Author's Note:

Hi!

Disclaimer: I do not own this show.

CHAPTER NINE
In the End

In the end, Gohan and Takeshi were the same person. But in the end, only one of them could survive.

And they both knew that.

They were both aware that through the battles, the hardships, the breakdowns, they would eventually have to choose who was to fade. Only one personality could "drive" the body at a time. Only one mind. One would have to become stronger, one would have to battle with the other for dominance, and one would have to control the body from then on until the end. Only, one didn't want it that way and the other was determined to protect the other personality with his life. Inside their mind, Gohan was getting control back over his emotions. For the last hour or so since they had been knocked out, Gohan had been a sobbing mess, worry for his father coupled with stress and grief over what Takeshi had done.

Takeshi was just trying to comfort him. Unfortunately, Takeshi wasn't exactly the comforting type. After telling Gohan that 'Goku's probably not dead! I mean, if he was dead or dying, don't you think we would have heard him screaming in pain while the androids tortured him by now?' That had only made things worse. So, Takeshi, banished to the Mental Corner of Shame, (the MCS was a scary, shameful place for personalities to sulk) could only listen to Gohan begin to calm down and find reason again. Takeshi sighed softly - as much as he tried to help Gohan, the boy was super emotional. Once he had his head on his shoulders, however, Gohan was of incredible use to their cause.

Takeshi risked a peak over his shoulder, electric blue eyes finding Gohan easily. Inside their own head, the boys had a very different appearance. Their bodies and builds were the same - but Gohan had spiky, ebony hair and onyx eyes, that held warmth and a gentle compassion. Takeshi's hair was a burning gold, and sticking straight up in the air. The only strand of his thick hair that did not do that was one strand over his left eye - it hung right in Takeshi's line of sight, and annoyed the boy to no end. He did have to admit that it did make him look pretty freaking badass when he stared someone down, though. Takeshi slowly turned, blinking at Gohan as the other took steadying breaths.

"Gohan." Takeshi murmured slightly, and the other lifted his red and puffy eyes to meet Takeshi. Immediately, the ebony haired boy understood what was being asked of him, all communicated in a simple word. Gohan nodded, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began processing. Numbers and percentage signs flashed within the dark, empty space they were in. Inside their head was pretty simple - it was an endless void of black nothingness, and every time they had a thought, it would flash up. The only thing lit up was the MCS - which was white, with the red lettering "Mental Corner of Shame" covering it. Takeshi tried (read: failed) to read the numbers flashing within their head. He was not the brains of this operation - and Gohan never ceased to impress Takeshi with his intelligence.

"Okay." Gohan opened his eyes again, said onyx eyes narrowed determinedly. "There's a 100% chance we have been kidnapped, and by androids. Fact confirmed. Details - electric shock from female android, program number 18. Male android, program number 17, carried both of us to... a lab. Cold floor, tile. Near some sort of computer. Can hear beeps." Gohan listed the facts that Takeshi had failed to grasp. Gohan was crazy smart, and Takeshi both respected and admired him for it. "80.7% chance that female android's arm was damaged in electric attack. 99.8% chance that she is fixing it right now. Details - sounds of machines. 66.7% of being drugged." Gohan closed his eyes again, concentrating. "Down to 13.4%. Vital signs indicate unconscious due to electric shock."

"Are we injured too badly anywhere?" Takeshi asked.

"No." Gohan confirmed. "Mind is still processing - 27.1% chance of waking up in the next ten minutes, 46% chance of waking up within next hour, 2.14% chance of waking up after the sun sets. Most logical time - natural regain of consciousness in 45 minutes. Injury status on others - Piccolo, 16.8% chance of injury. Small bruise or cut, due to debris. Dead or alive status being processed... odds say alive - details, can sense ki. Alive. Daddy - 17.6% chance of injury due to debris or external forces. Chance of collapse being due to heart virus... 99.3%. Status, alive, details - can sense ki, very weak. Odds of having heart disease up to 99.8%. Chance of dying before we wake and are able to do something about it... 23.4%. Chance that Piccolo will recognize sympoms and treat - 97.3%. Based on past experiences and assumed intellectual level. Chance of escape... 50%. Could go either way."

Shyly, Gohan opened his eyes, looking over at Takeshi and nervously pressing his index fingers together. "Did I miss anything? Any other questions?"

"Hm..." Takeshi smirked, an idea coming to him. "Chance of female android having a watermelon rack?"

"...87.6%."

Takeshi merely cackled evilly and brought a hand to his chin, smirking. "Just kidding!" he said, bouncing over to his twin. "You know, Gohan, sometimes you scare me with that big brain of yours. I'm not even sure what I would do with myself if I was that smart." Takeshi sat down beside his twin, pictures forming above them of Takeshi maliciously abusing Gohan's intelligence. "I mean, I know your smart because your mom made you study super complicated stuff when you were really little, and then only increased the difficulty, but this is crazy smart, Gohan." Takeshi almost immediately winced at his lack of social tact. Seriously, Takeshi had no idea what to say or when.

He usually screwed things up.

This is why Gohan did the talking.

He watched in apprehension, ready to be banished to the MCS again for treading upon a topic that was forbidden. They hadn't talked about it, but Takeshi got the impression Gohan didn't want to. Takeshi internally cursed himself for having zero social tact. Honestly, Takeshi had never known how to feel about Chi-Chi. Oh, he was absolutely livid with her for what she did to Gohan, but at the same time, she sort of created him. Gave him shape, gave him form. He believed that deep down, he would always thank her for that, albeit grudgingly. And he knew that she had just been trying to protect Gohan... they both understood that, even if they hated her for how she did it. It hadn't been fair.

Takeshi firmly believed that she had gone insane, or perhaps even developed the Multiple Personality Disorder herself. Her life was fine, it was normal, (aside from the burning mountain, but she could handle that!) and then she married Goku. They had four years of normal, and then all of this crazy stuff kicked off. Gohan was kidnapped by this Garlic guy, then Raditz came down, kidnapped her son and beat her husband up, and she only found out about that one when the others decided to tell her that Raditz had actually killed Goku and Gohan was now in the hands of someone who would most likely kill him. After being separated for her son for a whole year, she had to watch him fight in a battle that would most likely kill him.

It almost did. To top it all off, her husband was almost fatally injured, and in a hospital. When she got him back, he was immediately sent to another planet, far away from where she could protect him. Goku was sent after him a few days later. Takeshi could only imagine how protective and possessive she must have become over them. After the planet incident, where they barely escaped with their lives, Goku disappeared again. She had her son, but was without her husband for years. When you thought about it, Chi-Chi really had just been trying to protect them. They wouldn't listen to her words, and she was not physically strong enough to stop the other Z Fighters from trying to use her child as a human weapon.

What she did made sense. It was logical, even if it was cruel.

Gohan and Takeshi both understood that, and accepted that. Takeshi still wanted to kill her, though.

"...it's okay." Gohan murmured. "It's just sort of a touchy topic for me, you know? I get that she was just trying to protect me, but still..." Gohan hugged his knees to his chest, his arms locking his legs in place. He buried his face in his knees, refusing to meet Takeshi's eyes. Takeshi crawled over and hugged his other self, determined to actually comfort this time. Takeshi's arms were slung around Gohan's neck, the other boy's head under his chin. Takeshi listened to Gohan breathe, satisfied that his other self was breathing. Therefore, he was alive. And that was good enough for Takeshi. Just the knowledge that Gohan was alive, was breathing, was enough. Takeshi smiled as he hid Gohan from the world.

Sure, he might be a little possessive, but Gohan was his twin. No one was allowed to hurt him. Takeshi was like the big scary bodyguard (read: big brother or dad) standing behind, guarding. You messed with Gohan, you messed with Takeshi. No exceptions. They would live together, they would die together, and nothing would stop either of them. Takeshi sighed softly, looking down at Gohan, who appeared much more relaxed than he was several minutes ago. Before, Gohan had been close to yet another panic attack. (Takeshi had to deal with four of those already today. He was not in the mood for another one.) Now, the boy had calmed down and was breathing normally. From what Takeshi could tell, his heartbeat was regular as well.

Suddenly, they both felt a pull from their bellybutton, connecting them with their body. They were waking up. Takeshi growled and concentrated. He was ready to give these stupid androids a piece of his mind, but... Gohan was stronger. The other boy managed to get there first, much to Takeshi's disappointment, and quickly took control of the body. Now that Gohan knew where he was, and had analyzed, he had calculations running through his head at lightning speed. His eyes opened, onyx orbs focusing on the estimated position of the androids. He was off by two centimeters, but the plan would still work. Numbers and signs ran through Gohan's head, calculating while Takeshi sat down, stunned. His brain was just not meant for this level of thinking. Not at all.

Gohan waited for two seconds, kicking his legs into the air and launching himself up. He was about to upturn the computer table, then use that noise to escape, when something else distracted him. All of a sudden, there was a green fist through the wall. The two androids that were exactly four meters and 42 centimeters away from Gohan jumped, falling into attack stances. The fist chopped downwards, cutting through the steel wall like butter. Gohan slowly began to inch away, eyes scanning the room, looking for the door. But that's when the creature stepped through.

And Gohan could honestly say it was the ugliest thing he had ever seen.

"I don't know, that Zarbon guy from Namek was pretty ugly." Takeshi quipped, trying to use humour to cover up his worry and concern.

"Why hello there." the voice was raspy, his ugly green-spotted-black tail waving behind him. It had some sort of sucker looking thing on the tip, which was beige and added to his monster-like appearance. "I don't mean to crash the party, however," the creature smirked, eyes full of malice and hate. "I have an appointment with Goku's son."

~Next time, Cell shows his ugly mug and tries to kidnap Gohan and Takeshi. Will Goku and Piccolo make it in time?~

Cruzerblade: Thank you so much! And pretty much everyone voted for Buu. XD

Gohanforever: Thank you!

Smashgunner: XD Thank you!

almondbutter: Thank you for your vote!

Patachu: Yeah, Takeshi would not allow him to do that. XD

vishwakamarahul735: Sort of. See, Takeshi is able to control the power better than Gohan, but he's there because of the traumas Gohan has gone through. When a child has that many traumas, sometimes the personalities split, and it creates another person within the same body. That's what has happened here. The power belongs to the body - Gohan and Takeshi can both use it, Takeshi is just better at it.

DdraigTrueEmporer9: Hehe. Thank you for reading! I'm going to answer all three reviews - yes, Goten will not exist in this fic. (At least, in the way he did in canon. Muahahaha!) You shall see on Gohan... })

nimedhle09: I'm just going to answer both reviews in one thing. XD And thank you so much!

Hinata-Hime-Starz: Yes! An update, just for you! To answer your questions, Takeshi and Gohan will stay in one body. And Gohan's power does not come from Takeshi. The power belongs to the body, therefore, Gohan and Takeshi can both use it. Takeshi's just better at it. Gohan finds it difficult to draw the power out without letting Takeshi take control, so he doesn't try it often.

SolarEnergy07: Well, I'm glad you like the story enough to be frustrated that it isn't finished. Honestly, I update as often as I can. I'm a very busy person, and fanfiction just isn't high on my list of things that need to get done in a day. I hope this review has pacified you!

Faux Fox: XD, Yeah, geez, Piccolo! Actually, your review gave me an awesome idea. Stay tuned for it! XD

hayabusa girl: Okay, it's reviews like yours that make me keep writing. XD

Smashgunner: Okay... this has to be my FAVOURITE review I've ever gotten. You have no idea how hard this made me laugh. XD Actually, when I saw your review, I immediately started writing. XD

OzzyStar2: Oh my gosh, thank you so much... you have no idea how happy it makes me to hear that someone enjoys my writing like this. I'm super happy you like Takeshi - I sort of based him off my own and some of my tougher friends' personalities. I'm glad he isn't too Mary-Sue-ish, because that would defeat the purpose of him. Thank you so, so much for reviewing! You seriously made me start writing, trying to finish this chapter. :3

Sans the immortal dunker: YUP