A/N:                Hey again! Sorry that it took so long, but in the whole last week I had to start working at six o'clock in the morning and therefore have been pretty tired the afternoon and went to bed early each night. I hope you forgive me, but I couldn't concentrate with having to fight my eyes from closing while sitting in front of the screen. And even though now I'm sick (I caught a cold while working in the cold lab of the company I'm working for) I tried my best to write this chapter! I just didn't want to let you wait any longer.

                        Finally betaed!

Chapter 23: The Unleashing

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Even before Goku was on board of his ship he felt that something was off. He couldn't dwell this feeling, but he guessed that it had something to do with the Saiyajin blood flowing through his veins, the part of him that he slowly and, thank Kyna, started to accept. It was the same feeling he already had before this whole mission with the Treasure of Power began and he knew that this feeling usually always indicated something bad.

So he wasn't that unprepared, when, as soon as he set foot on the ship, a crying ChiChi was throwing herself into his arms. At least now he knew what exactly had been causing this feeling – it was Gohan. He frowned. Something must have happened to him while he was gone.

Holding his love tightly against his chest, Goku listened to his friends, who were filling him in on the events that had been taking place while he was gone. He just took in the news of the Dragonball being now in the hands of another man of Frieza's and the death of the old man. Guilt of not being there, not being able to prevent that, when it had been his job to get the sphere, started to haunt him, but he told himself that he now didn't have any time to brood about that. His son was missing and the others didn't know where he had gone.

"And Krillin really didn't say anything about Gohan's whereabouts?" he wanted to know, just to be completely sure that he hadn't missed that part in his friends' information.

The others sadly shook their heads. But, before anyone could say something, a low rumble went through the earth, making the water in the port splash higher against the Kintoun, forcing it and the other ships rock more than they usually should have. "An earthquake!" Tenshinhan exclaimed, he and the others trying hard to remain standing.

Goku looked around frantically, hoping against hope to find the reason for this sudden earthquake. This island and the islands surrounding it weren't known for earthquakes. That was when he suddenly spotted it. In the distance, not that far away, a huge swarm of birds rose up into the sky as if fleeing from something. As soon as the rumble had subsided, he turned to his mates with a serious expression on his face. "Okay, you guys stay here. I'll go and look what's caused this." He gently helped the still sniffling ChiChi sitting down on a chest and stroked her cheek. "I'll be back and maybe I'll even find Gohan and Krillin." He straightened up and after giving a small wave with his hand, left the ship in a run. He still had this bad feeling in his stomach and he truly hoped that this feeling wasn't connected to Gohan and Krillin.

~*~

He has changed, Cell thought, having a kind of shocked and surprised expression on his face. The boy had finally snapped. What Baldy had said seemed to be true. This little shrimp really possessed a power far greater than any average Human did.

"You're going to pay," Gohan hissed. "For everything." The previously innocent child now had changed into something else. He had become a completely different person – and this not just by his outer appearance. The formerly black – now blue-green eyes – betrayed no emotion but hatred. Pure anger. Ready to kill.

After having felt the rumble of the earth underneath his body, Krillin forced himself to raise his head. Something was going on and he wanted to know what. Through his eyes squeezed to small slits, he saw two persons facing each other. One was Cell and the other… Gohan?!? The young man couldn't help but be impressed despite the situation at the moment. Wow, so this was what happened to Gohan when he let go of his anger. His father sure would be proud of him.

"What are you still doing there, Cell? Kill the boy and then continue with the ritual!" the monster's creator ordered, his patient running thin with each passing second. This – everything – slowly went out of his control. Everything should already long be finished. Gero couldn't think further, because he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He touched it with his hand and then stared down at them in complete and utter disbelieve. "You little…" he just managed to stutter out, before he collapsed, dead.

That was what The Legendary was able to do? Vegeta couldn't believe his eyes. Kakarotto's brat had just picked up a stone and thrown it at this Jinzoningen, and it tore directly through his chest. That was unbelievable! Vegeta shook. But it wasn't out of fear. It was out of anger. I don't believe this is happening! How could it be that a boy – this boy – was able to achieve the ancient level? And I, the Prince, wasn't even able to come close to it? That's not fair! I am of royal blood! Only I should possess the ability!

He knew he should just leave, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He didn't know why, but he had this feeling that it would be better, if he just stayed there. And his feelings never betrayed him. Besides, he was far too curious how this fight would progress. And if the boy wasn't able to defeat this monster, then maybe he wasn't The Legendary…

Cell was fascinated, more surprised than shocked at what Gohan had just done. His mouth curled up into a smirk, turning back from his now dead master to the boy, who had killed him without mercy. His own eyes locked with the now coldness and cruelness displaying ones of Gohan, before he said, "Finally you've shown your true self. Now this is going to get interesting. But don't get too confident, brat… You can't really believe that you can beat me…"

"I'll defeat you," Gohan told him, his voice devoid of any emotion. The anger had pushed him beyond the point of caring.

"Hmph, you talk big," the monster said, still feeling superior. "Well, at least now I can show you the fearfulness of my power, even though I haven't reached my full potential yet." Still having this confident smirk on his face, he swung his fist back and hit Gohan square across the jaw. The young Saiyajin's head jerked to one side, but it was the only part of the body that moved at all. "So, what do you think now about defeating me?"

Gohan turned his head back, revealing to Cell that there was no trace on his face that would show any kind of connection with a fist. Not even a scratch or a small trace of blood. "What about it?" Gohan said, his voice not showing any sign of being impressed at all.

Cell ground his teeth. This boy, this little kid, was mocking him. Him! The ultimate being! How dare he! With a loud roar, he lunged at the boy again, hitting him again in the face, though this time with full force. Gohan's upper body reeled back a bit and a small line of blood flowed out of his mouth, but otherwise he showed no reaction whatsoever on this hit. Getting more enraged with each passing second, Cell lashed out again, his target once again being the young hybrid's head. But this time Gohan didn't even let it come that far to get hit and caught the hand in mid-flight, while he embedded his other fist in the monster's lower abdomen. Cell doubled over and gripped his stomach in pain. Gasping for air, he slowly straightened his body again, just to look up and find Gohan already waiting for him. Growling his right hand shot towards the boy's neck, but Gohan just dodged it, his own fist shooting upwards once Cell had missed him, sending the monster flying backwards with the pure force of the uppercut connecting with his jaw.

The Jinzoningen barely managed a flip and land on his feet and he was breathing hard, blood flowing out of his mouth and nose and a heavy bruise was forming on his abdomen. I can't believe it, he thought. Why have I received so much damage from just two punches?

"You bastard!" he muttered, when he saw that Gohan was calmly making his way up to him. As soon as the kid was within reach, Cell swung his leg around, but again Gohan blocked it with his arm. Being completely shocked that his normal attacks didn't seem to have any effect, the monster had no time to react, when suddenly Gohan copied his previous attack. He just felt something incredible hard hit the side of his head, forcing his head to turn, before he hit the ground with a force that would have killed any normal person.

"Yeah! Gohan!" Krillin cheered on him. "That's it! You're defeating him!"

Groggily Cell tried to sit up and first now saw how far he had flown. He was now sitting directly next to his dead master, which was a good twenty yards. I don't believe it! Nothing like him should exist in the world! But my power's losing to him completely! he thought, fear of his seemingly inevitable defeat slowly starting to grip him. He frantically looked around, searching for a way so that he could still win this fight, until his eyes rested on a knife lying next to Gero. He looked at the approaching Gohan and then back at the knife, before picking it up with a smirk on his face and throwing it at the boy with an incredible speed.

Completely unimpressed and much to Cell's alarm the boy just raised his arm as if he had all the time in the world and caught the knife inches in front of his face. He looked at it for mere seconds, before he tossed the knife back with an even greater speed. It stuck in Cell's chest before the monster even noticed what exactly had happened. He groaned in agony, falling down on his knees. The knife had missed the heart, but still, it hurt incredibly to have one sticking in your chest.

Vegeta couldn't take his eyes of the happenings in front of him. This was just… He couldn't describe it. Three blows and one single knife and the monster was on its knees. He gazed over to the boy. That was his chance. The monster didn't stand a chance against him right now. He should kill him now and end this fight. But he wasn't doing anything. He was just standing there, obviously waiting for the monster to recover. Damn it! If the brat didn't take this chance, he didn't know what the monster would do next!

The pirate clenched and unclenched his fists. What should he do now? Stay here and watch or intervene? Or just go back to his ship? No, the last thing was out of question and something in the back of his mind told him that the first one was, too. He told the voice to shut up, but it didn't want to listen. It just kept on telling him to go out of his hiding place and do something to help. Why should he care to what was happening to the boy and Baldy? Because the woman wouldn't like it, if something happened to them, the voice told him. Vegeta cursed under his breath in different languages and finally decided what he wanted to do. He didn't want to upset the woman, so he had only one choice. He stepped into the clearing and yelled, "What are you doing, brat! Finish him off! Right now!"

All heads turned towards him, some with mild surprise on their faces. Only Gohan didn't seem to be surprised at all. "Finish him? It's still too early. He has to suffer more."

"Gohan!" Krillin now shouted. "I hate to say it, but Vegeta's right! You are the only one who can do it! So hurry and stop playing with him! You don't know what you're doing!"

In the meantime, while the two men were trying to convince Gohan, Cell managed to pull out the knife, panting hard after doing so. His eyes immediately fell onto the newcomer in the fight. What did Baldy say? Vegeta? Wasn't he the ruthless pirate working for Frieza? So, why did he want to help the boy? Whatever, it obviously seemed as if he was working against him and Saiyajins were known to be pretty strong. So he just had one choice of what to do with him. He fastened his grip on the knife, which he had just pulled out of his chest and sent it flying towards the unsuspecting prince.

Gohan saw this and did the first thing that came into his mind. Saving Vegeta. He jumped in the way of the knife, so that it hit himself instead of the pirate, who had just now noticed what was going on. He first stared at Cell, who seemed a bit surprised and amused that the boy took the knife, and then at the brat, who was slowly getting up again. Once standing he swayed a bit and had a pained expression on his face. The handle of the knife stuck out of his right shoulder. With a small scream, he pulled it out, covering his bleeding shoulder immediately with his good hand. "Damn it," he swore lightly. "Now it's over…" I should have listened to them and finished him of, when I had the chance. Shit!

He looked up, when a huge shadow was hovering over him. "Well, Gohan… What's up? Don't tell me this small wound hurts," Cell mocked him, punching directly into the open wound. Gohan stumbled backwards and screamed in pain. The monster grabbed him at the collar and threw him into the other direction, away from Vegeta to the dead Jinzoningen. He not once let go of the knife, his hand holding it as if his life depended on it. Carefully, he sat back up, and, seeing that Cell was walking up to him, prepared his body for another blow. "Let's finish this, Gohan. The fight's not over, yet."

"Oh yes, it is," he suddenly heard a voice behind him saying. There he saw Vegeta standing, his pistol raised. A small click was heard, followed by a shot and the next thing Cell felt was a dull, throbbing pain in his stomach.

"You…" he wanted to say, but didn't get any further, when he heard another yell, this time coming from Krillin.

"Gohan now!" This was followed by a scream of the boy, who lunged at Cell with the knife now holding in his good, left hand. Cell just turned around at the yell of Krillin and never saw the knife coming. Another sharp pain ripped through his chest, but this time he knew it was over. Gohan had pierced his heart with the knife. He let out an agonizing last scream, when Gohan twisted the knife once again with all of his strength, before he fell to the ground, almost burying the boy under him.

And then… Silence.

Lying on the ground next to the finally defeated Cell and panting hard, Gohan returned to his normal state, his hair and eyes becoming black again. He did it. He had defeated the monster… He turned his head, when he heard slow footsteps coming up to him. It was Krillin. Beaten up pretty badly, but otherwise okay. He fell down on his knees next to Gohan and said, "I'm proud of you. You did it."

They remained there like this for about a minute, both wanting to relax a bit, when they suddenly heard a voice calling out for them. "Gohan! Krillin! Are you here?"

They looked at each other. It was Goku's voice and it was coming out of the woods. "Goku? We're here!" Krillin answered and soon they saw their captain running into the clearing, a look of shock crossing his face, when he saw their current states and the bodies lying around.

"Oh god, are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

Krillin chuckled lightly. "Do we look like we are okay?"

"What happened?"

"I'll tell you what, Goku," Krillin said, when he stood up. "Let's first go back to our ship. I think both Gohan and I could use Dende's help and then we'll tell you what's happened, okay?"

"Okay," Goku agreed reluctantly and gently picked Gohan up. "Can you walk?" he asked his friend.

"I'll have to… But wait a second. We forgot someone…" Goku just raised an eyebrow at this and watched how his friend walked up to a girl lying in the grass. The young sailor picked her up, though it caused him a lot of pain, and then walked up to Goku. "We should take her with us. She was a victim and I think she's hurt, too."

They just turned to go, when Gohan suddenly noticed something. "Hey, where's Vegeta?"

"Vegeta?" his father asked surprised, his whole body tensing at the mention of this name. "He was here?"

Gohan nodded weakly. "Yeah, he helped us… I wonder why he disappeared so suddenly…"

"Don't worry about this now," Goku said soothingly. "Let's just go back to the ship as fast as possible, so that you'll get help." Vegeta? Helping Gohan and Krillin? Why that? I don't get it, he thought confused. Maybe, maybe there was a bit of truth in what Kyna had said. And she wasn't the first one, who said that Vegeta deserved a second chance. He shook his head. He didn't want to think about it right now. The most important thing now was that both his son and best friend were going to be okay.

Minutes later a man everyone seemed to have forgotten about awoke slightly confused, when he heard someone shouting his name. He got up and looked around. The fight seemed to be over and the two kids were gone. What had happened while he had been unconscious? He slowly made his way over to the green body lying on the ground, carefully tapping at it with his foot. It didn't move. Its eyes were wide open without showing a pupil and blood was flowing out of the wounds in his stomach and chest, trickling away into the ground.

It was dead.

"Mr. Satan!" The hero turned around and saw a middle-aged man with black hair coming running up to him. He recognized him as one of the villagers. "Mr. Satan! What has happened here?" the man asked, once he had been able to take a good look around.

"Well, um," he stuttered, now not really knowing what to say. Suddenly he got an idea. "I killed him! I killed Cell and the other Jinzoningen, who were fighting on his side!"

"Great!" the man proclaimed excitedly. "You're really the strongest person in the world! You saved us all!"

"Yeah! I did!" he agreed and burst into laughter, trying hard to hide his nervousness about this lie. But who would believe him, if he told someone that two little shrimps took care of a monster like Cell?

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Well, well… My nose is still running, my head and throat are hurting and I think I'm going to be sick, but at least this chapter is finally finished!

Eternally yours

ChibiChibi