Bringer of Death

Cell Saga - Part 12: The Calm Before the Storm

Cell Saga - Part 12: The Calm Before the Storm

Ordinarily, ten year olds and twenty-two year olds wouldn't become best friends. But in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, things like age and time and experience didn't matter. Both Trunks and Gohan preferred each other's company to the vast void that was the training chamber. And their friendship was natural; Trunks took the role of mentor for the younger Gohan just as the older Gohan had been his mentor in the future. It was a welcome break from the previous year. Vegeta had been polite enough at times, but their training styles didn't really mesh. Months had passed without a single word passing between the Saiyans, the prince pushing himself to his limits, seemingly never pausing in his pursuit of more strength.

In contrast, Gohan was talkative, but wise for his years. Not only did he take his training as seriously as any adult, but he was a powerful sparring partner. The youngest Super Saiyan in history wasn't wasting any time.

Even so, Gohan began to feel the effects of the chamber after only a few weeks. The days were excruciatingly long; with no sun to guide them and no night to give them peace, his body's rhythms were totally off. He had never trained in high-gravity before, and though he had no difficulty moving around normally, all his techniques felt slightly different. With no one there but the two of them, there were no hot meals at the end of the day. A few months hadn't seemed like much time, but it quickly became clear just how large of a commitment it was.

Thanks in part to Trunks's enthusiasm and good attitude, though, their spirits remained high. He spent his days training Gohan, pushing the younger Saiyan to build his strength. Compared to the other three, the boy had a long way to go...but he was determined. He was a ferocious opponent, never giving up ground. Trunks even taught the boy what he could about swordplay using the Brave Sword.

But when Gohan was asleep, Trunks would retreat into the farthest reaches of the chamber to train on his own. He had been pushing the limits of the ascended state, doing everything he could go maximize the energy he could get out of his Super Saiyan state. He didn't want Gohan to be discouraged if he felt how much stronger Trunks really was. Yet now, even he was becoming discouraged. Though he was now familiar with the ultra bulked-up state Goku had used against Cell, he didn't yet have any way to overcome its drawbacks.

Right now, he thought, the most important thing was helping Gohan follow his lead in breaking through to the ascended form...or technique, or whatever it was. Trunks wasn't sure. In any case, he didn't think there was any minimum necessary...and even if there was, Gohan was quickly growing stronger, nearly up to 18's power after only a month. That was all the more impressive considering it had taken Trunks and his father a full three years when training for the androids to reach that level. Yet as significant as it had been, the new ascended form dwarfed that power into nothing. There had to be a way for the boy to break through.

Trunks had described the sensation he felt, the physical process behind his bulked up form, a thousand times. Gohan didn't have any trouble understanding the principle. But he seemed to lack the necessary motivation, the trigger for it all.

Goku and Vegeta were both masters of ki manipulation with decades of training behind them; Trunks knew they had been able to access the technique easily once it came to them. For him, however, it had been different, more emotional. His rage at Cell and empathy for his father had led him to replicate the ability almost subconsciously. Unfortunately, transferring this to Gohan wasn't so easy.

In the safety of the training chamber, the boy had trouble summoning the necessary emotion. Of course he was well able to transform at will, but when Trunks urged him to get as angry as he could, Gohan could only push his power to its max and scream in a desperate attempt to power up. Inevitably, he would end up drained and exhausted, unable to maintain his Super Saiyan form.