He would never forget those eyes.

Their shape... the vibrant lilac coloring... the ruthless, gleeful, murderous glint hidden deep within their depths. They were eyes he had faced face to face... He hated them. But he could never forget them. No matter how much he wished it was all just a nightmare.

And the laugh.

The jovial laugh that surrounded him... echoing through the mountain range surrounding him. The laugh that sent a chill through him every possible moment. Strong enough to be heard half-way around the world, and deep enough to be only one being.

"Well well, I see you're still alive and kicking," there was no doubt as to who this was. He glared with as much force as he could muster. The purple eyes never wavered, and it annoyed him further. Why? Why didn't he die? This guy was as bad as Frieza! What was it to ask someone/thing to stay dead for once? "Such animosity. Whatever did I do to gain your ill grace I wonder?"

He felt himself growl. He watched the smirk grow on the creature's face. "Do you ever stop talking?" he asked. Was that his voice? It sounded so rough... so dry... weak. That couldn't be him... not against Cell...

"Oh, I apologize. I hadn't a clue I was bothering you, boy," the monster replied, crossing his arms. "You really should speak up. I can barely hear that pathetic squeak of yours. What's the matter? You hit puberty? Goodness."

"Can it," he growled, falling into his familiar defensive crouch. Cell shrugged lightly before turning his back, large wings spread out in an At Ease kind of position. Another small chuckle filled the air around them.

"You're re-using old come backs. And they weren't that great to begin with. And here I thought you were the smart one. I would hate to see some of Goku's... perish the thought," was Cell's retort. The insectoid android glanced over his shoulder, the same smirk ever present. The sun glinted off of him, giving an ethereal appearance, and making the violet eyes much more vibrant.

"What do you want?" his voice sounded even weaker than before! It didn't seem possible... But, despite his apparent audio malfunction, he felt fine. Great even. Better than he had in what felt like years. But... hadn't he been sick? What?

"Oh you know, just this and that," Cell replied with another shrug. His face shifted into an evil sneer. He didn't say anything though. Just continued glaring over his shoulder.

And he, Gohan, continued glaring back.

He felt his senses dull a bit around the edges. An odd sensation, but he ignored it. Pain too, tingled somewhere in his mind, but he blocked it out. He was much to focused on the figure before him. Cell was too dangerous to be allowed to live... he knew that. Cell would not be reached by any form of appeal.

Except death... be it by Cell's own hand, afflicted on helpless innocents, or by Gohan unto Cell.

16 had told him that... reminded him of that fact. Nothing in terms of peace could reach Cell, and it was all down to who was the strongest in a battle to the death. And Gohan had never felt so ready for that battle to take place.

A burning sensation caught him off guard and he felt himself groan in sudden protest. He quickly wrapped his arms around himself and curled into a tight ball. Suddenly the idea of fighting seemed like the worst he'd ever had. How had he even stayed on his feet as long as he did?

Cell was in a similar state though... doubled over, on his knees and coughing. Green tinted skin was reddened, and the wicked eyes were clenched shut. Cell too, was making sounds of protest, including several curses that the young warrior tried to forget as soon as he heard them. Last thing he wanted was to pick them up... his mother would throttle him!

But... he glanced to Cell's side, only to see Cell still standing. Battered, broken... but standing just as confident as he always did. And Gohan shifted his sight to beside him, not as surprised to see himself standing there as he probably should have been; looking worn down, pale, beaten, but just as strong as he'd felt a moment before.

The two squared off, before launching at each other with a flurry of punches, kicks and ki blasts that he could barely follow. They swiped... ducking, dodging... Cell kicked out, and Gohan slid beneath it, using his momentum to carry him into a lopsided roundhouse, coupled with a hard hook with his right and a block on his left. The block caught Cell's retorted swing, and the punch was met with a block as well.

Burning was all he could feel though. Every time Cell landed a blow, he felt the area ignite in a white fire. He could feel Cell's strength dissipate as well, and he knew that the artificial creature was in the same situation.

Cell kicked, half turning himself before delivering another hard kick in the same motion. Gohan swung over the blows in a double helix type move before dipping into a somersault. Using that forward motion, he kicked up into the air, landing a hit to the monster's neck, and then he felt the air rushing around him as his right side flared in fire. The ground didn't hurt as much as figured it would though... more like, a hard, plastic bed really.

He jumped up into the air to avoid being squished by a well placed foot, flipping to deliver an ax-kick to the green android. He could only blink when his other side suddenly flared in pain and he was staring up into the sky once more. He hadn't even sensed Cell dodge.

The sky was darker now... almost a red-violet... and the clouds crackled with electricity. It almost seemed like Namek... in the planet's final moments. The ground was barren too... where as before, there had been scant patches of greenery here and there... there was nothing but dirt and rock now. It felt so hot... Dry...

"Mommy?"

"Shh, it's ok baby..." Chichi was dabbing at Gohan's forhead. The sessions with the chemo radiation had... tough. Painful, for them both. Her son was strong though. He would survive this. He had to.

"Th-thirsty..." he whispered. He hadn't even opened his eyes. He rarely did these days. Only to try and stuff some food down... which was hardly sufficient to call "food" to begin with... he could only hold down light foods... rice and apple sauce mostly... and ice cream. He liked ice cream, but he'd told her it was only because it was cold and went down easy. That admission had stung her more than she'd imagined it could have.

"Here sweetie..." she put the straw in front of him, allowing him to sip a small amount of water before cautioning him. "Not too much or it might not agree with your stomach Gohan..." He could keep only very small amounts of things down... a combination of nausea and the radiation pumping through him, Bulma had explained.

But it was something. Anything was better than nothing... especially in the three weeks he'd been through all of this. It was taking its toll on Gohan, for certain... his beautiful black hair was lackluster and lifeless... framing his face in a way she'd never thought it capable of doing. His skin remained pale, but there were burns on his arms... around his chest... The chemo was burning him.

And it was still too soon to know if this was working. It seemed to be... The cellular mass had apparently died off a bit... but it was hard to tell if it wouldn't mutate and regenerate. Anything was possible.

It was all in all, rather heart breaking for Chichi, and really, any of the group, to watch. A warrior of Gohan's strength, zeal and heart shouldn't be felled by such a tiny little glob of... cells. It shouldn't be possible.

"Get some rest Gohan... I'll wake you up in an hour, alright? You need to get something in that stomach of yours," his mother said gently and sternly, and he nodded ever so slightly in response, knowing she'd catch it. She was good at that.

Only thing was, he didn't know if he wanted to sleep again... the recurring dreams were really messing with his head... he was beginning to wonder if he was actually awake in the battle with Cell and this time with his mother was the actual dream... it was so hard to tell the difference...

But, he felt himself drift off... opening his eyes to the dark sky above him once more.

A/N : A slightly different approach in this story. As I've mentioned, I was afraid of describing this whole chemotherapy thing. So, I decided on this. I know, the two Gohans and Cells thing was probably a bit... confusing. It's supposed to be.

Real quick... I honestly didn't know how I was going to write the treatment. He's a Saiyan (which, I know I've been spelling that wrong... I find it easier to write that than saiya-jin ), and I don't think radiation would have an affect on him... but I'm saying it does. At least for the purposes of this story. Besides, he's only half...