Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dragonball V: A World Both Familiar and Foreign ❯ The Cell Games Round 3: Perfection isn’t All It’s Cracked up To Be ( Chapter 37 )

DragonBall V: A World both Familiar and Foreign

Author's Note: I don't want there to be any confusion… Peasa is a Golden Oozaru simply because she was a Super Saiyan when she turned into the big ape. It has nothing to do with a certain red-furred transformation, at least not in this instance. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Required Disclaimer: I don't own the DB franchise, I've never worked for them, I'm not making any money off this, and I'm dead sexxy baby! Read and enjoy.

Chapter 37: The Cell Games Round 3: Perfection isn't All It's Cracked up To Be

Vegeta leaned against a large rock formation with his arms crossed over his chest and his eyes closed. He was still fuming about being sentenced to Hell, mostly because he knew his wife would be in a far better place when it was her time and he wouldn't be with her. His sensitive ears heard a commotion a while later, whispers and scuffles mostly but he ignored them. Ever since he had arrived here, the residents of the dungeon of the Otherworld had been checking out the newest arrival and he had grown tired of being gawked at.

"So I wasn't lied to, you really are here, Vegeta!" A deep booming voice announced with a touch of amusement in the tone.

The Saiyan prince cracked an eye open at the familiar voice and groaned under his breath. "Nappa." He said as way of greeting.

"I'm surprised you didn't end up here sooner!" The bald Saiyan man laughed, approaching his former prince.

"Spare me your amused mewlings, Nappa. Leave me be." Vegeta closed his eyes again and tried to ignore his former partner.

A growl was his response. "I didn't come all the way over here to be ignored by you, Vegeta! You killed me, and I plan on beating the crap out of you in thanks! I've been training hard since I got down here… you'll find I'm a much better fighter than I was all those years ago." The bald Saiyan boasted.

"Hmph. I'd expect nothing less from a true Saiyan. I suggest you take out your aggression on someone more in your league though, like Kui if you can find the annoying little twit in this dank hole." Vegeta spat at the man's feet and resumed ignoring him.

"Damn you Vegeta!" Nappa yelled, running forward to drive his fist through the other man's skull. His punch stopped in midair, caught by the prince's hand. As he tried to yank his hand free, the grip tightened and the loud sounds of bones snapping were heard as well as a big man crying in pain.

"That's Prince Vegeta to you, worm. Now be gone while you still have a working hand!" Vegeta growled out, tossing the man away as if he were a rag doll.

Nappa gasped in pain and clutched at his wounded hand and struggled to his feet, attempting to hold onto what shreds of dignity he had left. "I'll get you for this, Vegeta. I swear it!"

As the burly Saiyan ran off with his tail tucked between his legs (literally), he heard Vegeta's chuckle and response. "I'll be looking forward to it, weakling."

Hours later, as he was attempting to meditate, he sensed someone approaching him once again. He sniffed and stiffened suddenly, recognizing the scent. He would never forget it. "Frieza." He jumped to his feet and turned to face the icy tyrant.

"Vegeta, so good to see you again. I've missed you so… I'm wounded that you didn't pay me a visit the moment you arrived." Frieza taunted him.

"That's because I never wanted to see your ugly face again, you disgusting freak!" The prince yelled, clenching his fists in anger.

"Aw… no hug for your former overlord? Come Vegeta, don't be cross with me. I'd rather you joined me once again and stood at my side… I've gained quite a following in this place you know." The ice-hearted tyrant offered.

Vegeta could only stare in shock. "I was the one that killed you, you moron! How can you stand there and ask me to stand beside you once more! I'd rather spend an eternity here getting my guts picked at by carrion birds!"

"Oh Vegeta…" Frieza laughed softly and shook his head. "I have ways of influencing you… come out!"

Vegeta took a step forward, veins protruding as he glared at the tyrant. "What are you playing at, Frieza?!" He stopped and stared around himself, seeing dozens… no hundreds of people approaching. A good number of them were Saiyans. "Have you all gone mad!? Frieza is the one that killed you all!"

"He's proven his strength to us. We're still loyal to him, even in death." One Saiyan warrior stated proudly.

The prince shook his head, dumbfounded. "This is a nightmare! What possible reason could you have for following this heartless bastard?!"

"I've convinced them otherwise." A very familiar voice stated proudly. The speaker stepped forward out of the crowd.

"F… father!? But… he killed you too! And after everything he did to me… your own son! You're all mad!" Vegeta was beyond shocked at this point.

"And you killed him and avenged me. That's all behind us now, son. Let go of your hatred, it won't do you any good here. Join us, pledge your loyalty to Lord Frieza as we have." King Vegeta requested… actually he demanded.

Anger flowed through him as he glared at his father, outraged at his betrayal. He turned a hateful eye to all the warriors standing around him, especially the Saiyans. "Never! Leave me BE!" Prince Vegeta cried, an aura of energy bursting into existence around him and moments later burning gold. "I'll beat you all into bloody pulps if you don't leave now and never return!"

"Well, it was worth a shot." Frieza said with a shrug. He turned to look at one of his henchmen. "Do it."

"What are you… ugh." Vegeta groaned as a dart impeded itself in his neck. He yanked it out as his hair returned to it's normal black color. He stared at it, suddenly seeing everything in threes. "What was this… thing…" He fell to his knees, struggling to remain conscious.

"A little something to help you relax… and render you powerless. Some of these minions have the most interesting abilities…" King Vegeta laughed as his son stared at him, the shame and outrage of betrayal burning in his eyes.

"Fuck… all of you… sideways…" He lifted a hand and let out a ki blast which blew off one of Frieza's arms before the prince slumped to the ground, unconscious.

Frieza stared at his arm in horror. "Fucking… monkey! Do you know how long this will take to grow back?!"

"My apologies Frieza… he still had more power than I thought." King Vegeta murmured, motioning for his son to be carried off. The proud prince's nightmare had only begun.

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Cell stared up at the giant golden ape before him, shaking his head in confusion. "What the hell are you!?"

"Your death." The other-worldly voice floated down from the ape. At a speed that defied reason of a creature so large, a punch flew down and clipped the bio-monster on the arm.

Cell spun around several times and cried out in pain, clutching at his wounded arm. He glared up at the giant creature before him and snarled in outrage. "I will not be bested by an overgrown monkey!" He flew directly at the ape and dodged to the side when she tried to punch him again and drove both of his feet into her furry chest. He bounced off and blasted upwards, driving his fists into her jaw. He paused a moment to assess the damage and felt himself swatted away by the ape's massive paw. He cried out in fear and barely dodged to the side when a beam of energy shot out of Peasa's mouth, the energy tearing a crater into the ground.

Peasa paused for a moment, trying to reacquaint herself with the Oozaru form. It had been quite a while since she had last been able to transform, given the current lack of a moon on Earth (which seemed to be a temporary situation from what she had heard). She bounded forward and swiped her paw at Cell again and wasn't surprised when he dodged again and started running up her arm, intent on hitting her somewhere sensitive. She shook him off and tried to hit him but the artificial creature evaded her attack again. She was growing a bit frustrated and backed up a bit to figure something out. She glanced at Krillin and an idea came to her. She belched another energy beam at Cell and jumped forward, expecting his dodge and connected with her paw, driving the amalgamated monster into the ground. She lifted her hand up again and brought it down on Cell before he could recover from being stunned, bashing the monster into the ground. The Saiyan princess howled in triumph and lifted her arms over her head. She looked down at Cell and realized too late that he was pointing both hands at her in the familiar motion of a kamehameha wave. She was unable to move out of the way as it crashed into her chest.

Peasa stumbled back and howled in agony as blood trickled down her body, but she wasn't done by a long shot. She backhanded Cell as he floated up from the ground, sending him hurling into the sky. She jumped up after him and grabbed the creature. She started squeezing and felt a few satisfying pops before beams shot out of Cell's eyes, burning her hand. She involuntarily let Cell go and shook her numbed and bleeding paw, distracted for a moment as Cell used Piccolo's signature move, the Special Beam Cannon, to shoot a hole through her shoulder.

"She's getting slaughtered…" Piccolo muttered, shaking his head. "We may have to cut off her tail and take our chances with her in her regular form."

Krillin paled. "I hope it won't come to that. She's quite fond of that tail…"

"What is she doing?" Tien asked suddenly.

Everyone turned their attention back to the fight and saw that Peasa had grown still and was simply watching Cell. He flew around her and zapped her numerous times with ki blasts, but the giant ape didn't even flinch. "She's given up…" Yamcha murmured.

"No…" Krillin protested, knowing his former lover better than that. "She's looking for an opening. She won't… WHOA!"

Peasa suddenly opened her mouth and an energy beam blasted out of it, enveloping most of Cell's body. She had watched him long enough to catch him with her energy beam, apparently. She looked around, confused, as she could no longer see the abomination, but she could still feel his presence like a lingering odor. "Where'd he go?" She called out, hoping one of the Z warriors could spot him.

"I don't see him… is he head?" Piccolo asked, looking around frantically.

Krillin shook his head. He sensed the monstrosity too. "No he's… PEASA BEHIND YOU!"

Peasa spun around just in time to see the last of Cell's limbs regenerate. Before she could attack again, he blasted forward and drove his foot into the center of her forehead. He was about to blast her with a sizable amount of energy as he prepared another kamehameha wave when she swatted him with her paw again, knocking him to the ground. Before he could recover, the princess slammed her fist down into his gut. Slime spewed from Cell's mouth and a feminine arm was hanging out of his mouth again, obviously belonging to Android 18.

"18!" Krillin cried, hope springing up in his heart to see the girl that he was falling in love with.

Cell rolled several times to the side as Peasa tried to punch him again and stuffed the arm back into his mouth and swallowed, annoyed that the android girl kept nearly being expelled. He jumped to his feet and blasted into the air as the giant ape tried to swat him again, shooting a blast into the girl's eyes that temporarily blinded her. He didn't know that removing her tail would reverse her transformation, so he formulated an alternative plan. He glanced at Bulma in the distance but quickly realized that she wasn't generating the light, that it was autonomous, so he turned his attention to it. The bio-beast brought his hands back and then forward, blasting a large beam of energy up at the light. "Kamehameha!!!" Cell cried.

"NO!" Bulma screamed, but there was nothing she could do but watch and hope.

The energy wave caught the moonlight ball and carried it out into space, far enough away to stop affecting Peasa. He turned to see the ape shrinking. "Ha! That did it!" Cell laughed triumphantly.

The other Z warriors watched as perhaps their last hope vanished. Tears fell from Krillin's eyes as he realized he'd never see Android 18 again. And that they would all die. "3 times a charm…" The monk muttered, shaking his head.

Peasa stumbled back as she returned to her normal form, now nude because of her clothes being shredded by the transformation. She looked down at herself and gasped, realizing what had just happened. "Damn it!" She swore loudly, looking up at the smiling face of her opponent.

"Good try. You nearly had me, Peasa. I thank you for a magnificent fight, but now I must end it. Say goodbye to your fri-" Cell was cut off mid-sentence.

Peasa had launched herself full speed ahead and drove both of her fists into the belly of the beast. She bounced to the side of him and rolled for several meters before coming to a stop. She struggled to stand but collapsed to the ground, weary from the battle and the reversed transformation. She coughed up some blood and squinted at Cell, wondering if she had caused him any damage. She grinned as one of the female android's arms were hanging out of Cell's mouth again and he was clutching at his gut in pain.

"Android 18!!!" Krillin cried, launching forward at top speed. The other warriors blinked in surprise, not having realized that the man had gained this much speed in his training. He grabbed onto 18's arm and yanked with all his might, staring into the pinkish eyes of Cell who stared up at him in confusion before realizing what was happening.

The monster reached up to stuff 18's arm back into his mouth but was too late as the girl's head popped out of his gaping mouth. The bio-beast roared in pain as his insides were yanked inside out as Krillin used Cell's neck for leverage and pulled again, yanking the girl free. He weaved a little unsteadily for a moment then flew away, clutching the unconscious form of 18 to his side.

Cell jumped up and tried to run after Krillin but the pain in his insides got worse. He cried out as his body started to glow and his insides seemed to rearrange. After several long moments of intense pain, he found himself in his second form again, staring at the ground. He looked up, realizing how vulnerable he now was. And it wasn't good. "No! This can't be happening! I was perfect! PERFECT!" He looked around and saw the downed Peasa was the closest to him and decided it would be prudent to finish her off. He jumped at her and was about to land on her head with his foot, intent on crushing her skull, when an energy blast hit him full force. He rolled for several meters and jumped to his feet, looking around to see where the new attack was coming from.

Tien lowered his hands slightly and smirked. "I think it's my turn." He stated grimly.

Peasa finally managed to sit up and spat some blood into the dust. She growled out "I'm not dead yet."

The three-eyed man glanced at her, wondering about her sanity. "Let's keep it that way, ok?"

Tired of waiting, Cell launched forward and delivered a devastating punch to Tien's jaw, laughing as the man was knocked over a dozen meters away before he crashed to the ground. The tri-clops struggled up to a crouch and dabbed at the blood on the corner of his mouth with the back of a hand, scowling at the attack. <He's still pretty damn strong…> He blasted forward and started exchanging a flurry of punches and kicks with the bio-monster, both of them floating up into the sky.

Krillin watched the fight for a few moments then looked back at Android 18 whom was cradled in his arms. He slapped his hand lightly against her face in an effort to rouse her, hoping that she wasn't too drained or, worse, dead to wake up. "Come back to me 18… open your eyes!"

Her eyelids fluttered for a moment then cracked open. "K… Krillin?" She asked in a whisper, her voice raw and scratchy.

The monk nodded and held her close for several long moments before letting her go gently. "Eh… sorry I'm just happy to see you. Can you stand?"

The blonde android nodded and stood up on unsteady feet. "Whoa… dizzy. Oh Kami… is that Cell?! So he didn't swallow me… you got me away from him? It was just a nightmare?"

The short man looked at the ground, shame written on his features. "It wasn't a nightmare. We managed to get you out of him though and now we're trying to finish him off."

18 blinked and squinted before reaching up to wipe the last bit of ooze from her eyes. "Why is only…" She paused as accessed the files placed in her memory by Dr. Gero. "… Tien fighting him?"

Krillin laughed nervously and scratched the back of his head. "It's mostly a pride issue, I think. The same could be asked of you. Why did you fight Vegeta by yourself when he attacked you?"

18 frowned. "Because he pissed me off. And I knew I could take him."

The monk half-expected Vegeta to spontaneously come back to life and beat the android girl into a bloody pulp for saying such a thing. "Well… I guess it's the same thing in this situation, only we don't know we can beat him, we just hope we can."

"TIEN!" 18 yelled suddenly, raising her hand and firing off a ki blast towards the two combatants in the air. Cell had grabbed Tien's head and was just about to snap his neck with the ki blast forced him to let the three-eyed man go and dodge to the side. The creature turned his gaze to the blonde android and a smile came to his lips. He launched forward directly at her and the icy feeling in her chest told her he was going to eat her again. 18 cried out in fear and stumbled backwards.

Krillin's protective instincts kicked in and he jumped into the air and met Cell halfway and began to fight him tooth and nail. Tien approached slowly, unsure if he should take his near death as a reason to back out, or if he should try to re-insinuate himself into the fight.

Piccolo turned and groaned inwardly as he saw Videl touch down next to Gohan. She knelt down and stared at his face, which was still bloody despite the Namek's attempts at sopping up the blood. She looked up and scowled at Cell who was still fighting Krillin. "Why are you just standing there?!" She demanded of the green man. "Kill Cell!"

Piccolo shook his head slightly. "Krillin hasn't asked for any help yet. We have to respect each other, especially in situations like this."

The girl scoffed and looked down at Gohan again. "I guess you respected Gohan right up until he got his ass kicked, huh?" The Namek turned away, not having an argument for that statement. It wasn't worth fighting about now.

Krillin shot an energy blast at Cell and redirected it back at the monster when he dodged, but it only made the creature wince in pain. The monk flew up and came down on Cell, driving both of his feet into the bio-beast's face and knocked him back. Before he could press the attack, Dr. Gero's ultimate creation launched a massive energy ball straight at the short dark haired man.

"Oh shit!" Krillin cried, dodging to the side. He barely avoided the attack and decided to retaliate with a kamehameha wave, which hit dead on but didn't seem to be affecting the genetically engineered monster, though it was keeping him from moving. "Uh… guys?! A little help here!"

18 was the first to join in, moving up beside Krillin and pointing her palm at the beast. "Power blitz!" She cried, energy streaking from her palm and striking Cell in the chest. She maintained the blast, grimacing in concentration.

"Tri Beam Cannon!" Tien shouted, blasting Cell from behind with the energy attack.

Cell grimaced in pain as he was attacked from three sides. "What, you're all ganging up on me?! Fine, I'll take you all on!" He cried out in rage and an energy shockwave shot out from him and dazed the attackers just long enough for their attacks to cease.

Before Cell could make a counter-attack, however, Piccolo shouted, "Special Beam Cannon!" shooting the monster with the ray beam.

"Yeah, take him down! Kamehameha!" Yamcha shouted, joining in on the attack.

Cell shouted again and a shockwave blasted out and hit them all. "I refuse to let you all win! Kamehameha!" He shot the blast at Krillin but Piccolo managed a quick ki blast that deflected the wave.

"Thanks big guy! Kamehameha!" The monk cried, blasting his own energy wave at Cell. Moments later, Yamcha, 18, Piccolo, and Tien all resumed their attacks. They could see Cell's skin beginning to get damaged, but it wasn't quite enough yet. "We need more!" He glanced around and saw Peasa struggling to sit up, but she looked wiped out. He also saw Videl, though he wasn't sure she had even learned any energy attacks yet. "Videl! Help us out here!"

Videl looked up and realized what was going on. "Uh… ok. I'll try." She stood up and gave one last look at Gohan before her hands went back as she had seen Roshi perform the move. "Ka… me… ha… me… ha!!!" She brought her hands forward but nothing happened. "Damn! Uh… Kamehameha!" She tried again, moving her hands slightly differently this time. Still nothing. "Will a rock work?" She called in a hopeful voice.

"Aw crap…" Krillin swore. "Peasa? We need you!"

The girl finally managed to make it to her feet and swayed around for a few moments before she shook her head to clear it. "Moon Beam Burst!" She cried, bringing both hands up and shooting energy beams from her palms which combined in mid flight and connected with the Cell's already barraged body.

The bio-monster screamed in agony but still wasn't going down. And worse, they were all beginning to tire, especially Peasa. Krillin felt hot tears falling from his eyes and turned up the intensity of his attack, but it still wasn't enough. "Damn it, we still need more! If only Gohan were awake…"

Videl bit her lip nervously. She had to figure something out. If she couldn't figure out the kamehameha wave, and there was no one else around to help… she glanced up and saw a little white skinned boy fly up with a desperate look on his face.

"Tien, I'm here to help even if you told me to stay away!" Chaotzu cried. He blinked and saw what was going on and realized he should help. "Dodonpa!" He shouted, shooting an energy wave from his finger, giving it everything he had.

Krillin's arms started to shake from exertion, but he glanced over at 18 and shared a meaningful look with her. Both of them gritted their teeth and poured more energy into the attack, but it still wasn't enough. "Damn it! Gohan, we need you!"

Gohan didn't even twitch. The damage done by his power overload had fried his system to a near crispy status. Had he even heard the desperate cries, he wouldn't have been able to do anything about it.

18 began to worry when it still wasn't enough. She started to consider flying up to Cell and self-detonating, though the thought of death frightened her. She glanced at Krillin and somehow knew that she could do it if she had to. <Please… someone help…>

Videl swore, using a few choice words that her father didn't know she knew. She still couldn't figure out the kamehameha wave. She scratched her head and came to a realization. "Almost everyone here is using a different energy attack… why do I have to use the kamehameha wave? If I can just figure out how to make an attack… I can just invent one! I'm sure these guys do it all the time…" She gritted her teeth and brought her arms back, concentrating all her energy into her hands. She nearly cried out in pain when the energy was buzzing in her hands, but she maintained control. She brought her hands forward and shouted "Hellfire blast!" It sounded good, anyway, like something that would kick Cell's green and purple ass. Surprisingly enough, energy shot out of her hands. She missed Cell at first and nearly roasted Krillin's backside but was able to adjust her aim and hit the monstrosity that was struggling to get out of path of the energy attacks. "I did it!" She cried, pouting all her energy into the attack though it made her feel faint.

"Way to go, kiddo!" Yamcha yelled, straining with the effort of maintaining the attack.

"This is it! Turn it up as high as you can!" Krillin shouted, his kamehameha wave seeming to double in size.

"DIE YOU MONSTER!" 18 shouted, bringing both hands up to pour on the energy, shaking with fury at the thought of being devoured by Cell.

Piccolo glanced at Gohan's fallen body, and it was all he needed to double his efforts. "For Gohan!"

Peasa fell to her knees but maintained the attack, despite the fact that she was blacking out. "For Vegeta and Trunks!"

Yamcha and Tien screamed in fury and gave it their all. "And for Goku, and everyone else dead by this monster!"

Bulma raised her hand and made a gesture of support. "Go team! Um… yeah…" She bit her lip nervously, wishing she could help.

Cell brought his hands forward, but he could see his skin flaking away as it disintegrated. "No! You can't! I won't let you… NOOO!!!!" With a final scream of pain, his body began to crumble under the combined attacks of all the remaining Z fighters, until finally there was nothing left of the monster, not even a single cell.

The Z fighters collapsed, drained completely. 18 wavered for a few moments. "I think we got him…" She plummeted from the sky, falling to the ground head first.

By some miracle, Krillin was able to reach her just before she struck the ground and cradled her in his arms. "Gotcha… ouch." With that, they both passed out, seeming to embrace each other in their swoon.

Videl jumped up and down and shouted for joy, then realized that drained feeling made her feel dizzy, as she suddenly found her face in the dirt.

Bulma sighed and brought out a capsule and threw it, and a robotic infirmary popped out. The robots rushed around and carefully gathered up the warriors while running scans on them and started tendering to their wounds. "Thanks, guys. Earth owes you another big thank you." She whispered, smiling softly into the setting sun and let her thoughts drift back to her fallen mate. "Vegeta… thank you for your sacrifice. It wasn't in vain…"

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And thus another chapter comes to a close. People kept wondering who was going to kill Cell and I was laughing inside thinking "Well… everyone!" heh. I hope you all liked the battle. Stay tuned for another chapter, hopefully soon!