Dragon Ball Z: Return Of Cell

Chapter 5 - History Repeats

Gohan watched as the Z-Fighters sitting before him at Master Roshi's place all tried to comprehend what was happening. He didn't blame them, he didn't know himself what was happening. He then looked to his little brother, who was frowning intently down at the floor, deeply lost in his own thoughts and attempts to comprehend such a matter that was far beyond the minds of the oldest and wisest among them - let alone a 7-year-old. 

Gohan had been quite worried about Goten, for several reasons. The kid had been so beyond excited to revive their deceased mother that he had taken it harder than anyone when he found out they couldn't bring her back. He was too young to understand the reasoning behind the decision, and it was affecting him. Gohan also felt quite guilty over not being able to be there for him a lot, due to the fact they now had to plan. 

"So do you think there's gonna be another Cell Games?" Yamcha finally broke the silence. 

"Are you kidding me? Cell is back and ready to destroy the Earth, there's a new Android on the loose and you're worried about a stupid tournament?" Bulma snapped, ready to hit the pointy-haired Yamcha over the head. 

"Well whatever happens, I just hope my father doesn't get involved." Videl folded her arms, raising an eyebrow as she reminisced on the events that followed the previous Cell Games, and her father that had taken credit for Gohan's defeat of Cell. 

"Look, I think we need to think about what we're going to do right now. Shenron confused me... He said that we'll find out everything we need to know in time, but we have to be prepared. What does that mean?" Gohan looked across the blank faces of everyone in the room. 

"I suppose it means we'll have to train and be ready for when Cell and this other Android attack." Piccolo suggested. 

"Maybe. But it could mean a lot of things." Gohan began, using his arms as an aid to explain his theory. "It could mean that we have to physically be prepared, but it could also mean we have to be mentally prepared. Like maybe we're going to find out something terrible, or something great we can use against them. It could even mean we have to be emotionally prepared, if, Kami forbid, someone is taken from us." 

"You can all do what you like, but I'm staying as far away from that creature as I can. I will not become his meal again, and help him become whole so he can kill everyone else I care about." Android 18 stood from her seat beside Krillin, folding her arms. "I have a child to take care of and protect. I'm not going to risk everything for this, not again. As for this other Android, I have no clue who it is from what you've described. As far as I knew every model below 16 was destroyed or scrapped, and Doctor Gero never went higher than Android 19, excluding his own makeover."

"Calm down, 18," Krillin stood, placing a hand gently on his wife's shoulder, "we're not asking you to get involved, we're just asking for you to put your mind into it with us. We need all the help we can get. A battle is won as much with the mind as it is with the fists." 

"I know," 18 sighed, turning to her shorter husband, "and I'll help where I can, but our child needs someone. I've got people that I love and care about now, and I need to be around for them. For our child, Krillin." 

Krillin nodded, and young Marron watched her parents talking, far too young to understand the seriousness of their discussion. Finally, 18 sat beside Marron again, taking the young girl into her arms. 

"Alright guys, let's take a break. I dunno about all of you, but all of this is giving me a headache." Bulma broke in, picking up the TV remote. "Just relax for a while, we can pick it up later."

With that, Bulma flopped down on the couch in front of the TV, and began flicking through the channels, looking for something to watch. Krillin, 18 and Marron remained close by each other, while Yamcha, Tien and Chiaoutzu, Master Roshi and Oolong moved to the kitchen, looking for food. Piccolo and Dende began a conversation with each other, and Vegeta sat alone in the corner, as Vegeta did. Videl had taken a seat beside Bulma, looking through the channels on the TV for anything interesting that caught their eye. Gohan looked around and spied Goten, standing near Trunks in the madness. In a few swift strides, he'd made it over to his little brother. 

"Hey, Goten, can I talk to ya' for a second?" Gohan asked playfully, smiling. 

Goten nodded, and Gohan led him towards the door, stepping outside. Together they stepped onto the soft dirt of the island, by the stretch of water that seemed to extend for miles, as far as the eye could see. The water was set a deep, bright blue, a beautiful sight from the isolated island that was Master Roshi's dwelling. Gohan took a moment to look out over the water, feeling the warm breeze on his face, enjoying what could possibly be their last moments of peace before the great war that was imminent. Goten, however, wasn't thinking the same as he was, and he remained where he was, staring up at Gohan. 

"What is it, big brother?" Goten asked. 

"I just wanted to see if you were okay." Gohan smiled warmly down at his brother. "How are you doing?" 

"I'm fine..." Goten mumbled, looking down at the sand beneath them. 

"You don't look fine, bro." Gohan replied suspiciously. 

"I just wish mom was here, that's all." 

"You know why she can't be here though, right?" Gohan placed a hand on his brother's head, making him look up towards him. "And you know that we can bring her back once all this is sorted?" 

"Yeah, I know. It just seems like forever since we've seen her, even though it's only been a few months. Don't you miss her too?" 

Goten's words cut through Gohan like a knife through butter. He missed their mother every day, but he had always wanted to be strong for Goten. He could accept that his mother was temporarily gone - in fact, he knew for a fact that death wasn't as bad as everyone thought, and that their mother would be with their father until they wished her back, which was a bonus - but it was the pain he saw in Goten constantly that got to him. Swallowing hard, he forced strength into his voice, and replied. 

"I do." 

Goten opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by Bulma. She was yelling, bordering hysterical, telling everyone to come in and look at whatever it was she'd found on the TV. Goten turned and ran before Gohan, who shortly followed. They made their way in, and gathered in a semi-circle around the TV, staring intently. The sight made Gohan's heart feel like it had stopped in his chest. The familiar creature skulking across the screen, the eyes that looked as if they could cut through stone. Everyone stood in silence to watch the report. 

"This is it, I'm here on the scene in Gingertown, where this mysterious turquoise colored creature has been... I'm not even sure what he is doing, or how to describe it!" the reporter began, speaking quietly but urgently as he ran for cover behind a car, his camera man breaking into a run to keep up. "Over there is this creature, that has seemingly, somehow consumed many of the town's residents. The police are on scene, and ready to strike, and we're going to try and get a good glimpse at this walking apocalypse!" 

The reporter and his camera man then proceeded to peer out from behind the car, and without making a noise, the reporter beckoned to his camera man to follow. The two crouched and ran towards the road, where piles of clothes lay everywhere, as if people had been sucked right out of them.

A quick flicker of static shot through the TV, and whispering could be heard, such as "what was that?", "where is it?" and "I think that's it there!". There was some static, then a loud bang as the camera hit the ground. The Z-Fighers watched in horror then, as the camera man was gripped tightly in the arms of a familiar looking creature, yet strangely colored, then sucked dry by the tail that had already claimed thousands of lives, 7 years ago. 

The pile of clothes left from the camera man, who had now been absorbed into the creature, fell to the ground, landing softly. The creature then spotted the camera, that was filming live, and it began walking to the fallen piece of technology. As it got closer to the camera, it became less and less visible, until finally all they could see was it's feet - with three claw-like toes to help balance it as it stood. 

Suddenly, a face appeared. Pure black eyes with blood-red pupils stared seemingly through the camera, through the TV screen and into the viewers' souls, and the creature's red beak-like mouth curved into a sinister grin, and it laughed. It simply laughed into the camera, with a raspy, bug-like voice. That was the last thing they saw before the screen went black.