Ch. 1

Gohan's Courage, Cell's Challenge

"I give this fight to you, Cell," said Goku as he lowered to the ground. His clothes were battered, but surprisingly not horribly so. "I'm done fighting!"

"I didn't really think that it would be that easy!" Cell laughed. "And since you are obviously the strongest fighter, there is no one left to stop me! The whole universe is mine!!"

"Not so fast, Cell!" shouted Goku, his energy flaring around him. "Just because I forfeited the match, it doesn't mean that it's over yet!"

"You cannot be serious!?" replied Cell. "If you couldn't beat me, there is not a single man on this goddamn planet who can, Super Saiyan!"

"That's where you're wrong, Cell! I have discovered a man with far greater strength than my own," Goku looked directly into Cell's eyes. "I know he can beat you!"

"What are you talking about, Goku?!" shouted Piccolo. "We're the only ones here, so who is this warrior you speak of?!"

"Yes, Kakarot, where is this imaginary warrior of yours?" asked Vegeta with an amused sneer.

"He is among us," said Goku. He then looked to Gohan. Everyone gasped. "Come down here, my son,"

"Who, m-me? O-okay, Dad," said Gohan as he removed his cape, letting it fall to the ground. He then flew down to Goku and Cell, already in his Super Saiyan form.

"This ought to make for a laugh," muttered Vegeta, snickering to himself.

"What in the hell are you trying to pull?!" shouted Cell furiously. "You promise me a warrior, but instead you bring me a child!"

"This child shall provide more of a challenge than all your previous battles put together," assured Goku.

"We shall see," said Cell with a malicious grin on his face.

"Are you sure I can beat him, Dad?" asked Gohan. "I mean, I'm only a kid!"

Goku turned to Gohan and placed his hands gently on his son's shoulders. Looking into Gohan's eyes, he said, "You can do it, Son. I am sure of it!"

"Okay, Dad. I'll do my best!" replied Gohan, taking a fighting stance.

"Are you finished running your mouth yet?! I want to get this over with!" Cell interrupted, annoyed.

"Okay, Gohan, give him hell!" said Goku as he rejoined the others.

"That's more like it!" said Cell. He flew at Gohan. Upon reaching him, Cell began with a high roundhouse kick. Gohan ducked under it, but before he could retaliate, Cell began throwing lightning fast punches and kicks at him, forcing him to put up his guard. He didn't allow a single attack to land, but he knew he couldn't keep this up. He had to strike, and soon.

Gohan soon found his opening. The instant he moved to the side to dodge one of Cell's punches, he moved in close and began hammering his fists into Cell's gut. His fists were moving so fast that he appeared to have many arms instead of just two. He soon slowed and his leg flew up hard into Cell's side. As Cell began moving in the same direction as his leg, he uppercutted Cell in the jaw. Cell began speeding upward, momentarily stunned. Gohan grinned and flew after him. As he got nearer, he began to form an energy orb in his hand. Once he had reached Cell, Cell had just managed to right himself. Gohan gave Cell no chance to counter as he slammed the energy ball into Cell's face. A cloud formed around Cell's head from the explosion. Gohan then teleported behind Cell. He raised his fists, clasped together in a ball, and pounded them into the back of Cell's neck. Cell was immediately sent smashing into the Earth like a speeding bullet. Dust kicked up around the point of impact.

As the dust cleared, Cell was just getting to his feet. He wiped the trail of blood from the corner of his lips and smirked. "That was pretty good, Kid," he said. "I must say, I underestimated you, but that won't happen again!" Powering up, he began firing large, red energy blasts at Gohan. Gohan, having no time to deflect them, began moving quickly to dodge them. He managed to dodge most of them, but the last few caught him off guard and he was engulfed in the blasts.

"Gohan!" cried Piccolo.

Cell began laughing. "It would seem your little warrior' didn't have what it takes!" However, his smile faded when he saw that Gohan was still alive. His arms were still up as the smoke faded. They immediately dropped limply in front of him as he lowered to the ground, breathing heavily. Blood trickled down his arms like crimson streams. He breathed a sigh of relief a few moments later.

"Goku, what have you done?!" shouted Piccolo. "Can't you see that Gohan isn't strong enough?! He'll die if this keeps up!"

"Don't you worry about a thing," said Goku as he watched on with a calm look on his face. "He's just getting started!"

"For Gohan's sake, I hope you're right,"

Gohan backflipped several times until he had reached a large rock formation. Pushing off it, he flew at Cell headfirst and headbutted Cell in the stomach. This caused Cell to spit up a bit of blood, stumbling backwards several feet as he clutched his stomach. "How dare you!?" he spat, wiping the blood from his mouth and sneering.

Jumping backwards, Gohan raised his hands above his head in a triangle formation. "Ma-sen-ko...!" he shouted as he began to charge a bright, yellow ball of energy in his hands. Crying out, he thrust his hands forward and released the energy in a large beam. Cell, not having enough time to react, was engulfed in the blast. "Got him!" said Gohan, grinning wide with excitement. When the smoke had cleared, however, it was revealed that Cell had come out of it with barely a scratch on him. Gohan's grin faded. "What?!"

"Is that the best you've got, Child?!" laughed Cell, smirking. "Hah! That barely even tickled!"

"Damn," muttered Gohan.

"Now, it's my turn!" Cell shouted, cupping his hands at his side. "Ka~~me~~..." he began as a bright blue energy orb began to form in his hands, "...ha~~me~~..." he grinned, "...ha~~~~~!!!" he cried, thrusting his hands forward and opening them. A large beam of energy erupted from them, headed straight for Gohan. Gohan leapt out of the way just in time, narrowly avoiding the blast. "Damn," muttered Cell as the Kamehameha Wave dissipated, "I missed,"

"That was way too close!" said Gohan softly, breathing heavily. He stood up and turned to Cell. He took a step forward and then paused. With a twitch of his foot, he shot at Cell like a bullet. Upon reaching him, Gohan uppercutted him hard into the air and took off after him. Grabbing him by the arm, Gohan hurled him hard into the ground. Gohan then began firing a volley of energy blasts at him. After several blasts, he ended the barrage with another Masenko.

When the smoke cleared, Cell was already on his feet. "That was quite impressive, Kid," he said, "but you are still no match for me!" Gohan flew at Cell. However, when Gohan reached him, Cell lashed out with his foot, sending Gohan smashing into a rock formation nearby. The formation crumbled and collapsed, falling down on top of him.

"No!! Gohan!!!" cried Piccolo.

"Are you gonna get up and continue this humiliation, or are you gonna stay down and admit defeat? It is up to you," Cell shouted at the pile of rubble.

Gohan slowly lifted a large slab of rock off of him and let it crash down beside him. Blood dripped from his forehead, and he was breathing heavily. "I...am not giving up!!"

"You have an aggressive fighting spirit! I'll give you that," said Cell. Gohan gritted his teeth and flew at Cell. They quickly engaged in a fierce struggle, matching blow for blow. However, Gohan was just barely able to keep up. Gohan ducked, dodging one of Cell's high kicks, and rammed his fist into Cell's gut. Cell sputtered as the wind was knocked out of him. Cell grinned and slammed his knee into Gohan's stomach, causing Gohan to spit blood. He then followed up with a backhand to Gohan's mouth, sending Gohan flying backwards. The young Super Saiyan slammed into the ground several feet away.

Gohan simply lied there, not moving. "What am I doing?!" he said to himself. "Dad said I would win, but I know that is not true. I'm just a kid! I'm no match for Cell!" He took a deep breath and sat up. He had made his decision. He slowly stood up. "Stop!" he yelled. "Stop with this senseless fighting!!"

"What?! Are you giving up, Boy?!" said Cell with a grin on his face.

Remaining silent, Gohan slowly advanced towards Cell. He stopped when he was a mere few feet from the bio android. Then, he spoke. "I know now why my dad has chosen me as the next one to face you in this awful tournament," he began. "I have always had trouble with controlling my temper. When someone would threaten my friends or family, I would get angry. I would become uncontrollable! I would lose myself in my rage, and that is why my dad believes I can win!!"

"Nice monologue, Kid," said Cell, "but it won't do you any good," He grinned. "In fact, you have provided me with a challenge!" He glanced quickly to the Z warriors watching on from the sidelines. "Let's see just how powerful you really are!!"

"If you were to piss me off, I would kill you! You do realize this, do you not?"

"We'll just have to wait and see. You are merely a child after all,"

"Yeah?! Well, you're just a toddler!" blurted Krillin, issuing a chuckle from Yamcha and Tien.

"Shut up, Baldy, or we're all gonna get it!" growled Vegeta, punching him in the gut and knocking the wind out of him.

"Hey! Shut up over there or I'll blow this stinking planet to Kingdom Come right now!" Cell shouted. "Not that it matters,"

"Oh, uh...right!" said Krillin, staring sheepishly at his feet.

"Now, let's see..." said Cell, counting the other Z warriors. His tail then extended from beneath his wing case and forced seven miniature versions of himself - which he called his "children" - from the end of it. His tail then retracted. Each of the Cell's Children was about three and a half feet tall. The crests on their heads extended just a couple of inches above their heads. The markings that covered their blue bodies were navy blue.

"Now, my children, attack!" ordered Cell. Cell's children flew off towards Goku and the other Z warriors, each one taking to a different warrior. Gohan watched in horror as the others were tortured by these little devils. These creatures were just way too powerful for the others to handle. They were slowly getting worn down.

"Are you getting angry yet?!" asked Cell. Gohan remained silent. As he continued to watch, he was getting angrier and angrier. He was shaking with fury, his fists tightly clenched at his sides. As he knew he could do nothing to help his fellow Z warriors in this horrific battle. No, not battle. This was an onslaught.

Suddenly, Android Sixteen leapt at Cell from out of nowhere and wrapped his arms tightly around Cell, squeezing Cell against the android's chest. Cell immediately began struggling. "What is the meaning of this, Android?! Let me go!" he demanded.

"I cannot do that, Cell," said Android Sixteen calmly. "You are a threat to this world, so I must eliminate you,"

"You don't have the strength to defeat me, you stupid piece of scrap metal!" spat Cell.

"This I know," Sixteen admitted. "That is why I am going to take you out along with me by detonating the bomb inside of me!"

"What?!" Cell s eyes went wide and he began struggling harder.

"I am not going to stand around and watch Gohan and his friends die!" said the android as he began to glow white.

"No~~!!" cried Cell.

As quickly as he had started, Android Sixteen stopped glowing. "What is this?! This is not in my calculations,"

"Didn't you know? Bulma removed your bomb when she was repairing you, feeling it would be too dangerous to leave inside of you!" shouted Krillin.

"This is not good," said Sixteen.

"Did you hear that? They removed your bomb, and that makes you no longer a threat to me!" said Cell with a wicked grin on his face. "There is only one thing left to do with a useless, piece of shit android like you, and that is to dispose of it!" He elbowed Android Sixteen in the gut, causing the android to let go. He then spun around and delivered a punch so hard that it caused Sixteen to blow to pieces. Only his head remained intact, which rolled to the side of a large boulder. Gohan was speechless, sputtering as he watched the android seemingly die.

Meanwhile, a reporter and his cameraman watched in horror from behind a boulder. "You, Sir," Android Sixteen's head called weakly.

"Who, m-m-me?" asked the paranoid reporter.

"Yes, you. Please...take me to Gohan...and set m-me down in fr-front of...of him," Sixteen stuttered.

"O-okay," replied the reporter, obviously terrified. Scooping up Number Sixteen's head in his arms, the reporter quickly took the android to Gohan and set the android down. He then ran back behind the boulder like the coward he was.

"Down here..." said Sixteen weakly.

"Sixteen! You're still alive?!" said Gohan, amazed.

"Only barely," he replied. "Gohan...it is okay to fight for the good of hu-humanity... Let your anger explode...and de-defeat Cell!"

"Shut your mouth, you stupid android!" shouted Cell. He turned and crushed Sixteen's head under his foot. "He was a piece of garbage anyway,"

Something clicked in Gohan's brain. He was through standing around and doing nothing. He'd had enough. He cried out with all his might as his energy expanded hugely around him in a bright, blinding flash of light. When the light faded, it was revealed that Gohan was different. His hair jutted upward and was more golden than before. His muscle mass had increased slightly. His energy crackled around him in the form of blue electricity and a fierce golden aura. His face also seemed more...pure. He had done it. He had become an Ascended Super Saiyan.

"Cell!" he shouted, pointing his finger at Cell. "You're dead! I will show you no mercy!" He rushed Cell and elbowed him hard, sending Cell crashing to the ground.

"Well, what are you waiting for, my children?!" he shouted as he got to his feet. "Attack the boy! Now!!" The Cell's children immediately charged at Gohan.

To be continued...