Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Hope you all like it!

NOTE: Goku never gathered the dragonballs before the Cell Games

Quick Recap:

"Oh and one more thing, incase you thought I forgot, there's a rule to this time I'm giving you to run away. Should I see the sky go dark, its bye bye for the Earth.

Vegeta was silenced.


The Battle for Earth…Lost?

Contingency Plan

Vegeta watched as Cell flew away, unsure of his next move. His eyes wandered over to the lifeless body of Gohan. 'Wait, why is the body still there? Wouldn't it have gone to the Otherworld upon his death?' As Vegeta got closer to the young warrior, he realized, 'He's not dead! I can sense a tiny amount of ki left in his body. Better get him up to the little Namek so he can be healed.'

Hercule, having been knocked out from Cell's light attack, woke up just in time to see Vegeta pick up Gohan and fly away. The second thing he realized was that Cell wasn't there anymore. 'That short guy must have killed him! And hey, since he's leaving, he must want me to take the credit for him!' The big oaf almost jumped for joy, and ran back to the announcer and cameraman. "Did you see me? I killed Cell! HAHAHA!"

The announcer and cameraman just started at him, "What?"

"You heard me, I defeated Cell!" He spied the broken camera, "Oh shucks, you didn't get it on tape either?"

The announcer, still rather shocked at the claim picked up the microphone, which seemed to still be working. "Did you hear that folks? Our mighty champion Hercule has killed the monster Cell, only moments after he flew away." Then he turned to the now baffled champ, "How did you do it sir?"

'Oh no! He's not actually dead? What am I gonna do?' He thought for a moment, 'I know!' He grabbed the microphone, "That's right everyone! I defeated Cell. I just walked up to him and gave him a good chop. Ha! It's not over though people. Before Cell died, he told me he had a twin brother, and that's how he was able to get from place to place so fast. All tricks! But never fear, because the World Champ is here! I will hunt down his brother and save the world again!"

"That's incredible! Did you hear that folks? Even after his battle with Cell, our champ still has enough energy to find his brother! Just incredible! Well that's enough for now, we will update you once the next battle between Hercule and umm.." He turned to Hercule, "Say champ, what's Cell's brother's name?"

"Cell's brother?" Hercule was stunned, 'what am I gonna say? If they see Cell again, I'm doomed! Oh wait, I've got it!' "Oh, before Cell died, he told me his brother was named Cell too! That's it, haha. His parents weren't very creative people."

The announcer sweatdropped, but continued regardless, "Hear that? Cell's twin brother is also named Cell, and is still on the loose, so my suggestion to you would be to stay indoors until the rest of this blows over. This is WKRB signing off, goodbye."

· · ·

Bulma turned off the TV. "I can't believe that idiot! How could he have claimed credit for what Gohan and the others did? There's no way that guy could have killed Cell! She was fuming "I mean honestly, the nerve of some people these days!"

Bulma, Chichi, Ox King, Puar, Master Roshi and Oolong were all gathered within the home of the turtle hermit. The Ox King was by his daughter's side, after Chichi passed out for the second time; the moment Gohan hit the ground. Puar was still in tears, having seen Yamcha get destroyed by Gohan's attack, while Oolong just stayed silent.

"Umm, Bulma?" Master Roshi hesitated for a moment, wondering how to break the news, "Cell isn't dead yet. There is no 'brother.' Cell's power has dropped significantly, but I can't feel any other the others. In fact, Vegeta is the only one left I'm afraid."

"I know there's no brother! Lets all fly to the lookout, I'm sure Vegeta will head there to regroup," Bulma shouted, nearly giving Roshi a heart attack, "We can take my jet copter!"

Oolong, being the coward he is, slowly inched towards the door, 'there's no way I'm going near Vegeta. After Trunks died, who knows when he's gonna lose it.' Just as he reached the door, he was spotted.

"And just WHERE do you think you're going?" Bulma had him caught red handed, "If you think you're gonna get out of this, you're dead wrong." She glared at him, then in a more cheery mood she yelled out, "Ok everyone, lets go!"

As they all piled into Bulma's copter, Bulma had two questions going on in her mind, 'What are we gonna do now? And why didn't Vegeta fight? There's no way his pride would let him stay out of the battle unless he has an incredibly good reason.' She addressed the other people in the jet, "Any ideas on what we can do next?"

Oolong was first to reply, "Why don't we just gather the dragonballs and wish for Cell to die or something?"

Bulma mentally slapped herself, "Of course! I should have brought the dragon radar with me, but I left it at Capsule Corp. We can just get it later I guess, after we meet up at the lookout."

Roshi was the next to respond, "That won't work. I remember Kame telling us a long time ago that the dragon couldn't be used to wish for someone's death."

"Why don't we just wish for Goku back? He'll know what to do!" The Ox King said quietly, as he continued to tend to his daughter.

"No good, I remember Dende telling us his dragon couldn't bring back people who have died before. The only way we could do it is if we used the Namekian dragonballs."

"That's a great idea old man!" Oolong exclaimed sarcastically, "But how are we supposed to get there? Only Goku knows where it is anyways!"

"I could make a ship I suppose, but that still doesn't solve the problem of where it is." Bulma replied, 'If only you were still here Goku, you always knew what to do."

· · ·

Vegeta flew to the lookout at top speed, 'I better hurry, or the boy isn't going to make it.' As he flew, he too began to think of possible solutions, 'Well we could get Gohan healed, and make him fight again. His saiyajin blood should make him a couple times stronger after this near-death experience. And if he almost dies again, we'll just have the Namek with us to heal him again.' Vegeta landed and was greeted immediately by Dende and Mr. Popo.

"Here Vegeta, bring him inside and I'll do the rest." Vegeta did as he was instructed, and the guardian of the earth began the healing process.

As he left the main building, Vegeta spotted Bulma's jet copter landing. As the people filed out, they realized how badly all their friends had turned out. In fact, the only living person they saw that remained was Vegeta.

Bulma was the first to lose control. She rushed Vegeta and punched him in the face. "How could you let this happen?" She was cradling her now-very-sore hand, "You let them all die and didn't even try to help! What are we supposed to do now? Gathering the dragonballs takes time you know. What if Cell blows up the planet right now? We're all going to die!" She broke into tears.

Vegeta, unsure as to what to do, decided to just let her weak attack slide. "We aren't going to get the dragonballs and Cell isn't going to destroy the earth..yet."

"What do you mean we aren't going to get the dragonballs? We need to wish Goku and Gohan back! They'll know what to do! They would never just watch their friends die!"

"First of all, Gohan is alive, he is inside being healed by Dende, and possibly getting some well-needed rest. Second, Cell isn't going to destroy the earth because I convinced him to give us another 24 hours. And lastly wishing that fool back isn't going to make a difference. Neither he nor I are strong enough to fight Cell." Vegeta sighed, "As much as I hate to admit it, only Gohan can defeat Cell right now, and after his near death experience he should be a whole lot stronger than before."

"Will it be enough though?" Bulma looked up at Vegeta, "will Gohan be strong enough to beat Cell this time?"

"From what I sensed from Cell, I would say no. But that can be easily remedied. When he comes out, I'll just beat him up some more, the Namek can heal him, and Gohan will be even more powerful."

"Wait, let me get this straight," Bulma was stunned, "you want to let beat Gohan up again, heal him, and then make him fight Cell?"

"That's what I said wasn't it?"

"What was it you said?" Gohan had just walked out of the main building with Dende and Mr. Popo and only caught Vegeta's last statement. "How come Cell hasn't destroyed the earth yet? He doesn't actually think I'm going to join him and purge planets does he?"

Bulma just stared at him.

"Look Gohan, there's only one way we can beat Cell right now, and that's for you, to let me beat you into a bloody pulp, and let the Namek heal you. You'll gain an enormous amount of power, and that should be enough for you to beat Cell."

Gohan's face scrunched up into a scowl

"You are not, going to beat, my baby up!" Chichi screamed. The mother of the half-saiyajin had awakened just in time to hear the suggested plan. She was not pleased. "How could you even think of hurting my poor Gohan? I didn't see youout there fighting Cell!"

"That's right Vegeta, I was wondering why you didn't fight too." Bulma added.

"That's none of your business." Vegeta spat back.

"Hey, I know what we can do!" The group turned towards the current guardian of the Earth, "Gohan, you and Vegeta can go into the Hyperbolic Time Chamber and train for half a year. That way, you can both get a long stronger without Cell knowing. You can catch him by surprise!" Small murmurs erupted within the group.

"I guess that could work. I still like my plan better though. What do you think Gohan?"

All faces turned to the young warrior.

"NO! I'm never fighting again!" And with that, Gohan turned and jumped off Kami's Lookout.

Coming soon: Loophole

Dende watched as his friends began to turn on each other. 'Come on! You're the guardian of the Earth! You have to think of something!' He started to get upset with his own inadequacy, 'What would Nail do in a situation like this?' He thought some more then suddenly shouted, "I've got it!"

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it.