Worlds Collide

Just to clarify, I rewrote this a while ago.

The dead are amongst the living; Gohan died once in the prequel and was wished back at the end. In this story, he was killed again, so Gohan has died twice. Hope this clears things up. On we go!

Chapter 25: Bad Ideas

"What do you doing here?" asked Cell.

"I've come to warn you that my brother will be here within the hour," said Cooler, Salza beside him trying to get a look in. "We will be requiring your help to stop him in the near future."

Gohan looked at Cooler, who seemed to be avoiding eye contact with him. It seemed that Cooler also had traumatic associations with the Super Saiyan form, much like Cell and Frieza.

"My help?" said Cell, sounding uninterested.

"Yes, I can't stop him by myself. As much as it pains me to say it," said Cooler. The alien finally looked over at Gohan, who was taking it all in. "You can bring your plaything with you as well - we need all the fire power we can get."

"Plaything?" mouthed Gohan, looking slightly offended. Cooler turned to leave, but stopped for a second.

"Oh... and I wouldn't advise you to flaunt this form in Frieza's presence, halfbreed," he said, referring to Gohan's recent transformation. "You may endanger those around you."

Cooler and Salza left rather speedily. Gohan descended back to his original state, taking his advice.

"We'd better go then, first roll call and everything," said Gohan.

The room was tense and filled with worry. Jeice didn't want to add to the tension by announcing that Gohan was okay, but somebody shoved past him before he could open his mouth.

"Listen up, everyone," said Salza in his distinctive accent. "Frieza will be arriving in a few minutes. We've got the android and the halfbreed to join you for the roll call as not to make things suspicious."

"What?! But Gohan's dead," said Krillin.

"He is, but he's fine... he's like me," answered Jeice, seeing everyone's faces light up.

"Lord Cooler and I are around to work on a plan with the intention of stopping Frieza, but we'd appreciate it if you would keep our presence a secret. Thank you."

They were confused, only the fighters recognised Salza, but there was happiness when Gohan entered and also anger as Cell followed. They hadn't seen Cell since he first arrived at the warehouse. And seeing Gohan and Cell together knowing what had been going on gave them mixed feelings and unwelcome thoughts. With Gohan's saiyan half dominating again, he didn't look at his friends, not caring much.

As quickly as Salza disappeared, Frieza entered through the opposite entrance, receiving shocked looks from around the room. He was larger and much more bulky; the way some of his veins were risen from his skin was sickening, but it made him even more terrifying. But how he came to be so powerful was still unknown.

"Time to up your doses," he said, signalling Zarbon and Dodoria to come forward. They looked frightened as the quickly got the ready made syringes out to top all of the fighters up. They all held back their anger as they were humiliated by Frieza's mere minions rendering them completely powerless again.

Gohan didn't like the way Frieza was holding everyone prisoner by poisoning them rather than fighting them. He heard Cell shuffle away from him, leaning against the wall.

"Ouch!" shouted Jeice as Dodoria was using more force than was necessary.

"Shut it! Its what traitors like you deserve!" he spat, eyeing the rest of the Ginyu Force who were now also powerless. Gohan resented the way Dodoria looked at him while holding up his last syringe. "Hold still brat, this won't hurt - much."

As soon as Dodoria touched him, a sickening snap echoed through the room as Gohan broke his arm to get him to drop the syringe. Frieza spoke up immediately.

"Dodoria! Leave those two. It isn't time for them yet." Cell was only half listening, but wondered what he meant. "Not a wise move, saiyan. Next time you attack one of my soldiers, I attack one of yours," warned Frieza, pointing noticeably at Goku. The alien left abruptly as if he was in a hurry.

"Is that it?" asked Cell. Goku's eyes narrowed towards Cell, along with a few others. Goku wanted to tear him apart for what he did to Gohan, but he couldn't like this. It made him angrier that he was now helpless.

"Apparently," said Gohan. Cell left promptly, as if he was also in a hurry. Gohan's eyes followed him, giving a puzzled look.

"What's up with him?" asked Burter, rubbing him arm.

"I think he's scared..." Gohan said it quietly enough so that the android had no chance of hearing him.

Cell walked into his room, slamming the door behind him. He saw the mess still on the floor that consisted of Gohan's dried up blood. He was disturbed by how Frieza had become so powerful.

"Still hanging around with that saiyan then?" said Frieza as he entered the room. Cell just stared at him blankly, not showing any fear that he may or may not be feeling.

"Why do you care?"

"Surely becoming more powerful than you can ever imagine is more interesting than screwing somebody repeatedly. It doesn't take long to get boring, believe me."

"Well, you mustn't have been very good at it then," sneered Cell. Frieza frowned at the android ridiculing him again, but it only spurred him on further as he brought his hand out to reveal a large bag of small grey pills.

"I managed to acquire these from Hell a few days ago. I thought that you'd might like them, seeing as you haven't had any for a while."

Frieza threw them on to the bed and chuckled as he left. He was right to feel victorious as Cell began to feel uneasy; the android stared at the bag silently, resisting to urge to take one. He hadn't taken any for over a year. Cell was surprised that Gohan hadn't asked him how his appearance had drastically changed since the Cell Games, how he'd become less heavy and shrunk to a more human height; the pill was called antranide, it was a strictly prohibited drug found in Hell - and not long after he died, Cell became hooked on them for years in a bid to cope with losing everything. Doctor Gero had only programmed him to win and antranide became his way of dealing with feelings of defeat that he didn't fully understand at the time.

Cell couldn't believe how hard it was to be in the same room as them. How could these small insignificant grey things have such a hold on him? He assumed that nobody knew apart from Frieza, due the the alien practically stalking him for years. He was partly grateful that he'd found power elsewhere so that he'd leave him alone. This was the first time that he had a true insight into what went on in Gohan's head; this must be how Gohan feels when he experiences the urge to cut himself.

He sheepishly took one out of the bag and stared at it. He physically jumped when the door opened again. Gohan walked in and stopped in his tracks when he saw the huge blood stain on the floor.

"Wow... really went for it didn't you?" he said, disturbed by the apparent amount of blood he'd lost.

"Hm..."

Gohan looked up to find Cell staring at the pill in his hand.

"What's that?" he asked, walking closer.

An evil thought suddenly appeared in Cell's mind.

"Its called antranide. It helps you forget," he said. Gohan seemed interested by what he said, seeing the bag on the bed.

"Where did you get all these?"

"I stole them from one of Frieza's soldiers a few days ago," he lied. "Very restricted drugs, much like the one used on your friends."

"There's enough drugs on Earth that can get you as high as you want to be," said Gohan.

"Is this the voice of experience?" asked Cell, intrigued. Gohan shrugged.

"Every so often I would... if it got too much." The android formulated a plan in his head from that evil thought he had, ignoring that it was just an excuse to start using antranide again - if he was going back down, he was going to drag Gohan with him. The amount of pills Frieza had handed to him would be enough to last him for weeks.

"Want to have some fun?" he said. Gohan looked a little apprehensive. "You could leave this place behind for a while. You won't have to face them yet." Gohan stopped looking at the floor and at Cell, who brought his hand out more. Gohan hesitantly took the pill from him, watching Cell take another from the bag.

It was soon night again, from what they could tell. Gohan had experienced the strangest day of his entire life; he'd died horribly, and came back again as practically living dead, he saw Frieza again, who looked horrifying; and he'd just spent the past three hours or so feeling as if he was floating on air. He was rapidly coming back down again as the antranide wore off and he stood up unsteadily. He saw Cell sat against the wall, staring at the blood on the floor, like he had been doing for half an hour. They'd both literally sat there like statues, not feeling anything.

He walked out of the room and took a good fifteen minutes trying to get down the stairs without breaking his neck. He could hear laughing coming from the same room as last time. He went towards it, bumping into a beam - then apologised to it. He opened the door to find Jeice and the other Ginyu's enjoying a few beers around a small fire. Krillin, Yamcha and Tien were also there, figuring that they might as well try and see some light in the situation.

"Gohan!" yelled Burter. Gohan lazily looked at him before stumbling forwards slightly.

"Looks like somebody started without us," laughed Recoome. Gohan felt the drug wear off entirely at that moment. "Want a beer?"

"Yeah..." he said as he immediately took it from Recoome's hand. He ignored his friends look at him as he sat against the wall and drank quickly; he was unusually thirsty.

"Where's Cell?" asked Burter.

"He's... somewhere..." drawled Gohan, still disoriented. The android appeared at the door, leaving Gohan's friends anxious. Cell ignored them and threw a smaller bag of the pills at the Ginyu's.

"Woah! Antranide!" said Burter. "Who fancies a party?"

Another half an hour and it was time to turn to the drugs. Cell didn't let on that he was already beginning to withdraw from them.

"Half a pill each should do it, we don't want to be too out of it," said Recoome.

"No, not me. Not after last time, count me out," said Guldo.

"How about you guys?"

Krillin, Tien and Yamcha looked at each other wide eyed.

"Uh... we'll pass," said Krillin.

"Come on, Jeice, you know you want to!" Jeice rolled his eyes.

"Ah.. what the hell. As long as we stick with half."

Burter and Jeice began to separate them as the others waited. Yamcha hadn't been anywhere with drugs since he was a teenager, though none of them said anything about stopping Gohan from taking it; they didn't know how to or what reaction they'd get.

Everyone was laughing as if the world wasn't ending. The Z fighters were actually finding it enjoyable as they watched Recoome and Burter attempt to juggle numerous empty bottles at once. Jeice was beside himself, lying on the floor. Gohan was grateful for having only half a pill this time around as he didn't want to be too out of it like last time. Even Cell was finding the entertainment funny.

"Can you juggle?" he asked curiously. Gohan laughed.

"What kind of question is that?!"

"Well, can you?"

"No... it ended badly the last time."

Thanks to the antranide, Gohan and Cell were having a rather civilized conversation, not that anybody noticed. The amount of alcohol that had been consumed by them all had increased. Gohan was half way through his fifth beer, but wasn't too worried; he couldn't exactly kill himself by mixing two lethal substances together.

"Can you do any other tricks?"

Gohan shuffled around against the wall to face him properly, where his friends couldn't see his face if the wanted to.

"Like what?" he asked, taking another drink from his bottle.

"Surprise me." Gohan looked down at the bottle, swirling the liquid around in it.

"I could... make this disappear," he said.

"Could you, now?" said Cell, encouraging him.

"Sure..."

"You seem awfully attached to it." Gohan brought it to his lips again, flirtatiously taking it into his mouth and biting onto it. "I can still see it," said Cell playfully. He took it out of his mouth again, suggestively pointing his eyes to the floor behind him. Cell laughed, earning a dirty half smile back from Gohan. "Filthy minded."

Krillin could see Gohan and Cell getting closer together, but continued to watch the entertainment and tried to ignore it. Gohan, feeling higher by the minute thanks to everything in his blood at that moment, leaned against the wall. Krillin looked at them again, seeing Cell whisper something into Gohan's ear. Whatever it was made Gohan laugh. He looked away again, closing his eyes tight, but when he opened them again, he saw them kissing passionately, which only made him frustrated - why would Gohan willingly be kissing somebody that smashed his face in less than 24 hours ago? It didn't make sense. Looking away again, he blamed the antranide for causing Gohan and Cell to openly kiss each other.

"Woah! I didn't come here to see that, guys..." groaned Jeice, looking away from them. They pulled back and stood up. They left the room quickly, not looking at anyone.

"Ha... they're probably going to - "

"Yeah, thanks Recoome! I don't think we need to hear it."

They found themselves in Gohan's room rather than Cell's, since it was closer.

"Hey, other people sleep in here too," said Gohan. Cell simply put the chair under the handle, making Gohan laugh. They found themselves kissing again on the bed, until Cell sat back against the wall, taking the empty bottle from Gohan's hand. The antranide was definitely making progress - Gohan hadn't attempted to cut himself with it as of yet.

"Shall we find a use for this?" said Cell suggestively, seeing if Gohan was playing around or not. He saw Gohan smile, also seeing that his pupils were pinpoint, indicating that he was still heavily under the drug's influence. His own eyes weren't much different.

Gohan lunged forward and began licking the neck of the bottle. The android watched him intently for the next ten minutes, occasionally zoning out. He brought the bottle up towards his face before moving it out of the way entirely, luring Gohan into another lustful kiss as he brought him up to straddle him. Gohan felt his neck and shoulder being kissed and bitten into; his eyes rolled backwards as all of the chemicals in his body, both natural and artificial, started to surge so much that he didn't feel Cell playing with his pants until he felt a cold, lubricated object start pushing into him slowly.

He let out an involuntary moan as he felt his spine tingle and a dull pain at the same time. The antranide was definitely acting as a powerful painkiller as he felt it go in further.

Gohan woke up on his side in Krillin's bed with the worst hangover he'd ever had. He brought his hand to his forehead to find his bearings; he realised that he was completely naked with the blanket barely covering him. He also saw that the door was still barricaded, reassuring him that they weren't seen. It took him a while to feel the arm that had been draped over his stomach for the past few hours. He looked over his shoulder to see something he'd never seen before; Cell was fast asleep.

"Hey," said Gohan, tugging at his hand. Cell's eyes snapped open and attempted to adjust to his surroundings. "Since when do you sleep?"

"I guess drugs do that to you..." he said, propping up onto his elbow. Cell sounded just as worn out as he did. Gohan rolled over onto his back, only to jerk back on his side again.

"Ouch!" he gasped. "What the hell did we do last night?"

Cell had to take a few seconds to remember, but it came back to him when he saw the beer bottle between them.

"As I recall... you made it disappear," he said holding it up to show him.

"Oh... ow..." Gohan started to remember what they did, most of it involving the bottle. "Why the hell didn't you stop me?!" he laughed.

"It was your idea."

"Since when do I ever have good ideas?!"

"It was a good idea, actually," said Cell. He pulled Gohan on top of him, rolling onto his back. "It was pretty hot."

"Why, was I screaming that much?" said Gohan sarcastically. He remembered less due to drinking so much.

"No, you were rather enjoying yourself. Antranide blocks any pain."

Gohan found the situation quite funny, but as he heard the breakfast call, his head flopped down onto Cell's shoulder like it usually did when he was ever told to get up.

"Move then."

"No..." he groaned, his headache growing worse by the second.

"Well, if you're going to stay there, you might as well make yourself useful," said Cell, moving his hand's down Gohan's body.

"Useful?" Gohan felt his skin tingle and lifted his head up to kiss him. He got lost for a minute as they started moving against each other; but when Gohan felt a finger attempt to enter him, he flinched instantly, prompting them to stop. "That fucking hurts!"

"That's a shame... I was having fun there."

Gohan may have enjoyed himself the night before, but he was paying for it horribly.

Jeice was face down on the table. He groaned when Krillin and Trunks put their plates down as the sound rang in his ears.

"Urgh... I'm too old for this," he mumbled, lifting his head and resting it in his hand. He'd barely taken two mouthfuls of his breakfast.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Krillin, not feeling great himself. Trunks just found it funny, it was good to have some normality, even if it involved just listening to his hungover friends complain.

Gohan suddenly appeared, pouring himself a full glass of water from the jug in the centre of the table.

"Gahh... noise!" complained Jeice as Gohan was being so quick with it that he was slamming the jug onto the table. Gohan ignored it, downing half of it in one go. "How's your hangover then?"

"I feel like I got eaten by a bear," he said, which was a pretty accurate description of how he felt like something had chewed him up.

Cell found himself back in his room, staring at the pills. He was trying his best to ignore the shaking in his hands, but the next thing he knew, he'd taken half of another pill, not realising until it was too late.

"You missed it last night!" said Burter, coming over to Gohan, Jeice, Krillin and Trunks. He was followed by Recoome, who also looked worse for wear.

"Missed what?" asked Krillin.

"Recoome passed out in the shower, it was pretty funny until we couldn't move him. We don't have our strength anymore."

"Yeah... real funny," moaned Recoome, sitting down next to Trunks. Trunks looked at Gohan as he took another swig from his glass, supporting himself against the table with his hand.

"Hey, Gohan, do you want to sit down? I can move for you - "

"God, no..." answered Gohan, wide eyed. Krillin looked as confused as Trunks did.

"Looks like somebody had a rougher night than I did," said Recoome. "You and Cell get up to no good then?"

"What?" said Gohan, not entirely awake yet.

"Well it must have been pretty crazy if you can't sit down!" Trunks and Krillin didn't really want to listen, but Burter and Recoome were sat at either side of them with their arms around them.

"Yeah... that was so stupid."

"You are pretty stupid sometimes," said Cell. Gohan jumped and dropped his glass, but caught it again, losing some of the water that was in it all over the floor.

"Cell! Hey!" said Burter. "What are you doing here?"

Gohan, now more aware of what went on last night, couldn't look at him without cringing or laughing.

"Cooler's here," he said passively, taking the glass from Gohan's hands. "He wants to see anyone involved in Frieza in an hour." Cell drank the remainder of the water before putting the glass back on the table, making Jeice groan again from the noise it made.

All of the fighters gathered as requested, most of them staring daggers at Cell, who was as uncaring about it as ever. Gohan noticed just how spaced out he'd been all morning, indicating that he'd taken antranide again. He kept it to himself, choosing to talk to him later.

Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Krillin, Yamcha and Tien were there. As were Bulma and Master Roshi like every other meeting. Though Cooler made the Ginyu's join them. Gohan was sat on the table, ignoring how much it hurt to do so, as Cell leaned against the wall. The meeting had been going on for a while.

"The only plan we can see as feasible involves drugging Frieza with the same substance used on all of you. How much it will take, I don't know."

"But how can we get the drug into him without being destroyed?" asked Vegeta, skeptical over the idea. He could just about tolerate working with Cooler.

"Yeah, I mean we can't exactly go at him all at once. He'd swat us like flies," said Tien.

"Can't you get close enough to him?" asked Goku, curious as to why Cooler was really here.

"If I could, I wouldn't be here," he said, sounding frustrated. "And even with my power, it would still be impossible. He's too powerful."

"What do you mean?"

Cooler turned his arm to show them, revealing a needle stick mark.

"The reason Frieza took so long to come and see you this time round is because he was battling me. He managed to sedate us as well. We wouldn't be here otherwise."

"But we're all powerless too, we can't help you," said Yamcha.

"Maybe you can't, but you two can," said Cooler, looking over at Gohan and Cell. "Frieza hasn't drugged either of you yet, but next time he will because he'll have overpowered you by then."

"In that case, why can't they face him now? The boy has hidden strength," said Vegeta.

"I can't," admitted Gohan.

"What do you mean you can't?! What's holding you back this time?"

"I can't reach Super Saiyan 2 anymore. And I've been trying, but I can't find it. I don't have the will to fight anymore."

"Well... how are we supposed to get to him, then?"

They were all stumped. Also disappointed to learn that Gohan could no longer ascend; his depression and lack of will to live had cut him off from it.

"I have a really bad idea," said Cell. Gohan had heard him say that before, not liking where it was going; the android's eyes wandered to him, confirming his worst fears.

"No way," said Gohan firmly. "I'm not doing it again."

"Doing what again?" asked Piccolo. Cooler caught on to Cell, intrigued by what he was suggesting.

"Frieza likes young saiyans doesn't he?" said Cell, talking directly to Cooler, who nodded back cautiously.

"You are suggesting that we offer the halfbreed to him?"

"Didn't you just hear me say no?" protested Gohan, the memories of his close encounter with Frieza coming back to haunt him.

"What you mean offer Gohan to him?" asked Jeice. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

"What you're implying is dangerous. I've seen what Frieza does to these saiyans," said Vegeta. The others didn't seem keen on the idea at all, especially Goku, Piccolo. Bulma couldn't believe what she was hearing, leaving the room.

"We've been here before," said Cell to Gohan, who still looked uneasy.

"Yeah - and it was horrible. And I know exactly what would have happened if he wasn't called away!" They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

"But you did it. I know you, you can switch yourself off like a light; you do it all the time."

Gohan looked at Cell, then at Cooler.

"...If it'll buy us some time."

"No! You are not doing this just because Cell told you to!" cried Piccolo, the others backing him up.

"Gohan, you can't just hand yourself over like that," said Trunks.

"Where is he?" said Gohan, ignoring his friends' objections, keeping his eyes on the floor.

"Your best bet is to wait until he returns. It should be a couple of days, which is when he was planning on drugging you as well."

Gohan sighed and looked up.

"Got anything to take the edge off? I don't really want to acknowledge everything he'd going to do to me."

"You won't have to sleep with him if you're clever enough," said Cell, hiding the fact that he didn't like the idea very much himself. He held up what he'd been concealing in his hand.

"Where did you - " started Vegeta.

"Dodoria dropped it, remember? If Frieza is stupid enough to leave these lying around he deserves everything he gets," said Cell, as he turned back to Gohan.

"That won't be enough," said Gohan; the syringe's contents were minimal at best.

"If you mix some antranide in there, it'll knock him out cold for a while," said Burter. That vital piece of information sealed the deal for Cooler.

"To put it simply, you have what it takes to get him exactly where you want," Cell continued. "If you distract him enough to administer this without him noticing, you won't have to go all the way, will you?"

Gohan looked at Cell's extended hand which held the syringe. He hesitantly took it from him, hearing silent objections from his friends. Cell left the room as well, seeing Cooler look reassured by the plan.

"The android is quite the strategist; it seems he's found a way to make it less of an ordeal for you."

"Yeah, he never did like sharing."

Gohan twirled the syringe around his fingers, trying to prepare himself for something he really didn't want to do.

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