(A/N: I think I'm going to put the review responses first now that I got the suspenseful cliffhanger at the end...doesn't that sound like a good idea? Yeah, that's what I'm going to do...)

Chibi Mirai Gogeta: Thanks! Are you an Evanescence fan like me? They are the best of the rock groups of today (though I'm starting to think Linkin Park is awesome, too.) Anyway, glad you like the fic. See if you know where this next clip comes from...

Shadow of destruction: First of all, let me just say that I'm not going to answer that first question because...well...maybe you can figure out why. Second question, I do not know how any of the Kai people got where they are; Personally, I wouldn't trust them to handle a problem/fight if the entire universe depended on it. (Okay, I might if it was the universe we were putting at risk, but...you get the point.)

I never conquered,
Rarely came.
Sixteen just held such better days
Days when I still felt alive
I couldn't wait to get outside...

Chapter Three: Gohan's Song

The wind whistled through his hair and into his eyes, even though he ignored it. The dew on his feet soaked into his skin, making the grass stick to him. Gohan raised his head after landing, still smelling the residue of his own energy. Pan was just now standing up.

Pan was his daughter, and she was only ¼ Saiyan. So there never had been expectation for her to transform. But she had. And she never would again. Psyfoam had ripped the power away from her, stolen it before she could enjoy its advantages. Pan had gotten a taste of the strong dessert, but someone had ripped it away from her grasp and eaten it whole. Never again would she get to feel the rush, the thrill, the power of being Super Saiyan. Never again. But that was no excuse for her to be as weak as a full-blooded Earthling—no offense to any of his friends that were full bloods.

"Pan, get up; that was one of my weakest blasts," Gohan commanded, keeping his voice stern to try and emphasize the seriousness of this training, even though he was having fun.

He could hear Pan mutter under her breath as she got up, wiping wet grass off her bare legs. It had been a mistake on her part to wear shorts, especially this early in the morning when the sun was barely out. She obviously didn't believe that had been one of his weakest blasts; she had been knocked out of the air because of it. True, he could have made it weaker, but he could have tripled its power and still only have less than half of his true power behind it. Gohan dropped his grin when he caught the fearful, confused, and shocked look in his daughter's gaze when she looked beyond his shoulder.

"Mom..." The cry should have had more force behind it, but Pan had gone weak at the knees, that clearly shown when she fell to the ground, weeping into the grass.

Gohan spun around and nearly broke down himself at the sight of Videl's glazed over, death gaze, yet they still showed pleading, almost like she were pleading to be avenged. Gohan blinked when an energy beam disintegrated his wife's body. His gaze turned harsh, cold, and angry when he saw the creature behind his wife's death.

"Cell...what makes you think you can just walk right into my house and start taking lives? Who died and left you in charge?"

The bug-based android just simply smirked. He didn't appear the least bit worried, even though Gohan had been the one to kill him about twenty years ago. "Psyfoam did."

Gohan blinked. How could Cell know about Psyfoam? He better watch his outward emotions. There was no reason to let Cell know his words had fazed him. "Psyfoam never had any control over Earth," he simply stated, his voice cold and hard.

Cell was amused. "Oh, you'd like to believe that, wouldn't you, Gohan?" His head shook from side to side in an attempt to make his nemesis feel two inches tall. "Actually, the opposite is true. Psyfoam controls this planet like he controls the universe, through fear." Gohan shuddered when the words penetrated meaning. Cell went on, his fingers twitching in earnest—probably earnest to kill. "In strength, he could destroy the planet with his weakest energy bomb, if he wanted to. His plan, now that he's come back, is to carry out his dreams of universal domination. Earth will be but the first to fall, and I'll be the one in charge when he leaves to conquer more planets."

Gohan snorted, "We'll just see about that. I'm twice as strong as I was when I beat you."

"Really? Well, I'm thrice that much."

Before Gohan could comprehend Cell's words, he heard a loud rush of air, tasted dirt, and felt true pain. He coughed and spluttered as he forced his way to his feet to glare at Cell, standing but three paces away with a grin. Gohan clenched his fists in anger. No! I won't allow myself to be beaten by this freak!

He charged forward through the air, and gasped when he came to a dead stop. Cell's fist remained where it was, punched into his gut like a ten fold hammer. Gohan winced as he dropped to the ground in the next second, Cell's foot now on his back. He still couldn't breathe, and he still refused to admit that Cell had grown stronger than him. It was just too impossible; Gohan had beaten this bug apparition before, a long time before, so why couldn't he beat him now? It was almost pathetic.

"Gohan, you've gotten pathetic." Gohan winced as those words hit home, and when they hit they hurt...because it was true.

Father, I'm sorry I failed you. If I had only trained through my entire life, we wouldn't be in this sticky situation. Now I'm going to pay for my mistakes, instead of forcing you to pay, father. Gohan got on his feet quickly, his eyes burning into Cell's. He hated that bug abomination; Cell should have stayed in hell where he belonged. Gohan saw his enemy's smirk, and lightened his own mood by smirking right back at Cell, his brown eyes already flashing in victory.

Out of the corner of his eye, Gohan saw Pan, his daughter, watching this all from the forest, even though she was trembling in serious fear. That was good, though. If she was frightened, she just might run away if he failed, which he was sure to do unless Cell was overstating his power; hopefully, he was. Gohan wanted Pan to have a chance to live, and because she couldn't go Super Saiyan that would be very difficult. Maybe, luck was still with them.

Gohan got on his feet, pulled his hands to his side, and nearly shouted out the famous family traditional attack move. "KA...ME...HA...ME...HA!" Cell immediately copied him and their blasts clashed in a bright blue explosion, in which Gohan was forced to shut his eyes and just scream...

...One arm hung from his side, loosely trailing behind him like a piece of disregarded clothing. His forehead burned in pain from the wound Cell had given him, but he ignored it. He was clam and focused, just how his father had taught him to be; he was wrapped in calm, but on the outside people could see his anger, fear, and dread in his eyes as they stared through the blue light at his enemy.

The Kamehameha Wave was a powerful attack, a tradition in his family, something his father had passed on. Tears sprang to his eyes at the memory of his father. Goku was dead now, because of Cell's rash action. Goku had been the hero and instant-transmissioned away from Earth with Cell, letting the bug explode on King Kai's planet, taking three innocents with him, including everyone's favorite hero. And Cell had returned. The pest had returned only to kill Trunks before their very eyes, another needless death because Gohan had refused to fight. He felt so ashamed; so, he was going to end it right now with this Kamehameha Wave, even though Cell was fighting back twice as strong with the same, copied move.

Gohan... Was that his imagination or was it? Gohan... It sounded like... Gohan, I'm here, son. Let go; let your own block of your power go; release it all. It was; it was his father! Gohan was afraid to turn around, not because of what he might see, but because of what he might not see. If he was going crazy in depression, it was still helpful to believe that his father was really standing behind him. Let go, son...

Gohan stared off into the brightness of his own Kamehameha Wave. It was getting bigger, but slowly, too slowly. Cell's blast was about to override his and consume it all. He would listen to his father and let go, but only at the right moment; he had to wait for the right moment. ...wait for the right moment. He wasn't sure if that was his own thought of his father talking to him again.

He closed his eyes and waited, feeling the battle out all the way through. Cell was seemingly growing stronger and stronger...he was just about to consume both Gohan and his blue blast and then...something hit Cell and the bug got distracted for just a moment, but that moment was the right moment.

Now's your chance! His father screamed out, and Gohan actually felt the pulse of Goku's ki signature for a moment, if only for a moment. Gohan opened his eyes and took a step forward, breaking all bonds that held his hidden power back. It all came out in a rush, flowing through his arm and out of his hand in one huge blast that covered the battle arena and beyond. Gohan could actually see Cell split apart cell by cell; he could even hear the bug's laughter turn to a scream of death above Gohan's own shouts, which were surprisingly staying behind his clenched teeth. Gohan had done what his father told him to; he had let go...and Cell was no more...

...As the blast began to consume him, Gohan listened for Cell's laughter. He flashed his eyes over to the spot where Cell was starting to divide, where the laughter turned to a scream of death. Gohan felt his own cells dividing, disappearing, but he continued to hold out one hand, letting all of his power go in one big rush; his energy left him, slowly becoming a part of the Kamehameha Wave that represented the peak of his sleeping powers, the true peak. Cell screamed at the prospect of death as his own bug cells divided and divided and disappeared in the largest blast Earth had ever experienced without experiencing defeat. Gohan welcomed death, didn't even notice his cells disappearing in his own energy wave, and he smiled as the song of his life pulsed through his head.

--

Goten's face was sunburned, his face burning hot from more than just the sun, his tears colder than a winter's snow. The blue wave had dispersed by the time he landed at the spot where Gohan's life had been ripped out of him, his song changed forever. Goten was sure he could still hear the new verses in the wind that really was nothing but a still breeze. The words he didn't recognize, but the tune sounded familiar, a tune for those that knew death was close at hand, or for those who had experienced too much, been afraid of too much, and had finally let it go at the end.

Goten sighed dramatically, sitting on a tree stump with his head in his hands. The ashes of his brother, his sister-in-law, and possibly even his niece scattered about him on the ground in the dust or in the air on the breeze. Vee would surely throw a fit to learn that Pan may not have escaped death. Poor Pan didn't even have a chance if she had been caught in a Kamehameha Wave of that magnitude. Gohan rarely let go, but when he did he produced power beyond that of his Special Saiyan father.

"Gohan...I wanted to say goodbye before you left us, but I guess you'll have to deal with a goodbye after your death." Goten spoke with much sadness and sincerity, his voice muffled. "We will miss you, those of us that survive Psyfoam's return. I pray the dragonballs will still remain, and be in good working order to save all those that have died and all those that will die. Gohan, truth be told I'm scared of Psyfoam, I'm scared of what our dad almost became, I'm scared that Vree won't be here to save us this time. Gohan, why did you have to let go? I was just around the corner; I was just beyond the treetops! I was this close!" He let anger enter his voice now because he was mad, seriously mad that his brother had been so impatient. "Gohan, fuck your impatience! This time it led to your death!" The anger left him and the grief came toppling over might heavily. "Why? Why, Gohan, why?" Goten cried into his hands; he hated crying; it made him feel like a weakling. His father was so much tougher; real warriors didn't let grief overcome them. Maybe Goten wasn't a real warrior; he had to cry. Both his brother and his mother dead because he had been in the wrong spot at the wrong time, too far away to be of any use, but close enough to see what happened. He wanted to weep for nights on end; he hurt; he was frightened, truth be told, frightened to death of what Psyfoam would do next; his heart clenched at the thought. Who was next on the list? Trunks, Vegeta, Krillin... Who could he save in time? The answer was no one; Goten was too frightened to fight Psyfoam, especially a dead Psyfoam. Tears fled his eyes and sobs chilled him to the bone, and when a hand touched his shoulder he jumped about fifteen feet into the air.

Vee: Damn! I have a headache! When will my fucking nightmare end? When will Psyfoam just kill Reda and get it over with? I don't have patience for this kind of thing! And where the hell am I? I hate having a headache in a dark place with a mysterious ki signature in the distance. I hate you, whoever you are! Put me back on Earth you mother fucker! I hate being confined in the dark; Psyfoam did that to me when I was younger, and he always had my worst nightmares in the darkness around me. (His voice gets soft and almost schizophrenic-like, shaking just a tad more than he usually shows) I have one too many bad memories of the dark for my liking; GET ME OUT OF HERE!

(A/N: Ahem. Excuse Vee's language, people. When he gets scared, he gets mad, and when he gets mad he really gets mad!)