Dragon Ball Z: the Next Generation

by The Legendary Dragon Reaper

Who would've expected that just a few changes could have such a major impact. Read as Gohan and Kai journey through life and across the universe in this exciting retelling of DBZ, with changes and surprises around every corner. Yamcha x Bulma, Raditz x Android 18, Gohan x Erasa later on. Other pairings undecided at the moment.

30. Cell Games: Act III

Ericsofly2: Thanks, I'm glad you rated last chapter so high.

Guest: Maybe. You'll just have to wait and see.

Guest: Yeah, that's part of Kai's character arc. Just read this chapter and you should find what you're looking for.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With the death of Android 16 by Cell's hands, or foot, Gohan had at last let his inner rage burst forth, and with it came his ascension into the Super Saiyan 2 form, and now he was promptly staring down Cell and looking incredibly menacing 'I've had just about enough of his shit, now it's my turn.'

It took Cell a moment, but he eventually found his voice and gave a grin at the sight standing before him "Dear lord in Piccolo, it's about freaking time! And here I thought killing 16 was harder for me than it was for you. I'm confused though, were you guys friends? Did you guys talk about birds together, were you a couple of bird nerds?"

"The murder of ones own child or children." Gohan promptly snatched the bag of Senzu Beans back from Cell, then blitzed over to the sidelines where the battle with the Cell Jrs was still paused somewhat "You wanted me to define filicide, and now I'll provide an example." and in said example, with one swift movement he decapitated a Cell Jr without even looking at it, causing it to explode, leaving almost everyone present stunned into silence.

Raditz was the first one to find his voice again "Okay, I don't suppose anyone would care to explain as to WHAT THE FUCK?!"

"Not really no." Kai gave a shrug "I mean I would if it wasn't for the fact that it would involve giving Goku credit for all of this."

"The key takeaway here is, you're welcome." Goku gave them a grin, only to be blasted in the back by a Cell Jr.

"Yeah it checks out, even these little shits don't want that. The ends don't justify the means you dumbass." Kai looked down at the carnage unfolding 'Huh. This is a somewhat familiar feeling, pride in someone else. Alright Gohan, now that we're here you go wreck some shit.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gohan on the other hand, he turned his attention to the Cell Jrs that were still in the middle of torturing Krillin 'We do not condone child violence but let's face it, pretty much everyone finds it amusing.'

One of the Cell Jr's held up Krillin by his gi and pointed its sharpened nails at his neck "Uh uh uh."

"...Really? You're using Krillin as a hostage. His death is a daytrip for us and a free ice cream sundae for him, go ahead." Gohan promptly extended his hand out to give the implication he was going to blast them.

"Actually, I'm lactose intolerant." Krillin told him.

"No one is lactose intolerant in Heaven Krillin, it's called Heaven for a reason."

One of the Cell Jr's was actually scared enough to the point where it tried to fly away "Nope nope nope!"

"Too little too late."

Now scared out of its wits, the other Cell Jr flew up and attacked Gohan by firing a volley of Ki blasts, only to look up and see Gohan holding Krillin high above him, having dodged the onslaught with ease "Uh…"

"Bitch move." in two swift movements, Gohan set Krillin and the beans down away from the action, then he ripped the Cell Jr in half with a single kick, and then promptly returned to the ground.

Cell studied Gohan in a mix of awe and disbelief, but then his eyes narrowed 'Remarkable, it would seem that the boy's temper is indeed a force to be reckoned with. Very well then, why don't we see how hot this fire burns.' he made one swift hand movement, which signalled the five surviving Cell Jr's to swoop in and gang up on him.

Without even breaking a sweat, Gohan unleashed a small Explosive Wave that sent all of them flying away from him.

'Okay, definitely not something I was expecting from the kid. He's putting out all of this power and yet he's still as calm as can be.'

Gohan threw the bag of Senzu Beans into the air, and in one swift movement he easily knocked each of the remaining Cell Jr's to the ground before the bag returned to his hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

JF and the rest of the Satan entourage looked on in disbelief "Jimmy Firecracker here reporting from this tree, the young man has apparently undergone a harrowing transformation, and is currently in the process of dismantling these demented delinquents, one after the-"

"Hate to break it to you sir, but that big explosion from earlier wrecked the camera, so we're totally dark right now." Larry told him.

"...Oh. Well let's just hope the people don't overreact to this."

"They probably will."

"Yeah I know, my guess is they're rioting right now. Either that or starting an orgy."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back at the main battlefield…

Gohan looked around at the downed form of the Cell Jr's 'Still five left, they're getting frustrated now.'

Sure enough, the Cell Jr's rebounded and tried a coordinated attack, with one of them firing a Kienzan, one of them firing a Kamehameha and one of them firing a Special Beam Cannon, and once they finished those blasts they each followed up with two simultaneous Tri Beams, quickly engulfing Gohan in the explosion that followed.

When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Gohan hadn't even taken so much as a scratch from their combined assault, and with a quick roar he unleashed a massive barrage of Ki blasts all over the area, and he quickly blitzed behind one of the Cell Jr's "Like your Proud Perfect Papa would say, sink or swim bitch." with one swift move he ripped the Cell Jr in half, then did the same to another with a kick, and then proceeded to swiftly annihilate the next two, allowing him to focus his attention on the last one "Don't."

The last Cell Jr promptly tried to run away in fear, only to see Gohan blitz in front of him faster than he could blink.

"Bitch move." with two swift movements, Gohan annihilated the Cell Jr with a single kick, and then stomped down on the remaining arm so they couldn't regenerate.

Cell studied Gohan intently from the sidelines, his expression more irritable 'The hesitation and the unwillingness to fight, it's like they've vanished into thin air. It's as if he's become an entirely different person.'

"Kai, hand these out." he promptly tossed the Senzu Beans aside.

Kai quickly caught them "Okay yeah, works for me."

"Try to forget that you're you for now, and don't fuck it up."

"Fucking- Alright fine, you get that one."

Gohan on the other hand, he turned his attention onto his main pray: Cell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Alright assclowns, gather round for magic healing beans." Kai quickly dolled out Senzu Beans to Krillin and the others "Seriously, at this rate I feel like Senzu Beans could become some kind of running gag."

"Wouldn't be surprised, so how's the younger me doing?" asked Future Gohan.

"It's honestly kind of bullshit, I guess it always is the quiet ones. I feel useless right now, and how useful I am against a big bad compared to the other morons is what defines me as a character dammit!"

"I've been feeling that way for about 8 years now, trust me when I tell you it sucks a lot worse than you believe." Future Gohan looked down at Present Gohan "Do you think that this power is why Father was so unconcerned?"

"It doesn't change my desire to blast a hole through your dad's skull. Whatever, Upa got offed by one of the Cell Jr's so take him and the others and clear the hell out of here. I'm gonna get the last of the Senzu Beans to the others, saving Goku for last for the record, and then we'll catch up with you."

"Yeah, yeah you're right." so Future Gohan flew down, grabbed Upa's body and promptly flew off, but not before sparing one last glance at the younger Gohan 'So much power and he's almost a full decade younger than I am. I can't help but wonder, do I have just as much potential as he does?'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Still not completely aware of exactly how screwed he was right now, Cell wasted no time in goading on Gohan even further "Well take a look at you! I'm gonna call you whooping goth because you just devastated my children! And for a second there I thought that yarn you were spinning was going to come up short, but here you are! My final challenger-" he cut himself short when he realized two things: Gohan was no longer standing in front of him, and Cell was now missing about about half his torso and one of his wings, a gaping hole where they were supposed to be.

As it tusn out, Gohan was standing behind Cell a short distance away, Cell's arm in hand and standing on top of his wing "I hope you're ready Cell, the real fight starts now."

"So it shall, come at me kid."

"Fine." so in one swift movement, Gohan blitzed past Cell faster than he was able to react, leaving a wide cut on his face and exploding the plateau behind him 'Just like I thought, his speed, strength and reflexes are above the Cell Jr's but still not enough for him to be able to follow my attacks. Plus the fact that dad fought Cell first to give me a chance to analyze his moves and attack pattern before I had to face him myself. Now I can see his attacks coming at me plain as day.'

"Don't think a simple power increase will allow you to become complacent!" Cell regenerated his lost limbs and charged at Gohan with a furious barrage of punches and kicks.

Gohan easily blocked, dodged and weaved his way around every strike Cell was throwing at him, though eventually he cut of Cell's attack pattern with a chop to the neck and and a kick to the chest that sent Cell skidding backwards.

Cell quickly stopped himself, and with a quick roar attacked Gohan by hurling a Death Ball right at him, straight out of Frieza's handbook.

"Masenko!" Gohan unleashed a simple one handed Masenko that ripped the Death Ball apart in a matter of seconds, leaving it to explode above the battlefield.

"Cancelling out one attack won't be enough to stop me!" Cell charged at Gohan and quickly went on the defensive, dodging and blocking most attacks, but he was still met with a knee to the chest, a fist to the jaw and a kick to the head, forcing him to retreat a short distance, and then he followed up with a massive barrage of Ki blasts.

Gohan dodged every blast with ease using a series of backflips and blitzing away, and once he cleared through the barrage he charged at Cell and went on the offensive again.

Cell strained himself to dodge and block Gohan's attacks, though once he did go on the offensive and let a full force fist fly forward it collided with Gohan's forehead, but it didn't do anything to hurt him.

Gohan swept Cell aside and dealt him a chop to the neck, a kick to the back and finally a full force fist to the gut, the force behind the blow sending Cell crashing through several plateaus all at once.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Goku and the others looked on as the battle unfoled "Yeah that's it Gohan, it's all on you to take him down now."

"You did better than I expected." Cooler noted "After watching you fight, the boy has been able to anticipate every move Cell has made."

"No don't get the wrong idea Cooler, I can't take any credit for this. Gohan is responsible for all of this, he's fighting at a level way above Cell's now. I caught a glimpse of this power while we were inside the Hyperbolic Time Chamber, but that was enough to convince me that he had what it takes to take out Cell."

"It seems you were correct. Remarkable, and he's only a child as he is right now. Even the power I'm at right now pales in comparison. Who knows, when the time comes he could very well be a vital asset in the battle to come.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back on the battlefield…

Cell burst out from beneath the rubble and promptly regenerated himself "Don't get too comfortable kid, even with luck on your side the odds of you being able to beat me are hardly in your favor."

"You're wrong." was all Gohan said.

"Oh yes that's the spirit, of course it's too bad you're going to lose it once you witness me in all of my petrifying glory!" with a roar, Cell's golden aura flared as he powered up to his absolute maximum, the force shaking the battlefield like a tidal wave.

'So it looks like he's finally about to get serious, it took him long enough. The moment of truth is here, I'm finally going to see this bastard giving me his maximum power.'

Cell finally finished powering up and shot a menacing smirk at Gohan "So what do you say to that kid, still feel like today is your lucky day?"

"I can't say that I'm impressed." Gohan simply cranked his neck to the side to dodge Cell's next attack 'Looks like his power level isn't the only thing that's increased now that he's fighting at 100%, his speed has at least doubled. Let's see about his defences.' so on that note, he promptly buried his fist in Cell's gut "Careful Cell, your Vegeta is showing." he quickly followed up with an upper cut to Cell's jaw, the force sending him flying before he finally skidded to a stop.

"Y-You know… you're not wrong…" Cell tried to stumble back on his feet, only to fall flat on his ass as a result of the pain he was feeling from Gohan's attacks "Ooh boy, nothing like a concussion… to really get the blood flowing-" and then some green blood promptly gushed out of his mouth.

"Cell, you don't get it. I hate this. The vibrations coursing through my fists on contact, the taste of my own blood in my mouth, the sound of my own heart pounding in my ears, I hate it. I always have, and I probably always will. Though right now, in this exact moment, there's only one thing I hate more than it, and that's you."

"Wow, put that on a valentine."

"It's because you were right about me. I was a coward, to my last whimper, who was scared of what would happen if I snapped. I was afraid that if I lost it this time, then I might never come back, that I would finally kill someone. But I'm not scared anymore Cell."

"Well… I'm glad I could-" Cell was cut off by a kick to the neck that sent him crashing across the battlefield.

"After all, there's no point in being afraid of the inevitable." Gohan easily caught the two Kienzan discs released by Cell and evaporated them using his Ki alone, and he swatted away the Special Beam Cannon that followed.

"...Okay you know what, fuck this." so on that note, Cell burst upwards high into the air, his golden aura flaring as he cupped his hands and started channeling blue Ki in his palms "Ka… Me… Ha… Me…"

'Yeah he's going for the whole "World Destroyer" move, so is this the Vegeta or the Frieza in him making him do this? Probably both.'

"You definitely pack a bigger punch than your daddy dearest, but let's see how you can handle this, a full power Kamehameha! Dodge it and the Earth blows to bits!"

'No wait, maybe it's what Kai would be if he was raised like Vegeta or something. Either way, I should probably do something about this.'

"I could've just done this from the beginning, instead I thought I would have some fun and throw a tournament but FUCK YOU! Suck my perfect dick! HAAAAAAAA!" he promptly fired a full power Earth Destroying Kamehameha, leaving it to soar downwards towards its target.

"Ka… Me… Ha… Me… HAAAAAAAAA!" calm as can be and not moving an inch from where he was standing, Gohan promptly countered the Earth Destroying Kamehameha with his own Ultimate Kamehameha, the shockwaves from the blast engulfing most of those present in a massive sandstorm while the blast itself easily engulfed Cell's Kamehameha, and Cell himself promptly followed in a matter of seconds, before finally detonating in the upper atmosphere, exploding like a star.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

It took a few moments before everything calmed down.

Kai was the first one to unbury himself from the dirt "Okay, I have sand in places I didn't know I had places, and I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to have places there."

"That's more than I need to know about human anatomy." Cooler noted dryly.

"How the hell do you not have sand in your-"

"Do not finish that sentence, and for the record it's because I flew up during the sandstorm as soon as I saw Cell lose that struggle."

"Clever dick. Well since you're so smart, what's the ETA?"

"Well on one hand, you can all still sense Cell's energy signature, so we know that the battle has yet to end. On the other hand." he looked up and motioned for everyone to follow his gaze, which they did.

"Oh. Holy shit."

"Rather crude, but still fair."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"HEY KID!" as it turns out, Cell had survived the blast, though about half of his body, along with something else, had been obliterated as a result.

Gohan gave him a rather sinister smirk at the sight 'So what was I supposed to suck? Well I can't if there's nothing to suck."

"Gohan remember why we came here!" Goku called out to him "It's time for you to finish this once and for all!"

"Hold that thought, I'm not done ripping the wings off this butterfly."

"...Wait what, come again?"

"Yeah that's a major red flag." Kai noted.

"Hey Gohan, I understand that you're angry but-"

"But what?" Gohan cut him off sharply "You're joking, are you actually trying to give me advice right now? Let me guess, I should let him go so he can give me an even better fight later. Or how about I let him power up to 100% so I can teach him humility! Oh wait I know, I should throw him a goddamn Senzu Bean and let YOU fight him!"

"Huh. Okay, I see what you're getting at Gohan…"

"Then shut up and put on your poncho. You're in the splash zone."

"...Is that also a red flag?"

"Crimson." Kai told him dryly.

"Just checking."

"And I'm just gonna say it now, that right there is coming from your wife."

"Probably."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

With some considerable strain, Cell regenerated the missing half of his body, though now he was weaker than he was before due to the loss of energy 'Alright Cell, we saw what losing your cool got you, so why don't you tone down on the Frieza and chill the hell-'

"Are you done getting your shit together up there?" Gohan suddenly snapped him out of his thoughts "Because I'm starting to get bored."

"...WHAT?!" in his blind rage, Cell suddenly bulked up to his power weighted form and burst downwards towards the ground "WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY TO ME YOU HAPLESS LITTLE SHIT?!"

"I said I'm bored. You're boring me."

"SILENCE! I AM PERFECTION INCARNATE, MY ULTIMATE FORM WILL NOT BE TESTED BY THE LIKES OF YOU!"

"Whatever lets you sleep at night Professor Hulk." Gohan dodged every attack being thrown at him without even batting an eye 'He's so blinded by his rage and arrogance that he's sacrificed way too much speed for raw power. At least he has an excuse, the same can't be said for my future self.' he dealt Cell a solid kick to the face, and then he buried his leg deep in Cell's gut, leaving him an absolute mess.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Kai let out a low whistle "Hot damn, anyone else feel that one?"

"I'm pretty sure my pity well has bottomed out." Future Gohan told him dryly.

"Who said anything about pity, but still I felt that one." Kai looked over to see Cell drooling like a mess all over the place "Okay now what the hell is he doing? He looks like he's about to puke his guts out."

"Oh no, guys I'm starting to think he wasn't kidding about the Splash Zone-" Goku was promptly cut off by Cell vomiting all over the place, though he actually missed them by just a few inches.

"Oh. Wow."

"Wait a second is that- Oh crap it's 18!" seeing her, Raditz attempted to charge in.

"Hold it!" Nail quickly held him back "Later."

"But my Baeteen!"

"First of all, never say that again. Second of all, don't make me get the hose."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gohan looked down at the slime covered unconscious form of Android 18 lying in front of him, and then he looked back up at Cell "It's a girl. Mazal tov."

Without one of the two key components he needed, Cell could only do one thing: Scream at the top of his lungs like a maniac "FUUUUUUUUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK! NO NO NO! FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK FUCK!" his body started shrinking and morphing.

'So it he doesn't have 18 anymore, then that would mean…'

Sure enough, within a matter of moments Cell had reverted back to his Semi Perfect Form, of course against his will.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

Piccolo studied Cell's Semi Perfect Form for a moment "Is that what he turned into after he took me down? I'm kind of offended by his lips, am I allowed to be offended by his lips?"

"Well that depends." Kai gave a shrug "Are you offended by Mr Popo's lips?"

"Wait a second, can we talk about that?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Now back in his Semi Perfect form, Cell looked down at the unconscious form of 18 "So… you gonna eat that?"

"No." was all Gohan said.

"Well then in that case, you think I could-"

"No." Gohan promptly buried his leg into Cell's gut, once again leaving him a slobbering mind fucked wreck "I only did that just to see what would happen."

Sure enough, like before, Cell's chest swelled up, and in a gross slobbering mess he once again vomitted his guts out, this time puking up Android 17 in the process, leaving him in a slobber covered mess lying near where 18 was "FUCK! FUCK FUCK FUCK NO NO NO NOT AGAIN FUUUUUUCK!" and in what looked like a very painful process, he regressed one step further, back to where he started: his Imperfect Form. Now stuck as the hideous bug creature he was to begin with, he looked down at 17 and 18 in desperation, and he lunged for them.

"Nope." Gohan dealt Cell a brutal kick to the face, blowing off part of his body and sending him flying backwards through several plateaus before he finally came to a stop.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, with the Satan entourage…

JF finally found his voice again after all of the chaos that had ensued "Mr Satan, I'm going to be straight with you. What the hell is going on?!"

"That camera is broken right?" asked Mr Satan.

"Big time fubar."

"Well in that case, I have no fucking idea."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

By this point, Goku and the others were growing restless "Gohan stop wasting time, do it now and end this already!"

"Alright alright, fine." Gohan just rolled his eyes "Christ, if you want him to die so badly then why don't you kill him yourself? I'm pretty sure anyone over there could as he is now, blonde hair or not."

Unfortunately, hearing that proved to be the last straw for Cell 'Kill me? No, no no no no no! I can't die to this, he's a middle school brat throwing a tantrum and I am the perfect being! At least, I was. Then he took it away, he took it away from me! You took my purpose away from me you little shit, so now I'm going to take everything away from you!" so in his rage, Cell's aura started surging like a hurricane, his body expanding to grotesque proportions.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Wait a second, I've seen this before!" Kai apparently came across a sudden realization at the sight of Cell's desperate tactic "Hey cueball, if he turns blue then you've gotta go sing a ridiculously catchy song."

"For the last time, I am not an Oompa Loompa." Krillin told him dryly "But yeah, those songs are pretty catchy."

"My point exactly!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

JF had to get one last crack in at the sight of what Cell was doing "Hey Larry check it out, it's your mother!"

"She's diabetic dude." Larry pointed out.

"Yeah, cause she's fat!"

"She lost a foot."

"And now she's 50 pounds lighter."

"DUDE!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gohan looked up at Cell's expanding form, though he didn't look convinced of the peral "So what exactly was the plan here, become so grotesque I wouldn't want to touch you? Because I'll be honest, it's working."

"Oh my dear boy." Cell let out a chuckle "I think I finally realized what it is that I inherited from you."

"It wasn't my BMI obviously."

"No Gohan, it was your explosive temper!"

"Oh. OH. Oh no."

"OH YEAH! You see, in less than a minute from now I'm going to burst and take you and this whole wretched world with me!"

"Not so fast boy, any attack could set me off! A punch, a kick, a leaf of thin meat! So how about you savor the time you have left before I go pop! Hope you enjoyed the Cell Games, by everybody and go fuck yourselves!"

"But…" as the sudden realization dawned on him, Gohan promptly fell to his knees "You've gotta be kidding me… I did the exact same thing as what my dad would do, or what my future self did. WHAT IS THIS SHIT, GENETIC?!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Dammit, this is bad." Yamcha muttered "What the hell do we do? There's gotta be something we can do!"

"Hate to break it to you, but it's hopeless." Piccolo told him grimly "There's nothing any of us can do now. It's alread started, all of us are history."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." Kai suddenly spoke up and shot a look at Goku "You know exactly what I'm thinking don't you?"

"Yeah, I do know." Goku turned towards the others and gave a sad smile "Sorry guys, I've thought this over and there's only one chance we have of making it out of this alive." he looked over at Kai "Just make sure you take care of Gohan for me okay?"

"You got it man, just go clean up your mess."

"I know. All of you, just make sure you take care of yourselves okay?" then Goku suddenly disappeared via Instant Transmission, much to the clear horror and dismay of most of those present.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Goku suddenly popped up in between Gohan and Cell and spared a glance back at Gohan "Hey son."

"Dad?" Gohan's head snapped up in shock "Wh… What are you-"

"Look, before I do this, I just want to say… I'm really sorry. Fighting is… well it's what makes me happy, and I just thought it would make you happy too. And I want you to know, that year we spent together in the time chamber, it was the best year of my life. Take care of your mom for me, okay?"

"Hold on, what are you going to-"

"I'm proud of you, and I love you Gohan. Bye son." and with a small sad smile, Goku placed a hand on Cell and teleported both of them away with Instant Transmission.

"DAD NO!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in Other World…

Scarlet looked up at the screen and let out a sad sigh 'Goku… for the sake of your friends, your family and your planet… You gave yourself… I guess I'll be seeing you here soon enough my friend. I wonder where he took him though.' then the explosion could be felt throughout all of Otherworld 'I think I just found my answer.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

On King Kai's planet, about 10 seconds earlier…

King Kai and his pets were less than pleased to see Goku pop up with Cell out of nowhere "What the hell were you thinking Goku?! You can't just bring him here of all places!"

"Yeah, but…" Goku gave a shrug "Sorry King Kai but I didn't have a choice, I was short on time and options."

"And my house was one of them?!"

"I never said I had any good options." and on that note, Cell finally exploded, destroying the entire planet and claiming the lives of all of those present.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The scene of the Cell Games had grown deathly silent.

Cooler was the first one to speak after everything died down "Both of their energy signatures have disappeared. It's over."

'Dad… no…' with tears streaming down his face, Gohan let out a blood curdling scream filled with absolute anguish.

Piccolo was the first of the actual team of Z fighters to regain his voice "Is it a bad time to point out Goku just stole that win?"

"To be fair, if you didn't then I would've." Kai promptly made his way over towards Gohan "So listen."

"Stupid, selfish, impulsive hypocrite!" Gohan slammed his fists into the ground "You had one freaking job, get angry and kill Cell!"

"Yeah, join the club."

"But no! You didn't just take a page from Kai, you wrote a sequel to his freaking book!"

"Okay low blow, but seriously listen to me."

"Chapter 1, kill you own goddam dad!"

"DUDE!"

"What?!"

"Dragon Balls!"

"...Oh. Huh."

"Yeah."

"I mean I still screwed up though."

"Join the fucking club, the population being everyone except for Yamcha, Cooler and the cueball over there."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

JF and the Satan Entourage were left stunned by what happend "It would seem that Cell has totally disappeared, along with the blonde man in the orange getup. Truth be told, I'm frankly lost for words."

"Either of you want some weed?" asked Larry.

"Oh hell yeah."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, up in Otherworld…

Now with a halo over his head, Goku floated with King Kai and the rest of his entourage over the end of Snake Way "I really am sorry about this Bubbles, Gregory. I never meant to drag you guys into this mess along with me."

King Kai was, well less than forgiving over the whole ordeal "Honestly Goku, what you did was just absolutely ludircous! I mean I'm King Kai for crying out loud, I have an entire galaxy that I have to watch over! It's kind of a big deal, in case you weren't aware! I'm not just livid, I'm totally furious right now! You took advantage of me for the sake of a single planet, you exploited me like a nameless lawnmower!"

"Hey take it easy King Kai, I told you I was sorry. What else is there I can do, and in my position I would've done the same thing."

"Oh yeah?! Well I'm glad you apparently know me so well, now do all of us a favor and shut the hell up!"

"Okay okay, no need to get so worked up."

"You realize who were talking about right?" that was when Scarlet showed up on the scene "I mean this is the guy you spent about 6 months training with before, so you'd know he's not particularly forgiving over stuff like this. Plus he's still salty about Piccolo getting himself wished to Namek to fight Frieza."

"Ouch. Hey by the way Scarlet, do you see Cell anywhere up here or do you think he got sent straight to Hell?"

"No no that's how it works, no matter who you might be or what you've done in life you always have to go through the Check In Station and get judged by King Yemma before you get to be sent to Heaven, Hell or to Snake Way."

"Wait, what is that supposed to mean?"

"Cell isn't here, and I checked and he wasn't in the line at the Check In Station, so that can only mean one thing."

"Wait what?!"

"Oh this isn't good. You wait here, I'm going to head over to the Check In Station." and so on that note, Scarlet promptly disappeared via Instantaneous Movement.

"King Kai please tell me that she's wrong, she has to be! We all saw Cell blow himself to bits, how the hell could he still be alive?"

King Kai slowly shook his head "I don't know how it's possible just yet, but there isn't much room for doubt here."

"But that's not fair! Are you seriously telling me I did all of that for nothing?!"

"I wish that weren't the case."

"Dammit, this is bad. We've already lost Tarble, Tien, Upa and now me. How many more of us have to die before this is over?"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back on Earth…

Raditz knelt down and picked up 18 in his arms bridal style, with Nail doing the same for 17 "I guess this gives a knew meaning to picking up chicks."

"I take it these are the Androids that Cell absorbed." Cooler noted "Which raises the question, what do you plan to do with them Raditz? Do you plan to restore them, or would you rather destroy them?"

"I doubt many of us here would be against destroying them, Kai is the first one that comes to mind. But still, neither of them are really that bad once you get to know them. Dr Gero up and stole their lives away from them, I got a second chance so why shouldn't they?"

"If you insist, then I have no place in arguing with you." unfortunately, that was when their conversation was cut short by a sudden burst of wind kicking up a sandstorm, a figure flashing among the winds "Such incredible power… But how could he have survived?"

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me."

That was when a very familiar voice started singing within the storm, its tone far too ominous for their liking "P is for Priceless, the look upon your faces… E is for Extinction, all your puny races… R for Revolution, which has been televised… F is for how Fucked you are, now allow me to reprise…" and then two full power Death Beams shot through the sandstorm, one of them striking Nail and blowing him backwards, leaving what was left of his body a gorey mess, and the other one was aiming for Gohan, when…

"Oh crapbaskets, get the hell down!" Kai shoved Gohan to the ground and took the full force of the Death Beam himself, leaving it to blow a giant hole clear through his chest and send his body flying backwards before it hit the ground with a thud.

"So who did I hit with those? Kai and Nail I assume." the smoke cleared to reveal Cell, alive and well and back in his Perfect Form, his body crackling with bioelectricity "Let me take a wild guess, you're all surprised to see that I survived my little kamikaze attack? Well allow me to explain. Believe it or not, this is what you might have referred to as a happy accident. Deep inside the depths of my skull there resides a small lump of matter, I suppose you might refer to it as a nucleus. If left untouched then it can prove to be extremely useful, and as long as it's intact I can restore myself indefinitely. Now fortunately for me, that nasty little explosion didn't manage to damage it in the slightest. And here's the part that's really going to get you, I wasn't even planning on this. It was pure luck that this worked, nothing more. What's even luckier still is the fact that even without 17 and 18, I was able to regenerate into my Perfect Form. Or should I say, my more perfect form. Like with Gohan here, my power level increased exponentially, so it would seem that my body had taken a cue from Saiyan biology and recovered from being as close to death as biologically possible. I believe the term that is used is a Zenkai boost, and as an added bonus I even managed to pick up the Instant Transmission technique from Goku, which allowed me to appear before all of you. Thus I've returned before all of you, and in the best shape of my life so far. Triumph may have been what Goku was intending, but I never would've guessed he meant for me to have it all to myself."

"...A fascinating story, but unwise to tell." Gohan promptly powered his Super Saiyan 2 form up to its max "You know something, I'm not even mad that you're still alive. It's because of my mistakes that we're in this situation, it's my fault that my father had to sacrifice himself, and it's my fault that my best friend is lying in a pool of his own blood. I would've given anything to have a chance to do it over again, and now I have that chance. To put it simply, I have some serious shit to work through, as Kai would say."

"Well now, is that cat in the cradle? Here, allow me to put you in a grave. Luck isn't going to be on your side this time."

"We'll see about that." Gohan shot a quick glance back at the others "Get Kai and Nail away from here."

"On it." Raditz was quick to rush over to Kai's form "I've been where you are kid, believe me when I tell you it's not fun- Oh great. It's official, he's dead."

That was pretty much all Future Gohan heard before he started seeing red 'He's dead… I let him die again…'

"I've definitely been there before you know, though to be honest the afterlife part wasn't really too bad. The whole dying part on the other hand, it's pretty haunting. Everything sort of just slows down, and you feel yourself slip the mortal coil. Even to this day, I still can't help but wonder if I've ever been brought back to life or if I'm still in the process of dying."

"Oh thank god!" Krillin let out a sigh "It's about time someone finally put it into words."

"Is it any easier the second time?"

"Believe it or not, it's even worse the second time."

"GOD DAMMIT!" taking everyone by surprise, without even thinking Future Gohan powered up to Super Saiyan and surged forward in a blind rage "YOU'RE GONNA PAY FOR THIS YOU HEAR ME?!" he promptly attacked Cell with a Gekiretsu Madan barrage packed with as much Ki as he was able to put into it, engulfing Cell in the massive explosion that followed.

When the smoke cleared, Cell charged towards Future Gohan, having not taken a single ounce of damage from the assault, and simply backhanded him away, leaving him in a crumbled heap on the ground "Well I suppose this is goodbye Marty McFly, and when you get to hell you'd better remember to tell them to make some room." he promptly fired a Ki blast packed with enough power to finish him in one strike.

"GET DOWN!" Gohan promptly rushed over to the aid of his future self and reached him right before the blast detonated, the force nearly blowing everyone away. When the smoke cleared, it was revealed that Gohan had shielded his future self from the blast, although his gi had been damaged and his arm was bleeding heavily while hanging limp as he struggled to get back to his feet 'Dammit… Cell's power increased more than I was expecting, and if I had to guess I'd say they used up the last of the Senzu Beans…'

"Well what do you know, I'm receiving all kinds of gifts today. Still though, it looks like that fighting spirit of yours hasn't been damaged in the slightest, though the same can't be said for your body."

"You can forget about winning Cell… as long as I'm still breathing… you won't be killing anyone else…"

"That won't be too much of a problem, I think I can free up about 5 minutes. Or however long it will take me to charge this." he dropped into a familiar stance and cupped his hands at his side, much to the horror of everyone present "I want you to know that this blast is meant for more than just you Gohan, it goes out to the entire planet. My Swan Song to this planet!"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, in Otherworld…

Kai opened his eyes and looked around at the scenery and at himself "Let's see… Giant office building, gold clouds as far as the eye can see, halo over head… Huh, looks like Yu Yu Hakusho did a better job with the afterlife than I thought."

"Looks like you haven't changed as much as I was afraid of." a voice commented, which promptly caused Kai to freeze in his tracks.

'That voice…' Kai looked ahead slightly and his expression turned rather wistful "It's really you… mom."

Sure enough, Scarlet stood before him, her expression just as wistful as the one her son had been carrying, and she gave him a sad smile before embracing him "Hi honey."

"After all this time… I can't believe I'm actually seeing him again." Kai leaned into the embrace and let a single tear roll down his cheek 'It's really her…'

"You know I saw your uncle and trained him myself when he and Goku trained here in Otherworld for a year. He said you were turning out well, and I'm just glad that now I see that he was right." they sat down on a bench outside of the Check In Station

"I guess. You know I've always tried to distract myself from the pain, but what happened to you still hurts, even if it was almost a decade ago. I just don't know when it's gonna stop, I keep thinking that the pain is going to go away but it doesn't, it just gets worse. Yamcha kept showing me pictures of you all the time, I know he was trying to help but it just made me get this empty feeling inside of me. I just feel like I could've done something."

"No sweetie, don't beat yourself up with things like that. You know what the doctor said, there was no cure for the disease that killed me. Goku on the other hand, he was lucky."

"Don't remind me."

"Besides I know the feeling, your uncle and I lost our parents and then my husband, your father, left me before you were born. I don't think that feeling ever goes away, and I'm so sorry I put you through so much pain."

"I really do miss you mom, it's not easy for me to talk about."

"It hurts me too, the thought that I put you through so much pain and that I won't get to be there with you and watch you grow up. But know this if nothing else, even if I can't be there with you physically I promose I'll watch over you to the best of my ability and be there for you when it really counts."

"I know that mom, I've always felt you there with me." the two of them hugged it out in a touching moment.

"Well we'd better get going, I need to drop you off with Goku and King Kai, and then I'm going to pick up Tien Shinhan and Tarble from Hell. They've been down there for almost a week, so chances are they're going to be mad."

"I knew I got that from somebody." and so they disappeared from the Check In Station in a quick flash.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, back on Earth…

Having dropped into a certain stance, Cell continued taunting the heavily injured Gohan "Now do you understand? This planet will share your fate, in a moment the Earth will be wiped from existence!"

Gohan wasted no time in tearing into his future self over his folley "Dammit future me, what the hell were you thinking you brain dead idiot?! Kai could easily be brought back with the Dragon Balls no problem, but no you pick now to snap like I did?! Well look at me, I don't have any right to talk, I'm the one who snapped first and a hell of a lot worse! I could've just went ahead and let you bite it, but now I'm monoplegic and Cell is going to kill all of us!"

"I…" Future Gohan looked up at him and spat out some blood "I'm sorry…"

"...Yeah it's just like I thought, we're fucked and you know that just as well as I do. I could've ended this sooner and protected everyone if only I had acted faster, if only I had done more. We all tried our best, but in the end it wasn't good enough."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Well since this is the end…" Raditz looked down at 18 in his arms "I love you…"

"GOD DAMMIT!" Piccolo let out a roar of frustration "Come on, how the hell can I let myself be so helpless?!"

"Join the club." Krillin told him dryly "We've been this way pretty much ever since you showed up."

"And now I know what it feels like to be you, and it sucks."

"I know."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cell continued taunting Gohan as he charged his Solar Kamehameha "Yep this is it for all of you, the end of the world. Why stop there though, as I am right now I have enough energy to annihilate your entire solar system! Oh what's the matter Gohan, let's see your valiant last stand even if it is in vain!"

Gohan gritted his teeth and shook his head "Not a chance Cell, there's no point in me fighting you so just go ahead and get it over with. My dad sacrificed himself for nothing, my best friend is dead because of me, so frankly I deserve to join them."

"What a coward, I never expected this finaly to be so anticlimactic. Still though, if you're in such a rush to die then please allow me to oblige you! Honestly Gohan, the maraschino cherry on top of all of this, besides wiping you from this plain of existence, is that because I am not burdened by the evolutionary failure of aging, I will live forever, free to roam the stars! From here to the stars, with my candy bars rides a bug with a knack for perfection! See if you guys can guess what that's from!"

"This is it, I'll be seeing you soon guys. I'm so sorry I let you down."

"The only way you let any of us down is if you give up, and as long as I'm around that's not going to happen. I spent so much time turning you into a warrior with balls of steel, so pull that stick out of your ass already!"

"What the-" Gohan's head snapped up at the sound of the voice "Kai is that you, I mean is that really you?"

"Take it easy, I'm using King Kai to talk to you from Otherworld using telepathy. Your dad would be here but I kicked him in the crotch and told him to let me handle it. Come on you idiot, we didn't spend as much time as we did training for all of it to be for nothing did we? And for the record that's rhetorical. Just pull out the biggest Kamehameha you've got, make sure yours is bigger than his and there's no way you can lose this whole thing.'

"But Kai, I can't do this! My left arm is hurt so bad I don't think I can move it, and I have less than half of my energy left. And now everyone is looking at me like they think I'm crazy."

"I'm tuning into you not them, you're really the only one I care about right now. The fact is that right now, you're the most powerful being in the entire universe, and you're the only one who can take Cell down. Wow it hurts saying that. My point is that you need to get a grip and snap the hell out of it, me and the others wouldn't take it and neither should you! Do you want to do right by us? Then don't let that bastard scare you! Besides, it's like you said to Cell when you were still going off the deep end, there's no point in being afraid of the inevitable."

"...Yeah you know what Kai, I guess you're right. If you think so then I'll give it my best shot, even if I can't win I doubt I'd be able to live with myself if I didn't at least try."

"And don't worry about me while I'm up here okay, I'm doing just fine up here in Otherworld, and get this. I got to see my mom again, so frankly I'm fine."

"Still though Kai, I really am sorry. It's my fault that you're up there, you wouldn't have had to take that shot for me if I hadn't gotten so drunk off my own power."

"Hey you did it back on Namek, as far as I'm concerned the most this does is finally make the two of us even. Besides, just because we're not gonna go back out and train anymore doesn't mean I won't have your back every step of the way. Face it dude, you're stuck with me and I'm with you till the end of the line, whether you like it or not. And if you're still pissy about it then just use that anger and take it out on Cell in the way only a Saiyan can. Give him everything you've got, and show him why you don't settle for being better when you could be the best! You hear me?!"

"Oh I hear you loud and clear!" Gohan spiked his golden aura and dropped into a stance, one hand at his side "Maybe I can't beat you Cell, maybe you killing me is inevitable, but I'll be damned if I don't give you everything I've got first! Ka… Me… Ha… Me…"

"Yes, now that's more like it boy!" Cell shot him a smirk "Absolutely magnificent, one last stand against me! A climactic showdown to end all climactic showdowns! GIVE ME WHAT YOUR FATHER AND YOUR BESTIE COULDN'T, BEFORE I SEND YOU TO JOIN THE TWO OF THEM IN HELL!" on that note, Cell promptly unleashed the full fury of his Solar Kamehameha towards Gohan.

"HAAAAAAAA!" using all of the Ki that he had at his disposal, Gohan finally unleashed the most powerful Kamehameha he could muster, the Best Friends Kamehameha, the blast colliding with Cell's attack in a moment of blazing glory, which signalled the beginning of the final struggle against Cell.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"New plan you guys, grab your bodies and move!" Raditz hoisted 18 up in his arms and flew away from the clash, with Yamcha carrying Kai's body, Krillin carrying Upa and Cooler taking the form of 17 with him.

Future Gohan pulled himself up into the air as the clash went underway, watching his younger self struggle with all of his might "Don't make the same mistakes I made…" and then he flew off to join the others.

Piccolo did something similar from a further distance away "Kill him runt." he was about to follow the others, but stopped when he noticed something "What the hell?"

As it turns out it was Nail, still barely hanging on to what little life was left in him, weakly calling out to Piccolo with what little strength he had left "Piccolo… please… come to me… quickly… We don't… have much time… before we… lose everything…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Raditz and the rest looked on at the energy clash from a safe distance "You know, it's times like these I'm glad beams don't just explode on impact with each other."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Gohan continued struggling against Cell's Kamehameha, though now he was starting to feel himself losing ground 'Come on come on, at this rate I feel like I'm going to give out! What the hell am I supposed to do?!'

Of course, this was when Cell started taunting him "Hey, feel free to tell me when that arm of yours starts feeling numb brat, and then I'll start trying! The worst case scenario is that you die and get stronger, god knows it did wonders for me!" he packed more power into his blast and started pushing back even harder against Gohan's blast.

"Is it too much to ask that you just shut up and fight, the one thing that no one I know ever seems to be able to do?!"

"Sorry brat I can't make out what you're saying, try using sign language! Wait no, if someone with one arm speaks with sign language then could that be considered a speech impediment or an accent?"

'Dammit! It feels like my legs are about to give out, I can't feel one of my arms and the other one is gettinig numb, and not a single person here is shutting the hell up!'

"I thought you already realized that shutting the hell up isn't exactly something I'm very well know for."

Gohan's head snapped up "Kai, I thought you were-"

"I'm seeing my mom for the first time in almost a decade, I want to enjoy it, and frankly you were busy. Last I saw you were holding your own, so what the fuck gives?"

"Kai, I… I don't think I have what it takes to do this… He's so much stronger now than he was before, and it's all my fault! It was my cowardice, then my hubris, and now my weakness! We're all going to-"

"Gohan listen to me, you need to hear this. I want to tell you that if you don't do this, Piccolo is going to die. Your mom is going to die. Your uncle is going to die. But before all of that, if you don't do this then you're going to die. And you're better than that. You're better than him. You're better than me, as hard as it is to say."

"But-" Gohan suddenly unleashed another burst of power that pushed back Cell's blast "Woah, I wasn't expecting that."

"The level of power you're putting out right now, I'm not even close to that strong, not yet at least. You've already proven to all of us and to yourself today that you're a lot more than just the son of Son Goku, you're more than just a student of Piccolo, and you're more than just my best friend. You are Son Gohan! Now plant your feet, grit your teeth, and EAT THAT MOTHER FUCKING HORSE!"

"RIGHT!" with a roar, Gohan unleashed another surge of power that pushed back Cell and his Kamehameha even further.

Cell gritted his teeth as he stopped himself from being pushed back "So what are we looking at now brat, your second wind or your dying gasp? Either way it doesn't really matter, behold the power of two hands!" he put more power into his blast and pushed Gohan back slightly "Eat your heart out Black Lagoon! I can feel you slipping away kid, it's only a matter of time before you finally give out and fail miserably!"

'Dammit!'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, on the sidelines…

Yamcha stood a full cliffside closer to the battlefield than the rest of those that were waiting on the sidelines "This isn't right…"

"Hm?" Krillin spared a glance over at Yamcha "Okay dude, what are you thinking? Whatever it is, please just don't do anything stupid."

"Not in the job description Krillin. I promised my sister I would look after Kai and protect him with my life, and I couldn't even do that. I promise, I'm not going to make that same mistake with Gohan. I'm going down there, and I'm gonna help him win this however I can. Don't try and stop me." so with his Kaioken 20x aura blazing, Yamcha promptly soared down towards the battlefield.

"Yamcha don't do it, you're gonna get yourself killed! What about Bulma and Puar, what do we tell them?!" but Krillin's cries went unheard.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Down on the battlefield…

"HEY CELL, SEE HOW YOU LIKE A GIANT HEAPING OF SPIRIT BALL!" and so with his Kaioken blazing, Yamcha promptly hurlted a gigantic Spirit Ball right at Cell's back, only for it to do absolutely nothing "Oh crap."

"Stay the hell out of my way weakling!" Cell promptly released a surge of energy from his wings that sent Yamcha flying and crashing to the ground.

"Yamcha no!" Gohan looked on in horror, but still held his ground in the struggle "Please just be okay."

"D-Dammit…" Yamcha spat out some blood and pulled himself back to his feet, his Kaioken still blazing.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Krillin gritted his teeth in frustration "Dammit, that might be brave and all but he doesn't have a chance in hell of standing up to Cell! He's totally crazy, we can't even touch him he's so far out of our league!"

"He knew that fully well." Cooler told him "And despite that, he still charged into the heat of battle regardless. There is a massive difference between being defeated and giving up, the difference being that you at least try in one of them."

"You mean…"

"Yes."

"Well it's like the Triclops said." Raditz flashed back into Super Saiyan "We're not spectators, we're warriors. I'm not just going to stand around and do nothing while my nephew is fighting out there all on his own because we're not good enough. That and sitting on the sidelines for so long really hurts us right in the pride."

"Indeed it does, and we have nothing to lose. If I do die, then I would be content knowing that I gave it my all, and my men are loyal enough to finish the mission I started. I take it you wish to join me then Raditz?"

"You bet I do." so on that note, Raditz and Cooler promtly charged into the fray 'At least I got to see 18 one last time before everything goes to shit.'

By this point, Krillin had been left all alone on the cliffside 'Well, if you can't beat them then you might as well join them.' and so he flew off after the others.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, across the wasteland…

Piccolo got down on one knee in front of Nail's charred form, gripping onto one of Nail's hands but with great reluctance "Are you sure you want to do this? You know what it means if you go through with this."

"Yes…" Nail managed to give him a weak nod "Cell is too dangerous… we need to put a stop to him… whatever it takes… Gohan and Kai… they both need you far more than they could ever need me… Besides… we have nothing to lose… right?"

"I know that, whatever it takes." Piccolo tightened his grip on Nail's hand "I promise, no matter what happens no one will forget about the sacrifice you made today."

"It will only matter… unless we are victorious…" Nail's body suddenly started glowing white, and he looked over in the direction of Raditz and sent him a telepathic message 'This is goodbye, my friend.' he gave him a small smile as the white glow completely engulfed his body, and once the glowing was gone… so was he.

Now that the process was over, Piccolo stood straight back up, his features slightly more stern as he took a moment to get a grip on what had just happend 'Your sacrifice won't be in vain, I intend to make sure of that. I hope you're ready Cell, we're going to put an end to this once and for all. Gohan, there's no way I'm going to let you die all alone out there. You were the first person who ever saw me as anything but a monster, and I'm proud to call you my friend.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Cell continued taunting Gohan as he pushed him back one inch at a time, his Kamehameha slowly overtaking the beam struggle "I hope you're ready boy, these are you final seconds in the land of the living! I say do your best to make them count!"

"KAMEHAMEHA!" with his Kaioken blazing, Yamcha hit Cell square in the back with a full power Kamehameha, with the others joining in soon after.

"DEATH FLASH!" Cooler dropped down next to Yamcha, giving him a small nod of respect, and hit Cell in the back with a Death Flash at full power.

"KAMEHAMEHA!" Krillin boosted his Kaioken up to 20x and hit Cell in the back with a full power Kamehameha.

"VACATION DELETE!" Raditz put as much power as he could into a Vacation Delete blast that struck Cell in between his wings, though it did nothing.

"You pesky little bastards, if you're in such a rush to be claimed by the jaws of death then I'm more than happy to hurry you along!" Cell spiked his golden aura, which proved to be enough to send all of them flying.

Raditz was the first one to pull himself back to his feet as he spat out some blood "You can forget it kid, there's no way I'm going to let you die all alone out there. You and your father, you were the ones who gave me a chance to break free from Frieza's rule, give me a home and a family again, and I'll forever be grateful to you for that."

Krillin let out a bitter chuckle as he struggle to get back to his feet "I don't know why I'm getting back up again… It would be a hell of a lot easier just to stay down… Yeah, back in the old days I so would've given up by now… I guess it's Goku and Gohan's fault I'm like this… Thanks to the two of them, now I don't know when to give up… And you know what, I swear I'm going to get them for that…"

Yamcha pulled himself back to his feet and fired another Kamehameha at Cell, his mind drifting to his regrets 'Goku, you've been my inspiration as a warrior and a martial artist for as long as I can remember… All that I have now, the people I call my friends, my wife and my daughter… I wouldn't have any of them if it wasn't for you. And how did I thank you? I stood there and watched you die! I couldn't do anything to save my sister… I couldn't do anything to keep her son safe… I promise Goku, there's no way I'll make the same mistake with your son!'

Cooler floated upwards and attacked Cell with a Death Flash to the back 'Son Goku, the power your son wields is unlike anything I've ever encountered before. I truly believe he will be an invaluable asset when the time comes, the final battle for the fate of this universe. But right now, securing the fate of your planet comes first.'

"Why the hell won't all of you just stay down?!" Cell unleashed another surge of energy that blew Cooler and Yamcha backwards off their feet, only to be met with Raditz and Krillin both firing simultaneous Ki blasts at him "How dare you challenge ultimate perfection!" he blew both of them backwards and then went back to taunting Gohan "Take solace Gohan, though you have fought alone up until now, you will not die alone! That is the last gift I can bestow upon you, a perfect death!" he was about to give the final push to finish Gohan once and for all, when…

"KAMEHAMEHA!"

"SPECIAL BEAM CANNON!"

Cell felt two simultaneous blasts plow straight into the back of him, blowing off one of his arms and both of his wings, and he looked up to see who was the cause "Oh shit."

As it turns out, it was Future Gohan and the newly merged Piccolo, panting heavily from the sheer exhaustion they were feeling, though mostly the former "DO IT NOW! FINISH HIM OFF!"

"Oh shit."

"IT'S OVER!" with every last ounce of Ki he was able to muster, Gohan gave his Kamehameha the last necessary push, ripping Cell's Kamehameha apart and engulfing Cell himself further and further as he continued to inch his way forward.

"Oh shit! Well, since this is the end I might as well go out in blaze of glory with one of the best songs to ever exist.' and so on that note, Cell prepared to go out in the exact same way he came in: singing.

"And now, the end is near

And so I face the final curtain

My friend, I'll say it clear

I'll state my case, of which I'm certain

I've lived a life that's full

I've travelled each and every highway

Oh, and more, much more than this

I did it my way

Regrets, I've had a few

But then again, too few to mention

I did what I had to do

And saw it through without exception

I planned each charted course

Each careful step along the byway

But more, much more than this

I did it my way

Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew

When I bit off more than I could chew

But through it all, when there was doubt

I ate it up and spit it out

The record shows, I took the blows! And did it…My~ way~!" and so as he finished his swan song on a high note, Cell was promptly disintegrated by Gohan's Kamehameha, every last cell in his body being obliterated as the blast travelled into the upper atmosphere before it finally dissipated, leaving nothing behind in its wake. At long last, Cell was finally dead and the Earth was safe again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Once the climactic beam struggle had finally come to an end, things had at last settled down on the battlefield.

Gohan was left nearly gasping for air, so exhausted to the point where he couldn't even maintain his Super Saiyan form, and he promptly powered back down to his base form "The horse… has been… eaten…" and he promptly fell to the ground from exhaustion.

Future Gohan was the first one to find his voice again "I think it's over… I don't think I feel his energy anymore… Not like I have any energy left to concentrate either."

"Not surprising, but you're right. It's finally over." Piccolo assured him "There isn't even a single scrap left of him this time, Cell is gone for good."

"Is anyone going to hold it against me if I start crying?"

"Better now than 5 minutes ago." Piccolo looked down at Gohan and gave him a small smile filled to the brim with pride 'You've come a long way Gohan, and you've made all of us proud today.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Meanwhile, up in Otherworld…

Kai took his hand off of King Kai's back and promptly shot a smirk at Goku "I told you he didn't need you to win this one, he did it all on his own, even if I was a kickass life coach. Looks like I was right when I said you wouldn't be the one to kill Cell."

"I can't argue with that." Goku looked on and gave a small smile 'Great job Gohan, I've never been more proud of you than I am right now.'

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

At long last, Cell has been defeated and the Earth is safe again. But there are still a few loose ends left to be wrapped up. Tune in for the aftermath of the war against Dr Gero and his creations, next time on Dragon Ball Z: the Next Generation!

A/N:

And with this chapter, we reach the epic conclusion of the Cell Games, and it truly deserves to call itself epic, though it did not come without its fair share of sacrifices along the way. Not only do we see Gohan finally defeat Cell once and for all, but we see Kai reunite with his mother Scarlet, a critical step in his character arc. Now all we have to do is see where the characters go from here, which will be covered next chapter in an epilogue to the Cell saga.

Going back to the sacrifices, I knew going into this that I was going to have Nail fuse with Piccolo. As much as I love the character of Nail and I got to keep him around, there really wasn't much I could have him do, so I think this was the most fitting end for him, giving up everything for the sake of the greater good. But I believe I gave him a fitting sendoff, and his sacrifice allowed Piccolo to help turn the tide of the beam struggle.

One significant change from canon is how I included Gohan making Cell also puke up Android 17. I never thought much of him at first, but throughout the Universe Survival Arc in Super, he easily became one of my favorite characters, and I always thought that he should've been included a hell of a lot more, so I decided to keep him around, maybe do something rather similar to what was done with him in the What If Nappa Turned Good series by MasakoX. Plus if my plans work out, he'll have a major role when we get to the Majin Buu Saga.

Power levels:

Super Saiyan 2 Gohan: 77 billion

Super Saiyan 2 Gohan (one arm): 30 billion

Super Saiyan 2 Gohan (Best Friend Kamehameha): 100 billion

Piccolo: 5.2 billion

Piccolo (fused with Nail): 26 billion

Future Gohan: 1 billion

Super Saiyan Future Gohan: 7 billion

Super Saiyan Future Gohan (enraged): 10.5 billion

Yamcha: 50 milliob

Yamcha (Kaioken 20x): 1 billion

Krillin: 24 million

Krillin (Kaioken 20x): 480 million

Raditz: 800 million

Super Saiyan Raditz: 5.6 billion

Cooler: 6.5 billion

Perfect Cell (full power): 25 billion

Perfect Cell (power stressed): 50 billion

Super Perfect Cell: 75 billion

Super Perfect Cell (Solar Kamehameha): 80 billion