"Damn it!! He actually ate a senzu bean!!"
"It is too late to say anything now. I remember he still has several left."
"It is fine. There is no need to panic. Even if Cell has senzu beans, he is still no match for this Vegeta."
"That is right. He used just one punch earlier and nearly crippled Cell."
"He is even stronger than Gohan after breaking his limits."
At the edge of the battlefield, everyone spoke at once, exchanging hurried comments.
The only one who remained silent was this timeline's Vegeta.
The gap was simply too great.
Both were Vegeta. Yet Perfect Cell, who towered over everyone else, was nothing more than an ant before the other him.
"You really think eating a senzu bean means you can stand up to me now?" Vegeta said coldly as he walked toward Cell once more.
"Cell, you still have not understood one thing. Your level of strength is completely insignificant in front of me. Even if you recover again and again, even if your power rises each time, you cannot change your ending."
Perfect Cell felt genuine fear surge through him.
Despite having fully recovered thanks to the senzu bean, the terror in his heart was impossible to suppress. His expression and eyes betrayed unmistakable dread toward Vegeta.
He did not retreat. But under Vegeta's pressure, his confidence had already collapsed.
"D damn it…!" Cell's body trembled.
"I am already the Perfect Form. Why am I still inferior to you?! You… what are you?! How did you become this strong, Vegeta?!"
His voice sounded like a cry from the depths of his soul.
"How did I become stronger?" Vegeta chuckled darkly.
"By training step by step. By surpassing my limits again and again. That is how I reached this realm. Cell, while you were smug over your so called perfect form, did you ever consider that your power is utterly worthless in the face of true strength?"
Vegeta stood directly in front of him.
Despite the height difference forcing him to look upward, his gaze was not one of submission.
It was the gaze of someone looking down on an insect.
Cell's teeth chattered. Under the pressure at such close range, he instinctively stumbled back two steps.
"No… no! That is impossible! I am the ultimate android, the strongest life form!!"
"My body contains the cells of every elite warrior, including yours! How could I possibly lose to you?!"
Whether it was sheer shock or desperation, Cell's despair suddenly flipped into extreme rage.
That rage diluted his fear and pushed him to unleash power beyond his limits.
His battle power surged.
Crackling arcs of lightning appeared around his body.
Under these circumstances, he forcibly broke through into Lightning Cell.
However,
His battle power was still pitifully low.
Just over six billion.
It was still rising, but not by much.
Unless he were to be critically injured and recover again, triggering a deeper evolution.
Vegeta watched him with interest.
This creature had clearly grown stronger and with it regained some confidence that he could challenge Vegeta.
At the edge of the battlefield, the Z Fighters stood together, watching tensely.
Cell's aura continued to rise, far stronger than before.
Everyone was shocked.
Everyone except Gohan.
Because he could clearly sense it.
Vegeta was far stronger than Cell.
At Cell's current level, Gohan himself could easily suppress him or even kill him.
This Vegeta was on an entirely different tier.
"Die, Vegeta!!!"
Having stabilized his power, Cell roared in fury and charged again.
Terrifying punches and kicks rained down like thunder.
Each strike shook the ground, tearing through the battlefield with violent shockwaves.
But
He had overestimated himself.
Even at this level, he posed no threat to Vegeta.
Vegeta did not counter.
Did not block.
He simply moved, calm and effortless, slipping through Cell's attacks with casual ease.
"Damn it!! Are you only going to dodge?!" Cell shouted in frustration.
"If I can land even one hit, just one!!"
His attacks became wilder, more desperate, as if trying to beat Vegeta to death through sheer force.
Vegeta laughed.
When they reached the edge of a mountain range, Cell seemed to think he had found his chance.
He gathered two hundred percent power into a single punch.
BOOM!!
His fist smashed into the mountain, instantly pulverizing it into rubble.
But even Cell knew
That was only an afterimage.
At the very last instant, Vegeta had calmly sidestepped, his figure drifting away.
Cell was furious.
His power had clearly increased, yet he still could not keep up with Vegeta's speed.
Enraged, he flared his aura and lunged straight for Vegeta's face.
Another storm of attacks followed.
Vegeta continued to toy with him.
Until he grew bored.
Then he stopped dodging.
"You said if you hit me once… what was it again?" Vegeta asked coolly.
"Face me head on if you dare!!" Cell roared, swinging his fist.
"Fine," Vegeta replied with a smile.
BOOM!!
Cell froze in disbelief.
Vegeta had stood his ground and taken the punch head on with his body.
A dull shockwave rippled outward.
Both figures remained in place for a moment, unmoving.
"I gave you the chance to hit me," Vegeta said mockingly, grabbing Cell's wrist.
"But you are still useless."
Cell felt his arm lose all control.
"Y you… what are you… ughh!!"
Before he could finish speaking, Vegeta's fist slammed brutally into his abdomen.
This was only Vegeta's second deliberate attack.
And once again, a single punch left Cell temporarily incapacitated.
"Feel that," Vegeta said coldly.
"That is what a real attack is. Your strength and techniques may be copied from mine, but they are weak. Soft. Like you are tickling me."
The words alone plunged Cell back into terror.
He staggered backward, blood spraying from his mouth, retreating nearly ten meters before collapsing to the ground, clutching his abdomen.
Pain was written clearly across his face.
If one word could describe him now
Miserable.
"Looks like this is the end," Vegeta said, arms crossed, eyes narrowing.
"Or what? Want to eat another senzu bean? I can give you another chance."
Another chance. So what?
In truth, Vegeta had another thought.
He wanted to see if he could force Android 18 out of Cell.
Given his current strength, greater even than Gohan's,
There was no reason his punch should be any weaker than Gohan's.
~~~~~~
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