Dragon Ball Z: Dynasty

Written by: Feraligreater328 and StevenBodner

Edited by: StevenBodner and SparkerLightning

Chapter 104: Shattered

Three decades ago, Planet Vegeta...

Prince Vegeta, four-years of age, and his brother Prince Tarble, two-years of age, both stood in the corner of their bed chambers. Tarble, terrified, was sobbing as he clung to his brother. Vegeta, meanwhile, scowled up at the intruders into their private space.

Three Skuxxoids, dire lizard-pig men with ashen, cracked skin stood over the boys. Two of the Skuxxoids were holding weapons. A third was holding restraints and a large sack. "Keep quiet you little bastards! Get in the damned sack!"

Another loudly snorted and jabbed his rifle towards the two princes. "We ain't gonna hurt ya much. We're just taking you little punks so that we can get some vengeance on someone that wronged us pretty hard!"

The third Skuxxoid, the eldest with a long, wispy beard, slapped both of his younger charges in the back of the head. "Keep your voice down and don't waste your breath on these little devils. After we get our revenge, we're gonna slit their throats and then flee to the South Galaxy anyway..."

The aged Skuxxoid stared at Vegeta and Tarble with antipathy. "You both have that monster's eyes. The one that lead the charge to kill my entire race. I hate you both so much I can barely restrain myself."

Tarble's nose was running. "B-Big brother..."

Vegeta sneered. "Quit crying. You can't show any fear to these worthless nobodies. They're nothing compared to the-"

The eldest Skuxxoid busted Vegeta in the mouth with his rifle. Seeing this, Prince Tarble shrieked and immediately tried to run. "Mama! MAMA!"

One of the younger Skuxxoids, a twisted look of satisfaction on his face, immediately aimed his rifle at the young prince's back and pulled the trigger. A bolt of ki shot out and hit Tarble dead center in the back. The boy fell to the ground and laid motionless, terrified whimpers being the only sign he was still alive. The Skuxxoid giggled with glee, only for young Prince Vegeta to leap up and kick him in the face. As the three aliens collectively recovered, Vegeta ran over to Tarble and lifted him off the ground. "Get up, idiot! We need to-"

*click*

Vegeta turned to find and energy rifle pointing right at his forehead. He flinched in shock and quickly became annoyed. Tarble, meanwhile, simply began to wail. "MAMA! Help!"

As the Skuxxoids all reached forward, ready to grab the two princes, another voice suddenly called out. The door to the bedchambers flew open and a woman spoke. "Vegeta! Why is Tarble crying?! What did I tell you about being so rough with him?!"

The Skuxxoids and the princes both looked to the open doorway and saw a somewhat tall woman, a massive plume of black hair trailing down her back, standing there. The woman was wearing a silken dress with a matching set of royal armor atop her chest. On her forehead, she wore a golden crown with the Saiyan Royal Sigil on it. It was Queen Cassava, the mother of Vegeta and Tarble. And the look on her face said more than words ever could.

As the queen ran in and grabbed both of her sons, the two younger Skuxxoids both began to giggle and snort. Neither of them noticed their older counterpart slowly backing away in horror. One of them squeal and approached the trembling queen as the other turned around. "Old man, why are you backing away? That's the Queen of the Saiyans, we can kidnap her too! And then, we can really make King Vegeta pay for what he did to our people!"

The Skuxxoid shook his head, his pupils the size of pinpricks. "No, you fool...King Vegeta-"

A sudden, sharp scream rang out from behind the two. They turned just in time to see their third counterpart flying at them, covered in blood. The other young Skuxxoid knelt down. "Brother! What's going on?! How did-"

The true horror of the situation dawned on the alien as he cradled his screaming brother. He was simply bloodied from being hit, nor blasted. It was worse than that. The third Skuxxoid's skin had been entirely removed. He had been peeled like an orange. The other young Skuxxoid turned and stared in fear, backing away as his older counterpart had done just moments ago. "Wh-Wh-What the hell...?!"

Queen Cassava stood there; her gaze locked exclusively on her two boys whom she cradled in her arms. Prince Tarble was whimpering with his eyes shut. Prince Vegeta was staring in fearful awe at what was going on above him. The three Saiyans were wrapped in a black aura, crimson red flames trailing off of it. Above them there were two massive, black hands made of the same aura. And they were holding the freshly flayed skin of the Skuxxoid. Blood dripped from the skin and collided with the aura, burning up immediately in the flames.

Finally, Queen Cassava raised her head up. At first, her eyes were blank, white void. But, quickly, her pupils reformed, encircled by crimson-gold irises. She stared directly at the Skuxxoids and gripped her children tight. She spoke in a mixture of her own, feminine voice and a much deeper, more masculine one. "What have you pig-lizards done to my babies?!"

The younger Skuxxoid flinched as Cassava approached them, ill intent radiating off of her. He yelped in fear as a black hand made of ki gripped around his throat. "OLD MAN?! WHAT'S GOING ON?! WHO IS THIS BITCH?!"

The older Skuxxoid shivered in fear as black ki traced up his face, forming hands around his head and forming the thumbs to said hands over his eyes. "That is Cassava the Blood Empress. And, as of today, she is the one that made the Skuxxoids extinct..."

Back in the present, on the sidelines of the Cell Games battlefield...

Vegeta stared in wide-eyed shock as the screams of those three Skuxxoids echoed out in the back of his head. He stared at the battlefield in utter horror as he saw that same wretched ki that his erstwhile elegant mother had displayed on that day formed around Gohan. "It can't be. He...he really is a...an Alpha...?"

As Vegeta stood in reverent awe, the rest of the Z-Fighters were shocked and taken aback. Krillin gingerly shook the completely healed Goku. "Goku! Come on, man, wake up! We need you!"

Piccolo, meanwhile, stood on the edge of the cliffs. The Namekian's eyes were locked onto his mentally shattered student and his fists were gripped so tight that his nails sunk into his palms.

On the battlefield...

Gohan's mind was lost in a fog as rancid, black energy radiated off of him. His hair was still glowing gold, but it was a duller glow now, like tarnished jewelry. His body pulsed and warped as he stepped forward, some of his steps being quite gentle and the others being so heavy they smashed through the ground.

A trail of drool streaked down Gohan's chin as his ten-year-old body struggled to contain the wicked energy erupting from within. Each step he took sent crimson flames shooting out from his aura, like embers from a forest fire. They drifted to the ground and left ebony black scorch marks that would never fade.

And, although Gohan's eyes were totally blank, it was clear that they were locked onto a single target. The boy spoke with a dissonantly cheery voice as he called out to his target. "Cell~ Oh, Cell~"

Cell was trembling as he got to his feet, the metallic clomping sounding squeaky and rusty as he rapidly and awkwardly retreated back. "N-No! Stay away from me..."

Hearing Cell's voice and seeing him shy away instantly made Gohan break out into another fit of laughter. It sounded simultaneously jovial and anxious, as if the boy's mind were being ripped to shreds in real time. "Oh, come on Cell~! You don't need to retreat~! I just wanted to compliment you on that funny thing you said a second ago~"

Gohan cackled. "It was so funny, because just a few minutes ago I was begging you just as pathetically as you were begging me! Remember that, Cell?! Do ya?! Do you remember how I begged you?!"

Gohan slapped his hands on his cheeks and spoke in a derisive, mocking tone. "I said 'Please don't kill my Grandpa!' and you were all like 'No.'~ Remember that?! Wasn't that funny?! How you acted like you weren't going to murder my Grandpa Bardock in cold blood and then you said 'Ten' and then-"

The boy snorted and fell to his knees. Gohan laughed so harshly that it sounded like he was sobbing, slamming his fist against the ground again and again in response to his "joke". Cracks and fissures formed across the ground as Gohan continued to pound it. And then, Gohan's head snapped out and he leered at Cell with an uncomfortably wide grin. "AND IT WAS SO FUNNY THE WAY YOU BLEW HIS GUTS OUT LIKE YOU DID! I EVEN STILL HAVE HIS BLOOD SPLATTERED ACROSS MY FACE!"

Gohan jabbed his pointer finger into the bridge of his nose, dead center in the blood splatter from Bardock. "SEE?!"

Cell was shaking, now frozen with fear. Despite the cheerful, manically laughing exterior of his foe, the monster could feel how things really were. Boiling just under Gohan's skin was a seething hatred unlike anything Cell had felt in his entire life. Something eviler and more sinister than had ever been on Earth beforehand. And all of this was coming from the adolescent son of Earth's greatest champion. Gohan finished his fit of laughter, slowly getting back to his feet. And then he speed-walked right up into Cell's personal space, clearing the distance between them in a fraction of a second. Cell trembled as he looked down at the child, Gohan stared up at him with an unwavering grin. "Basically, what I want to say is that your dark sense of humor has grown on me~! So much so that I thought of some jokes that should give a good giggle~! LIKE THAT TIME YOU MURDERED MY GRANDPA! I HOPE YOU'RE READY TO LAUGH, CELL!"

Cell took another fearful step back. Gohan cocked his head. "Where ya goin'?! You don't have to run away! I don't bite!"

Gohan held up his cross fingers and winked at the monster. Cell shook his head. "Stay away from me..."

Gohan acted faux-hurt. "But why?! I just want to be friends~"

Cell yelped in fear and screamed at the boy. "STAY THE HELL AWAY FROM ME!"

And then Cell turned and took to the sky, his wings buzzing as he used them to help propel himself rapidly away from the rabid child. Gohan chuckled. "He buzzes when he flies~ Never noticed that before..."

After giving Cell a five-second head start, Gohan smirked. And then he took off as fast as he could, clearing the distance between himself and Cell in the blink of an eye and dropping down in front of the horrified Android's face. "HEY FRIEND~!"

Before Cell could react or respond, Gohan's foot crashed into the back of his head like a sledgehammer. The monster crashed down to the ground and bounced like a basketball. Before he could hit the ground again, Cell suddenly felt something ram into his mouth. It was Gohan's fingers! The boy let loose a manic giggle and began to run circles around the battlefield, dragging Cell behind him like a helpless, stuffed toy. Eventually, Gohan grew bored of this and heaved Cell into the air, slamming him hard onto his back and smashing him hard into the ground.

With a wicked grin, Gohan sat down onto Cell's chest and pinned the monster's arms with his legs. "Hey! I just thought of a new, funny joke~!"

And then, not giving Cell any time to gain his bearings, Gohan lifted his right hand and rammed it directly into Cell's eye socket. Cell's skull cracked and separated as he felt Gohan's fist rummaging around, eventually getting a solid grip onto something and ripping it out with a swift yank!

Cell screamed bloody murder as blood poured from his empty eye socket. Gohan, meanwhile, pressed the stolen eyeball to his forehead. Cell stared in utter disbelief as one of his own eyes stared back at him. Gohan giggled and smiled wide. "Get it?! Do ya get it?! The joke is that I'm Tien now~!"

Cell was frozen in place, having trouble processing what was going on. Gohan smiled wide. "Come on! Laugh! LAUGH! I'm Tien and that's funny!"

Gohan put on his best Tien impression, speaking in a deep voice. "TRI-BEAM HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

As Gohan broke into another laughing fit, he fell back and rolled off of Cell. The monster stayed laying on the ground, trembling as Gohan's shrill chortles rang out. He could barely breathe. "This is insane..."

Cell started to take off into the air. "I have to get away from here!"

As Cell tried to fly away, however, he was suddenly seized by both of his ankles. The monster looked down expecting to see Gohan, but was horrified to instead see two crude, ebony black hands gripping tightly around his legs. Gohan sat up and looked at Cell as one would look at a bug they had trapped in a jar. "You can't leave yet~! I still need you, Cell~!"

He snorted and pressed the stolen eye to the side of his head. "I wanna show you my Ginyu Force impression~! But I could really use a donation~!"

The two black, energy hands dragged Cell back down very much against the monster's will. And, with no hint of hesitation or mercy, they began to slam Cell into the ground. Again and again, like a ragdoll in the hands of a cruel toddler, Cell was slammed into the harsh ground. Bones broke and chitinous armor cracked and splintered.

Finally, with a massive slam, Cell was sent crashing down to the ground. This time, however, a sharp rock was there to meet him below. The pointed stone pierced into the back of Cell's head and the monster gurgled in pain as he was left lying there.

The two ki arms receded back towards Gohan and, seemingly, the boy noticed them for the first time. "Oh, hey~! This is new~!"

Gohan held up his own hands. "High-five, guys!"

The two wicked tendrils slapped hard against Gohan's palms. The boy tightened his fists and the energy hands did as well. Fist bumps were exchanged and then Gohan went back to his work. "Hey Cell~! I made friends! Have you met them yet?!"

Cell couldn't respond, his body still trying to cope with the sharp rock that was digging into his brain. Gohan cocked his head. "Why aren't you answering?! Didn't your mama teach you any manners?!"

Cell feebly tried to lift his hands up to defend himself, but the black ki hands quickly seized the monster by his wrists and pinned him down tight. Gohan, his smile still plastered across his face, lifted his foot up and stomped down hard on Cell's face, driving the stone even deeper in. He cackled. "Did that hurt?!"

The monster couldn't even begin to answer. Gohan chuckled. "I guess seeing as Mama Doctor Gero didn't learn you, I'm going to have to beat some manners into ya~!"

The boy stomped down on Cell's face again, even harder this time. And then he did it again. And again. And he continued to do it over and over and over, more and more purple splashing out and forming a massive puddle all around Cell's quivering body.

Gohan stomped again and winced as he suddenly felt a searing pain in his foot. "Cell~ Did you bite me?!"

It took Gohan a minute, but he quickly realized what the issue was. He stared down at his foot, seeing a purple and red stained stone jutting out from the top of his shoe. "Oh~! Whoopsie~!"

Gohan cackled as the energy hands grabbed him, one of them cradling him like a chair and the other giving his injured foot a caring rub. "Oh man~! That sucks! That would have probably hurt if somebody, Cell, wink wink, wouldn't have shot me through both of my knees~"

Gohan leered down at him with his manic, forced smirk. "Anything to say, Cell?"

*POP*

And Cell's body vanished. Gohan blinked twice. He looked to the free, black ki hand. "Were you expecting him to say 'pop'?"

The black ki hand made a shrugging motion. Gohan chuckled, but then his chuckling stopped and the smile briefly left his face. He turned to the energy hand. "What did you just say?"

Up in the air...

*POP*

Cell's body appeared in the air and slumped over. Sluggishly and shakily, the monster raised his hand up and then used it to punch his mangled head right off of his shoulders. A few seconds passed and then a new head popped out with a massive explosion of bio-fluid. Cell was shaken, his eyes sunken in with despair. "That little psychopath has lost his mind..."

But then, faster than Cell could follow, the energy hands shot up and grabbed Cell's wings, ripping them off in one quick motion. Cell cried out in pain and agony, shocks going up and down his spine. Gohan appeared behind him cackling like a demon. "I'M THE PSYCHOPATH?! THAT'S ANOTHER FUNNY ONE CELL! YOU'RE KILLING ME!"

Cell sneered. And then, he turned and fired a Bomber-DX directly at Gohan. "Rot in Hell you little bastard!"

The black ki hands sprang into action, quickly clapping themselves onto the blast and quashing it away. Cell growled in frustration. Gohan chuckled. "Actually, I wanted to come up here and thank you for giving me and my new friends a minute! They're pretty shy~! Didn't want to talk to me until we were all alone~"

Cell shivered. That settled it. Gohan had completely and utterly lost his mind. The two hands shot forward and Cell readied to defend himself. But, to the monster's shock, the hands grew in size. Much like an Oozaru would grab a normal person, the hands seized Cell and squeezed him tight. Gohan smiled wide. "They want me to tell you something, the hands do. But they want me to ask you to keep it a secret~"

The hands dragged Cell directly to Gohan, pressing the monster's ear-cup right up against the boy's lips. Gohan whispered in a low, sinisterly friendly tone. "My hands wanted me to tell you their name. They're called...Cumber~. They have a nickname for you: Meat~. And they also wanted me to tell you that you are so f-"

Gohan paused, giving an unhinged chuckle. "Guys, I can't say that word, my mom would kill me~"

The hands both flinched, letting Cell go. They turned towards Gohan...and each gave him a nurturing pat on the head. And then, without hesitation, the two of them turned back towards Cell and began to beat him all across the sky. Cell screamed in agony as he was toyed with and torn into. Gohan watched with a chipper grin on his face, occasionally giving off the most unsettling laugh possible.

Eventually, as he watched Cell be helplessly manhandled, Gohan laughed out loud. "I just keep thinking about it, ya know?!"

The black ki hands both gripped onto Cell tight, holding him in place by his arms. Gohan continued to laugh. "YOU! A GUY THAT GOT HIS POWER BY EATING PEOPLE, KILLING PEOPLE, AND SUCKING KIDNAPPED, BRAINWASHED, EMOTIONALLY-ABUSED, PHYSICALLY-ABUSED TEENAGERS INTO HIS BODY IS CALLING ME A PSYCHOPATH?!"

Gohan paused, smiling wide and tapping his chin in thought. "You know, that reminds me of something..."

He cackled. "I heard that the 17 and 18 from the future killed me~! So, seeing as I've never gotten a chance to speak with them before, now is as good a time as any~"

Slowly and methodically, Gohan flew up to the entrapped Cell. He cackled in the monster's face. And then he punched Cell in the side of the head hard enough to leave a fist-shaped dent. "Hello, 17?!"

He punched again. "Hello, 18?!"

One of Gohan's flesh hands seized Cell by the throat. The other continued to punch the helpless bio-Android in the side of the head. Gohan continued to rant. "FUTURE 17! FUTURE 18! ARE YOU IN THERE?! HELLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?!"

Cell lunged forward, as if he were going to attempt to strike Gohan. Gohan looked up. "Tear his arms off! I'm busy!"

The black ki hands complied, ripping Cell's arms away and burning them to ash with crimson flames. Gohan was growing impatient. "The Androids are being shy...rip his head off, too~"

The arms complied, both of them forming chopping motions and cross-chopping Cell's head off of his neck. The monster's cranium went tumbling from his shoulders and started its descent to the ground below. Meanwhile, the poor, addled ten-year-old screamed down Cell's bloody neck hole. "WHERE ARE YOU TWO HIDING?! WOULD IT KILL YOU TO PICK UP THE PHONE AND TALK?!"

No results. Gohan pulled his face away and scowled. "Of course, it wouldn't be that easy! It never is..."

One of the hands waved next to Gohan's ear and the sinister smirk returned to his face. "You're right. They're probably integrated into him...but how do we get them out..."

The other hand waved next to Gohan's other ear. "Oh! That's actually a really good..."

Briefly, the unhinged psychopathy left Gohan's tone and his voice became genuine and friendly. "D-Did you just call me your "Fight Buddy"? W-We're Fight Buddies?!"

Both hands nodded. And then, the sadistic smile returned to Gohan's face. "You got it, Fight Buddy! Let's eviscerate him~!"

And then, with a sinister cackle, Gohan sped downward towards the Earth below.

On the ground...

Cell's head smacked against the ground with a dull thud and bounced across the rocky wasteland. The bio-Android was so beaten and out of power that it took a couple of tries to fully regenerate his body. Cell pushed himself up with a wheeze, only for Gohan to harshly stomp down onto his back. Cell groaned as he was shoved further down into the ground. Gohan, eyes filled to the brim with sadism and hate, grabbed the monster by his head protrusions. The black ki hands grabbed Cell by the wrists to keep his arms restrained. And then, Gohan began to smash the helpless creature's face into the ground. "COUGH 'EM UP, CELL! COUGH 'EM UP! I WANNA TALK WITH PEOPLE WHO CAN ACTUALLY SAY THEY'VE KILLED ME! SPIT 'EM OUT!"

Quickly growing fatigued with Cell's lack of compliance with his demands, Gohan ripped the monster out of the ground and heaved him into a nearby rock. There wasn't even any air left to knock out of Cell as he just impacted into the rock and stuck. The two black ki hands shot forward and gripped Cell's wrists again, holding him tightly in place. Gohan chuckled with unhinged joy as he paced back and forth. "Now then...how do I get those two out of you?! How?! HOW?!"

Gohan tapped his chin, glowering at the barely conscious Cell. And then, a triumphant, wicked grin spread across his face. "That's right...I'M A SAIYAN!"

He giggled with malicious delight. "And you know what that means, don't you Cell...?"

Cell could barely manage a grunt. Gohan cacked. "That means that I can learn things by sight~! By sight~! And you know what you just showed me...?"

Gohan gripped his fist tight and a buzzing aura surrounded it. The boy reared his fist back and then, with all of his strength, he heaved it forward and smashed it directly into Cell's gut. This woke the monster right up. His eyes bugged out like over-inflated balloons and a loud, wet guttural noise echoed from his throat. A huge chunk of energy went rushing out of Cell's body and Gohan snorted. "You showed me Forced Spirit Fission during that Spirit Bomb stunt you pulled~"

Cell looked truly horrified. Gohan ground his fist into the monster's gut deeper and deeper. "I'm not as well-trained as Vegeta is with this. So, I must imagine that this hurts a lot! Does it~?"

The monster continued to struggle and wretch, bile erupting from his throat and cascading down his chin. Cell went limp, hanging over Gohan's shoulder and vomiting hard onto the ground. Gohan was practically singing as he spoke. "Aw~! He's having a hard time~!"

One of the black ki hands let go of Cell's arm, letting it fall limply to the monster's side. It reached up and gave him a gentle pat on the back that ended with a harsh slap. Cell vomited even harder and Gohan preened. "It's okay, buddy! Let it all out~"

Another round of bile came rumbling up, this time with massive, slimly lump cocooned into it. With his free hand, Cell tried his best to reach up and prevent what was happening from happening. The black ki hand gripped into a tight fist and slammed down onto the back of Cell's head. The slimy lump splattered out and splashed onto the ground below. Cell stared at it and screamed; tears built in the corners of his eyes. "NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

On the ground, just out of Cell's reach, was quite the familiar form. With blonde hair and a denim vest, it was clearly Android 18. But with the scar spread across her nose, it was clear that this was Future Android 18. Cell wheezed. "No! Nonononononononooooooooooo! Not...not again! NOT AGAIN!"

Cell's voice became deeper and gruffer. He screamed at the top of his lungs as his body erupted with steam. The shape of Cell warped, as did the coloration. His wings shrunk into his back and vanished. His tail erupted out and deepened into a shade of burnt orange. The monster's nose deformed into his upper lift, turning his handsome features into a repulsive, ebony flesh flap. The pink color of Cell's eyes drained away, turning back into a crystal blue shade. The monster stared down at his new form, from his now orange feet upward. "What...what form is this...?"

Gohan cackled. "UGLY AS SHIT, THAT'S WHAT IT IS!"

And then, the boy's fist crashed into Cell's stomach again. The monster felt a surge rush through his body and his energy blast out of his back in rapid succession. A lump formed in Cell's throat and more bile and spurting from between his teeth. "NO! NOT THIS ONE TOO! NOOOOOO!"

Gohan smiled wide as Cell's stomach churned against his fist. He laughed like a madman as he slammed his knuckles into Cell's gut again and again and again. Over and over until, finally, Cell couldn't resist any longer. The monster's mouth flapped open and another slimy lump ejected and splattered onto the ground behind Gohan. Future Android 17 laid in an unconscious heap on the rocky wasteland ground and Cell screeched. The monster's deep, booming voice rapidly shifted to a demonic, high pitch. His body morphed and deflated down into a lesser, much more familiar form. The beastly, bug-like Imperfect Cell was back once again. His hellish, slit pupils focused in and the fear in his eyes was readily apparent. "No! Not this again! This can't be!"

Gohan screeched like a hyena, using the black ki hands to rip Cell from the rock and toss him around like a helpless toy. "This is so fun! You're like a gatcha machine! I hit you and things just come out~!"

The boy leapt into the air and delivered a hefty, hateful uppercut to Cell's beak. The monster cried out and even more energy flooded out of his body. Cell's musculature shrank. His arms and legs became rail thin. So much energy flooded out of Cell's body that even his five fingers faded away, two of them withering off and leaving the monster as the same three-fingered ghoul he had once been. Cell landed on his back with a thud and screeched, thrashing about. Gohan marched towards him, evil intent gleaming in his empty, white eyes as the black ki hands loomed behind him in a clawing stance. Gohan cocked his head. "How far down the evolutionary ladder do you think you're gonna tumble if I keep hitting you?! Will you become that massive, ugly cicada again?! OOOH~ WILL YOU BECOME THAT PINK COCONUT THAT BULMA FOUND IN THE TIME MACHINE AGAIN?!"

The boy loomed over Cell. "Or maybe...will you just vanish from existence all together~?"

Laying on the ground, Cell didn't even comprehend Gohan's mocking words. The monster was utterly enraged, trembling with anger as he laid there. His perfect form, all that he had ever worked towards, had been yanked away by the cruel machinations of a pre-preteen and Cell had been rendered a helpless fool. Before, when it seemed like he was just going to die, Cell was willing to toss aside his pride in order to beg for his life. But now, now that he was this wretch again...what was his life even worth?!

Cell's beak cracked apart and he hissed. "You..."

Gohan smiled wide. "Oh~ That's a scary look. I like it~ I think I'm going to rip it off and mount it on my wall~!"

The black ki hands raised up and shot down, ready to squish Cell into a paste. But right as they were about to crush the bug, his entire body suddenly descended into the ground. Gohan flinched, but then he smiled. "Sneaky bastard dug away with his tail~"

The hand both lunged towards the hole, ready to give chase. Gohan spoke up. "Hold on!"

Both of the hands turned to Gohan. The boy gave an unhinged chuckle. "Where's the fun in that, Fight Buddy? We can play with him and torment him longer if we let him think he's being clever~"

The hands paused. But then, the two of them returned to Gohan and gave him a tight squeeze on his shoulders. He cackled. "I know you want his blood. I do too~"

And then, Gohan flew high into the sky with his friends in tow and a malevolent glint in his eyes.

In the air...

As Gohan and the black ki hands hovered in the air, the boy chuckled. His sanity was all but pulverized and he was seeing nothing but tunneled red. It was clear that, if this was allowed to continue much longer, the old Gohan would fade away entirely. This psychotic brute in the gentle boy's place scanned around. "Now, where's the bug~?"

Both hands scanned about as well. Eventually, one of them did find Cell on the ground below. The other tapped Gohan on the shoulder and pointed him in the right direction. The boy cackled. "Ah, there he...he..."

Gohan's jaw locked. His teeth scraped against one another so hard that they audibly cracked. Both of the black ki hands paused and looked to their host. And then, they both gleefully took on a feral stance. Gohan's smirks and cackles had faded away. In the span of less than an hour, the poor adolescent had gone from innocent, genuine belief in his family and friends, to stoic emotionless, to cackling madness. And now, now as Gohan watched Cell do what he was doing below, the boy's fists were gripped tight and his face was frozen into a mask of pure, unfettered rage. Gohan was trembling, veins erupting from his forehead and his fists, and he shot back down towards the Earth like a cruise missile.

On the sidelines...

Immediately, Piccolo felt the shift in Gohan's mood and he realized they were at the tipping point. Without so much as an address to the others, the Namekian shot out towards the battlefield as fast as he could. He flew with strength and purpose, images flashing in his head as he did. Gohan's gentle spirit, his love of all life, his care for people and the world around him, they all hinged on what happened next. Piccolo remembered just yesterday at Gohan's birthday. He remembered the look of joy and compassion on Gohan's face when being handed something as simple as a model to build. Piccolo snarled. "I can't let him lose himself to this! I can't!"

Little did Piccolo realized that, immediately behind him, was Vegeta. The Prince rarely did things out of the goodness of his own heart, but even he realized that letting Gohan go through with this was too much. And immediately behind Vegeta was the trio of Future Goten, Future Ranch, and Future Trunks. Future Goten was shaking. Future Trunks was disgusted at the thought of losing Gohan again. And Future Ranch, staring out through her newly-restored eyes, watched as Gohan shot to the ground below. "Gohan..."

Back on the ledge, Tien stumbled in his beaten, broken body. The Senzu Bean had barely done a thing, but the warrior's sense of duty overrode all. "Damn it! We can't just sit by while Goku's kid is going through this!"

Yamcha gently gripped onto Tien. "Dude! You need to keep still! The aftershocks from using the Kaioken that much could kill you!"

Chiaotzu thrust his hands forward and froze Tien with telekinesis. Android 17 scowled. "This is just awful. I'm not entirely used to ki sense yet...but what the hell is that power Gohan is radiating?"

Krillin and Raditz both stared in worry, huddled around the still unconscious Goku. Raditz swallowed a lump in his throat. "I can't believe that that's even Gohan out there..."

The little monk, meanwhile, shook his unconscious friend. "Please, Goku, wake up!"

Finally, Android 16 stared up in the air, his scanners viewing Gohan. Not having ki sense of his own, the fully-robotic Android had a different perspective on what might be going on. And, as far as he could tell, this new power everyone was talking about didn't exist. He was only able to detect Gohan's power and no one else's.

On the ground...

Cell hissed and scowled as he threw a fit to himself. The monster slammed his fists against the ground, almost in sync with the sounds of his tail drinking away. He stared down at his hands with his hellish, dire pupils and watched as his extra fingers grew back. Cell nodded. "Okay...that's all I needed. Now, I just need to reach Future 17 and Future 18 again and-"

A blast came descending down and landed into the hole Cell had crawled out of. The monster screeched and went flying, only to cry out in pain as one of the black ki hands shot down and squeezed his stinger tail, setting it ablaze. Cell landed in an animalistic posture, watching with shifty eyes as Gohan landed. Cell was confused. Gohan's previous levels of maniacal showmanship had faded. The boy landed on the ground like a whisper and just...stood there.

The boy's hair bristled, becoming spikier and spikier by the second. His teeth were clenched so hard they threatened to shatter. Cell attempted to leap away, but a Kiai from one of the black ki hands smashed him to the ground. As Cell struggled to get up, the black ki hands both reached down and each picked up an item. They carried them back to Gohan and the boy shakily reached out to touch them: a broken armor chest-plate and a tattered, red headband. Gohan spoke so low it was almost a whisper. "You absorbed my grandfather's corpse...?"

And then, Gohan raised his head up high, revealing blank white eyes spider-webbed with red veins. The black ki hands squeezed the two items, setting them both ablaze with crimson flames and Gohan screamed. "YOU CRAVEN BASTARD!"

The force of Gohan's power was enough to blow a massive fissure in the ground behind him. He rushed towards Cell as top speed, screaming with a mixture of his own voice and a much deeper, much darker voice. Cell gasped in horror, recoiling back. But he knew it was too late. The monster's entire life flashed before his eyes.

And then, a jet of purple blood shot through the air.

Gohan was shaking with fury as he stared down at his fist, completely coated in purple blood. At that one moment, the final string within the boy's head seemed to snap in twain. He was ready to give in to the primal urge in his head and just annihilate Cell and everything else within reach. But now, with his hand painted purple, Gohan found himself utterly confused. He stared at the intact and terrified Imperfect Cell. "What?!"

Gohan looked up, wanting to know just who he had hit in Cell's place. And what he saw made him gasp in complete horror. "M..."

Standing there, sturdy and strong despite the forearm piercing through his lung, was Piccolo. Gohan was at a loss. "Mr. Piccolo..."

The boy's rage surged, the black ki hands desperately reaching out and clawing towards Cell. When that failed, they attempted to turn their attention to Piccolo but found themselves incapable of going anywhere near him. Gohan screamed in a dire, hateful voice. "PICCOLO! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! HE'S RIGHT THERE, WAITING TO BE SLAUGHTERED! LET ME GO!"

Piccolo didn't budge, a single trickle of blood pouring from the left corner of his mouth. Gohan's voice went from angry and vengeful to panicked and hoarse. He tried with all his strength to struggle his way out of Piccolo's grip, but was left entirely unable to move. He started to beg in a desperate voice. "Mr. Piccolo! Please! I need you to let me go! He's right there, Mr. Piccolo! I can splatter him! Let me smash him into pieces!"

The Namekian still didn't speak. Instead, he did what he thought was best for Gohan in this situation. He drew his arms up and, in a very un-Piccolo-like way, he gave the boy a tight, loving hug. Tears began to well in Gohan's eyes. "M-MR. PICCOLO! L-LET ME GO!"

The boy began to scream. "LET ME GO, MR. PICCOLO! I HAVE TO KILL HIM! I HAVE TO KILL HIM, MR. PICCOLO! I HAVE TO KILL HIM!"

Piccolo held firm. The hands, reacting to Gohan's changing mood, stopped trying to assail the Namekian and simply shot towards Cell. Cell screeched in shock, flinching back from the wicked appendages. But right before they reached the monster, it was like all of the power just drained from them. The hands, themselves, recoiled back from Cell, twisting and gnarling before simply turning into whisps of smoke and vanishing all together.

The tears rolled down Gohan's face and he began to sob, his pupils slowly returning, his hair waning down from the massive, spiky crown it had become to his normal, Super Saiyan look. His nose began to run and it all really began to set in. "He killed my Grandpa, Mr. Piccolo. I... I have to kill him, don't I? I-It's my duty...isn't it...?"

Piccolo seemed to reflect on Gohan's question for a moment, and then he responded. "If you want to kill him, Gohan, then you should. Cell is a monster, and doing him in wouldn't make you one. However,...if you're only doing this because you feel you have to, or it's your duty, or simply because you feel motivated by bloodlust and by rage...then no. No, Gohan, it's not your duty to finish this..."

The Namekian regarded the burned tatters of Bardock's headband. "Bardock...he gave his life trying to prevent this from being your burden. He fought tooth and nail so that you wouldn't have to go through all of this..."

Piccolo closed his eyes and thought back to earlier that morning.

Earlier that morning, at Goku's house...

Chi-Chi fearfully sobbed into Piccolo's stomach, pressing her face against his gi and using the Namekian to support her own weight. She spoke in a quiet, somewhat hoarse voice. "Please...I wouldn't bother you if I thought there was any other option. Goku is under so much stress right now. So is Bardock. And...and I know you are too..."

Chi-Chi stared up at the Namekian, her tears cascading down her face. "But please, Piccolo, I just need somebody that loves my son to promise they'll keep him safe if things become too dangerous. And I know that you love him! I know all of Goku's friends do, but you..."

The poor woman could barely form the words. She simply just collapsed against Piccolo again. "Please..."

Piccolo's normally harsh gaze softened just a bit. He placed a firm hand on the sobbing woman's shoulder. "Chi-Chi, something that you always need to know is..."

Back on the battlefield...

Piccolo sighed. "We all want you to be strong, but we all also know the type of person you are. How you view life. And, if it would hurt you in a way that we couldn't fix, then we'd never want you to go through with something like this..."

The Namekian placed his hand on the back of Gohan's head and pressed the boy's face to his shoulder. "You don't have to kill Cell, Gohan."

Hearing that, Gohan fell silent. All at once, his power vanished entirely. His hair turned to its normal black color. And then, Gohan simply just broke down and began to sob into his beloved guardian's shoulder.

As Gohan sobbed, a gentle but firm hand patted down on his shoulder. Vegeta, wordlessly, put his arm between Piccolo and Gohan and gently pulled the boy away, removing his arm from Piccolo's chest. Using his ki, Vegeta shed away the blood that was coating Gohan's arm and then handed him off to the waiting Future Trio.

While they pulled Gohan in and began to comfort the poor, crying kid, Vegeta and Piccolo looked to one another. They shared a stoic, affirmative nod. And then, they both turned and marched towards Cell. Unlike Gohan, who was an innocent and pure soul, neither Vegeta nor Piccolo had a single regret about spilling blood. And they planned to prove that immediately.

As the two warriors approached, Cell glared past them. He watched as Future Goten and Future Trunks gathered up his precious Androids. "Keep your hands off of those!"

The monster attempted to lunge. "Those two are-"

Vegeta's boot connected with Cell's face and harshly kicked the monster back. Cell landed in a heap, coughing and spitting blood from his beak. "How dare you stop me?! My perfection shall not be denied any longer!"

The Namekian and the Saiyan Prince both raised their hands, charging massive ki blasts and aiming them at Cell. Cell yelped. "Wait! Piccolo! Vegeta! You-"

The two warriors flared their power out, cutting Cell off mid-sentence. Neither of them, both boastful warriors in their own rights, had a word to say. Once again, Cell found himself backed into a corner. And this time, he didn't have anything to rely on to pull him out of it. His perfection was gone, his power was mostly drained, and even his tail was ruined. Cell was staring death in the face. And all of that, weighing like a stone on Cell's mind, was enough to make the monster snap. "NO! NO NO NO! YOU DON'T GET TO KILL ME! NOT THE TWO OF YOU!"

Cell got to his feet; a sadistic grin spread across his beak. "If I die, then the Earth goes with me~"

Meanwhile, Future Ranch cradled Gohan close. The boy was emotionally shattered. Future Trunks and Future Goten, on the other hand, were dragging Future 17 and Future 18 across the desert. They set the two against a rock and glared at them. Before they could remark on the state of their former tormentors, however, a sudden harsh wind blew over the battlefield.

Future Trunks and Future Goten both looked over to their third partner. Future Ranch was staring in shock as she shielded Gohan from the gusts. The two of them looked in the direction she was looking and came upon a horrific sight. Cell was swelled up to the size of a blimp, his massive, round form towering over the dumbfounded Piccolo and Vegeta. The monster cackled and screamed like a madman. "I've done it! I've won! Victory for Cell!"

Immediately, all four free-handed warriors went to blast the massive, overinflated bug, but Cell held up his hands. "You don't wanna do that! I might not have much power left, but Bardock's corpse had enough energy in it to have some use! Feel what my power is doing! Feel it and despair~!"

Future Trunks and Future Goten looked confused. Vegeta and Piccolo, however, cottoned on immediately. Vegeta gasped. "His power is swelling into a singularity within..."

Piccolo snarled. "You coward..."

Cell cackled. Future Goten cocked his head. "So, his power is swelling?"

Future Trunks' mouth went dry. "But, why would he...?"

Finally, Future Ranch realized what was happening. "He's swelling his power into a singularity within and inflating himself to a size where explosive decompression is the only result..."

Her eyes went wide. "HE'S TURNED HIMSELF INTO A BOMB!"

All five warriors were frozen in shock in the presence of all of this. As they struggled for any idea of what to do, Cell let loose a hellish cackle. The wicked Android had managed to triumph against all odds once again!

On the sidelines...

The remaining warriors on the sidelines watched in breathless shock as Cell swelled larger and larger. The very Earth began to shake beneath the rumble of Cell's increasingly unstable energy. Android 17 sneered. "That piece of shit! He can't win so he's just going to destroy the entire planet?!"

Android 16 frowned. "That would appear to be the case. The twisted machinations of Dr. Gero bring upon this peaceful world a swift and sudden end. How shameful."

Yamcha frowned and sat on the ground. "Not even enough time to get back to Mt. Paozu. Suno..."

Chiaotzu released his telekinetic hold on Tien and caught his friend as he fell. "We don't even have time to escape in a spaceship, going by how quickly that energy is swelling..."

Tien groaned. "So, what do we do, just sit here and die...?"

"GOKU!"

Everyone turned to see Krillin with an overjoyed smile on his face. Raditz looked quite pleased as well. Goku had an exhausted look on his face, and for good reason. The Senzu Bean, while healing the Saiyan's rather grievous injuries, was good enough to only do that. Goku's power level was at an all-time low, not even enough energy to go Super Saiyan. But the fire was clearly in Goku's eyes. He stared across the battlefield at the equally weakened Cell and sighed. "I guess I can't exactly rest yet..."

As Goku stood, Krillin stood with him. The little monk helped his friend keep balance as Goku went jelly-legged for a moment or two. And then, he asked the question on everyone's mind. "What's the plan, Goku?"

Goku looked down to his best friend and smile. He gave Krillin a reassuring pat on the shoulder and then he turned to Raditz. "Hey, big bro, would you mind taking me somewhere with your Instant Warp? I don't have much power left..."

Raditz flinched, but then he nodded. "O-Of course. Where are we going?"

Goku sighed. "I need you to take me to Cell."

Raditz flinched once more, but this time he recovered a lot quicker. The gears turned in the older brother's head. He seemed to come to the conclusion pretty quickly what the plan was. "Right."

He set his hand onto Goku's shoulder and turned to Cell. Goku smiled and turned to his oldest friends. Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Chiaotzu all stared at him. Goku laughed. "Jeez, guys...remember when life was all about training for the next tournament? Things sure have gotten nuts, huh?"

Goku smiled wide. "We'll have to make sure we all make our comeback at the next one~"

The four humans looked confused. Goku turned from them to Android 16 and Android 17. He pointed to 16. "Hey, big guy, we're still going for that walk in the woods, right?"

17 cocked his head. "Dude, are you punch drunk?"

Goku chuckled. "You can come along too, if you want~"

16, meanwhile, examined the tone in Goku's voice and came to a small realization of what his voice was suggesting. 16 nodded. "Affirmative. I look forward to exploring Mt. Paozu and making a genuine effort not to murder you in cold blood."

Goku gave a thumbs-up. "Same, buddy."

And then, the younger brother turned and faced towards Cell alongside Raditz. "I'm ready."

Raditz nodded. "Right, hold on tight. I don't wanna slingshot you."

And then...

*POP*

On the battlefield...

*POP*

Goku and Raditz appeared on the ground right behind the Future Trio and Gohan. The three young adults turned to see Goku giving his older brother a hug and then watched as he turned and stumbled towards them.

The Saiyan from Earth, horrendously exhausted, took a knee next to Future Ranch and Gohan. Future Goten, clearly panicked, ran up to his father. "Dad! What the hell are we going to do here?!"

Goku looked up at Future Goten and Future Trunks. And then he looked over at the equally concerned Future Ranch. He smiled. "You guys don't have to worry. I know how to prevent him from destroying the Earth. But, before that..."

He smiled. "I'm really proud of the three of you. Since you all showed up in this time, you've grown to be some really strong, really good people. There aren't three guys I'd have rather had here than you~"

Future Trunks flinched. "W-Well thank you, Goku, but..."

Goku moved gently towards Future Ranch, reaching into her arms and gently lifting his sobbing son out. Gohan looked up as Goku and looked utterly miserable. "D-Dad..."

The Saiyan from Earth smiled. "Hey Gohan..."

Goku sat the boy on his knee and shot him the most fatherly look he could manage. Gohan couldn't look him in the eye. "I failed, Dad...I didn't stop Cell..."

Gohan pressed his hands over his face. "If I had just killed Cell, then all of this..."

Goku shook his head. "I won't hear that."

Gohan flinched and looked up, seeing that same Goku smile that had reassured so many people before. Goku placed his hand atop Gohan's head and gently ruffled his hair. "You've become so strong, you know that? So what if you didn't kill Cell? That doesn't matter, son. What matters is that you came down here and you became better. That's all I've ever wanted from you, Gohan. I've just wanted you to grow. So, you need to know and know well...that you've made me one proud Dad today~"

Gohan sobbed. "But, Grandpa..."

Goku chuckled. "Come on, Gohan. We both know that grandpa of yours. He'll be back soon enough and this'll just be another memory that he teases you about. He...he wouldn't be happy to see you feeling this guilty over something you couldn't have stopped."

Gohan was quiet. But then, he asked the same question to Goku that everyone had been asking for the past eleven days. "Dad, how are we going to stop Cell?"

Goku smiled. "Well, taking a cue from that Mr. Satan guy, I think I'm just going to have to step up and keep everyone safe. The burden of Cell doesn't belong to anyone else; he was made to kill me after all..."

Gently, Goku handed Gohan back to Future Ranch. He smiled as he stood. "Ranch, please make sure that Gohan gets a Senzu Bean from Android 16."

Future Ranch nodded. "Of course."

Goku nodded back, and then he and Gohan looked each other in the eye. Goku took a deep breath. "I love you, son. We'll see each other again, I promise."

As Goku started to march forward once more, Gohan stared at his father. The true weight of Goku's words slowly set in for the boy and, finally, he cried out. "DAD! WAIT!"

Unfortunately, the wind proved to be too much. Gohan's cries for his father to stop were drowned out, allowing Goku to continue his path forward without any delay. As the Saiyan from Earth got closer and closer to Cell, he could hear the final two people from his group of friends talking. Vegeta and Piccolo, for the first time in quite a while, were talking to one another without a hint of hostility in their voices. Vegeta nodded. "Fine. If that's what it takes to prevent this bastard from succeeding!"

Piccolo sneered. "We make a four-layered ki barrier and then we blast him to kingdom come! The explosion might kill us, but hopefully the barriers will be enough to contain it all!"

Goku spoke up. "Now hold on just a minute. Do you really think I'd just stand back and let that happen?"

The two warriors flinched, turning to see Goku marching right up behind them. Piccolo called out. "Goku?!"

Vegeta did as well. "Kakarot?!"

Goku chuckled and waved. "Yo!"

Vegeta sneered. "We don't have time for this, Kakarot! If you don't have a better plan to stop Cell, then either use that bit of energy you have to make another barrier or clear the area!"

Piccolo nodded. "I hate to agree with Vegeta, Goku, but he's right here. We need to do something about this right now!"

The Prince and the Namekian both turned to face Cell again, but then something unexpected happened. Goku stepped forward and hooked his arms around Piccolo and Vegeta's necks, pulling them in tightly for a hug. Goku spoke genuinely and compassionately. "You two are two of my best friends. And I wanted to thank you both for coming down here to help Gohan."

And then, without another word, Goku let Vegeta and Piccolo go and walked up to Cell. The Saiyan from Earth pressed his hand to Cell's massive, expanding gut and Cell glared down at him. "Goku~! Come to take a front row seat for the end of the Earth~?!"

Goku responded bluntly. "You will never destroy the Earth."

This assertation seemed to anger Cell to no end. He snarled. "And just how can you be so sure about-"

Cell gasped as he watched Goku press his fingers to his forehead. The monster screeched. "No! Stop! STOP!"

Goku looked back, ignoring Cell to take in the sight of all of his friends. Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, Chiaotzu, 16, and 17 had all flown down to join everyone else. The Future Trio all stared at Goku in horror, realizing what he was planning. Raditz had a look of resignation on his face. Piccolo and Vegeta were both shocked. And poor Gohan, having left Future Ranch's embrace, ran between Piccolo and Vegeta to try and catch-up to his father. Goku smiled and waved. "Bye guys."

And then, in an flash, both Goku and Cell disappeared in a flash of Instant Transmission. Gohan's feet gave out from under him and he fell to his knees with tears in his eyes. "DADDY!"

On King Kai's Planet...

King Kai groaned as he filled his water bottle at the sink. His fever was boiling hot and it would be another twenty minutes before the ice in his freezer was frozen solid. Hearing a breeze outside, King Kai sighed. "Maybe that will help..."

Stepping out of his house, the deity came upon quite the unusual sight. A bloated, beaked insect with bobbling and wobbling on the surface of his planet, adjusting to the gravity. And it was screaming at the top of its lungs. "WHAT DID YOU DO?! WHERE ARE WE?! WHAT IS THIS?! GOKU!"

Goku, meanwhile, was laid against the side of King Kai's house, giving a tired chuckle as he watched Gregory and Bubbles freak out in front of him. King Kai sat next to him. Together, the two quickly tuned out Cell's ranting and spoke to one another. Goku spoke first. "Sorry. I think this might scratch your car...but..."

King Kai rolled his eyes. "Couldn't take him to Namek because you didn't want to doom that race or destroy their Dragons Balls?"

Goku nodded. "Yup."

King Kai snorted and laid against the side of his own house. "Typical."

The deity shrugged. "Ah well, this fever was making me feel like death anyway~"

Goku snickered. "I could probably get Bulma to make you some God-strength flu medicine~"

King Kai chuckled as well. Goku sighed. "Hey, didn't you once tell me you could have taught me to do Instant Transmission? You could just take us to Earth and we could leave Cell here..."

The Kai blushed. "Honestly, I was just yanking your chain. Didn't want you to start liking Pyabara more than me. Heh~"

Goku chuckled. "Figures. So, uh, you'll forgive me for this...right?"

King Kai sighed. "Let's just say you owe me one, okay?"

And then, with a furious scream, Cell's charged explosion went off. The entirety of King Kai's planet was engulfed in a bright, white light. And when the smoke cleared, nothing remained.

Back on Earth...

Gohan screamed and sobbed, smashing both fists and even his head against the ground. "Damn it! Dad! No! Nooooooooooo..."

As the boy continued to scream and cry out, Piccolo, Raditz, and Krillin all gathered around to try and comfort him. While they did that, however, a different kind of meeting was happening on the other side of the battlefield. Future Trunks, Future Goten, Android 16, and Android 17 were all gathered around the rock that the unconscious Future 17 and Future 18 were laid against. Future Goten, glancing over at Lapis, spoke up. "I hate these two but...maybe we could try to-"

A shotgun blast went off, firing between Future Goten and Android 17 and blasting Future Android 18's head into pieces. Her body slumped over on the ground, dead, and everyone turned towards the shooter. Future Ranch pumped her shotgun, sending a spent ki shell flying out. "No. No way in hell. These two die here. No ifs, ands, or buts."

Future Ranch's two partners were at a loss for words, her fiancé being especially taken aback. But then, to their shock, Android 17 spoke up as well. "I was about to say the same thing actually. After hearing about what this guy and his monster of a sister did...well..."

17 raised his hand and charged an Electro Eclipse Ball, shooting it directly at Future Android 17's chest. The Android's eyes popped open as the attack sunk into his chest and he screamed in pain as he was electrocuted and blown to pieces. Once Future 17 was gone, Android 17 turned his attention to Future 18's body and blew it to pieces as well. And then, he turned and glared at Future Ranch.

Future Ranch glared back as well, eventually raising her fist and offering a fist bump. "And now, Lapis, I think you and I are cool."

Android 17 nodded and returned the fist bump. "Cool."

In a showing of solidarity, Future Ranch extended her ki shotgun to Android 17. He took it with a thankful nod. And so, with that bloody business handled, Future Ranch turned and looked towards the sobbing Gohan. "Now, I need to go comfort him..."

Future Ranch began to walk over to Gohan, a kind smile on her face. Once she got close enough, she spoke to him. "Gohan, it's okay. We have the Dragon Balls in this timeline! It's not ideal, of course, but we can still wish everybody ba-"

A sudden harsh wind blew across the battlefield. Within the center of this massive gust, a massive power level appeared. It was stronger than anything that had appeared in this fight thus far. And then, before anyone could register what was going on, the massive power level shot out an equally massive beam.

Future Ranch turned just in time for the beam to shoot into her gut and come out the other side. The girl went flying, smoke billowing out of both her stomach and her back, and landed a few dozen meters awake with a sickening, bone-crunching thud. Everyone was horrified. Raditz's pupils shrank as he watched his daughter land. He couldn't even form words.

Future Trunks, meanwhile, definitely could. He went sprinting the instant he saw her go flying, followed closely behind by Future Goten. Future Trunks screamed with a mixture of pain, rage, and horror in his voice as he called out to his future wife. "RANCH!"

With Future Trunks' back turned, another attack came shooting out from the eye of this windstorm. It was a Destructo-Disc. The deadly disc shot out so quickly that nobody could have hoped to avoid it. And, to the horror of all of the spectators, it hit its mark dead-on.

It took a moment for this latest assault to register with Gohan. He looked out as Future Trunks fell to his knees next to Future Ranch's body. And then Gohan felt a warm, sticky sensation on his pants leg. Slowly, the boy's gaze went downward and he saw the sight of his right arm laying on the ground, in a massive pool of his own blood. The boy turned his attention from the appendage to the stump it was once attached to. Gohan watched as his own blood poured from his sliced arm like a faucet. And then, finally, the boy let loose a high-pitched screech of pain and agony. "AGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Krillin's lower jaw trembled, having just watched his own attack dismember one of his best friends. As Piccolo fired a blast after the Destructo Disc, ensuring that it was able to hurt no one other than Gohan, Krillin shouted. "16! We need that last Senzu Bean!"

Android 16 nodded and began to run over. "I'm co-"

A massive blast collided into 16's body and the entire thing went off like a stick of dynamite. 16's body exploded into a ton of flaming wreckage and Krillin yelped in horror, watching as the bag containing the very last Senzu Bean landed on the ground in flames.

Finally, as Future Trunks screamed for Future Ranch, as 17 screamed for 16, and as Gohan simply screamed his head off, a familiar voice rang out. "There will be no more Senzu Beans today. After all, I told you, didn't I~?"

The dreaded sound of metallic, clomping footprints echoed out as a buttery-smooth voice serenaded its prey. "I told you that, once Goku died, the Earth would be going with him..."

From within the cloud of dust, Perfect Cell stepped out. The monster was wreathed by the same golden aura and lightning that Gohan was when he transformed. Cell smiled a small, but truly malicious smile. "Well...Goku's dead~"