Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z nor any of the franchises, characters, or rights associated with it. Nor do I own the picture used as the cover image for this story. Credit for the photo goes to allofmywhy on Twitter.

"Father!" Gohan cried. He could only watch helplessly as his father's shriveled, depleted corpse fell at his feet. The once silver hair and intense heat that emanated from his Mastered Ultra Instinct faded. Though flames surrounded him and consumed the plains that served as their battlefield, Gohan could only feel the cold chill of death as Moro hovered above him.

"How pitiful," Moro commented as he eyed Gohan, the last remaining Z Fighter. "You don't possess nearly enough power to defeat me. It wouldn't even be worth it to devour your energy."

Gohan's fist clenched in frustration, nails digging into his palm. He knew what the wizard said was true. At his strongest with all of his current potential unleashed, there was nothing he could do against him. But still, he took his stance in the face of certain defeat and death. "I may not be able to win, but that doesn't mean I won't go down fighting."

Moro chuckled at the young warrior's resolve. "Foolish and stubborn to the very end, just like your father and Vegeta. What good is fighting if you can't win?"

"It's about more than winning- I have to fight. Not just for me, but for all of the people you've mercilessly killed."

He laughed again, boisterously. "You talk as if you're some hero, yet you've failed more than any of these weaklings here. The outcome of this battle was decided two months ago when my henchmen visited this world. If you failed against them, what on earth would make you think that you stood any chance? You've failed as both a warrior and a hero. Now accept your death."

"Never!" Gohan screamed as he unleashed the rest of his power. It paled in comparison to the wizard's, but he knew he had to try. He rushed at the monster, fist wound back ready to swing. "Take this, you monster!"

Moro caught his fist and pulled him in. Blood red eyes pierced into his very soul. With little effort, he expelled a wave of fire from his palm that engulfed him. The man's screams fell silent against the monster's triumphant cackling. In what little vision he had left, he could see the world below them break apart at its very seams. His father's body fell into a pit of lava that had been unearthed by Moro's destruction, and soon the entire field was nothing but a ruined, molten landscape.

Slowly, the world was consumed, and slowly, Gohan could feel himself dying. His life began to flash before his eyes, moment by moment. In the final moments of the last Z Fighter, his dying thoughts went unheard by anyone except him. I've failed everyone again. If only I were stronger, if only I had kept up with my training throughout my life! If only… I could just have… a second chance...

A strange light from Moro's magic enveloped the planet. In what felt like a second, the Earth was gone. Condensed into a ball of light, Moro swallowed the orb and immediately, his body quaked with power.

Moro would continue his rampage through the stars without anyone to stop him. He would go on to devour everything. His power grew to such immeasurable heights that not even the Grand Minister or Gods of Destruction could put an end to him.

Gohan was left to float alone in the cold abyss of space. The life had long since faded from him and he was no more. His spirit began to lift from him and make the journey to the Other World, when something, or rather, someone, spoke to him.

"A second chance, huh?" remarked a strange, unknown voice. "I think I can do that for you! But you have to promise to do things right this time, okay? No mistakes, no screw-ups, and no getting comfortable and being lazy. If you want to save Goku, Piccolo, Goten, Videl, Pan, and the others, then you'll do things right this time."

Suddenly, Gohan was awake. He could feel dirt underneath his clenched fists, and fresh air pouring into his lungs. Both his forehead and the collar of his gi were soaked in sweat, and there were tears streaming down his face for some reason. He looked around to see he was in the wastelands, but not just any wastelands

. This scene was all too familiar to him.

Wh- What is this? He thought to himself.

A hand gently pat his back. "Hey, its okay, Gohan," assured Krillin. "Don't beat yourself up over this. You did great, and I know your dad is sitting in Other World proud of you."

Gohan whipped his head around. The sight of Krillin made him go pale. "K- Krillin?! You're alive?!" He looked back and saw the other Z Fighters, Piccolo, Vegeta, Yamcha, Tien, and Trunks. But the sight of the Z Fighters, specifically Trunks, made his brain lurch. What in the world is going on here? Everyone looks younger, and Trunks is back? And where's my dad?

Krillin gave the boy a funny look. "Well of course I'm alive! Man, this whole thing with Cell must've really shaken you up, huh?"

Piccolo approached him and helped him to his feet. "Don't worry. It's understandable that you might be a bit confused after such a jarring shock. Losing your father like that might be a lot for you to process right now. Let's get you home so you can rest."

Gohan looked up at his mentor, eyes widened by how much he suddenly had to crane his neck to look up. Hold on, when did Piccolo get so tall? … Wait, what was that about losing my dad?! He looked down at his hands, far smaller than what they were before. His orange gi modeled after his father's was gone, and instead he wore his Namekian outfit. It was tattered and torn as if he had just been in a hard-fought battle, and he could feel dried blood on his forehead from a nasty wound. But if that wasn't strange enough, his voice was a much higher pitch.

He suddenly sensed a very familiar wild flow of power appear in front of him. Everyone looked back at the scene of the disaster to see something that shook them to their core. But no one was shaken more than the now young, 11-year-old Gohan.

Before he could say anything, a Death Beam pierced through Trunks' armor and punched a hole straight through the boy's chest. He fell to the ground, blood erupting from his mouth like a volcano.

Gohan looked back at the time traveler. His ki was declining at an alarming rate, but even this felt familiar to him. H- He's gonna die… isn't he? He asked himself, already knowing full and well of the outcome.

"Ah, that was Trunks, wasn't it?" asked a satisfied Cell who now stood before them once again. "Seems my aim has gotten even better upon being reborn. Would someone like to give me a moving target?"

"D- Damn you, Cell!" Krillin swore.

Gohan could only stand in utter disbelief. What is going on? Is this some sort of dream? This all feels so real…

Vegeta suddenly rushed in, rage igniting his Ascended Super Saiyan transformation. Electricity sparked from the prince's body like lightning as he unleashed a full-powered blast on the bio-android.

"V- Vegeta!" Gohan called in vain, knowing what would happen next. But he knew the prince was too overcome with rage to hear anything other than the explosions from his volley of energy waves that covered the battlefield in a thick dust cloud.

"T- Take that, you freak," spat the prince as he lowered his hands, trembling from the strain of pouring every ounce of power he had and then some into his attack. "At last, its finally over…"

That was what everyone, especially Gohan at this time, wanted to believe. But he knew better. No sooner after Vegeta finished his attack did Cell dash out of the wreckage, not even fazed in the slightest. "Wrong, Vegeta. Its over when I say it's over!"

With that, the proud father and prince was smacked aside like a house fly. He fell to the ground, neck and shoulder practically broken. His crumpled body lay there motionless, alive but so overcome with pain that he was unable to move.

A delighted, sinister smile of satisfaction crept across the bio-android's lips as he looked down at the defeated prince. "There there, Vegeta. You should be happy! Soon you'll be with your son in Hell!"

"No! Vegeta!" Tien called, unable to do anything.

Krillin cursed the prince's actions. "Dammit, why'd he have to go off like that?! Now he's a goner!"

"There has to be something we can do!" Yamcha cried as he rose from Trunks' side. "We can't let him go out like this!"

"All he wanted was to avenge his son," Piccolo stated, "but his actions were foolish. There was no way he would have been able to defeat Cell like that."

Suddenly, it all began to click for the young warrior. As Cell fired his Perfect Shot, he realized this wasn't a dream. Somehow, by some miracle or twist of fate, he was back. Alive. And he wasn't about to let anyone else die. He may not have been able to save Trunks, but he could save Vegeta again. This time without damaging his arm.

The Z Fighters looked on, astonished that Gohan was able to reach him in time. A barrier appeared around the teenager and shielded them from the blast that would have otherwise reduced the prince to dust.

Cell looked down, disgusted at the boy's heroics as his Perfect Shot bounced off the Super Saiyan's barrier that he had thrown up in the knick of time. He concealed the bit of shock that welled up within him as he lay eyes on the boy.

"There won't be anymore bloodshed on my watch," the teenager announced. He locked eyes with an infuriated Cell and said, "Leave everyone else out of this. We never got a chance to finish our fight!"

Cell lowered himself to the ground and glared uncomfortably at him. There was something different about the boy. The way he dashed in made it seem like he almost knew Vegeta was going to launch an attack. And though it wasn't difficult to predict the actions of the hard-headed and emotional prince, something about the situation made him recall a bit of the fear he felt when he was powerless against the boy in their last fight.

But the most alarming and unsettling thing of all was that the boy had powered down from his ascension. The shock of losing his father caused him to release the transformation, yet there hardly seemed to be any decrease in his power. In fact, compared to earlier, the boy's power was about equal to when he achieved the Super Saiyan 2 transformation.

How could this be? Cell asked himself. He seems different from earlier. It's almost as if he's a completely different person.

Gohan took a deep breath to steady his emotions. His hands trembled at the fact that he was somehow back in this fight. If he needed anymore confirmation that this wasn't a dream, standing face to face against the monster that killed his father and feeling the impact of the blast against his shield was more than enough for the boy to accept this.

Soon, his hands stopped trembling and his fists tightened. "Things will be different this time, Cell."

Cell chuckled at the boy's sudden confidence. "Don't think for a moment that you're the only one who's changed. You have no idea how powerful I've become now. Blowing myself up could have quite possibly been the smartest thing I've ever done. And now…"

Instead of finishing his monologue, Cell decided to show the boy just what he was up against. With little effort, his power soared to new heights. The intensity of a Super Saiyan 2 transformation can be felt deep within the bio-android's energy. Electricity sparked from him like lightning, striking and torching the ground around him. Clouds overhead converged in a black backdrop and swirled underneath his power. The people of Earth, Namek, Yardrat, and beyond, all shuddered at the sinister energy he produced.

Vegeta managed to regain consciousness just in time to see the monster stand before them, unscathed and stronger than ever. With what little movemenet he had, he hung his head in utter shame. He not only failed in protecting his son, but now with Cell's power climbing to such unspeakable heights, things quickly began to seem hopeless. "G- Gohan, I'm sor-"

"Save your strength, Vegeta," Gohan told him. "Can you move?"

Before Vegeta could answer, he succumbed to the pain and fell unconscious once more. Gohan turned his attention back to the monster in front of him and waited patiently for him to finish powering up.

Cell calmed himself, capping his power out at what he thought to be an appropriate level. He had far surpassed the boy in his current state and his smile beamed all the confidence and arrogance in the world. "I bet you're wondering just how I survived and retained my Perfect Form."

"Not really," he told him.

Cell sneered at the teenager. Voice, sinister and full of rage, he remarked, "You… You obviously have no idea what I'm capable of. You'd better power back up if you want to have even the slightest chance of defeating me."

Gohan took a moment to bask in the situation. He had to look down at his small, teenage hands once again. It was still hard to grasp that he had somehow come back in time. But why here? Why now? He asked himself. But as Cell seemed to grow impatient with the boy, he realized the answers to his questions weren't going to be answered right now.

Cell narrowed his eyes at the boy, uncertainty and unease making his eye twitch. "Do you really intend to fight me with that level of power?"

Gohan prepared himself, honoring his now deceased father by taking his trademark fighting stance and even donning his excited smile. "I do," he answered. Not a single shred of fear nor doubt were in the boy this time. Though Cell did severely outclass him at the moment, he knew he was capable of much more. Now that I think about it, I never really unleashed my true power until the final clash. I wonder… how far can I go in this form?

"Together, we will explore the depths of my new, even more perfected power!" Cell announced.

"I hope you know how ridiculous you sound," Gohan insulted with a smirk.

The battlefield grew quiet. Krillin, Piccolo, Yamcha, and Tien all observed from afar as a climactic battle was about to be underway. Even they held worries about the boy's refusal to power up into a Super Saiyan 2, but Piccolo could sense something different about him. His once unstable, wavering energy had a frighteningly calm aura to it. Gohan… please, be careful.

Cell cracked his neck and knuckles to limber himself up. The anticipation of facing the boy once more to exact his revenge brought an excited smile to his face. "So then, shall we begin?"

Gohan began to unleash his power. His aura expanded to encompass the entire battlefield, bathing it in a bright, heroic gold that nearly blinded Cell. Just as a Super Saiyan, he made the Earth quake beneath his power. The dark, stormy clouds that gathered before were immediately blown away, revealing a bright blue sky of hope. Rays of sunlight shined down on the boy as he turned to Cell, face brimming with more confidence than ever.

"Bring it on, Cell."

AN: Thank you for checking out my story! Just to explain really quick, only chapter 55 of the Dragon Ball Super manga will be canon towards this story. I started it back when that chapter came out, and since then I've come to the decision that I'd like to do my own interpretation of events in the story following that chapter. Just for reference, its the chapter where Goku leaves to train with Merus and Vegeta leaves for Yardrat.

I've taken a few creative liberties with some ideas in this story that I hope you all enjoy. My goal is to do something different, and in order to do that, I like to draw from different mediums, like Attack on Titan, My Hero Academia, Avatar: the Last Airbender, and more. But I want the elements from those works that inspire me to fit in the realm/world of Dragon Ball Z, and not only that, but I want to dive into things that DBZ never addressed, like the early lives of #17 and #18 before they were captured by Gero, or Goku's time in the Other World (to those that have read ahead but are coming back to see this, don't worry, there will be flashbacks). If you have any feedback you'd like to offer, or any questions, comments, feel free to leave a review!

(7/6) I'm looking for someone with a pretty sizeable knowledge of the Dragon Ball Z/Super/GT to discuss ideas with! If you're interested in helping out, send me a message.

For my sanity (and for yours as well if you prefer organization), I've made a table of contents below for the story. I plan on updating at least once a month, but sometimes I'll update twice, or even three times.

. . .

Cell Saga (Chapters 1-3)
Chapter 1: Rebirth
Chapter 2: What Would My Father Do?
Chapter 3: The Experiment Begins

Yardrat/Hyperbolic Time Chamber Saga (Chapters 4-?)
Chapter 4: The Super Saiyan Problem
Chapter 5: Let's Go to Yardart!
Chapter 6: From You, a Very Long Time Ago
Chapter 7: Spirit
Chapter 8: ?