CHAPTER EIGHT: The Common Enemy.

-Part 1. "Partners In Crime."-

They had all felt it when Cell's power had erupted suddenly and violently. How could they have missed it? It had been immense and wild, if not only very brief.

None of them had seen it for what it really was, though. They had all thought it was Vegeta, training alone in some far-flung neck of the woods. Vegeta himself had thought it was Goku, returning from Other World to show off his new strength. Even the Kais had failed to notice that Cell was now plaguing the Earth again.

It was only a matter of time until someone ran into Cell. That someone, just so happened to be Chasity.

This was her first real day out since Darcy had been born a few months before. Trunks and Bulma had agreed to take care of the girl so that Chasity could stretch her legs, and she had a bright smile on her face as she zoomed through the skies, rolling and tumbling amidst the clouds.

Since his meeting with Blacksmoke, Cell had barely moved a muscle. He stood on a high precipice, much like Vegeta would do in times of brooding thoughtfulness. But the anrdoid was not brooding. He was merely in awe of his strength.

The Dragon had been right; It was beyond his wildest dreams. Far greater than anything he could have imagined. A small stone lay on the edge of the drop, and Cell nudged it over the cascading cliff with his foot. It bounced off the wall a few times as it hurtled to the ground, and the android smiled to himself.

"Is that Veggie up ahead?" Chasity thought out loud, squinting her eyes and staring at the far-off peaks, crowned with thick black storm clouds. It sure felt like his energy. But then again, it also felt a little like her father's. And Piccolo's as well, now that she thought on it.

"I think I'm going crazy..." she muttered, because it also felt like Tien, Yamcha and Krillin were there as well. She knew for a fact, however, that Tien and Yamcha were at Kame House that day. And her unofficial Uncles didn't have such... Black presences.

Being her Father's daughter, she wasn't going to be satisfied until she had checked it out for herself, so she turned on the jets and headed straight towards Cell, straight into the hands of the devil.

"Seems I've been found." Cell muttered with dark amusement. Finally, they noticed him. The energy felt strong, quite strong indeed. Stronger, he'd wager, than Gohan had been when he'd met his demise. A brief fear swept him, but he shook it away easily enough. Even before his pact with Blacksmoke, he could have beaten the likes of Gohan with both hands tied behind his back. And now, with his new found power, not even Goku could stand up to him. Or so he believed.

Chasity was the one who made visual contact first, as Cell's eyes were still downcast when she swept low over the mountains. She landed a short distance from him, eyeing him curiously. "Who are you?" she asked, staring at the bug-like creature.

"I, am perfection." He replied, closing his dark-rimmed eyes, smiling in a self-satisfied way. As if to illustrate his point, he allowed his black aura to flash vividly.

Chasity scrunched her nose up, looking more than a little confused. "Perfection? Hmm..." She placed her hands on her hips, leaning forwards slightly, examining the creature. "You don't look very perfect to me, Mr. Perfection. Ya look more like a cricket!"

Cell's eyes snapped open and fixed the girl with a cold, penetrating stare. Her teasing smile was wiped instantly from her face, replaced with a look of fright. "Watch your words, girly." he said quietly. "They may just be your last."

The tone of his voice was icy, emotionless. Much more frightening than if he'd screamed it like a maniac. His red eyes bored into hers, trying to read her. "Why is your energy so familiar to me?" he asked in that same, flat, evil voice.

The word 'perfection' had been playing on Chasity's mind ever since he'd said it. She remembered Gohan telling her a story about when he'd fought a psychotic machine, built to be the perfect warrior. This android's name had been... "Cell!" she said quietly, eyes widening. "You're Cell."

"And you must be some relation to Gohan." he said with calculation, taking a short step towards her. "Hmm... Too old to be his daughter... To similar to be a cousin... His sister."

He took another menacing step towards her, and Chasity jumped back, assuming her martial arts pose. "Stay away from me and my family!" she said defiantly.

Meanwhile, not too far away, another ghost from the past had found it's way to Earth. The Icejin, Frieza, stood out in the barren wastes, gazing around with a disgusted look on his wicked features.

"Now... Where are you?" he thought aloud, cursing his inability to sense energy readings. Even after bulking up in HFIL, he still lacked that very simple yet highly prized talent. Yet Lady Luck seemed to smile on the former Emperor that day, as a small object (kicked up by the sudden breeze) bounced into his path.

"Never look a gift horse in the mouth." he said softly, staring in disbelief at the scouter at his feet. This scouter had once belonged to the Saiyan Nappa, and the sun reflected off the green lens brightly. He picked it up and fixed it over his eye, tapping it, instantly locating Cell's power-level. "There you are." he said with content, lifting into the air and shooting off towards his former comrade, a sonic boom issuing from his point of take off.

Cell felt the Icejin heading towards then and smirked darkly. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Frieza had followed his lead and escaped the bowels of Other World. And he couldn't help but admire Frieza's excellent timing.

"Wh-what's that?" Chasity asked, quickly glancing over her shoulder, then snapping her gaze back to Cell.

"Just a friend, dropping by." he said airily, advancing on Chasity again. "But never mind that. I believe you were about to stop me from harming you or your family?"

Chasity growled low, baring her teeth. Cell was powerful, extremely powerful. Not to mention that she, Chasity, was out of practice, and hadn't fought in a very long time. But that didn't mean she was going to roll over and let Cell harm the Earth. Her hair stood on end, turning deep golden, aura bursting around her. "That's right!" she shouted at the monster. "I'm going to end you, here and now!"

Cell was unprepared for this sudden attack, and was rocked by a hefty blow to the jaw. He shot backwards, crashing through an overhanging rock formation, correcting himself with a snarl.

Chasity was on him in a flash, swinging a kick towards the side of his head, but Cell, this time was ready. His arm came up, blocking the kick, and returned with a kick of his own. The girl took the kick, but came straight back at him, throwing a fast volley of kicks and punches.

'How is she keeping up with me?' Cell thought furiously, ducking and weaving between the attacks. Although he was avoiding the blows, he hadn't spotted an opening; Chasity's form was practically flawless.

The Android was again rocked by a savage punch to the jaw, and he flipped over, landing with his legs sprawled, one hand on the ground.

"Not so perfect now, huh?" Chasity asked, landing a short distance away, teal eyes staring into Cell's crimson ones. But the monster wasn't finished. He stood, adopting his stance.

Without warning, a thin beam of energy burst through Chasity's chest, the shot fired slyly from behind her. She had a moment to drop her gaze to the small, smoking wound and the blood blossoming across her shirt, before a three-toed foot slammed into the back of her skull, driving her face first into the ground.

"I've found the best way to deal with monkeys..." Frieza said in his soft, deadly, effeminate voice, "... Is to give them a good stomping every now and again." He leaned forwards, grinding Chasity's face into the rocky ground. "Don't you agree, Celly?"

Cell let out a dry chuckle, then brought his hands together a few times. "Bravo, my friend. Such a dramatic and well-timed entrance." The android chuckled again, walking over and giving Chasity a sharp kick in the ribs.

"You flatter me." replied the Icejin, smiling his wicked grin. "I see you've made some changes..." he took in Cell's new appearance, eyeing him curiously. "Care to explain?"

"It'll have to wait." Cell gazed towards the horizon, a concerned look on his face. "Vegeta is on the way. Trunks too, if my senses are correct."

"Are you sure?" asked Frieza, also shifting his eyes to the horizon. "I guess you're right. You usually are."

And he was right. The Prince was tearing through the skies, the ocean parting below him like Moses with the Red Sea. He'd taken off from his new training ground as soon as he'd felt Chasity's energy spike; It was then he realised that it wasn't Goku with her. He'd never ask her to train, not so soon after having Darcy.

Trunks too had noticed the spike, and smelled trouble immediately. The moment it happened, he jumped out of the window of the Capsule Corp building and headed in the same direction.

It wasn't until Vegeta's saw Trunk's aura trail off to his left that he realised that Trunks was on his way there as well. Neither man was happy about the other's presence, but both were willing to put aside their differences in a sort of unspoken agreement to help Chasity.

"We'd best leave." Cell said with a nod. "Vegeta may be too strong even for me. I'm not quite used to this new power yet."

"Y-you'll... n-never, get aw-way with... with this..." Chasity gasped for breath, the blood flowing freely from her wounded chest, a trickle of the crimson fluid dripping from her lip. She tried to stand, but slumped back to the ground immediately, her golden hair changing back to it's usual dark hue.

"Just watch us, sweetheart." Cell said cooly, and with a nod to Frieza, the wicked duo lifted off into the skies, away from the incoming Saiyan re-enforcements. Would they get away with it? Only time will tell.

- Part 2. "Throwing Down the Gauntlet." -

The Prince landed at the scene, closely followed by Trunks, and the pair began searching for Chasity. They were still operating under that unspoken agreement to set aside their differences until they found her. But it was a shaky truce at best.

Vegeta lifted off again, floating above the rocky ground. And then, he found her. "Chasity..." he landed beside her, noticing the shockingly large pool of blood surrounding her and gently turned her over, half raising her from the ground. "Are you alright? Chasity?"

The girls eyes fluttered open, and she struggled to show a weak smile. "H-hey Veggie..." she said softly. "F-fancy seeing... seeing you out here..."

Trunks landed a moment later, a look of stunned horror on his face. "No..." he half whispered, halting a few feet from them.

"Trunks." Vegeta said urgently over his shoulder. "Take her, get her help. That lunatic hermit's island isn't far from here. Take her there." He stood, picking Chasity up as gently as he could.

"Why?" Trunks demanded, now holding his wife and staring at his father. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to pay Cell and Frieza a little visit. I'm sure they've missed me." He said, trying to make sound dryly amused, but his anger kept bubbling to the surface.

"On your own?" Trunks questioned. He already knew the answer; Of course Vegeta was goig in alone. Since when didn't he do everything alone? But, he was his father. Furious with him or not, he couldn't just let him go. "I'm coming with you, just let me take Chasity-"

Before Trunks could finish, Vegeta's aura had erupted, and he had taken off after the murderous duo like a hurricane. Trunks grit his teeth in frustration. How could Vegeta be so pig-headed about this? Cell and Frieza had just mopped Chasity up like she was nothing at all. "Don't worry, Chas." he said quietly, turning away from the scene. "You're going to be all right, Master Roshi's isn't far from here."

"I just... hope Vegeta's going... to be okay." she said weakly, closing her eyes and clinging to Trunks' shirt. She wasn't in a good way at all.

The purple-haired youth lifted into the skies, headed for Master Roshi's island, praying that the old man had a senzu bean or two stashed somewhere there.

Vegeta, meanwhile, continued his rampage towards the twisted villains, silently vowing they'd pay for harming Chasity. So far ahead, Cell and Frieza felt his approach. "He's mad." Frieza said with a wry smile. "Think we did something to tick him off?"

"This is no laughing matter!" Cell said hotly, glancing over his shoulder in the direction of Vegeta's energy. "The girl is one thing, Vegeta is another. He might be too much for me to handle right now, and you..." he broke off, glancing at the Icejin. Frieza, whilst powerful in his own right, paled in comparison to Cell, even before Blacksmoke had given him new strength.

"I what?" Frieza asked slowly, quirking a brow. "You think I'm too weak to be much help, hmm? Did you not just see me take down a Super Saiyan without breaking a sweat?"

Cell reconsidered his words. Yes, it's true. He was much more powerful than he'd been when they first met. But was it enough?

"I can see you're still worried." Frieza said lightly. "It was going to be a surprise, but if it'll stop you looking like you're about to have kittens, then I'll tell you now. I can ascend to the 5th form, like my brother could."

"But... Didn't your brother..." Get destroyed by Goku years ago?

"Oh believe me, I'm much stronger than that fool ever was." Frieza said coolly. Narrowing his eyes.

"So be it. And you can get rid of that scouter, I can sense anyone approaching."

Frieza smirked slightly. He didn't trust Cell completely, even after their alliance during the war of HFIL. "No, I think I'll keep it. It compliments my eyes, you see."

Cell was no fool, and he could interpret Frieza's reasoning behind keeping the scouter. And honestly, he couldn't blame him. "All right. But I think we should wait for the Prince here. If you're as strong as you say, then we'll be able to handle him."

The pair descended and landed, and waited for Vegeta. The Prince noticed this, and was put out by it. Surely those two didn't think they were stronger than he was? If they did, they were in for a rude shock.

The fight between Cell, Frieza and Chasity had not gone unnoticed. Cale, the newest arrival to planet Earth, stepped out of his ship, eyes narrowing as he felt the powers of Chasity and Cell at war. Another power was approaching them from the south, and shortly after, the smaller of the 3 energies had all but faded.

There were two more energies now, heading for the same location. One of them he recognised as Vegeta. That was when he noticed yet ANOTHER power-level, somewhat lesser than his own, not too far away. Maybe this person would know what was going on, or if perhaps this was a normal thing for this planet. And, pressing two fingers to his forehead, he transmitted to a small gully, occupied by a single human.

Tien spun around when he felt the new power arrive, taking a fighting stance and staring at the Saiyan. "Who are you?" he said, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "And what do you know about that?" he jerked his head in the direction of the battle.

"I'm not here to harm anyone." he said, raising his hands defensively. "And that's what I came here to ask. I'm Cale, by the way."

Tien still eyed the Saiyan cautiously, but relaxed somewhat. He didn't seem or feel evil to the triclops. Not yet anyway. "Tien." He offered his name in response. "As far as I can tell, those two powers are Cell and Frieza, but they should be in the afterlife." A chill crept up Cale's spine at the mention of Frieza's name. "It seems as though Chasity found them first, but..." He broke off shaking his head.

"Back up a moment." Cale raised his hands again, this time to halt Tien's speech. "Frieza? The galactic tyrant, Frieza?"

"Yeah, seems he's broken out of Hell, along with Cell." He could read the confusion on his face, but didn't have time to explain. "All you need to know is that Cell is much more powerful than Frieza. Now, tell me. Do you have anything to do with this?"

Cale slowly shook his head, his face completely honest. "No, I arrived here a few days ago, looking for my brother. And then this happens."

"All right. I believe you." Tien did some quick thinking. His senses told him that Vegeta had now gone after Cell and Frieza alone, and that Trunks was returning to Kame House with Chasity. Maybe Vegeta had the strength to beat the duo. Maybe he didn't. If it was the latter, they'd need a back up plan. And they'd need as many able bodies as they could find. "I know it's a rough question." Tien began. "But, if things get out of hand, we may need your help."

He half expected Cale to refuse. "Sure, no problem." he said with a nod. "What's our first step?"

Tien was rather taken aback by Cale's readiness to lend a hand. But he carried on nonetheless. "We need to get all of us together. I'm sure you've noticed that there's quite a few capable fighters on this planet. We'll need all of us together, if we're going to meet this."

"All right, where to first? I'm able to use the Instant Transmission technique, so if you focus on someone, I can get us there in no time."

After quick consideration, he thought Kame House would be the best first stop. Yamcha, Krillin and #18 were all there, or would be there shortly. Not to mention Trunks and Chasity. "I'm ready." he said, closing his eyes and centring in on Yamcha's ki. Cale gripped Tien's shoulder, and transmitted them away.

Yamcha and Master Roshi were standing on the beach together, gazing North with identically troubled looks on their faces. "Man oh man, this is bad." Yamcha said, his voice shaky.

"Bad? That's the biggest understatement I've ever heard." Roshi replied in his usual quavering tones. "I don't think we've had a worse- Tien!"

The Hermit nearly fell over in shock as Tien and Cale appeared in their midst. Yamcha's eyes widened when he turned to look at the arrivals. "What the hell's going on?" he asked. "First, Cell and Frieza blast Chasity, then you turn up with a Saiyan!"

"Relax, Yamcha. This is Cale. Cale, Yamcha and Master Roshi." he made a quick introduction, then filled them in on the situation as best he could. "So, it seems Chasity and Trunks are on their way here, and Vegeta's gone off alone. We need to come up with a plan."

No one spoke up immediately. None of them quite knew what to do. Cale, however, was the one to offer advice first. "If I can make a suggestion..." he began somewhat uncertainly. "Your friend, Chasity, was it? She'll need help when she arrives. If Tien and I leave now with Yamcha, we'll be able to track down the others sooner."

"Yeah, that's a great idea." Tien said with a nod, impressed by Cale's resourcefulness already. "Master, can you stay behind and inform Trunks of what's gone on here? Tell him... Tell him to meet us whenever he can at the Lookout."

"You can count on me" said Roshi, his grip on his walking stick tightening.

"All right, let's do this." Tien's idea would be to find Gohan and Goten next. Krillin and #18 would get the message from Roshi or Trunks. And Goku was still in Other World. That was going to complicate things.

The trio vanished, leaving Roshi alone once more, awaiting Chasity and Trunks' arrival.

When Vegeta arrived at the scene, he found Cell and Frieza standing a short distance apart, looking up at him with almost identical, malicious grins. "Ah, Vegeta!" Cell boomed pompously, placing his hands on his hips. "How marvellous to see you again! You're looking well!"

The Prince's dark eyes swept the scene, and he descended, folding his arms and landing lightly on one foot, then the other. "I'm going to send you both back to Hell, right now." he said, voice deep and hate filled.

"Silly monkey." Frieza tittered, placing his slender hand over his mouth. "Don't you realise, that you simply don't stand a chance against us?"

"Shut it, Frieza." Vegeta snarled, not taking his eyes from Cell. "You're way out of your league here. Why don't you run along now, and let the big boys look after business?"

"Insolent rat. I'll kill you where you stand and turn your hide into a throw rug!" The Icejin stomped a few steps towards Vegeta, infuriated by his comments and his complete disregard. His hatred for Vegeta at that moment nearly eclipsed the amount he despised Goku.

Cell raised a hand, silencing Frieza mid-tirade. "Very well Vegeta, if that's how you wish to play. But surely, you can feel my power? Perhaps you should wait for Goku. That's what you normally do, isn't? Run your mouth until the REAL hero arrives?" Cell grinned wickedly, raising his eyebrows to the Prince.

"To hell with Kakarot." Vegeta said quietly, doing his best to ignore Cell's taunts. "And I'm no hero. I am, however, going to end your life."

"Please, don't be so foolish." Cell said in a low and tired-sounding voice. "You are an ant compared to me. Coming here was your biggest mistake to date."

"And underestimating the Prince of Saiyans was yours! A mistake you won't live long enough to regret!" His aura exploded brightly, a huge pillar of light erupting fro where he stood as his hair began shifting to golden. "I have become the greatest warrior in the universe! And I'll make you rue the day you came back here!" he shouted, the rock platform crumbling around him.

Cell and Frieza took a step back, shocked by Vegeta's strength. The Saiyan had never been this strong when Cell had last seen him. It was almost unbelievable. Cell wasn't so sure of himself any more.

Cale, far over the ocean, felt Vegeta's energy explode. T he sheer force and ferocity he felt from that being was enough to rivet his boots to the ground as he stared blankly towards the source. The youthful Saiyan knew there was no way to see it's origin, but his body couldn't move. Beside him, Tien and Yamcha seemed likewise affected.*

The realization that he was in way over his head impacted his mind with it's full force. Somewhere, deep within him, a part of Cale shook like a child.*

Tien's hand fell on Cale's shoulder, bringing him out of his reverie. The young saiyan was not surprised at all to feel Tien's hand shaking. "Come on, Cale, they're this way."

The trio continued, heading towards Gohan and Goten's position. The one question seemed to ring through their minds. "What would happen next?"

((NOTE: Paragraphs marked with "*" were directly written by Christian Gillespie.))