Koneka's Excellent Vacation

part16 Jimmy gets a handle on the whole Vejita/Koneka thing. Gohan takes Goku’s place in the tournment. and I’m on a roll! Disclaimer: The usual. Ain’t mine. Theirs. _____________________________________ Koneka’s Excellent Vacation, Part 16 Cell Games: Gohan Taps His Hidden Power “He’s so strong!” Jimmy exclaimed. I could feel it, too — electricity that seemed to fill the air and tingle from my scalp to my toes. “If we’re going to watch, we have to get to higher ground,” I said, though I doubted anywhere was really safe. “We’re safe,” Jimmy said and folded his arms. “Huh? Why do you think that?” He stuck his lower lip out. “Vejita will take care of us.” “HE wants us to leave, little man. Don’t shake your head!” “He won’t let anything happen to you. He loves you!” I’m still trying to figure out why my knees nearly buckled. After all, this was Jimmy... “He doesn’t love me,” I squeaked. There’s nothing like a five-year-old rolling his eyes to put you in your place. “Duh-UH! Yes he does! He gets all googly around you.” “Vejita does NOT get ‘googly’, Jimmy!” Vejita? Googly?! “I saw him kissing you!” “That doesn’t mean he loves me...” why was I arguing with a five-year-old? And while an eleven-year-old was preparing to battle a monster! “Vejita loves Koneka!” Jimmy was wiggling his hips and saying those three words over and over in a sing-song voice. “Ssshhhhhh! Stop!” I hissed, and suddenly noticed that Mr. Satan, the TV crew and all the former contenders were staring at us. I grinned sheepishly. “Kids!” I said, grabbing Jimmy’s hand and hauling him away. “Koneka loves Vejita,” he whispered and giggled. “That’s true eno” I muttered, then put my arms around him and flew the two of us to higher ground. I was just setting him on his feet when there was a whistling sound and suddenly Vejita was inches from my face. I staggered back two steps. “Why haven’t you left yet?” he growled. I opened my mouth and Jimmy said, “You’ll take care of us!” Oh, God, I hope he doesn’t say.... “You love her, don’t you? You won’t let anything happen to her.” I was sure I had shrunk to five inches because Vejita seemed about nine feet tall! He was scowling to beat hell, but I detected a glint in his eye. “And that’s why you need to leave,” he said quietly to Jimmy. “We can’t concentrate on the battle when we have you to worry about. It makes us vulnerable.” It was the longest speech he had ever made, and possibly, the most difficult. For him to admit to any kind of vulnerability... We looked at each other. I took a step closer. Vejita reached toward me, burying his hand in my hair, grabbing a fistful of it. He hauled me to his chest and crushed my lips with his own. Tendrils of electricity shot through me. “Go home,” he growled against my mouth. And then he was gone. I don’t know how long I stood there with my fingertips against my lips and my knees shaking, but a tug on my sleeve pulled me out of my trance. “I told you,” Jimmy said. I didn’t have time to think about it, because Cell and Gohan were beginning and we needed to find a place to watch. “I’m going to fly us over beyond that ridge and then we’re going to walk back. We’ll watch from behind Mr. Satan and his group. If Vejita thinks we’ve left, then he won’t worry about us.” Wasn’t I a great role model! “Okay,” he said and threw his arms around my neck as I bent down. As we flew over the ridge, I said, “But you have to promise me that you’ll stick with me, no matter what. I’m the only one on this side who can get us out of here fast.” He nodded. “I know. I’m sorry I ran away.” “It’s okay, bud. I’d’ve run away, too, if I was that scared.” We landed on the other side and began our walk back to the battle venue. “Koneka...” As he took my hand and I felt the smallness of the little boy, I thought again about vulnerability. What was I thinking? I should take him home. “...how did Gohan get so strong?” “I don’t know, Jimmy. He’s a Saiyan like his dad. Well, half Saiyan anyway. They can do things we can’t do.” I wondered about Goku’s wisdom in appointing his son in his place, then realized I wasn’t any better at making decisions. What a horrible mother I’d make! “And remember, they trained in that room I told you about.” How did he get so strong? It was an amazing testament to his tenacity and his dad’s ability to train. Yet, Goku himself was awesome in his strength. I knew from my time in the room that if Goku had spent that much time training his son, then how did he himself get so strong? And rather than Gohan’s half-breed blood diluting his Saiyan strength, it seemed to make him stronger. Kind of like a mutt! Prebreds tend to be delicate and high-strung, whereas half-breeds tend to be hardier and stronger. It’s obvious to Goku, anyway, that Gohan is up to the task. And Goku, for all his innocence, seemed to know what he was doing. A shrill whistling sound pierced our ears then and we looked up to see Gohan rocketing into the air. Cell was right behind him and the two of them began to duke it out in the air, Cell grabbing hold of Gohan and using him for a punching bag. “Oh, no...” “Gohan!” Jimmy screamed, then the battlers were on the ground again. “Koneka, hurry!” We broke into a run and finally came up behind Mr. Satan (who was crouching and holding his stomach) and hunkered down behind them to see the battle. We could hear Gohan’s screams. “He’s crushing him!” I cried. Then, Cell dropped Gohan to the ground. “What’s he saying?’ Jimmy said. “He wants Gohan to show him his true power,” I hissed, and clenched my teeth and fists. I was beginning to act like a Saiyan. I could feel my anger building. Everything was happening too fast. Cell flew up and grabbed a bag from Krillin and suddenly the huge guy with the red mohawk had Cell in a bear hug. Moments later, the big guy was nothing but flying nuts and bolts. When his head rolled over by us, I grabbed Jimmy and he pressed his face into my side. “He’s an android, Jimmy. There’s no blood. You can look.” But a freakier thing awaited us as Cell was opening his tail and spitting out mini-images of himself. I knew it was time to leave for sure, but we were both so mesmerized by the sight, that we couldn’t move. I was also petrified, because the Saiyans were powering up and the mini-Cells were attacking. We weren’t the only ones — Gohan seemed rooted to his spot, horrified. And those little Cells were making mincemeat of the warriors on the ridge. Yamcha and the guy with the three eyes were rallying to Goku’s defense — he looked exhausted. “Gohan,” I whispered. “Do something...” Vejita was high in the air and shrieking like a banshee. He let a huge ball of energy fly into the face of one of those creatures, who just slapped it away into the distance, exploding rock and earth flying everywhere. Jimmy huddled to the ground and I flung my body over his, pieces of rock and dust hitting my back. “Are you okay, Jimmy?” My head and back hurt. He nodded. “We should go,” I said dusting both of us off. “No!” he cried. “We can’t! I have to see!” “Jimmy...” “Gohan is my friend! I can’t leave him!” “But even Mr. Satan is leaving...” But Mr. Satan was picking up the head of the android and tossing it to Gohan. Everything seemed to stop, even time itself. And when Cell crushed the android’s head, it happened — what Goku had known all along, what we had doubted. Gohan was staring. When he threw his head back and arched his body, screaming, the explosion of raw power knocked us off our feet. Lightning crackled around his body, his hair stood stiffer and even from our vantage point we could see his muscles grow. He was screaming “STOP IT!” as the Cell Juniors continued to attack, knocking Goku off the ridge and pounding the warriors into the earth. Jimmy gasped. “G-gohan...” It had begun. ...continued...