Kera:

Cell was weakened! He had changed back! Maybe they should take the chance now and all pounce on Cell at the same time. If they attacked together, they would surely be able to finish him off. Gohan glanced over at them once more and then strode calmly over to Cell, who was kneeling on the ground. Gohan's power was still breathtakingly high. The golden light that surrounded him had not lost its brightness during the entire fight.

Cell looked up at Gohan, who stood only two yards away from him. A devious smile spread across his face.

"Gohan!" Kera shouted his name. She had a nasty suspicion that Cell's smile was up to no good.

She blinked, not wanting to believe her eyes. Cell began to grow, no, he inflated like a hot air balloon. His body became rounder, his arms and legs seemed to disappear almost completely into his balloon-shaped body. Within seconds he had reached a diameter of about three yards.

Gohan had shaken off his brief rigidity due to Cell's transformation and was preparing to finish him off.

"Not so fast, little one." Cell's voice boomed over to them. "The moment you touch me, I'll explode and destroy this entire planet. I don't care if it kills me, as long as I take you with me." He laughed.

The Z warriors held their breath. What were they going to do? Gohan fell to his knees and thundered his fists to the ground. Tears of rage glistened in his eyes. He had missed his chance to kill Cell. Saiyan pride had taken him down with it.

"Well, what are you going to do now?" Again Cell laughed viciously. "You don't have much time, because in twenty seconds I'm going to explode anyway and pulverise this damned planet and its inhabitants."

"I'm afraid I can't think of any other solution." Everyone turned to Kakarrot. "Farewell, my friends." He put two fingers to his forehead, disappeared and reappeared right next to Cell.

"Goku, no!" Krillin, like everyone else, had realised what Kakarrot was up to.

Piccolo felt for Kera's hand, and thanks to him, she heard what Kakarrot said softly to his son, "... proud of you, my son. You fought very well. Please tell your mother that I love her. Farewell, Gohan."

Kakarrot, who had been standing between Cell and Gohan, placed one hand gently on Cell's bloated body and touched his forehead with two fingers of his other hand. They saw another brief smile, then he was gone.

"No," Kera whispered, staring at the spot from where Kakarrot and Cell had disappeared. She searched for his energy and perceived it very far away for a moment, then it was extinguished. She felt her legs threatening to give way beneath her. Piccolo gripped her hand tighter and looked to Gohan.

Though he was still a Super Saiyan, the light around him had extinguished. Huddled together, he lay on the dusty ground. Crying convulsions shook him.

Krillin wiped away his tears and flew to Gohan. He bent down to the boy and spoke softly to him. Kera thought that she or Piccolo were supposed to be the ones comforting Gohan, but she felt paralysed. Her upper arm wound throbbed painfully, she felt nauseous and she felt like she needed all the sleep she could get.

Kera exhaled deeply and inwardly to at least dispel the nausea. Piccolo looked at her. "Come on, let's go see him."

Kera nodded and went to fly to Gohan, but instead of lifting off the ground, she stumbled and ended up falling backwards. She bounced hard and suppressed the sound of surprise that wanted to cross her lips. This had never happened to her before. Torn between amazement, amusement and panic that a deadly virus had just spread in her body, she looked at Piccolo.

The left corner of Piccolo's mouth twitched slightly. He tried to stifle a laugh as he held out his hand to help her stand.

"Don't. Fly to him. I'll sit here for a moment."

Piccolo didn't argue. Kera watched him for a moment and then carefully felt the bandaged area on her upper arm. The wound hurt and the strip of cloth was already soaked with blood. It wouldn't stop bleeding. Hopefully they would be able to fly to Dende soon. Surely he could heal her.

Kera looked at her friends. Krillin, in the meantime, had managed to get Gohan to stand up and had gone to 18. He lifted the blonde woman up in his arms. Although she could not understand the conversation between Vegeta and Krillin, she was sure from Vegeta's gestures that he was asking Krillin to kill the android. Krillin didn't seem to agree with that though. What was he going to do with her?

Everyone turned to Kera to gather on the rock. She smiled encouragingly at them. Her head did not yet want to understand that Kakarrot was no longer among them. What she did realise, however, was that the battle was over. The danger had been averted. She could finally return to her forest with Piccolo.

She looked to Piccolo, to her mate. He smiled at her and warmth spread through her whole body. Then her eyes wandered to Vegeta and her feelings were put a little damper on. Talking to Vegeta was the next hurdle she had to overcome.

She saw Piccolo take a few steps towards her, then suddenly he was gone. A huge cloud of dust had formed around the group on the plain. She saw no one else. But she noticed something else: Cell's aura was back.

Panic seized her. She had to be imagining it. It couldn't be true. She ran to the edge of the rock, was about to jump up and fly to the others, when a narrow energy beam cut through the dust cloud and finally found its target in Trunks' chest. Fatally struck, he fell to earth.

Vegeta:

Vegeta whirled around as he felt the energy. It shouldn't have been here anymore. Why was Cell back?

A red beam of energy whizzed so close to his cheek that he felt its heat. A blink later he heard a dull thud and he spun around. His eyes widened in shock. His heart stumbled. Trunks had been hit. Right through the heart. Fine smoke rose from the wound. He could no longer feel his energy. His son ... was dead. His son! His successor! He had died like himself when Frieza had killed him on Namek.

Vegeta turned back to the wall of dust, trying to make out something. Then he heard Cell's voice.

"Well, who's been hit? Oh, Trunks!" Cell stalked towards the group. The dust settled.

The others around him seemed frozen. Everyone fixed their eyes on Cell. Cell in his perfect form. How was that possible?

"Ah, I see you have questions. So you don't have to die stupid, I'll explain everything. In the explosion, my inner core remained intact. I was able to regenerate completely from it. I was surprised myself. Now, as usual with Saiyans after a near-death experience, I am much stronger. And Goku's Instant Transmission I can do now too." Smiling smugly, Cell looked around.

"How convenient. Then I can avenge my father now." Gohan's energy increased again and the golden light surrounded him. Where on earth did the boy get this energy?

Again Vegeta's gaze wandered to the lifeless body on the dusty floor. Trunks' eyes were closed, as if he were concentrating for just a moment. The hole in his chest was so tiny. How could such a small wound extinguish a life?

Once more he searched for his son's aura, but there was nothing. A body without energy. The battle against Cell had sacrificed one life. No, not one. Two. Kakarrot was dead too. He had sacrificed himself for nothing. Cell had simply reappeared.

His son had come to them from the future to make his world better and had been bitterly disappointed. He could not return. Bulma, his Bulma, would now wait in vain in the future for her son to return. And without Kakarrot, Vegeta no longer had anyone to compete with. He could no longer even avenge his defeat all those years ago.

Pure rage rose up inside Vegeta. A burning lump that spread in his stomach and grew bigger and bigger. Now it was up to him to put this monster in his place.

He charged at Cell. At the edge of his consciousness he thought he could hear Kera calling his name, but he was deaf and blind to outside influences. All he could see was Cell and his revenge. He transformed into a Super Saiyan and fired one energy ball after another at Cell.

Kera:

Kera cursed and screamed for Vegeta. But he did not hear her. Didn't want to hear her. He was only fixated on Cell. She looked down at the plain. Tien Shinhan and Yamcha were protecting Trunks' body from the flying rocks. Krillin had thrown himself over 18. Helplessly, Kera watched from her elevated vantage point. How had this happened? They had won after all. Within seconds, everything had changed again.

Kera felt for the energy inside her. She would not stand idly by. She had sworn an oath to her prince and now it had to be kept. Always fight by his side. On top of that, an entire planet was at stake. She let the energy flow into every inch of her body and was now surrounded by a golden light. Kera rose from the rock.

Vegeta, breathing heavily, had ceased his continuous fire and stared, suspended in mid-air, at the cloud of dust created by his energy blasts. Too late he saw Cell leap forward from this dust cloud and knock him down with just one well-aimed blow. Vegeta remained motionless.

Kera saw what Cell was about to do and accelerated her flight. Cell's energy ball released from his hands. Gohan and Kera arrived at the same time to protect Vegeta, but only Gohan was hit. Shocked, Kera got back up and helped Gohan stand. His left arm hung limp. Blood dripped onto the ground.

Gratefully, he nodded to Kera and looked at Cell. "He's stronger than I thought," Gohan muttered.

"Quick, a Senzu Bean," Kera called to Krillin, but he just shook his head. There were no more beans.

"So, boy. Let's put an end to all this." Cell put both hands on his right hip. Everyone knew what was coming now. And it certainly wasn't going to be a little Kamehameha.

Kera looked to Vegeta, who was slowly opening his eyes.

"Quick, we have to get out of here!" she said urgently to him. Kera felt the blast of Cell's power as he gathered the energy for his attack.

She narrowed her eyes to protect herself from the swirling dust and helped Vegeta stand up. He put an arm around her shoulders with difficulty. He could barely stay on his feet. She didn't feel any better either. Her knees seemed to have been replaced by a gum-like mass.

"I'm sorry, Gohan."

Kera had to suppress her surprise. First a Vegeta who was officially grieving, then a Vegeta who was apologising. Too bad he probably wouldn't be able to live that down if Earth was destroyed. She liked this Vegeta. He reminded her more of the boy she had grown up with.

"I hate our powerlessness." Piccolo was beside her, helping her carry Vegeta away. Tien and Yamcha carried Trunks' body while Krillin moved 18 out of harm's way. Again they took up posts on the raised rocks.

"He's injured. He's too weak." Piccolo was filled with worry and Kera felt the same way. She knew that each of them was too weak to take on Cell. Only Gohan had been able to hold a candle to him, but now he couldn't move one arm, had already lost every ounce of energy, and with the death of his father, probably his will to fight on. Kera took Piccolo's hand and pictured their hut in the forest in his mind. He squeezed her hand. He had understood.

Gohan put his uninjured hand to his hip. 'Is he going to fire a one-handed Kamehameha?" thought Kera.

Gohan did. His and Cell's Kamehameha met each other.

Piccolo:

"He doesn't stand a chance." Piccolo looked sadly at Gohan. The earth shook. The energy released when the two Kamehamehas collided was enormous. They seemed to be equally powerful, for the energies met midway between the two opponents and remained there.

The ribbons of energy that filled the ball of energy with life did not break away from either Gohan or Cell. Gohan managed to let his energy grow for a brief moment, but then it ebbed away again.

"Damn it, he can't do it alone!" Piccolo disengaged his hand from Keras and pushed himself off the ground. She realised what he was about to do and flew after him. Piccolo looked at her. "You stay here."

"Are you crazy? If we're going to die here, we're going to die together."

Piccolo thought about retorting for a moment, then nodded. Arguing with a Saiyan usually had little chance of success anyway.

Together they circled the two fighters and landed in Cell's back. They let energy bolts rain down on him. But Cell's energy limit had not yet been reached. He repelled them with a blast without interrupting his Kamehameha. Piccolo and Kera were thrown backwards. They crashed to the ground a few yards away.

"I won't let you down, kid. You're like a son to me." Groaning, Piccolo scrambled back up.

Kera:

"For us." Kera lay on her stomach, propping herself up on her forearms. Piccolo smiled at her.

"Like a son to us." He turned to Cell. Around them Yamcha, Tien Shinhan and Krillin had now also stood.

"All together ..." said Tien.

"... For Goku..." added Krillin.

"... And Gohan," Yamcha concluded.

Together with Piccolo, they fired their strongest attacks into Cell's back. Kera was unable to stand up. She crawled forward and touched Piccolo's leg. She concentrated. She channelled her last remaining strength to give it to Piccolo. Maybe they still had a small chance. She felt herself squeezing the last bit of energy out of her. She could no longer hold her hand on Piccolo's leg and she slumped to the ground. Her hair turned black, then Kera lost consciousness.