"Nearly all men can stand adversity. If you want to test a man's character, give him power."

- Abraham Lincoln

"Go, Cell Juniors!" Cell shouted. "Those eight atop the hill are your targets. Make them hurt."

The miniature Cell clones all turned towards the cliff. The grins on their faces widened.

Then they charged.

"Watch out!" Goku shouted. "These guys are mean!"

Chiyo moved to the side and readied herself as the clones rushed towards them. Cell had made eight; one for each watching fighter, and she guessed that included her. If they were like Cell in every way, they were probably just as strong.

Fear rose in her throat. She swallowed hard and tried to calm her racing heart.

"Chiyo, you have to become a Super Saiyan again," Goku said. "Get mad!"

"I don't know how," Chiyo squeaked. Goku began to reply, but then the Cell Juniors were there; rising above the cliff face, giggling madly.

Her Cell Junior stuck its tongue and crossed its eyes. The gesture was so childlike that for a moment Chiyo was caught off-guard; the monster took the opportunity to lash out at her with its tiny fist. She stumbled back and blocked the kick that followed.

The clone was fast. It rained vicious blows upon her, most of which she blocked, some of which caught her cheek, her knee, her stomach. The pain made her angry, and she tried desperately to remember how her chi had transformed when she'd watched Gohan being crushed.

Nothing happened. And fighting for her life against a powerful monster didn't help her concentration either.

Why isn't it working? she thought desperately, blocking a hard kick from the Cell Junior. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Kuririn fly past and crash headlong into the rock wall with his Cell Junior trailing behind.

With an angry cry Chiyo caught her clone's arm in mid punch, pulling it towards her. She tossed it into its waiting brother as hard as she could, and felt a measure of satisfaction when both tumbled head over heels, squealing indignantly.

"Thanks, kiddo," Kuririn wheezed as Chiyo ran to help him up. "Don't worry about me. One's enough for you as it is -" his eyes widened. "Hey, look out!"

Too late Chiyo looked up; her Cell Junior barrelled into her headfirst hard enough to slam her into the ground.

It was a hard blow, but she'd had harder. Chiyo was back on her feet in seconds, breathing hard - but still breathing.

"Is that all you've got?" she shouted defiantly. "You'll have to try harder than that!"

The battle raged around her, and even a split second's distraction meant the Cell Junior got the upper hand. Chiyo caught glimpses of Kuririn, Tenshinhan and Yamcha battling their own Cell Juniors, and worried for them. She knew they were tough - they were all experienced fighters, but they weren't Super Saiyans. How long could they hold out? Better yet, how long could she hold out without being a Super Saiyan? Not long, if she couldn't take a second to raise her chi, but her opponent just wouldn't quit-

Chiyo tossed two chi blasts at the clone and shot high into the air above the smoke and dust.

"Here goes nothing," she muttered, and began to raise her chi.

Becoming a Super Saiyan was nothing like just increasing your fighting power. It was an uncomfortable, restless feeling, and Chiyo hated it. Instead of shying away from that feeling, she embraced it - or tried to, anyway.

The Cell Junior shot out of the dust cloud, and Chiyo barely had time to react before it lunged for her, shrieking in its high-pitched voice.

BOOM!

A ball of chi shot past her, so fast she only felt its searing heat on her face. It hit the clone at point blank range, sending it spiraling back to the ground.

"Thanks!" Chiyo said as Piccolo appeared in her line of vision. She flinched slightly when he turned his expression upon her.

"What are you doing?" he growled. "Why have you not transformed?"

"It ain't that easy!"

"Well, make it easy. Or you'll be overwhelmed."

Chiyo opened her mouth to reply, but there was another flash of chi and a hand seized the back of her neck.

How could it sneak up on me?

Chiyo thrashed, but the grip held - it squeezed painfully tight, and her gasp became a yell. The Cell Junior filled her vision, its expression mocking.

Then the knee smashed into her face.

Chiyo doubled up, blood choking the scream in her throat, and covered her face with her hands. She didn't have time to recover - the Cell Junior kicked her hard enough to send her tumbling from the sky.

She hit the rocks hard and fell, landing with her knee twisted underneath her. Vaguely she heard Kuririn shouting her name; his voice echoing with another's. Was it Papa's?

What does it matter, anyway, Chiyo thought, her eyes closing. The Cell Junior would come soon enough.

A sudden vibration ran through the ground as a body crashed to the ground in front of her. Chiyo opened her eyes and, to her horror, there lay Goku. His eyes, turned brilliant green by the Super Saiyan transformation, fixed on her dazed expression.

"Chiyo," he croaked. "You have to become a Super Saiyan...it's the only way you can hold your own against these things."

"I don't how how," Chiyo faltered, blinking furiously. "I can't just get mad!"

"I know you can do it!" Goku stretched his hand towards her. "If Gohan can, so can you."

The Cell Junior attacked without warning.

Neither Chiyo nor Goku saw it coming. The Cell Junior fighting Goku came from the sky, both legs curled to its chest. As it slowed its legs unfolded and planted themselves directly into the base of his spine.

Goku's mouth opened in a silent scream of pain, and his fingers jerked reflexively, inches from Chiyo's hand. The agonized yell finally burst from his throat when the Cell Junior slammed its heel into his spine again. Chiyo sobbed, wide-eyed, her throat choked with tears and blood.

Her father's wasn't the only voice to be heard on the battlefield. Piccolo's roars rang out over the barren landscape, and here and there was a stifled cry or a grunt as the clones' hard blows hit.

Chiyo rolled onto her hands and knees and got to her feet, whimpering as her knee spasmed.

"Stop!"

The Cell Junior paused in the middle of pulling Goku's head back, and giggled madly. Then it slammed Goku's head into the ground.

Chiyo's chi spiked and began to swell, until her limbs were shaking with the effort of containing it. Higher and higher it soared. Images flashed before her eyes - those long months in the Room of Spirit and Time, all those fights with Piccolo and her anger...watching Cell crush Gohan, and Papa just standing there -

"You want a fight?" Chiyo shouted at them. "Fight me!"

The clones charged at her. Chiyo planted herself between them and Goku and lifted her hands to her forehead, palms facing outward.

"Masenko!"

The powerful chi blast hit the Cell Juniors at point-blank range; squealing, they hit the ground with a loud crash.

She didn't wait to see if they'd get up. She dropped to her knees beside Goku and shook his shoulder. "Papa! Papa, wake up!"

"Yeah, I'm awake," Goku said, and raised his head. "But I don't think I'm getting up anytime soon."

Chiyo began to reply, but a sudden shout from Cell cut her off.

"Cell Juniors! That's enough playing around - you can kill them now!""

Another yell sounded from nearby; she recognised Vegeta's hoarse voice, using curse words she'd never even heard of. Frightened now, she tugged on Goku's arm insistently. "Papa, Cell's gonna make 'em kill you! You have to get up!"

"I can't." He grinned crookedly at her. "My body's wiped. I couldn't move even if I wanted to."

"But - "

"I'll be fine," Goku said, with a hint of his useful cheerfulness. "Don't worry 'bout me."

There was a loud boom and the clones she'd attacked burst from the ground in a shower of broken rocks. They were no longer laughing. Scowling through her tears, Chiyo got to her feet and faced them again.

"No!" she said stubbornly. "If I have to fight all of 'em off by myself, I will!"

The Cell Juniors rushed at Chiyo, and she met their attack with a defiant shout - then Gohan's chi exploded, and the entire world ground to a halt.