Gohan had been practically shaking with the unignorable urge to punch something that even vaguely reminded him of Cell. He was standing outside the Son house alone, underneath the midday sky, and as the minutes dragged on, which felt like hours, the angered young Saiyan was growing more and more restless.
He had been raising his ki to the limits of his super Saiyan form, and still there was no sign of anyone showing up. The sky was as calm and as blue as any other day, and it was driving Gohan insane.
Every so often, a tree would rustle, or one of the many various moths or butterflies fluttering harmlessly through the noon air, would buzz into close-proximity, further adding to the pre-teen's ramping paranoia. Until just as an extremely reckless decision was about to be made, to abandon a sleeping Goten, and speed off into the direction of West city, or the lookout, something terribly strange happened.
The whole sky turned an unnatural shade of black.
Which could only mean one thing…
Someone was using the dragon balls.
Gohan leapt into the air without a moment's hesitation. The whole world was in peril if someone with bad intentions had summoned Shenron.
The shire power of the Super Saiyan aura was enough to keep the hurtling winds from barraging his eyes as he sped off in the direction of the lookout. As an afterthought, a voice from within that sounded eerily like Goku was screaming to not leave Goten alone in the house.
Gohan shrugged it off, he was beyond listening to reason at this point. All that mattered was finding out who was using the dragon balls, and stopping them if it came to it.
In a strange way, he was excited, and beneath that the simmering rage was still there. For should anyone be trying to threaten the peace on Earth, then Gohan would make them suffer dearly.
He could sense below the unrest of the ki belonging to all of Earths inhabitants. Not even a year had passed since the Cell games, and already the citizens of the planet were being forced into fear and pandemonium by forces they couldn't begin to control.
Gohan clenched his fist so tightly he nearly drew blood.
The lookout was nearly in sight. The impossibly tall tower belonging to Korin was harder to spot in the unwavering darkness. But Gohan could see one of his favourite places on Earth even through the veiling of mist that always clung to the bottom.
Sensing, he detected Piccolo, and Dende, and Popo, and beneath them, Korin and Yajirobe.
First, he would get Piccolo, then they would see if they could sense anyone with malice nearby, and if so, get to that person as quickly as possible. What Gohan would have given to have learned the instant transmission technique.
He could practically taste the uneasiness in the guardian of Earth's ki. And just as expected, the little Namekian was first to rush out and greet Gohan as he finally arrived atop the lookout.
Behind him, the stoic form of Piccolo marched out from the temple's chambers in agitation. Gohan was about to voice his plan when something else out of the ordinary happened.
The two Namekians were suddenly enveloped in shimmering golden tendrils, which clung to the outlines of their bodies. Beneath the light, Gohan could make out the silhouettes of his two friends clutching their ears in what seemed like agony. Until after several more seconds, of which Gohan was utterly too shocked to move, their forms began to twist and reshape.
Dende grew somewhat, and Piccolo was shrinking rapidly beneath the strange magic. His rounded head suddenly spurted dozens of clustered spikes, and the two antennae which betrayed his race disappeared from the changing form completely.
The strange magic allowed no noise but it was obvious to Gohan that Dende and Piccolo were screaming. He could only watch on in horror as his two childhood friends changed further and further until oddly, the pair looked almost identical.
Gohan barely even recognised the sky turning back to its cheerful blue colour, as the golden light which had appeared in the blinking of an eye dispersed into a million tiny specs, before vanishing from the Earth completely.
The sight that now lay unconscious, sprawled out upon the white tiles of the lookout was a sickening one.
Gohan felt the contents of his stomach threaten to burst out, and his heart drop as what was in front of him was being fully processed.
With a hand over his mouth, he stood, completely transfixed, before him were two copies of himself.
The damp smell that seemed completely inescapable mixed with the scent of relief. Cell and the old woman had made it through King Yemma's palace completely undetected.
The only cause for concern was when the android could hear his acquaintance speaking to one of those annoying office demons in hushed tones. It was hard to make out, but it sounded as though the old woman was in cahoots with the majority of Yemma's staff, but not the king himself. And that her toing and froing from different dimensions wasn't exactly condoned by the forces in charge of such things.
Cell was so excited he didn't even mind listening to the old hag drone on about how the special laundry shop they were heading for was the only place in the universe that could suitably wash clothes as black as hers.
They were on Earth, and the android was still trying to regain his ki sensing wits. There was no need for such an ability in death as nobody around had a life-force to speak of.
It was funny really, Cell was so anxious to meet Son Gohan for the second time, that the little Saiyan's ki was the only one he could register.
"Okay, I think this will do, you can leave now." The woman suddenly croaked in a disinterested tone.
Cell found his body reacting with such excitement he must have looked like an earthling child. With practically a yelp of glee, he burst forth from beneath the confines of the hamper and set his eyes on the burning star high in the sky above Earth for the first time in nearly a year. Briefly, such a picture was so profoundly pleasing and refreshing, that the android almost considered not blowing up the planet.
In the corner of his vision, Cell could make out the form of his salvation hovering away, before he outstretched a hand and grasped a shoulder. "Before you go, I never even asked you your name?"
The old crone smiled that wicked toothy grin Cell had grown to familiarise. "Baba." She finally spoke, in a tantalising voice, and suddenly the word saturated Cell's memory banks and left his mind and tongue clutching at something just beyond reach. He couldn't pinpoint it exactly, but there was something about that name he knew he should remember.
It didn't matter. Such things were trivial in the face of what was to come.
Gohan felt awful, in a blinding hurry he had left two crumpled heaps that resembled himself on the floor of the lookout. Now, the panicked half-Saiyan was steaming through the baking hot heat of noon, armed with a terrified sense of urgency, and a deep desire to protect his little brother.
Gohan had to go home to check on Goten. Someone was messing with the planet, and seemingly him directly, which meant that everyone he knew was in danger. The Saiyan's priority was to ensure everyone's safety, then he would find out who was responsible for this strangest of acts.
As he approached the Son house with frantic speed, Gohan extended his senses and searched for the ki of his sleeping brother. To his complete shock and dismay, the only feeling that was in range, was his own ki. More worryingly was that ever since the dragon had gone, the only Ki Gohan could feel, was his own.
For the second time that day, Gohan neglected to use the front door, again opting for the more direct entry of the window. He wasted no time in flying straight into Goten's room.
This time, Gohan was sick.
Underneath the white covers of the crib he had had helped build for his baby brother, was another copy of himself.
Gohan could feel his anger boiling, he regained himself along with his stomach, and made for the window a third time.
Then, something filled the Saiyan with the deepest dread, fear, hatred and fury. Someone was heading for the Son house. A ki that was so easily recognisable, and left an even more bitter aftertaste in Gohan's mouth than the vomit he had just regurgitated did.
This couldn't be happening. None of this could be real.
Gohan, who had been in his super Saiyan form for what seemed like hours, climbed effortlessly to the next tier of power, somehow in an even more intense state of emotion than the first time he had achieved the form.
Cell didn't spare a thought for anything other than heading straight for the Son house. He could feel the boy there, his power was as deeply exhilarating as the android remembered it being. What was strange was that the ki of the rest of the world felt oddly…fuzzy.
Like something was blanketing Earth's life-force.
Suddenly, a thought came to pass. Maybe the boy had lost it, maybe he had been so ashamed with himself and aggrieved at losing his dear old father, that his mind had finally snapped, and the little devil had done almost all of Cell's work for him, and murdered every other being on the planet.
Oh this was all too good to be true. The android stifled pinching himself, for something as wonderful as this could surely only take stage in a dream?
Then, in a flash that had Cell covering his eyes instinctively, the boy's power leapt even higher, rocketing to the terrifying levels he had displayed during the Cell games.
The android felt his blood pumping, the first real fight in nearly a year, and it was with the person he hated most.
Finally, Cell hung in the sky, arms folded, looking down at Son Gohan, who appeared to be less than happy to see him.
"Don't I get a hello?" The android called with a slight chuckle.
Savouring every second, he sunk to the ground, his feet which more resembled hoofs met the grass with that ghastly creaking sound.
"Still the silent type eh?" He mocked. "You certainly weren't this quiet when you were screaming at the top of your lungs on the day your father died. Do you remember?"
The boy's fists clenched and unclenched by his sides chaotically, and he was visibly covered in sweat.
Cell let the words hang in the air before he closed his eyes with a satisfied grin and took in a dramatized inhale of the noon air. "I've been waiting a long time for this Son Gohan."
"What have you done to my brother?" Suddenly the android was shaken from his pleasurable thoughts as the voice of his tormentor invaded his ears and his mind for the first time since the Cell games. It was still as unbearably throaty as he remembered it, and so irresistibly innocent for a demon. Cell laughed. A spiteful laugh, that seemed to intensify the burning anger on the boy's face.
"You have a brother now? How wonderful!"
The android couldn't contain himself as he felt his body bend in two at the hilarity of the situation.
Gohan was growing more and more uneasy. "Don't play stupid with me Cell, you've already used the dragon balls haven't you, what do you want here?"
Suddenly, the android ceased his incessant laughter, only replacing it with an equally detestable smirk. "The dragon balls? No, such tools are for cowards. I had inside help you see, someone smuggled me back into this plain of existence, and let me tell you it feels good to be back."
This wasn't making sense. Cell had to be bluffing, he just had to be. If it wasn't him that used the dragon balls, then who was it, and why use it to turn people into Gohan?
Cell suddenly turned his back upon the child. But Gohan could still feel the ugly grin on the android's face, even through his skull. "When I'm done here child, I'm going to destroy every last patch of dirt on this misbegotten planet. Starting with that mountain." The android gestured to the looming form of fire mountain, glaring down at the forests below.
Gohan's mind was beginning to feel dizzy, as his consciousness felt strangely…large.
The Saiyan's head was alight with images that seemed oddly reminiscent of memories. Various clips of people waking up in endless different places throughout the Earth, only strangely from a first person view bombarded Gohan's brain.
He could sense ki all of a sudden, only it still felt like his own.
Cell seemingly had felt the same disturbance, as the android was facing Gohan again, and for the first time since arriving, the revived terror or Earth didn't look quite as sure of himself.
"What is that I can sense? What's going on boy?"
"I don't know." Gohan answered honestly.
Both heads present quickly turned as something stirred from within the Son house.
Cell felt like the world had turned to darkness as, much like Gohan, a figure dressed head to toe in Saiyan armour appeared from behind the door. In fact, the figure was identical to Gohan in every way, from the muscular physique, to the squared jaw, to the big round eyes, everything was the same, save for the only real difference that the copie's hair and eyes resembled what Cell realised Gohan must have looked like when he wasn't in either of his super Saiyan forms.
Gohan eyed his double curiously as the newcomer made his way somewhat reluctantly over to the pair. Electing to stand directly next to the original Gohan, the two shared a worried glance before returning their stare to the taken aback form of Cell.
"What is this? Are you mocking me Gohan?"
The half Saiyan was about to reply when he could feel what seemed like thousands of ki signatures gaining more and more speed and honing in on their location.
Something clicked as Gohan realised that someone had used the dragon balls to turn everyone on the planet into himself, which was the strangest thing that had ever happened to Gohan, and that was saying a lot considering the life he had lead. Just why on Earth would anyone do that? And who? It all felt very surreal. And suddenly that thought Gohan had about a strange and a sad version of himself existing, seemed extremely plausible.
The Saiyan couldn't argue with the timing, that was for sure. How did someone know about the arrival of Cell? And surely there were better ways to prepare than this?
For now, it didn't matter. What was important was that six billion Gohans now existed on the planet, and the only ki other than their own they could sense, was the ki of Cell. Which meant that they were going to need more room.
The double mirrored Gohan's stern expression. "Come on, if we're going to fight, let's not do it here."
Cell huffed. "Fine, but don't think you can keep running forever boy, I don't know what's going on here but mark my words you're going to die today."
The pair shot off into the sky without another breath, leaving the empty Son house behind.
After a few minutes of silent flying, the trio landed upon a wasteland which was hauntingly similar to the arena of the Cell games.
Cell smirked cruelly at the choice. "I would have thought this place would bring back bad memories for you. A very brave decision for a child. "
Gohan returned the gesture, all the while tapping into his boundless anger at the person that stood before him.
"This is like the place where I spent a day beating you to within an inch of your life, I would have thought it was worse for you."
Cell's face twisted into an expression of shock at the words, and both Gohan's chuckled mockingly.
"You won't be laughing when I'm through with you, boy."
"And him?" Gohan asked in a tantalising tone
Cell merely snorted. "I don't know why there's two of you, but all it means is there's more of you to torture."
Gohan pointed to the sky suddenly, Cell had to shield his eyes as he strained to make out the all too familiar silhouette that hung in the sky challengingly. "And what about him?"
"Or him?" The other Gohan added.
Cell couldn't believe his eyes as the sky grew more and more saturated with the same shape. There was an endless stream of Gohans pouring in above them and eventually landing all around until the android found himself completely surrounded. By the end there were so many that the Gohans who were still arriving were forced to stay in the air as there simply wasn't room for them to stand within a mile of the android.
Soon, Cell found himself literally imprisoned within a dome made up of his own worst nightmare. The android simply stood there, a dumbfounded expression plastered on his face as he tried to form words that just wouldn't come out.
Gohan couldn't believe this was happening, everything seemed to be moving so fast. One minute, the world was going to be completely devastated, the next some genius had wished for this, it had to be his father, only he could have made this happen. Finally, Gohan could get rid of all his horrible aggression that had slowly been inflating every day since that moment nearly a year ago. Oh, he was going to enjoy this.
Still, as the Saiyan watched on at the android, and took in the expression on his face, something beneath all the rage, a voice of reason, was flooding his head with the memories of what he had done.
How Gohan had got carried away, how he had taken sadistic pleasure in hurting Cell, only for his actions to cost Goku his life.
Gohan sighed. In a flash, he let his hair return to its shaggy black state as he relieved his body of its power.
Cell watched anxiously. "I suppose you think this is over don't you Gohan?" The android challenged.
"Cell come on, you can't possibly hope to win. I'm giving you a chance, against my better judgement, to just leave this place."
"W-what?"
"I remember when my father told me that he had given Freiza a chance to escape, to leave Namek and never come back, even after all the horrible, despicable things he had done. And until now I had never understood why."
Gohan looked at the ground, seemingly ashamed of himself. "I'm not going to hurt you, so long as you promise not to take anyone else's life, and to never bother Earth again."
Even as more and more half-Saiyans continued to appear, everything was completely silent. Until the hearty laugh of Cell filled the air and echoed from one Gohan to another.
The original Gohan, now completely unrecognisable amidst the crowd, couldn't believe what he was hearing. Goku said that Freiza had had a similar reaction when hearing the same words, but it didn't make it any less awful.
"You really think this changes anything? You really think you've won?!"
Cell continued to cackle. And Gohan felt that unrelenting anger beginning to rise once more.
"I'm Cell" He roared. "I'm perfect!"
"And I'm always one step ahead."
Suddenly, the android started to swell. And a grim realisation was settling in amidst the growing number of Gohan's swarmed all around.
No one said a word as all began to charge.
Cell raised a finger and waggled it mockingly. "uh uh uh, you know the score, touch me, and I'll explode."
This couldn't be happening again.
"In thirty seconds, you, and all of your ridiculous clones will be gone, as well as this pitiful planet, and I will be reborn, even stronger than before. How does that make you feel Gohan? Do you feel angry? Humiliated? Hopeless?"
Cell let out another laugh, only this time it was unnaturally deep due to his swelling size, all of his facial features were beginning to bulge, until the android looked like an enormous green pufferfish.
Gohan couldn't comprehend this. First, his anger let him down, he was foolish and ahead of himself, and it cost him the one that mattered most. This time he was soft, cautious, and even had an army to back him up, and Cell had still won.
Kami he felt so incredibly angry again. There was golden light bursting forth from every single Gohan around, but he knew it wouldn't matter, they would all be killed, nothing could stop that explosion.
"No Goku to save you with his instant transmission this time, boy. I'd say you have about fifteen seconds left."
If only he had simply engaged Cell on sight. He probably could have destroyed him by now with the help of the other Gohan. Mind you, with being able to explode and rebuild himself, Cell was pretty much indestructible.
"Ten seconds."
The worst part was, Gohan didn't know if he would have done much differently had he had yet another chance.
"Five seconds Son Gohan."
Had he learnt anything? Even now all he could think about was making Cell suffer in some of the most brutal ways possible.
With his dying breath, Gohan felt more Saiyan than human, which weirdly, he always knew would happen.
" 3, 2, 1, say hello to Goku for me?"