PART FOURTEEN: SAIYANS, NAMEKS AND OTHER DEMONS

Chapter 68

Translated by Davidstarlingm

The Varga quickly announced the next-to-last fight of the first round:

“We now call Gast Carcolh from Universe 7, and Cell Junior from Universe 17!”

“Who?” Gohan was puzzled for a moment, then remembered that Universe 7 was the one with the giant Namek.

“That’s not a name that’s characteristically Namekian,” said his brother. “It’s just a couple of words, and they’re not particularly green.”

Piccolo chose not to answer. He had noted the peculiarity of this Great Namek, one who contained the entire population of his planet within himself. The former demon did not detect any trace of himself or of Kami in this Namek’s energy signature. What events had triggered the creation of Gast Carcolh? Freeza, surely...and that without the intervention of the Earthlings, or at least without his intervention. Clearly, Gast had been alone for years, searching for others like him...it was clear that Piccolo and Kami must not have been alive in Universe 7. Maybe they had never been born.

The name...he knew where it had originated, as he had understood the origins of the Nameks ever since his own fusion with Nail. It must have been a deliberate choice on the part of the first Namek; Nail was likely to change his name because he was now the representative of all his people. “Gast” was simply a diminutive form of the Namekian word meaning “the people” or “the nation”. As far as “Carcolh” was concerned...it was a reference to the newly-formed Namek’s power. It was the name of a legendary Namekian god whose tale now endured only in children’s stories, passed down from generation to generation. Thousands or even millions of years ago, the primitive Nameks worshiped imaginary deities, like many others. Carcolh was a giant mollusk of great power and poise...

The Super Namek uncrossed his arms, lifted off the ground with a jump and flew quickly to the ring, surrounded by a white aura.

“We will be able to determine the warrior’s power,” said Piccolo quietly as he watched the impending battle.

Son Goku approached him. “Tell me, Piccolo: if Cell is at the same level as we knew, his Junior is probably at the same level too. Could you beat him today?”

“I have made much progress since then, hoping to reach Cell’s level...but without success. But I think I would be able to beat out a mere Junior.”

“That means Gast will make short work of it. Given his size, he’s far more powerful than you,” said Goten, walking closer to them.

“Mere size or muscle have never determined superiority,” he retorted. “But I must admit: as a merger of all the Nameks, he is necessarily on an entirely different level.”

Beside them, Cell in space 17 had the same reasoning. He knew Piccolo, and so he knew the capabilities of the Nameks. He had also heard the story of the warrior from Universe 7 and knew this opponent had overwhelming power.

Watching his Junior who was impatiently waiting for the go-ahead from his father, he made a decision:

“We need a minute,” Cell said through gritted teeth to the Varga responsible for his space.

It was risky...it could reveal his true power to everyone. But, on the other hand, there were several reasons to abandon his first plan.

To begin with, Son Goku and all the others were not fooled. If they had not already guessed at his strength, it wouldn’t take them much longer. He had two more fights to go before he met a member of the Z Team. For that matter, his next fight was against the one called “Bojack”, who, after a transformation, had surpassed the level of an ordinary Super Saiyan. Cell could not tell how strong he was compared to Dabura from Universe 11...he might not be stronger, but it was a possibility.

And besides, he wanted to know how strong the Great Namek was. If his son could win, all the better; if he ended up in the final against his offspring, he would enjoy it. But he would have to put the odds on his son’s side.

“Your opponent is too powerful,” he told his son, pushing him inside their space under the confused gaze of the Varga. “I’ll increase your strength.”

“We are not supposed to accept that,” thought the Varga. “They could have done this before!”

Cell stopped at the first room, opened the door, and let the smiling Cell Junior enter first. Then he shut the door behind him.

“It’s well-constructed,” thought Cell, examining the furnished room with a smile at the corner of his mouth. “The walls are sound-proof and our auras are hidden too...you no longer feel the others, and the others don’t feel us...this is perfect.”

The small Cell turned to his father, and in a very playful, slightly naive voice, asked, “How are you going to make me stronger, dad?”

The father’s smile disappeared. Without an ounce of guilt or remorse--without a moment’s hesitation--he made a quick movement with his left hand, two fingers extended. An immensely powerful invisible wave of ki struck the blue Cell Junior; he exploded immediately. The sound of rending flesh filled the room, and forty-eight pieces of the the body landed in a pool of blood.

Without wasting time, Cell concentrated his energy to its peak. The tip of his tail opened suddenly, and a few seconds later, something popped out.

Another Cell Junior, somewhat sticky, fell to the ground in the fetal position. He got up quickly and dusted some organic matter off his armor. Then he clenched his fists, flexed his knees, and cried: “Ki kih kih!”

“There, I gave this one the most power I could...” Cell was out of breath, with sweat running down his face.

Followed by his new-and-improved son, he left the room and followed the hallway to his space, where everyone was waiting.

“What could they have done!?” stammered the Gohans from Universes 16 and 18.

“Well, what do you think he has done?” asked his father, Vegeta.

“I don’t know, but it’s very suspicious. With Cell, we can expect anything and everything. We didn’t feel their auras when they were in the apartment,” said Gohan, though the others were well aware of it. “That Cell Junior is identical. I don’t think he’s any stronger.”

Suddenly, Piccolo understood. “No...he didn’t!”

“Didn’t do what?” Gohan asked, turning to him.

“What a monster! He hasn’t changed; he’s still evil!” He began to explain what he had guessed...something that someone from Universe 16 had also guessed.

“Though it looks the same and has the same genetic code, it’s the wrong one,” said Vegetto. “Heh,” thought the fused warrior. “You really are a beautiful bastard, you.”

Piccolo from Universe 16 also understand, but he had heard his counterpart in Universe 18, so he didn’t want to repeat himself. Gohan and Bra would likely figure it out on their own.

The Super Namek from Universe 7, still waiting to face his opponent, immediately discovered the deception. But it was not his problem; he did not pretend to judge the actions of this creature. His thoughts turned...this “Cell”, is it possible...?

Gast had tried not to listen to too many conversations from the past hour, but he had heard snippets that this Cell was somehow familiar to the other universes. It was somehow related to the cyborgs from Universe 14. Numbered cyborgs...he kneew their origin. In fact, he also had a link, albeit narrow, to Cell.And he would fight this miniature clone of Cell.

Buu from Universe 4 laughed to himself. “Awesome!” he thought, looking at the tall creature in Universe 17. “You’re too much, you! I think you’re the most original creature in the entire tournament...we could be great friends, if we weren’t opponents!”

The gods of the universe had understood too. They were, after all, gods. In terms of perception, nothing escaped them...except perhaps East Kaioshin, who was still a little young.

“That’s not in the rules, is it?” asked West Kaioshin nonchalantly.

“Oh, I’d say not,” replied North Kaioshin, “but is there any reason to stop the fight because of it? In this Multiverse Tournament, many things are very unusual. Besides, this is still the first round, so it’s not like he changed between one match and the next. I would say that a substitution in the first round is technically legal.”

“But...he is not the sa--” began East Kaioshin as he suddenly understood.

“It is not at all in the rules,” interrupted South Kaioshin. “To change after you know who your opponent is--that’s cheating, plain and simple.”

“Then we will close our eyes to it this time,” concluded the Grand Kaioshin. They all turned to him, surprised.

“Our vetoes and arbitration will almost certainly be required later on for more serious matters,” he said, turning back to the ring.

The Cell Junior had charged the ring at high speeds, crying shrilly. “Gnee gnee hi hi!”

He rushed toward the head of the Super Namek, who was standing in the ring with his arms crossed.

The Cell Junior struck a giant blow to Gast’s right cheek, who had no time to defend himself. He took the full brunt of the blow, his head snapping back with a massive bruise on his cheek. His arms uncrossed, he fell heavily on the high gravity of the ring, unable to maintain his balance.

Everyone saw what had happened, and were initially speechless. The Vargas at the mic, watching the ring from the control tower, remained open-mouthed and shocked. Cell merely facepalmed, utterly disgraced.

The Cell Junior landed on the ring, and, still screaming shrilly, rushed toward his opponent, who had not yet risen. He would have tackled him if the announcer hadn’t stopped his flight with a shout:

“D...Disqualification! Cell Junior is disqualified for attacking before the match began!”

There was total silence in the arena; the viewers were left stunned and wide-eyed. The Cell Junior, hovering in one place without daring to move, looked around for something to do. To those who hadn’t yet figured it out, a cardinal rule of the Multiverse Tournament suddenly returned to their minds.

“He didn’t...”

“...touch the ring!” exclaimed Goten and Trunks, as surprised as everyone else.

The announcer, his mic off, turned to his technician. “Are you sure he didn’t just move too quickly for us to see, like they often do?”

“I’m certain,” the technician replied. “The ring did not register contact. He did not touch it, even for a moment.”

The Cell Junior remained in midair, one meter away from Gast, his eyes still wide open. On the ring, the Super Namek slowly stood and turned his back on his erstwhile opponent, who was still levitating like a lost child. The Junior didn’t even look at his creator. Gast Carcolh seemed determined to return quietly to his space.

“I thought it would take longer than that,” Trunks from Universe 16 said. “That’s quite a blow, to win by disqualification!”

“Pfft. You don’t know what you’re talking about,” replied Bra.

“Even I would have taken the hit,” interjected Vegetto. “Who would have suspected that he would attack without respecting the first rule? As surprising as it was, I still wouldn’t mind seeing him disqualified. Other than Broly, of course...he couldn’t be expected to follow the rules, but...”

“You would have taken the hit?” Gohan was surprised. “Even without a transformation, I don’t think...”

“It’s not that,” said Vegetto. “If my opponent rushes me without touching the ring, he’s either bluffing or he’s stupid. It’s out of the question that I would attack out of turn, obviously. I would have remained in one place, like Gast did, expecting him to stop a millimeter away.”

“You mean you’d do it just to make a mockery of your adversary’s stupidity,” concluded Son Bra.

“Oh, I would,” said Vegetto with a smile, but also a small drop of sweat. “It’s a just reward. Son Goku mocked many enemies with his naivety alone.”

This perception was not shared by all, including those from Universe 18.

“Master,” ventured Uub, “can we assume that if the Namek warrior could not avoid the blow of his opponent, he must not be very strong? Compared to you, I mean.

“Meh,” Vegeta answered. He wasn’t about to participate in this discussion.

“Uh...” Goku began, “if the Cell Junior is as strong as Perfect Cell, then an unprepared blow...”

“Gast Carcolh has got the hang of it,” Piccolo stated. “And he’d take another blow like it, too.”

All eyes turned back to the Namek. Uub asked again, “But he could have dodged it at the last moment, right?”

“The fight had not started,” Piccolo said.

“Oh,” Goku said, “and it was cheating on the part of the Cell Junior. He took the hit on purpose, because it assured him of victory! Plus, instead of revealing his true strength, or even a little of his strength, he leaves us with absolutely no clue.”

“Yes, and there’s more than that,” Piccolo continued. “That Cell hit Gast quite hard. The Super Namek was able to assess his strength, speed...everything. If the fight still happened anyway, he would already have that much more information about his opponent.”

“Yes. Too bad there won’t be a fight.”

Was it inevitable? In the stands, the crowd was shouting unhappily.