A Daughter's Difference Chapter 14: The Light at the End, a dragon ball z fanfic

Chapter 14: The Light at the End of the Tunnel

AN: Unfortunately this chapter was not able to go through screening by DarkVoid. I can't thank him enough for all the work he has done to make my writing slightly more bearable, but I'm assuming he must be busy with something else right now. However this does mean that only I was able to correct it, and I'm not the best at this, so I apologize beforehand. Also thank you to those few you that reviewed my last chapter. I hope this chapter is to your liking.

Trunks watched in horror as Gohan floated backwards, held only by the beams that had impaled him, and finally collapse with a sickening thud.

He sensed Gohan's waning Ki with each drop of blood spilled into the battlefield. Frozen in place, Trunks' mind began to turn back the hands of time to the moment he saw his own Master laying in puddle of rainwater and blood. The end of Master Gohan was playing out once again in front of him in the form of this time's Gohan.

The feeling of helplessness and sadness resurfaced from that fateful day. Once again, Trunks felt the pain of being sidelined just to see Gohan's finality. That sadness welled up inside and began morphing into anger. Rage aimed at Bojack and his minion, but more so at himself for being unable to protect this Gohan either.

'I failed you once Master, and now I've failed you too Pan,' he lamented. 'You lost your parents in my time because of my weakness, and now… and now…' he gritted his teeth as he dug nails into the dirt.

"I promised on my life that I would make it right for you Pan, but in the end I failed," Trunks mumbled as tears began to fall. "I'm so… so sorry."

Trunks jumped to his feet, ignoring the pain he was feeling, and turned to the laughing invaders. "Bojack…" Trunks growled and then inhaled a breath of air before continuing, "You will pay for this!"

He trembled while his nails dug into his skin. "AHHHHHH!" he screamed to the high heavens. The vision of both Gohan continuously flashed in his mind. Like the first time he saw his Master dead at the hands of the android, he jumped to the first stage of Super Saiyan.

"I HAVE FAILED FOR THE LAST TIME! NO MORE!" he bawled as his golden aura raged around him. Trunks felt a barrier as his Ki skyrocketed, but he just blew past that top and continued to grow exponentially. His muscle began to bulk before decrease back in size. His body began to undergo metamorphose all the while his already pointy golden hair turned jagged, and a familiar blue electric bio-field ran rampant around him.

Those conscious on the battlefield held on to the ground as Trunks' evolution to the next level created shockwaves on the surrounding area; whereas, those unconscious shifted around with the waves.

Trunks slowly opened his eyes but no irises were visible. Still he snarled at the foursome in front. His barred teeth chattered as he gave an animalistic growl and charged at those that hurt Gohan.

Anyone who had seen the Cell Games, in-person, would have wrongfully assumed this form as the Super Saiyan Two transformation that Gohan evolved into, but Piccolo from his position saw that this wasn't the case. It almost looked like one, but it certainly wasn't level two for sure.

He looked over to his fallen former pupil. He damned himself internally for not thinking of bringing Senzu beans.

'Don't give up Gohan.'

The screen in the Megadome and all around the world reignited as the familiar faces of Arata and Jimmy came back on. This time they looked less roughed up and more like the professional commentators that they were hired to be.

Jimmy had a strong smile as he happily relayed the information given to him, "The wait is over! As I'm speaking, the great and only Mr. Satan is on his way to take care of these villains!" His hands waved over his head as he gleefully announced his savior's arrival.

Arata was more reserved but still held a smile, "Since security hasn't made much progress in getting through to the Battlezones, Mr. Satan will be traveling through the single-seat pod that will take him to one of the arenas below."

"And he is all we need to finally put this nightmare to rest," Jimmy added on.

The battle between berserker pseudo Super Saiyan Two Trunks and the destroyer of worlds Bojack and his crew raged overhead of the mostly unconscious members of the Z-fighters.

At this point Trunks only growled and grunted as he fought off the new enemy with wild abandonment. He howled while gripped Bujin by the neck and slowly began squeezing his windpipe. The combine efforts of Bido and Zangya managed to stop the enraged Saiyan from killing their comrade.

However a different battle was taking place. The image of Cell looked down at slowly dying form of Gohan. He sat down next to the boy while looking up at the battle above. "Soon. Our end is imminent, I can feel it. Trust me Gohan, this is for the best. To stay in this world would mean that you would have to continue suffering, fight after fight, until you perished at the hands of some other threat."

Gohan's head rested on his shoulder, eyes closed, with his mouth slightly gaping and a trail of blood leaking out. His clothing was almost non-existent with the exception of a part of his pants covering his intimate parts. Only someone next to him could see his chest slightly rising before dropping back down.

Cell continued, "Open your eye for a moment and look at this."

"Do it!"

After a few minutes Gohan's eyes began to flicker before finally opening slowly. Above he could see Trunks fighting against the current threats, but he could barely recognize the time traveler from the enraged wild fighter he was witnessing.

"You see they don't need you. They can get by without you. There is no need for you to continue living. No one would fault you for resting in peace for once."

Gohan could see that Trunks was handling things; though for brief moments it seemed like one wrong move could spell certain doom for the son of Vegeta. He blinked a couple time as he looked down at his bloodied chest. Gohan's vision began to blur as he closed his eyes once again. With his eyes closed he could hear the sound of his own heartbeat as it slowly pumped blood; red liquid of life that would eventually seep out of him through one of his new orifices. A small sad smile appeared on his face as he slowly allowed the coldness to begin to envelope him.

'Can I really rest?' he thought.

Pan thrashed against Chiaotzu's hold as tears trailed down her puffy cheeks. She ignored Bulma's soothing word, the small emperor's implores for calm, and even the surrounding humans who looked on and thought this was nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum. For the last few minutes she began feeling something terrible was happening. A feeling she could only describe as originating from the pits of her stomach.

She cried, she yelled, she did anything to free herself from those that kept her from her father. There was a time she had agreed to stay put for the safety of her father, but now all she wanted was to verify that he was okay because something inside told her he wasn't.

"PAN! Calm down this instant. What has gotten into you?" Bulma frantically begged the young quarter-Saiyan to settle down. She looked over to Chiaotzu for help, but he was doing all he could to just keep her in his psychic hold.

The small emperor sweated as he gritted his teeth. Even with all the training in the last few months were not enough to prepare him for this challenge. Had it been anyone else than this could have been an easy task to complete, but Saiyan were different and more violent to hold down; even a hybrid like the daughter of Gohan.

Suddenly he felt a Ki he knew all too well disappear. He stopped all he was doing and Pan managed to escape momentarily, but Chiaotzu was preoccupied trying to decipher what he sensed. Lowering Ki below detection level was not a new thing, and almost every member of the group knew how to do it, but there was a difference when someone lowers their respective Ki to hide and when the unthinkable had happened. Unfortunately Chiaotzu sensed the latter had just happened.

Bulma screamed Pan's name over and over as she flew away. She turned to reprimand the mime-like emperor but stopped short when she saw his devastated look marring his face mixed with confusion and sadness. In a soft voice she asked, half afraid to inquire and half hoping it wasn't what she was thinking, "Chiaotzu, what happened?"

His eyes finally met hers briefly and he uttered only one name, "Gohan." He immediately turned to the flee daughter of Gohan, but noticed she had stopped in mid-air. He couldn't tell from his position, but he was certain that she too knew what happened to her father.

Bulma grabbed Chiaotzu and directed his attention to her, "What happened Chiaotzu? What happened to Gohan?" She didn't like the tone he stated Gohan's name. The foreboding feeling only grew with each second he didn't answer.

It felt like an eternity of Chiaotzu trying to come up with the word but eventually he formed them, "I'm sorry Bulma… but Gohan... I can't sense him." His eyes didn't meet her as he delivered the news.

Bulma released the small emperor as she covered her mouth. She turned to see Pan began to descend uncontrollably. She jumped from her seat and ran down the steps, taking them two at a time, just to shorten the distance between the young girl and her. The Capsule Corp heiress didn't get to the young girl in time and she landed on a group of people, but Bulma just pushed and even punched people out of her way to get to her.

Finally she arrived at her location and gazed upon Pan's wild eyes looking in all direction. Her tears had not ceased, and she hugged herself as she trembled in place as her head turned back and forth. She was looking for something, but whatever she was searching for seemed to be evading her.

"Pan," she whispered while getting closer to her with open arms. "It's going to be okay." She managed to finally get close enough and she hugged to small child.

"Aunty," Pan choked out, "Some-something happ-ened to Daddy." She stumbled on her words as she tried to control her sobs, but this was a losing battle. "I-I feel co—ld," she cried out.

"There, there. It's going to be fine Pan. I promise you that everything will be okay," Bulma reassured the distraught little girl; whose head still kept turning looking for something or rather someone.

Though Pan didn't have much knowledge about sensing Ki, there was someone she tried to always track since her arrival to this time. Her father had become pillar of stability, and she tried her best to follow him. However it wasn't his Ki that told her he was in more trouble than a fight with some meanies.

From the first moment she laid her hand on his palm on that hilltop where they first met, she felt something within her open up for the first time. A connection of sorts she couldn't explain, but it was this connection that always leads her to where he was even though her sensing abilities weren't the best. The flame of this connection always told her how he was feeling and when he was sad. It was her beacon to him, but in the last few minutes the flame began to slowly get smaller. Eventually she was able to break herself from Chiaotzu's hold, but as she rushed to her father's side, the flame that had been their connection was snuffed out.

She cried as she looked everywhere for that flame deep inside her. Pan didn't seem to understand what had happened, but in the few days since her arrival she had grown fond of that flame and the warmth it provided. Now it was gone and she knew it had to do with her father.

Her mind, as little as it is, came to a conclusion that she dared not think about. Pan's attempts to find that connection intensified as he cried her 'Daddy' over and over.

"We'll bring Gohan back dear," Bulma wept into the lost girl's hair.

This only further confirmed her thoughts, but she wouldn't believe it. She only met her father and it would not be fair if she lost him this early. She pushed herself away from Bulma's embrace and stared at her with a renewed fire in her teary eyes. "He is not gone Aunty!" Pan heaved.

Bulma watched as she closed her eyes and searched once again. It broke her heart to see her in denial.

Finally she found what she was looking for. It was so small that she missed it in her hasty search for the connection. Pan clutched immediately to that small spark of what used to be a strong fire. She felt him on the other side, but he was slipping and the spark was getting smaller. With only last inhale of breath she screamed through their deteriorating connection, "Daddy, don't leave me!"

Bulma and everyone in the area was blown back Pan's white aura burst around her. Bulma rubbed her head as she got up and saw Pan's eyes were still closed. Tears had not stopped from leaking but the aura around her made sure to lift the tears as they dropped. One hand, however, was extended downward as if trying to grasp something.

Thp- - -thump - - - - - - - - - - thp- - -thump - - - - - - -thp- - -…

Cell began to fade away as Gohan kept slipping. The young savior's heart barely pumped blood through the veins as everything inside began to shutdown.

In the distance Piccolo kept calling Gohan's name in an effort to awaken the dying boy. He began dragging his injured body towards the one that had been his pupil once upon a time.

Gohan's tilted head allowed the copper-tasting liquid to escape his mouth. One beam had punctured his left pectoral, barely grazing his heart but managed to go through his lung; since that moment Gohan kept accumulating blood in his mouth with each breath he took, but his tilted head allowed any excess to leave.

Images began to cycle through Gohan's mind as he remembered all the pleasant and the not so pleasant memories; from the pictures of when he was a kid and still had a family, to the last time he saw his mom. The happy thought associated with the memories of his last birthday and his naïve thoughts that his family would always be there; to the feelings of losing his father time and time again. Watching as his mother cried over her dead husband, and that scowl the last time he saw her. Even if he didn't like to train that much, he thought of as a positive memory to train alongside his mentor Piccolo, but he also remembered the dark face of these fights with all the deaths he witnessed from an early age.

Gohan felt ready to let everything go. 'In the end it might even be for the best,' Gohan thought. 'Maybe like father said, without us everyone will be safer from future threats. Everyone will be able to move on.'

Tears formed around Gohan's closed eyes as he gave a final farewell to this plane of existence. He allowed the coldness to numb his entire body and stopped fighting against death's hold.

Gohan felt a weightless sensation with each second that passed. He was ready to move on, when he felt something trying to reach him. Still he ignored it as the feelings he was experience was much too good, and the closer he got to this light the less pain he felt. However before he could pass, he heard one yell cut through his near-nirvana.

"Daddy, don't leave me!"

Cell's image had almost disappeared as he saw Gohan finally succumb to his end, but suddenly his image reformed from the transparent look to a more solid looking one. He looked around trying to pinpoint the origin of the yell. He looked down at the boy trying to see if he was gone; even though he knew that was not the case since he was still there. Cell watched as Gohan's eyes opened widely in alarm. Then he heard it, Gohan's heartbeat had returned and it was slowly picking up strength.

Gohan expressed in an elongated manner the name of the one that had shouted at him, "Pan." He felt her through their connection, and he could sense her confusion, sadness, and hysteria. "Pan," he coughed out as he repeated once again her name. He began to lift one hand towards the sky in the direction he felt her above.

Fresh blood began to pump out of Gohan once again, but Gohan didn't pay much attention as he tried to comfort his little girl faraway. A blue fiery aura engulfed Gohan as he stretched his arm out to the sky; the red bolts that had been around him mostly vanished aside from a few strands. It hurt to no end just lift and hold his arm up, but Gohan thought of it as a little price to pay to reassure her he was here.

"Paann… I'm here," he stated roughly. The young Saiyan began to move his injured body.

"Please…" Gohan heard her desperate plea through their connection.

While Gohan attempted to stand once again, the battle above continued as the wild Trunks kept swinging against the invaders. By this point Trunks had abandoned any form or technique and just let his rage dictate the next move. It proved to be a sound strategy since it kept his opponent from mounting any successful offensive, but also kept Trunks from putting an end once and for all.

Trunks refrained his speech to only unintelligible grunts and growls. His sanity was definitely in question as he kept fighting the foursome with some degree of success. Bujin flew right into Trunk's midsection trying to tackle him down to the ground, but Trunks grunted from the sudden hit but remained stationary in the air.

The enraged time traveler gripped the small blue fighter's shoulders and dug his fingers into the fighter's skin. The turban wearing fighter howled in pain while trying to free himself. Trunks lurched forward from a blast that hit his back, and he released his opponent. The iris-less time traveler turned his head to see Zangya with her palm pointed at him.

A fatigued Zangya watched as Bujin fell to the ruined city below. She looked up to see the gold-haired Saiyan had disappeared. She quickly turned in all direction to find him, but she felt a strong hit across her back. Zangya crashed landed next to Bujin.

Trunks lifted both palms and shaped a large Ki ball over head. He roared as he brought both hands down and launched his blast at the two blue-skinned aliens. It was intercepted by the returning Bido, who just burst it with a small Ki beam to destabilize the ball and explode. The snarling Trunks aimed to make Bido pay but quickly found himself in a chokehold by Bojack.

Bojack laughed as he applied more pressure on the neck of the out of control Saiyan. To see him struggling to free himself yet remain in his embrace brought amusement to Bojack. Bido followed up by assaulting Trunks.

Eventually Trunks had enough and released a powerful Kiai as he powered up. He blasted both Bido and Bojack only a few meters away, but enough space for Trunks to move once again. Trunks' eyes seemed to glow while he bellowed and the rage only intensified.

"Time to die puny human," Bido declared as he prepared his finisher. He extended one hand and charged the blast.

Trunks turned and kicked the approaching Bojack back but sprung off the green-skinned alien's carcass to punched Bido's sternum in. Trunks' lips formed a feral grin as he gripped Bido's extended hand. "You will pay for what you did to Gohan," Trunks growled out in low voice, speaking for the first time since transforming. Trunks shifted in midair and pressed his soles into the slightly caved in sternum of Bido and pulled on the wrist he held captive.

Bido screamed while attempted to free himself, but the pain on his sternum kept him in place. Before he knew it he saw as the gold-haired fighter flew back with his arm in tow. His opponent had literally ripped his arm out of his socket. He let out a high-pitched cry as he gripped the remnants of his arm. He looked down at his hand coated in his purple blood. Bido turned back to the animal in front to see him holding his arm up for inspection.

Trunks brought the limp arm up to see before throwing it up followed by a Ki blast, effectively destroying it. He watched as all four roughed up enemies float in front of him.

Bujin and Zangya looked at Bido's missing piece of anatomy with wide eyes. "What happened?" asked a worried Zangya. They were teammates after all so she did care at least to a certain degree for her group, even if they were notorious space pirates.

Bujin, in a similar state of mind as Zangya, glared at the floating foe. "We have to end this now," he whispered before moving out to one side of Trunks, no longer was he acting all high and mighty after seeing the condition of Bido. Once he was in position he threw both hands forward and weaved the strings that would spell the end for Trunks. Zangya flew to the other side and followed his example. Bido lifted his remaining hand and helped as well.

Bojack could care less that Bido got injured; since, he figured it was probably because of Bido's own weakness. However it did provide him with the best opportunity to finally put an end to Trunks, and he would be one step closer to controlling this planet.

Trunks took note that he was surrounded but didn't move, smugly thinking he was stronger anyways. This proved to be a bad assumption as he noticed he was being wrapped by something invisible once again. By the time he noticed his error, it was too late, and he was restrained while being drained by all three at the same time.

Bojack floated in front of the time traveler and began pummeling into Trunks all the while the demi-Saiyan continued to struggle against the Psycho Thread to no avail.

Down on the ground, Gohan continued his struggle to stand. He shook his head of blurry image presented in front. The blue aura blazed around him as he sat up, and he could feel his daughter pushing for him. He felt almost nauseous seeing the puddle of blood around him and spit the liquid that had accumulated in his mouth. Gohan took note that breathing was quite difficult in his current state and the blurriness was not disappearing completely.

"Why? You had accepted our end!" shouted Cell. "We could have rested for eternity! Away from the battles that plagued our nightmares, so tell me why did you turn your back on our glorious end?!"

Gohan licked his dry lips as he responded, "Because I made a promise." He looked up at the furious image of Cell. In a low tone he continued with difficulty, "I promised that I would be here for Pan; no matter what is happening to me, she is more important. I said that I would fight for her till my…last… breath. And as difficult as it is to breathe right now, I'm still breathing so I can't quit."

The blue aura dispersed and Gohan remained in his seated position with only a few strands of red bolts around. He lifted two finger of his left hand and formed a small ball of Ki at the tip that emanated a great amount of heat. "To die right now would be selfish of me for not taking her feelings into consideration and…" He directed the small ball of heat to the orifice on his right shoulder. He gritted his teeth as ball began to seal his wound.

It would be only a temporary fix, but Gohan hopped it would be enough for him to stand once again to battle without the fear of dying from bleeding out. He exhaled repeatedly after it was done and carried on his previous monologue, "…and I won't subject her to that pain of losing a fathar that I'm too familiar with. I made a vow and I won't break it!" He moved the ball to the other side of the wound and pressed it to shut it as well. Moving his arm was difficult, but Gohan pushed through it. Once sealed, Gohan took what little feeling he had in the other hand and also began to do the same with the other openings.

"You fool! She doesn't need you. In fact, if I'm not mistaken, originally you were going to watch over her from afar. You could have watched over her from the other world."

Gohan passed his forearm to clear the sweat that had formed on his forehead. He chuckled as he responded, "I think that shout from earlier disproves that she doesn't need me. I know I said that I could protect her from a distance, but Bulma made me realize that while someone can protect another from afar, that isn't really a father. I'm Pan's father first and foremost, and I take my responsibilities seriously!"

The young Saiyan, once all opening had been plugged for the time being, stood up on his own two feet with a bit of a wobble. He looked up and watched as Trunks and Bojack's crew continued their melee. He watched as Bujin move to one side of Trunks and the other soon make similar actions around Trunks. Gohan only figured out it was Trunks above because he recognized his Ki again, but it came to a shock to see him in his current form. Though he noticed his internal energy was depleting rapidly and Trunks would soon lose his Super Saiyan transformation.

Gohan's attention came back down to the image of Cell in front of him. "You know you were right about one thing. Even though it pains me to accept it, you part of me; a part I wish I didn't have since you're twisted and wicked but still part of me. I realize I have to deal with you once and for all if I ever want to be free of your influence once again." The young Saiyan lifted his hand where some remaining bolts of red lighting converged. "Piccolo was right, you are my doubt personified. How you are standing in front of me I do not know, but that is who you are."

"I've questioned every decision I've made in my life. I wonder the life I could have had if I didn't fight, but that was not to be my path." Gohan inspected his tender muscles where he was impaled by tensing every so often in order to see if they felt better. With each minute passed he sensed his physical strength was returning. "I thought I had made peace with that part of my history, but you are a reminder that apparently I still haven't, so let's make some peace."

"Since the battle with Cell, I have been lost and with no path. I just didn't know what I was fighting for anymore. When the Saiyans first arrived on Earth, I fought to protect my family because Piccolo said I had a hidden power that could benefit us all. That had been my motivation ever since: if I fought hard enough, then Father and I could return home to our previous life with Mother as a family, but …in the end it was all for naught." Gohan clenched his fist as he spoke.

His voice rose with each syllable spoken. "Now my Father doesn't wish to return. I can't even speak with my Mother because all she cares about is that I stop fighting, so I can study books I have been looking at since I was eight years old! I fought to protect my family's unity!" Gohan spewed at the image of Cell. "I gave up everything! My childhood, my innocence, and my body in the hopes that my sacrifice would be rewarded with the family I once had!"

"All I wanted was my family back," Gohan mumbled with his head down. "But… I can see that will never happen. I've lost that family, forever." He tried swallowing the knot in his throat.

He picked up his head up again to look ahead. "So I lost my path and purpose. You once asked me, why I fight now? I can never get my parents back, like the family we were when I was five, but I got a new purpose now. That purpose is named Pan. She is my family now, and I will do everything in my power to make sure she lives a happy life."

Cell recoiled at the mention of Pan's name. "And who's to say that you won't fail her as well?" He heard a crack, and he look down at his hand that began fractured before his eyes.

"That's possible." Gohan begrudgingly accepted. "But if I lie down and die then I know for sure that I have failed her." Gohan began to take step after step towards Cell, and the battle behind the android.

"You're a fool," Cell remarked at the approaching Gohan. The break began splinter and spread up his arm, while cracks began to appear in other areas as well.

Gohan began picking up speed as he barreled towards Cell. He felt stronger with each step he took. "I would be an even bigger fool if I let my doubts control me. I was stupid for ever listening to you... but no more. Goodbye, I am your puppet no more!" He took one last step and flew at the glowing image of Cell. As Gohan passed the image of Cell, the phantom of doubt that had been haunting him, exploded into a million pieces. The last traces of red lightning dissipated at the same time.

The young Saiyan sensed the barriers that had kept him down for so long suddenly disappear. No longer did he feel that weight of confusion and lack of purpose restricting his soul from achieving his true power. The pool of Ki was finally at Gohan's disposal, and he wasted little time to make use of it and transform.

While Gohan soared towards Trunks, whom was being pummeled by Bojack, he noticed another pod bouncing off the walls of the nearby building and finally heading towards Zangya. She managed to kick the pod in another direction, but her concentration was broken and her hold on the Psycho Threads had been disrupted.

Gohan managed to get the drop on Bojack by driving the soles of his feet into Bojack's back, earning him groan of pain from the red-haired giant. The demi-Saiyan launched a series of Ki blasts to break Bido's and Bujin's hold on Trunks. The trio scattered so Gohan had a brief moment with the now un-transformed Trunks.

"I got you," exclaimed Gohan as he grasped the falling Trunks. Gohan looked at the time traveler and noticed all the bruise and blemishes all over the exposed skin as well as the multiple openings. For a lack of words, Trunks had seen better day.

Trunks slowly opened his eyes and softly mumbled, "Gohan." The lilac-haired young man was barely aware of his surroundings.

Gohan's feet touched the ground and he set the older demi-Saiyan down. "Yeah it's me. Don't worry Trunks; I'll make sure these guys pay."

"I thought you were dead," Trunks grumbled with a cough. "I thought I had failed once again."

"I was almost gone for a second, but I'm back and better than before. Thanks Trunks, for holding them off for as long as you did. Rest now my friend." Gohan looked up and noticed all four were together and glaring down at him.

"Gohan…" Trunks struggled to get the younger Saiyan's attention. "Listen, you have to be careful of them surrounding you. They have this ability to wrap you in something invisible that seems to weaken you."

"I will. Thanks."

The slayer of Cell floated back to their level. "I was taught to give people a second chance and turn the other cheek, but I see none of you are willing to give up your destructive path. To let you leave this planet would only mean that my planet is safe, but the universe is still at risk and other planets might not have a strong enough protector, so your reign of terror ends here by my hand."

Zangya laughed, "A few minutes ago you were on a one way trip to the otherworld. What makes you think you can win against us now."

"I'm better now," Gohan replied. He clenched his fist as he prepared to dash at them.

Bojack smirked as he gave the signal for his henchmen to attack. All three flew at the lone Saiyan in an upside down triangle formation with Bido at the bottom.

The teal-eyed Saiyan charged two blasts and threw it at Zangya and Bujin. Zangya managed to deflect it in a different direction and continue her scurry, but Bujin impacted the blue sphere. Bido threw his only fist forward at Gohan, but the Saiyan gripped his wrist.

A moment of fear passed Bido's facial expression as he remembered the way he lost his other arm, but to his relief Gohan instead began to spin while holding his wrist. Finally the young demi-Saiyan released Bido into the rushing Zangya, and both fell from the sky.

With the three minions disposed at the moment, Gohan arched an eyebrow at crossed-armed Bojack. The young Son disappeared and reappeared behind Bojack attempting to also slam him down. Just as Gohan's interconnected fingers could land, Bojack turned and held the Saiyan's merged double fist up. His large hand encompassed Gohan's hands as he snickered.

Bojack with his free fist punished the captive Gohan. The eleven year old for his part took the hits until he found his opportunity to strike Bojack's chin with his knees. With little time, Gohan managed to break Bojack's hold and quickly chant Masenko to push the surprised pirate down.

Gohan sensed Zangya behind him, so he dropped a little to let her pass overhead enough to then smash his fist into her midsection as it passed above. As she curled into her stomach, Gohan grabbed her by the boots and dived down. Finally reached the desired speed, Gohan launched Zangya into a clock tower, utterly destroying the building.

Suddenly Gohan felt something coiling around him. It was then that he turned to see a bloodied Bujin smiling with his hands pointed out to him. He struggled to free himself by force but it only seems to get worse.

"It's over," Bujin gloated. Bido followed suit, as soon as he was on his own two feet, in trapping Gohan.

Teeth grinded past one another as Gohan lowered to the ground below. Zangya arrived to complete their triangle formation around him. Bojack took much glee in seeing Gohan trapped and began applying the same punishment as he did with Trunks.

Gohan tried to dodge to his best efforts, but the threads allowed little movement. Also when he powered up, his restrains seem to grip tighter around him.

Bojack gripped both sides of the Saiyan's head and butted heads repeatedly. The rogue leader pulled back to see the damage he had inflicted. It brought a smile to his mug to see a trail of red cutting across Gohan's face.

Soft groans escaped the Saiyan's mouth as Gohan tried to keep his Super Saiyan transformation up. Every time closed his eyes, Gohan could hear the cries of Pan resonating. With one might yell Gohan broke the threads on his arm and pulled it up to stop Bojack's fist in its track.

The green-skinned alien jumped back and prepared to blast Gohan away with his signature move. With two large orbs of energy, he pulled them to the center and emitted a blast to disintegrate the Saiyan. The pillar of energy dragged Gohan's body across the remains of the city.

The minions of Bojack stood at a distance from their leader and inspect the trench he created. Their facial expression didn't betray any emotion since they were used to Bojack's power in all their years of destruction.

"Think he is finally dead?" asked the one-handed Bido. He was still gripping his shoulder and the remains of his arm. "I'm starting to see black spots."

"Of course he is dead you fool," Bujin happily chipped in.

Zangya continued looking in the direction of the Saiyan, "We can't underestimate him. This is the second time we thought he was dead, only for him to return." She let out a breath of air as she continued, "I'm getting tired of this planet. Master Bojack can't we just kill all of them and be done with it?"

"Do as you wish," Bojack replied. It irritated him that his henchmen just didn't see the good in prolonging the death of an opponent.

Zangya turned to the other unconscious warrior on the battlefield, but was stopped by Bujin's gasp. She turned to see the rocks and pieces of the destroyed buildings begin to float, all in the direction where the gold-haired fighter had been sent.

An onyx-haired Gohan spit out the dirt and blood that pooled in his mouth. His white aura did it's best to lift he rocks that had fallen on him. He inhaled but quickly regretted it when he felt a sharp pain in his left pectoral. He turned to his side and found a cowering man with a huge afro behind some rubble but ignored him for the time being.

'Damn it, they opened up again,' Gohan concluded as he inspected his previous wounds. 'It's now or never.' With one gutted scream he pushed past the limit of his base form and into his Super Saiyan stage. All the rocks, which had been gravitating around the young Saiyan until now, exploded in all direction as Gohan transverse into the elusive second level.

"RAHHHHH!" For the second time in one day, the entire island of Cash-Land began to rumble.

Bujin made a dash to capture the Saiyan in his Psycho Threads, but was sent careening back from the hurricane-like winds, byproduct of the transformation. When he got up he saw a large dust cloud surrounding with occasional bolt of blue lighting.

The Super Saiyan two opened his eyes and saw the familiar blue lighting around his hands. He smiled while clenching his fist a couple time. In a loud enough voice, Gohan remarked, "I was so caught up in my own personal problems that I failed to realize the dangerous situations I was in." Out of the smoke walked Gohan at a leisure pace. "So focused on what was happening internally, that I allowed you fools to get an upper hand, as briefly as it was. I'm speaking in past terms, of course, because your time is up.

"I promised a safe world for my little girl, and not you or anyone else will stand in my way of delivering on that promise. As I look around this field, I see there is nothing redeemable about any of you, so the only option I'm left for you is DEATH!" Gohan disappeared from his current path and sped in front of Bido. Before Bido could even let out a startled gasp, Gohan disintegrated him with one orb of Ki. Only a trail of smoke remained of the tall member of Bojack's crew.

The small turban-wearing member shook in his place. Bido had just been wiped out in an instant. Still with the Saiyan's back to him, he decided to take advantage and capture the young Earthling. He got closer and cracked a small smile when he secured Gohan in his thread, but his victory was short lived when Gohan turned and the fibers ripped apart.

Gohan walked towards the smallest of the group. He could see Bujin desperately trying to use the same trick over and over, but Gohan passed each layer until he was right in front of the blue-skinned fighter.

"If it's any consolation, at least you and your friends will perish quickly rather than agonize for hours like some of my friends today have suffered. Count your blessings," assured Gohan.

Bujin's eyes open widely as he saw two large blazing blue spheres grow in front of him. Even though he wanted to escape, his legs just wouldn't move. By the time his legs started responding, it was too late as the two orbs merged in a larger one and engulfed him.

Gohan looked over his shoulder, only Zangya and Bojack remained. He could see the terrified expression of Zangya, while backtracking into her leader. Bojack, on the other hand, held no emotion even as two members of his pack died.

When Gohan began gliding at them, Bojack took the initiate to push the cowering Zangya forward, as a distraction, while also launching his own Ki blast. Zangya didn't even have time to scream as she perished by the hand that once had led her through the destruction of the universe.

Gohan just batted the blast to the side when it got close enough and stopped a few meters away. "Quite sad that you would resort to such cowardly tactics"

"They were all weak," barked Bojack as he laughed. "Mere peons in the grand scheme of things, but you will soon join them along with the rest of this planet." He launched orb after orb of energy at the young Saiyan. "DIE!"

A large sphere descended upon Gohan. He just watched as the green blast got closer, the sounds of the insane laughter by Bojack were very apparent on the battlefield.

Bojack saw with great glee when the ball exploded upon impact with the ground. His laughter came to an end when he felt a great discomfort in his abdominal area. His eyes slowly came down to see a fist stemming from said area. He turned to the Saiyan behind him and asked, "How?"

"I'm a lot faster than you think in this stage." Gohan pulled his hand out and watched as Bojack stumbled forward. "Unfortunately you can't take this planet since I need it for the time being." He placed both hands on his forehead and began chanting the technique he learned from Piccolo all those years ago.

"This is not my end!" shouted Bojack in anger as he gripped his stomach. "This world will burn!" He turned to Gohan and summoned any remaining Ki into one final Galactic Buster.

"Goodbye Bojack, and good riddance!" boomed Gohan while his yellow blast hurdled towards Bojack.

The injured Bojack attempted to push back, but it wasn't enough as his attack and Gohan's turned on him. With one final scream, the living universe was purged of the genocidal Bojack and his demented group.

Gohan watched as the blast flew into the distance before destroying a different sector all together. He released the transformation and immediately landed on all four as he heaved whatever buildup in his throat. A slightly paler Gohan fell unconscious on the ground a few moments later. Most of his previous wounds had reopened. 'At least the battle is over,' passed through Gohan's mind as he closed his eyes.

"And so I screamed at them, GET OFF MY PLANET!" boomed Hercule to paramedic attending him and those that stood near Hercule as he spewed his take on the events that transpired. "You should have seen how fast they ran with their tails between their legs. Bwahahaha!"

"Sir, but we found you unconscious. How come the other competitors are so hurt, while you only have some scratches?" asked a confused security guard. The scarred battlefield was now littered with guards and paramedics attending to all the injured. Security was finally able to find their way to the Battlezones, and the paramedics rushed to help the hurt.

Hercule turned to the small security guard with a fierce scowl. "Are you calling me a liar?"

The Cash-Land employee shook his head violently denying any wrongdoing. "Of course not sir! I was only trying to …to …ah…" He looked in all directions for any backup from those around, but after a few seconds he realized he was all alone, questioning Mr. Satan's tale. The guard meekly shied into the background.

"Yeah, I didn't think so!" Hercule boasted. "None of you realize how difficult it was to fight those villains, so I took a small rest after such a ferocious battle! Is that a good enough reason why you found me unconscious, eh boy?"

Most choose to distance themselves from the guard that dared question Mr. Satan, while the security guard in question tried to make himself as small as possible under Hercule's glare.

"As for the others, well most got in the way…" the fake hero trailed as his eyes met a scowling Tien. "You know what guys, how about we take this up to the stage above to give the people the good news." Hercule all but ran from his current position.

Krillin walked up to the cross-armed Tien. He rested a hand on the twitching three-eyed warrior's back.

"I just don't see the point of letting that clown take the credit. To let him run his mouth," sneered Tien to the short fighter. "Are you sure Gohan wanted this? I know he and Goku are not the attention-seeking type, but I don't think even they would condone his actions."

Krillin exhaled, "Hey, you got me, but that is what I heard from Chichi. She said that Gohan had specifically stated he would hunt us down if we devolved what truly happened. Personally, we've seen an angry Gohan enough times to know that whoever is in his line of sight, which dared cross him, doesn't live long after.

"I'd like to continue in this realm for as long as possible. I'm really trying this time to break that seventeen year streak of continuous living before my next death," laughed Krillin.

The short fighter's dark humor managed to at least draw a small smile from Tien. "Keep your head down and you just might just break your all time record. Still, I don't like that blowhard."

"None of us do," replied the nose-less warrior. "I'm more hurt that Gohan didn't let one of us take the credit instead if he didn't want it. I mean just think about all that money, and I'm sure at least I could bring some honor to the role, more so than the current airhead parading himself around, like he did anything."

Two sets of stretchers, being carried by a person on opposite sides and a multitude of other emergency workers, ran by both warriors. It carried both demi-Saiyans in each cot. One of the medics ran while yelling into a small communicator, "I said I need two Airships when we get to the surface! I have two badly injured competitors, and one in desperate need of a blood transfusion!"

"I don't think I'll ever get used to the sight of Gohan in his current state, or Trunks," lamented the small fighter. "Poor guys."

Tien closed his eyes while nodding. "It just means that we have to increase our regimen if we want to be more than eyesore. Speaking of eyesores, I don't see Piccolo or Vegeta anywhere. I was sure I felt them on their way when I lost consciousness."

"Oh right," Krillin stated with a snicker. "You missed a great sight. Vegeta woke up to some medic injecting him, and he freaked out. He kept jumping up and down holding his arm up while scream incoherently at the syringe every few seconds. Piccolo, wisely, got up after Vegeta's wails and said something about getting Senzu beans before he blasted out of here."

"Really?" Tien asked with a bigger smile, imagining the proud Prince doing said action. "So what happened next?"

"Well the guy that injected him, desperately, tried to stop Vegeta, but he was rewarded with a kick for his actions. Finally he was able to pull the needle out, but Vegeta promised a slow and painful death before also flying away to mend his wounded ego."

Both warriors shared a laugh at Vegeta's expense. Tien's eyes landed on Yamcha, who was being treated not that far away. He seemed to be waving away the emergency personnel, which kept probing his broken arm.

"Hey, I'm going to check up on Yamcha to make sure he is okay," Tien relayed.

Krillin nodded, "Alright, tell him the magical taste-less Senzus are on their way. He will be back to normal before he can say 'Arise Shenron.' I'm going to follow Gohan and Trunks before the doctors get a hold of two living Saiyan-hybrid specimen and start getting any ideas." The short fighter ran in the direction the medics took both demi-Saiyans.

Tien made his way to the ex-desert bandit. As he got closer he heard Yamcha grunting before snapping at the young worker, "I said let it go!"

"Sir I'm only trying to help, but I can't if you resist," he responded calmly. "The bone seems to have snapped and we have to take you for surgery."

Yamcha used his own good arm to grab the young medic by the collar and pulled him in. "Let…me…go." He pushed him back onto the other emergency personnel waiting to load Yamcha onto their cot.

Yamcha stood up and began walking away. The paramedics protested this movement, but Tien got in their way. He held an arm out for them to stop. "I'll talk to him, just give us a second."

"Hey Yamcha, you okay?"

"Am I okay he asks," Yamcha repeated with sarcasm-filled tone of voice. "Does this look okay to you," he barked while waving his broken limb. The desert bandit huffed as he kept walking in no direction in particular.

"Don't worry; Piccolo is already on his way with the Senzu beans. They can fix broken limbs for sure," Tien attempted to assured his fellow warrior.

Yamcha let out a dry laugh before turning to the three-eyed fighter. "It's that easy huh? One small bean and everything is forgotten, no pain, no problem right?" He shook his head as he continued, "I can't…I told you, I can't do it anymore. I'm sorry, but I'm done."

He choked up a little as he sat down on a nearby rock, "We had to rely on Gohan to bail us out… again. A child, Tien, is more powerful than we will ever be. This is younger man's game, and in order to play you have to have alien blood circulating in your veins, something neither one of us has."

Tien retorted, "Gohan has been training since he was five, and yes the Saiyan blood inside him helps him improve by leaps and bounds, but that doesn't mean we are worthless." The three-eyed fighter crossed his arms in front of Yamcha. "So stop your little pity party and open your eyes to all the good we have done. You're right, maybe we won't be the ones to take down the next enemy, but I remember that today we faced against a second… or third… or whatever number, alien invasion. And guess what, we are both still here and alive. We faced against them, and for a brief time held our own.

"That gives me hope that I can still be of some use in the future, so long as I keep my head up and keep training. I hate that we have to rely on a child to fight our battles, but he is the only one that could help us, and honestly the only one I trust this world to. Piccolo may have come a long way, but I can't shake completely the image of what he once was, and Vegeta… do I have to say more."

Yamcha shook his head. "Gohan is the only one I trust, out of those three."

Tien continued, "But we don't have to leave everything on the shoulder of one boy. I believe…truly believe… that if I continue this path, then maybe one day I will be more than a distraction, and even if that never happens then I'll be the best damn distraction there ever was. You don't have to be the strongest Yamcha, no one is asking you to give more than you can."

Yamcha inhaled as he looked up. He stood up and rested his one good hand on Tien's shoulder. "Then I guess you're a better man than me, because you can still see the positive against overwhelming odds. I wish you the best of luck, my friend." He walked past Tien.

"Yamcha! Are you really going to turn your back on all of us?!" yelled Tien, his back to the ex-desert bandit.

The scar-faced fighter licked his dry lips and swallowed. He gripped his broken limb closer to his chest. "There must always be an end to everything, and this is my last stop… tell Gohan and Trunks, that I'm very proud of them, and also of being able to call them 'comrades'." Yamcha took off.

Tien closed his eyes and bowed his head.

AN: I know a lot of people wanted Pan to show up on the battlefield, but I chose to keep her from going for one specific reason; she is only four years old. There was an early version of this chapter, where she arrived at her father's side and cheered him on as he made his triumphant return, but it ended with Gohan killing Bojack and the others like canon, and I didn't think that should be a sight a little girl like Pan should be seeing, at least not yet. Keep her innocence just a little longer away from how the real world works. Also Gohan is a bloodied mess during this fight, and she will get scarred enough when she see him in the hospital in his 'cleaned' up version, so I didn't see the point to breaking her even more. I hope that those that were hoping to see Pan understand why I left her out of it.

Another thing I wanted to address is the angst the story spiraled into. It was never my intention for Gohan to arrive at this level of angst, or Cell having such a big role. Originally Gohan was suppose to be more fun loving and joking, but I started to see the story slowly shift in the current direction. I understand that tragedy and pain (or angst) in a story are a tool that when used correctly can make the characters come to life. That everything is not perfect or ideal. That's not to say that there was never an intention of bring some angst, but not to this level. The people that I talk to can vouch that in recent chapters, I felt it was getting out of hand with the angst, but I couldn't do anything because the story was already pointing in that direction and to recon it I needed to dive deeper. Have one last tipping point before Gohan wakes up from his self-induced torture, and maybe, just maybe, he will come out of this a stronger man. I really hope that is what I conveyed during this chapter. Angst is a great tool for storytelling and making people feel character's pains, but too much can be a great negative to a story, and I felt that this story reached past the limit, a while back. I apologize to anyone that thinks I went too far, and thank you for giving me a chance (by continuously reading each chapter) to right the wrongs and set this story closer to the original vision of this story. There will still be some hurdles in the next sagas, but my hope is that the story never spiral out of control like it did in this saga.

So we finished the Bojack Unbound saga, and the next chapter will focus on some of the backlash from this tournament, and maybe even mother and son will be meeting; that is if I don't run out of space. Thank you to all that read until now, and especially to those that reviewed, as your words fueled me to continue. Let me know what you liked and disliked to help me improve in my storytelling as well.

Dear Aaron Leach,

Thanks man :)

Dear ,

Thank you very much!

Dear The Fantastic Altruist,

I know, I've seen that Zangya is usually forgotten about, and I always find it odd given that she is one of the few female antagonist of the series. It's not until recently that I've seen people begin to use her more often in their stories.

Honestly I just imagined ominous music, but that track does sound better for that scene.

Dear dapmitidp,

...and Gohan will certainly never give up as long as he keeps his purpose in life up.

Dear jack hopper,

Like I said, Cell was never suppose to get such a big role in my story, but I saw such a great reaction from him in the reviews that I contemplated on expanding his original goal. I'm sorry that you didn't find his appearance all to appealing, but for now, Cell will not be a problem.

My reasoning was that Gohan was suffering from power surges because of the doubt he is well known for (plus a few other things I'll be explaining in the next few chapters). I needed an entity that represented Gohan's biggest failure, and while Cell is Gohan's biggest victory; in the end Cell took from Gohan something irreplaceable, thereby making Cell his biggest defeat to date. Also the image of Cell provided with someone methodical and evil enough to torture Gohan with his past sins.

Things will get better from here on out.

Dear IxiaLiliana,

I hope you get a good read out of this story. Let me know what you think.

Dear SinisterofRAGE,

I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I know I wanted to add Pan, but as I stated in the above AN, I felt that I wanted to preserve her image of her father rather than show her the evils of the world so early on. It's what I think Gohan would've liked. I hope that it's still enjoyable.

Dear ThatCrazyBrit94,

Thank you so much for the compliment. I strive to make this as unique as I can.

Dear SaintMichael95,

I know you have been struggling through the last few chapter, and thank you for still reading, but it's done. I hope the fix wasn't too sudden and unbelievable.

Dear kidneysrgood,

Yeah... it got a little out of control.

Dear Laurena Garret,

I'm glad you liked what you read and got hooked. I hope you like this one as well.

I'm done, let me know what you guys think.