Earth
"Vegeta, I can see through every move you make."
Cell wasn't flustered or enraged the way Vegeta expected he was perfectly calm.
"Big talk." Vegeta snorted.
"Heh. Come on then give me everything you've got." Cell crooked a finger, then folded his arms across his chest as if to say, I'll even keep my hands to myself.
"Mongrel! Don't get cocky!" Vegeta burst forward, fist drilling for Cell's gut
Fwip! The punch sliced air. Cell only leaned his torso a fraction and the blow missed clean.
"Ha ta-ta-ta!"
Vegeta chained fists and kicks, but it was useless; with the barest shifts of body and feet, Cell slipped past every strike.
"Great. Tries to flex and gets wrecked instead." Gohan rolled his eyes.
"Quit dodging if you've got the guts!" Vegeta snarled.
"Fine. Hit me." Cell dropped his arms, muscles bracing.
Thoom!
Vegeta's iron fist sank into Cell's abdomen and Cell didn't budge. He stood like a mountain.
"Im…possible!" Vegeta's face drained.
Clang!
"G ah!"
Cell's right elbow snapped up and crashed onto the crown of Vegeta's head. His eyes bulged; white-hot pain screamed through his skull. He staggered back, both hands clamping the spot as if his brain had turned to mush.
"The Saiyan Prince… is nothing special." Cell's mockery was merciless.
He drifted in, dipped his stance, and drove a straight punch into Vegeta's midsection.
"Blargh!"
The pain flipped; suddenly Vegeta's head didn't hurt at all his arms hugged his stomach as blood sprayed from his mouth.
"Prince Vegeta!" Nappa shouted, panic cracking his voice.
"'Prince'? Just dead weight," Cell sniffed.
"You filthy mongrel how dare you look down on me! Get lost!"
Vegeta detonated a ki orb point-blank and blasted Cell away, then sucked air in ragged heaves, trying to reset himself.
Smoke billowed then parted. Cell stepped out unscathed.
"Try taking my last move head-on." Vegeta panted.
"Heh. Go on." Cell hovered across from him.
"You'll pay for your arrogance."
Vegeta slid back a hundred meters. His arms flung wide; muscles ballooned along both forearms, thick cords rising grotesquely against the rest of his frame.
"Final… Flash!"
Abandoning the safety of Full-Power Super Saiyan, he poured everything into one beam.
"One shot decides it, Cell. Don't even think about dodging." His voice had gone flat with resolve.
Cell's face tightened, but inside he was thrumming with excitement. "Come!"
"Final Flash Cannon!"
A beam that looked almost solid roared across the sky.
Cell raised both hands and took it head-on.
Ssszzzt
The smell of searing meat rose off his palms.
"Yaaah!"
Vegeta's arm muscles swelled again; pushing past his limit split the skin, thin threads of blood seeping. The Final Flash swelled even hotter Cell's palms turned to a mangled mess.
"Damn got careless. My body can't take this " Cell felt it snap out from under him
Too late.
"Die!"
Vegeta's whole frame bulged; blood streamed from eyes, ears, nose, mouth the output had gone beyond what his body could bear.
KRA-KA-BOOM!
The Final Flash detonated. Space itself seemed to smear.
Vegeta had nothing left; he pitched toward the sea.
"Vegeta!" Nappa streaked in, caught him, and hauled him back.
"Kh khh!" Vegeta coughed blood. He'd forced it too far; the recoil dragged him to the brink.
"Here Senzu."
Gohan flicked a bean into his mouth.
Thunk!
Vegeta's eyes flared; his body gave a small swell as strength surged back. He stood, feeling the clear jump in his power.
Out over the water, the glare finally faded.
"Is… is he dead?" Krillin peered at the blast zone.
"No. I can still sense him," Goku said.
When the dust truly settled, a pair of legs stuck upright out of the air everything above the waist was gone.
"He's gotta be dead now, right? No head!" Krillin gaped.
"Don't forget he's got Piccolo's regeneration," Gohan said.
"I can't grow a whole new head," Piccolo grumbled.
"Watch," Gohan said, pointing.
From Cell's waist, blood-flesh sprouted, then bones, then skin. In seconds, a new upper body popped free, mucus-slick and intact.
"Don't sell yourself short, Piccolo. If he can do it, so can you. Since you fused with Kami, you've barely grown. Try leaning into regeneration optimize the cells that already outperform. Endless meditation and brute training won't refine your biology." Gohan's tone went teacher-flat.
"…Got it." Piccolo's face hardened; he took it seriously.
"That last one really did startle me, Vegeta. Not bad. Keep it up heh." Cell chuckled.
"Nope. My turn. Vegeta, you had your Senzu now it's me." Goku could barely stand still.
"Hmph. I'm not arguing." Arms folded, Vegeta snorted. His pride wouldn't let him keep fighting after a bean by his own code, that meant he'd lost. (It helped that Gohan was here as a final wall; without him, they'd dogpile if they had to.)
"You, Son Goku?" Cell tapped his temple. "My core directive says I should kill you, but right now I'm not interested. You're not as strong as Vegeta."
"Ha! Hear that? Even the bug knows I'm stronger!" Vegeta burst out laughing.
"Heh, only one way to find out. Pick a new spot?" Goku pointed at a nearby island.
(Island: What did I do to deserve this?)
"If you're so eager to die, I'll oblige." Cell launched first. The others followed.
"Hup hup !"
The instant he touched down, Goku stretched push-ups, sit-ups, a quick hamstring pull.
"What's the point of those?" Cell asked, baffled.
"Nothing. Habit. Ready when you are." Goku thumped his chest, eyes bright.
"Heh. Suit yourself." Cell sneered.
"Hold up Gohan, got any Senzu left? Toss me one!" Goku called.
"Knew it," Gohan sighed, but flipped him a bean anyway.
"Here. You've burned ki fighting Vegeta. I don't want a cheap win." Goku lobbed the bean to Cell.
"Oh? Don't mind if I do. Crunch." Cell bit down and swallowed.
Heat blew through his body like a furnace kick. His aura swelled; ki not only restored, it ticked a notch higher.
"What a marvelous little bean. Ha ha ha! Son Goku you've signed your own death warrant!"
"Reckless show-offs," Piccolo muttered.
"Can't help it," Gohan said. "Relax. With me here, even ten times stronger he still can't win."
Round Two began.
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