Sailor Moon Fan Fiction / Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction / Ranma 1/2 Fan Fiction ❯ Mist ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 15 )

Started 12/03/2007 Completed 12/04/2007

Chapter 14

“Ladies and gentlemen, I'm not sure what to say! We have just watched as Hercule had his bottom handed to `em, quite literally; and by a boy no less!” The reporter shouted. “This tournament has taken a nosedive, for the champ, since Hercule's best students arrived.”

The view changed to show a muscular pretty boy laid out under a mountain of a man, both with rolling eyes and missing teeth.

“Now that I've gotten rid of the annoyances, Cell, I'm ready to fight a real challenge.” Ranma dusted his hands, wiping the blood and tears he got from Hercule off. Ranma thought he had been very patient when Hercule came in, all gung-ho, declaring victory over Cell. He had been patient when the reporter was biased toward everyone but Hercule when it came to skill, he had even been patient when the other fighters and the giant android arrived; even though their energies made Ranma feel like he was nothing in the Art. But the straw that broke the camel's back was when the two blowhards charged in on a helicopter, declaring how great Hercule was and trying to turn the event to decide the fate of the planet into an advertisement campaign for Hercule's gym.

 

Try as he might, Vegeta could not stop laughing! He had his mood lightened when the Human boy stopped the infernal jabber of Hercule's blowhard students. But the kicker was when he put Hercule over his knee and beat him raw, then kicked him out of the ring.

“Now that was entertainment!' Vegeta remarked, wiping the tears from his eyes while reclaiming his feet.

 

Ranma fell into an aggressive stance; feet placed evenly apart, one to the fore the other behind, supporting the brunt of his weight. “Let's get this over with, I've got things to do Cell,” Ranma's voice came out calm and confident, a stark contrast to his trust emotions. Yet again, Ranma was grateful for the Soul of Ice.

 

Unlike earlier, when the Z Warrior's were forced to watch Hercule's performance, they gave Ranma their utmost attention, considerate of this unknown talent. Other than each other, they had never come across a Human with such a high power level, even if his didn't even reach Yamcha's, the weakest of the group.

Krillin expanded his senses, allowing the flows of energy surrounding them to be measured. “Wow, this might be good, if one-sided,” he concluded, nudging his friend Yamcha in the gut. “I'd be willing to bet, that with some training, he'll surpass you too,”

Yamcha didn't like being the brunt of the joke, especially when even Vegeta laughed at him. “C'mon, Krillin, you know I've got the busiest schedule out all of us! I'm a baseball All-Star!” he exclaimed. “I'd like to see you keep up training while trying to hold down a job…” Yamcha grumbled under his breath, not really caring who heard him.

Goku's face suddenly changed, from laughing to serious and puzzled. “Hey, does anyone else feel weird energies coming from that guy?” The group turned to look at Goku, wondering what he was talking about.

“Weird energies?” Krillin asked, expanding his internal energies to `taste' the flows around him. “I'm not sensing anything yet, but I'll keep my eyes open.”

Tien gasped when his mystical/telekinetic powers quickly touching and retreating from the guy in the ring. “Who is this guy? I've never felt anyone on Earth with a power-level as high as his…”

Vegeta scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. “His power-level's no greater than Zarbon's at best,” He feigned indifference, but he was truly impressed that someone had trained hard enough o reach such a high level, one he hadn't reached until just after his battle with Kakarott.

 

Hercule waddled up to the reporter, still rubbing his aching butt. When he saw the camera on him he immediately straightened up and placed his arms on his hips, laughing like a maniac. WAHAHAHAHA! YOU DIDN'T REALLY BELIEVE I LOST DID YA?” he challenged the small man, who nodded in reply.

“I could have sworn I heard you crying for mercy for the last five minutes,” the reporter mused aloud, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Of course I didn't. It's just that that young man wanted to try his hand at Cell so badly that I had to give a good show of me losing to him.” Hercule leaned so that only the camera and mic were able to hear; “Don't want to break his confidence, know what I mean?”

 

Cell could feel the closest thing he experienced to an adrenaline rush. Earlier he had picked up a curious feel about the man standing before him now. It was in his blood, thanks to Vegeta and Goku's Saiya-jin blood, to challenge unknown combatants for the thrill of battle. “I haven't had the pleasure of knowing your name, boy.”

The young man in silk fabrics gave a smirk that set Cell's nerves aflame; it was like being called inferior. “The name's Saotome Ranma, Heir to the Saotome School of Anything Goes Martial Arts.”

`I'm going to enjoy wiping that cocky smirk from your lips, boy.' Cell decided with disturbing glee. Aloud he gave no display of any kind towards Ranma's smirk or declaration. He continued to stand there and waved Ranma to attack.

Seeing no better chances Ranma launched himself at Cell, full tilt, planning to kill his foe swiftly. His opening strike, a straight punch, was preceded by a vacuum blade. Cell was unfazed by the pocket of absence and refused to budge when the fist connected. Ranma, ignoring his previous failure, followed his punch with a left roundhouse to the midsection, breaking the sound barrier with his efforts.

“Well, this is a waste of time,” Cell mused aloud, enjoying the sight of Ranma's face screwing up in anger. ”If I wanted to deflect pests all day, I would have fought the fool, Hercule.”

“I'll show you `pests', Cell!” Ranma shouted. Though there was a great deal of anger in his voice, it was all an act, as he had no illusions of beating Cell in a fistfight. Ranma threw a devastating whirling uppercut, lifting Cell off the ground by a few meters.

Cell grumbled, somehow and in some way, this boy had just increased his strength for a fraction of a second, long enough to knock him airborne. Coming back to a landing, Cell decided against giving Ranma another opportunity of surprising him and went on the offensive; opening with elbow strike, then following through with a knee lift, cracking at least two lower ribs. “I don't know how you did it, boy, but I won't allow you land another hit on me,” Cell announced, holding Ranma to his feet by his throat.

Ranma gasped painfully, blood freely flowing from his mouth. His ribs were killing him, and without Cell holding him, he doubted he would be able to stay standing.

 

“That kid's gonna get himself killed!” Hercule shouted, looking ready to rush in the ring to save the kid. Since it wasn't him in the ring he could behave as bravely and pigheaded as he wanted. And by golly, he was gonna, or his name isn't Hercule Satan!

 

“…”

Cell raised an eyebrow, watching as the mouthed something. “What was that?” Cell requested; he couldn't believe his luck; not only did he get to watch an entertaining battle between two Earthers; he was going to hear someone beg for mercy. He knew for a fact that none of the Z Fighters would ever allow themselves the indignity.

“I (gasp, cough, cough) I said… Moko… Takabisha!” Ranma repeated, placing both hands to Cell's chest. A brilliant blue light shone through the crevices of Ranma's fingers, growing brighter and larger every nanosecond, eventually becoming too bright to see through, and even then continued expanding.

 

“RANMA!” Came the unified shouts of nine young women as they frantically ran, trying to rush the ring.

Goku caught sight of the girls; “Guys, we have to get those girls out of here!” he ordered.

Krillin, Tien, Yamcha and Gohan nodded. What surprised the entire group was watching Vegeta scoop three up in his arms and take them to a location two miles from the arena.

“HURRY!” Goku shouted, breaking the group from their collective state of surprise. They nodded again and went to their task.

 

Piccolo ignored the rescue operation, lead by Goku, in favor of feeling out the battle between the two fighters in the ring. Though the light was still spreading, it was more of a delayed effect, as he could feel the two already engaged in a high-speed battle.

`How is he going so fast, when his energy hasn't increased in the least?' Piccolo mused, following the Ki-signatures.

 

Ranma slowed Time to a standstill in order to match up with Cell's speed. `This is crazy! How can he still be moving faster than me?' Ranma pondered; though the time for pondering was quickly cut short. He dropped to the ground, barely missing a kick trying to take off his head.

Ranma rolled to the left a distance, did a handspring and flipped three times through the air, coming to a one-point landing a distance from Cell's location. He fell into a defensive stance, glad once again for the learned ability of rapid healing. If not for the art of deception, which he had trained exclusively in for the last several millennia, he may have bit the bullet a few times now.

Ranma flew full-tilt into the air, trying to stay in a territory his school was founded on, air-battle. He watched as Cell raced through the air after him, seeking to cut him down to a few rivulets. Ranma smirked down at the green comet. “Come on, bug boy! I know you're faster than that,” Ranma called down to Cell.

 

Cell grit his teeth, this couldn't really be happening right? He held the boy's broken body by the throat only a few moments ago, now he was fighting at half his full speed, trying to keep up with a child that seems to have never heard of flying in a straight path before.

`Bug boy?' Cell pondered as Ranma called down to him. “I'll destroy every bone in your body, then burn the remains, boy!” Cell threatened, charging faster at the erratically flying Ranma. Every time Cell put on the speed, Ranma broke left, making Cell slow down and adjust course; and then he would taunt Cell until he blasted forward again.

`Finally!' Cell proclaimed when he was within striking distance of the smirking Ranma, `It took me forever!' Cell thought with a since of relief. `Wait, why's he smirking?'

Then it happened…

 

Piccolo ignored Gohan as he tugged at his pant leg. “Piccolo? Where did Cell and that guy go?” He pestered, not taking the hint.

“Gohan, open your senses and find them.” Goku called out, coming to a two-point landing from his flight. Gohan nodded and did as he was instructed, quickly joining the line of Z Fighters as their eyes dashed to and fro in a counter-clockwise spiral. “Do you or Kami know about the weird energy coming from Ranma?” Goku asked of Piccolo.

Piccolo grunted. He should have realized that Goku would sense the energy coming from the boy Ranma. “Whatever it is, it's not increasing his battle aura or his strength. It's almost the same energy we use, but different somehow.”

Goku nodded and watched as the boy's retreating spiral grew tighter and Cell grew more infuriated. `Is he trying to get himself killed?' Goku asked himself. “You're running out of space!”

“No! Cell's gonna kill him!” Yamcha shouted, but knew well enough not to interfere in a battle unless asked. How was he to know that that would be what saved his life…

 

“HIRYU SHOUTEN HA!!!” Ranma shouted, blasting his hand forwards, sending a spiraling blast of Cold Chi.

A riptide washed through the air, ascending from a point in the air above the ring and climbing into the heavens, howling into fury at being awakened. A blue dragon of Cold Chi spiraled its way up the length of the tornado, opposite of a yellow dragon of Hot Chi.

In a dance of death the two dragons sought each other out, desiring to touch for the first time, like they tried every time Ranma released his Ascending Dragon Blast.

 

Cell was cut short of breath, but wasn't bothered, as he was capable of surviving in space for an infinite amount of time. However, Cell had not been built to withstand an energy drain, as there was no need to. While being buffeted by the gale, Cell spotted his foe on the other side, watching him in amusement. “I'll give you something to laugh about, boy!” Cell thundered and threw a blast of yellow energy at Ranma.

Correction, Cell `tried' to throw a yellow blast of energy at Ranma, only to have the yellow dragon come down and swallow it whole, before ascending the column again.

`That didn't work out too well,' Cell mused, growing a sweatdrop on the back of his head. Never one to give up (so long as he held the cards in his favor), Cell charged Ranma, intent on driving his fist through his chest cavity.

The blue dragon swooped down and nipped at his battle aura, stripping him of his bleeding energy, disabling his controlled flight method. Things were looking grim and he didn't have much time left before he would fall to pieces by Ranma's assault technique. “I knew I should have killed the brat when I had the chance!” Cell roared to the heavens.

 

Ranma was having a tough go at it as well, being buffeted by winds he unleashed at Time's halt. He had never tried that before and was paying the price of an untested technique. At the moment he couldn't breathe, but at least he was able to hold his breath before being pulled into his own technique. Many days of using this as an only resort were paying off; evening out the negative to positive. Now all he had to do was ride it out longer than Cell, and by the looks of it, that wouldn't be too difficult…

 

So it was that Cell found his body being shredded to pieces as the energy that he used for cohesion was stripped from his cellular structure.

“NOOO!!!!!…” Cell's scream of anger faded into nothing as he fell to pieces.

 

Ranma took an immediate nosedive, sailing for the center of the ring, where he was thrust, by the force of the tornado's wind speed. Weakly, Ranma rolled to one side, trying to regain his feet. It wouldn't do to come this close and be taken out by his own technique.

Ranma could feel the girls had been moved at some point before he started his Hiryu Shoten Ha; which was why he was able to use it full force. They were somewhere a mile away, but they were heading back. From the feel of their emotions, they were worried about him.

______------_____

AN: Wow! This is the first time I've felt the need to write an author's note for a chapter.

Well, I wanted to explain a few things. While it is true that I said Ranma spent over a million years in Timerealm, but that doesn't necessarily put him on par with the Z Fighters. I, personally, think that Zarbon' power-level is extremely high, considering Vegeta was capable of destroying planets but was no match in comparison to Zarbon. Not only that, Zarbon was Frieza's second-strongest bodyguard, the first being Dodoria. No the Ginyu Force were not Frieza's guards, they were his Elite Attack Squad.

And that leads to the next topic, Ranma suddenly comes near Cell's speed by slowing time, but Cell is still holding back. Well, of course he is!. In the Namek Saga, Guldo, a member of the Ginyu Force, has an attack called Time Freeze, where he accelerates his body to the point that time halts. They show this world by changing the color scheme. Later in the Namek Saga when Gohan and Vegeta fight Frieza's final transformation at only a fraction of his power, they displayed this color scheme, showing that Frieza is capable of extremely high speeds.

That is my basis for Ranma having to accelerate to the point Time halts, and using his full speed to keep, what he thought was even, with Cell. Ranma is a Master in mid-air combat, so I figured if a jet in a dogfight banks quickly to evade strafing, than it would be something Ranma would do.

 

 

LWH (laarcae@laarcae.com)