Lucky Chance

Chapter 15

So this was it. This was fight that would determine the fate of Earth, maybe even the universe! If he won, we won. But if he held back even the slightest bit of power, we lose. This was no game, this was war. I knew it was going to be tough, but there was no choice in the matter. He had to fight, he had to win.

Cell stared daggers into this boy's eyes as he removed his cape. Goku had given Cell a senzu bean so he'd fight at full strength. I didn't think that was smart at all. Cell grinned and snickered.

"So this is the warrior, capable of defeating me?" he bellowed. "Does he have a name, Goku? Or should I simply call him Dead Meat."

"Gohan," my dad said confidently. "And it ends here, Cell. No more." Cell looked at him with curiosity.

"You're so sure?" he growled. "A worthless boy like you doesn't stand a chance." He paused. "But then again, you are the son of Goku, so that proves to be a fight waiting to happen." Tousan remained still. I stared at him, wondering if he really had any intention of using all his power. Father opened his eyes and stared back at Cell.

"Please Cell," he pleaded. "Stop this tournament right now. I don't want to hurt you." Cell laughed.

"You hurt me?" he boomed. "Like that's possible."

"I can hurt you, but only if I'm angered. I don't want that to happen, because if I get angry, you'll die."

"Really?" Cell seemed to ponder this. "I want to see this power of yours."

"I told you! I can't show you or I'll kill you! I don't want to kill or fight anyone!"

'Father?' I telepathically said. 'Don't worry about a thing, okay? As long as you do your best, you can win. I believe in you.' I saw him smile. Cell grew angry.

"What are you grinning about, baka?" he yelled. Gohan shook his head.

"Nothing you'd understand." A touch of anger flickered into Cell's eyes. "Monsters tend to be missing emotions."

"I'll make you regret your poor choice of words, boy! You will show me that power!" Cell got into fighting stance. Father didn't. THRASH! He was knocked down by Cell's fist. I gasped.

'Dad, what are you doing?!' I asked telepathically. Tousan looked up at me. Then he averted his eyes to Cell in time to be punched again. I watched helplessly for a few minutes as Gohan was beat around by Cell. Was he suicidal or something?! The other z fighters could hardly watch.

"Oh Kami, he's getting thrown around!" Yamcha wailed, covering half his eyes.

"Why isn't he fighting back?" Krillin asked. I turned to Goku.

"Was this very wise?" I whispered to him. "He's only a child. He didn't have to grow up the way me and Trunks did. Don't let him experience the same pain." Goku stared intently at the battle below.

"He can do it, I know he can...he just..." grandpa trailed off. I clenched my fist.

"He clearly doesn't want to fight! Call him back and we could come up with a plan."

"There is no strategy! There's only one option: fight." I looked away. This was cruelty! Cell was clearly winning. I heard 16 growl.

"Cell must be stopped now!" Down in the battle, Gohan was caught in a painful-looking bear hug. I squeezed my eyes shut.

"Ojiisan, look at him! He's in pain!" I cried.

"Goku, this time I think it's better not to fight," Piccolo added. "Gohan can't possibly take anymore of this torture! You've practically sealed his fate. I refuse to sit back and watch him die!"

"He won't die!" Goku retorted. "He's my son and I know he'll fight back when needed."

"In case you haven't noticed, not only is he your son, but he's an 11 year old boy. Other 11 year olds don't fight powerful monsters capable of wiping out this planet as well as any other planet in a 12 million mile radius!" Grandpa looked at Piccolo with surprise, then back at his son. I felt my eyes get watery. Why was he doing this? Cell appeared to get aggravated as threw tousan into the nearest mountain. I gasped.

"GOHAN!!" we all cried. The mountain collapsed above him. Cell laughed evilly.

"I give you my competitor!" he chuckled sarcastically. "Almost as ridiculous as that Satan fellow." I growled. He insulted my father and grandfather all in one sentence.

"I've had enough!" I growled. I was about to jump to go fight when I was held back. I turned around and saw Goku. He shook his head.

"Rage will get you no where, Pan," he whispered. "Besides, Gohan will be fine. Look." I turned back to the mountain and saw tousan stagger out, bleeding from his forehead.

"That's fine?!" I screamed. "When does it become bad? When his arm gets blown off, or he gets killed?" I felt another arm latch onto mine. I turned to see Trunks.

"Pan, please," he whispered. "Trust Goku. He's never let us or the others down before." I sighed, giving up, and gave Trunks a hug.

"I just don't want him to get hurt." I snapped from my concentration when 16 yelled a battle cry and leapt forward.

"Juuroku!" Krillin called after him. 16 grabbed onto Cell's back. I watched in amazement at the death-grip he had on Cell.

"In a matter of seconds, you'll be nothing more than a pile of ash," 16 growled angrily. "I have my detonator set to go off." I gasped. He was going to self-destruct!

"Juuroku, wait!" Krillin yelled, but his cry fell deaf on 16's android ears. Cell struggled insanely to get away, but 16's grip didn't loosen.

The countdown began. "5...4...3...2...1..." There was silence. Nothing happened. A look of horror crossed 16's face.

"What happened?" I asked.

"That's what I've been trying to tell you!" Krillin whined. "16, your bomb is gone! Bulma took it out!" In Juuroku's shock, Cell got away and laughed.

"Juuroku, you fool!" he said sinisterly. "Now you shall become nothing more than a pile of ash." He charged up and fired a ki blast at point blank range. I covered my mouth in shock. This battle couldn't have gotten worse. As if I spoke too soon, Cell began counting the people on the mountain ridge. Us.

"What's he doing?" Trunks asked faintly. I heard an evil crackle from Cell's lips.

"8 fighters all together," he laughed. "That's shouldn't be so hard."

"What are you planning, Cell?" Gohan demanded. Cell concentrated, and soon began glowing. Uh-oh, this did not look good. He let out a battle cry and a blinding flash of light appeared, making me as well as the others avert our eyes. When I looked back, my voice got caught in my throat and my breathing got ragged. Standing proudly beside Cell were 8 little blue copies of Cell.

"I'd like you to meet a few of my own friends," Cell announced loudly. "These are Cell juniors. Each one of them have the same strength and power as me." He turned to my beaten father. "And I'll let them mercilessly attack your friends unless you attack me with all your strength! And..." Cell suddenly appeared in front me. I stared in surprise and alarm, while he, using that advantage, to swipe something from my hands. Two things went missing. My video camera dropped to the ground and... Senzu beans!! Gohan gasped. Cell was back in the field as quickly as he had appeared. He let our a might yell, "Cell juniors! Attack!"

The blue creature leapt at us. Vegeta and Trunks powered up to super saiya-jin. I got into fighting stance and powered up, as did the others. I felt guilty for losing the bag of senzu beans, but there was nothing anyone could do now. I concentrated on the fight that lay ahead. A little Cell look-a-like was in my face in a matter of seconds with his fist forward. I dodged his attack and tried to land on of my own. My knee connected with the creature's stomach and he jumped back a few, doing a flip to avoid my next attack. He phased out and appeared behind me, elbowing my back painfully. I fell forward, staggering to my feet. But he pounded his foot on the ground behind me, causing the edge of the cliff I was standing on to collapse under my feet. I fell to the ground below and flipped up, but didn't avoid a stray kick. I landed with a thud and didn't move for a few seconds, feeling a little paralyzed at the moment. My brief pause cost me. The Cell replica grabbed my feet and slammed me into the mountain side cliff. Then he kneed my back several times. I grew angry about my helplessness and punch the creep in the nose. He wailed a little, but glared at me. He backed up and jumped forward at amazing speeds, landing a sharp punch to my midsection. If I had not been wearing the saiya-jin armor, that punch would have pierced my stomach. This wasn't looking too good. I fire a ki point blank range in the junior's face, causing him to stumble back. I used this time to clutch my stomach. Cell junior brushed off his pain and jumped at me, grabbing my neck in a painful grip. I felt my head getting dizzy without oxygen and I was going to pass out any second. Suddenly, without warning, I heard an ear-piercing scream. It wasn't that of a warrior, but that of child, followed by a blinding flash of light. Everyone ceased what they were doing and looked to where the scream had come from. There, in the middle of all the confusion, in the centre of all the fighting, stood Gohan. He looked different, his ki was through the roof, and his hair was spikier and longer. He was a level 2 super saiya-jin!!

I stared in shock. He did it! He achieved a higher level of a super saiya-jin! He could beat Cell! Gohan had a grave look on his face, like he was insanely pissed off or something. I gulped. Even if he was stronger than Cell, he didn't look like he was thinking too clearly, and he might just turn against his friends.

'Father?' I thought to him, waiting for a response. There was none. 'Dad, please. Say something!' His intense glare focused on me. I could faintly hear his thoughts.

'He's going to die...' I looked a little more shocked. 'He's going to pay for what he's done. He'll die today.' There was a brief pause. 'Right after I make him suffer.' I gasped. He sounded so sadistic. In half a second, he was gone, by Cell's side, taking the bag of senzu beans away, then back in his original spot. My eyes widened.

"Wow..." I mused at his speed. The little Cell dwarfs ran towards him. Tousan stood perfectly still, then suddenly powered up and blasted four out of 8 of the juniors. Three of them started to run, but Gohan caught up, punching and kicking them into oblivion. Soon, none were left. I felt that twinge of hope sparkle to a full fledge promise of victory. Like Cell said, those juniors were supposed to be the same strength as him, which means if my dad was able to defeat them so quickly, there was no telling how quickly he'd defeat Cell himself.

I bet Cell knew this tidbit of information because he became enraged. He knew his time was up.

"So this is the extent of your power?" Cell asked mockingly. "Not very impressive." What a moron. As if the kid wasn't already pissed off as it was, the baka has the nerve to insult Gohan some more. He was just begging for it. Gohan didn't respond to Cell's wisecrack. Tousan took a quick glance at me, then rushed Cell. Jumping forward, he landed a punch in Cell's stomach, gave him an uppercut, and slammed hit foot into Cell's side, sending Cell flying. I fell backwards when he suddenly appeared before me, handing me the bag of senzu beans.

"Look after them, Pan," he whispered before vanishing back to the battle. I numbly nodded and jumped to my feet. I ran to Goku first, giving him a bean, then to Yamcha, Tien, and Krillin, who were hurt the most. Vegeta didn't want one, and Trunks claimed he didn't need one. It didn't matter anyway. There was none left. I looked back to the battle and saw Cell furiously kicking at tousan's side. Gohan grabbed Cell's leg and kicked him across the field. They exchanged kicks and punches in the sky, until Cell backed up and powered up to a bulkier form.

"That'll never do," Trunks said smirking like his father. "I learned from my mistake that more muscles is equal less speed." I smiled as well. This was battle was going to end soon now. Cell was just punched in the stomach and now he was in the sky, charging up a Kamehameha. I could hear the humans panicking, but the saiya-jins, demi-saiya-jins, and Piccolo were calm. The slow-moving beam of energy was nearly upon Gohan, when he fired one of his own, much small, but more powerful, forcing both beams and Cell back. Cell was engulfed by the energy blast. When the dust and smoke cleared, and the light faded, all that was revealed was an extremely injured Cell, floating in the air. It looked like his left side and right leg was blown clean off.

"Finish him off, Gohan!" Goku called from the side. Tousan turned his head, revealing a cruel, almost evil smirk.

"Not yet," he stated. "I wanna see him suffer for all he's done." There were a couple of gasps, mine included. What was wrong with him?

'Gohan, what are you doing?' I asked telepathically.

'He needs to pay for what's he's done to Earth,' he replied. 'Do you know how many people he killed?!' His eyes flickered with pain and anger. For a moment, I thought that wasn't even Gohan down there. He let the power go to his head.

'Stop this now and destroy him before he can regenerate himself!' Too late. Cell grunted and growled as a new left side and right leg appeared. He dropped to the ground. What happened next surprised even me. He began laughing, insanely I might add.

"I can't believe it!" he roared. "I'm an android, a product of Dr. Gero, the most brilliant mind on this pitiful mudball of a planet! My design is supposed to be superior!" It sounded like he was going nuts. "I'm supposed to be perfect, the universe's most powerful creature!!" Father must've gotten tired of his ranting ways, because he leapt forward and landed a hard punch on Cell's stomach. Cell gasped and fell to his knees, clutching his wounded stomach. One hand reached for his mouth, like he was going to be sick or something. He started making gagging noises and leaned forward. Oh god, he was going to be sick! I quickly looked away, too disgusted to even think of what was happening. Wincing at all the noises, when it was over, I peeked back to see Juuhachi, lying in a pool of spit. Juuhachi?! What was she doing here? I thought she was abso...Oh Kami. I didn't even want to know.

"I can't believe it!" Krillin yelled. "She...she's alive!" That's when I noticed Cell, in a different form. It looked like he wasn't perfect anymore! He was fearfully backing away. Away from Gohan. And Gohan was walking towards him.

"This...this can't b-be happening!" Cell yelled in rage and fear. "I'm perfect! I'm not supposed to be cowering away from an earthling! I'm supposed to be killing your kind! I'm supposed to be the most power creature in the universe! I'm losing!"

"Correction," Gohan hissed. "You've lost." Cell growled, then smirked unexpectedly.

"No, stupid boy, you've lost." With that, he began to grow larger and larger until he was far, far bigger than a house. "You see, that moron Juuroku, isn't the only one who can self-destruct! In a matter of seconds, this entire planet will be gone!" I gasped. I don't think I could take anymore surprises at that point. Gohan's eyes went wide as saucers.

"Nani?!" he screamed. "No Cell, DON'T!!" Cell laughed evilly.

"Too late!" he said smirking. "Oh, and I would suggest not attacking me. I just might blow before I'm ready! Hahahaha!" I fell to the ground. This was far worse than my future now. At least there, there was still a chance, but here, here only had a few seconds left. I let out a cry of despair. It was all over. Everything we had worked so hard was going to disappear in a matter of seconds. Somehow, I was able to find Trunks. He held onto me.

"Pan, it's not over yet, okay?" he whispered soothingly. Tears stung my eyes. Why did he even bother trying to make me feel better? I knew it was over.

"Pan, Trunks," said a voice. I turned to grandpa Goku. "I just wanted to say thank you for everything. You've brought us hope and everyone here owes you their lives. It was nice meeting all of you, but I have to go. I owe you my life and I'm giving it up for you." I gasped.

"What are you talking about?" I whispered.

"Make sure you tell everyone from the future that I had to do this. There was no other choice." All of a sudden, he vanished. I turned back to see him down by Cell, talking to Gohan. A few words were exchanged before, suddenly, he disappeared, with Cell in tow. I stopped breathing. I heard the cry of my father. Goku...was simply...gone. He was gone forever! He teleported Cell and himself somewhere. But that only meant he didn't plan on coming back. He couldn't come back if he was...dead.

"OJIISAMA!!!" I heard myself scream. But that was it. There was no response to my cry. He sacrificed everything. I felt hot tears fall down my face. The inevitable happened. All was silent for a few seconds. The silence was broken by the sound of whimpers. Gohan's whimpers. I ran down beside my fallen father, who had broken down crying.

"Why did he do it?" he whispered meekly through his tears. "Doushite? WHY?!" He pounded his fists onto the tear-stained ground in front of him. I wrapped my arms around him protectively. His eyes were turning red from the tears.

"It's alright," I said quietly. "Just let it all out." I gently rocked him back and forth. A kid his age shouldn't have had to go through what he just did. It was a traumatizing experience, watching his father die, that a regular kid probably would never get over. I helped him to his feet. "Lets go home, Gohan." I sniffed a little. I still was shocked that Goku was gone so quickly. Krillin and the others dropped beside us.

"What about Juuhachi?" he asked. I glared.

"What about that cynical bitch?" I spat. Krillin back a few, holding his hands in surprise.

"Well, we can't just leave her. Besides, she's not all that bad."

"That's because she's UNCONCIOUS you twit!!" A slight breeze blew by, causing my embrace around Gohan to tighten slightly and my rating to cease. Then that slight breeze got slightly stronger. It oddly turned into a strong gust of wind until it was more like a small hurricane minus the rain and clouds. My hair blew around in my face, but it was tightly secure under my orange bandana. Something wasn't right. My head shot up when I sensed a familiar presence. A ki so evil that I could have recognized it in a crowd of hellions and demons.

"CELL!!" Gohan cried. A cloud of dust was thrown all around us. Electricity sparked. A blast sounded and a beam of energy shot past me and tousan, past everyone, and straight for the person I least expected.

"TRUNKS!!!" I shrieked. The blast had gone right through him. He was knocked off his feet and thrown a feet away. It went deadly silent. My eyes widened. My heart stopped beating and my breathing stopped all together. Was he...was he dead? No ki... A million emotions flooded my brain. Hurt, pain, anguish, sadness, agony, grief, anger, fear, shock, silence, surprise, madness, suffering, loss, LOVE! I fell to my knees, overwhelmed with emotions. Part of me felt ripped apart. The sane part of me was scolding my stupidity. 'You promised so many things. How could you break your promises? You promised you'd both make it out alive. You promised you'd watch his back. You promised to watch a sunrise with him. You may not have known it, but you promised to love him forever! How could you do this to him?!' I clutched my head in agony. It was too much! My heart was being ripped apart. My love was torn between everything. My tears refused to spill. I broke all my promises in that one instant. He was dead! His ki was gone! It was my fault! I should have been looking out for him, but I wasn't! I could feel my lungs begging for air. 'Why weren't you watching out for him? Why weren't you keeping an eye for him? Who are you trying to convince with your answers? Yourself? You're not good enough for Trunks!' I breathed in sharply and let out an agonizing scream. I was on my feet, collecting energy, powering up. The only way I knew I was charging up was because I could feel my ki racing. My hands began to burn as a strange, white gold aura surrounded me. Black strands of hair blew into my face, but they began to glow and turn silver. I was changing. I was finally changing! My hair felt like silk or liquid silver. My vision was momentarily blinded by my own eyelids. When they opened, for a split second, my vision had a tint of gold, but it passed. I could feel energy and power racing through my veins. I didn't need to have a mirror to know that I had finally achieved a higher lever of the saiya-jin race: Ultra Saiya-jin.

*~*~*~*~

A/N: Arg, the only chapter I actually had planned out and it took forever to get written! I had to make sure I expressed every emotion properly. I hope you liked it and stay tuned for the next chapter when we get to see Ultra Saiya-jin Pan fight Cell. Oh yeah!