The year was nearing its end, and there was still no sign of when or where Amat's creation would strike. Gohan would occasionally get visions at night, but nothing of use. Shin and Tsuki were no more informed, and eventually they stopped making appearances.
Gohan's birthday had come and passed. No one mentioned it. His birthday had never been a large affair anyways, but now, now they seemed to avoid the topic.
Everyone, except Piccolo that was.
He was meditating at the foot of the bed as usual when Gohan awoke.
"Happy birthday, kid," he said casually.
Gohan rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "What's so happy about it? I'm still nine."
"Physically, yes. Mentally, no. I have something for you."
Gohan instantly perked up. "A present?" he asked excitedly. Piccolo had never given him a present before.
Piccolo shrugged. "Of sorts, I suppose," he consented. He stood, gesturing for Gohan to do the same before him. Gohan excitedly did so, practically trembling with his giddiness. Piccolo's hand rested on his head and he felt the tingle of soft magic over him. He looked down as himself and smiled broadly.
Gone was the childish gi, replaced with an exact replica of Piccolo's, complete with his own set of training weights.
"You are a warrior, Gohan. You have been for quite some time. It's time to shed the apprentice gi. You will wear one of a master, because that is what you are."
Gohan beamed up at his mentor. "Thank you, Mr. Piccolo! I love it!"
"You're welcome, kid."
Three weeks.
Three weeks of peace was all they were allowed.
As the year drew closer and closer to a close, the three warriors came to the decision that they needed to be together for when the time came. Being apart could welcome being picked off. And so, two weeks after Gohan's birthday, Piccolo and Gohan moved back into Capsule Corp. They trained tirelessly, relentlessly.
And then, at the end of the third week, evil made itself known.
South City went up in smoke in less than a second, a call to the warriors of the arrival of a heartless being.
Angered, Gohan had been hard to retrain from bolting out the door to meet the cause head on. Piccolo had to nearly tackle him to the ground, grabbing him hard around the waist, trapping his arms at his sides.
"You calm down!" he snapped. "You running in there alone is just going to get you killed. You cannot bring those people back by acting rashly."
"It killed an entire city just to get to me!"
Piccolo tightened his hold on the boy, drawing him up to his chest, his heart beating rhythmically against Gohan's back, causing the boy to start the relent and relax.
"Okay. Okay. I'm fine now," Gohan said, hanging his head in defeat.
"Is he done having a tantrum?" Vegeta asked sarcastically from his spot against the wall where he was leaning, watching with his arms crossed over his chest.
"This coming from the grown man who throws a hissy fit when his training room is in need of repairs," Bulma snarked.
"We need a plan of action," Piccolo said, ignoring Bulma's quip and cutting off Vegeta before he could form a retort. "We can't just rush in."
"We can't get any more innocent people caught up in this," Gohan said. "We have to lead it away from civilization. I vote we go to the desert. It's where we fought Vegeta, it's where we fought Broly, where we fought Amat. Seems fitting we fight the next enemy there as well."
Piccolo's ears pinned back. No, I don't want to go there. I lost you there once. Almost a second time. They say third time's the charm, don't they? I can't lose you again.
Contrary to his thoughts however, he said, "I agree."
"Fine," Vegeta said.
"It's going to attack Gohan. There's no doubt in that. He's the primary target; we'll just be byproduct to this creature. I'm afraid Gohan is going to have to do most of the fighting, and you and I will flank him. Try to protect him as much as we can without getting in the way."
Vegeta grit his teeth. "I am not a bodyguard. I am a warrior. I will be involved in this battle!"
"Have no doubt that you will. But it's not going to want anything to do with you but use you to get to Gohan. The most help we can be is to warn Gohan when we see our own attacks come into play, if this being does in fact know our fighting techniques. Maybe fend them off ourselves."
Vegeta looked like he was about to argue again before he nodded tersely. Piccolo had no doubt in his mind that the Saiyan would break this plan, and for a brief second, he worried. If Vegeta died... He couldn't bring himself to care that his life would be lost, but Gohan would be devastated. And god forbid he became how he was when Krillin died.
If they made it out of this, that was.
"We should go before it kills anyone else," Gohan whispered.
They started to make their way to the door.
"W-wait! Guys, wait!" Bulma exclaimed, almost shrilly. "You can't just... you can't just leave! Not without saying...saying goodbye..." she ended quietly. "What if..."
She didn't finish and Gohan made his way to her and hugged her hard around the middle. "They'll come back. I promise they'll come back," he whispered.
"I need you to come back too," she said urgently. "Promise me you'll all come back."
Gohan looked at her with dim eyes. "I promise."
Bulma nodded tearfully. "Okay. Okay." She then turned to Piccolo and embraced him lightly. He stiffened instantly. "I know I don't need to tell you this, but take care of him," she said softly. Piccolo nodded.
She then turned to Vegeta, gazing at him with eyes so full of love that Piccolo had to look away in discomfort. She then threw herself at him, giving a soft sob. "Please, please come home," she whispered. "Please. I can't raise our son by myself."
Gohan turned away from the scene and pulled his weights over his head, Piccolo doing the same and securing their supply of senzu beans to his belt. He looked down at his little mirror image and his heart clenched.
I will protect you.
The three warriors left Capsule Corp. with their kis flared high, trying to get the creature's attention. And then, they all felt it. The strangest combination of ki.
"Is... is that me?" Gohan asked incredulously.
"Yes, that's definitely you. And Vegeta. And me. You said it was made of our DNA, yes? So it'd be natural for it to mimic our ki."
"Well, it's following us," Vegeta said. "So you better pick up the pace."
Gohan upped his speed to the point that Piccolo and Vegeta had trouble keeping up with him. Suddenly, he whipped around and flew between them, thrusting both hands out and unleashing a wave of energy.
Something hit it.
Hard.
A blast that surely would have killed the two warriors flanking the young Saiyan.
And then, the creature made itself known, flying in on a sonic boom. It dropped to a dead halt and locked eyes with Gohan.
It smiled.
"Young Gohan. You're more prepared than I was led to believe you would be," it spoke.
Piccolo decided immediately that it was male. The voice was deep and rich, velvety. Deceiving in its seeming elegance. The being itself was tall, nearly Piccolo's height. The vast majority of his body was a mottled green. His face was ghostly white, like the death he was foretold to bring. His eyes were pink, just as Gohan had predicted, and as he had said, they were cold. Hard as ice, full of hate. Ready to kill. He didn't spare a glance towards the adult warriors. He had eyes only for Gohan.
Piccolo felt protectiveness swell in his chest. The boy would make it through this. He would. Even if it meant Piccolo had to die for him. He began to move closer to Gohan.
"Back off, Namekian," the creature said. "This doesn't concern you."
"You intend to harm the boy. Therefore, it does concern me, you-"
"Cell," he cut off him off. "My name is Cell. Perfect Cell."
"You hardly seem perfect to me," Vegeta snapped. "I don't care who your creator is or what he commands you to do. You look like a bug, and I will squash you like one."
Cell's eyes cut to Vegeta, hard and calculating. "I have no creator," he hissed. "No one commands me."
"Well look at that, brat. The wonders of existentialism," Vegeta said snarkily.
"If you don't mind, Gohan, I will kill him first," Cell retorted flippantly.
Gohan threw his hand up and sent a wave of energy at Cell, sending him back several feet. "You will stay away from them," he growled.
"Here's the situation, child. It's you I'm after, not them. They stay out of my way, I'll stay out of theirs."
Liar. He's lying. He'll kill us all. Piccolo thought. He looked over at his student and was taken aback by what he saw. Gohan's blue eyes were hard and steely, flinty as they glared into Cell's. Never had he seen the boy so resolute in his mission. There had always been a spark of fear behind his eyes. A glimmer of doubt.
Not this time.
Gohan had it in his mind that no one he loved would die today.
And then, in the back of his mind, he heard a voice he had not heard in years.
A legend will save you.
Alright, so I'm sorry this is so short, but this had to be the cutoff point. The next chapter is in the works and should be up hopefully within the next week or so. The delays should be diminishing, as the school year is drawing to a close and I will not be working as a substitute.