The final clash for the fate of the Earth, everyone giving it their all in supporting Gohan against Cell.

Everyone reflected during the moment of truth:

Piccolo: "No Gohan, I'm not going to let you die all alone out there. You were the first person who ever saw me as anything but a monster, and I'm proud to call you my friend."

Krillin: "I don't know why I'm getting back up again, it'd be a heck of alot easier just to stay down. Yeah back in the old days, I so would've given up by now. I guess it's Goku and Gohan's fault I'm like this. Thanks to those two now I don't know when to quit, and you know someday I'm gonna get them for that."

Tien: "Goku, you've been my inspiration as a martial artist for as long as I can remember. Everything I am now, I owe to you. And how did I repay you? I stood there and watched you die! I will not make the same mistake with your son!"

Yamcha: "Hey buddy, that kid of yours is pretty incredible! Every bit his father's son, and I really mean that. And I'm going all out, doing right by him!"

"I grow tired of your meddling!" Cell sent out a shockwave that sent Tien and Yamcha flying.

But then Piccolo and Krillin stood up, scrounged up more energy, and fired full power Ki blasts at Cell's back.

"You dare challenge ultimate perfection!" Cell sent out another shockwave.

Piccolo and Krillin stood their ground, and then Tien and Yamcha rejoined the fray, firing their own Ki blasts.

"Buzz at me all you want you puny nats, you're all gonna die!" Cell began pushing them back, but they held their ground.

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Dende watched the scene worriedly from the Lookout 'Gohan…'

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Gohan was giving it all, but was beginning to lose ground 'Dammit…'

"Gohan, you've gotta fight back!" Goku screamed through the telepathic link.

'I'm trying, but…'

'Remember all the pain he's caused, the people he's hurt! Use your anger, let your power EXPLODE!"

'I'M TRYING! I don't have enough strength left…'

"Then use my power…"

'Wha- Dad, is that you?'

"No, Son Gohan. I have been watching over you since you were born, even when your measely Earth's Dragon Balls were inert, and I have deemed you worthy."

'Who are you? Where are you?'

"I shall reveal myself to you soon Son Gohan, but for now, I will lend you my power."

'I- Thank you.' Gohan snapped back to reality and quickly stopped his Kamehameha from slipping 'But how will I-'

"Just use the incantation. You will know it when the time is right, which will be when your friend tries a sneak attack."

'Right- Wait, what?'

"Do the incantation!"

'Right.'

"Say hi to dad!" Cell was about to put even more power into his blast, when a Big Bang Attack suddenly hit him from above, and he looked up to see that Vegeta had fired it "Vegeta!"

'Now's my chance! You know what Cell, you can say hi for me! Soar with the winds…" he began radiating crimson energy as lightning erupted next to him "crash with the waves…" red streaks began flickering in his hair as more lightning erupted "roar with the thunderclap, and blaze with the flames…" more lightning surged "Fade with the darkness, shine with the light…" his hair continued flickering from the electric gold to deep orange "Shatter the mountaintops… and end this fight!" in a massive burst of power, Gohan's transformation suddenly evolved, the force of which nearly blew everyone away as his Kamehameha turned from blue to deep orange.

"No… this can't be…" Cell found himself being disintegrated by the blast "This can't be… I AM PERFECTION!" the last thing Cell saw before being completely obliterated was Gohan somehow mustering the energy in his bad arm and firing a pure crimson blast, taking on the silhouette of a dragon similar to Shenron, and hurdling it towards him faster than he could fathom.

With the battle over, Gohan dropped out his new form, and out of his Super Saiyan form altogether, and collapsed to the ground, unconscious, wounded and exhausted.

"I think it's over…" Piccolo muttered in disbelief "I don't think I feel his energy anymore…"

"There aren't any scraps of him left are there?" asked Krillin fearfully.

Tien smiled "No, I think Cell's gone for good."

"He did it…" Yamcha muttered "He really did it… He showed that disgusting slimeball who's the boss." then he noticed something "Hey guys, did Gohan always have a tattoo?"

"What? Where?" asked Piccolo.

"Right there, on his right arm."

"Let me see that!" Vegeta rushed down and checked on Gohan, then froze "It can't be…"

"What is it?" asked Piccolo.

"Something I never even fathomed… A Saiyan legend so ancient even the Super Saiyan pales in comparison… The mark of the Dragon Saiyan…"

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(A/N: The rest plays out as canon, with Trunks and everyone being revived by the Dragon Balls, Goku staying dead, and Trunks going back to the future. Now we'll have a time skip to the climax of the Bojack fight, the next time Gohan has to unleash his power)

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Bojack grabbed Gohan out of the rubble and wrapped him in a bone-crushing bear hug in an attempt to break his spine, causing Gohan to cough up blood as he screamed in pain "How ironic it was that your father's death was the key to our escape, I so wanted to thank him in person but now you'll have to do it for me."

Zangya couldn't watch this anymore "Lord Bojack, that's enough. He's had enough, just put him out of his misery."

Bujin grinned cruelly "Zangya, I'd say a few millennia has made you lose your edge. What, you can't stomach it?"

Zangya said nothing, just gripping her fists until they bled.

She had joined him when she was only a teenager, after he and his gang had ravaged her town.

They offered her a place on their crew, but only because she had an unnaturally high power level.

And most likely, it had something to do with her being a woman.

With no other options, she agreed.

But when she looked at him now, all she saw was a bloodthirsty and maniacal monster.

Bojack chuckled deviously and Zangya watched in horror as Gohan finally lost consciousness.

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Having watched the entire scene from Other World, Goku finally had enough "My son needs my help!" he blitzed away with Instant Transmission.

King Kai tried to stop him, to no avail "You can't go Goku, you're dead!"

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Zangya watched helplessly as Bojack was about to break Gohan's spine clean in two.

"GOHAN!" that is, until Goku suddenly blitzed onto the scene, slugged Bojack right in the jaw, sending him crashing to the ground, then caught Gohan and gently lowered him towards the ground in a golden ball of light "Wake up… the world is depending on you Gohan…"

Slowly, Gohan opened his eyes and looked up at him "Father…?"

"Believe in yourself son, unleash your true power, the power you used against Cell. It's the only way." and with that, he disappeared.

Gohan found himself alone on the ground "Yes sir…"

Bojack sat up, rubbing the new scar on his face "Was that… Goku?"

Slowly, Gohan stood up and looked into the sky "I know you're out there father, you came back to save me. I promise on your honor and on my life, I won't let you down!" he got into a certain stance "Soar with the winds…" lightning erupted "crash with the waves…" more lightning as Gohan's aura turned orange "roar with the thunderclap, and blaze with the flames…" the dragon mark on his shoulder began glowing gold, his hair flickering from gold to orange and back to gold "Fade with the darkness, shine with the light… Shatter the mountaintops, and end this fight!" with a furious roar, he exploded with power in a white light. When the light dissipated, it revealed Gohan in his orange Super Saiyan 2 form, his dragon mark glowing a burning crimson shade as his hard gaze turned on Bojack "I know your kind, scum like you think you can just waltz in and take our planet."

Bojack chuckled.

"But you forgot one thing: my father might be gone, but I'm still here!" he flared his aura wildly around him "As long as I'm still breathing, I will protect my friends, my family, her, and my world." and he slowly walked forward, crimson electricity sparking around his aura.

Now Bojack was getting concerned "Bujin! Bido!"

On his orders, Bujin and Bido attempted to trap Gohan with their Psycho Threads, but Gohan, unfazed, oneshotted them both, killing them instantly "Is that all you and your lackeys have got?"

"Hardly." Bojack then pulled a dirty and ruthless move: he pushed Zangya in front of him and tried to fire a Ki blast through her. The key word there being tried.

Gohan blitzed forward, stopped a majority of the blast, caught a scorched and injured Zangya and set her unconscious form gently on the ground away from the confrontation, then turned back to his opponent "Coward, you used your own comrade with no mercy. Scum like you make me sick."

Bojack just laughed maniacally and fired a Grand Smasher.

Gohan emerged from the carnage unfazed.

"I will kill you!" Bojack charged in a rage.

Gohan blitzed forward and stuck his fist through Bojack's gut.

"You fool!" Bojack spat out some blood "Any last words before you die?" he prepared his Galactic Buster.

"Actually Bojack, there are two words that come to mind. Watch over me Kagome, I'm doing this one for you.'

Bojack fired his Galactic Buster.

"Dragon Kamehameha!" Gohan fired his new attack, combining a full power attack with the mysterious crimson attack he used to kill Cell.

Bojack could only scream in agony as he was annihilated in an instant.

Gohan smirked, then dropped to his base form and fell to one knee "It's over…"

"Gohan!" a newly conscious Trunks rushed to his side "Are you alright?"

"More or less…" he looked over to Zangya "She's still alive. I'm not gonna kill her. When Bojack was torturing me, she tried to stop him. Then he used her to try and kill me, I saved her and killed him."

"I see. What're you gonna do with her then?"

"Well I-"

"Stand back!" Vegeta suddenly showed up "This trash dies here and now!"

Gohan blitzed in front of Vegeta and grabbed him by the arm "No."

"What are you doing?! Let go of me!"

"Not if you're going to kill her. What is it with you, if they're not with you they're against you? Is that how it is with Saiyans on Planet Vegeta?"

"Of course it is! The weak die and the strong survive, and the weak deserve to die! What, did you adopt your father's foolish belief in people changing? F*ck redemption, she's a threat that needs to be killed and if you won't do it I will!"

"A couple of years ago, the same would've been said about you."

That shut him up.

"Look, it's obvious that she's nowhere near as powerful as Bojack and she's definitely not the ruthless monster he was. She tried to get him to stop torturing me, even if it didn't work. Besides, now that I think about it, most of you guys have tried to kill me or my dad or destroy the world at some point." he pointed to Yamcha "Former bandit." Tien "Former assassin." Piccolo "Former Demon King." Vegeta "Prince and former mercenary responsible for mass genocide. Face it, almost all of you were just as bad as guys like Bojack or Cell at some point, if not worse. What gives any of you the right to judge?"

Most of them fell silent, while Vegeta merely scowled and flew off to train.

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Zangya slowly opened her eyes and regained her awareness "Where… Where am I?"

"Somewhere safe."

Zangya looked to see Piccolo leaning against a wall "Am I…"

"Dead? No. Bojack betrayed you and tried to kill you so he could take out Gohan in a surprise attack. It didn't work, Gohan saved you and killed Bojack. The others, particularly Vegeta, were adamant about killing you anyway, but Gohan defended you." he looked over to where Gohan sat on the edge of the Lookout "You should go talk to him."

Zangya decided to do just that.

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Gohan sat on the edge of the Lookout, lost in thought 'I know what I have to do now. Please, let me get stronger and protect them all. I want to, no, I have to become stronger, way stronger than I am now, to protect everyone I love and those who can't protect themselves, to embrace my new role as protector of the Earth and everyone and everything on it. If I don't, I'll never be able to face you again, dad.' then he saw Zangya sit down beside him "Hey."

"Do you regret saving me?" she asked simply.

"In all honesty, no."

"Then why?"

"Honestly, I'm not sure. Maybe I'm just a sucker for a pretty face, or maybe I just hate innocent people getting hurt when I can prevent it, especially if they're good-hearted people who waste their lives serving scumbags only to get tossed aside like garbage when they're capable of doing so much good. Besides, most of my dad's friends have tried to kill him or take over and/or destroy the world, so your case really isn't anything new."

"I see. But why take a risk that I'd change?"

"We're pretty protective of our planet, I might be the strongest but the others are nothing to scoff at. If you were gonna try anything, at least 3 of us could kill you on the spot."

"Makes sense."

Gohan stood up and extended a hand "Come with me. I've already worked it out with my mom, you can stay with us."

Zangya accepted the hand and allowed herself to smile "Alright, lead the way, uh…"

"Gohan. Son Gohan.""

Zangya accepted the hand and let herself smile "Thank you, lead the way, uh…"

"Gohan. Son Gohan. The one who will protect this world, its people, and all of those I care for. I swear on my honor as a Saiyan, as a warrior, and on my life.'