Twisted Malevolence

Chapter 1: Divergence and Consideration

A path of life, in all its glory, need not be predetermined ...

Sparks of lightning filled the air as the two strongest warriors on Earth dueled at their pinnacle.
Mr. Satan stared with a dumbfounded look on his face, amazed at the strength of the boy who was fighting the monster responsible for the Cell Games.
The tyrannical android growled with fury in his fruitless attempts to defeat the Saiyan whom he had pushed over the emotional edge.
"How can this possibly be happening?" Cell asked aloud, with a bitter rage that echoed throughout the vicinity. "I am perfect! I am the perfect being!"
The noble warrior, with his golden hair pointing straight upward and bolts of energy cascading about his shimmering aura, had blocked each punch and kick that his opponent had released in their most recent clash of abilities. The android suddenly moved backward many meters, in an attempt to refocus his energy and acquire an advantage.
The Saiyan briefly looked first toward his friends and then to his father, whose own blue eyes gazed upon his son with the brightest of admiration.
He then shifted his gaze toward the malevolent fighter, whose anger was seething through his efforts to raise his power.
"Cell, you monster, I will not let you harm anyone else!" Gohan trumpeted as the glowing tinges of his aura flickered in the sunlight. "You'll pay for what you have done!"
Gohan then moved directly in front of the android and sent a searing fist of wrath into the gut of his foe, who couldn't block the attack in time and was now clenching his stomach in redoubled pain.
"Gohan! Keep it up!" Goku shouted, as he continued to watch the battle from his position atop a nearby rock formation.
"It's amazing how fast he's become," Piccolo said. "Goku, did you know that Gohan would have this much speed as a result of his training in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber?"
"I sensed that Gohan would be able to reach a level that Vegeta, Trunks and I were farther from attaining," Goku said, as his son kicked Cell right in the face. "His speed is awesome, Piccolo. I knew he'd be fast, but this is way beyond my expectations."
"His new transformation is absolutely amazing," Trunks said, as he briefly looked toward his father, whose face revealed his frustration that it had not been he whom had reached the newfound level first. "I was having so much trouble catching up with Cell the last time I fought him. Gohan's speed now outshines Cell's with ease!"
Krillin looked on as his friends commented on the battle, his fists clenching out of a particular disheartening truth. Even though Eighteen was gone, as she had been absorbed by that freak, he reassured himself that she would be avenged by the son of his best friend, a boy who through their adventures on Namek and in defeating other villains had also become a close friend.
Cell had never thought he would experience the degree of pain and panic he was enduring now.
If he was truly as perfect as he believed himself to be, he knew this situation would be inconceivable. But he was, in fact, a perfect being ... wasn't he ...?
As Gohan walked toward him steadily, in the bold and courageous manner of a glorious champion, the nervousness and sweating that Cell was trying so hard to conceal were becoming increasingly apparent to all who could see him.
Cell clenched his fists, infuriated that his fervent quest to achieve ultimate superiority was becoming demolished by an upstart Saiyan.
"Boy, I shall kill you and everyone else on this miserable planet if it's the last thing I do!" Cell shouted with even greater rage, as the golden specks of his own aura danced about him.
He charged with all his might toward the boy, jumped up quickly into the air, and began to gather energy at the fronts of his palms.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the transcendent Super Saiyan moved forward and punched Cell with all his might on the top of the android's head.
And that's when it happened.
Gohan followed up the punch by kicking the android up toward the sky.
After a few moments, Cell's body rocketed downward, smashing into the Earth and creating a whirlwind of dust.
Cell was lying motionless in the crater, his eyes closed and his breathing short.
Gohan landed near the crash site, took a moment of pause, and then started to walk in Cell's direction.
As Gohan approached, Cell opened his eyes, with the world all around him seeming somewhat hazy and somewhat fresh.
His vision restored itself to its proper workings at the moment Gohan came within five meters of him, all the while staring coldly into the android's eyes.
Cell was feeling a strange way that he had never quite felt before. As he perched to one knee, images and memories flashed before him. The way his emotions caressed and interacted with these visions seemed quite alien to him.
But the exact thing that was new about all this was a thing he knew had purposely been kept dormant within him. Cell knew that Dr. Gero had done everything he could to suppress certain personality traits during Cell's development, and that to serve his purposes, the scientist had crafted Cell with the hatred of Frieza, the megalomania of King Cold, and the stubborn motivation of Vegeta. Of course, these three traits did not make up the entirety of Cell's intended personality, but these three dominated that intended personality nonetheless.
Now, there was a difference.
And it wasn't just a small one.
'That move from Gohan, the one that struck me right on the head, what else could be responsible for this sudden change?' Cell thought to himself. 'I've heard of this before, people getting hit in the head and then changing dramatically. It is certainly sad, any case in which one loses his or her memories, but I should be fortunate that mine are still intact. But what of these feelings? These feelings are quite different, and yet ... I welcome them! How did I live before? How did I feel ease in cherishing the horror and pain that I loved so dearly, or the darkness I spread with joy? But now ...'
"Cell!" Gohan yelled, interrupting the android in the midst of his thoughts. "It's time for this to end! I'm tired of your games! I'm going to finish you once and for all!"
"Wait one moment, Gohan! Let me, ... well, let me explain!" Cell said in panic, truly fearful but for so many different reasons, and with a nervous stuttering indicative of true apprehension.
"Cut it!" the Saiyan shouted as he kicked the android, who streamed across the wasteland's floor and became a jumbled mess some distance away.
If Vegeta had closely seen Cell's face after the android fell yet again to the ground, he would have laughed arrogantly because of the tears that were streaming down it. The android was feeling the anguish of an indescribable remorse that comes with a great awakening which few, if any, have ever experienced at the magnitude he was enduring.
Gohan fired a round of energy blasts at Cell, and the android became even more decimated than he had been before, with even more physical pain added to the emotional.
Goku couldn't help but sense that there were very different vibes emanating from the situation as a whole. He didn't know exactly what had changed, or if his senses were merely playing tricks on him.
Cell watched as Gohan came even closer to him, just three meters away now. Cell saw that Gohan's face had the determined expression characteristic of Saiyans whose rage kindles strongly in their hearts.
Gohan was, at first, quite shocked at the fact Cell was crying. This was a most unexpected development. Cell's eyes were barely open, and so Gohan did not think Cell would have necessarily noticed the temporary, but barely recognizable, change in his scowl at the shock of seeing the android's tears.
But what shocked Gohan even more, what also shocked all who were watching the fight with keen interest, was that when Gohan raised his fists, Cell closed his eyes and moved his arms in front of his face, in a purely defensive fashion, but a sloppy one that was quite uncharacteristic of his normal tactics. Cell also began to shake, whether out of nervousness or other factors Gohan could not readily discern.
Gohan thought Cell was either merely scared of his power or that Cell was playing another trick.
"So, are you going to fight me or not?" Gohan asked him.
Cell continued to shake, and now Goku could hear the much more audible sounds of crying.
"Um, ... Goku?" Piccolo asked with a flicker of bafflement in his voice.
"Yeah, Piccolo?" Goku responded in a similarly uncertain tone.
"What is going on with Cell?" he asked.
"I'm not sure Piccolo, but look at him," Goku said. "It's not just the crying that I'm finding to be really strange. There's just something that's ... that's so different about him."
"Different, Goku?" Tien asked.
"What do you mean, 'different'?" Yamcha chimed in.
"Well, what I mean to say is, first of all, it's completely unlike Cell to be so outwardly showing ... well, fear," Goku said. "What he's doing right now, it's ... it's just so unlike him. I think you would all agree with me that it looks like he's crying, as strange as that is. And on top of that, and I can't quite put my finger on this one, he just seems so ... I used the term before but I can't think of a better one, ... 'different.' I don't really know how to explain it."
Vegeta chuckled.
"Maybe Cell has finally gone off the deep end out of the fear that his so-called 'perfection' is no match for the power of your kid, Kakarot," he said.
"I really don't know, Vegeta," Goku said.
All of the Z-fighters then turned their attention again toward Gohan and Cell, waiting to see what would happen next.
Gohan's impatience became even more apparent than it had been before.
"Well Cell, are you going to fight me or not?" he asked, with his anger causing a few rocks to rise from the ground and become crushed in midair.
Cell, who had finally mustered enough courage within himself to speak more clearly, then made a comment that bedazzled Gohan.
"Gohan, stop! I don't want to fight you anymore!" he yelled aloud, for all to hear.
Gohan could have sworn that Cell's plea sounded as though it had been made with a tone marked by both concern and regret. This was, however, too implausible for Gohan to consider as truly genuine, although there was no denying that something felt amiss.
"Excuse me?" Gohan asked, as his eyes began to reflect the boy's overall quizzical attitude at this juncture. "You don't want to fight anymore? How could you say that?"
The other Z-Fighters were pondering these questions as well, trying to discern exactly what was transpiring.
"That coward!" Vegeta said. "Even though he's down for the count and throwing the white flag, he's probably just trying to take advantage of Gohan and trick him! Cell probably wants Gohan to turn around and begin to back off so that he can make a last-ditch effort!"
Goku continued to look at the scene, still unsure of what would happen, or of what to do next.
Gohan's seemingly added complacency from being puzzled at Cell's most recent statements then shifted to forcefulness, and he began to scream at Cell while powering up.
"You've hurt too many people, Cell!" Gohan said. "I will not let you live, not for all the innocent lives you've taken!"
"Gohan, you don't know what I'm going through right now!" Cell said, as new tears formed in his eyes.
"I don't know what you're going through? How dare you!" Gohan said, right before landing an especially powerful punch directly into Cell's stomach.
Cell gasped in pain, with blood coming forth from his mouth as he hacked in agony.
"You're a monster, Cell!" Gohan said. "You've tried to kill my friends and family, and you have killed without remorse! So many innocent people have died because of you, and their blood is on your hands!"
"I know, Gohan," Cell said not with pride, but with a tone of sadness that made Goku wonder whether he was really seeing and hearing what he thought he was. "I have been a horrible, wretched monster. I am a disgrace for what I've done. I am so sorry."
"Sorry?" Gohan asked, repeating the word in a surprised fashion. "Do you honestly believe that saying you're sorry can enable you to be forgiven for all the lives you've destroyed? Do you truly expect me to offer you my sympathy and compassion after all the times you laughed as children died? Being sorry doesn't bring innocent people back from the dead!"
Cell maintained a solemn expression, then looked down at the ground, feeling that his own death at the Saiyan's hands would come soon, and that it might just be for the best.
Gohan powered up again, shaking the ground with the physical manifestation of his fury.
"Do you consider me to be a fool?" Gohan asked, screaming at the top of his lungs.
"No, Gohan. No, I don't," Cell said, with a greater inflection of sadness in his voice. "You're not a fool. You are a defender of life and peace. You did everything you could to become stronger so you could defeat me and save the world. How could you possibly be a fool?"
Gohan stopped powering up. He was awed by the awkwardness of Cell's most recent comment, and stunned by the implications of what Cell had just said.
"That cretin is trying to play tricks on you to make you soft and forgiving! Don't let him beat you, boy!" Vegeta said as Gohan briefly looked toward him. "Don't let down your Saiyan ancestors. Finish off this scum and glorify our race in battle. He would kill you for defending what you stand for, and he is a traitor to everyone else who was born on your planet. Kill him while you have the chance!"
"I don't normally agree with Vegeta, but he's right, you know," Gohan said to Cell, whose attention he had fully given to the Saiyan boy. "I don't trust you. You'd kill me if you had the chance. You were so eager to kill me and everyone else when you were stronger than us. Now, your abilities are nothing compared to mine, and I can make you pay for your crimes. So, without further ado ..."
Gohan brought his wrists together and deepened his stance, beginning the steps for the Kamehameha wave.
"Gohan, please, listen to me!" Cell said, while standing up again. "I beg you to listen to me! I'm sorry! I'll somehow make it up to all of you! Please don't do this!"
"I will not listen to your lies anymore, Cell!" Gohan said. "I shall avenge all who have suffered because of you!
Cell felt the horror swell within. However, he realized that Gohan and the others would continue to defend the Earth even if he, himself did not live to see it.
"KA-"
How said it was, to have finally gained feelings of true compassion, feelings that he had intentionally been denied, and to not have the chance to truly live those feelings out.
"ME-"
If he had to die, then he had to die, if that would help enable this noble Saiyan warrior to become even stronger and to continue to defend the Earth.
"HA-"
But did he have to die? Was there something truly worth living for when he knew he would live forever with the pain of having killed so many? Was there anything he could do to truly make sure that he would be able to act on his newfound feelings in a positive way?
He came to a sudden realization, and he now knew that there might just be a way...
"ME-"
"Don't do this!" Cell yelled in fright. "I don't want to be evil anymore!"
While Gohan commenced with the last phase, Cell maintained his ground without flinching.
Goku knew what would come next would either be a good deed or an unforgivable mistake.
"HA!"
As the beam erupted from Gohan's hands, Goku disappeared from where he had been standing and reappeared between Gohan and Cell, with the blinding light of the attack he had learned so long ago now only seconds from impact.
While Gohan became fraught with terror, Goku quickly placed his right hand on Cell, and the two disappeared from Gohan's view. The blast collided with a mountainside many meters behind where Cell had been, and it obliterated most of the earthen protrusion. As the dust cleared and Gohan formed tears of his own, he saw his father and the villain his father had for some inexplicable reason risked his life to save both looking at him as they reappeared.
No one moved a muscle for many moments. The shock and confusion in the air, with the rage many felt over the events that had transpired, all had led to such an utter silence that the one sound anyone in the vicinity heard for many moments was the sound of sands rustling with the wind.
Vegeta then broke the silence.
"You imbecile! What have you done?" he asked. "Are you mad? Did you just help out a raging lunatic that wants to kill us all and would do anything to do so? This is the most disgraceful thing I have ever seen!"
"Dad, Vegeta's right. This is beyond ridiculous," Gohan said, with vibrant disgust becoming all the more apparent in his voice. "Why in the world, after all the people he's killed, did you decide to save him?"
"Gohan, ... I can explain," Goku said.
"What do you mean you can explain? You almost got yourself killed, Dad! Think of all the people he's killed! Think of how many more people we need to protect from him!"
Goku looked at his son in the eyes, the person who he knew would have the most difficult time understanding the reason for his father's actions, and perceived an angst of unforgiving resentment growing within him.
Cell was absolutely bewildered at the entire chain of events that had transpired, and was completely uncertain of what would happen next.
"Gohan, you need to listen to me ..."
"There is nothing to listen to, Dad!" Gohan yelled with rage. "You must be out of your mind to save that monster after what he's done!"
"Gohan, haven't you been paying attention to what he's been saying?" Goku asked. "I know it sounds strange, but you're going to have to trust me on this one. I'm not entirely sure why, but I think he really means it when he says he wants to stop his evil ways."
"How could you possibly believe that?" a furious Gohan asked, unsure of how this horrible predicament could be happening.
"Listen, we've always given those who have threatened us, our loved ones, the Earth or other planets a chance to change for the better and to promise to never hurt anyone again," Goku said. "Unfortunately, with the hopeful exception of Vegeta, no one has yet taken us up on this offer. There's something about the way that Cell has been expressing himself which leads me to believe that he's earnest about wanting to change. I think Cell just might be telling the truth about this."
Gohan was angered to an extremity.
"I can't believe you, Dad," Gohan said in a tone of ultimate frustration. "You actually believed all of that nonsense this freak was spewing out! Whatever happened to your common sense; where is your judgment? Let me end what I was about to finish!"
Goku was growing increasingly concerned about his son's surmounting belligerence.
"Gohan, I've been facing you this entire time with little worry that Cell would attack me from behind or try to run away. I think he might really be sincere ..."
"Sincere! Oh please, give me a break!" Gohan said. "How stupid could you be, Dad? You let your naivety get in the way of common sense all too often. This maniac, even if he somehow convinced himself at the last second that he's being sincere, could lift the veil of this facade at any moment and choose to try and kill us. You've gone too far this time, Dad."
"But Gohan ..."
"But nothing! Leave me alone!"
With that, Gohan flew off to join the rest of the Z-fighters, many of whom were emotionally broken at the current state of affairs.
Piccolo saw Gohan, still in his transcendent Super Saiyan form, land right in front of him and look him in the eyes. In Gohan's eyes, Piccolo saw a tormented spirit who wanted to remove indecisiveness from his life once and for all.
Goku, with his back still to Cell, looked down and clenched a fist. After his face showed signs that he was visibly struggling with his decision, he stopped clenching his teeth, lowered his arms, closed his eyes, and relaxed his face.
'That was one of the hardest decisions you've ever made,' Goku thought to himself. 'The repercussions will be felt for a long time. A lot of Gohan's anger might be because of the rage which comes with his transformation, but so much would have occurred even if his mind was totally clear.'
Goku then turned his head slightly to the left, looked at Cell from the corner of his eye, and then looked straight toward the rest of the Z-fighters.
'I will defend this world and my family no matter what,' Goku thought.
Then, after loosening his fists, adjusting his posture and standing more firmly straight, Goku began to speak, while still looking ahead.
"Cell, I risked an awful lot in making that decision," Goku said. "You said you wanted to do something good for this world. I don't know if you truly meant it. You may have, but I could be completely wrong. You know Gohan could have killed you right there and allowed you to become consumed by the dust. But you've been given another chance at life here, Cell. You actually have the chance to make good on your word, if your word has any value to you at all. I'm tired of risking my life for people who don't care about others, and I'm especially tired of people who don't care if other people live or die. I expect you to change, Cell, whether you truly meant all that crap you just said or not. I am confident that I will be much stronger after fully recovering from today's battles, and it's quite possible that I'll become stronger than you. Trust me, Cell, because I do keep true to my word, if you even as much attempt to hurt a member of my family, or anyone else on this planet, I will hunt you down and kill you."
Goku began to walk forward, unsure of how he would associate with the rest of the Z-fighters after this ordeal, and what the next step toward helping the world would be. The Dragon Balls, perhaps? But maybe it was best to wait ...
Cell looked ahead, pondering all that had transpired today.
He understood so much now that he had not understood before. And he had come to know a fundamental truth that encouraged a slight smirk to appear on his face.
'There is no way I could have possibly been perfect before,' he thought to himself. 'The dark path I lived on was so flawed that even if my body was so proficient, which it was not, I still, even in my wildest dreams, would never have been spiritually perfect.'
Cell also knew that he wanted to do all he could to make sure these blessed feelings wouldn't disappear.
But what was there to do? How could he make these feelings last forever? Could the Dragon Balls possibly help him? There was no time to wait to find out.
Cell took his first step forward.
The fighters standing on the nearby hill gazed in awe at Goku and Cell.
The greatest villain the world had ever faced was following the world's greatest hero, and both were approaching the group without any sign or movement of attack.
Less than an hour beforehand, Goku had been doing everything he could to stop that mutant android freak. Goku's fellow warriors had been just as eager as he had been to defeat Cell and restore peace.
Most of them had spent the majority of the last three years both training and praying in preparation for combat with the androids. After Cell had unexpectedly entered the picture and absorbed Seventeen and Eighteen, they had spent the past 10 days expanding their capabilities beyond their previous limits.
But now, after such a long period of training, numerous sleepless nights of anguish, and all the fury and frequent feelings of helplessness they had endured, could they have been expected to truly believe that the archenemy of the world had simply given up?
What kind of preposterous joke on their lives was this? How could all of this be possible? Was this freak just trying to catch them off guard? Why had Goku actually listened to this monster?
"Well, if it isn't the disgrace himself,'" Vegeta said to Goku, as the father of the boy who had just been fighting Cell made his way toward the group. "Oh yes, he had a plan. Risk his son's life by throwing him into the ring without truly knowing if he could win, then crush his honor by taking away his victory and caving in to the foolish deceit of the enemy. You're not just low-class trash, Kakarot, you're a downright ignoble fool! How could you do this to your son?"
After Vegeta said his words, Gohan, still in his transcendent Super Saiyan form and still ready to pounce on Cell and destroy him, quickly looked towards his father, then looked away, in no direction in particular.
"Vegeta, you and Gohan both know Cell isn't innocent, but you and Gohan also wouldn't want to kill someone who wishes to kill no more," Goku said.
"That's ridiculous, Kakarot," Vegeta said to Goku. "If he has killed through his own free will before, then he certainly has the capacity to kill again. He deserves to be killed before he kills anyone else."
"Well, um, Vegeta," Yamcha began, "I hate to interrupt, but the same could be said about you."
Vegeta was furious.
"See here you half-wit, you weren't brainwashed by a tyrannical fiend when you were but a small child, were you? Your race of people wasn't destroyed by such a monstrous abomination like mine was, was it? Those things can make a man have quite a temper and be ready and willing to kill others, as I was, once upon the stars," Vegeta said. "But I've stopped killing because your former woman has helped convince me that killing merely for sport is wrong. However, of course, we must defeat to the fullest extent by any means necessary those who wish to take our lives. In the past three years, I have trained harder than ever before to become stronger so I would not just have the fortunate pleasure of defeating the androids myself, but the knowledge that anyone on this planet who could actually be considered 'innocent' wouldn't have to suffer and die because of the androids. This worthless piece of garbage that Kakarot insists wishes us no further harm is the epitome of a liar. He is the worst of all the androids, fused with the hatred of Frieza and his father, and a thousand times worse than I could have ever been. He was purposely created to kill us. He would choose to do so even now if he knew he could get away with it. He cannot change. He wouldn't change. Kakarot, you imprudent clown, if it wasn't for you getting in the way of your son while he had the chance to finish Cell off once and for all, then we could have truly made sure that we would all still be alive tomorrow!"
"If you're going to talk about me and make accusations about how much I want to kill you all, then why don't you let me have at least some sort of opportunity to explain myself?" Cell asked as he came closer to the group, while Krillin, Tien, and Yamcha backed up, Goku and Gohan stood motionlessly, and Vegeta, Trunks, and Piccolo tightened their stances.
Trunks had seen enough bloodshed and horror in his life to never trust any android, and so he justifiably assumed that Cell could not possibly have had anything righteous in mind.
"Cell, if you take one more step towards us, this is going to have to be the first time that I will truly disagree with Goku," Trunks said. "We're going to help Gohan finish what he almost did and bring you down for good!"
"Yeah!" Yamcha shouted.
"That's right," Tien concurred.
"Oh, will you all just calm down for once?" Cell asked in frustration as Piccolo regarded the apparently dishonorable comment with great distaste. "I am going to try to gain your trust and understanding even if it seems hard for you to believe that any of you would ever honor me with either of these. Vegeta, let me begin by saying that you and I are more alike than you're willing to admit, and that because of this, you especially should consider my words."
"I have nothing in common with you, android, except for the genetic material your bastard of a father cowardly stole from me in my absence of awareness," Vegeta said.
"That is where you're wrong," Cell said, as all ears, even Gohan's, perked up out of scorn or legitimate interest. "You shared with everyone here just a few moments ago your opinion that you should not be held completely accountable for your crimes in taking lives because of the conditions of your upbringing. Normally, I think you'd actually agree with my newfound belief that a killer who kills with no remorse, a killer who has a clear choice in his destiny and has relatively free will over his decision to kill, should be put to death. But what of a killer who was horribly misguided by intense evil and malice during his upbringing so as to make him a murderer, such that he never truly had the opportunity to develop the will or desire to think and act otherwise? In your case, I must agree with you that your history limited your free will and hampered your ability to escape a life of causing suffering to others, at least until much later in your life. I also think you would agree with my perspective that even in the case of a person who does not kill entirely out of his own free will but because of predetermination, there should still be some sort of punishment, maybe not quite as severe as death depending on the society passing judgment on the killings, but a punishment nonetheless."
"Your words are superfluous and pointless; of course I agree with those sentiments," Vegeta said. "However, while the scenario of becoming a murderer against one's will because of one's upbringing does apply to me, it does not truly apply to you. You are a killer, and you always will be. The malevolent blood of Frieza courses through your veins!"
"You know, it's funny, Vegeta, I thought you would have remembered your own words from a few minutes ago and that you would have been more sympathetic to my case," Cell said.
Vegeta, enraged with his enemy's seemingly arrogant backtalk, decided to directly test Cell's commitment to peace. He then lunged at Cell and kicked him in the face, a maneuver that Cell made no effort to block.
"Android! Answer me! Why didn't you deflect my attack?" Vegeta asked.
"You know full well that at your level of strength you shouldn't have expected your attack to do all that much against me," Cell said as Vegeta snarled furiously. "And that's besides the point. Have more patience, Vegeta. I no longer have any desire to attack you and wish no more harm upon you."
Vegeta then spat on Cell's foot, and as he walked back to the group and turned his head to look at Cell, he was both perturbed and maddened by the fact that Cell's sullen expression had not changed after his foot had been covered with Vegeta's saliva.
This was hardly the reaction that the Saiyan prince had expected from a person whom he believed shared so much of his arrogance and distaste of dishonor.
"As I was saying, Vegeta, there is an important bond that we share, one that is much more prevalent than the bonds which hold our common genetic material together," Cell said. "You were brought up in an environment where malice was all the rage, where killing was glorified, and where you were preconditioned to think that killing others to furtiher your own goals was an acceptable enterprise. So was I. Dr. Gero designed me to have very specific feelings and engineered my psyche so that I would not have considerable variation from those feelings. I was never given the choice to truly resist evil temptations if I wanted to. Indeed, I wasn't even given a true chance to develop my own personality. My feelings and preferences were imposed upon me. I couldn't shape them. I had no ability to. I was an artist without a pallet whose painting was already done. Gero cultured me in a culture of death, and he made sure that killing others was an integral part of my self-preservation and advancement. He gave me profoundly wicked incentives and made sure my attention would be focused on them, as in order to reach the ideal of perfection and become as strong as possible, I was guided into feeling justified in killing countless individuals through absorbing them for my own power. I even felt justified, as per Gero's design, in killing my own siblings to make myself even stronger."
Cell closed his eyes for a moment, reflecting upon many memories he now considered to be intensely unpleasant.
"Vegeta, do you know what it's like to wake up one day and realize that your entire life has been a lie?" Cell asked. "Do you know what it's like to feel remorse for so many things you've done when you never felt remorse for those things before? There is somewhat of a difference between you and me regarding our experiences, since your thoughts were not completely engineered the way mine were. After many years, you were able to gain the ability to become somewhat capable of questioning the morals of your deeds. I never had such a luxury. I was never able to contemplate if what I was doing was wrong because I was built to assume that it was impossible for my motivations to be imperfect. I had not been allowed to have the potential to feel remorse for my actions, which could have enabled me to question the legitimacy of my previous deeds, as you have done. And you, Vegeta, have had the ability to gradually reform yourself over many years. Enlightenment almost literally hit me a little while ago, shattering the darkness with light in an instant. It's been quite a psychological shock, to say the least. But please believe me, despite your misgivings. I am sincere in all of this. I don't want to commit acts of evil anymore. I deserve to be punished for the horrors I have caused, and I want to atone for everything I've done. I'm extremely eager to start helping the world as soon as possible."
"That's the lousiest excuse for cowardice I have ever had the displeasure of listening to," Vegeta said. "No matter what commonalities you might think we share, you should have enough intelligence to know that there are so many more variables that should be taken into consideration than those you just described in determining how feelings can be changed. Furthermore, Cell, while to the untrained mind your argument may be convincing on face value, let me ask you this question: 'How is it that all this just happened to have coincidentally occurred at a moment when you were on the brink of defeat?' You must admit, it seems rather improbable, and close to impossible. People don't just have epiphanies on the spot, certainly not like the one you're clamming to have experienced. You wanted to ravage the world just an hour ago, and now you're saying you wish to go out of your way to do good things for the people you eagerly wanted to kill? Do you really take us all to be fools? Maybe you were counting on how much of an idiot Kakarot truly is, deciding that taking advantage of his softness in battle would be an option even now. After all, you might even have the truly unique ability to profoundly understand his unadulterated magnitude of stupidity based on the fact that you share some of his genetics. Maybe you thought you could fool him and prolong your life temporarily, but you can't fool me."
After Vegeta's comments, Goku looked down toward the ground. He closed his eyes and began to feel a sense of shame for the idiocy that he felt Vegeta might have been correct in ascribing to him for this entire situation. Had he really been that gullible? Maybe he should have listened to Vegeta's advice from all those years ago when Vegeta had said that his propensity for naivety should be constrained because of its potential to advantage his enemies and threaten his loved ones.
"You're nothing but a trickster," Vegeta said, while Cell continued to intently listen. "I swear, even if you think you've somehow won some time, you're not leaving here. And you know why you're not leaving here? It's because Gohan's about to kill you. Isn't that right, boy?"
Goku suddenly looked in Vegeta's direction out of nervousness for what might come next. Vegeta was tempting the emotions of not only a Saiyan who had reached a level of power vastly above that of a basic Super Saiyan, but of a boy who was going through profound emotional turmoil.
There was no telling what sort of actions Gohan might make in the midst of his internal strife, and no way of knowing if he could truly be stopped from committing deeds that he would later regret.
"Vegeta, calm down," Goku said.
The warrior's anger intensified.
"You know something, Kakarot? I think you're right," Vegeta said, sarcastically. "Maybe I should just let Cell go and kill my wife and my child. I mean, he's certainly such a nice guy."
Cell didn't know what to say, and began to look down at the ground as Goku had done some moments ago out of shame.
"Your idiocy, Kakarot, is appalling," Vegeta said. "In fact, I think I've lost any tinge of respect I might have ever had for you. Your son, ... now there's a warrior who truly reflects the spirit of Saiyan pride. He might be the offspring of a twit like you, but he's not one to let his honor go to shame. Gohan, why don't you show your father what it's like to be a real Saiyan and kill Cell right now?"
Gohan, at this moment, was on the edge of a great emotional divide. Should he respect the wishes of his father, however misguided they appeared to be? Or should he go with his true feelings and listen to Vegeta, despite the arrogance and darkened fervor the Saiyan prince seemed to be inflecting? Vegeta had called his father rather unsavory names, but didn't he deserve those minor verbal attacks? He did, didn't he?
Trunks also did not know what to do. Cell was an android, after all, and from everything Trunks had experienced throughout the course of his life across timelines, he knew that the androids had been born to be murderers and should never be trusted. Out of logic and reason, he acknowledged that Sixteen had demonstrated the capacity for change, but was that even a realistic possibility for Cell? Cell had seemed to have been enjoying the prospect of annihilating the Earth, and his claim that this had suddenly become no longer the case seemed outrageous. Cell had almost killed his father in battle, and Trunks' memories of the dark day in which Cell had gained his so-called "perfection" remained fresh and poignant in his mind. Cell's words seemed far too good to be true, and Trunks felt as though he had no personal desire to believe Cell at all. But his father was tempting Gohan, who seemed emotionally confused and psychologically exhausted. Vegeta was taking advantage of his rage in a way that had the potential to make Gohan possibly bend to killing without thinking things through the way he might have under other circumstances.
And what if Cell actually was not lying? What if Goku actually was right about all this? If Cell really had changed, would it be an unthinkable atrocity to kill him now without enabling him to have the opportunity to redeem himself and help the world? It seemed almost impossible to Trunks that Cell could have suddenly and genuinely reformed, especially under the circumstances in which he had claimed his sudden enlightenment had occurred, although Trunks knew very well that impossibility was not the same thing as mere improbability, which enables even very unlikely circumstances to have the potential of being true.
Was it his moral duty to step in and stop his father from succeeding in making Gohan kill Cell, or would the Earth and the universe be better served if he just let Cell's life come to and end to make absolutely sure that any further threat he might pose would be extinguished? Would enabling Gohan to make the choice be the best option?
Gohan began to walk toward Cell, and Trunks stood still.
Goku did not move either.
Cell observed Gohan's approach, and he then sat on the ground, anticipating what was to come.
Gohan decided, after the events which had transpired, that it might be best for him to kill Cell without using a Kamehameha, and that he would instead use a Masenko, a signature attack of his other, symbolic father.
Trunks, for Gohan's benefit, decided that he should not remain entirely silent while the upcoming events unfolded.
"Gohan, at the very least, you need to give some thought to this," Trunks said.
Gohan momentarily stopped walking, and turned to face his fellow warrior.
After a moment of pause, and without verbally responding, he then turned his attention back toward Cell, continuing his approach. Within a few seconds, Gohan came within one meter of Cell, then raised his hands above his head and brought them together. But then, he halted his movements, as he was interested in what, if anything, Cell, who was staring into Gohan's eyes, would do next.
After a minute of inactivity, Gohan asked Cell a simple question.
"Well?"
Cell then closed his eyes.
"I am about to kill you, you know that?" Gohan asked.
"I can see that my words from before meant nothing to you and that your mind was made up, justifiably so, even before I spoke a word in my defense," Cell said.
Gohan began to collect energy near his hands, and Cell remained calm.
As the glowing ball of energy glistened, illuminating Cell's face with the fiery power of destruction, the android spoke again.
"I want you to know before you kill me that when you punched me in the head during our fight, you profoundly changed my mind and opened up a new world that allowed me to finally experience at least a hint of what it's like to be a real person," Cell said. "I have to thank you for that, and I truly do hope that you grow up to be a strong leader and a kind father who will always defend this world and protect his children."
Gohan kept his gazed fixed on Cell while the energy glowed near his hands. Both fighters were stationary now, with the energy near Gohan's hands constituting the only sign of movement among them.
Then, Gohan made a decision.
The visible energy faded, Gohan lowered his hands, and he brought his fists to rest positions. He still remained in his transcendent form of Super Saiyan, however, as a tactic of precaution.
"I must be crazy for doing this," Gohan said.
Vegeta realized what was happening and became furious.
"What do you think you're doing?" he screamed. "Are you really going to let that android get away with what he's done? Are you really going to let him have the opportunity to kill everyone you love? Tell me! Tell me what sudden wave of irrational ignorance is making you do all this. It's emanating from your father, isn't it?"
"Stop making fun of my father, Vegeta," Gohan said.
The psychological impacts of Gohan's form beyond Super Saiyan then prompted him to say some things he otherwise would not have been likely to so openly express.
"He may be ignorant at times, Vegeta, but so are you," Gohan said. "So am I if I truly am falling for the greatest façade I've ever encountered while letting this charlatan get away with murder. You know what, though? I'm going to respect my father's wishes. If he's so confident that Cell won't hurt anyone else, let's see what happens. If he's wrong, I think he'll feel sorry after this monster right here kills countless more, but we can always wish them back. It will still prove a point and, after all, the pain so many will feel will be merely temporary. They'll be able to come back after a wish and, depending on how we play our cards, they may not even remember what had happened. It's a valid way to test Cell's intentions, and I really don't care how we do it so long as no one is actually permanently out of commission. Let the horror come if it's destined to come. It would prove my father wrong for the grandiose idiocy he's exhibited today."
When Trunks had asked Gohan to consider the situation before taking action, he had not imagined that Gohan would make the vicious considerations he had so evidently made. Trunks didn't believe his former master's counterpart was quite right in the head at the moment.
"Gohan, do realize what you're saying?" Trunks asked. "From what you've said, it sounds like you think Cell's still going to be a killer after we let him go, but that you'll let him get away with further murder just to prove a point to your father. There are many parts of this that lack common sense and are very unlike things the Gohan I know would normally say or believe. I remember when I reached a level beyond Super Saiyan for the first time and how my thoughts and emotions were thrown off from what they would normally have been. I also expect this might be even more so the case with you because you've reached a higher level than any of us. Please, Gohan, don't just throw your morals and good sense away."
Goku felt he had to speak, despite the emotional pain he knew he had already caused.
"Son, you need to calm down. Trunks is right," Goku said. "You're not acting like yourself right now. If you really think that Cell is still going to kill people, then maybe my intuition was wrong and yours is right. But don't let him escape and murder many more people just to prove a point. That's foolish, Gohan. You're much smarter than that."
Gohan considered his father's words for a moment, then responded.
"I am the one who will ultimately decide what happens next, as none of you have the power to stop Cell while the reigns of that capability rest in my hands alone," Gohan said. "Whether he lives or dies is entirely up to me. I have the power to kill him as well as the power to permit him to live. The idea that Cell might actually have gained some sense of positive morals is intriguing, to say the least. His most recent actions, both emotional and physical, are so different from what they had been an hour ago that I really do wonder if he is telling the truth. I did punch him in the head with a great deal of force, and come to think of it, the readings on biology that my mother assigned me when I was younger taught me that the area where I punched Cell is an important area regarding memory and personality. That piece of evidence makes Cell's claim more plausible than if that piece of evidence was not there. However, we all know the type of monster Cell has shown himself to be more than capable of being, and this could all be a dire attempt at deception. If Cell is lying, he knows I'll kill him. He has every incentive to refrain from killing anymore because he knows I will be even stronger after I recover from this battle and that I will kill him without restraint. In fact, I'd even go to Hell with him just to smash him vigorously for all of eternity if he's even thinking about betraying our confidence now. I hope Cell can tell that after I transformed earlier today, I had merely been toying with him."
Gohan then addressed Cell directly.
"That's right, Cell. I could have killed you at any time," Gohan said. "If you betray my trust and harm anyone, you will have no chance to survive. Regardless of whether my father is right in all this, if you harm anyone, you will die. The ball's now in your court, Cell. What will you do?"
While Cell pondered Gohan's words, Vegeta decided that he would no longer tolerate the apparent pacifism his so-called "allies" were showing in dealing with this murderer.
"That's it. If no one's going to kill Cell right here and right now, then I'll do it myself!" he yelled, while his power level began to rapidly increase.
As Vegeta's aura vibrantly flickered, he lunged forward to strike the android. Before his fist made contact with Cell's head, Gohan moved between Vegeta and Cell, blocking Vegeta's fist and then grabbing both of his arms.
"What in the name of the Saiyan race do you think you're doing?" Vegeta asked with intensified fury.
"You were about to punch him in the same area that I did," Gohan said. "On the chance that Cell is telling the truth, it would be a shame to deprive him of the opportunity to mend his ways, just like the opportunity you've had, wouldn't you agree?"
Vegeta, who had become even more enraged, turned to face the others.
"Kakarot, I know I can't rely on you to help defend the honor of our race; Trunks, come over here and help me kill one of the androids that has haunted your nightmares."
Hesitantly, Trunks responded.
"I ... I don't know if I can, father," he said. "After hearing what Gohan said, I just don't know what to do, even if Cell is an android."
"Then to Hell with you; you're no son of mine," Vegeta said. "I'll be sure to raise my real son to not be a fool like his counterpart."
That comment hurt Trunks like a blast through the heart.
The proud Saiyan from the future looked down at the ground, with solemn sorrow building within him.
"Well, aren't any of you going to stop just standing there and choose to help me vanquish this threat before he escapes?" Vegeta asked. "Aren't any of you going to defend your honor as warriors and help me save your planet from further harm?"
Not one of the Z-Fighters budged.
"Namek, surely you have more sense than this!"
But Piccolo kept his eyes affixed to the situation, and did nothing else.
"Damn you all to Hell!" Vegeta yelled. "You're all useless! Every last one of you!"
With that, Vegeta kicked Gohan quickly in the stomach to break free of Gohan's restraint, and out of shock and surprise, Gohan let go of his arms.
Cell watched as Vegeta came racing forward, and did not stop Vegeta from firing a Galick Gun straight toward him.
The blast collided with the android, and when the dust settled, Cell was still there, seemingly unaffected by Vegeta's attack. His android body was, after all, quite durable.
The scowl on Vegeta's face became more severe.y
"It is my destiny to be the best and it is your destiny to die!" he yelled.
"If I had actually still wanted to kill you, Vegeta, I would have done it by now," Cell said. "Please, we don't need to fight anymore."
"You're a fool if you still think that I would ever believe you!" Vegeta yelled.
Vegeta began to unleash a barrage of punches at Cell and then kicked him many times. Although the android was too strong for Vegeta to deal any real damage, the Saiyan prince kept up his attack.
Then, Gohan shoved Vegeta away from Cell, pushing Vegeta from his right side and removing the Saiyan from the combat he desired.
Gohan then floated between Vegeta and Cell, prompting the Saiyan prince to view the boy with substantial derision.
"You ...you're a greater imbecile than your father," Vegeta said. "You are acting irresponsibly in trying to stop me from defeating this threat once and for all. I swear that when that android goes ballistic and kills your mother, you will have only yourself to blame. I can't stand this stupidity any longer."
With that, Vegeta flew off, with his golden aura echoing in the trail that it was leaving behind.
Cell, after a long time of remaining silent, decided to chime in.
"Does this mean that you will give me a chance?" he asked.
"Be quiet, you insufferable cretin," Gohan said. "I still don't fully believe you, but for some reason I can't quite explain, I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt because of what my father has said and done today. Maybe the biological evidence I put forward before is relevant. I don't know. One thing is certain, though. I'm not going to just let you fly off and do as you please. You're under my watch now, you freak. And you'd better feel sorry for all the pain you've caused, because believe me, all the hideous acts of terror and malevolence you have committed will never be truly forgivable. And don't believe for one moment that you will not face some sort of judgment for what you've done. After the proper determinations are made, you will be punished for your misdeeds, whether that punishment comes through me beating the crap out of you, or from your freedom being restricted in some other fashion. Do you understand that?"
"I understand completely," Cell said. "I will accept the terms of my salvation."
"Good," Gohan said.
The transcendent Super Saiyan turned around and walked toward his father, who watched him approach.
"Gohan, do you now understand why I spared him?" Goku asked.
"No, I do not understand, father. I don't think I will ever truly understand," Gohan said in a sullen tone, with a hint of intonation that Goku took to mean that his son felt both his father's actions and his own in the last hour had been somewhat pathetic.
Gohan looked up at the sky for a moment while everyone else stared at him, except for Krillin, who was staring at Cell and wondering what horror Eighteen must be going through as a part of that beast.
As the news crew from ZTV that had been providing coverage of the Cell Games began to rush toward them for commentary on the recent developments, Cell decided to speak.
"Gohan, you will not regret this," Cell said.
"It will be your life if I do," Gohan said.
A few moments passed, and the news crew arrived at the scene. The cameraman had managed to fix his camera's visual and audio inputs in the interim between Cell's change in persona and Vegeta's departure. The reporter wiped a rag across his black hair to remove some of the sweat that had been caused both by his running and his anxiety, and he then stuck out his microphone to Gohan after adjusting his glasses.
"Young man, why has the fighting stopped?" the reporter asked.
Gohan would have been coarse in his mannerisms on the air because of his roguish persona at the moment, and wanted to say, "Because this loser over here decided to chicken-out," but he thought of what his mother would say if she heard him suhound nasty and mean-spirited on worldwide television.
Her predicted actions were enough to temporarily calm the rage of the transcendent Super Saiyan.
"Cell has decided to back down from his challenge," Gohan said. "I fought him just as my father did, and to me, Cell conceded defeat."
Hercule Satan and his band of devotees had followed the television crew in their procession to the Z-Fighters, and now Mr. Satan, who was standing live at the scene, felt it was his time to chime in.
This was especially so if he was to maximize his potential gains in glory form this situation. He in no way wanted a person who from his perspective was no more than a random teenager to take all the glory and make him appear weak.
"That's ridiculous, my dear boy," he said as he put a hand on one of Gohan's shoulders, and act which the Saiyan found to be quite demeaning. "As I said before, you and your light shows, and the invisible wires and mirror reflections that made it appear like you were flying around, these are all cheap tricks done by amateurs. You might have scared Cell a little with your hocus pocus, but certainly I'm to get credit for striking fear into him with my ferocious power! I'm the one who's most responsible for Cell's defeat!"
The world watched as the exchange between Mr. Satan and Gohan took a fateful turn.
"My friend, the world deserves truth for so important an event as this," Gohan said. "Are you really willing to stick by your story? After all you've seen today, are you really going to take as much credit as you are for defeating Cell?"
Mr. Satan hesitated for a few moments with a partially perplexed look on his face; the boy indeed seemed to be a clever one and was putting him into an uncomfortable position. He weighed his options, and went for what he felt would be most likely to deliver the maximum.
"Y-yes. Yes I will," Mr. Satan said. "You know it. They know it. And Cell knows it."
Hours ago, Cell would have likely pounded Mr. Satan into the ground for making such outrageous comments that tarnished his reputation, but now, Cell did not say a word or flinch as inch as he was curious as to what Gohan was trying to do and did not wish to spoil whatever Gohan had in mind.
"Very well, then," Gohan said. He then turned from the camera and shifted his gaze toward the sky. "Everyone, I believe it would be best for us to go to the Lookout now."
With that, he lifted off slowly in the direction of the guardian's Lookout, and eventually, Yamcha, then Krillin, then Trunks, then Piccolo, and then Tien rose into the air and followed him. Goku lingered for a moment, the camera caught him looking briefly at Cell, and then he rose into the air and followed his son as well.
As the camera crew approached Cell, the android stayed still, unsure of what to do.
High above, Gohan stopped mid-flight and waited for the others to do so as well. He had continued to observe Cell from above, making sure that Cell would not do anything unscrupulous, and was waiting for Cell to fly toward them.
After a few moments, during which Cell had remained on the ground, Gohan then yelled to his former teacher, "Piccolo, send that idiot a telepathic message asking him to fly toward us."
Back below, the reporter placed his microphone in front of Cell and asked the combatant a question.
"So, how does it feel to have lost in your own tournament against the champion of the world, Mr. Satan?" he asked.
"Well, I ...," Cell began to say, while pausing to think of a tactful way to respond to the rather confounding question.
Then, he received Piccolo's message.
With that, Cell darted off into the sky, with the downward thrust of his energy knocking the reporter back a few feet.
Hercule Satan looked upward as the camera captured the scene.