Kakarot's Arc

Chapter 10 of 14

Kakarot held his white form steady, but Broly's red glow crushed the air from his lungs. Broly rushed in. His fist drove into Kakarot's ribs. Kakarot flew across the sand and struck the wall. He tried to rise. Broly was already there. The next blow snapped his head back. Blood ran from his mouth. His white glow flickered and died. He lay in the dirt, spent. No form left to call. "Weak," Broly said. He crouched over Kakarot. But he wasn't smiling with cruelty now. He looked almost bored. "I wanted a real fight." He reached into his sash and pulled out a small piece of candy. He pressed it into Kakarot's shaking hand. "Eat it. It heals every wound. You'll be whole again, at full strength." He stood. "I don't want to kill a broken man. I want to beat you at your best." Kakarot stared at the candy. Trap or not, his body was ruined. He put it in his mouth. Warmth spread through him. His ribs knit. The blood dried. Strength poured back until he stood tall, whole, breathing easy. Broly grinned and raised his fists. "Now we start." Then a scream tore across the arena. Kakarot turned. At the far wall, three figures had risen from where they'd lain unconscious. Cooler, Cell, and their fallen ally's brother. Cooler's red eyes burned in his purple face. "Frieza is dead," Cooler said. His voice shook the stands. "He died of the wounds you gave him. We came for you." Cell hissed and lashed his tail. Sir Papa leaped between them and Kakarot, gauntlets up. "You'll go through me first," the bald paladin said. Raddits landed at his brother's side, cape torn, fists clenched. "And me," Raddits growled. Broly watched, his own duel forgotten for a breath. Chaos spilled into the sand. Cell went for Sir Papa. Raddits caught the brother's charge. Kakarot faced Cooler alone. Cooler laughed. White plates snapped shut over his purple body, locking into a full suit of gleaming armor. His muscles swelled beneath it. "You beat the old me," Cooler said. "This is the new one." He blurred forward faster than before. His armored fist smashed Kakarot's guard aside and cracked his jaw. Kakarot skidded back, stunned. The candy had healed him, but Cooler's new form outpaced his every block. Kakarot spat blood into the sand. His duel with Broly was on hold. Now a healed body wasn't enough. Cooler's armored form was quicker and harder than anything he'd faced, and Cell was tearing through the others behind him. He had traded one impossible enemy for a battlefield of them.