Son Goku vs. Cell

When Son Goku and Piccolo arrived, Cell opened his eyes above the arena, a teasing smile on his face.

Sunlight streamed through the clouds, shining over Cell's beetle-spotted carapace.

Son Goku leaped straight down from midair onto the arena, landing directly in front of Cell.

Cell looked at Son Goku, the golden-haired figure reflected in his pupils.

The two drew closer and closer, their toes nearly touching, with less than a fist's distance between their foreheads.

A savage grin curled across Cell's lips as he spoke in a low, mocking voice.

"Son Goku, coming to die this early? The ten days aren't up yet."

Son Goku's expression remained unchanged as he replied calmly.

"That's enough. Even if we wait until then, there won't be much improvement. We might as well start now."

As his words fell, the aura around his already upright golden hair surged violently.

Super Saiyan at full power erupted without restraint. Golden light flickered around his body, the stone tiles beneath his feet cracking inch by inch under the pressure of his aura, while shattered stones floated upward against gravity.

The entire arena trembled faintly.

Cell's gaze sharpened, and he flared his own energy to meet him.

The two figures vanished from where they stood at the same time.

The next instant, the first sonic boom exploded above the arena.

Two golden auras interweaved wildly. Every frozen frame would have been a suffocating instant of combat.

Son Goku threw a straight punch at Cell's face. Cell tilted his head to evade it, while his knee was already driving upward. Son Goku pulled in his abdomen to avoid it, then smashed an elbow into Cell's shoulder.

Cell grunted but did not retreat. His tail whipped around from the side, coiling around Son Goku's ankle before yanking hard.

Son Goku was pulled off balance, but he used the force to flip in midair, driving his other foot viciously into Cell's chest.

Both men retreated at once, each carving several deep grooves across the arena.

Before they had even regained their footing, they charged at each other again.

Fist met fist. The dull booms of their clashes merged into one, while deafening blasts of compressed air erupted everywhere.

Suddenly, one of Cell's heavy punches broke through Son Goku's guard and slammed into his chest.

The force punched straight through him, sending Son Goku flying backward toward the edge of the arena.

In the distance, Krillin shot to his feet, a cry catching in his throat before it could escape.

Son Goku forcibly twisted his waist in midair, executed a backflip, and landed steadily at the edge of the arena. He stood on the outermost stone tile, with the boundary of the martial arts arena directly behind him. One more step would count as a loss.

"That was close, that was close."

Son Goku grinned.

He gave Cell no chance to press the attack. With a kick off the ground, he lunged forward again.

The two engaged in close combat, their four hands locked tightly together, fingers interlaced as their arm strength battled head-on.

Golden and dark-golden auras collided madly, and the stone tiles beneath them continuously cracked under the pressure of their opposing power.

Their teeth clenched tight as both poured every ounce of strength into the struggle.

From the far side of the arena, Krillin watched in stunned disbelief. After a long while, he finally squeezed out a sentence.

"Th-this is too strong..."

Gohan from this timeline stood beside Krillin, his brows slightly furrowed and confusion in his eyes. "Why isn't Dad using his full strength?"

Gohan picked up the conversation, his voice calm.

"He must be saving Cell for you to deal with, training you so you can unleash your true strength."

"Son Goku from this timeline probably knows that Gohan has astonishing potential, which is why he deliberately left the stage to Gohan."

The only question was whether the boy before them could live up to that expectation.

Piccolo stood on the other side with his arms crossed, watching anxiously.

"Goku, just use your full strength and defeat Cell already!"

The battle entered its fiercest stage.

Son Goku suddenly exerted himself, blasting Cell's hands away. His golden aura swelled once more as he shot into the sky.

He steadied himself in midair, drew his hands to his waist, palms facing each other, as a brilliant blue light gathered between them.

"Ka--me--ha--me--ha--!"

Krillin's face went pale with fright. "At this distance—the Earth will be destroyed!"

Before his words had even faded, Son Goku's figure flashed as he used Instant Transmission.

He vanished from midair and appeared directly in front of Cell the next second, so close that he was right in his face.

"I'm done for!"

Cell's pupils contracted sharply. He had no time to make any response.

"--Wave!!"

He unleashed his ultimate attack right at point-blank range.

A blue energy beam struck Cell at close range, its blinding light swallowing the entire arena.

When the light and smoke slowly cleared, only half of Cell's body remained. His left arm and leg had been vaporized, and slime dripped from the jagged cross-sections of his torso.

He looked utterly miserable.

It was the perfect chance to finish him off.

But Son Goku remained where he was, merely watching. He did not strike to finish Cell off, only stood there panting as he looked at Cell's half-remaining body.

With a furious roar, Cell's ruined body began to writhe rapidly.

Piccolo's regenerative cells activated. Muscle fibers crazily extended from the severed sections, bones regrew, and his outer shell re-formed.

Within seconds, a completely unharmed Cell stood on the arena once more.

But his expression was no longer composed, and a trace of lingering fear flashed through his eyes.

"Son Goku—I didn't expect you to have a move like that."

Cell's voice was low, filled with tension.

"But you wasted the perfect opportunity. I won't let you succeed again."

Son Goku looked at the restored Cell and suddenly smiled.

"I'm done fighting."

"I surrender."

He raised both hands, his tone relaxed.

Cell froze.

For the first time, a stunned expression appeared on his face. Son Goku surrendering was simply unbelievable.

After that brief shock, humiliation and fury surged up, twisting his entire face.

"Son Goku—what kind of joke is this?!"

Cell completely lost it, rage exploding in his chest.

"What, do you think this is children playing house? You fight when you feel like it, and stop when you don't?!"

Son Goku did not respond. He simply kept his hands raised and walked step by step toward the edge of the arena.

Cell was completely frantic.

He fired continuously with both hands, countless golden ki blasts pouring from his palms and raining down upon Son Goku.

They were not aimed only at Son Goku. Golden ki blasts also crashed toward the distant crowd like a torrential downpour.

Caught off guard, Son Goku quickly raised his arms to block. The blasts struck his protective aura, bursting into showers of sparks.

Krillin flipped behind a pile of rubble, Future Trunks drew his sword and cleaved a ki blast apart, while this timeline's Gohan transformed into a Super Saiyan and raised his guard as well.

The explosions of golden ki blasts rang out across the wasteland one after another, blasting scorched craters into the ground.

Piccolo stood still as several ki blasts shot straight at him. With no time to dodge, he was about to take them head-on.

A figure flashed in front of him in an instant and casually waved a hand, batting all of the blasts away.

The blasts exploded in the distance, the flames illuminating the expressionless profile of Son Gohan's face.

"Thank you, Gohan," Piccolo said from behind him, his tone calm.

Son Gohan did not turn around.

He stared at Cell on the arena, who was frantically unleashing ki blasts, and could no longer suppress the anger rising in his chest.

"Cell!!"

His voice carried fury, ringing clearly across the entire battlefield amid the explosions.

"He surrendered. So I'll take his place."

His aura erupted around him as Son Gohan flew straight before Cell and landed in the arena.

The stone tiles beneath his feet cracked from the force of his aura.

Cell stopped firing his ki blasts. Looking at the teenager in the black jacket before him, a dangerous smile slowly curled across his lips.

Seeing this, Son Goku could only step down from the arena and retreat to watch from afar.

This timeline's Son Gohan looked at the identical back standing in the arena and unconsciously clenched his fists.