"Hold him down!" Bulma yells, ripping the cap off of a syringe. ChiChi presses down on her son's arm with all her might, but mortals weren't made to hold their own against Saiyans. Gohan raises his arm in a spasm, ripping free of a restraint and sending his mother airborne. Yamacha catches her effortlessly, returning to the floor. Bulma gets in close, and stabs Gohan in the neck. A purple fluid slowly drains into his system, no residue left behind. The half-Saiyan calms down immediately, and Bulma sighs. "He's stabilizing." The atmosphere calms...until Gohan flatlines.

"My baby!" ChiChi yells as Bulma rushes for a drawer. "Yamacha, begin CPR!" She orders while getting another syringe. Yamacha gets to Gohan's side, and then stares at Bulma. "How the hell do you do that?!"

"Get out the way!" Bulma grunts, knocking Yamcha away with her butt as she stabs the IV. Clear adrenaline bleeds into the wire, and Bulma gets out shock pads. "Clear the area!" Without waiting, she administers the charge. ChiChi feels sick, and slides to the floor. The white lights of the hospital room seem awfully bright all of sudden, glaring even. Bulma working tirelessly at Gohan's side, struggling to resuscitate him. If he dies...for good….ChiChi passes out. Bulma faintly notices, but right now Gohan is the priority. 40 seconds have gone by. Brain damage and cell death will occur in a full 3-5. minutes. More adrenaline. CPR. Charge. Repeat. "Come on Gohan!" Bulma yells, pressing more. Sweat beads drop onto his sweat-drenched tank top, and they're hers. 2 minutes later, and Bulma begins to give up hope. "I'm losing him. No, he'll pull through. He's Goku's son after all." She shuts down on the thought, but not before she thinks, "and he's the one that did this to him…"

"Gohan, don't do this!" Bulma shrieks, and with a last ditch effort, she slams her fists on his heart.

The machine beeps. Bulma, exhausted, looks up at the screen, disbelieving. He was alive. Gohan was alive! Happy and proud, she starts cleaning up the area, until she notices one thing, he didn't scream when she hit him. Dreading her hypothesis, she flicks his knee. No response, even if he was unconscious. Light in his retina, normal response. Bulma covers her mouth. Gohan was in a coma.

"We have to find the Dragonballs." Piccolo says as they touch down. The soft grass of Capsule Corp. has lost its charm on Piccolo, who loved massive expanses of nature. Gohan's illness sapped his happiness just as a drought would a forest. Slowly, but surely. Krillin nods at the suggestion, shrugging his muscular backside. "No problem Piccolo. We just have to get the DragonRadar, and we can go."

"I'll guard Gohan in case Cell comes here to the best of my ability, and let you know of his movements if we can track him." Trunks offers, but Piccolo waved the thought away. "No reason. Cell already poisoned him, he's not going to come here and finish the job. Currently you're the strongest Saiyan left; I don't trust your father. If we run into problems going for the Dragonballs, I'll need you." Trunks walks on in silence, saving his energy. That fight took a massive toll on his Ki, and he'd need a little rest if he was to fight any adversary. Upon coming through the doorway, Tien greeted them. "I'm guessing we lost?" was his raspy question. Trunks nodded. "We tried though."

A little glance over their shoulders. "Where's Goku and Vegeta?"

"My dad went to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber to train. Goku...he didn't make it."

All of Tien's eyes widened. "He's dead?!" Trunks just walked by him, tired of reciting the same damn answer. It didn't bring him joy saying Goku was gone. In fact, Trunks couldn't find any joy in the world at all. It was pointless, staying. He'd failed. Only thing he could do now is hope he was strong enough to ride this out to the end, and make his way back to his mom after. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you want Piccolo?"

He could sense Piccolo smiling. "Krillin, find the DragonBalls without me using the radar, Trunks and I are going to see a friend."

"Goku?!" Trunks yelled as he gazed upon the Saiyan. Goku flashed an easy-going smile and scratched his head. "Haha hey guys! Wow you guys sensed me fast. Guess all our power levels are like beacons now."

Trunks squinted at his father, who leaned on a wall in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber. He met his son with a nod, and then continued glancing at the floor.

Piccolo folded his arms. "So what exactly happened?" Surprisingly, it was Vegeta who spoke up.

"The Androids were beating Kakarot, even with Trunks and my own energy. Once I felt Trunks slip into unconsciousness, I joined the fight. We were winning, until that blasted fiend Cell showed up. None of us had the energy to continue, so I told Kakarot to run and regroup. If we all died there it wouldn't help anyone. Only he-" Vegeta pointed at Goku with a smirk- "Was way too much of the hero, and demanded I left. Being stubborn, I stayed, at least until Kakarot powered back up again. It was incredible, the might he wielded. He attacked Cell head-on, and I came here. There was no point except to get training prematurely, so I could meet Cell in combat again."

"What are you talking about?" Trunks asked. Piccolo's eyebrows raised.

"Cell is challenging all the warriors of Earth to battle in what he calls the 'Cell Games'. I intend to meet him, and destroy him." Vegeta crunched his hand into a fist.

"Sorry gentlemen-" All the Z-Fighters' heads whirled towards the door. "You aren't invited."

It was Cell, and he had a blast in his hand.

"What are you doing?" Goku asked. His face darkened as Cell smiled.

"Nooo!" He blasted towards the monster with the speed of a bullet, but it was too late. Cell leaped backwards, and in a fluid motion, fired. Goku stopped and crossed his arms to defend himself, but that wasn't Cell's intent. The beam curved upwards, and blew up the door of the Hyperbolic Time Chamber.

"YOU COWARD!" Vegeta howled over the explosion, glancing at the ceiling as if Cell was just on the other side. He readied a blast to blow his way out.

"It's useless Vegeta." Piccolo said. Vegeta looked at him through green eyes.

"It's useless when I say it is Namekian! I still have warrior blood, and it refuses to spend its days stuck in here!" Vegeta begins firing his strongest blasts at the ceiling, creating a firework show of immense proportions. Goku and Trunks join in, powering up to their strongest forms.

"Ka-Meh-Ha-Meh-Ha!"

"Burning-Attack!"

The three Saiyans' power became a light brighter than the Sun, so much Piccolo could see it with his eyes closed and behind his arm.

The ceiling remained intact.

"We're stuck here…" Piccolo chimed again, and walked away. It was hopeless, this room was meant to withstand punishment. All he could do now is sleep, and hope Gohan died a painless death...

Sorry for the hiatus. Till the next chapter- LLL