Val watched the scene below on bated breath; it was Trunks's turn. When he finally settled down after powering up so much, he addressed Krillin, "Krillin, could you take my father to Master Mutenroushi's house? When you think the time is right, give him this Senzu bean." He handed the bean over him.
Krillin nodded, "oh course! But... are you sure? Do you have Senzu beans for yourself?"
"Don't worry," Trunks said. "I don't need those beans. I'm going to win. I know it." He flew off and away from Krillin and towards Cell.
"How brave!" Krillin commented. "He's very sure of himself!"
Cell noticed Trunks approach, studying him with intrigue.
"I'm going to kill you, Cell," Trunks warned.
"Do it," Val willed out load to herself.
Trunks flared his energy up again. Cell grunted, "you're too sure of yourself, Trunks." He stepped up toe to toe with Trunks.
Cell attacked him, kicking at him. Trunks moved fast enough to dodge the kick, but not a punch thrown into his gut and then another kick to his side. Yet when he landed, he seemed oddly unphased. He jumped up easily, but Cell was there in an instant, punching him hard. Trunks caught himself and landed easily on his feet. Cell went after him again, trying to beat him down, with Trunks just taking it.
"Is he trying to wear him out?" Tien asked.
Val watched curiously, shaking her head. "No, I think he's trying to buy time for Krillin to get Vegeta out of there." She tightened her grip on the staff. "Krillin," she shouted down at him, trying to be vague.
She saw him do a double take, looking around the area. "Oh, right," he mumbled to himself. He scooped up Vegeta, shot Trunks a thumbs up, and flew off.
Trunks looked a bit more relaxed and then determined. Cell commented, "at last you can fight without any worries, eh? Vegeta's been rescued."
Trunks looked surprised. "I don't understand," he started slowly. "You knew and did nothing to prevent it?"
Cell shrugged. "Of course. I no longer have interest in him," he admitted. "I'm more interested in your strength. The time has come for me to prove my power now that I've reached perfection, and this excited me!"
"I'm going to attack, Cell," Trunks forewarned. He sucked down a deep breath and powered up. "I'm going to show you my true strength!" He supported the same cocky grin Vegeta often would before a fight.
"Yes, of course you have great strength," Cell commented. "Nevertheless, you're not going to defeat me. There's no way you greatly surpass me."
Trunks laughed, "heh! You're babbling." Trunks launched himself at Cell, moving slow but impressively.
Piccolo gasped near Val, "he's so strong! Stronger than Cell! I can't believe it!"
"Trunks, great!" Bulma cheered for her half Saiyan son.
Trunks and Cell resumed fighting, with Cell being the faster but Trunks being stronger. Val watched unblinkingly should she miss any second of the action. Trunks tried to catch him, missing just to slowly with each turn. "It's horrible!" Trunks groaned. "I can't believe it! I can't land a punch!"
Cell huffed, "you're just an amateur. I didn't think you were so ignorant. Saying you were going to show all the strength you had, you've just changed into a form that gives you more brute force. A change like that is quite easy to attain." He grunted, charging himself up with his own bulked up set of augmented muscles to match Trunks's now. "You won't get much out of this transformation. You're just a fool."
Trunks huffed, hanging his head and upper body low. "I understand now... That's why Dad didn't undergo this power up. He knew what would happen!" He clenched his fist tightly. "Like you said, I'm an idiot." He powered down completely and landed on the ground. "I love my will to fight," he confessed. "Kill me."
Cell threw a too familiar cocky grin. "I think I will," he decided. "I'm really disappointed in you and Vegeta. I was hoping you'd entertain me more.
Piccolo grunted near Val, "Cell's perfect form. It's incredible."
"Has Trunks won already?" Bulma asked hopefully.
"He's going to be killed!" Piccolo predicted.
"What?" Bulma asked, looking suddenly nervous. "Don't just stand there! Do something! Trunks is going to die!"
Piccolo hushed her. "Cell's paused, thinking. Perhaps he won't be killed after all."
"Why?" Tien asked.
"Just listen," Piccolo answered vaguely.
Val concentrated on the scene below, trying not to start fretting herself. Cell asked Trunks with his hand held up ready to shoot a ki blast, "there's one last question I'd like to ask. Even though I've won, both you and Vegeta have powered up greatly in such a short time. How did you do it?" Trunks looked over a him, mouth shut tight. "No answer? I'll change the question then. If you had more time, could you get even stronger?" Trunks blinked up at him. "Well?"
Trunks grunted, "how would I know! I'd have to try. Why do you ask?"
"So it's possible," Cell mused. "My next question. What is Goku doing? Why hasn't he shown himself?"
Trunks answered, "Goku's training to defeat you! He'll come tomorrow to fight you! I can count on him to defeat you! I'm sure he will!"
Cell grinned darkly. "Good answer," he replied, dropping his hand. "Well then. Let's have a martial arts competition!" he declared.
"Martial arts competition?" Trunks asked in confusion.
"It will be held in 10 days," Cell ruled. "I'm doing you a favor. Get stronger and entertain me."
"What in the world are you talking about?" Trunks questioned.
Cell hummed, "you may not know this but there's a competition called the Budokai. I want to remake it. However, I'll be the only opponent. We'll fight one on one, and if I win, I'll fight the next person. I don't care how many of you are there. Gather as much as you can, and you may just win through sheer numbers. I'll let you know the place soon. Maybe I'll do it through a TV broadcast. Looks like I won't be bored anymore. You better bring lots of senzu." Cell started to walk off then.
Trunks called after him, "wait! Why are you doing this? What's your ultimate goal? I don't understand! Are you trying to conquer Earth? Or maybe all of space?"
Cell sighed, "I'm going to do this contest to test my strength and terrorize people. And it will help to build up my power. I don't have an 'ultimate goal.' Nor am I interested in conquest. There's no point to killing Goku though. That's why I was made. Perhaps my goal then is to enjoy myself. First of all, of course. I want to see the fear on people's faces."
Val felt her blood run cold at the sound of that. Trunks looked the same way she felt. "Ahhh!" he gasped.
Cell smirked. "That's right. Just like you look now." Cell waved goodbye, flying off with no other words or recourse.
Val felt herself shiver, watching Cell disappear. She let go of Bulma's shoulder, wiping at her brow. She held the staff tightly, hand aching and knuckles white. What could she do with it, with her absolute lacking of training. More could possibly be done if she were trained instead of shunning away all of Kami's offers from before. Training would have been easier than to understand than those dusty old books. Her mind was turning the new information over and over. Trunks had mentioned something about space-
"What's going to happen now?" Tien asked, breaking her out of her thoughts. "Just 10 more days of peace and we're finished? Unless Goku can defeat that monster?"
Piccolo did not answer, but said instead, "it looks like I'll have to enter the Room of Spirit and Time."
Val gasped, looking up at him, biting her lip. While being around him was still painful, she saw her chances to train with him in new found, how formed hopes to stop Cell if the tournament failed, were now delayed or even halted, the chance slipping away. "Have you been in there before? For how long?"
He looked back down at her, eyes revealing he himself was also deep in thought. "Not long."
Bulma huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "I should go back to Capsule Corps. See if I could help with anything there. Anything with my own copy of Dr. Gero's research."
Val looked at her, nodding solemnly. She recalled the silence that settled over the Lookout when it was just her left alone with Mr. Popo. Her ears drew back at the thought.
"10 days..." Tien said. "That's a long time yet not a long time..." He looked over at the edge of the Lookout. "I... should..." He looked over at Val. "I should remain here," he decided, nodding to himself. Val blinked up over at him. He noticed, looking back over at her. "If you'll allow it," he added sounding an odd mix of hopeful and nervous.
She looked at him, a bit too long, thinking and then nodding. She held herself off from looking over at Piccolo, mind mulling over the words from their fight in her rooms from before. How he simply stated she go back to being with Tien since that was what the other future had been leading up to. She hated the idea yet, feeling entrapped by it without a choice. Yet in the length of 10 days, a lot could happen, would happen. She glanced back up at Tien. A chance for someone else to have a choice and make it for himself. She nodded again, more to herself than to anyone else.
"Thanks," Tien answered, sounding relieved.