Honor Trip

Chapter One: Divergence

Disclaimer: Dragon Ball, the glorious franchise it is, is not in any way a property I control. I can only wish to supplement its mystique with stories such as the one herein. The same is in regards to related characters, symbols, plot elements, etc.

With that said, I hope you enjoy the story!

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 to their maximum. 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 will 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 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. "Can 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.