"Oh? Yeah?" Vegeta turned toward Cell with a sneer. "So what? You saw it yourself. That so-called Legendary Super Saiyan still got put in the dirt like it was nothing."
"Not the same. Not even close," Cell snorted. "Sure, you stopped me from absorbing Kale's cells properly, but I already took what I needed!"
Vegeta didn't answer.
Cell's aura suddenly swelled—heavier, louder, more violent. Yellow-green light burst outward, so bright it stung to look at.
"So this is what Legendary Super Saiyan cells feel like…" Cell stared at himself, delighted.
His body didn't look any different.
But his power did.
He could feel it clearly—his ki had jumped to a whole new tier. Even the glow around him had shifted, from gold to that sharp yellow-green.
The color of a Legendary Super Saiyan.
Cell threw his head back and laughed.
Kale finally stirred, blinking awake. The first thing she saw was Gohan right in front of her.
"Ah—!" She yelped, her face turning bright red.
"Kale! You're awake!" Gohan blurted, relief flooding his voice.
"Gohan-nii… y-you… what did you do to me?" she asked, cheeks burning.
"I… I couldn't get you to eat a Senzu Bean, so I had to do it that way… I'm sorry." Gohan lowered his head, mortified.
"You're taking responsibility," Kale mumbled.
"Ah… o-okay… yeah." Gohan scratched the back of his head, then nodded hard.
He hurriedly helped her up.
Kale's glare snapped straight to Vegeta.
Gohan, though, stared at Cell's yellow-green ki instead. The moment he felt that pressure, his expression tightened into something grim.
"Hmph. All that changed is your glow went from gold to a sick green," Vegeta mocked. "Fine. I'll finish you myself."
He stomped forward and brought his foot down in a crushing kick—
—but Cell vanished from where he stood.
A blur flashed behind Vegeta.
Vegeta's kick hit nothing. He whipped his head around, searching.
"You really are something, Vegeta," Cell said, floating high above with an easy smile.
"Tch. So you got faster," Vegeta grunted. "Guess I'll have to stop holding back on speed."
"You're a genius," Cell continued, amused. "Turning into a Golden Great Ape without a full moon."
"Obviously," Vegeta said, puffing up. "I was called the most talented Saiyan since I was a kid."
"I've got a question for you," Cell said.
"Spit it out. Then I'll send you straight to the Other World," Vegeta snarled.
Cell glanced up. The dark clouds were thinning, sunlight spilling through.
His mouth curled. "You can transform without the full moon. Fine. But what if you lose your tail? Can you still become a Great Ape?"
Vegeta's face shifted. A cold premonition hit him in the gut. "W-What did you say?"
"Taiyoken!"
Cell snapped his hands beside his face. A burst of blinding light detonated right in Vegeta's eyes.
Vegeta's pupils shrank to pinpoints. He took it full-on.
"Ah—my eyes!" Vegeta shouted, clapping both hands over his face.
Cell moved in a blink, sliding behind him with a cruel smile.
One clean strike.
Vegeta's golden tail was severed in an instant.
"Aaagh—!" Vegeta screamed.
The detached tail shrank rapidly in midair, and Vegeta's massive body compressed and warped with it. In less than three seconds, the Golden Great Ape was gone—Vegeta dropped back into Super Saiyan, still clutching his eyes, vision not fully recovered.
The severed tail hit the ground, twitched twice like it still remembered how to move, then went still.
"That answers that," Cell said, his grin widening.
Vegeta's sight finally cleared. He looked over his shoulder, then down at the tail on the ground.
His face twisted into something close to despair.
Seriously?
First they ruined his "moon."
Now they were coming for his tail too.
What—was he supposed to train until he could become a Great Ape without a tail as well?
He'd already bled for that first breakthrough, forcing the transformation without a full moon.
Now this?
He felt like the universe was personally mocking him.
Around them, the shock hit everyone at once.
"Cell cut off Vegeta's tail!" Yamcha yelled.
"Without the tail, he's back to normal!" Tien muttered, wiping sweat.
"Idiot… Vegeta blew it again," Piccolo growled through clenched teeth.
Goku stayed silent, eyes fixed on Cell.
This wasn't how he thought things would go. He'd wanted Gohan to grow through the fight.
Instead, Cell had taken Kale's cells and turned into something else entirely.
"Hey, Ken," Zeno-sama said, turning his head. "Your future God of Destruction looks like he's gonna lose."
"Yeah," Ken replied calmly. "That's probably how this ends."
Vegeta's path was brutal. But once he smashed through these obstacles, he would climb far higher than anyone expected.
"This is getting more fun," Zeno-sama said, clearly pleased.
"As long as you're enjoying it," Ken said, glancing sideways at the Right Guard.
The Right Guard's expression stiffened.
Is this brat provoking me?
"Ken… Cell absorbed Kale's cells, and his strength really did jump," Merus said, voice low.
"It did," Ken agreed, lifting his staff to scan. "He's around level 5 now."
"What? Level 5 already?" Bier blurted. "He couldn't even hit level 1 before! He takes Kale's cells and jumps straight to 5?"
"That's normal," Ken said, unfazed. "He was missing one key piece: Legendary Super Saiyan cells. Once that gets fused in, his power spikes."
And I built his body myself.
Of course I know exactly what he's at.
"I remember you modified him," Merus muttered under his breath.
"Merus," Ken said, giving his shoulder a light pat, "you don't need to hedge. Drop the 'remember.'"
Merus went quiet.
Even with Cell hitting level 5, nobody on Ken's side looked remotely worried. The weakest people standing there were monsters like Jiren—level 30-class.
And Zeno-sama was watching in person.
Cell drifted lower, eyes on Vegeta. "Hmph. Two moves and you're already back to normal. The Saiyan tail really is a pathetic weakness—at least for you."
"You bastard…" Vegeta raised his right hand, forming a dense sphere of destruction energy.
He flicked his arm.
The purple-red ball screamed toward Cell.
"Hah. Child's play," Cell scoffed. He reached out, yellow-green light blooming in his palm, and caught it.
For a split second, the two forces clashed—and canceled.
Cell's eyes widened.
Even after getting this strong, that little sphere still kept chewing through his defenses.
"Aaaargh!" Cell roared, suddenly refusing to hold it any longer. He threw his arm hard and slapped the destruction energy away.
The sphere shot straight toward Zeno-sama's side.
Broly stepped forward first. He didn't even bother speaking—just narrowed his eyes.
The destruction energy vanished like smoke.
Cell froze, then stared at Broly from afar.
Broly didn't even acknowledge him.
To Broly, Cell was nothing—level 5 trash he could crush in his fingers.
Cell's gaze flickered.
That guy's even stronger than I thought.
Fine. One at a time.
He looked back at Vegeta.
No—Vegeta was done.
Without a tail, he was nothing.
That destruction-energy sphere was dangerous, sure, but if Cell stayed focused, he could handle it.
Cell scanned the group… then locked onto Gohan and Kale.
"Gohan," Cell said, smugness dripping from every word, "what did you say earlier? That if you got angry, you'd surpass me by a mile? That's what you said, right?"
Gohan's fists clenched so tight his arms shook.
"You shameless piece of—!" Kale snapped. "You stole my cells!"
"Thank you, Kale," Cell said brightly. "Without you, I couldn't have become this strong."
"I'll kill you!" Kale exploded, yellow-green light flaring as she launched herself at him.
Cell met her with contempt. One punch, one kick.
Kale went flying and crashed into Gohan. Both slammed to the ground.
Somewhere in the distance, Vegeta felt his soul crack again.
Cell couldn't even be bothered to attack him now?
That bastard.
If you hadn't cut my tail, you think I'd lose to you?
Vegeta ground his teeth, but he knew the truth. In his current state, fighting Cell would be pure humiliation.
So he slipped away from the frontline, grabbed a Senzu Bean from Krillin, and ate it.
His stamina came back.
His tail did not.
"Goku… this is getting ugly," Krillin said, voice tight. "With Gohan's current strength, how's he supposed to handle Cell?"
"If you don't want Gohan to die for nothing, then go end this now," Piccolo snapped.
"Alright," Goku said, nodding. "I hear you."
He started to move—and then Android 16 silently flew in from above and wrapped both arms around Cell from behind, locking him in a bear hug.
"Android 16?" Cell blinked, genuinely surprised.
Gohan and Kale pushed themselves up, staring, confused.
"Android 16? When did he get over there?" Goku frowned. A bad feeling crawled up his spine.
"He's a robot," Piccolo said. "We can't sense him."
"What's he trying to do?" Trunks asked.
"Android 16, don't be stupid!" Krillin shouted. "It's not your turn!"
"Forgive me… for dragging everyone into this!" Android 16 yelled. "I'm going to self-destruct—with Cell!"
Faces across the battlefield changed instantly.
"Android 16, no!" Krillin panicked. "You can't!"
"This is the last power sealed inside me!" Android 16 roared. "Cell—Legendary Super Saiyan cells or not, if you're this close, I'll blow you into pieces!"
"Try it," Cell said, utterly unafraid. "With power like mine, I don't believe some robot can kill me with a bomb."
"Die, Cell!" Android 16 screamed, committing fully as he tried to trigger the blast—and then froze.
Nothing happened.
It felt like the detonator… wasn't there.
Android 16's eyes widened.
Cell stared too.
"…Why aren't you exploding?" Cell asked, almost curious.
"Why… why isn't it working?" Android 16 whispered, stunned.
"Android 16!" Krillin shouted. "You can't explode anymore! When you got repaired at Capsule Corp., the doctor found a massive bomb inside you. He said it was too dangerous—so he removed it and destroyed it!"
Android 16 went silent.
He looked genuinely speechless.
I asked you to repair me. Not defuse me.
"Hah. What a shame," Cell mocked. "But even if you did have a bomb, it wouldn't be enough to stop me."
A beam of energy lanced out from Cell's hand and pierced Android 16 straight through.
In an instant, Android 16's body shattered into a storm of broken machine parts.
His head hit the ground with a dull clunk.
Gohan's eyes widened, fury rising fast.
Kale's brows pulled tight.
Krillin couldn't look.
Zeno-sama sprang up from his seat, lifting a hand again—
"Zeno-sama," the Right Guard rushed in, voice tense, "do you really need to step in for someone like that?"
"Let the Right Guard deal with him personally," the Left Guard added, bowing.
Until now, no one had died in this "match."
Even if it was "just a robot," the act still soured Zeno-sama's mood.
Because in that moment, Zeno-sama could feel it clearly—the evil in Cell's heart.
"Hey, Ken," Zeno-sama asked, turning to him. "What do you think?"
"I can fix Android 16," Ken said.
"Huh?" Zeno-sama's eyes lit up, delighted.
"Relax. That kind of damage won't erase him completely," Ken said with a small smile. "And I haven't even used time rewind."
Zeno-sama thought for a second, then sat back down happily.
"Fix him properly later," Zeno-sama ordered.
"Of course," Ken replied.
Cell snorted and stomped over. "In the end, you're a failed product."
He kicked Android 16's head like it was trash.
The head flew, smashed into a distant hillside, then rolled down.
It landed near Mr. Satan and the others.
Mr. Satan, the commentator, and the cameraman all trembled—until they realized it was just a mechanical head.
This time, Zeno-sama didn't say anything.
If Ken could fix Android 16, then fine. Let it play out.
Cell cracked his neck and looked around. "Alright. Next. Let's see… one… two… three… four… nineteen."
He stopped, blinking.
Nineteen people.
That's… a lot.
Maybe he should ignore the "mascot" crowd for now and wipe out the fighters first.
"Fine," Cell said coldly.
The tip of his tail suddenly swelled, expanding several times over.
Then it started firing.
Small, ugly creatures shot out one after another, hit the ground, and instantly morphed into miniature versions of Cell.
They looked similar, but their skin was blue.
The little monsters cackled like gremlins.
"Go," Cell ordered. "Those seven on the rocks are yours. Beat them to death if you feel like it."
The mini-Cells squealed and launched into the sky, rushing toward Goku's group.
[End of chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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