Disclaimer: The Author owns nothing except the plot. Maybe some OCs if they come up.
Author's Note: I'm assuming that everyone reading this already knows about "The Gold Fighter" and "Saiyaman", so I'm just going to skip right to the tournament, except that there is no Buu, it isn't the WMT but a personal one set up by Hercule (more later), and Videl still has no idea who Saiyaman is.
Prologue: The Cell Games
Gohan and Cell had each just launched their final attacks, and all that was left to do was to wait and see who could overcome whom. In the meantime, the rest of the Z-fighters were expending what little energy they had left in the hopes of weakening Cell, or at least distracting him enough to give Gohan his chance. But they were just too drained, and Cell easily pushed them back with a blast of ki-enhanced wind.
Unknown to any of them, however, the prince of all Saiyans was on his feet. His son was dead, taken from him by Cell. His greatest rival had, without a thought, sacrificed his own life to save his friends, to save him. Kakarot, Vegeta thought, so this is where you get your strength, from the love and desire to protect your family. You even tried to save me, when in your place I would have let you die. Well, I can't help you now, but maybe I can help your son. With that, he powered up to supersaiyan, determined to give everything he had left to help Gohan.
Gohan, in the meanwhile, was fighting a losing battle. He'd already used up much of his energy when he'd forced Cell to cough up Android 18, and now Cell was back to full strength, while Gohan's strength was fading quickly. The ring of blue that separated Cell's ki blast from his own was slowly edging its way closer to him, and Gohan knew that once it reached him, it was all over. The ground was cracking apart with the force of their attacks. Gohan could feel his friends, knew their energy was spent, and that they couldn't help him anymore. Suddenly, in the corner of his senses, he felt a ki energy powering up, powering even higher than any of his friends had before. Who is that? Gohan wondered. It almost feels like…
Cell was laughing hysterically. He'd won, he could feel Gohan weakining, knew that in only a few minutes the only threat to his domination would be forever gone. So focused was he on his task that he failed to notice what Gohan had until a strong ball of energy hit him in the back. His concentration broken, he stared up into the sky at … it couldn't be … "Vegeta!", Cell cried out, surprised that the Saiyan Prince was even still alive. Blast it, why didn't I finish him off?
Goku, up with King Kai, had felt Vegeta power up, and had felt the ki blast and how it had distracted Cell. Vegeta, he thought, Thank you, and yelled into Gohan's mind, "Now's your chance!"
Gohan, his confidence revitalized after his father's words, reached deep inside, deeper than he ever thought possible, and with one final defiant scream, unleashed all of the Ki his body held into his attack. Soon the line of blue was back in the center, then it went past, and instead became a wave of energy that started engulfing the form of Cell. Gohan began determinedly walking forward, pushing the ki blast closer to Cell, step by step.
Cell could feel the waves wash over him, could fell his body start to disintegrate, and for the first time, realized that he was losing, and that there was nothing he could do about it. With a final defiant yell, Cell's body began to evaporate, and without him resisting, Gohan was easily able to direct the flow of ki energy towards what remained. The remains of the blast and what was left of Cell were lauched deep into space, the excess energy continuing to destroy the last remaining particles of what was once the greatest threat humanity had ever faced. The Z fighters were left staring at a giant crater in the ground; as Gohan's strength gave out and he floated gently to the ground to collapse. In his last conscious moments before exhaustion finally overcame him, Gohan heard his father's voice, "Gohan, I'm so proud of you."
