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Chapter 1

The Cell Games were in full swing. Earth's population was in shock from both the defeat of their great champion, Hercule Satan, and the explosive battle that was currently taking place between the golden haired hero, Goku, and the tyrant android, Cell. They moved too quickly for the human eye to follow, but their clash of powers could be heard at the arena and beyond. In a sudden crash, the two fighters could be seen in the arena again, only to see the hero be pushed to the edge of the ring and his opponent desperately trying to ring him out. With a bit of balance and footwork, he recovered from the edge and went for his own attempt to knock the menace from the ring, but recovered quickly as well. Both were airborne again, and the hero was suddenly blocked from his retreat by the seething foe.

"This has been a magnificent battle! It would be a shame to see it end over something so trivial as going out of bounds." The golden hero leered as his opponent continued, "From now on we won't count that as a disqualifying factor. Which means the ring has outlived its usefulness."

His pale hand stretched out, preparing for what could only look like an attack of some sort.

"Hold on," Goku glared at the android. "What are you planning to do?" Moments passed as their stances held fast, and suddenly realization hit Goku as Cell grinned.

"Guys! Move! Get away from the ring! Hurry! Cell's about the destroy it!" Goku barely got the shout out as the flash engulfed the arena, leaving nothing but a clouded crater in its wake. The spectators recovered from the blast, some giving more distance while others were standing fast. The fighters freely descended down, no longer limited by an arena.

"Now the entire planet is our ring. We fight to the end until someone surrenders or dies," Cell smugly announced.

"Alright," Goku met the challenge. "Sounds like you're ready to get serious."

"An opponent of such high caliber demands no less."

"Fair enough." Goku took the moment to stretch; almost mocking the fact that the android had lifted the boundaries to assure the battle would not be mere entertainment anymore.

"Now," Cell lifted an arm, seemingly mirroring Goku's pause to stretch," let's see what sort of fun we can have with all this extra space!" With that, a serious ki blast was hurled towards the hero and he leapt away, moving quickly as more energy flailed toward him. Dodging the blasts, he turned and countered with his own set of blasts that leveled the rocks in the area and made it impossible to see through the debris. Goku charged again, locking palms with Cell and pitting power to power, seeing who would falter first. Canceling each other out, they suddenly charged again with combos of fists and dodges. Seemingly taking the upper hand, Goku launched Cell across the landscape, but he quickly recovered and launched a flurry of blasts to stop him in his pursuit. Suddenly Goku sprang from the cloud of dust and launched himself upward, clearly giving himself distance between him and his opponent. Unsure of the maneuver, Cell watched as the hero placed his palms out before him in a classical pose.

"Ka….Me..." Immediately, the concerns of his friends were well known as they each quickly dismissed the move as a bluff.

"You're just posturing aren't you?" Cell mused, also calling the bluff. "You're obviously not gonna launch an attack that would risk destroying the entire planet!"

"Ha…Me!"

"What? Seriously!?" Cell didn't know whether to prepare or dodge, but continued to watch for the outcome of what seemed to be a desperate move for the hero. Suddenly everyone on the field was watching with bated breath as the powered-up move was ready to be launched.

"No! He wouldn't dare…!" Goku suddenly vanished. The look on Cell's face went from confusion to clear understanding as his gaze lowered to the Sayajin crouched before him, eyes full of fury and rage as he thrust his palms forward…

"Noooo!"

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The explosion rocked the entire landscape, light engulfing his opponent and seemingly incinerating him. The dust and debris fluttered and settled, revealing the damage that had been done. Cell's entire upper body was blown away, leaving him lifeless on the ground. A few cheers from the cliffs sounded at the victory, but the silence from the rest was unnerving to say the least. Even Goku held his form as he felt the blast wasn't a victory just yet.

'This can't be right. Even now I'm still sensing a lot of energy coming from him' Goku stared, unsure of his next move. But suddenly Krillin shouted out to him, and the fear was realized as Cell leapt back to his feet and quickly regenerated his upper half.

"Don't know why I'm surprised," Goku muttered. "I should have known you would be able to regenerate."

Cell regarded the hero's fury with a casual tone. "Piccolo's cells are quite useful in that regard."

"I thought you went down a bit too easily. But regenerating half a body still takes a lot of energy. You're not at full strength anymore." Goku hoped the declaration would bring some hope to the fight, but Cell was more than ready with his own.

"That goes for you as well. You were breathing pretty hard after that last attack."

After a pause, Cell wasted no time in making sure Goku had little time to recover. "Shall we continue? I'm sure it goes without saying that I'm not gonna fall for your little trick again. So I'm afraid this fight is going to get dull rather quickly if that was your only ace in the hole."

Goku's energy flared up as he angrily shouted, "Not even close!"

"That's the spirit!" and Cell matched the power-up once again.

They launched back into the battle as if the blast was a mere distraction. Fists were flying at speeds not visible again, and the pattern of hit-and-counter sounded through the air. For a few moments the heated battle seemed to be evenly matched. Each fighter had to pause and stare the other down as they caught their breath.

"What's the matter Goku? Is that really all you've got?" Cell teased.

Goku fell for the taunt. "No way!" But as he charged once more, Cell took the upper hand and slammed a knee to his gut, doubling him over. He grabbed the exhausted fighter by the collar. Not able to fight back, Goku could only watch as Cell pulled an arm back and crashed his fist into his face and was launched into a cliff side, buried beneath the rubble.

Cell took the moment to dive in for the blow, but suddenly a burst of energy launched the debris outward, showing that Goku still wasn't down for the count. The display halted Cell for a moment until a flurry of ki blasts were thrown at him in array. Unable to move away from the attack, he was forced to block and take the assault. The world watched on as the golden display quickly enveloped the perfect being and cheered for the oncoming victory. Goku pressed on, not skipping a beat as the blasts hit their mark and kept the android immobile.

With a sudden cry, Cell's energy pressed outward and a purple barrier expanded rapidly from his body, fizzling out the energy Goku kept throwing in an effort to break past the barrier. Soon he stopped his efforts, seeing that Cell had the power to keep the barrier up.

"Far be it for me to deny credit where credit is deserved, Goku. That was quite impressive. You've backed me into a bubble, so to speak."

The world looked on at their screens, wondering if what they saw was real of merely an illusion. Others looked on worried that their hero may have gotten himself in over his head. Cell's power was clearly keeping pace even after Goku caught him off-guard; meanwhile Goku himself seemed to be struggling. The barrier dissipated and Cell kept his position, enjoying the fact that while Goku stayed grounded catching his breath he could jump back into the fight.

"Am I imagining things or did you power level just drop like a stone?" Cell mocked. "I suggest you eat one of those little beans. The last thing we want is for the festivities to get dull."

Trunks heard the suggestion and immediately jumped on it, desperately trying to convince Krillin to throw Goku one of the sensu beans he kept. Others jeered him on, but he waited. Something didn't seem right about assisting Goku without being asked by him himself. Suddenly Vegeta halted the entire scene, righteously siding with Goku being the warrior and making his decisions for himself despite how the battle may look.

"What's the issue? Does your pride not care for the taste of magical beans?" Cell began his taunts again.

"Your little display now did cost me a considerable amount of strength. And slim as your chances of defeating me are, restoring yourself to full power would at least keep things interesting." Yet another jab at keeping the fight going.

"If I can't enjoy myself all of this will have been for nothing, now eat the damn sensu and come to me!" It was clear Cell was losing his patience and needed the excitement at max to keep him from losing his temper. But Goku stayed calm, keeping his composure and waiting out the fuming android. Suddenly, he grinned and powered down, the radiating glow vanishing from his body.

"I'm done. Let's call it here. Now that I've sized up your strength it's pretty obvious that I can't win. I'm throwing in the towel."

The look on Cell's face was priceless! The greatest fighter the planet could produce, and he was going to let his opponent take the win on a forfeit!? The cries from the cliff were similar with Vegeta, Krillin, Trunks, and a few of the others. Piccolo was the only one not surprised, but certainly was angry over the declaration.

"You're calling it quits. Pathetic! You mean to end this fight before it's barely even begun!?"

"Pretty much!" Goku beamed. "Victory goes to you Cell!"

"Well Goku, I hope you're prepared to accept the consequences of your actions." Cell clearly could not accept the victory without at least baiting Goku into reconsidering.

"Yup!"

Just as Cell was about to challenge him again a strong wind suddenly picked up. The sky darkened a shade and a heavy feeling of static electricity seemed to hover over the area. Cell immediately perked up at the idea of the battle continuing.

"Another technique you've kept under wraps until desperation!?" Goku however seemed equally surprised, even nervous, that something he didn't have any knowledge of was occurring. The heavy air suddenly formed into a rotating wall separating the two opponents and became slightly visible with a light purple hue to it. The feeling the entity was giving off forced several to suspect the culprit was not anyone on the field. The energy was not like that of the warriors or the android, but seemingly darker and much more potent. Goku started to back off, not liking how the energy was fluctuating between him and Cell. The android seemed less concerned, but still unsure of what to make of the new intrusion.

"Perhaps another opponent that waited until an opportunity opened?" Cell inquired, not really expecting an answer, but was quickly dismissed when the energy shifted again, this time surrounding him. He felt claustrophobic as the pressure bared down around him, pinning him in midair. He shot glances at the other fighters, but they all stood just as stunned as he was.

Suddenly realizing his predicament, he shouted out in clear anger, "Whoever is using this power will pay dearly! Make yourself known!" Goku seemed to snap out of his stunned confusion at that point.

"Cell, no one here has that kind of power! It's not us!" He didn't know whether he should let the situation play out or try to lend the android some help, but he didn't get a moment to dwell on the idea as the wall suddenly shifted into a physical form, being barely able to see through it anymore. Cell suddenly powered up as quickly as he could, feeling the need to flee from the surrounding wall, but was completely drained of his energy! The more he drew from it, the faster it left him! Fear crossed his stunned features and the realization that he was trapped and in trouble finally hit him. The purple mass suddenly seemed to implode on itself with Cell in the middle and in an instant, vanished into thin air. The sky was normal again and the winds halted. The heavy feeling was gone and there was still no one to claim the maneuver.

"What just happened!?" Goku shouted.

The world went black and empty for the android. He only felt suspended for a moment before being released and freefalling facedown to the ground. The last thing he felt was his limbs heavily crashing through something and feeling crushed by a great force, and then blacked out.

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