Cell attacked.
Chiyo watched in apprehension as Cell seized Gohan by the collar and headbutted him. She forced herself not to flinch, not to show any reaction when the monster punched her brother twice, then threw him away. Its chi blast followed, sending Gohan crashing into the surrounding rocks.
Gohan's fine, she reminded herself, exhaling slowly. You can feel his chi. He's still okay.
The others didn't seem to think so.
"You killed Gohan!" Piccolo roared. "Everyone warned you about this, Son!"
"He's okay," Chiyo said, before Goku could reply. "A little hit like that won't kill him."
Gohan's chi flared and began to climb.
"Son Goku, that's enough of your silly joke!" Cell called. "Eat a senzu seed and fight me some more!"
Goku grinned. "Idiot. Look behind you!"
At that moment Gohan emerged from the pile of rocks that had been a small mountain, and Chiyo let her shoulders droop. She knew he'd been alright - surely she would have known if he wasn't.
Gohan rejoined Cell on the battlefield, but he didn't attack. Instead he spoke - the words were too faint to make out, but she heard his voice rising and falling, and wondered what he could possibly have to say to Cell.
There was a sudden movement, too fast for Chiyo to see. Then Cell's fist lashed out and caught Gohan across the face, knocking him back. It followed up with an elbow to the head and a kick that sent him flying.
"Gohan!" Chiyo said in horror. She could feel the impact of Cell's blows from the cliff as subtle tremors running through the bare rock.
"Get angry!" Cell shouted. "Show me your true power!"
Chiyo looked up at her father. "What does he mean?"
Goku didn't reply. He was watching the fight, but the expression on his face was one of satisfaction.
Cell rushed at Gohan and threw a punch, but he dodged and kicked the monster in the face.
"Alright!" Kuririn cheered. "Cell fell on its butt!"
Cell climbed to its feet and wiped its mouth. It smiled and said something inaudible, then held out its hand, index finger pointing outwards as if it were gesturing to Gohan.
A beam shot from its index finger; faster than the eye could see. Gohan dropped to the ground to avoid it, earning a collective gasp from the watching fighters.
"That's the same beam Freeza used!" Kuririn said.
Freeza was a name Chiyo had only heard in stories from Gohan and Papa, but she knew enough about his cruelty and evil to make her shudder.
Cell fired the beam at Gohan again and again. Each time he barely dodged, and the beams were getting closer and closer to him with every attack.
Gohan leaped to miss one more beam, and Cell lunged.
Chiyo saw it almost in slow motion. Cell's powerful arms tightened around her brother, and Gohan screamed. With his arms trapped he could do nothing to get himself out of the hold; he was at Cell's mercy, Chiyo realised, and she covered her mouth in horror.
She must have stepped forward without thinking, for the next moment she stopped short with a restraining hand on her shoulder.
"Don't get involved," Goku said firmly.
"But -"
Goku shook his head. "Uh-uh."
"Damn it!" Piccolo swore, his eyes fixed on the battlefield. "Gohan!"
Chiyo flinched when Gohan's screams reached her ears, and the hand on her shoulder tightened reassuringly.
Helplessness was the worst feeling to endure, and the frustration and rage of it ate at her insides like acid, turning her stomach into a whirlpool. She closed her eyes as her chi swelled.
"Chiyo," Goku said, his voice low. "Stay calm."
He put his other hand on her shoulder, but Chiyo ignored him. She blocked out the surprised murmurs of the other fighters, the muttered curse words of Vegeta, the wind - everything but Gohan's agonized cries as Cell held him in a death grip. His pain was her pain and her anger - the anger she'd shoved right down at the base of her spine so it would never, ever get the better of her again.
Never was a long time, though, and she'd never been very patient.
"GOHAN!"
Chiyo lunged forward, but Goku was quicker. He grabbed her from behind, cutting off her attack, and pinned her arms gently but firmly. Chiyo gave an indignant yell and began to struggle. "Let go of me!"
"Gohan is going to be fine!" Goku said sharply. "I told you not to intervene!"
Chiyo fought furiously. The Super Saiyan transformation had given her ferocious strength and little control over her emotions, but despite that Goku was still stronger. He held her with little effort as she struggled.
"Am I dreaming?" Kuririn said. "Is Chiyo really a Super Saiyan, or am I just seeing things?"
Piccolo, who had been watching Gohan, suddenly turned around. "Chiyo is right to intervene. I'm going to help Gohan, whether you say or not. I won't watch this!"
"Wait," Goku said. "Please, you can't do anything to help him. Wait a while longer."
"Wait?! What do you mean, wait? You want me to wait until he dies?!"
"Noooo!" Chiyo wailed. "I don't want Gohan to die - let go of me -"
"Wait for him to get angry," Goku explained, tightening his grip. "Once he gets mad his true strength will be released, and that's the only thing that can beat Cell."
Piccolo shook his head. "You're wrong. Gohan doesn't enjoy fighting like you do. Did you tell him about this?" When Goku said nothing, he continued. "He's not wondering about the fight now. He's wondering why you care more about beating Cell than his life!"
For the first time since the fight started, Goku looked uncertain. He cast a glance between Piccolo and Chiyo, who had stopped struggling.
"Is this true?" he asked.
Chiyo sniffled and wiped her eyes. "Please help him, Papa," she said, her voice cracking. "Don't let him get killed."
A terrible choking sadness rose in her throat and made her eyes sting, but her chi began to drop. Her transformation fizzled out, and Goku let go of her.
"Kuririn," he said. "Give me a senzu seed."
Kuririn took the bag of seeds from his sash and began to rummage in it, but at that moment Cell let go of Gohan. He fell to the ground limply and lay unmoving, but to Chiyo's immense relief, his chest rose and fell steadily.
Cell glanced towards the cliff on which they were standing - and suddenly, it flew towards them.
"Damn it!" Piccolo growled, and pulled off his cape and hat. He rushed at Cell, but his attack missed. Cell landed before Kuririn and snatched the open bag from his hands.
"The senzu seeds are here, right?" it said. "I'll hold onto this."
Gohan was up by the time Cell returned to him, and he attacked when Cell landed - a frantic, half-blind attack that the monster simply kicked aside.
The next attack had Cell in a body hold - but it wasn't Gohan who had moved. It was Android Sixteen.
"He-he's not gonna fight Cell, is he?" Kuririn said loudly, gaping at him.
Piccolo cracked his knuckles. "Let's help him."
"Wait!" Android Sixteen shouted. He had Cell in a tight grip, pinning its arms so it couldn't break free. "Stay back! I'm going to blow myself up with Cell!"
"He'll - what?!" Goku echoed.
"There's a powerful self destruct unit in my body. Please forgive me for getting you involved...the explosion will blow you to bits, but we have no other choice."
Sixteen began to glow a bright yellow. Chiyo squeezed her eyes shut as the light intensified and backed up until she hit Goku's leg.
When long seconds passed and nothing happened, Chiyo finally opened her eyes, blinking. It was early afternoon and the sun was bright, but it wasn't the blinding yellow light she'd expected. Sixteen wasn't even glowing anymore…
Kuririn swore out loud, making her jump. Then he ran to the edge of the cliff and cupped his hands around his mouth. "Sixteen! It's because the self destruct unit isn't there anymore!"
Cell began to laugh. One arm broke free and blasted the android at point-blank range.
Sixteen exploded in a shower of circuits and wires and man-made flesh that Cell shrugged aside like it was nothing more than air.
When the dust cleared only Sixteen's head remained, and Cell kicked it away into the rocks like a piece of garbage.
Chiyo gripped Goku's pants leg until her fist hurt, but said nothing.
Again Cell turned towards them. It was close enough now that Chiyo could make out its finger pointing to each one of the group, as if it were counting on its fingers. Then its shoulders drooped, and the stump of its tail opened wide.
"What is it doing?" Kuririn said in disgust.
Something shot out of Cell's tail and hit the ground with a solid thud. When Chiyo squinted she could see they were little monsters, each a perfect image of Cell itself. They were blue instead of green, and not much taller than she, and something about them made her stomach churn.
Another appeared, and another...four, five, six, seven, eight in total.
"What the hell are they?" Piccolo growled.
Chiyo knew, somehow, that it was about to get ugly.
NOTES: Read 'Trial By Error' for a more detailed story of how Chiyo attained her transformation :)