The Coal Saga: Chapter 8
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)
(Just one short thing before I begin the next chapter. For anyone who may think that a male and female can't be fused by the earrings, just think about Dai Kaioshin. He was combined with a witch, so you have an example right there.)
Coal slowly started to come out of shock from seeing such a transformation. And as this happened it immediately changed into levity. He could not believe that these two children had actually somehow combined into one being. This notion to him was utterly out of this world. His emotions were immediately shown in his attitude when he started to laugh maniacally.
"You actually mean that you two twerps actually combined into one being?!"
The still calm Gophire just stared back at him.
"You don't believe me. Fine, we'll just have to show you the hard way." came Gophire's odd voice, still being a mixture of both Gohan and Sapphire's.
"Hmmm. You are the cocky one aren't you. You won't be so cocky after I snuff out your pathetic life. In fact why don't we just get to it." Coal stated in a low voice. He was starting to learn that no matter how much more powerful he was then an opponent, it was important to destroy them in case they find a way to become stronger.
"My sentiments exactly. But we'll just see who's life gets snuffed out Coal..." Gophire's voice drifted away as he spoke, as if the destruction of Coal was merely a side note to his day.
The lack of emotion that Coal sensed in Gophire's voice immediately sent him off the handle. He was not going to let some mutated creature make fun of his power. Without another word Coal charged forward at lightning speed to finally eraticate this deranged life form in which he had been forced to deal with.
Gophire on the other hand wasn't going to go down that easily, and had already prepared to avoid such a mad dash. The part of him that was Sapphire knew of Coal's wicked temper, and with enough egging on, Coal would be sure to do such a mad rush.
In light of this Coal found himself charging forward at nothing, and Gophire was already behind him, a fist ready to crush in Coal's head. But yet, Coal was still able to live up to the power level he always boasted, and corrected the error in his mad dash immediately. In an instant he had already leaped from the area he had stopped in mid dash. His now airborn vantage point allowed him to see that his plan had gone successfully, and it was now Gophire's turn to be bewildered by quick movements.
"Darnit! He's so fast. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to show him a lesson or two." Gophire said with a smirk, and flew up into the air after Coal. The two combatants faced each other in the air. Their cold stares reflected the hate they felt for each other. Yet neither of them moved. Almost as if they were waiting for the right moment to strike.
A cold wind blew through the canyon, gently rustling the few shrubs that grew there. And as it passed both fighters sprang into action. Both ready to destroy the other in a burst of passion.
They both collided in an explosion of energy. Hate could be literally felt as they battled each other. For every punch that was thrown, every part of that one throwing it's being could be felt in it. And you could realize that both fought with one thing on their minds, the world depended on this fight.
After the beating had taken place, they now moved into the next stage of feeling out there opponent. Since they had now seen each other's strength, it was now time to see each other's speed. The two, without rest, started the lightning fast battles, in which no ordinary person could see. The subsequent explosions that randomly appeared in the sky left Satan, and the camera crew in awe as they watched.
"A trick! Its a trick!" yelled Satan at the top of his lungs. But he soon found himself ducking in fear as an explosion came frighteningly near the group.
"Lad...an...gentl....I uh....don't....." the annoucer tried to stutter, but found himself to frightened and amazed to form actual words in his mouth. This seemed to go for everyone, as all eyes were glued to the sky where a lightning show of explosions was taking place.
Up in the sky the sky Coal was starting to get desperate. He was finding that he was slowly beginning to lose. This Gophire creation was almost power equal to him. As well, since Gophire was a lot smaller, hitting him was becoming more and more difficult.
"I can't be losing to some...to some crea....."
Coal was cut off as Gophire kneed him hard in the stomach. Coal's eyes shot open in fear in rage as he realized that the feeling that he had just received from this attack, was the same feeling that the Cell inside of him had felt when he had battled Gohan. In other words, Coal knew he was going to lose unless he did something quick.
Gophire held Coal by his neck. The once great tyrant hung there helplessly. All his power having been destroyed in one attack. Though there was one thing wrong in this picture. The amount of over confidence that Gohan had displayed before, was being reflected in Gophire's eyes. Having practically defeated Coal, that part of Gohan was starting to resurface.
"And now Coal you....you...." started Gophire, but for some reason he found himself starting to have some inner conflict. The Sapphire part of him was conflicting with the over confident part of Gohan's personality. And the emotions that filled Gophire's head were beginning to alter his ability to think and act straight.
Coal immediately saw this hesitation and a released himself from Gophire's grasp. Then in an instant movement took Gophire into a head lock.
"And now boy...girl....whatever you are! You die now!! I'll crush the life out of your pathetic form, and you will plague me no longer!" Coal said in one of usual long winded speeches.
"So...what...are you waiting for...just do it....already.." Gophire managed to sputter with a hint of mockery.
"HAHA! You mock me, even on the brink of death you mock me. Well I will grant you your wish urchin. I will...."
"STOP!"
Coal looked down to see who had interrupted such an important moment. Floating there a few feet away was none other then Sapphire's mother, Jade.
"Leave the children alone Cell." she annouced coldly.
"And what if I don't woman. And why do you call me Cell?!" he asked angrily, his grip tightening around Gophire's neck.
"Leave me alone! I can handle this!" Gophire cried in a sudden outburst.
"No! I won't leave any of you alone. I can't watch these meaningless battles anymore. Inside you Coal is Cell. The same Cell in which I fell in love with, and married. If that truelly is him inside of you then I know that he will be affected by these words." she said, taking a deep breath.
"Cell, I know your heart is filled with the rage set forth by Dr. Gero's words. But it is not the only way. If you look down there you will see yourself lying there on the cliff. To you it may seem like a pathetic, unworthy version of yourself. But in truth he is many times more powerful then you. But he is still you. You have the ability to become the most powerful being on this planet. You also have the power to find happiness...."
"Just shut up you stupid female. I'm do not wish to listen to your pointless arguments anymore. I will just kill this hybrid of your annoying little daughter and be done with it." Interrupted Coal, tightening his squeeze on Gohpire's neck, preparting to snap it.
"Now you......" Coal started. But for some reason he looked as if he was feeling sick. His grip on Gophire began to loosen, and he started to lose altitude, till he found himself once again on the ground. Gophire, now finally able to free himself from Coal's grasp, used the last of his strength to give Coal one last rage filled punch right into his stomach. But with the last of his energy expended, the newly fused warrior flopped to the ground in exhaustion.
"Hey Goku look. Coal looks...sick...." Krillin managed to say, coming out of the awe of watching the situation unfold.
"What's....going on..." Trunx asked no one in particular.
Coal stood there for a few moments looking like he was going to throw something up. His cheeks puffed out from what looked like some liquid coming out of his mouth. He desperately covered his mouth with his hands, trying to hold whatever was coming out inside. But he was finding himself unable to do so, and collapsed to his knees in his struggle.
After a long while something could be see travelling up the creature's throat, and as this happend the color of Coal's armor began to flash from black to green. At the final moment, Coal's armor stayed on the color green, and something suddenly spewed out of his mouth. Which it then lay, a few feet away from an unconscience Cell. A look of shock could be seen on every single person present in the canyon. None of them could comprehend exactly what had just happened, but they were amazed none the less.
"Crackle...Buzz....Systems Online. Re-evaluating situation. New target acquired. Starting new mission: Destroy Jade."
What seemed to be a small black creature slowly started to rise from the muck that Cell had thrown up. And as it stood upright, the goo fell of it revealing the true nature of the being. It was actually what looked to be the skeletal structure of a robot. Not only that, it seemed to vaguelly resemble what Frieza had looked like when he had been rebuilt by his scientists in space. The only real difference was that this creature was fully mechanical, and more black in color.
Jade landed on the ground, utterly amazed by the course of events. She could feel her stomach turn as she watched this small machine slowly making its way towards her. The goo that fell from its body as it advanced almost made Jade want to do a little vomitting herself.
"Ugh, what are you?"
"I am Coal. I am Dr. Gero's final creation. And I....And I....And I...." The robot said in what sounded like garbled electronic english. She just stared at it questionably as it slowly approached.
"And I will destroy you!"
The small robot immediately started to charge at her, using both its arms and legs to run. It truelly was a frightening spectacle to watch such a freaky looking creature running in such a way.
Jade had no choice but to fly up into the air. She had no idea how to fight, and no idea how to destroy this creature. The only thing she did know was that this thing was fast, and it wanted to be the end of her. She watched as the creature ran at lightning speed towards the nearest canyon, leaving her site momentarily. Though her mind soon raced after she realized that it had simply used the canyon wall as a ground, and had flung itself through the air straight at her.
She only had moments to move out of the way, and she was only able to move out of the way partially. Since as the creature flew by her, she noticed a large wound in her arm. Large teeth marks could be seen around it. She once again turned to see the what she now perceived to be Coal, land on the ground, and charge at another canyon, attempting to do the trick over again.
"Well now I know two more things. Not only can he move, he can also jump pretty dang well, and also has very VERY sharp teeth." she mumbled to herself, touching her now healing arm.
That one moment in which she had taken to tend to arm turned out to be the worse thing she could do, since at even a quicker pace then before Coal had slammed right into her, just as he had attempted the first time.
She gasped, not knowing what had just happened, as she could see Coal running for the canyon wall yet again, to try is one last time. She realized why he was doing it another time when she looked down. Right where her midsegment should be was a gigantic hole. He had literally bitten her in half, and she could see her legs on the ground below.
She had no time to move. Coal had successfully jumped again, and was now inches away from her. He had taken the moment she had been staring at her recently decapitated legs, and was aiming for the thing that would kill her. Her head.
She turned her head in shock as she closed her eyes waiting for the end. She heard a loud cracking sound and thought she had just gotten her head bitten off. Though when she opened her eyes, floating in front of her was Goku.
"Jade was it? Get out of here. I'll handle this." Goku said in a cool, collected voice. His gaze had settled on the animalistic Coal which had literally grown claws on his hands and growled and hissed like a beast.
The fight between Goku and Coal was short. Goku was many times more powerful then the weakened Coal. But Coal was much much faster then him. And with the combination of claws and teeth, Goku soon found himself bleeding pretty badly.
"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" came the constant rambling of the robot Coal gone mad. He had devolved into mercilessly clawing at the now helpless Goku. And since Goku could feel himself starten to weaken from blood loss could only smirk as he had one emergency plan. A plan that he had only used once before
Jade landed on the ground. Her newly formed legs felt weird to her, so she had to lay next to the fallen Gophire. Her attention no longer on the fight, she was now only worried about reviving the thing in which her daughter had become. Just before she began to tend to him though, her eyes shifted to Cell who lay a few feet away from Gophire. Her eyes glistened a bit as she suddenly realized that this is what her Cell would of become if not for her. She would of revelled longer on this fact, though suddenly she heard a bellow coming from a short distance away from her.
Her eyes widened as she saw that Goku was behind Coal, looking badly beaten, and restraining Coal's flailing arms with his own.
"Jade! Do it now!" he cried in rage. He spoke quickly and to the point knowing that he would only be able to restrain Coal for a few seconds in his state. Jade stood up suddenly, absoluately stunned from this course of events.
Up on the cliff Piccolo immediately reconized this stance from long ago.
"Goku's going to sacrafice himself to defeat Coal!"
"What?!" Everyone else cried at once.
"The last time I saw this stance was when he was restraining his brother Raditz. And I was the one who ended his life at his request. I think he is now asking that woman to do the same."
"How can Kakkarot entrust the fate of the world to a woman!" exclaimed Vegita.
"I don't know if she can do it." Yamcha thought outloud.
"Just wait. We'll just have to see." stated Trunx. His along with everyone else's eyes now glued to the fight.
"Jade...." Cell managed to sputter as he lay there on the gorund, unable to help her. His mind could only dwell on thoughts of not being able to protect the one whom he had sworn himself to.
Jade stood there, a stunned expression on her face.
"Goku I can't!"
"Just do it! There's no time!"
"But I...."
Jade could no longer think, she had no idea what to do. But suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She blinked, wondering who it was. Then she saw Cell taking his place front of her. But this was not her Cell, this was the Cell from this era.
"Cell...."
"How dare you take over my body like that! I will destroy you, and destroying Goku will only be an added bonus." Cell's enraged voice bellowed. Goku just closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the past to repeat itself. His lasts thoughts dwelled on the irony of actually having to rely on someone like Cell.
Cell walked forward, not knowing that which drove him to do so. With every step he took, he could feel changes inside him occuring. He immediately dismissed these as some sort of fear, since there would be only one way to destroy Coal. Without the strength to use any energy attacks, Cell only had one weapon to use. The bomb planted inside him.
He approached forward until he was directly in front of the thrashing Coal. And slowly his body began to glow. In an unsuspected move he turned back to where a surprised Jade stand.
"Woman! Get that loathsome child and yourself out of here!" he yelled, before turning back to Coal and Goku. Jade took that cue to scoop up Gophire and fly into the sky, though she found herself moving slightly slow. Her mind felt as if she was leaving part of her behind, and as she turned back from her floating position in the sky to watch was was happening, and realized what was wrong. She was about to watch her husband die.
Back on the ground, Coal finally broke free of Goku's grip and he started to slump to the ground. All he could think about was that it was all up to Cell now. Coal charged forward in a mad dash and stabbed Cell though the chest. Though when the crazy machine looked up to see the damage, he was only met with a smirk.
What made Cell smirk was that android 18 had suddenly gone flying out of Cell, amazingly enough. The force of Coal's blow had somehow caused her to be released from the prison inside Cell, and burst through the hole that had been made.
Cell couldn't believe that for some reason he had wanted to save one of these androids, since he actually felt a sense of happiness that he would not have to bring more then 3 beings down with him. And somehow this had all gone to some disturbing plan that he had.
Coal's garbled electronic crys could be heard eminating from him. As he realized that he had done more then just release 18 from Cell's innerds. He had also activated the bomb that Cell had been charging to detonate! And to Coal's horor, he was unable to free himself from the now laughing Cell.
Everyone had to cover their eyes as the huge explosion rocked the entire planet. Everyone on the cliff had to take cover on the ground, and Jade found herself blown out of the sky, and mysteriously not slamming into anything hard. Meanwhile Satan and the others were blown a long distance from where they had been sitting, and eventually stopped when they all hit a very large rock.
As the smoke cleared everyone looked to see what had happened. Jade first looked to see why she hadn't crashed. When she looked up she realized that Cell had somehow caught her, showing an amazing amount of strength in his weakend condition. Though they were unable to speak to each other, as their attention immediately turned to the large crater where the explosion had occured.
A gasp could be heard as they noticed what was at the bottom of it. Nothing! Nothing was at the moment of the crater. The explosion had completely wiped out Coal, Cell, and Goku. Words could not describe the shock that everyone had as they let the shock of Goku being dead hit them. They all could only think that even though they had destroyed two evil tyrants, was the price really worth this much?
Everyone turned their gaze as they watched Jade stand to the edge of the gliff. The unconscience Gophire still in her hands. Her look of shock and sadness seemed to almost outshine the others.
"He had changed ya know. Cell had changed. Cell, Goku....they shouldn't of died. They shouldn't of died...." she thought outloud to no one, tears slowly starting to form in her eyes. Though nobody could say anything to comfort her.
"He didn't die...in vain....."
Jade looked around to see who had just said that.
"Cell didn't die in vain ya know. He died protecting the world." Gophire said, slowly waking up from the sleep of exhaustion. Jade set Gophire down, having a mixture of feelings.
"I know you think he didn't have to die. But he didn't die in vain. He was protecting us all. He was, just like Goku."
Everyone really pondered that last statement, and it really started to make sense to them. Cell in the end, had turned out to be a lot like Goku. Who would of ever guessed?
Jade smiled a bit thinking about it as well.
"I guess....I guess you're right." she said with a happier tone. Gophire's words had really affected everyone there, and a happier mood could be felt forming among them. Cell then took that time to slowly make his way next to his wife. He looked down at Gophire in thought.
"Gophire. We need you to turn back now." he said in almost a commanding voice. Gophire just shook his head and looked down.
"Thats the thing. We can't. This is permenant."
"What?!" Jade and Cell exclaimed. Murmurs could be heard from the group as everyone was shocked by this turn events. Though the panic that was starting to rise among them soon dissapeared as a bright light started shining in the sky. And everyone had turned their heads upward to see the source.
Jade and Cell suddenly could feel their bodies becoming light, and before they knew it they dissapeared suddenly. As well, when Gophire stared at the light, he could feel the earrings on his ears beginning to break. And suddenly he was no longer Gophire anymore. He was once again both Sapphire and Gohan. Nobody had any time to think about all that had just happened. So they did the only thing they could think about doing, say their goodbyes.
Gohan looked at the fading Sapphire with a smile, and extended his hand.
"Well being one person was fun. But I guess we go our seperate ways now." he said seemingly unfazed by all that had happened. Sapphire on the other hand was reluctant to take his.
"But what about your father..."
"He...did what he thought was right. And I have to respect that...." Gohan said with a distant look. Sapphire smiled, taking his hand into hers and shaking it. A hint of a smile could be seen spreading across Gohan's face as he shook hands.
"Thank you Gohan for everything....." were the last words that Sapphire spoke before she turned into light as well and was drawn towards the shimmering light in the sky.
"Bye Sapphire! Say hello to my alternate self for me!" Gohan yelled as he waved goodbye to her.
Just as quickly as the bright light in the sky had came, it quickly dissapeared. Along with it went Cell and his family.
Back in their time, Goku and the others looked around desperately trying to find out where Cell and his family had dissapeared to. Though just as soon as they had left, the bright light which had swallowed them up in the first place appeared again. And everyone was soon staring at a Cell, his wife and daughter lying on top of him, all in awkward positions. Cell, meanwhile looking miserable undernearth.
"Woohoo! What a ride!" Sapphire beamed, hopping off her father.
"Man that was....."
She was interrupted when Trunx practically glomped onto her. Though a second afterwards he let go, feeling very embarrased.
"I'm sorry...I was just worried...and...."
"Don't worry I understand. I'm glad to see you to." she reassured him with a cute smile. This only caused him to blush lightly. Of course this also leading to Goten picking on him about it.
Everyone around Goku stared at the spectacle with disbelieving eyes. That is all except Goku.
"So have a nice trip you guys?" he asked in a perfectly natural voice.
"Yes, but I wish they are more expected next time." Jade said, getting off her husband as well.
"You wouldn't believe what happened." Cell added as he stood up as well.
"We'll talk about it later. Right now I want to get home." replied Goku.
"Yeah I really just want to finally put an end to all this." added Gohan. Goku just returned his son's look with a look of confusion.
"Actually I'm just starving. I gotta get something to eat." he said sorta whining. Everyone shook they're heads in disbelief. Though they all smiled afterwards, liking the feeling of normality back.
After everyone had finally gotten ready, they finally started on their way home. The atmosphere of this trip was very bright. The only negative atmosphere at all came from Bulma's constant fussing about Vegita who lay unconscience, being held by Krillin. This seemed to annoy Yamcha the most since he was the one who had gotten stuck carrying her home.
When they finally made it home, everyone went inside for a much needed rest that they all had coming. The only one who didn't though was Gohan, who had opted to be alone for the moment. Though he wasn't alone for long as a unknown assailant approached from behind him, and violently threw him into the wall, after which held him tightly by his neck.
He gasped in panic when he realized who it was.
"Videl...I'm sorry...I should've called...."
"You're darn right you should of called!!!!!!!!! I swear! You are just as lazy as my father sometimes. Here I am just sitting there waiting for you, and I hear that you skipped town! I can't believe that you........" continued on Videl's constant rants. And that put a closing to one of the most important days in all the Z warriors lives. Though there was still one problem to fix....Frieza.
Epilogue.
Goku stood in front of Shenlong the eternal dragon as it loomed over him. During the time after Coal's defeat, Goku had busied himself with finding a way to bring Frieza back. So he had gone to the planet Namek. There he had picked up Dende. The namekian in which Gohan had known as a little boy. Though now he was a full grown man.
With him as a guardian the dragon balls had been resurrected, and the dragon could now grant two wishes. Goku, Dende, and Mr. Popo now stood on Dende's lookout, facing the newly called upon dragon.
"What are your wishes?" came the dragons booming voice.
"We wish that all the people in which Coal killed be brought back to life." Goku said instantly. There was an instant flash of light, and all the city's that had layed desolate since Coal's attack once again filled with people. Though most of them were very disorientated, having such a sudden reprieve from death.
Goku looked around the lookout, in hopes that Frieza would somehow just magically appear there, since he had been killed by Coal as well.
"There is one I could not bring back. The one in which you call Frieza. What is your second wish?" the dragon asked again.
"Why couldn't Frieza be brought back?" Dende asked.
"His sins of the past are to great. He cannot be allowed back on earth unless some payment can be given." the dragon stated.
"Is there anything you can do?" Goku asked.
"There is one thing. Do you truelly wish for this being to be let back onto the earth?" the dragon asked them. After looking to Dende, seeing his nodding head, Goku turned back to the dragon.
"Yes, we do."
"Your wish shall be granted." bellowed the dragon.
Suddenly there was a bright shining light, and Goku soon felt something being held in his arms. He looked down to see what seemed to be a baby Frieza wriggling around in his grasp. His small three toed feet kicked into the air, and his tail wiggled back in forth as he lay there. Dende and Mr. Popo crowded around Goku to see what had become of Frieza. They didn't even notice that the dragon had dissapeared once again, and had seperated into the seven dragonballs. They were to much in awe of seeing Frieza, the once great tyrant of the universe, a small child.
"Its Frieza...but he's a baby." Dende stated surprised.
"Oh my. He isn't dead after all." Popo said kinda dumbly
"I hope you can raise him a bit better then King Cold did." Dende announced.
Goku's gaze lifted as he watched the parting clouds that came along with the dragon starting to part, letting the sun once again shine through. He then looked back down at Frieza. He couldn't help but notice that there was not a hint of evil in his now young eyes, just the wonder of newborn could be seen.
"I'm sure we will."
The End
To Be Continued in "A Light at the end of the tunnel."
(Hurray I'm finally down with my fic.....NOT. If you think I'm stopping here then you got another thing coming. I guess you could mark this as the half way mark or so. Since after this we move into the Buu saga. So for those who don't want any spoilers I suggest that you turn back now, since there are going to be a lot of them in the following chapters. Though I actually shouldn't say that, since I'm going to do one more mini-fic about a certain relationship in which you all can see developing in the story. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that this fic isn't dissapearing any time soon. Thanks to all you who enjoy it.)
(All characters except the ones I made up are from DBZ, in other words don't sue me. I'm just writing a fanfic here.)
(Just one short thing before I begin the next chapter. For anyone who may think that a male and female can't be fused by the earrings, just think about Dai Kaioshin. He was combined with a witch, so you have an example right there.)
Coal slowly started to come out of shock from seeing such a transformation. And as this happened it immediately changed into levity. He could not believe that these two children had actually somehow combined into one being. This notion to him was utterly out of this world. His emotions were immediately shown in his attitude when he started to laugh maniacally.
"You actually mean that you two twerps actually combined into one being?!"
The still calm Gophire just stared back at him.
"You don't believe me. Fine, we'll just have to show you the hard way." came Gophire's odd voice, still being a mixture of both Gohan and Sapphire's.
"Hmmm. You are the cocky one aren't you. You won't be so cocky after I snuff out your pathetic life. In fact why don't we just get to it." Coal stated in a low voice. He was starting to learn that no matter how much more powerful he was then an opponent, it was important to destroy them in case they find a way to become stronger.
"My sentiments exactly. But we'll just see who's life gets snuffed out Coal..." Gophire's voice drifted away as he spoke, as if the destruction of Coal was merely a side note to his day.
The lack of emotion that Coal sensed in Gophire's voice immediately sent him off the handle. He was not going to let some mutated creature make fun of his power. Without another word Coal charged forward at lightning speed to finally eraticate this deranged life form in which he had been forced to deal with.
Gophire on the other hand wasn't going to go down that easily, and had already prepared to avoid such a mad dash. The part of him that was Sapphire knew of Coal's wicked temper, and with enough egging on, Coal would be sure to do such a mad rush.
In light of this Coal found himself charging forward at nothing, and Gophire was already behind him, a fist ready to crush in Coal's head. But yet, Coal was still able to live up to the power level he always boasted, and corrected the error in his mad dash immediately. In an instant he had already leaped from the area he had stopped in mid dash. His now airborn vantage point allowed him to see that his plan had gone successfully, and it was now Gophire's turn to be bewildered by quick movements.
"Darnit! He's so fast. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to show him a lesson or two." Gophire said with a smirk, and flew up into the air after Coal. The two combatants faced each other in the air. Their cold stares reflected the hate they felt for each other. Yet neither of them moved. Almost as if they were waiting for the right moment to strike.
A cold wind blew through the canyon, gently rustling the few shrubs that grew there. And as it passed both fighters sprang into action. Both ready to destroy the other in a burst of passion.
They both collided in an explosion of energy. Hate could be literally felt as they battled each other. For every punch that was thrown, every part of that one throwing it's being could be felt in it. And you could realize that both fought with one thing on their minds, the world depended on this fight.
After the beating had taken place, they now moved into the next stage of feeling out there opponent. Since they had now seen each other's strength, it was now time to see each other's speed. The two, without rest, started the lightning fast battles, in which no ordinary person could see. The subsequent explosions that randomly appeared in the sky left Satan, and the camera crew in awe as they watched.
"A trick! Its a trick!" yelled Satan at the top of his lungs. But he soon found himself ducking in fear as an explosion came frighteningly near the group.
"Lad...an...gentl....I uh....don't....." the annoucer tried to stutter, but found himself to frightened and amazed to form actual words in his mouth. This seemed to go for everyone, as all eyes were glued to the sky where a lightning show of explosions was taking place.
Up in the sky the sky Coal was starting to get desperate. He was finding that he was slowly beginning to lose. This Gophire creation was almost power equal to him. As well, since Gophire was a lot smaller, hitting him was becoming more and more difficult.
"I can't be losing to some...to some crea....."
Coal was cut off as Gophire kneed him hard in the stomach. Coal's eyes shot open in fear in rage as he realized that the feeling that he had just received from this attack, was the same feeling that the Cell inside of him had felt when he had battled Gohan. In other words, Coal knew he was going to lose unless he did something quick.
Gophire held Coal by his neck. The once great tyrant hung there helplessly. All his power having been destroyed in one attack. Though there was one thing wrong in this picture. The amount of over confidence that Gohan had displayed before, was being reflected in Gophire's eyes. Having practically defeated Coal, that part of Gohan was starting to resurface.
"And now Coal you....you...." started Gophire, but for some reason he found himself starting to have some inner conflict. The Sapphire part of him was conflicting with the over confident part of Gohan's personality. And the emotions that filled Gophire's head were beginning to alter his ability to think and act straight.
Coal immediately saw this hesitation and a released himself from Gophire's grasp. Then in an instant movement took Gophire into a head lock.
"And now boy...girl....whatever you are! You die now!! I'll crush the life out of your pathetic form, and you will plague me no longer!" Coal said in one of usual long winded speeches.
"So...what...are you waiting for...just do it....already.." Gophire managed to sputter with a hint of mockery.
"HAHA! You mock me, even on the brink of death you mock me. Well I will grant you your wish urchin. I will...."
"STOP!"
Coal looked down to see who had interrupted such an important moment. Floating there a few feet away was none other then Sapphire's mother, Jade.
"Leave the children alone Cell." she annouced coldly.
"And what if I don't woman. And why do you call me Cell?!" he asked angrily, his grip tightening around Gophire's neck.
"Leave me alone! I can handle this!" Gophire cried in a sudden outburst.
"No! I won't leave any of you alone. I can't watch these meaningless battles anymore. Inside you Coal is Cell. The same Cell in which I fell in love with, and married. If that truelly is him inside of you then I know that he will be affected by these words." she said, taking a deep breath.
"Cell, I know your heart is filled with the rage set forth by Dr. Gero's words. But it is not the only way. If you look down there you will see yourself lying there on the cliff. To you it may seem like a pathetic, unworthy version of yourself. But in truth he is many times more powerful then you. But he is still you. You have the ability to become the most powerful being on this planet. You also have the power to find happiness...."
"Just shut up you stupid female. I'm do not wish to listen to your pointless arguments anymore. I will just kill this hybrid of your annoying little daughter and be done with it." Interrupted Coal, tightening his squeeze on Gohpire's neck, preparting to snap it.
"Now you......" Coal started. But for some reason he looked as if he was feeling sick. His grip on Gophire began to loosen, and he started to lose altitude, till he found himself once again on the ground. Gophire, now finally able to free himself from Coal's grasp, used the last of his strength to give Coal one last rage filled punch right into his stomach. But with the last of his energy expended, the newly fused warrior flopped to the ground in exhaustion.
"Hey Goku look. Coal looks...sick...." Krillin managed to say, coming out of the awe of watching the situation unfold.
"What's....going on..." Trunx asked no one in particular.
Coal stood there for a few moments looking like he was going to throw something up. His cheeks puffed out from what looked like some liquid coming out of his mouth. He desperately covered his mouth with his hands, trying to hold whatever was coming out inside. But he was finding himself unable to do so, and collapsed to his knees in his struggle.
After a long while something could be see travelling up the creature's throat, and as this happend the color of Coal's armor began to flash from black to green. At the final moment, Coal's armor stayed on the color green, and something suddenly spewed out of his mouth. Which it then lay, a few feet away from an unconscience Cell. A look of shock could be seen on every single person present in the canyon. None of them could comprehend exactly what had just happened, but they were amazed none the less.
"Crackle...Buzz....Systems Online. Re-evaluating situation. New target acquired. Starting new mission: Destroy Jade."
What seemed to be a small black creature slowly started to rise from the muck that Cell had thrown up. And as it stood upright, the goo fell of it revealing the true nature of the being. It was actually what looked to be the skeletal structure of a robot. Not only that, it seemed to vaguelly resemble what Frieza had looked like when he had been rebuilt by his scientists in space. The only real difference was that this creature was fully mechanical, and more black in color.
Jade landed on the ground, utterly amazed by the course of events. She could feel her stomach turn as she watched this small machine slowly making its way towards her. The goo that fell from its body as it advanced almost made Jade want to do a little vomitting herself.
"Ugh, what are you?"
"I am Coal. I am Dr. Gero's final creation. And I....And I....And I...." The robot said in what sounded like garbled electronic english. She just stared at it questionably as it slowly approached.
"And I will destroy you!"
The small robot immediately started to charge at her, using both its arms and legs to run. It truelly was a frightening spectacle to watch such a freaky looking creature running in such a way.
Jade had no choice but to fly up into the air. She had no idea how to fight, and no idea how to destroy this creature. The only thing she did know was that this thing was fast, and it wanted to be the end of her. She watched as the creature ran at lightning speed towards the nearest canyon, leaving her site momentarily. Though her mind soon raced after she realized that it had simply used the canyon wall as a ground, and had flung itself through the air straight at her.
She only had moments to move out of the way, and she was only able to move out of the way partially. Since as the creature flew by her, she noticed a large wound in her arm. Large teeth marks could be seen around it. She once again turned to see the what she now perceived to be Coal, land on the ground, and charge at another canyon, attempting to do the trick over again.
"Well now I know two more things. Not only can he move, he can also jump pretty dang well, and also has very VERY sharp teeth." she mumbled to herself, touching her now healing arm.
That one moment in which she had taken to tend to arm turned out to be the worse thing she could do, since at even a quicker pace then before Coal had slammed right into her, just as he had attempted the first time.
She gasped, not knowing what had just happened, as she could see Coal running for the canyon wall yet again, to try is one last time. She realized why he was doing it another time when she looked down. Right where her midsegment should be was a gigantic hole. He had literally bitten her in half, and she could see her legs on the ground below.
She had no time to move. Coal had successfully jumped again, and was now inches away from her. He had taken the moment she had been staring at her recently decapitated legs, and was aiming for the thing that would kill her. Her head.
She turned her head in shock as she closed her eyes waiting for the end. She heard a loud cracking sound and thought she had just gotten her head bitten off. Though when she opened her eyes, floating in front of her was Goku.
"Jade was it? Get out of here. I'll handle this." Goku said in a cool, collected voice. His gaze had settled on the animalistic Coal which had literally grown claws on his hands and growled and hissed like a beast.
The fight between Goku and Coal was short. Goku was many times more powerful then the weakened Coal. But Coal was much much faster then him. And with the combination of claws and teeth, Goku soon found himself bleeding pretty badly.
"Destroy! Destroy! Destroy! Destroy!" came the constant rambling of the robot Coal gone mad. He had devolved into mercilessly clawing at the now helpless Goku. And since Goku could feel himself starten to weaken from blood loss could only smirk as he had one emergency plan. A plan that he had only used once before
Jade landed on the ground. Her newly formed legs felt weird to her, so she had to lay next to the fallen Gophire. Her attention no longer on the fight, she was now only worried about reviving the thing in which her daughter had become. Just before she began to tend to him though, her eyes shifted to Cell who lay a few feet away from Gophire. Her eyes glistened a bit as she suddenly realized that this is what her Cell would of become if not for her. She would of revelled longer on this fact, though suddenly she heard a bellow coming from a short distance away from her.
Her eyes widened as she saw that Goku was behind Coal, looking badly beaten, and restraining Coal's flailing arms with his own.
"Jade! Do it now!" he cried in rage. He spoke quickly and to the point knowing that he would only be able to restrain Coal for a few seconds in his state. Jade stood up suddenly, absoluately stunned from this course of events.
Up on the cliff Piccolo immediately reconized this stance from long ago.
"Goku's going to sacrafice himself to defeat Coal!"
"What?!" Everyone else cried at once.
"The last time I saw this stance was when he was restraining his brother Raditz. And I was the one who ended his life at his request. I think he is now asking that woman to do the same."
"How can Kakkarot entrust the fate of the world to a woman!" exclaimed Vegita.
"I don't know if she can do it." Yamcha thought outloud.
"Just wait. We'll just have to see." stated Trunx. His along with everyone else's eyes now glued to the fight.
"Jade...." Cell managed to sputter as he lay there on the gorund, unable to help her. His mind could only dwell on thoughts of not being able to protect the one whom he had sworn himself to.
Jade stood there, a stunned expression on her face.
"Goku I can't!"
"Just do it! There's no time!"
"But I...."
Jade could no longer think, she had no idea what to do. But suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. She blinked, wondering who it was. Then she saw Cell taking his place front of her. But this was not her Cell, this was the Cell from this era.
"Cell...."
"How dare you take over my body like that! I will destroy you, and destroying Goku will only be an added bonus." Cell's enraged voice bellowed. Goku just closed his eyes tightly, waiting for the past to repeat itself. His lasts thoughts dwelled on the irony of actually having to rely on someone like Cell.
Cell walked forward, not knowing that which drove him to do so. With every step he took, he could feel changes inside him occuring. He immediately dismissed these as some sort of fear, since there would be only one way to destroy Coal. Without the strength to use any energy attacks, Cell only had one weapon to use. The bomb planted inside him.
He approached forward until he was directly in front of the thrashing Coal. And slowly his body began to glow. In an unsuspected move he turned back to where a surprised Jade stand.
"Woman! Get that loathsome child and yourself out of here!" he yelled, before turning back to Coal and Goku. Jade took that cue to scoop up Gophire and fly into the sky, though she found herself moving slightly slow. Her mind felt as if she was leaving part of her behind, and as she turned back from her floating position in the sky to watch was was happening, and realized what was wrong. She was about to watch her husband die.
Back on the ground, Coal finally broke free of Goku's grip and he started to slump to the ground. All he could think about was that it was all up to Cell now. Coal charged forward in a mad dash and stabbed Cell though the chest. Though when the crazy machine looked up to see the damage, he was only met with a smirk.
What made Cell smirk was that android 18 had suddenly gone flying out of Cell, amazingly enough. The force of Coal's blow had somehow caused her to be released from the prison inside Cell, and burst through the hole that had been made.
Cell couldn't believe that for some reason he had wanted to save one of these androids, since he actually felt a sense of happiness that he would not have to bring more then 3 beings down with him. And somehow this had all gone to some disturbing plan that he had.
Coal's garbled electronic crys could be heard eminating from him. As he realized that he had done more then just release 18 from Cell's innerds. He had also activated the bomb that Cell had been charging to detonate! And to Coal's horor, he was unable to free himself from the now laughing Cell.
Everyone had to cover their eyes as the huge explosion rocked the entire planet. Everyone on the cliff had to take cover on the ground, and Jade found herself blown out of the sky, and mysteriously not slamming into anything hard. Meanwhile Satan and the others were blown a long distance from where they had been sitting, and eventually stopped when they all hit a very large rock.
As the smoke cleared everyone looked to see what had happened. Jade first looked to see why she hadn't crashed. When she looked up she realized that Cell had somehow caught her, showing an amazing amount of strength in his weakend condition. Though they were unable to speak to each other, as their attention immediately turned to the large crater where the explosion had occured.
A gasp could be heard as they noticed what was at the bottom of it. Nothing! Nothing was at the moment of the crater. The explosion had completely wiped out Coal, Cell, and Goku. Words could not describe the shock that everyone had as they let the shock of Goku being dead hit them. They all could only think that even though they had destroyed two evil tyrants, was the price really worth this much?
Everyone turned their gaze as they watched Jade stand to the edge of the gliff. The unconscience Gophire still in her hands. Her look of shock and sadness seemed to almost outshine the others.
"He had changed ya know. Cell had changed. Cell, Goku....they shouldn't of died. They shouldn't of died...." she thought outloud to no one, tears slowly starting to form in her eyes. Though nobody could say anything to comfort her.
"He didn't die...in vain....."
Jade looked around to see who had just said that.
"Cell didn't die in vain ya know. He died protecting the world." Gophire said, slowly waking up from the sleep of exhaustion. Jade set Gophire down, having a mixture of feelings.
"I know you think he didn't have to die. But he didn't die in vain. He was protecting us all. He was, just like Goku."
Everyone really pondered that last statement, and it really started to make sense to them. Cell in the end, had turned out to be a lot like Goku. Who would of ever guessed?
Jade smiled a bit thinking about it as well.
"I guess....I guess you're right." she said with a happier tone. Gophire's words had really affected everyone there, and a happier mood could be felt forming among them. Cell then took that time to slowly make his way next to his wife. He looked down at Gophire in thought.
"Gophire. We need you to turn back now." he said in almost a commanding voice. Gophire just shook his head and looked down.
"Thats the thing. We can't. This is permenant."
"What?!" Jade and Cell exclaimed. Murmurs could be heard from the group as everyone was shocked by this turn events. Though the panic that was starting to rise among them soon dissapeared as a bright light started shining in the sky. And everyone had turned their heads upward to see the source.
Jade and Cell suddenly could feel their bodies becoming light, and before they knew it they dissapeared suddenly. As well, when Gophire stared at the light, he could feel the earrings on his ears beginning to break. And suddenly he was no longer Gophire anymore. He was once again both Sapphire and Gohan. Nobody had any time to think about all that had just happened. So they did the only thing they could think about doing, say their goodbyes.
Gohan looked at the fading Sapphire with a smile, and extended his hand.
"Well being one person was fun. But I guess we go our seperate ways now." he said seemingly unfazed by all that had happened. Sapphire on the other hand was reluctant to take his.
"But what about your father..."
"He...did what he thought was right. And I have to respect that...." Gohan said with a distant look. Sapphire smiled, taking his hand into hers and shaking it. A hint of a smile could be seen spreading across Gohan's face as he shook hands.
"Thank you Gohan for everything....." were the last words that Sapphire spoke before she turned into light as well and was drawn towards the shimmering light in the sky.
"Bye Sapphire! Say hello to my alternate self for me!" Gohan yelled as he waved goodbye to her.
Just as quickly as the bright light in the sky had came, it quickly dissapeared. Along with it went Cell and his family.
Back in their time, Goku and the others looked around desperately trying to find out where Cell and his family had dissapeared to. Though just as soon as they had left, the bright light which had swallowed them up in the first place appeared again. And everyone was soon staring at a Cell, his wife and daughter lying on top of him, all in awkward positions. Cell, meanwhile looking miserable undernearth.
"Woohoo! What a ride!" Sapphire beamed, hopping off her father.
"Man that was....."
She was interrupted when Trunx practically glomped onto her. Though a second afterwards he let go, feeling very embarrased.
"I'm sorry...I was just worried...and...."
"Don't worry I understand. I'm glad to see you to." she reassured him with a cute smile. This only caused him to blush lightly. Of course this also leading to Goten picking on him about it.
Everyone around Goku stared at the spectacle with disbelieving eyes. That is all except Goku.
"So have a nice trip you guys?" he asked in a perfectly natural voice.
"Yes, but I wish they are more expected next time." Jade said, getting off her husband as well.
"You wouldn't believe what happened." Cell added as he stood up as well.
"We'll talk about it later. Right now I want to get home." replied Goku.
"Yeah I really just want to finally put an end to all this." added Gohan. Goku just returned his son's look with a look of confusion.
"Actually I'm just starving. I gotta get something to eat." he said sorta whining. Everyone shook they're heads in disbelief. Though they all smiled afterwards, liking the feeling of normality back.
After everyone had finally gotten ready, they finally started on their way home. The atmosphere of this trip was very bright. The only negative atmosphere at all came from Bulma's constant fussing about Vegita who lay unconscience, being held by Krillin. This seemed to annoy Yamcha the most since he was the one who had gotten stuck carrying her home.
When they finally made it home, everyone went inside for a much needed rest that they all had coming. The only one who didn't though was Gohan, who had opted to be alone for the moment. Though he wasn't alone for long as a unknown assailant approached from behind him, and violently threw him into the wall, after which held him tightly by his neck.
He gasped in panic when he realized who it was.
"Videl...I'm sorry...I should've called...."
"You're darn right you should of called!!!!!!!!! I swear! You are just as lazy as my father sometimes. Here I am just sitting there waiting for you, and I hear that you skipped town! I can't believe that you........" continued on Videl's constant rants. And that put a closing to one of the most important days in all the Z warriors lives. Though there was still one problem to fix....Frieza.
Epilogue.
Goku stood in front of Shenlong the eternal dragon as it loomed over him. During the time after Coal's defeat, Goku had busied himself with finding a way to bring Frieza back. So he had gone to the planet Namek. There he had picked up Dende. The namekian in which Gohan had known as a little boy. Though now he was a full grown man.
With him as a guardian the dragon balls had been resurrected, and the dragon could now grant two wishes. Goku, Dende, and Mr. Popo now stood on Dende's lookout, facing the newly called upon dragon.
"What are your wishes?" came the dragons booming voice.
"We wish that all the people in which Coal killed be brought back to life." Goku said instantly. There was an instant flash of light, and all the city's that had layed desolate since Coal's attack once again filled with people. Though most of them were very disorientated, having such a sudden reprieve from death.
Goku looked around the lookout, in hopes that Frieza would somehow just magically appear there, since he had been killed by Coal as well.
"There is one I could not bring back. The one in which you call Frieza. What is your second wish?" the dragon asked again.
"Why couldn't Frieza be brought back?" Dende asked.
"His sins of the past are to great. He cannot be allowed back on earth unless some payment can be given." the dragon stated.
"Is there anything you can do?" Goku asked.
"There is one thing. Do you truelly wish for this being to be let back onto the earth?" the dragon asked them. After looking to Dende, seeing his nodding head, Goku turned back to the dragon.
"Yes, we do."
"Your wish shall be granted." bellowed the dragon.
Suddenly there was a bright shining light, and Goku soon felt something being held in his arms. He looked down to see what seemed to be a baby Frieza wriggling around in his grasp. His small three toed feet kicked into the air, and his tail wiggled back in forth as he lay there. Dende and Mr. Popo crowded around Goku to see what had become of Frieza. They didn't even notice that the dragon had dissapeared once again, and had seperated into the seven dragonballs. They were to much in awe of seeing Frieza, the once great tyrant of the universe, a small child.
"Its Frieza...but he's a baby." Dende stated surprised.
"Oh my. He isn't dead after all." Popo said kinda dumbly
"I hope you can raise him a bit better then King Cold did." Dende announced.
Goku's gaze lifted as he watched the parting clouds that came along with the dragon starting to part, letting the sun once again shine through. He then looked back down at Frieza. He couldn't help but notice that there was not a hint of evil in his now young eyes, just the wonder of newborn could be seen.
"I'm sure we will."
The End
To Be Continued in "A Light at the end of the tunnel."
(Hurray I'm finally down with my fic.....NOT. If you think I'm stopping here then you got another thing coming. I guess you could mark this as the half way mark or so. Since after this we move into the Buu saga. So for those who don't want any spoilers I suggest that you turn back now, since there are going to be a lot of them in the following chapters. Though I actually shouldn't say that, since I'm going to do one more mini-fic about a certain relationship in which you all can see developing in the story. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that this fic isn't dissapearing any time soon. Thanks to all you who enjoy it.)