Earth
Arms crossed, knees bent, Son Goku ignited gold light flared, a storm of ki tearing across the island. For a heartbeat he looked less like a man and more like a god wrapped in golden fire.
His base potential hadn't fully converted into raw battle power yet, but the aura? Even flashier than the prince's. The fighting intent in his eyes felt hot enough to melt through steel.
"You're not my match. Let Vegeta come back," Cell said, unimpressed after sensing Goku's ki.
"Heh… don't be so sure. I'll catch up in a snap! Yaaaah!"
Goku roared again his ki spiked. Raditz and Nappa flicked on their earbud scouters.
"5.6 billion… 7… 8… ten billion!" Raditz gulped.
"Hmph. Called it," Vegeta said, like he'd expected this all along.
Old man, still sandbagging… I'd almost believe you cracked Super Saiyan Two already, Gohan thought, surprised despite himself.
"Oh? As expected of Son Goku. Now I'm interested," Cell said, his own fighting spirit rising.
Thanks to the senzu, his strength had jumped but not insanely. From 15 billion to 20 billion was already monstrous. Vegeta's leap from 4 to 14 billion made sense three years of grinding had finally paid out mid-fight. Cell had just been "born"; he didn't have that stored-up foundation yet, even if his potential was terrifying.
"Fight," Cell said and moved first.
He blurred in and hammered a short, snapping punch at Goku, the air warping around his fist. Goku reacted on instinct: both palms pressed down on Cell's forearm, he vaulted lightly, flipped over Cell's back, and scythed a low sweep across the shin.
Thud!
Cell's base wobbled he pitched to the side. Goku didn't let him breathe; a tight rising uppercut cracked into Cell's jaw and popped him upright again only to send him listing the other way
"YAH!"
Goku finished the string with a point-blank shockwave, an invisible blast that launched Cell skidding.
Round one to Goku outgunned on paper, but the execution was clean.
"Ridiculous. Cleaner than the prince's form," Nappa blurted.
BOOM
Cell exploded out of the rubble, blasting aside the stones pinning him. "Son Goku… you're good." He spat grit and blood, face twisted Goku's silky string had offered him no time to think.
"We're just getting started."
Once a fight began, Goku's IQ shot through the roof. Kame-Sen'nin's fundamentals, the years at Kami's palace his base was ironclad. He didn't have to "decide"; the best option flowed from him without thought.
Watching his father, Gohan's jaw tightened. Same tier, I'm not sure I could react that perfectly. Real martial arts aren't a shortcut.
Vegeta attacked like a spear plan the second strike as the first landed. Goku fought like water guard, smother, counter, win on response. That took depth.
No wonder Whis, in another future, judged them the way he did. Goku learning Ultra Instinct wasn't luck; it was layers of craft.
The brawl rolled on.
For Cell, it was miserable nothing like the slugfest with Vegeta. Heavy, meaty punches meant nothing if they never connected. He whipped a right hook at Goku's head; Goku dipped a hair, the fist combed his bangs and Goku slid in a half-step and rammed an elbow into Cell's gut.
"Get off me!"
Cell snarled, detonated his aura, and blasted Goku away. Goku only got more amped. He flipped midair, dove, and heel-kicked down
"Enough!"
Cell flickered aside. Goku speared straight into the ground.
KRUMP!
Goku blinked, then blew his ki and rocketed back up only for Cell, finally with a window, to jam both hands forward.
"Kikōhō!"
Cell copied Tien's Tri-Beam no travel time, no arc, just impact.
WHAM
A perfect square crater yawed open; Goku was driven into the earth. Cell didn't follow up. Instead, Goku's ringcraft had hooked him he wanted to learn.
"Son Goku! Get out here. I know you're fine," Cell barked down into the pit.
The wind hissed. No answer.
"If you won't come out, I'll come in." Cell scowled and dived.
What was Goku doing?
The instant Cell dropped, the island shuddered.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!
Dozens of detonations chained together. Blue aftershock geysered up through the ground.
"Yesss nailed it!"
Goku erupted from another tunnel and whooped.
When the Tri-Beam had spiked him underground, he'd landed in a limestone cavern. He'd peppered it with dozens of little ki charges, slipped out a side passage, and smothered his ki to nothing. As he'd guessed, Cell couldn't resist charging down the main shaft. One brush against a glowing bead boom and the entire minefield went off.
"You dirty cheat!" Cell howled, staggering out of the sinkhole. His black wings were in tatters; one leg was gone; his face was streaked gray with dust an absolute mess.
"How am I cheating? You're just slow." Goku's sunny grin somehow stung worse than Vegeta's baiting.
"I'm done playing. Son Goku die!"
Rage blew the governor off. Cell vaulted high, cupped his hands the Kamehameha stance.
"Hey, hey c'mon, don't flip the table that fast!" Goku protested.
"Heh. Dodge this if you can. This shot wipes the Earth. I've got Frieza's genes I can breathe in space. Kaaa… meee…"
All twenty billion in Cell's frame surged to his palms.
"Damn. Right now I can't stop that head-on," Goku grimaced.
"Relax, Dad! Shenron reinforced the planet. He's not blowing it up. He's dreaming if he thinks so." Gohan's voice carried up, dry as dust.
"Ohhh? In that case…"
Goku flashed straight into Cell's face, palms opening near his brow.
"Solar Flare!"
White stabbed the world. Cell's vision went blank; stabbing pain slammed his eyes and the charge winked out.
It wasn't that he couldn't fire; he'd heard Gohan too. If he couldn't crack the planet, then Goku wouldn't take it head-on. Forcing the beam now would just waste energy.
Which was exactly why Goku had the nerve to rush him he'd already read the decision tree and knew Cell would abort.
Fighting isn't just power; it's psychology. And in a fight, Goku's brain runs hot. One throwaway line from Gohan, and he'd mapped Cell's next move perfectly.
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