In space, a golden Destructo Disc shrieked as it tore through the vacuum, hurtling straight toward Son Gohan's face.
At the last possible moment,
a huge hand covered in red fur shot out at an angle that defied the laws of physics. It crushed the rapidly spinning Destructo Disc in its grip, which let out a shrill hiss.
The vicious grin on Cell's face froze. The wild monkey had already been completely spent. Where had he gotten the strength to do that?
No one was there to explain.
Boom!
The crimson aura that had gone out around Son Gohan suddenly flared up again like a fire doused in oil, surging through the vacuum. A green, spherical aura enveloped him once more.
A thick tail covered in wild red fur now hung behind him. It lashed through the void like a steel whip.
At the same time, Son Gohan reached into his belt with his left hand, pulled out a plump Senzu Bean, and tossed it into his mouth. He chewed it up and swallowed. It was a habit he'd picked up while training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, where he always kept a Senzu Bean on hand.
Crack!
As the Senzu Bean reached his stomach, the charred hole in his chest healed in an instant, visible to the naked eye.
On Earth,
beep beep beep!
Android 16's emotionless voice rang out again. "Son Gohan's energy levels have recovered! They're stable at eight quadrillion!"
Just half a minute earlier,
on Earth, at the edge of an uninhabited desert,
Son Goku had gathered the last Dragon Ball. All seven Dragon Balls came together, glowing with pulses of resonant light.
"Come forth, Shenron!" Goku roared at the sky.
Dark clouds instantly blanketed the heavens, and golden lightning tore across the sky. A massive green dragon spiraled up from the Dragon Balls, its enormous body obscuring half the sky.
"State your wish." Shenron's dignified voice boomed across the land.
"Shenron! Hurry and make Gohan's tail grow back! Please, hurry!" Goku urgently pointed toward the sky.
Shenron's red, slit-pupiled eyes glinted faintly.
"That is a simple wish. It has already been granted."
In space,
Son Gohan floated in the void, feeling the boundless, raging power within him. Not a trace of it was slipping away anymore. The moment his tail had been restored, he had finally perfected his Super Saiyan 4 form.
He rolled his neck, his joints cracking with an unpleasant pop. His golden, slit-pupiled eyes fixed on Golden Cell.
"Sorry to disappoint you, Cell." Son Gohan grinned wildly. "You won't be getting to crack open any monkey skulls today. But you can still have some roasted green bug."
Cell stared at Son Gohan, whose energy had once again overwhelmed him. Disbelief filled his eyes.
"How is this possible?! You were on the verge of death! What happened?!"
"Take a guess." Son Gohan sneered. "This is the end, Cell. I told you from the start: you were nothing more than a stepping stone on my path to becoming stronger, a tool to help me improve."
Those words hit Cell right where it hurt.
As the ultimate perfect being who had traversed countless timelines and devoured countless alternate versions of himself, he had a pride of his own.
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!!!"
Cell completely lost it, his features contorting. He knew he had once again missed his only chance to kill Son Gohan. Now that his opponent was back at full strength, there was no way he could win.
If he couldn't win, then he would destroy everything!
"You forced me to do this!"
Cell suddenly turned away, abandoning Son Gohan. He quickly brought his hands together at his waist and aimed toward Earth.
"Son Gohan! Aren't you supposed to protect them?! I'll blow everything on Earth to cosmic dust right along with them!"
Cell's body began to swell. A dazzling blue light gathered furiously in his palms. He had wrung out every last bit of energy from his cells, even sacrificing his life force to unleash his strongest attack.
"Die! Kamehameha!!!"
A thick blue beam, powerful enough to swallow the entire Earth, shot forth with the force to annihilate everything!
Son Gohan's gaze darkened.
"The only one who's going to die is you!"
He flashed in front of the attack, quickly bringing his hands together before him in the same stance.
Amid the raging crimson aura, waves of pure energy gathered in his palms, blazing with dazzling blue-green light. It was the ultimate combination of Massive Meteor, compressed to its limits, and the Kamehameha's terrifying explosive power. A super attack that combined the two.
"Massive Kamehameha!"
Boom!
"Haahhh!" With a roar, an enormous beam of golden-green energy blasted from Son Gohan's hands.
The two world-ending attacks collided with tremendous force in the vacuum beyond Earth.
All of outer space warped violently in that instant.
On Earth, everyone stared up in shock. The sky, which had gone dark when Shenron appeared, was now brilliantly illuminated by a blinding light, blue on one side and golden-green on the other.
"Go to hell, Cell!!!"
Son Gohan roared so fiercely that it seemed to shatter the void, then thrust his massive arms forward.
An absolute overpowering: eight quadrillion against six and a half quadrillion!
The blue-green beam tore through Cell's Kamehameha in an instant and barreled forward with unstoppable force, swallowing Golden Cell whole.
"No!!! I am absolutely perfect...!!!"
Cell's scream cut off amid the energy's searing assault.
Under the Massive Kamehameha, even Cell's nucleus was completely vaporized in an instant. Not a single atom remained.
The energy storm spread wildly through space, shaking the stars. Several distant asteroids were swept into dust by the shock waves. Earth's atmosphere was stripped away in places, triggering dazzling auroras across the globe.
The light gradually faded.
Space fell silent once more.
Son Gohan floated in the void like an ancient god of war, still in his Super Saiyan 4 form as he scanned the empty space before him.
He was completely gone.
Not even a trace of his ki remained.
Son Gohan finally relaxed his taut nerves. He looked down at the wild red tail behind him and let out a long breath of relief.
"I won, but that was way too close."
Son Gohan reviewed what had happened. When it came down to it, he'd been too reckless. If Goku hadn't come through at the crucial moment and summoned Shenron in time to make the wish, he really would have died today.
He absolutely couldn't take risks like that again. Even a lion gave a rabbit its full strength; villains died from talking too much, while heroes died from showing off. The wisdom of the ancients had never failed him.
Earth.
All was silent.
Everyone gazed up as the dazzling fireworks of energy in the sky gradually faded.
Beep beep beep.
Android 16's eyes flickered a few times. His voice sounded especially clear in the silence. "Cell's energy signature has completely disappeared. Son Gohan has won."
There was a second of silence.
Then everything erupted!
"We won! We really won!" Young Trunks dropped to the ground, tears streaming down his face. Laughing and crying, he clenched his fists and shouted at the sky, "Mom... everyone... that monster's dead! Big brother Gohan avenged you!"
Future Trunks' eyes were red, too. Though the grudge belonged to another timeline, he still felt it as if it were his own.
Vegeta snorted and turned away, but the corners of his mouth were curling up wildly, no matter how hard he tried to suppress them. "Tch, that brat was lucky. But Super Saiyan 4... Hmph, one day I'll reach that level, too!"
Piccolo let out a long breath, his green face finally regaining its color. He looked up at the sky, his eyes full of relief.
Goku returned to Kid Gohan's side with the Dragon Balls via Instant Transmission. He collapsed onto a pile of rubble and grinned like an idiot. "That was amazing! Gohan's unbelievably strong! I can barely resist challenging him to another fight right now!"
Kid Gohan could only laugh helplessly at that.
There was just as much rejoicing at Turtle Hermit House.
Krillin excitedly grabbed Yamcha and bounced around with him. "We survived! We made it! Long live Gohan!"
Tien Shinhan unclenched his fist, which had gone white from squeezing it so hard, and let out a long breath. A smile touched his lips. Chiaotzu clapped happily beside him.
Bulma wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes and broke into a smile. "Thank goodness! That scared me half to death."
Master Roshi also set down the bottles and jars in his hands. A glint flashed across his sunglasses.
While everyone was celebrating, two sneaky figures cautiously poked their heads out from a corner of the ruins of Kami's Palace.
"Hey, Yajirobe, is that monster really dead?" Korin leaned on his wooden staff, his whiskers quivering as he cautiously looked around.
"Of course! I can't sense a trace of ki." Yajirobe emerged from behind the rubble with a sword in his arms, brushing the dust off himself. "I told you, with Goku and Gohan around, Earth would be fine. Hiding down there was the smartest move we could've made. Otherwise, the shock waves from the fight would've turned us into mince."
Back when Cell's aura had brought down Korin Tower, the cat and the man had immediately taken off and hidden in the deepest crack they could find. They had only dared to come out now.
But while everyone else was lost in the joy of having survived the disaster,
high above the former site of Kami's Palace,
a dark figure stood perfectly still.
Popo's round, expressionless eyes watched Son Gohan in space. He didn't cheer like the others, nor did he show the slightest change in emotion.
Popo simply watched in silence, his eyes as deep as a dry well, lost in thought.
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