This came out a little earlier than expected, so yay!
"Well, should we get this over with then?" Cell asked flippantly.
"No. This is our planet. You play by our rules. We fight elsewhere," Gohan said stonily.
"And where would that be?"
"The desert."
"Trying to prevent as many deaths as you can? It won't matter, little Gohan. Once I finish with you, I intend to erase this planet from existence."
"You can't," Gohan ground out.
"And why would that be, little Saiyan?"
"She won't let you," he answered stonily. "The Lady won't let you. You may be Amat's, but Earth is hers."
"I am above them," Cell ground out through clenched teeth.
"I thought you 'had no creator'," Vegeta said sarcastically.
Gohan's fist whipped up and back faster than Vegeta could see the movement, cracking him in the nose. "Now is not the time."
Vegeta backed up, holding both hands to his nose. "I think he just broke my nose," he hissed nasally to Piccolo.
"Shut up."
Gohan and Cell ignored the exchange. "Well, show the way, Gohan, if that is what you wish. Where you die doesn't matter to me. You will die," Cell said.
"You fly next to me," Gohan asserted. "No funny business. You turn to attack them..."
"You'll what?" Cell teased.
Gohan ground his teeth together. "I'll end you."
"I'd like to see you try. And I will. But you have my honor. I will not attack until we reach your destination."
"Your honor?"
"My honor."
"Alright. This way," Gohan instructed. Cell, true to his word, flew next to Gohan, the Saiyan and Namekian trailing them. Vegeta angrily wiped the blood from his nose, the red of it staining his white gloves. Gohan flew at a quick speed, causing effort for Piccolo and Vegeta to keep pace with them. Piccolo noticed with disdain that Cell seemed to be keeping time with the boy easily.
They reached the desert swiftly, Gohan rapidly descending, Cell on his tail. Vegeta and Piccolo landed beside them. Piccolo put his hand on Gohan's shoulder pad and the boy looked up at him.
"It's gonna be okay, Mr. Piccolo," he said sullenly. "Don't worry about me. Amat may have created this thing, but in a way, he created me too, right? Who better to go up against his monster than his offspring?"
He spat the last word.
And then, glancing at Cell, he lifted his weights over his head and handed them to Piccolo.
"If things get heated and...and it looks like I'm going to lose, you and Vegeta get out of here. Grab Bulma and Trunks, get the ship, and get off this planet. The Lady will take care of you then."
"I won't leave you," Piccolo said sternly. "You will not die by yourself. You will not die."
Gohan smiled up at him weakly. "Don't make a promise you can't keep."
And with that, he turned his back and skimmed over to where Cell waited.
"Are you ready to die, young Gohan?"
"Are you?"
Cell smirked and threw a punch at Gohan, who jumped up and away from it, lashing out with his foot towards Cell's face. Cell deflected it easily, thrusting Gohan away. The boy rebounded easily, landing a blow to Cell's gut.
It seemingly did nothing, for the creature merely landed his own blow to Gohan's chest. They both came away from each other, rubbing the areas the other had punched. Cell reeled his hands back and over his head, unleashing a familiar blast that Gohan easily deflected.
"That's mine. Mine and Gohan's. Masenko," Piccolo said softly. "He does know our attacks."
"Hopefully he sticks to mostly yours then. Gohan knows them all. They're his attacks too. And, well shit," Vegeta broke off. "That's mine," he groaned as Cell unleashed a Big Bang at Gohan. It was no trouble for the child though, who parried it with a Masenko of his own. "Well he took care of that easily enough," he said, almost annoyed. "What we're going to have to watch out for is Krillin's Solar Flare. If he knows that... there's no way to counteract it. You have to ride it out, blind. Only Cell will be able to see."
"Then we'll have to keep our eye out for it."
Gohan landed a kick to Cell's neck, knocking him almost to his knees.
And Cell began to laugh.
"It appears I underestimated you, little Saiyan," he chuckled, standing and brushing himself off.
Gohan cocked his head. "People tend to do that. It's how they get killed."
"Ah, but Gohan, I learn from my mistakes."
"So do I. I used to hold back. No more."
"I will hold you to that."
"So I expected."
Vegeta and Piccolo watched as Gohan and Cell then charged each other, each landing blows and throwing blasts with a ferocity that did not let up. Piccolo found himself clenching his fists in nervousness, something he was not familiar with. His heart clenched every time a blow landed on his boy, or his skin was burned by a rogue blast.
And then, it appeared Gohan was gaining the upper hand. Cell was put on the rebound as the boy flew at him with such anger and hate that Piccolo could feel it in his own stomach.
Until Cell started laughing again.
Brutally, he punched Gohan in the face, sending the boy reeling backwards. He then grabbed him by the forearms and pulled him to his tightly, head-butting him, making Gohan's head snap back. In a final brutal act, he wrapped his arms around the child and began to squeeze. Hard. A cry burst from Gohan's mouth. It ripped through Piccolo's chest and the Namekian found himself growling through clenched teeth, his ki raising.
"Don't even think about it, Namekian," Cell said flippantly as he glanced at him.
Gohan cried out again, louder this time, more pained. Blood spurted forth. Piccolo's muscles bunched in preparation to go fight.
"Don't, Piccolo," Vegeta said sternly. "You going down there will only make it worse, and you know it."
"He's killing him," Piccolo snapped, his whole body shaking. "What would you do if it were your son down there? Would you just let him die?"
Vegeta didn't answer for a long moment. Gohan's cries continued to pierce the air. "We'll attack together. I'll go for the left, you the right."
Just as the two prepared to attack, Cell stopped squeezing, letting Gohan hang limp in his arms. He looked over at the two warriors and smirked. "Are you two so eager to die? Oh yes, I could hear your magnificent scheme. I have Piccolo's DNA, remember? My hearing is most excellent. If you wanted a chance to fight, you should have just said something."
With that, a look of concentration crossed his face, and shortly after, two small beings nearly identical to Cell himself were produced from what looked like a stinger on his back.
"Say hello to my Juniors. They each have a portion of my ki. Not a lot, but substantially more than yours, I assure you. They know all my attacks, and therefore, yours." He turned his attention away from them for a moment, shaking Gohan's nearly unconscious form. Gohan groaned, opening his eyes. "What do you think, Gohan? Would you like to watch your friends die before I kill you?"
Gohan coughed up some blood. "D-don't. Don't hurt them. P-please. On your honor..."
Cell responded by flipping him in his arms, back pressed to his chest. "Oh, it won't be me. It will be my little Juniors. My honor remains intact. Theirs, however... well, let's just say it doesn't matter much to them what happens to your friends. Go on, my little creations. Do your worst," he instructed to his blue mirror images.
"NO!" Gohan cried after them as they took flight.
The two flew together before splitting up, each taking a warrior. One punched Piccolo in the gut right off the bat, causing the Namekian to double over briefly. Vegeta was able to parry his opponents first attack, but when the cretin threw a Masenko at him, he wasn't able to block it fully, taking the brunt of it on his forearm, burning his jumpsuit to his skin.
"Stop! Tell them to stop!" Gohan pleaded, struggling weakly in Cell's iron grasp.
Piccolo threw a heated Special Beam Cannon at his opponent, tearing through its arm. Unfortunately, the cretins had Cell's DNA, and therefore, Piccolo's, and the arm grew back immediately. A blast from Vegeta removed the legs of his Junior, but again, they grew back.
"I cannot even begin to tell you how much I hate your race right now," Vegeta snarled over his shoulder at Piccolo as he kicked the Junior away from him.
Piccolo didn't have a chance to retort as the Junior he was fighting knocked him to the ground. He rolled out of the way just as a Big Bang landed where his head had been, showering him with chunks of land. Vegeta was suddenly beside him on his front. The Junior landed on his back, cracking his armor, and Piccolo was sure, nearly breaking his back.
"Stop! Please stop!" Gohan begged. His ki went up a few notches. Cell didn't seem to notice, but Piccolo, always so fine-tuned to his student, did. His head swiveled to look at the boy before his attention was yanked away by a Special Beam Cannon spiraling towards his chest. He deflected it with one of his own blasts.
"I SAID TELL THEM TO STOP!" Gohan screamed, and this time, his struggles were so strong that Cell had a hard time keeping hold of him. His ki swirled around him in angry golden whirls.
Vegeta was punched in the face and fell backwards.
Piccolo was hit in the chest with a blast, knocking him to the ground.
Neither stood back up.
The Juniors laughed.
"STOP!"
Cell was forced to break his hold on Gohan as his ki pressed on him forcefully. He staggered back a few steps as Gohan's body curled in on itself and he cried out loudly.
Suddenly, his cries turned into one long, pained scream as he stood tall. The Juniors stopped their laughing and the two warriors wearily raised their heads to gaze in wonder.
Gohan stood before all of them, tall and proud, his face fierce with determination.
He had ascended past a Super Saiyan.
So yeah, again a little short, but this is where it needed to be cut off.
Here are some recommended pieces of music to listen to during this chapter. I listened to the first part of Last of the Wilds by Nightwish for Gohan vs. Cell, and then Victory of Life by Future World Music for Cell Juniors fight and Gohan's ascent.