Bringer of Death

Tournament Saga - Part 16: I Open at the Close

Tournament Saga - Part 16: I Open at the Close

"...You..." Cell shivered, his body suddenly trembling uncontrollably before the mere sight of the Saiyan prince. The energy he felt, the power...it was impossibly strong, like an endless sea as deep and broad as the Solar System. "But...how?" Cell asked.

"Hahaha," came Vegeta's cold laugh. "That's right, Cell. You didn't forget about me,did you? Hehe."

Panting and bruised, the bio-android could only stare ahead as he realized the fate standing before him. What had just happened? It was too much to take in all at once, knowing that even all his foresight and planning couldn't have possibly predicted this.

"Surely you didn't think you'd won already?" Vegeta chuckled, using his senses to instantly scout out the nearby area. "Not when you still had me to contend with." Though he kept his eyes on Cell, his mind was set on finding his family. Bulma's energy he located right away, moving in her aircraft away from the battleground at top speed. His small boy, the young Trunks, was safely back at Capsule Corporation, innocent and oblivious. But Trunks, his son the warrior, had only the faintest energy signature. Piccolo, Yamcha, Tien, Trunks, Krillin, Gohan...their lifesigns were minimal, some fractionally better than others. Vegeta hadn't realized until then just how close he was cutting it.

Even finding himself taken aback by Vegeta's sudden appearance, Cell was not about to let his sudden weakness embarrass him further. Puffing out his chest, regaining a confident pose, the bio-android wiped a small streak of blood from his forehead, allowing the wound to regenerate. "Hmm. Well, Vegeta, I'll admit that even you were able to surprise me...just this once." he mocked. Cell paused, doing his best to draw things out, allowing his body as much time as possible to recuperate. The battle with Gohan mere moments before had nearly finished him, leaving him at only a fraction of his actual strength. "However, I'm quite curious as to what makes you think you'll be able to stop me? Hehe. Wherever you've been, biding your time, cowering in shame and fear, I'm afraid you've missed out on my entire tournament. And as such, you have absolutely no idea what I'm capable of in this new form!"

"Hah!" Vegeta laughed out loud. "Your ridiculous assumptions are laughably pathetic, as if any true Saiyan would flee battle rather than stand and fight. I'd have expected a being claiming to have my DNA inside of him to be above such menial insults. Then again, you always were blindly in love with your so-called perfection, weren't you?" The Saiyan paused a moment, considering how best to humiliate the monster. "How stunned you must have been when a mere child surpassed your precious perfection. I wish I could have seen your face!"

"Tch," Cell snarled, clenching his fists. "Insolent fool. Not even the strength of that so-called Ascended Super Saiyan was a match for my design. Just look at him, now. I'd say Gohan is just where he belongs...with his face...in the mud!" Cell laughed triumphantly, all the while being inwardly terrified. "Surely you're not fool enough to think YOU can defeat me?"

"Oh, but I can," the prince reaffirmed himself smugly. "Or are you simply so frightened that you're afraid to sense out my energy?"

Cell frowned, hating that his boasts were proving completely ineffective. Obviously, the bio-android could detect all of Vegeta's strength. Not even he could deny that the prince's power far surpassed his own. Still, there had to be some mistake!

"Darn it!" The monster schemed. 'I thought of everything, every possible scenario! How could this have happened?!' His inner complaints were useless, he knew. Until now, he'd stayed at least one step ahead of the Z fighters. Before this exact moment, everything had been completely under control-within reason. Gohan might have worried him for a while, but through trickery and deception Cell had known he would triumph. 'So what can I do...against THIS?' he inwardly cowered. 'The only way I can be defeated is for every atom of my body to be destroyed...but Vegeta now has the power to do just that!'