Chapter Summaries

Goku and the others captured Dr. Gero and flew toward Red Ribbon Army Headquarters, but he threatened them with stronger Androids that could destroy Earth. Yamcha revealed that Dr. Gero had stolen He-El’s artificial intelligence technology, and Dr. Gero offered to increase their strength tenfold to avoid being taken to He-El.

• Goku and the others carried the defeated Android 19 and Dr. Gero toward Red Ribbon Army Headquarters while Dr. Gero cursed them and threatened them with his remaining Androids.
• Goku, Vegeta, and Piccolo discussed the danger of Android 17 and Android 18, while Vegeta vowed to become strong enough to defeat them alone.
• Tien Shinhan demanded the location of Dr. Gero’s Android Base, but Dr. Gero refused to reveal it and insisted his Androids would destroy Earth.
• Vegeta asked Krillin to bring Dr. Gero over so he could kill him, but Goku stopped him.
• Yamcha told Dr. Gero that He-El could extract his memories and discover his secrets, making Dr. Gero fear being taken to He-El.
• Dr. Gero offered to increase their strength tenfold if they spared him from He-El.

Trunks killed Dr. Gero in the Red Ribbon Army headquarters, but He-El reprimanded him for destroying a potential source of information about the Android Base. Trunks took Dr. Gero’s damaged AI chip to the research department to search for the base’s location.

• Dr. Gero tried to bargain with Goku and the others by promising increased power and other benefits, but they ignored him as they carried him to Red Ribbon Army Headquarters.
• Trunks transformed into Super Saiyan 5 and cut Dr. Gero in half in front of He-El and the gathered group.
• He-El asked Trunks whether he knew where Dr. Gero’s Android Base was, and Trunks admitted that he did not.
• Trunks claimed he could kill Android 17 and Android 18 when they appeared, but He-El told him to recover Dr. Gero’s damaged AI chip and have the research department search it for clues.
• Trunks retrieved the chip from Dr. Gero’s brain and took it to the Red Ribbon Army Research Department.

After the Androids were defeated, Vegeta asked He-El to let him keep training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber so he could catch up to Goku. He-El revealed that the chamber had no time limit but warned that extended training consumed their lifespans, and Vegeta left to seek more training while Goku asked about the future Androids.

• Trunks took Dr. Gero's artificial intelligence chip to the Red Ribbon Army for analysis, while He-El had soldiers take away Android 19's and Dr. Gero's bodies.
• Vegeta asked whether he could enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber again, and He-El revealed that he and Kami had removed its lifetime limit.
• He-El warned that time spent in the chamber shortened their lifespans and could strain their minds, but Vegeta said he would accept the cost to catch up with Goku and the others.
• He-El told Vegeta he would not stop him, and Vegeta used Instant Transmission to return to Kami's Lookout and request more training.
• Goku asked He-El whether the Androids Trunks had mentioned were really that powerful.

He-El warned Goku and the others that Dr. Gero’s hidden Androids were too strong for them, so they went to train in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He then asked Trunks to show him the time machine, but Trunks refused, convinced He-El might interfere with his plans to change the future.

• He-El judged that Androids 17 and 18 would overwhelm the fighters, and Goku, Piccolo, Tien Shinhan, Yamcha, Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Puar asked to train.
• He-El let the fighters enter the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and warned them to watch Vegeta, whose obsession with becoming stronger was unsettling his mind.
• He-El called Trunks away from analyzing Dr. Gero’s AI chips and asked to see his time machine.
• Trunks refused to let He-El near the time machine and suspected that He-El wanted to use it to return to an earlier point and recruit Dr. Gero.

He-El hypnotized Trunks into showing him the time machine and used his left eye to study the rules of Trunks’s Parallel Universe. He offered to travel there and fight the evil He-El, but his explanation that Trunks could not change his own past drove Trunks to despair.

• He-El hypnotized Trunks and ordered him to lead the way to his time machine.
• Trunks brought He-El to the time machine hidden in a simulated cave, then woke and tried to attack him when He-El touched it.
• He-El stopped Trunks’s sword with a finger and studied the time machine and Trunks with his left eye, discovering that Trunks’s universe held less information than his own.
• He-El said he could visit Trunks’s universe and help defeat the evil He-El because he wanted to examine its underlying rules.
• He-El told Trunks that the past he wanted to change belonged to a different universe and could not be undone, and Trunks collapsed in anguish, unable to accept that his mother and friends were dead.

Trunks broke down over the deaths of his family, and He-El explained that the Trunks and He-El of his universe were connected to this one through a Parallel Universe split. He-El agreed to help Trunks confront the danger in his universe after they dealt with the Androids, while a search revealed a machine matching the time machine in West Forest.

• Trunks collapsed in grief over his mother and everyone else being killed by his father, and He-El ordered the Red Ribbon Army to search for Cell and missing humans.
• He-El told Trunks that his father was an incomplete duplicate of He-El created by a Parallel Universe split, and Trunks said he could tell the two were different.
• Trunks asked He-El to help solve the trouble in his universe, and He-El agreed after they handled the Android problem in the main universe.
• The Red Ribbon Army surveillance chief reported that satellite scans had detected a machine matching Trunks's time machine in West Forest.

He-El found Cell’s time machine in West Forest and explained to Trunks that another version of him had arrived in this universe four years earlier. Evidence of Cell’s presence and years of human disappearances left He-El suspecting that Cell had been secretly absorbing people.

• He-El received the Red Ribbon Army’s report that a time machine had been detected in West Forest and took Trunks to investigate.
• He-El uncovered a second time machine identical to Trunks’s and explained that another Trunks from a different parallel universe had arrived four years earlier.
• A Red Ribbon Army brigadier general reported a sharp rise in disappearances, and He-El ordered increased satellite surveillance of cities.
• He-El found Cell’s shed shell near the time machine and told Trunks that its biological data could be detected inside it.
• He-El concluded that Cell had come to this universe and had likely been secretly absorbing humans for years.

Trunks discovered that Cell had killed his counterpart in another Parallel Universe before traveling to this world, where he had secretly devoured more than 2.8 million people. He-El sent Trunks to track down the monster, and their flight back to Red Ribbon Army Headquarters brought Trunks closer to calling He-El Dad.

• Trunks examined Cell’s shed shell and the time machine, finding evidence that Cell had killed his counterpart inside it.
• He-El revealed that an average of seven hundred thousand people had disappeared each year since Cell arrived four years earlier, and Trunks blamed himself for the deaths.
• He-El told Trunks that he was the true original sin and urged him to deal with Cell, lifting Trunks’s resolve to fight the monster.
• He-El instructed Trunks to have the Red Ribbon Army identify the cities with the most rapidly increasing disappearances and to bring the time machine and shell for study.
• Trunks packed the time machine and shell into a Hoi-Poi Capsule storage unit and flew with He-El toward Red Ribbon Army Headquarters.
• He-El teased Trunks about wanting to call him Dad, and Trunks turned away with a slight smile.

Trunks tracked the mass disappearances to Guagua City and confronted Cell, who revealed that he had come from another timeline to absorb Android 17 and Android 18. Cell escaped Trunks's attack by turning transparent and vanished, leaving Trunks with the name He-El Cell.

• Brigadier White Bear reported that more than twenty thousand people had disappeared in Guagua City, and Trunks flew there to investigate.
• Trunks studied the missing-person cases and searched the city with his Ki for nearly thirty-five hours before locating Cell in an eastern slum alley.
• Trunks saw Cell absorb a person through his tail and realized Cell was behind the disappearances.
• Cell told Trunks that he had killed and absorbed the Trunks of his own world, stolen a time machine, and planned to absorb Android 17 and Android 18.
• Trunks transformed into Super Saiyan 5 and slashed at Cell, but Cell turned transparent and escaped while taunting Trunks and calling himself He-El Cell.

Trunks reported that the multiversal creature Cell, also called He-El Cell, was hunting Android 17 and Android 18 to perfect himself. He-El gathered the recently trained fighters and led them toward Dr. Gero's Android Base before Cell could reach the Androids.

• Trunks searched Guagua City for Cell, then received word from He-El that the Red Ribbon Army had discovered the Android Base's location.
• Trunks told He-El that Cell came from another universe, had devoured over three million people, and intended to absorb Android 17 and Android 18; he also revealed Cell's name was He-El Cell.
• He-El told Trunks to join Goku and the others, who had completed another two years of training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.
• Vegeta declared that he had surpassed the Super Saiyan and challenged Goku to fight after they dealt with the Androids.
• He-El led Goku, Vegeta, Trunks, and the others southwest of South City to reach Dr. Gero's Android Base before Cell could devour Android 17 and Android 18.

He-El and the others found Dr. Gero’s hidden Android Base and awakened Android 16, Android 17, and Android 18. Android 18 announced her plan to kill He-El and conquer the world, and Vegeta attacked her to defend him.

• Trunks exposed the concealed entrance to the Android Base, and the group destroyed its defensive gun emplacements.
• Vegeta tore open the steel doors, causing the Androids’ chambers to open and release Android 17, Android 18, and Android 16.
• Trunks recognized Android 17 and Android 18 as the ones who had destroyed his future world.
• Android 18 said Dr. Gero was dead, but declared that she would kill He-El and fulfill Gero’s wish to conquer the world.
• Vegeta stepped in front of He-El and fired a beam at Android 18.

Android 17 and Android 18 emerged from the Android Base and fought Goku, Vegeta, Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Puar while Tien and Yamcha supported them. Trunks intercepted Cell, and an unseen figure entered the base as He-El watched.

• Lazuli deflected Vegeta’s blast, and the fighters prepared to battle while He-El told Trunks to watch for Cell and said he would guard against his parallel-universe counterpart.
• Tien activated Three Heads and Six Arms Mode, Yamcha powered up with Spirit Manipulation God Mode, and Krillin fused his strength with Chiaotzu and Puar.
• Lapis and Lazuli left the base, and Lapis attacked Goku and Vegeta while Lazuli confronted Krillin and rejected his attempt to avoid a fight.
• Tien and Yamcha assisted their allies as the group struggled against the Androids and kept watch for Android 16.
• Cell appeared and Trunks blocked his approach, while an unseen figure entered the Android Base and bowed to He-El.

Cell appeared to offer Trunks an alliance, but Trunks and Tien Shinhan attacked him over his crimes. Trunks destroyed Cell, only to realize it was a clone that had stalled him while a massive energy surge erupted from the Android Base.

• Cell flew openly toward Trunks and claimed he wanted to help fight Android 17 Lapis and Android 18 Lazuli.
• Trunks and Tien Shinhan rejected Cell’s offer because he had secretly devoured nearly three million humans.
• Android 18 Lazuli struck a distracted Krillin, and Yamcha joined Krillin, Chiaotzu, and Puar in fighting her.
• Trunks transformed into Super Saiyan 5 while Tien Shinhan used destruction beams to help him attack Cell.
• Trunks cut Cell apart, but the dying clone revealed it had stalled him while Cell’s real plan unfolded.
• A huge energy surge erupted from the Android Base, followed by Cell’s wild laughter.

Cell entered the Android Base to devour the embryo grown from He-El's genes and become He-El's true son. After overpowering Android 16, Cell swallowed the embryo and laughed in triumph.

• Cell slipped invisibly into the Android Base after He-El let him go, convinced that He-El acknowledged him as his son.
• Cell encountered Android 16, who sensed his evil and refused to let him reach the base's deepest chamber.
• Cell split into four bodies and attacked Android 16, with three restraining him while the fourth rushed deeper into the base.
• Cell shattered the embryo's cultivation tank, swallowed the embryo, and laughed triumphantly.

Cell destroyed the Android Base and absorbed the embryo containing He-El’s genes, evolving into Ultimate Cell. He-El doubted Cell’s claim of superiority and predicted that the others would defeat him.

• Cell’s explosion destroyed the Android Base and hurled Android 16 into the sky as Goku, Vegeta, and the others watched.
• Trunks realized Cell had used a clone to distract him and Tien Shinhan while absorbing his own embryo in the Android Base.
• Cell explained that Dr. Gero had intended Android 17 Lapis and Android 18 Lazuli to be his nourishment, but He-El’s genes let him surpass his perfect state.
• Cell declared himself Ultimate Cell and bowed to He-El, claiming he had surpassed his father.
• He-El told Cell that he believed the others would defeat him, leaving Cell staring at him in disbelief.

Vegeta challenged Perfect Cell, confident that his Hyperbolic Time Chamber training had made him the strongest. After Cell easily read and countered his Super Saiyan attacks with a third eye, Vegeta powered up into Super Saiyan 2.

• Cell questioned who could rival his Perfect Form, and Vegeta confidently volunteered to fight him.
• Vegeta transformed into a Super Saiyan and attacked Cell with punches and Ki blasts, but Cell dodged and blocked them with ease.
• Cell opened a third eye and used its perception to track Vegeta's movements, alarming the fighters who recognized the Three-Eyed People ability.
• Goku offered to help, but Vegeta ordered him to stay out of his battle.
• Vegeta roared and transformed into Super Saiyan 2.

Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan 2 and overwhelmed Cell with a brutal attack in space, but Cell instantly recovered using a technique Piccolo recognized as his own. Cell claimed his genes let him perfect the technique and prepared to reveal his true power.

• Vegeta transformed into Super Saiyan 2, astonishing Goku, the other fighters, the androids, and Trunks.
• Cell challenged Vegeta, who struck him hard enough to send him into space and then battered him until his body was mangled.
• Cell used Flesh Time to restore himself instantly, leaving Vegeta and the others stunned.
• Piccolo recognized Cell’s recovery technique as one he had developed but never demonstrated.
• Cell said his genes let him use the Namekian technique perfectly and declared, “I am the Super Saiyan!”

Cell transformed into a Super Saiyan whose power and control surpassed the others, forcing the fighters to abandon their individual battles and unite against him. Android 18, Lazuli, agreed that she, Android 17, Lapis, and Android 16 would join the fight, leaving the group ready to face Cell together.

• Cell transformed into a Super Saiyan and shocked Goku and Vegeta with his immense, perfectly controlled power.
• Tien Shinhan ordered the fighters to combine their strongest attacks and kill Cell, and Piccolo and Goku insisted that Vegeta stop fighting alone.
• Goku transformed into a Super Saiyan while Yamcha gathered Ki for Spirit Manipulation God Mode.
• Krillin asked Android 18, Lazuli, and her allies to help, warning that Cell might devour them after defeating the others.
• Android 18, Lazuli, agreed to cooperate with Krillin, and Android 16 said Cell had to die.

Vegeta’s Super Saiyan 2 attack failed against Cell, whose precise control of his body and Ki gave him overwhelming strength. Goku and the others attacked together, but Cell remained uninjured, so Krillin launched a Destructo Disc at him.

• Cell met Vegeta’s punch and dislocated his arm, sending him flying back to Goku.
• Vegeta explained that Cell’s Super Saiyan 1 form surpassed his Super Saiyan 2 and that Cell had begun mastering complete bodily control.
• Goku, Piccolo, Vegeta, and the others attacked Cell together, but he kept up with their numbers and rebounded their attacks.
• Piccolo realized Cell had already perfected the physical-rebounding technique Piccolo was still developing.
• Krillin gathered Ki with help from Puar and Chiaotzu, then hurled a Destructo Disc at Cell as the fighters moved aside.

Cell’s Perfect Destructo Disc killed Krillin and Puar, and the enraged fighters battled him in the Dark Universe. After Tien Shinhan died destroying Cell’s third eye and Android 16 sacrificed himself in an explosion, Yamcha trapped Cell inside Spirit Manipulation God Mode and detonated all its accumulated Ki.

• Cell split Krillin’s Destructo Disc, then his returning Perfect Destructo Disc cut through Puar’s transformed armor and killed Krillin and Puar.
• Goku transformed into Super Saiyan 2, while Yamcha powered up Spirit Manipulation God Mode, and the others joined the attack on Cell.
• Tien Shinhan destroyed Cell’s third eye with his own before Cell fatally pierced his chest with a beam.
• Android 16 grabbed Cell and self-destructed, but Piccolo sensed that Cell had survived the explosion.
• Yamcha enlarged Spirit Manipulation God Mode around Cell and detonated all the Ki he had accumulated as the others retreated.