Ch 363 what even is going on (The Monster's Riddle is Solved) uuuuhhh piccolo you might wanna do something about that??? He jumps to avoid it, and as often happens, Mr. Bug is waiting for him. unhand him!!! But the thing does not unhand him; instead, he sticks his tail-spike in Piccolo's arm (was aiming for his chest, but Piccolo managed to shift enough to have him get the arm instead). wow suddenly i really hate you (and there's something particularly.... unpleasant about how "powerful" is emphasized) Why is DB suddenly a den of body horror? Piccolo manages to get free by smashing the creature's face with the back of his head, but his (stop, gotta make sure i get my sides right) left arm is useless and withered. Which, as we should all know by now, is not a the worst thing that can happen to Piccolo, who's adept at regrowing limbs, but when the creature taunts him about the tables turning, Piccolo's like "Yep, tables turned, I'm completely defeated, you win." Doing a bit of a wounded bird routine, Piccolo? Yep, definitely. "Before you completely destroy me, just answer me a couple of questions...." What are you? How'd you come by all those ki (that belong to other people)? How do you know the kamehameha? The thing considers and decides ehhh, what the heck. He'll answer. He's yet another gift from Doctor Gero! He's created from cells taken from Goku, Vegeta, Freeza and father, and Piccolo himself. While the doctor ultimately abandoned the project because of the time component, he left it running, manned by some sort of supercomputer. The cells were collected by the same bots that were collecting data. (He won't be completed for 24 years, though.) And that probably explains how he can use the kamehameha, too. These spawn a couple of other questions: why wait three years after coming back, and why come back at all? The three years is easy; that's how long it took him to get back to a mature state after turning into an egg. The other is also simple, in a way, but more disturbing: in order to reach his Perfect Form, he needs to absorb two particular beings that didn't exist in his time: Seventeen and Eighteen. (The computer in charge of his creation and growth supplied this information, and moreover told him that upon achieving his Perfect Form, he'll be real freakin' powerful. And that's desirable because he's a terrible fucking amalgamation of all of these power-seeking, battle-hungry assholes. Literally got all of the worst traits from all of them. Doesn't even have any antennae or fun hair.) Having gotten all the answers he wants, Piccolo tears off his arm and sprouts a new one. you're part piccolo why the hell did you not know he could do that??? Ch 364 (Cell Laughs) We haven't heard his goddamn name and I'm not gonna fucking use it until we actually get introduced in-text. even if it's a pain. fuck you chapter title. WHEN DID IT GET USED??? MOTHERFFFFFFFFFFFFF Anyway, the bug-looking dude is named Cell. I guess because he's made of a bunch of different people's cells. When complimented about his trickiness, Piccolo gives all the credit to Kami. Which I think is selling himself a bit short, although I will say that this particular act was a bit more successful than his last one. Although that could be Vegeta's fault, because he just barged in and stole the scene before Piccolo could do much. Trunks and Krillin arrive, finally. Cell is surprised to see Trunks. NO!! WHAT?? wait. let's think about that: presuming that this cell also belongs to the timeline that trunks is from, you can't kill him now if you killed him in the future, because he has to survive this in order to return home and be available for you to kill. so you can't kill him now. right? god i hate time travel. i guess if it was cell from a hypothetical third timeline, then it would be fine, because it wouldn't be this trunks he'd killed in the future. goddddddddd Piccolo says he'll explain everything later, but for now, they need to get rid of this creep. i'm with you here, krillin, i was suprised too Cell is surprisingly (or maybe not so surprisingly; the saiyan bits are balanced out with Piccolo and Freeza/Freeza's dad, after all) rational and realizes that he can't win against these three together as he is now. He makes a bold declaration about reaching his Perfect Form and then i know where this is going, everyone put on your shades No one does (becase they don't have any, most likely, which is a huge mistake), even though they also recognize the stance and what it means. They all get blinded and Cell flies off. Piccolo's particularly upset because isn't the taiyou-ken supposed to be Tien's thing? Krillin tells him it's not that hard; both he and Goku can do it. (Piccolo, were you not... watching? I could have sworn at least one of those two used it in your presence before, but I could be misremembering which tournament it was used at.) Piccolo takes to the sky to search for Cell, but Cell can also do the ki-suppression thing, and is already proceeding on foot, hidden, making plans for getting his hands on Seventeen and Eighteen. On the way, Vegeta passes him overhead, startling Cell, who expected him to be dead, or at least less powerful than he currently is. Piccolo has a rather un-Piccolo-like burst of rage that he didn't finish off Cell when he had a chance. see, krillin gets it Vegeta arrives and demands answers, particularly about how Piccolo managed to get so much stronger in so short a time. ~~foreshadowing~~ (except not really because we know toriyama's style of storytelling already) Vegeta's main concern at the moment is that Piccolo, despite being "only a Namekian", is stronger than him. Piccolo's thinking about what to do about Cell and all of the androids scuttling around and waiting for Tien to get there so he can do the explaining just one time, to everyone.
(continued) (chapters that are a rich vein of caps are my downfall) and piccolo doesn't tell him! so piccolo he remains! As Piccolo explains, Cell has found another gathering of humans to steal energy from. you're so fucking reasonable i love you you're so fucking self-centered and unreasonable i love you too nice transition opportunity, vegeta :b
Ch 365 i should be getting to bed buuuut (Son Goku Awakens) Before we finally get to see Goku again and conscious, though, Vegeta's just got to throw a wrench in the works. changed my mind please develop the least bit of sense Piccolo cautions Vegeta about being too cavalier about the whole thing and reminds him what happened when he fought 18. Which, of course, only makes Vegeta more opposed to going along with Piccolo's plan. you'll what now vegeta, this many people looking at you like this should give you a hint that maybe you're being an idiot And off he goes, to do whatever it is that he's going to do. Destroy more rocks? Maybe. The remaining four try to decide what they're going to do, and decide that Trunks and Krillin should destroy the Cell here so that at least he won't be a problem in this timeline's future (because, at this point, in this timeline, Cell is still being grown, watched over by the computer). Doing that won't doing anything about this current Cell, but it's still better to get rid of it. Tien and Piccolo will continue to search the area for Cell in the meantime. Under the rubble of the destroyed lab, Trunks finds a ladder descending into a lower level lab. Upon entering, they find the computer and tank with a little floating fetal organism in it. Krillin's all ready to start blowing shit up, but Trunks finds something else interesting. finally. some good fucking news And then they wreck the shit out of the lab. Trunks presses the plans on Krillin and asks him to deliver them to Bulma; if it's possible to go beyond super saiyan, Trunks thinks he should pursue it too, even if Vegeta's not thrilled with the idea. Hopefully the benefits of training with someone will outweigh any pissiness Vegeta might feel about it. As Piccolo and Tien are searching, Tien senses something very faint, but they go to check it out anyway -- and find that Cell has already been through. He must be preternaturally fast at absorbing energy. Even at a rate of one person's energy absorbed per second, it still would have taken him a minimum of over four hours to absorb energy from 15000 people, and that's not counting downtime between energy absorbing events. Dr. Briefs and Bulma look over the blueprints for Seventeen and think that there may be some exploitable weaknesses there. Three days go by, and Cell and the androids are still out and about. Most of the main group has gathered at the Kame House and are tracking Cell through news coverage. They decide to try an approach by plane rather than... manual flight, I guess, in the hopes that Cell won't be able to sense them coming and they can confront him. Chichi goes upstairs and finds Goku up, if not exactly sprightly. are you just actually psychic now Ch 366 (The Saiyans' Training) Is it possible to go beyond super saiyan? (What does that even mean? Who determines the level caps?) Goku's not sure, but if he can't get there after a year, he'll give it up as a bad job. He wants to bring Gohan with him, to a place where you can experience a year in a single day. (... wowow). Chichi seems like she's gonna protest, but doesn't because it's not gonna do any good. (I'm really sorry, Chichi.) She tells him that he better get "good and strong". Goku says "Thanks!" and instant-transmissions away. every time i think i've seen the best piccolo face i come across a new one that's even better. fig a oh okay thanks for clearing that up for us now, finally, at least five chapters after you went and got yourself merged Goku tells them his plans and Piccolo asks if he's planning to use the Room of Spirit and Time*, and acts as though that's something that's been used before...? By Goku, specifically? But unless I completely missed several chapters and a large bit of story, I don't think any of that happened (where we could see, anyway). Apparently it's hard to stay in there. Goku's gonna bring Vegeta and Trunks as well, because he thinks they can handle it. Before he leaves, Krillin asks him if he's scared or excited about all these sudden powerful enemies. "Both!" And then Goku and Gohan disappear. Only to appear near Trunks, who tells them training hasn't been going super great. fucking incredible i don't know if vegeta is capable of "chilling out". "chilling out" is antithetical to his existence He does become very slightly more receptive when he hears that it's a place where it's possible to spend a year in the span of a day in real time, and that he won't have to be around Goku. Only two people in the room at a time, apparently. The androids have finally made it to Goku and Chichi's deserted house. Eighteen has managed to pick up some new duds along the way, so she's no longer in her cowgirl getup. Sixteen, resident Goku Expert, gives them a few options where they can look for him: Roshi's place and Capsule Corp. headquarters. They head to Roshi's first. Vegeta and Trunks are ushered into the Room of Spirit and Time, which is weird. There's a room with the basics for living, and then outside of it, a vast white expanse, no features, hardly a horizon. It's also got heavier gravity and it's hot for some reason? Basically, it sounds like hell. Trunks worries a bit about having to spend a whole year in there alone with his terrible dad. The four who went after Cell were unsuccessful, and Piccolo's worried that Cell may be strong enough now to make an attempt on the androids. Most of a day passes, meaning that Vegeta and Trunks' time in the Room is almost up, and the androids finally reach Roshi's island, and Piccolo can't quite decide if it's good or bad timing. In any case, the androids demand info on Goku's location, and threaten to beat it out of them when Piccolo refuses. There's an uninhabited island over that way, Piccolo says, and leads them to it for the fight. and only one of those people is actually going to be amenable to helping piccolo * aka hyperbolic time chamber, and i don't know which one i want to use
Ch 367 android infodump under spoiler for all your android infodump needs (The Reborn Piccolo vs No. 17) Spoiler: LARGE image Piccolo throws off his hat and cloak, as per usual battle ritual. Goodbye hat and cloak, you will be missed (by me, in particular). Seventeen's going to be the only one fighting, which suits Piccolo just fine; if he can take out even one, it'll prevent Cell from reaching perfection. Piccolo powers up, and Sixteen realizes that something's different here. He lets Seventeen know, but before he can do anything with that information, Piccolo gets him in the head with an elbow. I love some good Piccolo action, which this is, at least at the moment; he's in fine form and he knocks Seventeen around a little before getting into the ki attacks. Seventeen evades a standard blast, but Piccolo seems to have something else in mind. At least he looks very smirky. Up top at Kami's (old) place, Goku and Gohan sense Piccolo's ki but not his opponent's, and so assume he must be fighting one of the androids. a good kid!! gohan is a real good kid But Goku stops him leaving; the way they are now, they'd only get in Piccolo's way. Besides, it's almost time for Vegeta and Trunks to get out of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber (hereafter the HTC). Vegeta and Trunks seem to be taking their sweet time, though. Down below, Piccolo throws a bunch of ki charges that he surrounds the hovering Seventeen with, then sends them all inwards towards him, to explode with a huge force that destroys the island. Goodbye, island, which may have had unique organisms on it not found anywhere else! Seventeen put up a barrier around himself, though, and is unharmed. ... ... ... while I agree, i don't think you actually care about nature at all, so i have no obligation to hate you any less Out in some city or other, Cell is in an office building and notices the ki surges going on and, like Goku, assumes that it must be the androids. Good timing. who do you remind me of (visually)? i feel like there's something/one from some other media that you kind of remind me of, but i'm not sure what it is or if i'm just making it up Ch 368 (Cell Sneaks Up) Having relocated to a new island, Piccolo continues to refuse to tell the androids where Goku is, so it's time for more fighting! Serious fighting. Seventeen's going to go after Piccolo like he actually means it, because for an organic being, Piccolo's seriously tough. Seventeen gets really close and then pops Piccolo right in the chin with the heel of his palm. (Sudden worry: attacks to the face area might make Piccolo bite his own tongue, with potentially extremely painful consequences because fangs. But I guess he could just grow a new one.... How much of your original body do you have to retain in order to regrow bits? Is it only limbs that can be regrown? Could he regrow an ear?) Avoiding Piccolo's retaliatory strike, he hits him in the chest and it's another of those terrible body horror blows, could you please stop doing that to Piccolo?? When Piccolo pitches forward, Seventeen gets him in the back of the head with his elbow. seventeen is like... half the size of piccolo. one of piccolo's arms is like the same diameter as seventeen's torso. fucking ridiculous. big green alien. Piccolo does a flip (!!!!!!) and gets back on his feet. shots fucking fired Seventeen gets bent out of shape about the remark (he's the strongest in all of history!) and he and Piccolo exchange some more blows. Eighteen, observing, says that they're evenly matched. Merging with Kami has really made a huge difference, considering how easily Seventeen dealt with Piccolo last time they fought. Cell is on his way towards them, cackling gleefully about his perfect form. Krillin gets a phone call from Bulma, who's found Seventeen and Eighteen's weakpoint: an emergency shutdown circuit which, when activated, will... well, shut them down. She's also managed to finish building a remote control that'll do just that. Hot fucking damn, those blueprints are repaying in dividends! Krillin's gonna go get the switch so they can shut the androids the fuck down and stop Cell, but he has a moment of misgiving. Thinkin' bout Eighteen, huh? Up above, Goku is very impatiently waiting for Vegeta and Trunks to get their asses out of the HTC, because shit's really starting to heat up down on Earth and it'd be nice if he and Gohan got to use the chamber sometime before everything gets absolutely fucked. you're so confident that it's a thing that can happen with no proof! you drive me up a wall sometimes! "vegeta should have done it by now" MAYBE IT'S NOT A POSSIBILITY AND NO ONE CAN DO IT NOT EVEN THE TALENTED MR. VEGETA (also poor trunks... just completely left out of any mental calculations... maybe trunks did what vegeta couldn't, y'ever think of that??) Seventeen admits that Piccolo might be on par with him, but has a significant disadvantage: finite stamina and the limitations of a purely biological body. Seventeen looks scuffed but not seriously damaged, and while Piccolo's much the same, he's also breathing rather hard. Stupid oxygen demand. But there's an interruption. this is definitely a weakness of ki-sensing: it seems like if you're really occupied or maybe focusing your ki on something else (like fighting an android with infinite power), it becomes very difficult or maybe impossible for you to keep track of what's going on outside of that. so people can sneak up on you. And yep, it's Cell, in all his buggy glory. Ch 369 (The Artificial Humans vs Cell) Piccolo berates himself a bit for getting so focused on the fight that he allowed Cell to sneak up unnoticed. Seventeen wonders who the hell this weird-lookin' dude is and what his problem might be. The feeling is somewhat mutual: Cell recognizes Seventeen and Eighteen, likely because the computer showed him who they were, but has no idea who the heck the big guy with the bright orange hair and highlighter-yellow armor is. now it might be a bit weird, considering how i reacted to freeza's feet, but i'm kinda liking cell's, especially in this panel. he's almost kind of dainty here But not at all in the next couple of panels, where he yells, puts his fists up, and charges up, breaking up the ground around him. Piccolo is shocked by how strong he's gotten. Cell invites him to try to stop him from doing what he's gonna do, and Piccolo accuses him of being a monster, on account of killing, yknow, countless numbers of humans (and others). On Roshi's island, there's a bit of despair about Cell's absolutely bewildering ki. Krillin decides to meet Bulma (on her way with her android-disabling remote control) halfway to cut down on the time and try to get the androids out of the picture before Cell can absorb them; he can fly faster than her plane if he travels at full power; Tien leaves to try to help Piccolo however he can. Seventeen goes "Shoo, shoo," to Cell because h̶e̶'̶s̶ ̶a̶n̶ ̶i̶d̶i̶o̶t̶ he can't sense ki. Piccolo shouts at him that he should be getting away from Cell posthaste because Cell plans on absorbing him (which is a pretty wild statement to have someone yell at you), but Cell doesn't give him much of a chance to. Seventeen dodges Cell's tail several times before Cell grabs him and slams him into the ground, pinning the other arm with one of his feet. He's about to use his tail on Seventeen, but gets Piccolo's foot to his face instead. He loses his grip on Seventeen and moves back. Seventeen would like to know exactly what Piccolo meant by "absorb". Piccolo tells him. oh maaaaaaaaan this is so obviously not gonna work it's almost funny that you thought it might Seventeen says "Fuck that, I'm already the strongest around" and prepares to throw down with Cell. (Seventeen is rather reminiscent of Vegeta, but with none of the charm. ... don't ask me what the charm is because I don't fucking know at all.) Sixteen finally pipes up and tells him not to try it, Cell's much too powerful for him, and moreover, if he becomes perfect he'll destroy the universe. * drags hands down face *
Ooof, wow, some real low-quality scans coming up. Don't know how long it'll last. I hope not too long because I've been spoiled by the fairy good-quality scans + tranlsation + typesetting.
Ch 370 vegeta's charm is that 95% of the time he's wearing skintight clothes ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) (The Reborn Piccolo's Do-or-Die Opposition) * buries face in hands * I'm sorry I just wanted to make the joke. Not only is the quality way down, but the scans have been mirrored, which feels VERY odd after 369 chapters of reading R to L (and also most of the manga I read is in its original format, so it always feel weird reading comics L to R). Piccolo is determined to do what he can to at least prevent Cell absorbing Seventeen. He leaps at Cell, who blocks his punch, grabs his foot, and sends him flying with a jab right to the face, which looks real bad; Piccolo actually spends time lying on the ground, holding his face. This is also after spending quite a bit of energy/stamina/ki/whatever fighting with Seventeen, so Piccolo probably wasn't in tiptop condition to start out with. Cell stalks over to Piccolo and just fucking kicks the hell out of him. look at those backwards katakana sfx. feels so wrong Eighteen asks if Seventeen and the other guy are holding back; Sixteen answers that they're not, Cell's just too strong for them. He goes on to tell her that she should run. Eighteen wonders what he's planning on doing. Piccolo gets into a stance that I can't remember seeing before, hands out in front of him, fingertips together. After gathering power, he turns them outwards in an almost kamehameha-esque position; the resulting bolt is extremely power. Seventeen throws himself out of the way, but Cell seems to get hit head-on. When the dust settles and the air clears, Piccolo's destroyed a part of the island and Cell is nowhere in sight. Eighteen cheers, thinking that he's done it, but Sixteen tells her that Cell's still unharmed. And apparently he is; he rises slowly out of the ocean. Super menacing, even if it looks kind of ridiculous. Much more menacing that Goku doing it on Namek, I have to say. Tien, watching, is wondering what the hell he could even do. Piccolo tells Seventeen, once more, to GTFO. Cell punches Piccolo. Really bad. EXCUSE ME? EXCUSE ME??? WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO PICCOLO WHO I LOVE VERY MUCH?? well fuck everything then. thought i could have a fun time reading a few chapters before bed but now i'm sad. (also that reaction from tien...) COULD YOU NOT PLEASE Cell tosses Piccolo away like yesterday's garbage, out into the ocean, and my heart is broken. So is Gohan's. :( (also... "vegita". if you're going to keep the i, why not keep the j too? or even the b?) Sixteen tells Eighteen to run again, get away on her own. Sixteen won't be going with her; he's going to destroy Cell. Good. Please do so. There's no fucking dragon balls left because Kami's gone and it's all a waste anyway but someone needs to put the hurt on Cell asap. Piccolo..... Ch 371 (No. 16 Stirs!) These pages are even harder to parse because it looks like they were originally color, but either printed grayscale or scanned grayscale, so it's kind of muddy. I'll do my best. Eighteen tells Sixteen not to do it, but he doesn't listen and she's wasting time by not getting the fuck out. Come on Eighteen, get moving! The whole point of this is for Cell not to get both of you, and if Sixteen fails, Seventeen's probably as good as absorbed, and you not being absorbed is the last line of defense for the universe! I mean, until Vegeta and Trunks finally exit the HTC. But who knows if their time in there will be enough to make them matches for Cell. Cell hits Seventeen quite hard, then picks him up by the scruff of his neck. He menaces Seventeen with his tail, but doesn't stab him; instead, the tail opens up into kind of a bell-shape. Looks like the "absorption" process isn't quite the same as absorbing bio-energy; it might be more like... endocytosis, maybe? Looks like he's gonna kind of swallow Seventeen wholesale. But Sixteen steps in before he can get further than kind of put the mouth bell-tail over Seventeen's head. maybe sixteen's just doing it because cell going nuts = no more birds to look at Sixteen believes that he and Cell are roughly equal. They meet head-to-head and Cell manages to stab his hypodermic tail into Sixteen's neck, which is pointless because Sixteen's completely artificial (as we learned in the last post's android infodump). Sixteen grabs the tail, smashes Cell into the ground, and rips it off. Which would be great, if Cell weren't part Piccolo (... i'm still sad). A tail is apparently fair game for regrowth because Cell regenerates the missing section of tail. Sixteen decides the only chance to prevent Cell reaching his perfect form is killing him here and now. Cell says it's impossible and powers up, then kicks Sixteen around for a bit before Sixteen reveals something that in retrospect shouldn't have been shocking at all, but was for me. ROCKET PUNCH!! Ch 372 (The Desparate No. 16's Power!!) The rocket punch knocks Cell off his feet. Sixteen dashes forward, grabs his hand out of midair, and reattaches it. looks a lot like a big nasty cockroach here Sixteen hauls Cell up and holds him over his head, then throws him so hard he makes a deep-looking crater in the ground. Sixteen crosses his arms and detaches both hands at once by holding them against his sides in a very spiffy move. and i guess it's probably the best way to detach both at once without help He aims his arm-cannons into the hole created by him throwing Cell and fires into it. Beams of light shoot up all round, poking out of the ground at odd angles. Krillin notices the commotion and knows it wasn't Piccolo... because his ki's already disappeared. (i'm so sad) Sixteen puts his arms back on again and gets congrats from Eighteen, who still hasn't gotten the fuck out. She just stood around watching like a complete idiot! Eighteen, you seem like you should be better than that! Sixteen tells her that it's not over; Cell may be hurt, but he's not defeated. Seventeen, in an even more egregious display of stupidity, says that if Cell's that hurt, he wants to finish him off! C'mon out, Cell! And Cell does: he pops up from the ground right behind Seventeen with his tail already prepped. And gets him this time. y'know it was terrible but i think i prefer the inadvertent goku-piccolo vore to this Sixteen springs forward, but he's too late; Seventeen's already mostly down Cell's... gullet? Cell starts glowing and Sixteen decides that it's time to really get going. He tells Eighteen (and Tien) to get out of there. thanks i hate it
sometimes I forget the title format here goes "jokey title like normal (actual title in parenthesis)" instead of the other way around and it makes for some very confusing moments
I desire fanfic where Piccolo lives and gets to work out his shit with Gohan GotG II style. And generally doesnt die.
Ch 373 Through various ways and means I have acquired better versions of the chapters that are the bad quality on kissmanga so things will be comprehensible again. unfortunately that means english sfx (The New Cell) Cell has a new form! Less buggy, more humanoid. Looks like he's wearing a sideways bishop hat. Bad direction to take, if you ask me. His head looks like a weird kind of mussel shell now and it's very strange. What possible use could those ridges be? Can he close them to protect his head more? Or is it just display "plumage"? Also I can't stand his whole face-area now. On the other hand, I can kind of see a continuity of design thing going on, where you can kind of track the progress from one form to another and what things became what. It's weird that there's not more visible saiyan/Namekian influences though, esp. when the Frieza-like bits are so apparent. You'd think that they'd come through more physically, but what do I know about mashing a bunch of cells together to create new synthetic life? Absolutely nothing. Eighteen still hasn't fucking moved. Jesus H. Christ, girl, put a wiggle on! Sixteen grabs her and hauls her off, but Cell's speed seems to have gotten a boost and he easily catches up. Tien, still observing (does no one listen to good advice???), seems to have a plan. hey now you don't have to go that far Sixteen, unable to flee with Eighteen, does the next best thing and punches Cell in the face. THE UTTER DISGUST IN THIS EXPRESSION! SUCH A GRIMACE! SUCH PROFOUND REVULSION! But the punch does basically no damage and Cell gets very smirky. He blasts Sixteen in the face with his new-improved blasting abilities. Eighteen is left facing Cell all on her own. Cell tells her she's smart for realizing she can't escape, and invites her to make the final, perfected Cell with him. Oh hell yeah, that's my girl!! i don't even care if it's a bluff or not, eighteen is great. great style, not a complete idiot, a strong lady, what else could i ask for. swoons Cell looks put out for a second, but then starts talking in Seventeen's voice, and for some reason this actually sways her? Cell-as-Seventeen tells her that it's great, just great, the water's fine, so c'mon, jump in already! Sixteen tells her it's just a trick, Cell using Seventeen's voice to manipulate her, but Cell goes on. And this gives him away, because he ends up calling the late Dr. Gero "Master", which Eighteen says Seventeen would never do, because he hated Gero for turning them into cyborgs. (Interesting, this one uses that particular term.) What was their relationship beforehand, or were they strangers? What even lead to them getting turned cyborg? Never really considered, but it'd be pretty fucked up if Gero just grabbed some people off the street and did whatever with them. Cell's a bit exasperated that his trick didn't work out, but isn't too worried; even if Eighteen tries to destroy herself, he's faster and will just move in to absorb her the moment she tries anything. (So why don't you just do that right now? Sixteen's down, Piccolo's drifting somewhere in the ocean, Vegeta and Trunks are apparently still just fucking around in the HTC, Goku and Gohan aren't strong enough.... Oh right, Tien's got a plan. !! Tien's created a huge diamond-shaped hole which, presumably, Cell is at the bottom of. Sixteen and Eighteen stare in shock at Tien, who I guess they didn't expect to be so badass. He tells them to run. Cell starts to emerge from the hole, but Tien casts it again. Eighteen takes Sixteen, who's not doing too hot since Cell blew off half of his head, and flees. Tien just keeps on casting it, not necessarily hurting him, but kind of keeping him in a holding pattern he can't escape from. Goku, up above, tells him to stop because otherwise he'll kill himself, but it seems like that might be Tien's plan -- to keep going as long as he can to keep Cell from absorbing Eighteen. Ch 374 (Goku Meets Cell) Tien's given Eighteen and Sixteen a chance to flee, but has run out of energy in the process. He falls to the ground and Cell exits the hole, grumbling about the fact he was stopped by Tien of all people. (Rude.) He thinks Tien's probably going to die anyway, but wants to finish him off anyway. Goku appears at Tien's side, popping out of nowhere using his instant transmission technique. I guess feeling Tien about to be killed was just too much for him. (but you could sit idly by while Piccolo got his neck broken, huh? sure he tried to kill you once and actually killed you once, but that's it! otherwise he's done nothing but try to help out and protect your son and stop the earth from being destroyed, etc etc!) Anyway. Goku says he can't possibly win today, but if Cell just gives him one more full rotation of the Earth, he'll beat his ass tomorrow. Cell laughs at this and wonders what exactly could change so much in one day that today's impossible but tomorrow's great, but Goku stops paying attention to him. 。.。:+♡*♥ HOT DIGGITY SHIT!! ♥*♡+:。.。 as if he could do anything else right now goku Goku takes Tien with him as he teleports to Piccolo's location, which is a couple hundred yards down the beach, where he must have washed up/floundered to after being flung into the ocean. well i guess you're off the hook for now, goku, but maybe don't let piccolo almost die again? Cell isn't about to just let Goku up and leave. He attacks, but Goku just vanishes and Cell's fist passes through nothing. He wonders briefly about how Goku's able to do that, but soon switches targets: Eighteen's still out there with Sixteen somewhere, and Cell's not perfect yet, so that should be his main goal. Meanwhile, Krillin has just now run into Bulma, who hands over the remote. There's some limitations to it; Krillin has to get within ten meters of his target for it to work. She has another delivery as well (battle suits like Vegeta's usual one), but as the intended recipients are up at Kami's place, Bulma goes to deliver them herself. Up at Kami's place.... pessimisti-ccolo Ah, but Vegeta and Trunks are finally goddamn out of the HTC! pfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffft
to be clear: i am not laughing at trunks, i am laughing at the only bit of vegeta visible being his hair and a little bit of forehead
Ch 375 * uses DB to distract from almost 24 hour fast * (Vegeta and Trunks Emerge) What took you guys so long? a) that vegeta would be unsatisfied and push things to the very last minute should come as a surprise to precisely 0 people; b) just so casual about it! "oh yeah, that thing? no big deal. it's not like super saiyans themselves were basically legends, unseen for potentially hundreds of years, before the whole recent namek thing. pffft, that would be silly." Vegeta tells him that's enough (at least he's acknowledging him and calling him by name, I guess?). Trunks' hair has gotten longer, but Vegeta's is exactly the same. I kinda wanted to see him with crazy fountain hair. Speaking of which, have we ever seen him with wet hair? We must have because he swam around a bunch on Namek, but I can't remember if it was at all affected by the weight of the water on it or not. I just wanna see Vegeta with his hair down, is that so much to ask? Goku asks if it worked, but Vegeta's being cagey for no good reason, and also says that it'd be pointless for Goku to train, because he's going to take out all of these Gero creations by himself. Ah, yes, that's the Vegeta we've all come to know and love. Bulma arrives and freaks out when she sees Trunks, because he is looking awfully unkempt (and apparently taller, too). it would be pretty startling, i guess Why hasn't Vegeta's hair changed at all? excuse me??? excuse me. vegeta. what the fuck do you call what's poking out of your head and decorating your eyes then???? goku have you ever noticed not needing a haircut? because it is the most important topic right now, after your fucking reveal! EXPLAIN YOURSELF VEGETA Bulma brings out the battlesuits. I guess she has enough (and in enough sizes) for all of the saiyans/part-saiyans, and Piccolo as well, although he refuses, which is a hecking shame because what I wouldn't give to see Piccolo cosplaying Vegeta (well now I know what my next shitpost will probably be). Everyone who's going to use them gets changed, and boy is it a weird look for Goku. vegeta-cosplay goku for my alt fashion goku collection, even tho it feels fucking off Vegeta refuses any help from Goku, like a teleport, and goes speeding down towards Earth. Goku gives Trunks a couple of senzus before he leaves as well, and Bulma tells Trunks that neither he nor Vegeta better die (awwww). Trunks follows Vegeta, and now it's time for Goku and Gohan to get into the HTC, which should really be renamed the Room of Father-Son Bonding or something. Cell's still looking for Eighteen. Roshi's island seems to be part of/near an archipelago, and Cell is faced with many little islands and no signal to follow. Cell, always the improviser, decides that being a public nuisance is the best way to flush Eighteen out of hiding. there are noise ordinances here, cell! you're gonna get a citation! Eighteen thinks Cell would really do it, but Sixteen tells her to stay put, because there's no way that Cell would actually go through with it and lose his chance at perfection.
No, see, that's not hair. That's...um...the stuff on top is part of his skull. Like, skull ridges. Which is why it never changes shape; it's actually solid. The things on his face are birthmarks.
Note: The Full Head Of Hair As Babies That Never Changes rule canonically does not extend to facial hair.
horrifying Spoiler: spoiler for later series stuff; a real dumb joke vegeta: * sees goten and goku together * vegeta: then what's even the point of not growing haaaaaiiiiir if you still have shave your damn face all the time
Ch 376 then was raditz born with that fucking gigantic mess of hair? oh god, that seems horrifying. and if the hair doesn't grow... does that mean it started off as the length it would be as an adult? did baby raditz have fucking rapunzel hair???? all of this is just so terrible to contemplate. (Vegeta's Confidence) Cell keeps on screaming, but still doesn't get the results he wants (i.e., Eighteen appearing and docilely submitting to being gulped down by a tentacle appendage). So he destroys one of the inhabited islands of this archipelago they find themselves in. Just like that. I don't know if destruction by energy bomb is better or worse than death by bio-energy sucking. I guess in the end they both fucking suck. Eighteen watches this from the island she's actually on and seems to be losing faith in Sixteen's predictions about what Cell will or will not do. Sixteen tells her that the attack was just under the level that would destroy Eighteen, so she'll be fine even if Cell blows up their island. :/ i like sixteen in a weird way. if only he wasn't dead set on killing goku he'd be an okay dude. just take him to a bird sanctuary and let him roam around there. he'd probably be really good at sitting perfectly still with birdseed on his palms and could enjoy having the birds come and land on him Sixteen wonders why Cell's so obsessed with becoming perfect, when he's already head and shoulders above anyone on this planet after absorbing Seventeen. I have some suspicions (SAIYAN DNA SAIYAN DNA HAVE YOU HEARD THESE FUCKS???) but I could be wrong. Cell destroys a couple more islands; can't tell if they were human-inhabited or not. If they were, they're not now! Because they've been obliterated. Vegeta notices the wanton destruction and goes super saiyan, then smiles because there's nothing he likes more than being able to prove himself The Best And Most Destructive in any given room, and he's about to get a chance to do just that. Cell's getting tired of blowing up islands one by one, and decides to do something more drastic. But before he can do whatever he's going to do (I think maybe just drop a charge into the ocean and really wreck shit in the area?), he notices an approach. man you got right up in his grill didntcha vegeta and then they had a dance-off No, actually, they just land on the island that just so happens to be the one that Eighteen and Sixteen are hiding on. Convenient! Cell (and Eighteen) are both skeptical when Vegeta claims he's not here to do anything as mundane as simply defeat Cell; he's here to grind him into paste under his heels, as it were. Cell just laughs and Eighteen wonders what the fuck Vegeta thinks he can do to Cell when just a few days ago he was basically useless against her. HaHA, Team Earth (...? maybe just Team Vegeta, membership: Vegeta) has a secret advantage. Trunks arrives and Cell assumes that they're going to attack together, but Vegeta corrects him: nah, he's just an onlooker, Vegeta's the one who's gonna do alllll the stomping. Ch 377 (Beyond the Super Saiyan) "sixteen, this tree is really good for hugging!" Sixteen is all for escaping, but wants to wait until Cell and Vegeta are otherwise occupied with slugging it out with each other. He also says that Vegeta's power has had a significant boost since they last met. you have no room to talk. in fact you are the prince of nasty smiles what i wanna see is what your new long hair looks like when you go super saiyan Vegeta yells and... something happens, but we don't get to see what exactly it is, because viewpoints shift to Kami's place, where Piccolo is monitoring the situation, much like Kami used to. i love it when piccolo just materializes clothes for himself. poof, hat and cloak. piccolo, you are already probably the bulkiest of the usual cast, you really don't need to make yourself any taller or wider And another viewpoint shift, and we see Goku and Gohan in the HTC, where it's suffocatingly hot. Still sounds a little bit like Chicago in the summertime, except more boring to look at. like a pocket dimension or something. who made this? was it kami? was it mr. popo? someone else entirely? For What Purpose Tour Guide Goku. also, db is gaslighting me Gohan exits the room and is confronted with a huge white space. The room itself is in a little building flanked by two large hourglasses. Supposedly, this space is as large as the earth itself, and the exit only exits in this one little spot, so wandering out of sight of this building would likely mean death. Also, the temperature ranges from -40 to 120, which I'm guessing... is not Celsius, given that 100 C means water boiling and is pretty inimical to life. And they have to stay here for a whole fucking year, in Hell, with nothing to do but train and take care of biological necessities. Well, no time to waste! First task: get Gohan to super saiyan-hood. Gohan's a bit doubtful about whether he can or not, but Goku is confident and wants him not just to be strong, but more powerful than a Goku who's also gone beyond super saiyan limitations. Speaking of... Vegeta finishes his transformation. great! how do i uninstall "beyond super saiyan"? Using his newfound hideous form's power, Vegeta hits Cell right in the chest, so hard that everyone is shocked: Cell, Eighteen, and Sixteen all have kind of identical (○□○)expressions.