Scene #2336: A Hopeless Battle!? The Future Must Be Protected!

Owner	Pose
Bardock	Planetary Plains, night. Vast expanses of farm lands, not many buildings to get in the way, just lots and lots of open space for two superhuman warriors to go at it. Bardock is standing in the middle of a grassy field, with a scouter over his left eye. His arms are folded. He should be easy to detect, since he seems to be somewhere in the range of the Ginyu Force members in terms of Ki. At rest, anyway. Which is itself a heck of a lot higher than saiyans of his generation probably should be. But he did mention something about time travel, so who knows. And of course, there's the kicker that Bardock looks almost exactly like the guy that Cell was apparently created to kill. And someone else he dealt with more recently. All in all, finding the opponent shouldn't be hard. Bardock seems oblivious to anything that doesn't show up on his scouter though. There's clouds in the sky, blocking out the moon a bit. Or one of the moons. In a place as big as the Multiverse, there are probably several just in this area alone. But the lighting at this exact moment is fairly dim.
Cell	The monster is subtle. That is perhaps the most dangerous thing about Cell. He isn't loud. He doesn't scream and howl his fury to the heavens as he charges in fists-a-blazin'. He doesn't pour his aura out to make people crumble before his might. In fact, when he touches down on Planetary Plains opposite Bardock, Bardock's scouter would barely register more than a power level of five. It's pitifully small, is Cell's power level. There's almost no signature whatsoever. Stronger than Frieza? Everybody's worried about nothing. He's got nothing but a weird look. Granted, it is an...ominous appearance. Green. Sleek. Slick, like the shell of an insect. A black tuxedo with the Red Ribbon Regiment logo on the pocket protector blends into the landscape almost without effort. His tail twitches behind him, hanging over his shoulder, its terrible stinger making him look more like a scorpion than an insect. Around his arms, legs, and tail are fuzzy, bright pink exercise warmers. It probably looks more than a little ridiculous. Cell's tail twitches slightly. The fuzzy pink exercise warmer's fuzzy bits wiggle in the motion. In his right hand is a boom box. "I hope you don't mind. I really didn't want to leave it just lying around." Cell sets the boombox down and stretches his arms over his chest, twisting his waist at a truly unnatural angle. "And I figured, well, hey. I might as well just think of this as some slightly more vigorous jazzercise. It helps keep the fat off, you know." "And I have a feeling I'm gonna need to compensate for some extra calories real, real soon."
Bardock	Frieza wore pink too. Or maybe that was his body. Pink doesn't meant 'non-threatening' to Bardock. The timer counting down the 30 minutes until the deadline has passed, registers the approaching 'barely over 5' and he turns to face the direction it's coming from after a few moments. When he catches sight of Cell, his gaze travels to the device being carried first, and then to the movement of Cell's tail. 'Why do all the people out to kill his entire species have tails', he might have asked ages ago. Now he can appreciate the irony of that thought when it comes to him. The saiyans had tails too, and they sealed their own fate. Except, apparently, for the timelines where they survived. Bardock finds Cell's appearance quite sinister regardless of what the scouter says. Maybe it's that fact combined with him being warned of his enemy's supposed strength, that has him being so quiet in response to the taunts and banter being offered by the slit-irised creature before him. The silhouettes of half-shadows and deeper darkness cast by clouds and the moonlight ghosting through them makes the whole scenario even more surreal and creepy. Or maybe he's just not like other saiyans. "I have three questions before we start. You don't have to answer them. You've already been so accomodating by coming all the way out here on such short notice after all. But depending on if you answer them..." Bardock raises one hand, and extends his index finger straight up. Is he preparing an attack? He points at the boombox. "What does that device do?" Well, for all he knows, it's some kind of portable planet exploder being kept as a bargaining chip. Not that someone stronger than Frieza likely needs such a thing, but better to know.
Cell	Cell clicks the button. It starts playing jazzy, upbeat music, the sort of music you can easily imagine someone tapdancing to. Cell stretches the other way. "Next question."
Bardock	Bardock nods his head as the answer is provided. He uses the hand he was pointing with to stroke his chin as he listens to the sounds being produced with interest. After awhile, he lowers his hand back to his side and says, "You've said your ambition is to wipe out my species. I can guess why, but I want to hear the reason from you, rather than assuming. I know for a fact there are plenty of individuals and entire species out there with a legitimate reason for wanting us dead. Revenge being one of the big ones. Why do you, personally, want to kill all saiyans?"
Cell	"Pass. Don't feel like justifying myself to you. Already done that song-and-dance with Vegeta. Stick around. I'm sure you'll hear it soon enough, either from my beautifully-crafted mandibles or somebody else's." "Next question. I don't have all night. Some of us have hobbies to get back to." Cell's hands drop to his sides as he spreads his legs. One hand settles on his hip. The other arcs past his head.
Bardock	Bardock nods again. "Fair 'nuff." He's being pretty reasonable for a saiyan. Then he says, "I'll spare you the speech I was ready to give then. Instead, I'll just say this: You are a direct threat to the only family I have left. I've already lost my entire species and almost everyone I knew once already, because I was too weak to protect them." His Ki level begins to rise rapidly as he clenches his fists. A white haze forms around and rises up from his body. "I won't let that happen again." The grass around him begins to blow outwards in a powerful air current, the clouds in the sky begins to move much more quickly, and AWAY from him as a shining beam begins to rise from him and up into the heavens. One or two moons now bathe the area in their light fully, but their late pales in comparison to the glow radiating from the saiyan warrior. Small bolts of electricity spark around him, and his black hair brightens to gold as it becomes rigid and spikier. Then his power level abruptly surges well beyond its previous level, as a golden aura erupts around him. His eyes have turned a shade of blue-green, as his musculature is defined in lines of light. The ground craters underneath him just from him standing there. The hum of his Ki fills the air, as he says, "Final question, Cell. Do you know what this form is?"
Cell	Well that's interesting. There's a horrible, detached atmosphere to Cell as Bardock's roaring power-up swallows the noise of the jazz. If he had lips, he might even frown. Slowly, slowly, he straightens, his arms going back to his sides as the golden light floods over him, pushing away the light of the moons. Then he stretches out the other side. He takes his time. He's languid, almost casual about it, as he lets Bardock get to his full power. That languid curiousity drapes over Cell like an aura as he stretches calmly. This is a creature that does not fear for its own life. This is a creature that is so draped in self-confidence - either arrogance or undeserved - that it can afford to wait for a Super Saiyan to charge up solely to satisfy its own curiousity. This is something New, and Different, in a way that Frieza never was. Because Frieza was loud. Frieza bragged. Frieza threw around his ego like a weapon. Cell...no. Cell's ego is a distraction. Cell's ego is there to make people underestimate hm, to make people think he's full of shit. He throws his ego around so people think he's weaker than he is. And then he hits them when they're down, and surprises the hell out of everybody. Cell straightens, rising to his full height. He's very tall. He's...very tall. Slowly, with extreme precision, two finges close about his arm warmer. His multifaceted, slitty eyes narrow into a nasty smile. "I think it means that you want me to take the pink fluffy bands off." Cell strips off the pink fluffy bands. He holds all five of them up, tips over his hand, and lets them float to the ground. And then the ground around him bends backwards like liquid under a jet engine. Cell lights up like a floodlight. Like a sun. Around him, yellow, glowing spirits howl, the furious souls of those collected by Cell's terrifying tail. Bardock's scouter starts freaking out as Cell's power climbs, and climbs and climbs, and climbs, and keeps on climbing. And as it climbs, the aura of screaming souls just gets bigger and bigger and bigger... With an almost casual, bored glance, Cell's eyes light up. Twin beams of energy punch out of his eyes, aimed directly at Bardock's scouter. "I want you to remember," Cell buzzes as he crouches. "You literally asked for this." And then he charges into Bardock, fists and feet flying like lightning as Bardock's glowing gold aura crashes into the aura of howling dead.
Bardock	The readings on the scouter are terrifying alright, but aside from the scowl deepening on his face, the aggressiveness in his posture, there's no outwards display of the fear he feels. Except for the cold sweat that has started to run down his face spontaneously, and how his fingers are digging into his palms hard enough to draw blood. Which hasn't happened since he was holding the bandana that is now stainred red and wrapped around his forehead. He feels like his head is being crushed by the sheer level of Ki that Cell is radiating. 'Stronger than Frieza'. Yeah, that's about right. Only it feels more like a couple thousand times stronger, minimum, and that's far beyond anything he could have anticipated. The gruesome aura is another thing about Cell he never would have imagined seeing. But everything about this fight just makes him feel that after all he's been through, he's as far away from being able to protect people as he was when he tried to block Frieza's planet-destroying Death Ball with his face. There's no time to retort to Cell, as beams of Ki destroy his scouter in short order, causing his head to jerk away as the device explodes in a cloud of smoke and electronic components. His transformation-enhanced senses set his whole body into motion, only his warrior's reflex keeping him from falling under the initial, overpowering onslaught that Cell throws at him. The warrior's reflex is something that warriors of adequate skill and power train their minds and bodies to do. They react to the slightest indicator, the barest detection of an attack by impulse rather than thought, and they do it in a useful manner. It's the difference between dodging and doing something useless like holding your arms in front of your face. The warrior's reflex is what saves him now, and even then, that's overstating things a bit. Golden ki erupts from the impact as Bardock tries to turn Cell's attacks aside by striking at his wrists and ankles, with all the strength he has in him, and gets cracked bones in his own hands and feet for his efforts, regardless of if it actually does anything (which is unlikely). He takes hits that send searing pain through him, as flesh tears, twists, and is practically ground away by the sheer friction. It's only the first few fractions of seconds of battle, and already he's in terrible condition. If he stays close, he's going to be in enormous trouble. Actually, that's going to be the case no matter what. But... He can't just give up! He suddenly stops trying to counter and block with his bloodied appendages and flips backwards through the air, releasing a concentrated beam of blue-white Ki from the ragged flesh of his palm aimed at Cell's buggy-lizard-looking face. His teeth are gritted in pain and determination. But mostly pain.
Cell	The real terror of Cell isn't his power, and it isn't his screaming aura, and it isn't his physical strength. Bardock can accomodate for physical strength. He can turn aside enough of Cell's blows to stop his own destruction. He can parry enough of Cell's blows to stop anything lethal from finding a mark. No, that isn't the terror of Cell. That isn't what makes Cell so dangerous. It's his composure. Each of Bardock's counter-parries, each of Bardock's counter-strikes, is met with a sort of casual cheer, a detached delight. Every strike Cell throws is an almost-playful bat with the force of a freight train behind it. And it's not that he's not trying, or that he's not expending effort, either. He's simply so confident, so aware of his own ability to control the battlefield, that it looks like everything he does is casual. Bardock flips away, and the blast crashes into Cell's head. It punches clean through his exoskeleton and leaving grey goop and green, acidic blood everywhere as the jazzy music reaches an energetic crescendo. The boogie-woogie sound starts warping and distorting horribly as the acid blood eats through the plastic speakers. In moments, next to Cell's headless body, the boombox's sound dies, leaving a hideous ticking noise as the distorted CD attempts to cycle through. For a moment, Bardock may even believe that he's won. Then Cell's head erupts out of his neck, covered in that same green acid goop. The goop rolls down his shoulders, eating through his tuxedo. The biomonster tears the tuxedo off and discards it, then kicks the boombox. "What a waste of Best Jazz Of The Eighties," Cell expresses. His foot comes down on the boombox, shattering it into a million pieces. Under his foot, the earth erupts outwards again, once more rippling like liquid under a jet engine. He turns his gaze back towards Bardock. The golden glint of the Super Saiyan's light flickers off Cell's multifaceted eyes. "So," Cell starts, turning his body to face the Saiyan, "I could stand here and let you hit me to your heart's content. I could let you exhaust yourself as you try and break through my regeneration, but let's be honest, you won't, and I don't have a year to sit here and let you. I'm a busy guy." His tail snakes around as he starts walking. The landscape distorts under him with every step, as if his weight - the weight of the lives he's stolen - is so vast and so massive as to be untenable. "I have a busy life. I have yoga classes. Painting classes. Cooking classes. Mommy & Me Childrearing Classes. Music lessons. Do you know how much it costs to rebook a ukelele tutor who doesn't make crappy Youtube videos for a living?" Cell waves his hand airily next to him, whirling it next to his head. "A lot. That's how much." "And that doesn't even get into my day job. I mean, honestly," Cell spreads his arms, "I've got my best people on all my active assignments, but sometimes, if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself." Cell suddenly stops walking. His multifaceted eyes narrow. "So here's how this is gonna work. I'm gonna break your arm. Then I'm gonna break your other arm. Then I'm gonna break both your legs, rip out your tail, and trigger whatever emergency system you've got for your friends to come pick you up. I'm gonna beat you within an inch of Zenkai, but don't worry. I'm not gonna put you anywhere near death. And I'm not gonna kill you, either." "No, no. As the man said, Bardock, I'll kill you last. I'm gonna let you watch as I dismantle every single Saiyan in existence with systematic, /brutal/ efficiency. I'm gonna give you a taste of what's to come." Cell pauses. "Except - and this is the funny thing - your grandson. I like your grandson much too much." "Ain't that funny? You, your son, your other son, your prince, your prince's girl...I hate all of you to the absolute core. But your grandson? He's a nice kid. I like him."
Cell	"I'm sure he'll have plenty of time to visit you in the old folks' home." And then Cell disappears. He moves at speeds that are frankly disgusting, vanishing and reappearing behind Bardock in an instant. One hand goes for Bardock's arm, and his foot goes for Bardock's back. His other hand goes right for the tail. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what he's gonna do. Especially since he just monlogued it.
Bardock	He doesn't think he's won. He wishes he could hope for that possibility, but he was already told that Cell can regenerate. Sure, they said, 'his tail', and it would be reasonable to assume that his freaking HEAD was different from an appendage. But Bardock has learned not to take chances. As he comes out of his backwards flip and takes in several pained breaths, he is channeling his Ki to his right hand, focusing it into a swirling ball that blazes like a miniature blue sun. Not even approaching the 'sun' that has been radiating from Cell's body all this time, but a concentration of barely-contained atomizing force all the same. When Cell recovers and starts explaining what he's going to do, Bardock is still gathering power. As the creature approaches him, the power radiating from the sphere is so great that the entire area around them as gone dark by comparison to the brilliance. But then as he's pulling his hand back to throw it, Bardock knowing full well that Cell is not making threats with what he's saying, he's making PROMISES, the bio-android vanishes and starts striking him from behind. The hand with the Riot Javelin hovering over it releases the projectile as pain causes Bardock's concentration to lapse, his eyes going wide and his pupils practically turning white in shock. The arm is broken, and the ball of Ki goes flying up into the sky. It doesn't explode and turn the night into day until after Cell has kicked Bardock in the back and grabbed for his tail. Bardock finally makes a noise of pain instead of just the grunts of efforts and contained suffering he has made so far as his tail is torn out, leaving blood gushing from the base of his spine. He cries out in agony. And then... Then he lets out a brief bark of noise that could almost be laughter. Though rather forced. Bardock's other arm, the one that isn't broken, whips backwards, attempting to seize Cell by the throat while his hands are occupied breaking/removing appendages. He's too unbalanced from the loss of his tail to use his legs to attack or attempt to dodge or even run away. He could try to fly, but at Cell's speed, if chase was given, there's no way he would escape. No, there's only one real option here. Bardock's hand clenches down even tighter. If there's any acid blood left dripping on Cell after he regenerated, Bardock deals with any corrosion to his flesh that results. He laughs in pain a couple more times as he begins to glow all over, a power beyond just his Ki starting to build and radiate within him. Gathering and overflowing from his body. "Y-you did them..." Bardock lets out. "Out of order." Then the life energy he is converting into additional Ki surges through him. Even if he doesn't have a grip on Cell, he just keeps channeling more and more power into his body. Beyond what he can reasonably contain. It seems quite likely he intends to blow himself up in order to take Cell with him. He already left everything up to his son to fix because of a vision. He sacrificed himself to try to save everyone and failed... Only to survive. That can't have been a coincidence. There has to be a reason. A way to alter fate. Just his grandson being left alive? He can't leave the burden of dealing with Cell on Gohan. He hasn't even met the kid, and he knows he doesn't want anyone else to have to suffer this monster to live. This time, his sacrifice is going to mean something. The landscape begins to crack and shatter around them, a ravine forming that splits left and right, and then up and down as the ground stops being level and crumbles away at high-speed. Time to change the future.
Cell	The noise of pain is sweet music to Cell's ears in a way that jazz tap simply cannot be. For all his swaggering bravado, for all he plays the sophisticated socialite monster-about-town, for all that he does, Cell is hardcoded to enjoy pain in a way that most people can't possibly imagine. If it was his choice, maybe he wouldn't, but it isn't his choice. It was Gero's choice, and, wisely, Gero made sure that a monster made to hurt people really really liked hurting them. A lot. But then Bardock goes and does something clever. He gets his hand around Cell's neck. He clenches it tight under a grip like iron, exoskeleton cracking under the duress. Bardock can feel the acid blood in Cell's veins, pumped by organs only Dr. Gero, Dr. Gero's Supercomputer, and Cell could possibly understand. He can feel it pooling against his fingers. It will probably hurt. It probably hurts a lot less than the tail in Cell's hand. The other thing Bardock might notice, this close, is that Cell is not breathing. Like Frieza, he appears to be perfectly capable of sustaining himself without taking a single breath. His eyes simply remain locked against Bardock's as Bardock starts rising, the raving splitting. "You're gonna make me do this, aren't you," Cell demands, "You're gonna make me do this so I don't make your grandkid sad." "No, hang on, so /you/ don't make your grandkid sad." This caring shit was so annoying. Cell does not bother to break the grapple. No, rather, Bardock's arm being occupied suits him just fine. The hand dangling Bardock's tail comes up and around Bardock's neck, bringing...well, bringing Bardock's own tail around the Saiyan's throat. With his other hand, Cell closes the loop and tugs, hard. Then Cell's tail swings over and around Bardock's head to stick itself right in his back. "I want you to listen very carefully," Cell hisses, "As I drink the life right out of your veins. You asked me why I want you all to die?" "Because all of you - every single one of you - is the same. Frieza did the entire universe a favor, wiping your planet out. When Vegeta beat Frieza, do you know what he did? He came right to my world and he conquered it, and he proved Frieza absolutely right. And it took your son Raditz to solve the problem. Vegeta enslaved the only family I've ever had and stole from me my chance to kill the man I hate more than even the man I'm programmed to hate. And you know what happened then?" "Your other son, from another world, came around with an empire trying to change the nature of the Saiyan people. He wanted to forge a real future for your species, one where they'd have enough power to never fear a tyrant again. He wanted to forge a future where 'Saiyan' was a culture, not a species, and where 'destroying worlds' was a thing of the distant past. He wanted a brighter future, the brighter future you saw for your people, the brighter future that drove you to kill King Vegeta and little Prince Vegeta for the sake of your people. A brighter future where you could be artists, innovators, inventors. Where you could be something great, and not a shitstain in the zoo of space." "And Vegeta, and Serori, and Taylita, and everybody else in the multiverse screamed that he was a tyrant because Kakarot murdered the royal family." Cell's eyes flash. "And they killed him for it." "That's what happens when a monkey tries to do something different. You get murdered for it, because you're not a real Saiyan by some arbitrary metric. The instant anybody shows real change, real initiative, real promise, they get beaten to death."
Cell	"Besides," Cell scoffs, "What has your race ever done to deserve to live? You conquered planets for Frieza, too. You wiped out species by the dozen. You scoured them clean with giant monkey fury, and then, when Frieza realized that maybe keeping a race of super-destructive monsters on the payroll wasn't a good idea, you got it into your head that you didn't deserve exactly what you got?" "And you /dare/," Cell adds, "You dare call me a monster?" "You dare judge me, like you have some great right to exist? You, Bardock, planet-killer? You, Saiyans, Frieza's tools? Don't tell me you had no choice. You loved it. It's in your blood to love it. When you get right down to it, it's in my blood to love it too." "So etch this into your soul. Carve it in big monkey letters. You wanted to know why I hate your species so much?" "Because you're a race of monsters, and it's convenient for me to hate something it's acceptable to hate." Cell's eyes spread into that nasty smile again. "And I need something to hate, Bardock. I need it like you need air." "Speaking of which, we're getting really high. I bet it's gonna get real hard to breathe real, real fast."
Bardock	Blood loss, agony, and now asphyxiation. That is doing a number on his concentration as he feels his insides burning up from his own power. A power that is killing him. The dizziness he's beginning to experience, way the blackness is creeping inwards from the edges of his vision... All of this is bad, but he can, through sheer willpower, force himself to keep going until he can release all the power he's building. He can not, however, use willpower to fix the life and energy being sucked out of him by Cell through a needle that was just stabbed into his body. He would cry out if he could, release a roar of effort and pain mixed together into a single seamless shriek of suffering. But no matter how much power he builds, it just keeps spiralling away into nothing, weakening him both in terms of Ki and flesh. Broken arm, missing tail, fractures all over, bruises, erroded flesh, CORRODED flesh from acid blood, the burning in his throat as his own blood pools hotly in his veins not unlike how Cell's blood does under Bardock's weakening grasp. And the impaled back, to top things off. He should simply fail at this point. His skin is turning pale. His power is waning. He can't even focus his life energy anymore, because it's flowing right out of him faster than he can convert it. But when he finally lets go of Cell, that damn stubborn determination that carried on down the line to Goku, along with a willingness to sacrifice anything for friends, as his slackening grip and melted finger tips that were about to let go suddenly dig in deeper for one last attempt at making a difference. Small flames of golden Ki are flying outwards from Bardock in every direction, not a uniform body-engulfing aura anymore, too erratic and weakened to do that. The trembling in the ground has basically ceased, and Bardock's hair is becoming less and less rigid, starting to droop down and flicker back to a darker shade. And Bardock pulls himself, in his condition, right up to Cell's face and his eyes, fighting to close are forced open. Bloodshot, he tries to speak. Can't. So he settles for doing something else he has never done before. Saiyans are latent telepaths. Not all unlock the ability to use that, and they aren't necessarily good at it. It is pure instinct that lets him do what he does next. Which is, just barely this side of consciousness, to try to send Cell a message. Half by locking gazes, half by those latent abilities. <<I. KNOW. ALL. OF. THAT.>> he tries to send. <<SAYING. 'SORRY.' DOESN'T. CUT. IT.>> He face is turning purple and his grip slackens on Cell again, as his gaze drops briefly, only to come back up. His grip does not regain its strength. His hand is sizzling anyway. <<I. DON'T. MAKE. EXCUSES. FOR. THE. SAIYANS. OR. MYSELF. WE. PAID. FOR. OUR. CRIMES. AT. THE. HAND. OF. A. MURDERER. JUST. AS. BAD.>> His grasp drops away completely now, instead reaching for his own severed tail, as no more Ki radiates from him, and his eyes fade to black from blue-green. <<I. NEVER. CALLED. YOU. A. MONSTER. CELL.>> His hair finally fades to the palest shade of yellow possible without being quite black as his arms finally drop to his sides, and his eyes roll back. He ceases his struggles. No more strength. <<But if you... Don't fight... That... Drive... To destroy... You'll... Be... choosing... to... be... like...>> His hair finally returns to its uniform black. <<...us...>> Bardock stops moving entirely. His power level has dropped to nearly nothing.
Cell	Cell watches dispassionately as Bardock stops moving. He slowly lowers them both to the ground, drops Bardock with a degree of apath, and conjures a cigar into being. Then he casually kicks Bardock's side, puts his foot against Bardock's stomach, and really savors it. Cell's aura dies as he conjures his tuxedo with a snap of his fingers, rebuilding it with his Namek abilities. His power level vanishes back to a tiny, insignificant five, fooling exactly no one who bothered to look at the landscape. He rolls his shoulders, produces another set of fuzzy pink bands, and wraps them around his arms, legs, and tail. "Gonna be a bitch to replace that boombox," Cell observes to no one.
Cory	It happens without warning. One moment, nothing. The next, a powerful Ki sparks into detectability and climbs not steadily, but like a rocket shooting for the distant stars. Compared to the two titans it's barely a torch next to bonfires, but it's something alright. And it's approaching FAST, despite the great distance involved. Not far away at all there's a glint of crimson... one that grows bigger in mere seconds - like a meteor in reverse. There's a meteor alright, and it's headed right for Cell. In fact it began almost the instant he began putting on his suit!! And speaking of suits... One of his style of tuxedos - ENTIRELY EMPTY - is fluttering straight at him like some kind of bizarre ghost. It flaps in the wind, distorted weirdly as if the stomach was flying his way faster than everything else. It's an extremely bizarre sight to say the least, and entirely out of utter nowhere. And it aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaain't stopping! "HORYAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!" ... In fact the stomach of the suit moves more like a fist than a stomach. Straight for Cell's face!
Cell	The thing about big, showy, dramatic entrances is that they attract attention from soldiers. The instant the burning fireball appears in the sky, Cell's guard is right back up. He didn't survive this long by not being paranoid. Regeneration is only one part of his survival toolkit, after all; the other part is the intense, brutal stealth and paranoia that he's engineered after a lifetime of living on a planet full of people who once could've torn him apart. So when the tuxedo comes at him, and Cory punches him in the gut, Cell's reaction, as the punch smashes him in the chest, cracking against his exoskeleton with a loud and thunderous sound, is almost instantaneous. The noise of the collision muffles the motion of his body, but even still, the action is so quick, the movement of the air can almost be heard. One hand goes for the arm Cory just used to crack his chestplate. His knee comes up into Cory's stomach. It's hard to knock the wind out of something that doesn't need to breathe. "I don't," Cell declares coldly as his exoskeleton rebuilds with a hideous /splurk/, eating through his tuxedo, "Think you understand the situation here." "You are not a challenge for me. You are not an enemy to me. You are, at the absolute best, a /speedbump/ on the way to real problems." "And you are very, very, very lucky that I am in a full and giving mood, or I would break you over my knee with far, far, far less effort than I did him. Because, like him, you are quite literally asking me to hurt you." Cell flexes his fingers and rebuilds his tuxedo again, taking his cigar up to his lips. "Now then. Take him and get the hell out of here before I decide that my full and giving mood could be better spent ripping your tail out of your ass, too. And understand that the only reason I am not murdering you is that I'm sure your friends in the Union would come after me no matter how much I pointed out that you, like him, are literally asking for it."
Cory	What might be surprising is what happens when the knee comes up. instead of colliding with bare ribs, it connects with... a guard?! Both of Cory's arms, crossed together and all her strength put into a guard. There's a hell of an impact, one that sends Cory flying lopsidedly through the air spitting out blood. She wobbles, tumbles... and with a loud GRUNT, forces her body to obey despite the agony. But that's odd, since Cell had grabbed for the offending fist, right? Well... turns out, his hand closes around a boot. A boot that has been stuffed full of all the weights Cory normally wears under the orange gi. Weighted belts, armbands, and other gear all stuffed into the boots. All propelled at the last moment - HURLED, using the tuxedo to mask its true nature. But despite the searing pain, Chikorri manages to land solidly next to Bardock with both fists clenched, even with both arms bloodied. It should be all she can do to not simply double over, but... somehow, she stands resolute. "The only thing you're full of... is hot air, and yourself. You can have THAT thing back, I'm not wearing it again!" Bardock's broken body's hoisted with no effort strength-wise - pain being another thing - and it's then that the young, rather foolish-seeming Saiyan affixes Cell with one hell of a stare. It's piercing, unforgiving, downright furious! And yet for all the fury in those eyes, there's none of the fear and terror that should be there like before. Not this time. "After months of nothing, I've figured it out. I don't know who's responsible for ruining all of time and dozens of worlds, but if they have a face I bet it's something like yours - you puffed-up roach." There's fury in her eyes indeed. And for one brief moment, their color doesn't seem quite right. Might be all the raging crimson Ki from Kaioken though... "You are all puffed up and nothing else. When you get down to it... you stand for nothing at all. Just an empty monster TRYING to be a person. Someone like you... will never wreck the best chance Toki Toki City's gotten in months. Not on my life!" And with that, her aura intensifies even FURTHER, more multipliers added to Kioaken... an incredible feat, considering how heavy that one blow was. Just like that... WHOOOOOSH. She's off.
Cell	Cell snaps a cigar out of nowhere and takes a drag. "Tell it to someone who cares, you self-righteous ape." He watches them leave for a moment before tugging on his fuzzy pink exercise warmers, tapping his chest experimentally, and frowning. He's gonna have to write a check to somebody. This land's no good for shit now.