Blood pounded in Krillin's ears.
With shaking hands, he took the red boot from the woman.
"-this outside the bathroom entrance, but I didn't see anyone who looked like your wife in there. Sorry about that."
"Thank you," he croaked, obviously worried. "Thank you for trying."
He took off running, holding the bright shoe closely to his chest. After a few seconds, he didn't bother hiding his abilities anymore. He blasted off into the sky, heart racing as he located Piccolo.
The Guardian of Earth hadn't felt Krillin's approach.
He had sensed a strange energy signal just a few minutes prior; however, it wasn't the same two beings Chi-Chi had encountered. This one felt familiar, but he couldn't quite get a read on it. The signature felt faint, as if being suppressed, which only concerned him more.
"You heard him, Green Bean," Seventeen had said, referring to the Supreme Kai. "No fun for you today. I'll check it out and let you know what's what."
With an indignant huff, Piccolo acquiesced, sending Seventeen off in the direction of the strange energy.
Lost in thought, he didn't notice Krillin slam into him just minutes later.
"What the hell?" Piccolo demanded. His urgency only increased upon seeing Krillin's expression. "Krillin? What happened?"
Seventeen picked his way through the crowd, flirting with the occasional woman along the way.
"He really needs a vacation," he thought, thinking about the hardened Namekian warrior he had been floating next to for the past several hours. "He's even grumpier than usual today."
Nearing the area of interest, the crowd had thinned out considerably. The tournament was obviously well underway at this point, and nobody wanted to miss it.
He looked around, his cold eyes scanning the perimeter for anything out of the ordinary. He couldn't sense energy, but perhaps there were other advantages to being an android.
Heat vision activated, Seventeen's internal computer rerouted its power input, focusing his reserves into the four thermal sensors placed behind his pupils. Moments later, he saw a dark red figure standing in front of him, whom he presumed to be previously obscured from view by a thicket of overgrown palm trees.
"There you are," Seventeen teased, a mischievous smirk smeared across his tan face. Placing his hands on his hips, he called out, "If you're here to play games, then I do have to warn you. I like it rough."
Screams echoed across the stadium as Spopovich continued to beat Videl to within an inch of her life.
Sitting next to Yamcha and Bulma in the crowd, the teen half-Saiyan felt his teeth rattle as he clenched his jaw harder. Yancha was talking to him, gripping him by the forearm, but the boy couldn't hear a word.
"If you help her, the match will be voided. She'll never forgive you, Gohan!"
"Are you serious?" Bulma argued. "She'll get over it, but only if she's alive! Someone has to do something."
"Listen, I know you're friends," Yamcha told the teenager, ignoring his ex entirely. "But Spopovich can't kill her. It's against the rules, and he's obviously here to win. So, she'll be fine, okay? She's a tough kid."
Eyes flashing, Gohan emitted a powerful gust of wind that toppled Yamcha over, releasing his hold. Bulma and several other humans nearby were thrown from their seats completely.
"Gohan, no!" Yamcha yelled, scrambling to his feet.
In a flash of golden light, the half-Saiyan threw himself over the railing and onto the stage.
Unable to sense Gohan's massive energy output, Seventeen turned in reaction to the blinding blast of light behind him.
In one swift movement, Semi-Perfect Cell leapt out of his hiding spot to absorb his last android.
Immediately, his body began to change, a mighty aura flaring up around him. The voices of nearly a million spectators rose all at once as an unnatural wind battered the island.
Gohan, still fighting off Spopovich in his first Super Saiyan form, was relieved to see his mother fly over to check on Videl. The older woman held on tightly to the girl, afraid that the strong change in weather might aggravate her injuries.
The Super Saiyan felt an immense pressure weighing down on his chest, as if a particularly powerful life force was trying to swallow his own. Throwing the gigantic man off of him, Gohan tried to bide time to take in his surroundings. A quick glance told him the sudden change in environment was no natural occurrence. He desperately tried to pinpoint the new influx of energy, but the signature was too powerful and all-consuming for him to properly focus on it at the moment.
The announcer desperately tried to call off the clearly deranged Spopovich, all while urging the attendees to stay calm, but to no avail. Mass hysteria had broken out, only fueled by the fact that Gohan's last attack had snapped Spopovich's neck into an odd angle. Yet the giant simply stood, grinning as he wrenched his head back into place with a sickening crunch.
Adrenaline rushing through his veins, Gohan tried to concentrate on the energy signal once more. It felt familiar- he was sure he had encountered this person before.
His breath hitched as he realized he was sensing his father's energy nearby.
Spopovich lunged toward the half-Saiyan once more, but this time Gohan found himself physically frozen in place. Struggling to break free from some invisible force, Gohan ascended.
His father needs him!
The tiles of the tournament stage shattered instantly, the concrete spraying outward in small clumps of dust and rubble.
The blonde half-Saiyan yelped in pain as he felt a sharp sting in his abdomen, and he felt the very energy draining from his muscles.
Seeing his ally in trouble, Vegeta raced toward Yamu, who held a strange, pointed device up to Gohan's stomach. Before Vegeta could reach the boy, though, Gohan's hair fell back to black, and the force that gripped him vanished.
The teenager toppled to the ground, barely conscious with copious amounts of blood pouring from his waist.
Shin lowered his hands, breathing heavily from the effort it took to restrain an ascended Super Saiyan.
"It is done, Kibito," he said. "Now we must follow Spopovich and Yamu back to Babidi's ship. Will you heal the boy first? We will need his assistance."
Nodding, the large, red man jumped onto the remains of the tournament stage. His long, silvery hair flew upward as Vegeta soared past him, the Saiyan intent on fighting this powerful new foe.
Vegeta aimed a vicious kick at Yamu, only to see it have no effect. Tossing the weapon to his comrade, Yamu squared off with Vegeta, allowing Spopovich the perfect opening to drain Vegeta's energy as well.
From his position on the ground, Gohan heard Vegeta's howls of anger and agony above the cacophony of voices.
Then he heard the voice of his mother somewhere above him, and then Kibito.
And all at once, the insurmountable power ravaging Papaya Island tapered off, stabilizing at a ridiculously high level. The artificial winds and lightning instantly fell still, the dark clouds breaking off and scattering across the midday sky.
A rough hand shook Gohan awake. Or at least, he thought he was awake until he saw Bardock.
"Gohan," the deceased Saiyan urged. "Gohan, I need you to listen to me very carefully. It's almost time, do you understand?"
The half-Saiyan felt dizzy, and he clutched his head with both hands. He didn't remember getting hit in the head while fighting Spopovich, but why else would his head be hurting so badly?
Both hands on the boy's shoulders now, Bardock shook him hard, only serving to further disorient him instead of gaining his attention as intended.
"Gohan?" the man said, frantic. "Gohan, whatever you do, don't-"
Gohan's black eyes widened as Bardock suddenly disappeared from before his very eyes. Looking around, he saw complete and utter destruction. The landscape around him had been decimated, hundreds of trees flattened and burnt almost beyond recognition.
And then a figure flew toward him, a pink humanoid in baggy white pants. With a terrifying leer, the being created a pink energy blast in the palm of his hand. Making eye contact with Gohan, it spoke.
"Die."
The blast collided with the Earth, and the planet exploded.
Gohan could feel his skin being torn from his very body, the muscles underneath broken down and incinerated within just milliseconds. Pain- unimaginable pain- was his only connection to the living world.
And then everything went black.
Suddenly revitalized, Gohan woke with a jolt, shocking the small gathering around him.
"Dad!" Gohan cried, eyes wide in panic. "Where is he? Where-" He felt hands on his back as he struggled, still lying face down in the dirt. His mother pressed his face into her lap, attempting to calm him while Kibito restored the last of his energy.
A tremor ran up his spine, and he found himself speechless.
There it was again- he felt his father's energy.
And Frieza's.
And Vegeta's.
And his own.
"No, no, no!" Gohan breathed. With a weak, invisible blast of energy, he pushed Chi-Chi and Kibito from him. Looking past them, he saw Trunks holding onto Videl's battered form. Gohan jumped to his feet. He whipped his head to the sky, his eyes moving left across the stadium seating.
"It's him!" someone screamed.
"He's back!"
"Where is Mr. Satan?"
"Help! Someone help!"
"Cell has returned!"
Then Gohan saw him. Across the field where the stage sat, those shining purple eyes were looking right at him.
"Why, hello, Gohan," Perfect Cell said. "It's so nice to meet you."
"You can't be-!" Gohan screamed in disbelief. "You can't be alive. I killed you. I killed you five years ago!"
With a dark chuckle, Cell crossed his arms over his chest. "Oh, you want the whole villain speech, don't you?" He took slow, measured steps forward, as if he had all the time in the world. "Very well. I'll let you in on the little secret."
"Get away from my son!" Chi-Chi hissed, jumping in front of Gohan.
"As I was saying, before I was so rudely interrupted," Cell said, clearly annoyed. He cleared his throat, his smooth, charismatic demeanour easily coming back to him. "Where were we? Ah, yes. My origin story."
"How did you survive that blast?" Gohan demanded, referring to the infamous Kamehameha battle that brought the Cell Games to a close. He stepped forward to stand right next to his mother, and she clutched herself to his forearm out of fear.
"And why come back? Why, after all this time?" she demanded.
"Well, that's very simple," Cell said. "I am not your world's Cell."
At this point, Kibito rushed forward, trying to gain Gohan's attention once more.
"Don't," a voice in his head told him.
"But Supreme Kai-" he began to argue, telepathically.
"Now is not the time," Shin answered, voice firm and resolute. "Regroup with myself and the others. Babidi is the bigger threat at hand, and young Gohan will not leave Cell. He must deal with Cell first. We will have to place our faith in Vegeta for now."
Reluctantly, Kibito fled the scene, returning to his master.
"I am from the future," Cell explained. "Not your future, of course. I come from the world of your little Saiyan friend with the time machine- the one you call Trunks."
"What?" Gohan said, gently pushing his mother away. "You stole Trunks' time machine?"
"Yes," came the reply. "You see, he had destroyed the androids after saving your timeline. As you know, I need both androids Seventeen and Eighteen in order to become complete as Gero had intended. So, I killed him and took a trip to his last destination- this timeline as it was five years ago."
Gohan reached out with his senses, only to find the rest of the Z-Fighters occupied nearly half-way across the world. And with them, a new, even more unusual energy shone brightly.
He felt his chest tighten. "Whoever that is, I sure hope they're on our side," he thought.
"Remember how strong the Cell of your time was?" Cell inquired. "That was only after absorbing humans for a few weeks. Now imagine me in hiding, absorbing hundreds of thousands of humans slowly over several years. My creator, Gero, filled me in on everything I needed to know about this timeline. I've learned from my mistakes. Have you, Gohan?"
With a yell, Gohan launched himself at Cell, a rage he didn't know he possessed burning brightly within him.
The tall bioandroid sidestepped the powerful punch aimed for his torso. The two began exchanging blows, and every time Gohan blocked, he felt himself being pushed back slightly.
"He wasn't lying," Gohan silently lamented. "He's much stronger than the other Cell was."
With a kick to the back of the knees, Gohan fell forward, only for Cell to catch him by the hair. Raising his arm, Cell held up the half-Saiyan boy by his black locks alone.
"How embarrassing," Cell drawled. "This is Earth's best? The true defeator of Cell?" Arms falling to his sides, his chiselled face lost all traces of amusement.
Voice hard, Cell said, "You may easily outmatch the pathetic life forms on this planet, but what is a king to a god? What are you, a half-breed child, to a superior being such as myself?"