A Wonderful Life

By: SomeRandomPerson648

Chapter 3: The Aftermath of War

A/N: This is the chapter that shall decide Cell's fate and shape his every action, so enjoy!


"You're through Gohan! Now make like a dog, roll over and play dead!!" Cell yelled as both beams struggled to gain ground, but Cell's beam inched closer towards Gohan, who was still protecting an unconscious Vegeta

"Damnit, Cell is much stronger than me, he still has reserves when I'm all out, I should have killed Cell when I had the chance, now I've failed. I'm sorry Earth..." Gohan thought as Cell's beam grew in it's advances

"Giving up already Gohan? I excepted you to entertain me some more! Oh well, you can say hello to your father for me in the afterlife, I'm sure you'll love the destruction of Earth from there!" Cell yelled as Gohan lost a lot in beam length

"Now that isn't how I raised you on my time on Earth now is it?" A very kind voice spoke telepathically to Gohan

"Dad! Is that you?! I'm sorry, but Cell's too strong, he should've died but it's all my fault, I've failed Earth and it's people..." Gohan said as Cell's beam gained many more feet in ground

"Are you going mad Gohan? I thank you for your thoughtful comments, but I have to thank you all for giving me power beyond my expectations!" Cell said as he was gaining more and more ground by the second

"Really Gohan? Cause from here I see that you're still holding back." Goku

"But, dad, I'm giving all I have right now, I don't have any reserves left." Gohan replied as he was still losing ground, Cell was halfway through with Gohan

"I'm not talking about reserves son. Your still holding back your spirit!" Goku's said, which surprised Gohan."Gohan, I'm very proud at everything that you've done, injuring my brother when we still couldn't. Talking back to your mom with the determination to fight for the greater good. And holding off Frieza while I was still in the healing tank. And even now, for being able to hold off Cell while everyone else is too weak. You made me proud for every achievement that you made, for continuing to fight for what's right son. But you need to believe in yourself. Because you ARE more than capable of handling Cell Gohan." Goku said proudly as Gohan was shocked

"You really think so dad?"

"I know so son, now, show Cell what you're made of Gohan, let it all out."

"Okay dad, I'll do my best." Gohan said as he took a deep breath.

Gohan bottled up all his feelings. His failures, his achievements, his happiness, his sadness, his anger, his hopes, and finally, his Saiyan pride. He gathered everything, positive and negative, he gathered everything he had ever felt. He held back nothing. Flashbacks of his younger and weaker self played as Cell's beam was nearly reaching Gohan

And finally, he released it all.

Gohan screamed as he released everything he could. Gohan immediately took over the struggle as his beam gained ground at a rapid pace. Cell was surprised, but ultimately unimpressed. He began to focus his energy on the feeling that was his whole body traveling from one place to another, he was going to instant transmission...when suddenly

"Big Bang attack!!" A voice yelled from above that startled Cell

There was a loud bang as Cell was hit by an extremely powerful ball of ki followed by a fleet of energy orbs that flew towards Cell and exploded, which destroyed his legs and scorched his back. Cell turned his head to see a heavily injured Vegeta panting with his arms forward, he had the ascended form as lightning sparked all over his body once again

"That...was for...my pride...you bastard!" He said before suddenly fainting and falling out of the sky, his golden hair returned to it's brownish black and the lightning dissipated

"Now Gohan, DO IT!" Goku shouted mentally as Gohan's beam grew in size and reached Cell. There was even a faint blue figure of Goku holding his hands out to assist Gohan

"HHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH" Gohan screamed as his beam grew twice in size. Gohan began to walk forward as the One-Handed Kamemhameha enveloped Cell's body, slowly destroying the rest of him

"NOOOOOO, I AM PERFECT, I AM THE ULTIMATE CHAMPION, THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING TO MEEEEE!" Cell screeched as his body disappeared into nothing, not even a spek of Cell survived the blast

The blast disintegrated as Gohan dropped out of his ascended form and fell backwards in exhaustion

As Gohan was left panting on the ground, he lifted his right hand up and made a thumbs up

"I did it dad...I did it..."


The defeat of Cell was a relief felt all over the Earth. The battle left earthquakes that shook the entire world. When the shaking stopped, everyone subconsciously knew the battle was won. And thus Hercule Satan was credited with saving the World. Not that it was in danger at all, the whole battle was just one big movie set

Once the battle was won, Gohan and the others grabbed 18, Vegeta and Trunks' body and flew towards Kami's lookout. Dende, the Namekian who became the new guardian of Earth after Kami became one with Piccolo, summoned the eternal dragon

Everyone used the wishes to revive those killed by Cell and fix all the damages made. Goku, however, didn't want to come back, he said that he only would attract more trouble from other worlds as he had done before. Saying his final goodbye, he left for Otherworld. Then Krillin tried to wish for 17 and 18 to become human again. The wish was impossible, so he wished for the bombs inside them to be removed.

Everyone criticized him for helping them, especially Trunks who had every reason to be be mad. But when he said he just wanted them to be happy, everyone simply stopped talking, it was noble of him to think in that's way (though it have been because he was attracted to 28)

Suddenly, however, he was confronted by a now fully conscious 18, and she was not happy. The fact that she was potentially at the mercy of these goody-two-shoes and they let her live unsettled her. Not only that but one was helping her? Unbelievable

But...he had helped her more than once, not shutting her down with the remote and carrying her when she was barely conscious. Though she knew that he got some dirty ideas, she was too weak to get up by herself. And now he was doing her another favor, he really was selfless...She kinda liked that about him. And he was very innocent, soo easy to tease. Mabye she'll keep him around for a while

Once 18 left to look for 17, Vegeta awoke to see that he was in Kami's lookout, he was informed of the demise of Cell and how he was able to help. Vegeta felt elated that he could at least prevent one of Cell's dirty tricks from killing everyone. In his book, he was the one with the last laugh. And he laughed the hardest

Dende informed everyone of Bulma's sudden change in mood, and told everyone she might be in trouble. The gang left for Capsule Corp to check in on Bulma


Bulma was shocked that Cell could eat so much. Then again, he did have quite a few Saiyan cells inside of him, but didn't the other Cell stand like a statue for ten days straight? She was going to have to figure that out later, for at the moment Bulma was out of bread, chesse and ham, and she had enough to feed a class of children!

Cell had grown fascinated of these sandwiches that Bulma was making. Currently he had the mind of a nine year old. Well, one with a large vocabulary. He was hungry for food, but he didn't feel very full. It wasn't until Cell finished his thirtieth sandwich that he felt satisfied

"You really do eat like a Saiyan, Cell! You're a little bug, my wrists hurt from making so many sandwiches! I should have just popped one of Vegeta's lunch capsules after the tenth one." She complained as she rubbed her wrists in pain. Suddenly, there was the sound of the front buzzer. Someone must be in the front door

Bulma pressed one button on a small intercom that was next to the kitchen. "I'll be right there, just give me a minute." Bulma said as she walked towards one of the doors out of the room. Cell decided to follow her to see who arrived. He didn't know that they would be expecting company

Bulma and Cell walked into one of the elevators and went for the lobby. Cell was wondering what the device was...nevermind, it was an elevator, a device used for traveling up and down a building quickly. Cell was gaining so much knowledge at this point, and the equations in his head started to make sense too, mostly random scientific formulas as well as math functions

Once Bulma and Cell left the elevator, Bulma walked towards the locked door to open it. Cell on the other hand found a piece of lint on the floor by the reception desk, so he decided to play with it. Bulma opened the locked sliding doors to reveal the Z team standing outside of the doors...except for Goku...

"Hey guys! I'm glad to see you all in one piece! But where's Goku? I thought you would use the dragonballs by now?" Bulma asked as a few faces looked grim

"My dad didn't want to comeback, he said that he'll only make problems worse somehow, like with Raditz and the Androids..." Gohan replied as he looked at the floor, he shed a tear at just saying the statement

"...Well, Dende felt that you needed help with something, so he told us to check in on you. What's up." Yamcha said, trying to leave the topic

"Oh, right...look guys, this might be a pretty awful time to show this, especially since you guys just finished with Cell but..." Bulma said and stopped as Larval Cell finished playing with the dust bunny and moved away from the receptionist desk, revealing himself towards the rest of the team

Everyone was stunned, most especially Vegeta. His mind flash two memories that were the breaking point for his demeanor. The recreation of the worst memory in his life, and the death of his son

Both of these memories revived a deep and unadulterated anger for Cell that he has only felt once before for Frieza. Cell had humiliated him, destroyed his pride, mocked him, and killed his son... This was beyond what Vegeta had ever felt before. Not from Frieza's oppression, not from his defeat at the hands of Kakarot, nor from his final and ultimately humiliating death by Frieza

This was his supeme hatered for Cell...and he was going to 'cope' with it, as the humans say

Vegeta leaped past everyone in the group and dashed towards the Larval Cell. Vegeta raised his power to maximum and kicked Cell's head, launching him against a wall, cracking it on impact

Vegeta grabbed Cell by his huge head and punched his underside a few times before unleashing his Golden aura of a Super Saiyan Grade 2, not energetic enough to use his newest form. Vegeta ripped Cell's head off and obliterated his body. He then dropped the head and began to prepare a blast strong enough to destroy Cell once in for all

But before he could launch it an open hand came flying towards Vegeta's face. An audible smack was heard as Bulma slapped Vegeta, which somehow managed to hurt him. Vegeta moved his left hand to caress his check as his right hand held the yellow ball of energy. Bulma was red hot in anger

"VEGETA IF I SEE YOU SOO MUCH AS TOUCH A SINGLE PART OF OF HIS SKIN I WILL KICK YOU SO FAST OUT OF THIS HOUSE YOU WON'T EVEN BE ABLE TO PACK THE SMALL AMOUNT OF SH#T THAT YOU HAVE, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME VEGETA!!! BECAUSE HE SHALL HELP US DO SO MANY THINGS THAT YOUR STUPID SAIYAN BRAIN COULDN'T EVEN COMPREHEND!!! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!!!!"

Bulma was beyond angry at Vegeta for not even 'thinking' of how vital Cell was to them, they could cure cancer if she could study Cell more. Vegeta was standing still for a long time, trying to process his current situation. He heard Bulma 'very' clearly, but he was too focused on his rage to care as much as he normally would.

For a full minute, everything was still

"...Crystal..." Vegeta said as he dropped his form and lowered his hand, undoing his ball of energy in the process. He then picked up Cell's head and pulled it closer to his mouth, to Bulma's ever increasing frustration

Vegeta whispered something low enough so that only Cell could hear, something that Cell will remember for the rest of his life. No matter what he will try, no matter what he will do, Cell will never be at peace...

"If I can't send you to hell, then I'm going to bring it to you...Cell..., you can't run and you can't hide from your punishment. You'll be the lowest thing to me, next to the dirt that'll surround your unmarked grave. And you will always be worthless to everyone around you, you'll suffer for every last one of your counterpart's sins, and most of all...I. Shall. Break. You... I will see all your pain Cell, and REVEL in it!" Vegeta whispered in an eerily soft voice as Cell felt a chill go through his whole head. Vegeta on the other hand felt a satisfied from the cathartic experience as he spoke the threat

Vegeta then tossed the head away like a discarded article and walked up the stairs and towards his room, not to be seen for the rest of the day

After he left, Cell's body regenerated. Gaining it's insect like structure again

Cell was horrified by Vegeta. He was way weaker than Vegeta's full power, and he still can't do a thing. Cell was at Vegeta's mercy, and he couldn't do anything about it


After everything was cleared up with a now conscious Chi-Chi, many tears were shed for her husband. Bulma decided to throw a party the next day, to celebrate the success of the long, hard fought battle and Goku's ultimate sacrifice

Bulma also encountered 18 and 17 while she traveled to the nearby mall. She invited the pair, which seemed like an awkward decision on Bulma's part but they accepted nonetheless

It was like any other party thrown by Bulma. Everyone was there, Bulma, Vegeta, Baby Trunks, Future Trunks, Piccolo, Gohan, Chi-Chi, The Ox king, Yamcha, Puar, Oolong, Roshi, Krillin, Turtle, Yajarobe and even Korin. Vegeta and Piccolo were on separate walls, brooding. It was any ordinary party, everyone was talking to each other and there was cake!

The arrival of 17 and 18 was weird, they were still in their same outfits, so Bulma let them clean up and change to some newer ones as she put to wash the older ones, as long as 17 and 18 didn't steal in the future that is

They agreed and left for the showers, Bulma had two outfits just for them that she bought after meeting them in the mall without them knowing. She had spotted two great outfits that were perfect for the occasion! Once she was back, she held two outfits that were in two separate black covers and set them outside the doors to both showers

Soon 18 came back sporting her new dress. She had a light blue shirt that fit her perfectly and even highlighted her curves, to Krillin's dismay. It also matched her eyes very well. She wore black pants that had a form of bell shape, tight at the thighs but very loose at the lower legs. And finally, a pair of black high heels that fit her, surprisingly

She looked beautiful, and she caught everyone's eye, especially Roshi's

Before he could say anything, however, Krillin covered the old pervert's mouth. "She can still kill you, ya know."

"Then I might as well die doing what I love. Heh heh heh heh." Roshi laughed perversely before walking towards the open bar and sitting down, taking a couple of drinks

"Wow, I really can't help but admire your tastes Bulma, how did you know my size?" 18 asked the woman, whom smiled and chuckled a little

"Sorry hun, but a girl has to keep 'some' secrets." She said with a wink. 17 then stepped outside to reveal his attire

He wore a white T-shirt that fit him loosely, it said " 'nice' guy" on the front, emphasis of the quotations. He wore blueish-white basketball shorts that had a black stripe along the side. However, he still wore his orange scarf around his neck, it really made his eyes pop. He also wore a new pair of sneakers, they were white with an orange curve on the sides

His whole outfit matched how immature he was, none of it really matched and the scarf was of odd taste, but 17 was fine with that and liked it anyway

"Not gonna lie Mis Brief but this does put a smile on his face." 17 said as he rubbed the suprisingly soft shirt with his hands

"I just knew who you were the second you sarcastically said 'yes mom'." She replied as 17 looked up with a grin, referencing their very first conversation

"Thanks, I should really shop with you guys at some point, stealing stuff just doesn't have the same flare." 17 said as he walked towards the group that was just standing there

"Well I'd like to say sorry bout that whole fiasco from earlier, we just wanted to have some fun. Unlike that hell hole of a lab, we didn't really think much through that time. So, no hard feelings?" 17 said as he left his hand out for someone to shake it

For a second, no one moved, until Gohan, who was at the front of the group, shook 17's hand and smiled

"Yeah, no hard feelings" Gohan said as they shook hands. 17 smiled as they shook, this was his first step to fitting in

The party continued as 17 and 18 joined in. It was awkward at first, but soon they fit right in, 18, as the sarcastic yet serious beauty, and 17 as the immature one of the team

Everyone found out more about their lives, they had forgotten everything that they had ever been through before Gero found them and converted them into monsters. The only thing that they remember is being orphaned and unloved, they only had each other. Everyone felt sorry for them, even Trunks, who was still resolute in Killing their counterparts that continued to plague his timeline

But, that still didn't help the tension that was felt. Not too long ago the two had left the whole team battered and bruised. So it was pretty hard to see a former enemy drink fruit punch out of a plastic red cup, but that was also how it was when the team had their first gathering

After a minute, people started to converse with the Androids about the recent events. They both found out about the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, and the Saiyan's ever increasing power. But to their suprise, they also found out about Larval Cell, and his future uses. Although they could somewhat respect their choice, they still deeply hated him for what he did. They still had nightmares about the feeling of getting absorbed

Vegeta was also angered about the arrival of the Androids, for about two seconds. He realized that he was more than a hundred times stronger than they were, there was no use in proving an obvious point, the one where he was the strongest

Speaking of strength, he had other things to do than watching people babbling about the recent events, he had some 'rules' to regulate

Vegeta walked inside, to the surprise of no one


Cell was still inside, he had too much to explore around the house to stand around and receive strange faces from everyone. He didn't like being around the team, something about them felt odd to Cell but he couldn't quite understand it, it was like a deep resentment towards them that only he could understand

Aside from that he also didn't like the social atmosphere, not to mention that he couldn't talk. Vegeta was also going to be there, so he didn't want to be there with him

Vegeta looked sinister and malevolent. It disturbed Cell so greatly that he was a bit scared of him, but he hasn't done anything yet, so mabye he's clear?

However, fate had been less merciful than ever to Cell. Just as Cell was going to walk further in the lobby, a fairly thin beam went through Cell's back and out of his underside. This pained Cell like never before, but then again, he hadn't been hurt before, other than the beating he received yesterday

"Hello Cell, ready to receive your rightful punishment? Never mind, it'll hurt more when you struggle..." Vegeta said evilly as he walked forward

Vegeta grabbed Cell's head and faced it towards himself. He then proceeded to punch Cell's underside several times, and then some more...and more...


The party raged onwards without Vegeta and Cell

The Androids socialized even more with the Z team, and soon felt bonds begin to be formed

After twenty or so minutes the team cut the cake, and everyone was enjoying themselves. They rejoiced Goku's sacrifice and understood that not all was lost, they held out hope that everything would be just fine

Not a single person wondered about Cell or Vegeta, they were just two things that were left out as no one paid attention to the inside of the house


Vegeta had been punching Cell for thirty minutes now and he was enjoying every blow!

So this is what Frieza felt when he tortured an underling, he could get used to this! It was like his personal punching bag, he felt all his anger and worries melt way. This was excellent punishment for Cell, so much so that there was no way he could stop! He had to keep going!

Cell was...was...there were no words for his pain...his nerves were overloaded in pain many minutes ago, so much so that Cell couldn't feel anything...why did he deserve this?

Vegeta had almost felt something for Larval Cell, especially how his eyes gave off this sad look, it reminded him of his time in Frieza's damned force...for about a split second before punching him again. He felt this pent up rage just ooze from his body and leave him like a strange sort of spa

Vegeta felt that Cell's exoskeleton started to squish up a lot after all of his punches, there were several cracks and a small dripping of purple blood as well. He prepared a blast only strong enough to destroy his skin and launched it. As he thought it only incased him for two seconds before he released the attack, which left a very ugly image

Cell was only left with a raw purple substance that was supposed to be his muscles, the thing flopped around since it didn't have it's exoskeleton anymore

After ten seconds a darker green substance shot out of Cell's muscles as he was finally encased in a newer exoskeleton, but Cell's body was shaking violently from the effort. He felt red hot as his body shook with pain. He had tried to stand up and had almost done so too, but a boot crushed his torso, which made him fall for the floor again

"Disgusting...I'll enjoy this more than you ever will...Cell..." Vegeta walked off into the party once again as he stood against the wall, people wondered what he was doing, but didn't bother to ask, they just continued to socialize

Cell, however, was laying on the floor in pain as a small drone came by to clean up all the blood. It was a clean up drone, used often to sweep the building

He couldn't think because of all the pain. Unlike the other Cell, this Cell didn't have an already etched out ego, or a final form to hope for, nor was he currently the most powerful. He was just a quickly growing child right now...one that had just experienced abuse of the most painful form

The first thing that was on Cell's mind wasn't revenge, nor was it hatred towards Vegeta. It was sadness and fear, fear for his wellbeing, fear for his mind, and fear...for his future...


The party continued for a few hours before it got dark, everyone started to leave, except the Brief family and the Androids. And Krillin, who only stayed for so long because of 18

Bulma decided to let the Androids live in Capsule Corp, at least until she found them nice houses to live in. 17 had told of a nice girl he encountered in the woods of some island he passed by, and they hit it off pretty well. At least, well enough as two strangers of a supposedly remote island would. The island also needed a Ranger, so he could make a living on that. Plus it was pretty fun scaring off the bounty hunters

18 and Krillin were walking in the hallway towards the guest room. "Soo shorty, you think that you're going to get some of this?" She said as she put a hand on the curve of her hip, making Krillin blush

"N-n-no, I wouldn't think of it!" He stuttered, to 18's content

"You really are a gentleman Krillin." 18 said before looking very curious. "But I have to ask you something. Why did you do so much for me? I mean, It's not cause I'm pretty, right?" 18 asked Krillin, whom was initially caught off guard by the question

He took a deep breath and looked at her straight in the eye seriously. "No, that isn't mostly the reason I helped you so much, 18. It's cheesy, but, when you kissed me, I felt something, strange." Krillin began, which surprised 18

"I felt like you were destined to live a better life than what you were making yourself, like you can feel feelings as a normal person would, and that you weren't the same cold-blooded killer as your future self. I just...wanted to help you with that, 18." Krillin confessed as he blushed lightly, he looked at 18 seriously throughout the whole speech. He also tried not to mention his other feeling, he thought that it was too early to mention it to 18

18 gasped when Krillin finished, that was the nicest thing that anyone ever said to her. The fact that Krillin was set on helping her experience things that she never had, like true joy, excitement, and possibly...love...

18 blushed a little before kissing Krillin in the mouth. The feeling was sudden, but it was nice, 18 never felt something like it before. Krillin was shocked at the action, it was unexpected, but he welcomed it. 18 moved her head back and smiled at Krillin.

"You really are a gentleman Krillin." She repeated as she walked towards her door and entered her room. Just before she closed the door however, 18 poked her head out of the doorway and smiled teasingly. "And maybe, you will end up with a slice of this pie Krillin..." She teased as she moved her head and closed her door, leaving Krillin's face beat red

"Wow, you really are a smooth dwarf, you should keep that up." 17 said as he and Trunks moved out of the edge of the wall that lead to another hallway

Trunks had a look of shock mixed with something else, but Krillin couldn't tell what it was, but he knew it was something positive. 17 was smirking as he looked at Krillin in a childish way, it was quite akin to seeing a friend finally getting a girlfriend, even though they had only met twice

"I-I-how long were you guys standing there?!" Krillin stuttered as he looked at the pair in suprise

"Right when she asked your intentions for helping her, and I'm not gonna lie, that was a pretty slick way to attract my sis like that. At this rate you two will get married within the year." 17 stated confidently as he started to walk towards his room, he was surprisingly chill with the fact that someone was making moves on his sister

"Y-y-you th-think so?" Krillin asked 17 as he passed him

"I'm pretty sure. So try not to mess up, alright?" 17 asked as he looked at Krillin

"You have my word."

"That's what I like to hear, I better see you treat her well, else I'll be pissed." He said as he entered his room

Trunks was still kind of suprised by the situation. Not because he was hitting on an Android, but because he skipped the 'Friendzone' that Yamcha mentioned so much

This was very weird, guess they're destined to love each other after all, wonder what will happen next...

"That was something, I guess you have my blessing Krillin. Looks like you were right about them, they can change. But I'm still killing the other two Androids in my time by the way..." Trunks said as he walked in his room and closed the door

"Wow...just...wow..." Krillin said aloud as he walked away towards the lobby of the house. It was dark outside, but nothing he couldn't handle. Krillin followed Roshi's energy signature and flew towards it, with a simple ki ball at hand

18, however, had overheard everything through the wall. She chuckled to herself before she just changed into a robe that laid on her bed before laying in her bed


But Cell didn't have the same pleasures as the others. The Android eventually found a room that he forced open and laid in the dark, cold room. It was bare, and although it was dark Cell could still see with his special vision

He was shook with fear as he trembled, he felt his heart race and his blood pump as he remembered the beat from mere hours ago. It was...excruciating. Every moment of it was suffering, and Cell couldn't take it

But unbeknownst to him, his life would become much worse than that. But for the moment he laid in his bare room...alone...afraid...