PART FOURTEEN: SAIYANS, NAMEKS AND OTHER DEMONS

Chapter 69

Translated by Davidstarlingm

In the stands, spectators were shouting at the top of their lungs. They wanted to see a match! From the beginning of the tournament, the matches had often been over too quickly or not even happened at all. To miss out on a fight because one of the contestants had forgotten to touch the ring was simply too much.

“Come on!” they chanted in unison. “We want a fight!”

Out of all the seventeen fighters still in the running, there was one who was particularly interested in seeing this fight. Once again, he spoke up. Standing in the middle of the space for Universe 4, his arms crossed, he cried out in a voice that was easily heard throughout the arena, just as if he had spoken into the announcer’s microphone:

“Come, Master Namek, Vargas and Gentlemen -- you will give him a second chance, won’t you?”

His voice carried across the stadium. Everyone heard, even Gast who paused.

In the space of Universe 1, the Kaioshins once again found themselves faced with a dilemma. Should they apply the rules strictly, or make a special allowance?

“This is unacceptable! They continue to break all the rules!” shouted South Kaioshin, who felt rules existed to be applied.

“I would say that it is for the opponent to decide,” interrupted West Kaioshin. She thought a compromise wouldn’t necessarily be bad.

Gast Carcolh turned back to the Cell Junior and thought quickly. He could simply refuse, and return to his space the undisputed winner. But he could also fight a bit, just to warm up. It had been years since he had fought at his full capacity; this would be a nice way to get back into the swing of things.

“I AGREE TO FIGHT!” he cried.

Gast stood erect, his arms at his sides and his fists clenched. He had to admit that his cheek smarted just a bit. For that, he would show some of his power against this little fighter. It was so small that it only came to his knees!

Facing him, the miniature Cell stood up and approached. They stood on the ring less than a meter apart, Cell Junior looking up at the tall Super Namek.

“Okay, the fight is restarted, and the match begins now,” announced the Varga through the microphone.

“This match is between the largest and smallest fighters here,” said one of the other birds in the control room.

Gast clenched his fists hard and let his ki explode. A bright aura surrounded him, making his cape fly back behind his head. The shock wave was small, but it knocked the Cell Junior six yards away. That was no problem for him, though; he knew how to keep his balance.

“He hid so much power!” thought Piccolo as Son Goku exclaimed, “Oh! This Namek is something!”

Cell Junior was not happy to have been pushed back a few meters. He, took, could make a powerful aura. Energy exploded around him as he demonstrated his maximum power, a large golden aura with blue flashes of electricty surrounding him.

“But...he is much stronger!” noticed Gohan.

“Stronger than Cell was after his suicide attempt,” confirmed Vegeta, his arms still crossed.

“As we suspected, Cell was hiding his true abilities.” Goku turned back toward the Universe 17 space to see Cell smiling.

In the ring, the little blue Cell lunged at his opponent, who remained unmoved. This time, he was ready. He flung a kick at the Namek’s head, who parried it easily with one forearm. The Cell Junior spun quickly with another kick aimed at his opponent’s face, but the blow was again easily countered with the other arm. The small Cell quickened his movements, attacking everywhere, using his smaller size to hit rapidly while avoiding the Namek’s big fists. But nothing helped. Gast was quick to counter every move.

The Super Namek was calm and determined. Every movement was precise; he sought to counter each attack with the lowest possible expenditure of energy. In contrast, Cell Junior did not care in the least how much energy he was using.

When the small Cell tried another blow to the calf, hoping to drop his opponent, he dropped down on one knee. Even so, his size still dwarfed the little fighter, whose surprise cost him dearly. Gast struck him with a fist full in the face. The blow was simple but powerful, yet Gast had not put his full strength into it. Cell Junior flew high into the sky before recovering and righting himself, then immediately attacked with a Makkankosappo. But it didn’t scare the Namek, who had already seen this technique. He appeared to catch the beam’s radius, adjusting for its movement and reverse it so that it returned as a sharp attack toward its sender, who dodged it easily.

The two adversaries were still for a moment. Gast remained calm. The Cell Junior gritted his teeth and tried a new strategy...he thought. He crossed his arms, and when he unfolded them, he doubled. He repeated the process several times, multiplying his number. It never seemed to stop! There were four, then eight, then sixteen, thirty-two, and finally sixty-four! The technique of Tenshinhan was pushed to its limits!

“Ghi ghi ghi hi hi!” shouted all sixty-four replicants simultaneously as they zeroed in on Gast, who remained calm.

He had seen this technique before, and immediately recognized its weakness. This opponent had not been able to overcome it. Ten Cell Juniors pounced on him, but he avoided them by jumping up several meters. A dozen others surrounded him and showered him with blows, but he parried them all. Suddenly whirling in place, he flipped end-over-end, managing to kick every last one of the replicas violently in under two seconds.

Even then, they were not all down; several energy attacks came at him. He avoided them all, disappearing completely.

From then on, everything happened very quickly. One duplicate Cell Junior saw an explosion in front of him as another clone exploded from a mortal blow. Immediately after, another exploded, this time below him...then another behind him. For ten seconds, Gast moved faster than the clones could see, completely avoiding their energy attacks while dealing with them each one-by-one and allowing their beams to collide with each other.

The original Cell Junior began gathering his energy, which multiplied each time another one of his clones exploded. He stretched out his arms to either side, a bright aura appearing around him and lightning surrounding his body. He began to charge a devastating attack, one that made Universe 18’s Vegeta take notice.

Just as Cell Junior prepared to fire, Gast reappeared in the ring, in good shape. He was quiet...not even out of breath, despite having conquered all the other replicas. But he didn’t try to attack the last, simply looking up and taking the brunt of the Final Flash.

The explosion was violent. The ring held out, because it was only the Namek who had been hit; the combat area only received collateral damage. The small Cell was breathing hard, now, trying to catch his breath as the smoke cleared. The result he saw was bad.

Gast still stood there, just as calm as always. His tunic had been vaporized by the attack, and the remains of his tattered cloak lay on the ground behind him. But Gast Carcolh himself was uninjured. Even that first punch had been more effective!

“It’s nothing...absolutely nothing?! After this full frontal attack?” Uub was astonished.

“I think he was injured,” replied Piccolo. “That’s the simplest explanation. But he immediately regenerated before the smoke cleared, just to overawe his opponent.”

“Wounded how?” Goten asked. “It’s one thing if he was covered with burns; it’s another thing if half his body was disintegrated.”

Piccolo thought for a few seconds before answering. “It’s impossible to know, I think.”

Gast extended his arm in front of him, then it suddenly expanded forward rapidly. His large hand grabbed the Cell Junior’s head, then his arm stretched further, traveling hundreds of meters until it struck the energy shield protecting the public. The little fighter remained immobilized for several seconds; the Namek’s grip was strong. Too strong. With a sudden burst of agility, the small blue creature managed to kick Gast’s wrist, allowing himself to twist free rapidly. He immediately rushed toward his opponent; if he reached him before Gast’s arm shrunk back to normal, he would have quite an advantage.

Unfortunately, Gast was far more capable than that. His arm retracted to normal immediately, and the Cell Junior paused as he approached the Super Namek, unsure of what to do. That hesitation was his downfall. From one of Gast’s eyes came a single spark. A very thin beam shot out, piercing the Cell Junior’s head and disappearing into the depths of space.

The Cell Junior continued to hover for a few seconds. Blood dripped from the hole in the middle of his head and drained down his face. His eyes rolled back, then he finally fell to the ring.

“Well, why doesn’t he regenerate such a small wound?” Son Goten asked the others in Universe 16. The fact that a hole in the head could be worse than in another part of the body didn’t cross his mind.

“I don’t believe that the Juniors regenerate,” said Gohan. He remembered how he had easily destroyed seven of them in his time. Or had it been eight? For some strange reason, he didn’t know.

“In any case, he touched the main core of Cell Junior,” Vegetto said.

“He guessed he had one?” asked Gohan.

“This Namek is really amazing. He beats me at all levels,” said Piccolo. “Strength, speed, regeneration, tactical abilities...”

“Victory of Gast Carcolh of the Universe 7!” declared the announcer.

Gast took off from the ring to return to his space. In the space of Universe 17, Cell grumbled. Vegetto came over to taunt him.

“Do not worry, Cell. He will be resurrected at the end of the tournament.”

Cell made no reply to this remark. It didn’t matter to him whether the Junior would be resurrected or not. Vegetto seemed to have read his thoughts.“Well, unless you hatch a dozen others before, I guess....”

After a few minutes, the ring returned to its perfect spherical shape. The last battle of the first round was announced...