Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Dance With Death ❯ Whose Prayers to Answer? ( Chapter 8 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Disclaimer: I don't own DragonBallZ or any of its characters, just Comet. The quotes (marked with asterisks) are from the Phantom of the Opera; copyright of Andrew Lloyd Webber.

"Dance With Death"
by A.C

Chapter Eight
Whose Prayers To Answer?

---`---,---@

I... I came here by day
I left here in darkness
And found you
Found you on the way

Light, like the flutter of wings
Feel your hollow voice rushing into me
As you're longing to sing

So I... I will paint you in silver
I will wrap you in cold
I will lift up your voice as I sink..

Your sins into me
Oh my beautiful one
Your sins into me
As a rapturous voice
Escapes, I will tremble a prayer
And I'll beg for forgiveness
Your sins into me
Your sins into me
Oh, my beautiful one

Cold in life's throws, I'll fall asleep for you
Cold in life's throws, I only ask you turn
As they seep into me
Oh, my beautiful one...

- Silver and Cold, A.F.I

---`---,---@

Three days passed, as the Z Fighters remained on the Lookout at all times. The moment they had touched down, Comet and the others felt Cell's final attack like a thunderbolt, ripping through them and setting their nerves afire. As if she had been mortally wounded, Comet crumpled - and the others carried her inside to rest.

She admitted to them that she had seen Cell look up at her just before they left - he had known who had taken her. As a result, Goku forbade anyone else to leave the Lookout under any circumstances. Trunks was devastated, and tried a good number of times - in vain - to return to his father. Goku refused to let him leave, but Comet felt terrible, as if it were somehow her fault. And, after a sleepless night tossing and turning and worrying, she had come to the conclusion that it was.

The three days came and went in routine. Comet awoke from either a sleepless night or a night haunted by dreams of Cell coming to take her back and, after dressing, wandered out to the kitchen. The Z Fighters were almost always assembled there, and usually in some deep discussion that ended abruptly the moment she set foot inside. But Comet already knew what they were plotting - they were constantly underestimating her sneakiness. So she eavesdropped one night and found out they were trying to figure out how to throw Cell off Comet's trail and what to be done.

The days dragged by like eternities in a prison. The Z Fighters conversed in low tones before meals, trained, worried, or tried to relax - usually by playing cards. But the air was tense, and everyone had the same concern on their minds - how long before Cell showed up to kill them all and take Comet back? And what could they do to stop him? She soon grew to despise the heavy air whenever she was present, so she avoided the rest of the Z Senshi and, instead, spent her time taking an unusual amount of showers, reading, or sitting and thinking.

What was the point? What was the point in running and hiding? She thought she had already steeled herself to stay with him as her fate, to save her friends, but she had left - and he had already killed one of them. How much longer before the rest were picked off, one by one, as if this were just another sick game to him?

Honestly, sometimes she thought - with a shudder of her stomach - everything was a game to him.

"Comet?"

She looked away from the window. The book she had been trying to read, that had then settled to rest in her lap, had slid to the floor without her realizing it. There, peeking in and looking concerned, was Goku. She didn't say anything, merely blinking at him as he assumed it was okay to enter and crept in. "You okay?"

"As okay as I can be," she replied quietly, looking back out the window. There wasn't all that much to see from the top of the lookout - the wide area of blue sky grew old in a surprisingly short amount of time. But it was almost a relief, to see such a nothingness. Nothing to contemplate in the sky's deep azure.

Goku was quiet for a few minutes, before speaking up again. "This isn't your fault, you know."

"He would have stayed true to his word," she began in a terse voice, "If I had stayed true to mine. I said I was going to stay, and I left. He killed Vegeta, and now its only a matter of time before he comes to kill the rest of you." She finished in a tight voice, as if she couldn't bear to go on and had just managed to finish her sentence.

"He would have killed us - or tried to - if you had stayed or not," Goku replied gently, "He won't be satisfied until he's destroyed us all. And..."

"Until he's had me," she finished miserably. She was silent for a few moments, contemplating her fate as she stared out past the lookout's edge, to the sea of clouds and blue that lay beyond it. "Why...?" she murmured softly.

Goku was quiet. Honestly, he didn't know what to say. He loved his wife, Chi-Chi, dearly and would never put her through anything like Cell was putting Comet. Did the android truly love her? Goku didn't know, and it was actually a subject he would much rather avoid. He didn't know entirely what the android wanted with her or why he was so persistent - especially when it would have been so simple to find just another earthling for the same sick purpose. The earth's strongest was a good guy, and unable to understand the evil Cell's logic behind it all.

Yet he felt that he ought to offer some sort of restitution. Comet had been one of his best friends for nearly 6 years. She was younger than himself - early twenties, he should think (when, in fact, she had celebrated her twenty-third a couple months ago) - and he could remember the day he met her. Fourteen, running down the streets from gangs and criminals and fighting her way through life. Not entirely aware of the potential she held.

She had joined the Z Fighters at a very young age, not quite one among their number. More a hopeful tag-along than a true member, but becoming fast friends with Goku. Gohan, only 7 at the time, could easily outmatch her. But perhaps it was those slight, barely noticeable skills she had that honed her power - her determination. Her inner fire. Her spirit, and creativity, and passion - her remarkable ability to seem comfortable in just about any situation, to find logic where panic overtook most, and her fierce playfulness.

Her training was a combination of the guidance of Goku and Piccolo. Even Vegeta had sparred with her, bitterly snapping out insults or ways she ought to fight. She put up with his arrogance and irritating manner with her own weapon - sarcasm and her biting tongue. She took great joy in taunting Vegeta and doing her best to skirt away from him when he lost it and gave chase. The senshi could hear him bellowing threats and curses as she bolted around the house, ducking behind trees and throwing pine cones at him and hiding and running.

As Comet grew, not only did her strength dramatically increase, but it became apparent she was growing to be a beautiful young woman. It didn't take long for Goku to realize what happened to beautiful, unsuspecting young women - and it only seemed to villains that, the greater the fighter, the better. Comet had been forced to stay hidden for a good portion of the fight with Frieza and his minions (Vegeta's first assumption of her was Goku's biggest hint - the Sayain Prince's first response when laying eyes on her was a broad smirk and a murmured; 'Very nice...' These feelings soon dulled into nothing to worry over).

She had always been there for each and every one of them, always willing to listen and offer what she could. Always the pillar of support that seemed to hold itself up.

Goku slowly returned to the present, still watching Comet as she gazed dismally out the window. The most he was able to come up with for the time being... it was all he could offer. After this long silence, he finally spoke up quietly. "If you ever want to talk, Comet - I'll listen. You've always listened to me, so I'd like to return the favor."

She, too, was silent, as if trying to come up with what to say herself. And then, very quietly, she responded - almost so he had to strain to hear it. "Thanks, Goku."

He nodded, hesitated only a few moments longer to see if there was anything else she wished to speak of, and then backed from the room, silently closing the door behind him.

The second he left, Comet let out a long sigh, as if she had been holding her breath the entire time he was present. It was nice knowing Goku was willing to listen had she wanted to talk... but as of now, there wasn't really anything to talk about. Vegeta was dead, as a result of the gang's rescue mission. And Comet knew they were only postponing the inevitable. But one thing she did know, was that the longer she stuck around with the Z Senshi, the greater danger she was putting her friends in.

"I'm not safe anywhere," she spoke softly to herself, gazing out the window, "But I can at least put no one but myself in danger. I may as well give myself up to Cell, and find a way to beg with him not to hurt anyone else. Or..." she fell silent briefly, as a new idea arose within her soul.

She couldn't make a deal to stay out of Cell's grasp; and as far as she could see, that option was very quickly dwindling away. But she could make a deal to get herself in that position - so why not add to it?

"If I promise to stay with him," she said slowly, aloud, as if speaking to the clouds below her window, "Maybe I can make him promise not to hurt my friends."

But... no. No, that wouldn't work - she had already tried it. And she had broken her half of the deal, so Cell was keeping up with his bargained consequences and killing her friends, just like he had promised.

"What's the point!?" she burst out angrily, "He's won! I'm here, away from him, but he's still won! No matter what, I'm going to end up back with him! So why waste my energy fighting!?"

Without thinking, she leapt up from her seat and braced herself against the window frame. The windows on the lookout were devoid of glass - built like Arabic palaces, with airy open frames built for the humid, warm climate. The sill was thick, and she crouched on it easily, arms held against the frame, poised in the position for only a moment. There was no one about on the staircase on her side.

She leapt easily out and quickly caught herself in mid-air, lowering to hover directly above the ground and hurrying along towards the end. But just as she was prepared to hurtle herself over the edge and just fall blissfully through the clouds, falling for days...

"Comet!? Where are you going!?"

Damn. Piccolo had joined her. Comet stopped her flight and turned around to face the Namek as he frowned down at her, arms folded in typical Piccolo posture, the typical Piccolo frown on face, the typical Piccolo humorless personality...

Never in a million years would he let her just leave the lookout. But she always had an alibi, and one or two to spare.

"I'm going down to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber," she replied smoothly, "Training might get my mind off of things, and I can get more of it done in there. Is that okay?" she added dryly. Piccolo, not appreciating her bitter sarcasm, narrowed his dark eyes, silently reminding her to hold her tongue.

"Very well. But no more than two hours, okay?"

"Fine," she replied, her look and tone softening somewhat. "I'll be back, don't worry." And then, without another word, she snapped back around and darted to the edge of the Lookout, taking a flying leap right off the side.

She could distinctly hear Piccolo's mutter of 'show-off' as he turned around to sulk around the edges of the group back inside the Lookout, but she fell fast, and soon the edge of the Lookout was climbing above her. To her left and slightly behind, the spherical bottom of the Lookout was slipping away. A single ladder was trickling down the side, leading to the Time Chamber beneath... but she didn't catch herself in time. Soon, that, too, had sailed past, and she was still falling. It was a cold, cutting, relieving feeling - like a sharp breath of fresh air. As in water, the pain that seemed to have weighted down on her heart was lifted - although not dulled - and the wonderful floating sensation filled her senses. She just wanted to fall forever.

The clouds around her were soon losing their white, fluffy texture, and the air around her only grew colder as she dropped - instead of warmer. The sky seemed to darken, too. In her dream-like state of falling, she was only dimly aware of the reason why it seemed to be darker. The clouds were those of thunder heads; a dark, menacing gray. The kind that loom on the horizon and growl threateningly, their empty roars riverbating around the distance.

A rumbling growl of thunder awoke her, and her flight slowed as she straightened up somewhat, looking around. It appeared that she had fallen right into the midst of a thundered. A very active one, too. The odd, metallic taste of the air seemed cold upon her tongue, and there was that charge in the air, making the fine hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She looked around cautiously, knowing it was very dangerous to stay there. Lightning jumps from cloud to cloud faster and more frequently than it does to earth.

She dipped beneath the clouds, and soon discovered why it was so dry within. The moisture had dropped to the bottom and was now forming into rain as it was sucked towards the earth. There was a blinding flash to her right as the extreme heat and sensitivity of a lightning bolt shot past. It had to be at least twenty feet away, but it just felt as if it were grazing her skin. It seemed to be a great deal of time later that the crack of thunder echoed the bolt.

She was growing cold as the rain seeped into her skin. Already, her hair was weighted down, and a chill skipped down her spine. She shook her limbs slightly, shaking off the faint numbing feeling, and flew back towards the ground in search of some sort of shelter. But it appeared she had found her way to a barren country, for beneath the rocky, rolling hills was nothing. She soared a few thirty feet above the ground, looking around, ignoring the rain as it sank into her clothes and hair and skin, weighing her down.

And then, Comet spotted it - a shack of some sort, off in the distance. The earthling made off towards it quickly, not keen to be struck by lightning. As she drew closer, she saw it was much larger than a shack, but basically in the same condition. While it appeared to be a large, once-grand building, it had fallen into such a state of depression and disrepair it was barely recognizable from the dead trees scattered around. Each second brought her a good ten feet closer, and soon she saw exactly what kind of building it was. A church.

But a building was a building - shelter was a roof above her head. She dipped lower and alighted in front of the collapsing doors, looking up. It was a very ancient church, built long ago, with high stone walls. Now they were covered with mold and moss and dirt and rain and vines. The doors were an old, rotting wood - mahogany, was it? Whatever it was, it had stuck around time and was beginning to grow weak.

She slipped inside easily and quickly, eager to get out of the rain. The church, while large and spacious, was only the one room which she immediately entered - the chapel. Pews stood, dusty and some of them half-collapsed, in their rank and file, staring blankly ahead at attention. At the front of the chapel, the stone floor was raised on a sort of platform. And a good forty feet above that, filing the room with its pale gray light, was a giant stain-glassed window. Comet was surprised it hadn't been broken, but with each flash of lightning, the room was illuminated. Cobwebs designated each corner, spiders were the only ones who wandered the pews in worship, dust scattered across everything in a ghostly glaze, and the wood boards above her head were rotting. But strong; there was no leak.

She made her way slowly and cautiously across the threshold. Her footprints were oddly muffled in the dust, but her boots tapped slightly on the floor. The thunder was a good deal muffled inside the chapel, and every few minutes as she proceeded very slowly down the middle aisle, lighting would light the within with a blinding flash. It would hover in the air a few minutes; cold and empty, and then slip away into the warm, comforting darkness.

It grew lighter as she approached the front, and the "stage" area where the sermon was presented and most ceremonies took place. It took a few shallow steps to reach it, but she climbed them and found herself before the assembled audience, her back to them. Candles, in sets of dozens or more, lined the place. The wax had long melted, but the candles were dusty and collecting cobwebs of their own. They hadn't been used in ages. The golden holders were also old, set in that fine, rich brass color of the older centuries. A few of the more elaborate ones, set further back, had been shaped into angels. Their mournful faces turned pleading eyes heavenward, mouths stretched in moans of agony trying in vain to scream their pain to the onlooker, their solid eyes - no pupils, iris or lid - stared, unblinking, in unsurpassed horror outward and behind her.

She was briefly reminded of the taxi driver who had helped prolonged her escape from Cell. The memory, and that last look on his face, brought shudders of horror to her. Like Vegeta's death - she had caused it.

Vegeta... where was he now? He, in his turn, had slaughtered millions. Was heaven forgiving enough to accept him, rebuking his sins? Or was his a wound too deep to heal, that would only bleed into his soul for all eternity as they cast him out? Comet raised her own eyes upward. From what she had seen and experienced - there either was no heaven, or it was a white hell in its own. No one was meant to be saved for all eternity. Everyone was meant to be damned.

'I'm meant to be damned,' she thought morosely to herself, 'By Cell's hands. Either he'll make me pay for my sins, or he'll kill me and let the lords do it.'

There was singing in her ears, and screaming in her heart - her mind was swarming with mixed emotions. Singing was coming to her from somewhere, but it was almost like it had been all along. Just now had she realized it. Green eyes lowered and looked around curiously as the voice continued. It was speaking - or singing. Could it do both at the same time? Somehow, it was... a voice was reaching her.

The words it spoke were like music, but it was talking. Yet with the rich, beautiful voice it possessed... what was the difference? She could feel her limbs slowly slipping away from consciousness, but she didn't care. Her arms were gone. Next would be her legs, and then she would fall to her knees as if the pain had tugged down at her. But as if its silver sound was placing a guard around her heart, it was numbing already by the second, as the voice continued.

Almost automatically, she raised her eyes again - but with great difficulty, as if in a dream. Someone was coming down to her, speaking soothingly in that rich, beautiful voice. A smile lit her features. Her angel was finally coming to her, to take her away and save her. He had no wings - he didn't need wings. Tall and well built. The lightning had either gone or been drowned out by the golden light that emancipated from his skin. She couldn't see his halo from this angle, but she knew it was there, glowing in its holy light.

He had landed before her, smiling gently down at her. He was ghostly pale, with dark hair that seemed to hang back in the shadows. But he was handsome, and he continued speaking in that calming, rhythmic pattern as he slowly reached out for her. She didn't move, a faint smile of relief on her features, as he gently traced his fingers along her cheek. And, very gently, she felt him pulling her closer, leaning into her.

The last thing she could see before it was his eyes - those bright, piercing pink eyes, filled with all the pain, the misery and the love of the world. And then, with the striking influence of those eyes' emotion still on her, he gently played his lips across her's. She responded drowsily, entranced. His kiss was loving, passionate and gentle at the same time. And, unable to help herself, she just melted into his arms. She was tired of holding herself, tired of being and staying whole. She gave in and gave into him. He caught her easily, and held her still. It was so warm.

He leaned in, closer to her ear. She let go bit by bit, leaning against him for support, lost in the warmth and loving kindness of his touch. Trying to forget it all. 'Take me away... take me from it all, I don't care - just take me...'

"That's it, my little angel.... you've suffered enough. Let me free you."

Her lips parted slightly. How she was longing to breathe a 'yes', whisper a reply, to give herself up to him to free her wretched soul of it all. But she was struggling just to breathe, and she couldn't form the words, couldn't wrap her tongue around them. Tears filled her eyes. She couldn't do it, she couldn't say it, and he would snatch the chance back...

'Never give in. Never give up. Always keep fighting.'

Comet blinked once. Everything was blurry, as if she was trying to see through fog. Her angel was swimming before her eyes, and vanishing... wait, no, he wasn't vanishing. He was still there! She could still feel his arms around her, feel his warmth. His golden light had faded slightly.

Keep fighting? She didn't want to keep fighting - it hurt too much. And here was her savior, offering the chance to give it up. But... but no, she just couldn't. She couldn't quit, or give in. She didn't know where the strength was coming from, but the warmth was leaving her soul. She could feel it on her arms and back, but not within. Not the smothering, blissful sleepy warmth from before.

And there were those pink eyes, staring at her in such a chilling manner. A visible shudder ran through her weakly. She found herself longing for a fresh, sharp bite of pain - not the dull, throbbing ache that wouldn't leave her alone. Slowly, her awareness was coming back. She was in the church still, held in his arms. She was trying to see through the hazy darkness.

A roar of thunder that seemed louder than before. A brilliant flash of lightning.

Cell's hauntingly handsome face was illuminated just before her. Her angel had the face of that monster. Her angel... was that monster.

"No..." she breathed, eyes widening in horror. Here was her fresh burst of recognition, as she wretched herself from the trance and tried to stumble back, away from him. Cell tightened his grip.

"Relax, my little angel..." he soothed. It was the same voice that had spoken to her. The voice hadn't left. "Give into me..."

"N-never," she choked, fighting as best as she could. Cell lowered his chin, and his eyes met her. Those pink, piercing eyes. And she stopped, for a shocked moment, staring back at him. Her entire body had regained its feeling, but was still. His eyes hadn't changed. He still had the eyes of her angel - those eyes full of pain, misery... and love...

How could Cell be in pain? What could hurt him so? How could he even feel love...?

* "Wandering child... so lost. So helpless. Yearning for my guidance..." he whispered, the back of his hand gently caressing her cheek. He spoke in a rhythm... his voice hypnotic. She was struggling against the silver veil of a dream, fighting it off. Fighting to make herself see the murderer before her... and losing.

Angel or demon? Friend or enemy?

* "Too long you've wandered in winter... far from my far-reaching gaze." She felt him releasing her, the emotionless warmth slipping away as well. "Wildly your mind beats against me... but your soul obeys..." She watched through glazed, confused eyes as he backed away into the shadows. Through the darkness, his eyes gleamed.

"Come to me," he whispered, his soft, hypnotic voice barely reaching her on the shadows' velvet wings. She felt a faint tug at her heart, almost cutting her breath off. She took in another, feeling oddly dizzy. Was she having difficulty focusing? All she could see was the faint outline of him, see those glowing pink eyes.

* "I am your angel of darkness... come to me, my angel of darkness..."

She obligingly took a step forward. There was pain in his gaze now, but it was muted. He was trying to smother it, but she could feel it in his piercing stare. There was no change in his alluring voice, no fleeting emotion across his face... and then the pain was gone. It was hunger now... pure, raging hunger. She continued walking towards him, obeying his tempting voice, the beckoning of his hand. He was drawing closer with each of her steps.

"I am your angel... your angel of closure, of release.... come to me, my angel..."

She was almost there. She could see his shadow looming before her, ready to take her, eager. His eyes gleamed in hope, hunger and pain. He was standing tall, proud, and straight, ready and waiting for her. His eyes never left her, as if they alone were what was pulling her forward, pulling her willingly towards him.

Comet took the last step, directly in front of him. He took a small step forward, emerging partially from the shadows. Calm, loving relief, and resolution... they painted across his face as he took her right hand's wrist and, holding it at her side, pulled her up against his chest with the other hand, behind her back. She tilted her chin up to him, eyes clear. Yet oddly empty. She was still under his spell, all influence of her spirit vanished.

Cell leaned forward, hesitating only a breath away from her lips, as if savoring the moment. And then, gently, he leaned forward and kissed her again. But this kiss was different from the one in her previous, dream-like state. It began gentle and kind, but steadily grew more passionate. Rough, demanding. She didn't move, didn't kiss back, didn't fight him. When he had finished with her mouth, he moved on, kissing down her cheek and neck.

His hand that had been behind her back had moved up and was running through her hair. His right hand, firmly gripping her wrist, continued to pull her up against him as he roamed down her neck, nuzzling and nipping. He was gently tipping her head to the side, revealing more of her neck to him. Finally he paused, and drew his lips against her ear, breathing heavily.

"Say you'll stay with me... say you love me, and will never leave me... to be alone... say you will!"

"Kamehame... HAAAA!"

Cell looked up sharply, angrily, and jerked Comet out of the way with his right hand - his left arm raising as a shield in front of his face as the powerful ki slammed into him. He braced himself against the blow, and after struggling with it for a few moments, sent it hurtling back in the direction it had come from. Against its glow, he saw the silhouette of Goku darting out of the way of his own attack, before it burst through the church roof and into the storm.

He glanced back at Comet to make sure she was all right. She was standing just behind him, staring blankly up at where it had come from. Still drowsy from the trance.

He looked back forward, glaring in bitter anger as the Sayain lowered slightly. A roar of thunder came more clearly from outside, absent of lightning, and he could just see beneath the dripping fringe of golden hair... the narrowed jade eyes. Yet Cell didn't care. He had been so, SO close... seconds away...

"Goku..." he growled furiously. "First Vegeta and now you. Do all Sayains have a death wish?"

"When you drag her into this, yes we do," Goku responded in a low voice. "She doesn't want to be with you, Cell. Let her go, once and for all."

Cell didn't respond right away, narrowing his eyes as if stung. Finally he replied, slowly, as if it were costing him a great effort, "This does not involve you. So leave before I kill you... as easily as I killed Vegeta."

"You're a cold, heartless monster," Goku retorted, teeth clenched, fists clenched, entire body taunt with anger. "How you can live with killing, torturing so many... I just don't understand it. I just don't understand how you can live with yourself!"

"As easily as you can," Cell remarked angrily. He raised his free hand, as a glittering golden ball of ki appeared. "Let's make this quick. I have business to attend to."

"You won't get around to it," Goku threatened warningly - but Cell had already flicked his attack. The Sayain darted easily out of the way, but not before Cell had tossed another. Goku found himself dodging attack after attack after attack, as each golden ball shot through the church roof and spiraled off into the clouds. But behind Cell... he could sense Comet slowly coming back to her senses.

"Goku!" she gasped, "No - Cell! You'll kill him!"

"That's the point," Cell growled. "Stay back, Comet. I'd hate for you to get involved."

"I already am!" came her snarling reply. He felt her rising ki behind him, but sharply twisted around, pausing momentarily in his attack on Goku to grab her wrist. She had been holding her hand over her head, a pulsating ball of red energy building in her palm. She braced herself, but his grip - although tight - was painless. She shot him a dirty look, but Cell returned it coldly.

"Unless you'd like me to absorb that energy out of you to help kill your friend, I suggest you do nothing," he warned in a low voice. He watched her face carefully, but was distinctly aware of the attack poised in her hand. It flickered, and then died down as she recalled her ki. As the scarlet ki blinked out, he released her and turned back to Goku.

"KamehameHA!"

Just in time to receive another Kamehamha wave to the front. With Comet behind him, he couldn't dodge, so he threw up his arms and crouched. He was able, this time, to use al his strength to deflect the attack, and sent it spinning back to Goku with much less effort than before. Cell's laughter echoed through the church as Goku took refuge behind a pillar lining the outside row around the pews.

"You've just signed your own death, Goku!" Cell called, that smug, evil taunting returning to his voice, "Unless you'd rather join Vegeta in Hell, I'll let you go - to go back to your little friends and warn them all to keep their distance. Comet is mine; she herself has sealed that promise."

Her soul had barricaded itself. A shield behind her eyes wouldn't allow her to cry, but her breaths were shaky, and her body was weak. She stared in misery and terror at the pillar, knowing Cell's words to be true, but refusing to believe it. What would Goku do? She wished he could just come and kill Cell, but she didn't want him to be killed, as Cell was promising...

Another rumble of thunder, and the crack of lighting across the sky. But silence did not follow; more thunderclouds followed in their growling, and the lightning danced above their heads. Cell and Comet stared at the pillar, and at the growing power behind it. It was overwhelming, and announcing its presence with an eerie white glow...

A roar of thunder.

A forked tongue of lightning leapt through the large gash in the roof, and struck the floor; illuminating the chapel with its searing white light. And from beneath it, the power emerged in its unholy glory. Faintly, Comet could hear Goku's yells. The white light grew brighter, decimating all of the shadows within, and from the center, the figure of a man was seen - head thrown back, fists clenched.

Comet couldn't tear her eyes from the sight, staring in awe and terror. Cell, too, was motionless. His face expressed surprise, but he kept it toned, his eyes cautious. Another blast of power washed over them, as the white reached its pinnacle and shot through their vision, blinding. The Android and the Earthling shut their eyes, and the shadows soon came swooping in front of their eyelids again. The two opened their eyes.

There, hovering in the center of the chapel slightly above and before them, was Goku. The white light had died down to a shimmering aura around him, while golden bolts danced up and down his form. His golden hair stood up even more straighter, and seemed to have been bleached a little lighter. His bright turquoise eyes flashed dangerously as he stared menacingly down at Cell.

The super sayain had ascended.

"Let her go, Cell," Goku said quietly.

Cell bared his fangs in genuine anger, his own eyes flashing. Comet backed away. This was a fight she did not wish to be tangled up in. Goku's power surge had left a sense of awe on her, and she knew of Cell's power to begin with. These two, in combat, could destroy the Earth and everything on it.

The fight began, and she watched it from a distance, hardly able to trace the fighter's movements as they shot through the air, throwing punches and kicks and ki attacks at each other. There was no strategy, no logic, no thoughts. Just brute force and power fighting, bloodthirsty, for the other's life.

Comet soon gave up trying to follow the fighters' movements, and let her mind go blank. If Goku won, she was free. If Cell won, she was doomed.

"C'mon, Goku..." she whispered to herself.

Now, Comet was unable to see this. Her eyes were only so trained in fighting, and while she could follow movements much faster than the normal human eye could see, she was unable to see much of anything in this fight - save for rapidly moving blurs. Had she been able to watch more carefully, her natural instinct of emotion might have been able to pick up what was really going on.

Neither wanted this battle to go on for very long.

Both wanted a quick, clean victory.

Both fighters finally lunged away from each other, lowering slightly and pausing in their battle. Comet was finally able to see as Cell hovered a good forty feet away from Goku, both staring at each other in the most furious intensity. As if mirror opposites, they drew back their hands. The power levels flickered - Comet could feel the church shifting and groaning under the charge in the air. Both's eyes flashed, and they threw their hands forward. Gold and azure light raced towards each other, bracing for impact...

In the blinding light that filled the church, all Comet could see were the outlines, the silhouettes of Cell and Goku. And then those, too, faded.

Yet a split second later, Goku appeared right beside her.

"C'mon," he hissed, grabbing her shoulder and quickly raising two fingers to his forehead. Before Comet could say a word, or she could see what happened to the chapel, filled to the brim with unholy light as the thunderclouds sang overhead and the lightning danced, the sight of it all vanished before her.

The angels, their faces carved for all eternity into the candle holders, flickered gold once across them. Their empty eyes widened in shock, mouths stretching. As they screamed silently, outstretching their arms, all was destroyed in a powerful blast...

... of Heaven and Hell.

---`---,---@

The church thing might make you wonder where this is taking place... honestly, I don't know. I would assume Japan (just makes sense, ne?) but I know nothing of Japanese religion. Yet it makes for a neat chapter, so bear with me. A/U, remember? ^^'
Please, people - don't just review with compliments. They make me feel great (^^) but they don't help me know if I need to improve anything. Review when you're crabby, and sit there and scoff and criticize me! I need it!
And - a question. Should I introduce any more original characters? I feel non-creative with Comet as the only addition; but do you like it that way? Should I stick as close to an original cast as I can, or should I throw in some more made-up characters? And if so... heh, any suggestions how? ^^'