Koneka's Excellent Vacation

part18 Sorry to keep everyone waiting for so long. Hope everyone had a great holiday, now that Koneka’s is nearly over! Disclaimer: Them, nope. Her, yup. _____________________________________ Koneka’s Excellent Vacation, Part 18 Cell Games: Rage of Saiyans Goku was gone. Dead. Of that I was certain. Though I hardly knew him, the loss tore a hole in my heart as big as the crater Cell had created. Jimmy was tugging on my sleeve. “What happened, Koneka?” I couldn’t answer. My eyes were locked on the prince. I knew how the others felt right now, but the emotions playing across his face would have filled a dictionary. He seemed to be going through all the stages of grief in a few seconds — denial, anger, guilt. But one emotion I couldn’t name. He seemed to deflate, almost like his reason for living had ceased at the moment Goku beamed out. It wasn’t unlike despair. “It’ll be all right,” I whispered, and Jimmy thought I was talking to him. I figured there was no sense in hiding anymore. I was just aboo sto step out from behind Mr. Satan’s group when suddenly there was a burst of energy that filled the area with blazing light and a beam that cut through the fog like a two-edged sword. There was no mistaking that energy. I stumbled back and almost retched as I watched in horror. The beam spiraled out of the fog and pierced Trunks’ armor,chinching a bloody hole in his body. Like slow motion, his beautiful form soared through the air, the long silky hair flying out in every direction. He hit the ground with a thud and lay still. “TRUUUUUUUNKS!” someone screamed. It was me. I fell to the ground and put my head between my knees. Little black dots danced across my vision. Taking deep breaths, I managed to stay conscious, and when I looked up, I saw that Cell, perfect again, was making a speech. “My God,” I whispered, as I looked at Trunks’ still body, his leg bent at an odd angle. He coughed and retched up blood. Krillin and the others surrounded him, staring dumstruck at the young man. All of them seemed lost. All except Vejita. He was staring at his son, shock twisting his face, his pupils mere pinpoints. For a moment, he seemed to turn inward as he clenched his teeth, stared at Cell, then looked back at his son. Suddenly, with a roar of rage that startled everyone, he launched himself at the monster, exploding into gold and attacking Cell with such hate that he seemed inhuman. Launching a volley of energy shots, Vejita screamed and screamed as he continued his attack until the air was filled with dirt and debris, the dust clouds obliterating any view of Cell. Any view of anything. Jimmy and I huddled together, shielding our faces from the strangling dust. But when Vejita stopped and we chanced a look, we were horrified. Cell was still standing there like nothing had happened. I didn’t even see what happened next. Vejita was struck and his body skidded across the ground to lie in a twisted heap as Cell began an attack that pulled a collective gasp from the warriors. A streak of energy shot out toward Vejita just as I heard a whistling sound. Jimmy screamed, “Gohan!” as the young man threw himself across Vejita’s body and took the full force of the attack. When he finally stood uis lis left arm was hanging across his body at a peculiar angle, blood dripping from a wound in his shoulder. “It’s over,” I heard Krillin groan. _________________ I lay my pen down and close my eyes, seeing the young man in my mind’s eye. How do I record those last awful minutes, that conversation he had had with no one at all? But Jimmy had known. “He’s talking to his dad,” he had said with such conviction that I believed him. And how do I account for the apparition? Because I saw him, too. Goku. He was there right behind his son, and right beside him, pushing with all his might as Gohan blasted away with only one arm. I thought the monster was going to win so many times that I think I had heart failure about fourteen times! Gohan, injured and in pain, holding Cell off with just one arm. One arm! Almost falling to his knees, almost failing. But he never gave up. He never gave up. ________________ I couldn’t believe my eyes. They were leaving! Then, suddenly they were back and giving Gohan as much support as they could — every single warrior. The roar of the energy filled my ears until I thought my eardrums would burst. It was like a freight train, a tornado pounding the earth, filling the air with its awful sound. The battle see-sawed, first Cell, then Gohan having the upper hand, and the warriors fell, one by one. “Come on, Gohan!” Jimmy screamed, his little fists clenched. “Come OOOOONNN! You can do it! Listen to your dad!” My God, Cell was bea him him down! Then, suddenly, there was flash from the sky and Cell turned to look up. “VEJITA!” I screamed, and I could see his heaving chest from where I stood. But it was enough for Gohan. With a mighty push, his energy engulfed the monster in an explosion of power and light so bright that I had to turn away. And when I looked up, Cell was gone. The sudden onset of silence made my ears throb. When Gohan powerd down and collapsed to the ground, Jimmy and I scrambled forward, but we stopped when we heard laughter. Gohan was laughing. And laughing. And laughing. He had beat Cell! ...concludes next chapter...