"What's Gohan doing there?" Erasa's asked, her eyes as wide as everyone else in the room.

"That- that can't be nerd boy! Nerd boy doesn't have muscles like that!" Sharpener stuttered, amazed at finally seeing Gohan in something other than his normal "dorky" outfit. Now that Gohan was wearing a bright orange, sleeveless gi, his muscles he worked so hard to hide were now displayed to the world at large.

Not that the fact that the class nerd had muscles was even registering in most people's minds. No, the fact that the class nerd was staring down the enemy of mankind while Earth's Savior was nowhere to be seen was dominating their thoughts.

"Huh... where's dad?" Videl whispered to herself. She had grown to believe in her father's lie completely, so much so that she was still unable to come to terms with the truth.

After all, the truth hurt.

"My, my, Gohan! How you've grown," Cell chided, his smug smirk in stark contrast to his foe's hateful glare. "You look almost nothing like that boy from all those years ago."

"I can kill you just the same," the warrior retorted, causing Cell to let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, what's this? You're not going to offer me a chance to repent? You're just going straight to murder? My, my. How you've changed."

"I'm not going to make the same mistake twice," Gohan replied coldly, his eyes burning with an uncharacteristic hatred.

"Why, of course not. After all," Cell taunted, his face contorting into a cruel and inhuman smile "Daddy's not here to save you if you fail this time, is he now?"

At this, a cloud of energy erupted around the boy, his foe's words drawing out the desired anger. Cell watched as his opponent's ki rose dramatically, his self control slowly fading away.

'No, I can't give in to my rage.' Gohan realized what he was doing, trying to control himself before he could give in. 'Not this time.'

His ki lowered itself as Gohan reasserted his control over his strength. Satisfied with his restraint, he returned his gaze to the annoyed Cell.

"Well, it would appear as if though you've been able to achieve some restraint," he sighed, shaking his head. "But no matter. After all," he smirked, "how could you possibly hope defeat me without giving in to your rage?"

"Because I have something to fight for," came Gohan's reply.

Tossing his head back, Cell let out a loud laugh. "Oh? And what would that be? You fight for a world that hates and reviles you. A world that would leave you to rot as it showers praise upon some buffoon, only to be forgotten. Is that truly the world you fight for?"

The reply was almost instantaneous. "No. I fight..." Gohan clenched his fists, moving into his battle stance. "I fight so that I may see the smile on my little brother's face."

Cell stared at his opponent for a few seconds before letting out another laugh. "Oh, my, that's rich! Fighting for your little brother's smile, eh?" Shaking his head, Cell calmed himself down. "Well then, why don't you show me just how much that smile is worth?" With that, he lowered himself into his battle stance.

"With pleasure," Gohan replied, staring straight into the eyes of his most hated enemy.

Mr. Satan took a big gulp out of his beer can before tossing it aside, right next to the other empty cans bearing his face. It was finally getting to the point now that he was able to block out the sight of his life crumbling before his eyes. Still, it was not yet enough, and so he grabbed yet another can of Satan Ale.

"WOW! Did you hear that, mommy? Gohan said he's fighting for me! Oh, wow, Big Brother is so cool!" Goten exclaimed as jumped up and down in excitement quite possibly the only person on Earth not frightened about what he was seeing.

His raw optimism was certainly helping his mother out. Chichi always hated the fact that first her husband and now her son always had to defend the Earth against any threats, and although she knew that it was something they had to do, she was never able to stop worrying about them when they were of fighting god knows what. Still, it was even more troublesome to be forced to watch as they faced their imminent doom, unable to look away. Chichi might have lost it when she saw Gohan fighting, but her youngest son's unwavering faith and naivety was enough to help her overcome her fear enough to have some hope.

"Yes, Goten. Gohan's going to send that monster straight back to HFIL!" Chichi told her son, now believing fully in her son.

'Go get him, Gohan.'

During the exchange between the two figures in his mind's eye, Sharpener struggled to comprehend what was occurring.

'This has to be some kind of dream... There's no way nerd boy could go be so buff and go up against Cell. 'Sides, the Champ beat that freak years ago. This is just some weird, freaky dream I'll wake up from soon, it has to be...'

His friend, Erasa, was also convinced this was a dream- albeit, not for the same reasons.

'Wow... Who would have thought that Gohan was hiding those muscles beneath those clothes? No, no, no! There's no way someone with that body would hide it like that, you're just dreaming because you want him to be as sexy as he is cute. You'll wake up soon, you'll see...'

Videl, meanwhile, was struggling to even think, let alone come to an understanding of the events flowing before her eyes. Here mind was a kin to the vacuum of space, devoid of logic or reasoning. Deep down in the inner workings of her mind, she could see her world crashing all around her.

And she was unable to look away.

"Still unable to get a reading on his ki,.. You think Gohan can do it?" Piccolo asked his flying compatriot.

Vegeta scoffed. "He damn well better. I gave up my pride for that brat."

Piccolo smirked at the comment, despite the circumstances.

"Cell still has his halo, meaning he still is technically dead... So if Gohan wins here, then Cell's very existence would fade." Piccolo took this good news for what it was worth.

"Hmph, you'd think that someone as perfect as he would have thought to use the Dragonballs to restore himself to life," Vegeta scoffed, happy that the egomaniac wasn't as perfect as he made himself out to be.

"Even if he did, Dende made it so that the Dragonballs couldn't bring back people from Hell. At any rate, should Gohan beat Cell here and now, that would be the end of him, once and for all."

'Hang in there, kid. You're the only one who can protect the Earth now...'

The two heated foes glared at each other, Gohan's face filled with hatred, Cell's with confidence and superiority. The world watched in confusion, waiting for the two to make their move.

Gohan was the first to break the silence. He began charging up energy, an aura of light surrounding him as his body was filled with pain.

It always hurt to become a Super Saiyan. Physically, the pain was excruciating, but that wasn't what bothered Gohan. He was used to that kind of pain.

The Super Saiyan transformation was drive by anger. Every time he turned Super, he had to reawaken the anger in him. In order to do so, he was forced to relive all the painful memories. All the times he was too weak to protect others

He relived watching in fear as Yamcha, Chiaotzu and Tien gave their lives in a futile attempt to stop Nappa and Vegeta.

He was forced to witness Piccolo throwing himself in the way for a blast meant for him while he cowered in fear.

He recalled his rage and utter helpless as he Hid on top of a cliff with Krillin, watching Frieza's men butcher an entire village of Namekians.

He remembered standing helplessly as his friend, Dende, was murdered by that sadistic tyrant.

He agonized once more as Frieza nearly killed Piccolo once again and turned Krillin into nothing more than dust.

He recalled his fury at himself, believing he had not trained enough to stop the Andoids from killing everyone in their wake.

He had to see himself foolishly try to reason with the despicable demon standing in front of him, trying with all his will to not have to fight while his friends were being tortured all around him.

But most of all, he remembered Android 16's smile when he told him to let it go, to give everything to protect life. Android 16, despite never being fully capable of fully comprehending life, loved it perhaps more than anyone else on the Earth. It was then that he truly realized what he was fighting for, what he was destined to do. He had to protect life, no matter what. With that his rage was at last released.

And that brought the most painful memory of all. His sorrow and self hatred as he failed once more, his father having to step in and sacrifice himself.

Within only a few minutes, a lifetime of death and sorrow took over his mind. The sheer agony as he witnessed all of his failures flash before his eyes was a pain unlike any other, one which he could only hope no one else would ever have to experience. No, he knew no one would ever have to experience the pain he experienced.

He would not let them. This time, he would protect everyone.

The world watched in awe. The mysterious boy who challenged the enemy of humanity had been screaming, as if in pain, for nearly an entire minute now. Every person on Earth could almost feel the torment his body was going under, knew that the pain was real and not merely some trick, even if they had no idea how or why. They merely knew that this strange boy was screaming in agony, while sparks seemed to circle around his body.

Then, one final scream, and it was finally over. His previously raven hair was now a pure golden hue, his muscles somehow more pronounced then they were previously.

'Gohan's the Gold Fighter?'

"Hm, I see you haven't been slacking off, my dear boy," Cell nodded his approval."Good. It would seem I'll get a decent fight out of you yet. But I must warn you," he taunted, his ever present smirk continuing to taunt his foe, "I am much more powerful than I was all those years ago. Permit me to show you!"And, with that, he threw the first blow.

'Ok, I REALLY need to stop drinking so much soda...' Sharpener shook his head, unable to believe the events occurring before him. After all, how else could he explain Nerd Boy fighting the monster his hero had slain all those years ago? If they really were even fighting. At the speed they were going, it was difficult to keep up with them. No one could move that fast, or fly, or hell, project images directly into everyone's minds. This had to be a dream.

Erasa, meanwhile, was horrified. She had never seen so much blood before, never seen someone so bruised and beaten, yet still struggling to his feet. Every blow that Cell inflicted on Gohan seemed to draw blood, cause pain that caused her to squirm just watching. Yet he seemed to ignore it; ignore the pain, no matter how obvious the wound. He merely fought on.

No one should have been able to withstand that kind of pain, nor should people fly or move faster than the eye could see. Videl had grown up believing all of these things were merely tricks; after all, her entire life was built on the foundation that the sights she saw before her were fake, that only her father could have defeated the monster that had plagued mankind. Seeing them up close, however, even if only in her mind, filled her with questions. Cell said that Gohan was the one to defeat him, that Gohan merely let that "buffoon" take the credit.

The age was right, Gohan could very well have been that delivery boy... But... how could he have defeated Cell?

After all, if he defeated Cell... then who was she?

"That power... Damn it! That brat's been holding back on me!"

Piccolo turned to the fiery man floating next to him. "Is that really all you can think about right now?"

Vegeta took a moment to process this before letting out a small smirk. "I suppose you're right, Green Bean. Guess it only proves that I'm not strong enough for this."

"Vegeta..."

This earned a growl from the prideful warrior. "Dammit, Green Bean! This is hard enough without having to deal with you people counseling me!"

Piccolo only let out a small chuckle at this before turning his attention back to the fight.

"Hm," Piccolo thought for a moment, analyzing the situation. "Cell's still hiding his power level."

"That can only mean one thing," Vegeta said plainly, earning a knowing stare from the Namekian. "He's clearly able to keep up with the brat, so he clearly isn't trying to make us overestimate his strength. Which can only mean one thing." He took a deep, dreadful sigh.

"He's toying with him."

"My, my. Is this truly all you can do? Why, if I knew it'd be this easy to defeat you, I might not even have bothered escaping from hell!" Cell let out a small, chilling chuckle.

Gohan struggled to lift himself from out of the dirt, glaring hatefully at the smug bastard above him, taunting him with that damned smirk. Letting out an agonizing scream, he gathered all of his energy.

"Kame..."

Cell chuckled in anticipation.

"Hame..."

Cell's smirk seemed to widen even more.

"HA!"

With that, Gohan let loose the energy wave, roughly equal in power to the Kamehameha wave that his father had blown off Cell's torso with all of those years ago. Cell did not move an inch.

The blast collided with Cell, and once again his torso was eradicated. The world breathed a sigh of relief... aside from those who knew what was coming.

Once again, Cell reconstructed himself, his smirk reappearing as if it never vanished.

"My, my, Gohan. Losing out temper, are we?" Cell chided, further enraging the warrior.

"Do I truly need to remind you?" He breathed an exaggerated sigh, enjoying the dominance in this battle. "If even a single one of my cells survives, I shall return, even more powerful than before. Face it," he said with glee. "You can't beat me. You've lost."

"What? No... Big Brother can't lose..."

Chichi held the sobbing child in her arms, trying desperately to repress her own fear for the sake of her youngest son.

"Ssh... don't worry, Goten... Everything will be ok..."

Goten sniffed. "But... Big Brother..."

Chichi forced a reassuring smile. "Don't worry. Don't count Gohan out just yet. He's managed to get out of things much worse than this."

The young boy looked up at his mother with hope. "R-really?"

His mother nodded. "Yes. Don't worry, everything will be all right."

Holding her son even tighter, she could only pray that things would work out once again. 'Gohan... No matter what, I'm proud of you...'

'This dream is more like a nightmare!' Sharpener had already wet his pants, not that anyone could tell; he was not the only one in the classroom who had done so. There were still a few holdouts still believing that Mr. Satan would come and save them all, but the believer's faith was dwindling.

Videl was slowly realizing that fact. Her father was not going to save them. It was looking more and more like he was not the one who defeated Cell, that all of her life was a lie. She was slowly realizing the truth.

Everything about her life was a lie. So what if the world was about to end? Her world had already been destroyed.

'No... it's impossible... I refuse...'

Gohan forced himself up to his feet, glaring hatefully at the thing that had bested him.

'I can't let him beat me... Destroy the Earth... No... Must... protect... everyone...'

He tried to break into his fighting stance, only to experience a jolt of pain through his body.

'Looks like... there's no other choice...'

He took a deep breath as he began to charge his attack.

'Sorry, Goten. I won't be able to play with you today after all...'

Letting out another scream, he summoned all of his energy once more, causing Cell to laugh again.

"Oh? Still struggling? Give it up, Gohan. Daddy's not here to save you this time."

'No, he's not. He's not going to have to sacrifice himself this time... This time... I protect everyone.'

Faster than even Cell could see, Gohan's arm was driven straight through the bastard's gut. Radiating waves of ki were driven off from the arm, too much ki to be considered safe.

Cell's eyes widened as he realized what was about to happen.

"That energy isn't stabilized! If Gohan releases it..." Piccolo's eyes widened in realization.

Vegeta shook in rage. "Th-that fool!"

"You... you'll self destruct to defeat me?" Cell stuttered, his earlier confidence gone.

"Anything to defeat you." Gohan replied coldly, his fist still implanted straight through the monster's stomach.

Chichi and Goten held each other closely, their tears unable to make the sadness go away.

Yamcha desperately tried to look away, even knowing he could not. The pain of having to see Gohan sacrifice himself like his father did all those years ago was too much.

Krillin, meanwhile, was sitting on the edge of the Lookout, reminiscing of the times he spent with that little boy who experienced so much pain for the world, despite never wanting a single thing in return.

Tien bowed his head in silence, thinking back to all the difference Gohan and Goku had made him him, and everyone else: turning cold blooded murderers and criminals into warriors for good, believing in them even when they themselves did not.

'Those two were truly too good for this world.'

Trunks rubbed his mother's back, struggling to repress his own tears threatening to well from his eyes.

Bulma could hardly believe that the little boy hiding behind his father's legs all those years ago was now about to sacrifice himself. Gohan had a heart unlike anyone else she had ever seen. She wished more than anything else in the world that Gohan would have been allowed to live a normal life, the life he truly deserved. But the boy was too much like his father, and the world would soon lose another of its greatest denizens.

At last, the beer took its toll: Mr. Satan lay unconscious on the floor, now unable to view his life crash before his eyes. He was free from the truth, for a time at least.

Videl could not stop herself from crying. Though she did not know entirely what was going on, Cell just said that Gohan would self destruct. Die to save a world that had insulted and reviled him. A world that had given him nothing, but instead gave her everything.

Her, who had willingly accepted their gifts, the status quo. Who had hounded him with questions and accusations during the brief period she had known him.

She really wished she had given him a chance. After all, he always was nicer than anyone else she had ever met. But her hatred of masks drove her away from him.

What irony that it was her who was wearing the mask all along.

"You can't... do this!" Cell sputtered, his old confidence long forgotten.

"I have to!" Gohan screamed back, his energy taking over him. "For every-"

He was cut off by a boot to the face, throwing him back several feet.

Struggling back to his feet, Gohan turned back at the monster he just had in a deadlock, only to see someone else had taking his place.

"Vegeta!"

"V-vegeta! What are you doing it?" Cell asked, his own fear overcoming it.

Ignoring the monster, Vegeta turned his gaze toward the half-Saiyan. "... Gohan. You put me to shame. You, who would give your life for the world without a second though." He took a deep sigh. "...You're better then me."

His own energy began to spike. "And I'll be damned if I let you die."

Gohan's eyes rose in recognition as he realized what Vegeta was about to do. "Vegeta! Stop!"

A gust of wind sent the halfbreed back several feet. "Get out of here, you fool! The world needs you a lot more than it needs me."

Still, Gohan struggled back to his feet, determined not to let someone else die for him. "Vegeta, wait! I'll do-"

He was cut short as he noticed green arms wrap around his waist.

"Come on, kid! We have to get out of here!"

Piccolo held the squirming boy in his arms as he flew away from the two, stopping the struggling Gohan from escaping his grasp.

Vegeta closed his eyes in recognition. This was the end. The Dragonballs could not bring back someone who committed suicide, he knew that. Which would mean that this, of all things, would be the final act of a pure blood Saiyan.

Still, he knew there was more to life than the power his race had historically sought. And it was what you would be willing to die for that mad life truly worth living.

Steeling his resolve, he finally gathered up the strength to say what he wished he had the courage to say years earlier.

"I love you, Bulma."

With that, he unleashed all of his strength in a final blast of light. Cell could only scream in terror as the energy unleashed destroyed his very existence.

And then, for the first time in years, the entire world was silent. Now, it knew the truth.

And the truth hurt.