, kicking him back into the cliff side. Cell groaned, sounding a bit more put on than he had been before as he stumbled towards Vegeta. "Are you saying that despite the power difference between us, you'd beat me in your perfect form?"
Cell had a ghost of a smile on his face now. "How many times do I have to repeat myself? Of course I could!"
Vegeta hummed to himself. "Just kill him..." Val hissed through a clenched jaw.
"It looks like you're thinking it over," Cell rushed out. "How about it, Vegeta? You're a Saiyan. You love to fight. The stronger the opponent, the more enjoyable the fight. Well? Am I wrong? Wouldn't you like to fight me in my perfect form?"
Vegeta took a deep, confident breath. "Impressive! You seem to know a lot about us Saiyans."
"I'm part Saiyan, too, and more than you know," Cell stated.
"Go ahead. Get your perfect form. There would be no glory in defeating you like this. Looking forward to next time, Cell," Vegeta ruled.
"Damn it, no!" Val swore, hands clenching. "He baited him..."
She felt another smack on her hand. She cast a quick look at Bulma and pulled back the strength and heat in just that one hand.
Cell went to fly off, but Trunks in Super Saiyan form jumped in front of him declaring, "even though Dad's letting you go, I won't!"
Vegeta shouted at him, "Trunks, stay out of this!"
"Vegeta, do something about this!" Cell demanded.
"Do it," Val willed down at Trunks. Both of them had to be strong enough to kill Cell, surely.
Cell's eyes went unfocused and then he looked gleeful. "#18!" he rejoiced. "I found her!"
"What?" Bulma asked.
Val looked over the scene, seeing #18 and #16 not far off from the three of them. She also saw someone else close by. "What's Krillin doing there?" she asked out loud.
"I sent him after the androids. With a device that will deactivate them," Bulma explained hastily. "I made it based of Dr. Gero's data and blue prints."
"Do it," Val willed down at Krillin, watching him along with the others now. "Damn it," she groaned, looking down at his feet, seeing bits of destroyed metal by his feet.
Cell meanwhile went from desperate to excited, "I've found you, #18! So that's where you were hiding!"
Val watched, seeing neither Krillin nor the androids seemed to hear him. "They haven't noticed him yet," Bulma commented.
Trunks turned and shouted to the them, "hey! Cell's here!"
The androids and Krillin heard Trunks though, all three turning to look over at him. "What?!" Vegeta gasped.
Krillin swore as Cell charged towards them all. "I won't let you get your perfect form!" Trunks shouted, powering up and racing after Cell.
"I see. We're lucky the cyborgs are here. Get out of the way, Trunks!" Vegeta shouted, racing after Trunks in turn.
Trunks nearly had Cell, but Vegeta kicked him away. "Idiot," Val swore. She watched Krillin stare in panic at the sight of Cell approaching. "Idiots," she swore at both of them.
The two androids squared up nervously for the fight neither one of them looked like they wanted to have. Val felt a pang of empathy for them, understanding their fear, seeing the sheer terror on their faces.
"Don't be foolish, #18," Cell said, approaching her. "There's nothing you can do. Vegeta's helping me get my perfect form."
"Damn it, Vegeta," Krillin swore.
Not far off, Trunks was up and raging at Vegeta, "Dad, you're making a mistake. We can't let Cell obtain his perfect form. What will you do if he becomes stronger than us?"
Vegeta grunted, "wimp! don't you want to see how strong he'll get?"
"No! I've had enough of a hellish future!" Trunks countered. "Even if I have to beat you, Father. I'll have to stop Cell from getting his perfect form!"
"You'd attack me?" Vegeta scoffed. "I don't think you'd dare attack your own father."
Trunks turned on him, powering up and sending a qi blast right at Vegeta before taking off after Cell once more. Cell was ready though, raising ten fingers up around his face. "Taiyouken!" he shouted, sending a blinding flash of qi not unlike sunlight around the area.
Val even felt herself squint away from the attack. What she managed to see in the flash of light was Cell snatching up #18 and absorbing her, followed by another dissimilar flash of light when he transformed. Trunks tried to attack him in the midst of his transformation, but nothing worked.
"Cell's achieved his perfect form," Piccolo stated.
"What? Why didn't Krillin use the device I made?" Bulma grumbled.
Piccolo sighed, "he crushed it himself."
"Why?" Bulma asked him.
"I don't know," he answered.
Bulma looked over at Val, "do you know why?" Val shook her head in answer.
"Damn it, Vegeta! This is your fault!" Piccolo cursed.
Val felt herself shaking a little, looking and sensing down at the scene below. Cell had emerged from his cocoon of light, standing tall and confident in his perfect form. The one plus Val saw was his tail was just a stub against his lower back, so hopefully he would be unable to absorb anyone else, not that it mattered anymore.
Vegeta grunted, "not very impressive for a 'perfect' form."
Krillin unexpectedly shouted nearby, "Damn him! How DARE he do that to #18!" He shouted in rage and then charged towards Cell, with Trunks yelling after him. He struck Cell, but to Cell seemed like he did not even notice. He swore, gaining distance between the two of them. "This can't be happening..." he hummed out fearfully.
Cell swung a few practice punches and kicks, aimed at no one before giving Krillin a swift kick in the next. Val gasped, watching Krillin hit the ground, skidding roughly to a halt. Her heart jolted, fearing Cell had killed one of their own this time. Trunks went to him, managing to give him a senzu bean.
Vegeta meanwhile stepped cockily over to Cell. "Are you proud of being able to beat trash like that?" he asked. "Just as I thought. Your perfect form is nothing special?"
Cell turned, looking over at Vegeta. "I'm sorry, will you help me warm up?" he countered.
"All right, I'll kill you during the 'warm up,'" Vegeta warned.
"Just kill him already," Val said to herself through gritted teeth, more so watching Krillin recover.
She felt her ears draw back when he warned Trunks, "this is bad. Vegeta's going to get killed."
"What?" Trunks asked.
"Though I'm nothing compared to you guys, I still can feel how strong my opponents are. I know how terrible Cell is. That hit I took back there was just a slap to him, but I know his true power," Krillin warned. "The 'ki' we're feeling now is just a ruse. He has a lot more strength than that."
Val felt her stomach sink, sensing another reading off both Cell and Vegeta. She swallowed thickly, wanting to be just as confident in Vegeta's odds as she had been fifteen minutes ago. She threw a glimpse over at Piccolo, trying to keep anything emotional going to or from herself as she did so. Cell was part Namekian, part Demon Clansman. Both clans were known for their abilities to suppress their kis, only to release them in a explosion of strength when they fought. Val recalled seeing it not only from training with Piccolo, but also Freight, the strongest Dragon Clansman, before he left with the other Dragon Clansmen to New Namek.
Krillin was still talking, bring her out of her thoughts, "just like you, Trunks."
Trunks gasped, looking over at Krillin. "You knew?" he asked just loud enough to heard.
"Knew what?" Bulma asked. Val shrugged and shook her head.
Krillin spoke softly with Trunks still, "Vegeta's too stubborn to realize it, but I knew that you were holding something back from him. You've overcome a limit that Vegeta couldn't. Am I correct?"
Trunks did not answer, making Val clue in that his inference was likely correct. She recalled mentally other instances where Krillin had gotten a good read on others, noticing more than others had and more than what was on the surfaces. She wave of annoying humbleness, recalling he had inferred correctly that Piccolo and Kami were not trying to make her guardian so as to stop her from going to the fight with the androids like she thought. She flicked her gaze over at Piccolo once more, feeling a pang of longing that she could not manage to quell.
Val flicked her remote viewing gaze back over at Cell and Vegeta, both squaring up to fight, slightly thankful for the distraction of the two from her unexpected feelings. Vegeta went to kick Cell, only to be blocked. The two fought, throwing and tossing blows and blocks in turn, only this time Vegeta's slower speed was more noticeable.
"Father was able to overcome the Super Saiyan barrier. That's why he has his incredibly powerful form," Trunks observed. "But I was able to even overcome that form's limits. I think that's what Goku meant when he said I was on to something. But I can't tell that to my prideful father. Vegeta must not find out. He should have taken care of Cell when he had the chance," he confessed.
Val keep one eye of those two, and the other on the other two, still fighting. Cell's speed advantage was giving him an edge now in addition to his boost in strength after absorbing #18. "Damn you! You're not even trying!" Vegeta growled, all riled up now.
Cell straightened up, bringing his hands to his hips, saying, "that's why I said this would be a warmup fight."
Vegeta's temper boiled over, "fight me as hard as you can! You're pissing me off, treating me like this!"
Cell hummed, "oh, but just a little." He charged Vegeta, his speed and strength racketing up. Vegeta kicked him hard at the side of the neck, but Cell hardly flinched. "So that's what Super Vegeta is like," he scoffed.
"Aren't you going to use your hidden power to help him?" Krillin asked Trunks as quietly as he could.
"Dad would rather die than be helped by me or Goku," he confessed. "That's the way he is."
Cell taunted him some more, "what's wrong? What happened to your enthusiasm? Cheer up, Vegeta." He then charged him, kicking him so hard and so fast in the chest that Val barely registered the kick happening when Vegeta struck the nearby cliffside. "Am I going to have to make you take back your words about this being a lopsided fight?"
Val fought to keep her hands from heating up again. She squeezed the staff in her hand so hard, trying to only let heat go in that hand. She glanced down at the bracelet still on her wrist, tempted by the quick thought to pry it off and the other one and curse him just like she had Piccolo, even at the risk of dire consequences as the after affect of her curses. It would be faster and more effective than trying to leave the Lookout since it was not guardian business.
She felt an iron like grip seized around her wrist on the hand holding the staff. Two extra sharp nails dug into her inner wrist above the bracelet. She sucked down a deep, audible breath, not sure what would happen should she exhale. She looked up at Piccolo holding onto her, grimacing up at him, torn between relishing the feel of his touch and the desire to pull away from him to escape the raw, painful feelings it brought up. Feelings that threatened to overwhelm her.
She kept a careful, gentle grip on Bulma's shoulder, but yanked her wrist out of Piccolo's grip. "Don't touch me," she forced herself to say.
"Don't try to curse him from up here using the staff," Piccolo countered.
"What else can I do? I'm stuck up here, all because of you," she growled out, trying to sound more malicious and less pathetic.
"Hey, how about you have your lovers' quarrel when I'm not attached to you," Bulma interrupted. Val scowled at her, feeling herself challenged just by the stern look Bulma threw her. Her voiced softened, "it's a good thought, but you know he'd never forgive you if he found out," she said longingly.
Val felt her gaze soften, feeling a flare of empathy between the two of them. She tore her gaze away from either of them, remembering Tien was still there as well. She glanced at him, eyes locking with his. His eyes shifted down to her bracelet fearfully. "Don't," he added in his own two cents.
She looked away from him as well, not wanting to look at any of them and focused on the fight between Cell and Vegeta renewing itself. She closed herself off from all of them, grip only on the staff tightening. She casted her gaze towards the edge of the Lookout, yearning to leave.
Vegeta stepped back from Cell, shouting and driving his ki up and up around himself. He took aim at Cell channeling the power all around his body in his hands. "Cell!" he roared. "Have you gotten perfect enough to take this dead on? I think not. You're just a coward."
"He's challenging Cell not to dodge his attack," Trunks said in awe.
"That isn't funny!" Krillin said in fright. "Would he really use that attack on the surface of the Earth?"
In nonverbal answer, Cell stood his ground, nodding up at Vegeta just once.
"Stop it!" Trunks shouted. "Do you want to destroy the Earth?"
"Let's get out of here, Trunks!" Krillin said, taking flight in his panic away from Vegeta.
"Final Flash!" Vegeta shouted, releasing his ki blast so large Val saw a thread of it blast towards space even from the Lookout.
Once the blast ended, a few seconds ticked by in a hushed silence. "Did he do it?" Bulma asked, breaking the silence between the four of them.
Val did not answer, still not wanting to look at her. The dust settled, revealing Trunks and Krillin were still alive. So was the damaged #16 nearby. Vegeta was as well, panting and standing there. "Does that answer... your question?" he huffed out. Val followed his gaze, seeing Cell standing there, a third of his torso and left arm blasted away. "Take that... bastard," Vegeta swore.
Cell was groaning painfully. "I've lost," he called out woefully.
Vegeta stood, still powered up mutedly and panting. "He did it! He really did it!" Krillin cheered.
"I can't believe this happened!" Cell bemoaned. "Not to my perfect self!"
Val felt her ears draw back, hearing his tone was off, having a hint of taunting in his voice. She glanced back up at Piccolo, recalling his own fight with original Cell, recalling he was also one of the fathers of him.
Cell continued gripping, " Damn you!"
Vegeta laughed triumphantly, the sound making Val's stomach sink. "Did he win?" Bulma asked. "But Cell doesn't sound like he thinks he's defeated," she added shrewdly.
Then Cell started to laugh, making Vegeta stop laughing and look confused. "You're a fool for laughing," Cell cackled. "Have you forgotten I have Piccolo's blood as well?" Cell grunted and then, sickening, shot out a newly grown side and arm. Vegeta went from looking proud to panicked far too quickly. "Are you disappointed?" He sighed, "well then. Shall I kill you now!"
Vegeta swore as Cell approached him, throwing himself at him in a desperate attack after attack. Cell kicked him out of the way, battering him over and over with no mercy now. At once point, Cell launched him into the air, only to cut him off from above, elbowing him in the back. Vegeta landed the ground hard.
Bulma's hand unexpected came up to Val's on her shoulder. "Is he alright? Is he still alive?" she asked. "Can you sense him?" There was no hiding the panic in her voice.
"He's just unconscious," Val sensed, feeling relieved herself.
She watched Cell approach him, her heart pounding. "You're so slow, but still alive. I'll put you out of your misery, Vegeta," he ruled.
Krillin shouted over at Trunks, "now's your only chance, Trunks! Change into that Super Super Saiyan now!"
"Ok," Trunks said, sucking down a deep breath and then roared at the top of his lungs, powering up suddenly above and beyond what Vegeta had done.
Val felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, watching him through the remote viewing. "Do it," she willed, shifting to put her shaken faith in this Saiyan instead.