Meadow

My breathing was becoming ragged. For some reason, no one could sense Locke or George, so we had no idea what was going on. But that wasn't why I was freaking out. Part of it was due to the stomach ache that had chosen a bad time to hit, causing everyone enough concern on its own, but then there was the cold fear that something horrible was about to happen. And with the situation, I knew that if something bad were to happen, it would be to our four Androids.

Vegeta suddenly perked up. "Everyone, outside!" he demanded. "Goten, carry the girl if she can't walk." Despite my reluctance, Goten lifted me up bridal-style and we all rushed outside. Off in the distance, we could see a huge pillar of purple light rising into the air.

"That's definitely Locke's ki," Trunks breathed. "But there's so much..."

I folded my hands over my chest, my heart racing even faster. "Locke, please don't die..."

Cell

A pillar of purple light enveloped Locke, shooting up and tearing through the top of the building. I could just barely see his form inside the light, his roar of anger echoing through the building. Then he started to change. His hair started to grow downwards, growing in volume and reaching down to his knees. Red electricity entered the energy, and the placed his eyes would be lit up red. With one final scream, the light burst, blinding me and pushing me back.

When I uncovered my eyes, the building had been completely demolished. 18 and Sanow both looked scraped, but ultimately uninjured. Then I followed their eyes to Locke. His breathing was heavy, blood continuing to squirt from the holes in his body. His eyebrows were absent from his face, and his purple hair grew backwards, down to his knees.

I was looking at a Super Saiyan Orchid 3.

He panted heavily, then his eyes turned black, but more happened. Black flames billowed from his eyes; it was like the form had evolved from the massive increase in power. Locke readied his battle stance and glared at Sanow. "Let's hurry this up, while I can still keep my heart beating." Sanow's eyes widened with fury and he flew forward, screaming as he threw a punch. Locke caught it, but was pushed back. "Hah... hah... Too bad you messed me up so bad," he panted. "If I wasn't so injured, I'd probably have no problem." He wound his fist back and socked Sanow in the jaw, sending him stumbling back. "Let's get straight to the main event." Sanow screamed again and unleashed a flurry of punches. Each one was blocked, but Locke found himself being pushed back at a steady pace.

Locke

I struggled to keep up with Sanow as his attacks kept coming. Smoke rose from his fists and my hands, our skin burning from the lightning-fast collisions. He pulled back and made to slash with his tail, and I was going to counter, but the action widened my wounds even more, temporarily paralyzing me. That was enough time for him. His tail sliced across my chest, carving right into the cavity behind my ribs. Blood filled my mouth, and I felt my death approaching, but I took advantage of it and spit the blood into his face.

"Aauugh!" he yelled as he was blinded. I wasted no time and rushed behind him, smashing his tail into the ground with my foot and wrapping my arms tightly around him in a death-grip. He struggled, but couldn't break free. After a second, though, he calmed and laughed. "So, what's the plan here? You'll die in less than a minute, by my estimate."

I gritted my teeth. "Yeah, I will. But you aren't getting off easy, either." I started building up energy.

Sanow's eyes widened as he realized my intentions. "Y-you wouldn't!"

Cell seemed to catch on as well. "Locke, no!" he shouted. "Just go get a Senzu Bean and live to fight another day!"

"I don't have time," I informed him, then sighed in embarrassment. "I... don't remember where I put them, and I'll be dead before we find them! I may as well take this c*nt with me!"

Cell stared, his face showing an emotion I'd never seen from him: despair. "Locke..."

I gritted my teeth, but forced a smile. "See you, Dad."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Sanow screeched, but I gave one final roar and released all of the energy I'd built up. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHH!"

Cell

"Locke!" I cried out as the overwhelming light consumed us all.

Meadow

Another light appeared from the same place as the first, but this was a white dome. "Something exploded!" Trunks gasped.

Vegeta gritted his teeth. "That's just like... when I was under Babidi's control. When I..." He shook his head. "I take back everything I've said. That boy has my respect." I looked at him with confusion, finding nothing positive in his tone.

Goten's breath caught, then he slowly set me down and put his hand on my shoulder. "Meadow..." he said quietly. "Locke and George... their energies just vanished."

Cell

I slowly uncovered my eyes. My entire body was covered in burns and raw patches, but that went unnoticed compared to the rest of the landscape. There was no longer any sign of the monument, nor the barren city it had been erected in. Only charred earth remained. And in the center, lay two bloody bodies, smoke rising off of both. I slowly approached the boys, then dropped to my knees.

I picked up Locke's limp form, his eyes still half open, but glazed. Where there hadn't been wounds before, there were now cuts bleeding out his essential body fluids. Desperate, I placed my ear against his chest, but only found cold silence. I slowly lowered him back into my lap and stared. A feeling I'd never before felt tore my heart in two as I gazed upon my son's lifeless face. A single tear rolled down my cheek as I closed his eyes the rest of the way, then more followed.

"Dammit," I cursed. The forming clouds and pouring rain completely evaded my detection. "I finally found something I cared about more than myself... my future wife and son... Now..." My teeth ground together, and I felt my hair lift off of my forehead. "No... Locke, if I'd been here sooner..."

I heard 18 behind me. "Cell... you really have changed."

Her words went unnoticed as I started to sob for the first time in my life. I reared my head up, roaring into the sky. Lightning struck around me. Power surged withn my body, building up until it exploded. "Damn it!"

Meadow

I shook with fright as the booming thunder roared outside. All of the superhumans seemed unnerved by the sudden change in weather, but all I cared about was why my boyfriend and brother had suddenly dropped off of everyone's senses after that huge explosion.

Ms. Brangwen lightly held me, trying to help me calm. "I'm sure they're fine," she assured me, but I could hear the worry in her own voice.

Gohan suddenly perked up and looked out the window. "They're back! And-" He stopped short, his face taking on a look of horror.

We all hurried back outside into the rain, finding a shocking sight. Cell and 18 slowly walked down the path, Cell's hair spiked up into golden locks and his body giving off a golden glow. Then I saw their cargo. 18 was dragging George by his tail, trailing purple blood behind him. And in Cell's arms, wrapped in his favorite white jacket, was Locke. The jacket covered most of his torso, but it's color did nothing to hide the blood soaking through and dripping onto the ground. Neither of the elder Androids would meet anyone's eyes as they came to a stop in front of us.

Ms. Brangwen slowly approached her fiance and son. "Cell...?" Her voice was questioning, trying to ask the question without actually vocalizing it.

Cell's voice came out choked. "I'm sorry, Rachel." Those three words shattered my heart instantly.

"What happened?" I demanded, coming closer. "Why are my brother and boyfriend... unconscious?" I hoped with all my heart that I was right.

Cell couldn't speak, so 18 answered for him. "Sorry to say, Sanow, or George, whatever you call him, got pulled over to the bad guys. For some reason, he was hellbent on killing your boyfriend. I don't know how, but by the time we got there, Locke had already been blasted through his chest several times. He couldn't move at all." I choked as I tried to swallow. "Then Cell's God form ran out, and Sanow made what we all thought was the finishing blow. Somehow, though, he managed to get back up."

Cell finally managed to speak up. "Despite his injuries, he forced his body to transform to the third level of Super Saiyan Orchid, along with an evolved variant of his Noire Form. The two were evenly matched, but Locke was short on time. He used his last resort, and..." He gulped down a sob. "He self-destructed."

My eyes were wide with horror, then I looked down at Locke's "unconscious" body. "He's..." The tears started to flow before anyone even said it.

Cell set him down on the ground and we both knelt down. "Dead," he answered quietly.

I screamed and threw myself on his lifeless chest, hoping to find a beat. When I didn't find one, I hugged him tightly against myself, sobbing uncontrollable. "L-Locke... Don't go..."

Goten

I stared with wide eyes as the scene unfolded before me. Locke was dead. He'd sacrificed himself to take down a pro-apocalypse villain. Cell was crying over his death. "I was wrong..." I breathed. "I was dead wrong..." I bit back a sob of my own. "I'm sorry, Locke. I've been a horrible friend."

Locke

"Ugh..." My eyes slowly opened, and I found myself laying on a couch in a very pink room. "Huh...?" Then the memories came flooding back to me. "Wh-what the-?!" There was no way this was Hell!

"You!" But I've been wrong before. My head snapped around just in time to smack Sanow out of the air as he lunged at me. "You filthy bastard!" he shrieked. "You killed us both! I'll-"

A large red hand snatched him up as he lunged again. "None of that," a heavy voice scolded. I looked up and took a step back at the sight of the giant red man sitting behind an equally giant desk. A name plate on the desk read King Yemma. He set Sanow down on his desk and placed a paperweight on his tail to keep him in place. "Let's see here... here you are; George Fae, AKA Sanow: fifteen years old, died trying to kill your sister's boyfriend for potentially impregnating her."

"Damn right!" Sanow shouted. "Now let me kick his ass!"

Yemma shook his head. "Sorry, but as you have the blood of not an innocent, but a righteous soul, on your hands, and you assisted the Red Ribbon Army out of selfishness, I'm afraid that you're going straight to Hell."

Sanow's eyes widened. "W-wait, you must be joking! You can't send me to Hell!" He pleaded with the giant Oni, only to be picked up again and handed to several muscly Onis in workout gear. "Please, I'll do anything!" he begged as he was dragged away. "I don't want to go down there!"

"Don't worry, pal," one of the Onis assured him. "It's not that bad as long as you behave."

"No!" The doors slammed shut behind them, then Yemma looked to me.

"Would you mind hopping up here?" he asked. I obeyed and jumped onto the desk. He flipped through his book. "There. Locke Brangwen: sixteen years old, self-destructed in order to kill George Fae." He scratched his head. "You have two kills listed: George, and one Mr. James Hawthun, both of whom I sent down to Hell. While we do offer a bit of leniency with the non-selfish murders of the already damned, you also revived a dangerous denizen of Hell; the Android, Cell. I am aware of his change of heart, but the fact remains that he caused mass hysteria and death. I'm sorry, Locke, but my hands are tied." I nodded, though still feeling let down.

The door opened and more of the Onis entered. I hopped down and approached. "I won't run," I assured them. "Just lead the way."

One of them noticed my depressed look and crossed his arms. "Kid, what we told the last guy was true: behave, and Hell doesn't have to be... well, Hell."

"I'll keep it in mind." They led me through the door, and down the trail into Hell.