Earth
"So strong… so strong this power is incredible!" Cell stared at his own body in delighted shock.
"Hahaha! Son Goku, you're finished!" His laughter rolled across the shattered shore.
The pressure of his aura stunned the onlookers; eyes went wide all around.
"Damn SSJ2 already?" Raditz and Nappa gasped.
"Tch. Let that freak beat me to Super Saiyan Two… how disgraceful," Vegeta snorted.
"Dad, are you still going to fight?"
In a blink Gohan instant-transmitted to Goku's side.
"Gohan, I want to try. If I keep pushing in battle, maybe I can break through!" Goku's fighting spirit was burning just as hot Cell's terrifying power only stoked the fire.
Gohan's sword-straight brows lifted, then eased.
"Alright. Be careful."
He was worried, but the feeling evaporated just as quickly; right now he could flatten Cell if he had to. If things went south, he'd step in instantly. He focused, senses sharp on the field.
"Cell, mind if I take a Senzu Bean?" After the extended bout, Goku's stamina was frayed. Facing someone with double his power while exhausted was suicide. Normally his martial pride would never ask but for a breakthrough, he'd bend the rule. He knew Gohan wanted Cell to be their whetstone; he wouldn't waste the chance.
"Do as you like." With power came arrogance Cell's composure swelled again.
Crunch. Gohan flicked a bean into Goku's hand.
The moment it hit Goku's stomach, his ki surged
his 18 billion spiked to 20 billion. Three years of hard training roared to life.
Gohan had the faint sense that one true brush with death would be enough to tip his father into SSJ2. But right now Cell could kill him in a heartbeat. Gohan didn't dare relax; his gaze never left the fight.
"Come on!" Goku set his stance.
"Heh. Go ahead come at me," Cell crooked a finger.
Goku blurred into a golden arc and crashed in.
Whssht clang!
Arms folded, Cell smirked down at the elbow Goku drove into his abdomen. He didn't budge. Not an inch.
"Danger !"
A chill snapped up Goku's spine. He backflipped away in rapid succession, exiting Cell's range.
"Oh? You felt that?" Cell smiled thinly. He'd been about to strike; Goku slipped it by a hair.
"Cell… looks like I can't do much to you," Goku admitted with a wry grimace.
"Too late to surrender, Son Goku. I'm paying you back every last ounce of the humiliation you gave me." Cell's face twisted; rage detonated.
Ziiip BOOM!
Goku pinwheeled through the air, blood bursting from his mouth. Cell was already on him.
"Don't !" Goku forced his body to move, flash-stepping clear only to feel that same cold breath at his nape again.
"Goku, behind you!" Krillin shouted.
With the warning Goku warped again and again Cell was there, a shadow on his back no matter where he moved.
Realizing he was outmatched, Goku dropped to the ground.
"I can't beat you. I wanted to use you to break my limit… guess I was dreaming." He said it lightly then straightened as Cell blurred in.
"Dream on. I don't allow you to forfeit fight!" Cell snarled, striking first.
BOOM!
Goku was blasted end over end.
"Cell, that's enough!" Gohan snapped, instant-transmitting into Cell's path.
Goku had taken a brutal hit.
"Kh… he's strong," Goku coughed, spitting blood as he pushed up.
Seeing Gohan appear, a sly curl tugged Cell's lip. "Son Goku! You want a breakthrough? I'll help. From what I just learned, rage is a catalyst." He swung a palm toward Krillin.
Krillin's body jerked into the air as if on strings.
"Cell, STOP!" Goku's eyes bulged; panic carved his voice raw.
"Goku !" For an instant Krillin saw King Yemma's gates.
BOOM.
Krillin exploded into a red haze meat and cloth.
"Cell!" Goku roared. Fire lit in his eyes.
Power detonated out of him.
Lightning. Shockwaves. The sky went black.
His hair spiked higher, every muscle coiling tight.
"Die die DIE aaAAAAAAH!" Like a cornered beast, Goku threw back his head and howled. Memory flashed their training under Master Roshi, sprinting with turtle shells…
His ki vaulted from 20 billion to 40 billion in a heartbeat.
The fury, the killing intent, burned his reason to ash.
Step… step…
He walked toward Cell, every footfall heavy.
BAM!
They met fist to fist and the backlash shredded everything nearby. The ground went to wasteland.
Silently, Gohan eased back from the field.
With his power, he could have stopped Cell a moment earlier. But then he thought Cell was forcing Goku's breakthrough. So he held his hand.
Krillin offered up to the plot gods may the power be great.
Fate, once set, proved hard to outrun.
Goku mind gone red fought like a madman. His strength finally matched Cell's, but his style turned reckless, trading flesh for flesh, life for life. Even fiercer than Vegeta at his wildest.
Bam-bam-bam-bam!
Their clash thundered across the sky.
"Fate… is it really inescapable?" Watching Krillin's "sacrifice," Gohan's chest filled with a tangle of feelings. Doubt gnawed.
What about my fate? Why did I come to this world? Is someone pulling strings behind me?
He no longer watched the fight lost in the fog of his thoughts.
Ziiip BOOM!
Goku and Cell's battle hit full blaze; Earth itself stood steady as a mountain.
"DIE!" Goku's eyes saw nothing but Cell.
"Kill me if you can!" Cell bellowed back, meeting him head-on.
Their aftershocks heaved the sea into walls of water. The others had to fall back yet again, the gale peeling at their clothes
All but Vegeta, who stood his ground, arms folded, watching with glacial eyes.
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