(Disclaimer: I in no way shape or form own Dragonball Z, the Saiyan species or the characters, except Marianne and Catarina.)

Chapter 9

Cell looked at the girl who was standing there, she was a super Saiyan, although she looked as if she didn't really recognize what was going on. Her eyes were unfocused and blank. Her ki was much higher than he would have thought for a Saiyan so small.

"So you do have some kind of power, at least coming to this town won't be a complete and total loss." Cell muttered with a sneer. He took a step forward and so did she, snarling at him like a wild animal. Cell moved faster than Cat could keep up with. He slammed his knee in her gut knocking her to the ground.

As he went to grab her hair she grabbed his wrist in her left hand and glared up at him as she tried to twist it behind his back. Cell punched her directly in the forehead sending her flying backward into yet another building. He quickly followed her and as she stood again and they went at it with no holding back. Kicks, punches, and blocks every now and then a ki blast or two flying from the others hand.

Cell had the upper hand in physical strength, because even though she was a Saiyan she was a small one. Her skills it seemed lay in her speed and agility, she could avoid most of his most damaging attacks throwing a blast at him now and again. Her eyes were still dull and hazy looking but he watched them as they darted back and forth as if she was thinking deeply.

Every time he got anywhere near any of the humans that watched them fight in awe she seemed to get more ferocious.

She wasn't wearing out as fast as he'd hoped she would and she was beginning to bore him. She didn't offer much of a fight at least not in the way any of the other Saiyan's he knew about would have. As she went for his head again with another Ki attack he grabbed her by the front of her hair and kneed her again in the stomach and she went limp.

Disgusted with how little of a fight she put up he dropped her and she landed in a pile of rubble, her limbs and body bent at odd angles. Her ki was almost non-existent, and he heard her deep labored breathing as he landed on the ground next to her.

"I can not believe that you are a Saiyan, this is pathetic." Better to absorb her now than to let her embarrass herself further. Her eyes stayed closed as she coughed up a bit of blood. Just as his tail was inches away from her, her eyes snapped open, her Ki flared to life once more with a blinding flash of white light.

She grabbed him by the tail and yanked him forward with all of her strength and blasted him through the abdomen with her bad arm.

He fell back away from her clutching the wound in his abdomen as she stood over him a triumphant look on her bloodied face. She spoke in a language he'd never heard before, her tone taunting.

He'd be damned if this little runt would kill him. He jumped back up ready to go once more, yet she was quicker, grabbing him by the arm and kicking him upwards into the air. His last conscious thought was that the little bitch had actually beaten him.

She screamed something at her in her strange language again as she blasted him with all her power, she didn't hold back letting every last ounce of energy she had flow out of her hands.

Her energy dissipated in the sky when she could no longer sense him. Cautious and afraid he might be hiding somewhere she looked around for him but he was no where in sight. Her dull eyes scanned the entire area as she inched forward.

He was gone and she stood where a store had been just earlier today. Her energy calmed and she began to relax as people slowly inched toward her, careful not to startle her and have her wrath directed at them.

As the golden white aura around her began to die and as it did the headache started to grow. It felt as if a knife were being slammed into the back of her head and twisted repeatedly. She dropped to her knees in agony and screamed.

"It hurts," She cried pulling the hair on the sides of her head. The pain was so excruciating it felt as if her head was ripping in half. Not even the hole in her shoulder was hurting as much as the pain in her head. She slammed her head into the ground as if it was the only way to get relief from the terrible agony.

The people around her scattered backwards frightened as she continued to scream and slam her head down. One woman was brave enough to get closer to her and when Cat felt her presence she looked up at her with wide turquoise eyes.

"Help me..." she pitifully moaned. The woman paled and went to reach for her when Cats eyes rolled into the back of her head, her hair faded from blonde to black and she passed out face first on the ground, the tiny village was quiet once more the only sound the popping of wood as it burned down another building close by.

Chichi hadn't been able to get very far as she kept stopping to watch the two fight. Her heart sinking as she heard Cat's screams of pain. It only lasted a half hour but it seemed to be an eternity until the brilliant beam of light came from the center of the city. After the brilliant fireworks show she heard Cat screaming again, and more sounds as if she was being hurt. Then an eerie quiet.

Goosebumps crept up Chichi's arms and back and she turned back toward the village.

As she neared the center of the small village she was greeted by a crowd gathered around something murmuring amongst themselves. She knew it couldn't be Cell and so she ran forward pushing through the crowd of people.

Her body was broken and bleeding and she didn't even look like she was breathing. Just like at the hospital before.

"She killed that thing." One person said as Chichi kneeled beside her. Tears blurred her vision and she went to touch her head. "She's still alive after all that? She acted as if her head were being split open earlier."

"Help me!" Chichi yelled at one of the women standing near her. The woman looked a bit scared but she and a few others rushed forward to help. "Please don't let her die." Chichi whispered to herself as they carried Cat away from the wreckage and rubble.

Trunks arrived at the aftermath of the fight. People were already beginning to pick up and clean up. He could no longer sense Cell's ki anywhere. Cat's was near but faint. He asked several people what had happened and they all described the same thing. The small blonde girl had tricked and killed the creature.

He listened to their stories and realized they all had one key element. The fight had changed when Cell had cornered Cat and threatened her. That was why she had freaked out even more at the hospital when he'd shown up in her room, she had felt cornered.

That was the key to her powers showing themselves. She had to feel threatened. That was why she didn't attack Chichi or any of the others. It was a defensive reflex of some sort. Where it could have come from, that was a different story entirely.

He then flew to Chichi's home, his mothers car and Mari's were parked outside and one he'd never seen before. His mother and Mari were in the kitchen, both drinking tea as they sat at the table.

"You're getting slow in your old age son, I actually beat you here." Bulma said somewhat dryly as she set down her mug.

"I went to the village first, I wanted to make sure Cell was gone. Is she-"

"She's fine, just beaten up. Growled at the doctor when he got too close but once she saw Chichi she was fine." Mari said her hair was tied back and she was still in her oily uniform. Her black eyes fixated on the tile floor in front of her. Her ki was worried and unsettled as she chewed her bottom lip in thought.

"She killed Cell, although it was in his imperfect form. Not even Piccolo-san could do that in the past." Trunks leaned forward on the table feeling exhausted He rubbed his neck and cracked it, the loud pops startling Mari out of her thoughts. He'd never flown so fast in all his life it felt. Bulma stood up and walked to where her son was her blue eyes meeting his own.

"She also saved Chichi and all of those villagers. She's not bad son, this is what proves it to me, to Chichi, to Mari, and I just hope that it was enough to convince you." Bulma patted her sons shoulder before she left the Kitchen. Mari followed her after smiling weakly at Trunks.

It wasn't long before he decided to see himself what damage had been done.

Chichi was sitting in the room in a chair next to her Cat's bed a book in her hand. She looked up when he entered the room as quietly as he could. She smiled at him placing the book down on a nightstand.

"The doctor says she'll be fine, though I suppose you knew that." He nodded.

Trunks stared down at her as she slept. The damage to her body was great; she had taken a beating that was for sure before Cell had been killed. Bandages covered her forehead and right eye.

The proof was in front of him, she wasn't trying to kill anyone, or trick them. Why would she have put herself in harm's way over the village? A few had stayed after she had transformed, and their description of her was the same as what he'd seen in the hospital.

They said Cat had acted almost like a wild animal attacking Cell. She let him have the upper hand at first, and then when it seemed as if she was going to lose she found his weakness and laid waste to him.

Whatever was wrong with her they'd find out eventually, but as it stood right now she wasn't bent on destroying this planet or its people, that much was clear.

"Water." Trunks awoke with a start, he'd fallen asleep hours ago while waiting for Cat to awake. Her eyes were open wide and she reached to him with her left hand.

"Here," He helped her to sit up and her world spun, making her feel sick to her stomach. "I'm gonna throw up…" she muttered as he thrust a glass of cold water in her hands. She drank it greedily her hands shaking in their efforts to hold it to her lips. When she'd satisfied her thirst he put the glass on the nightstand and sat down in his chair once more.

"Here to ask me what happened again?" She said hostility tainting her hoarse voice.

"No. I'm just making sure you're all right."

"Oh yeah I'm just peachy let me tell you. My shoulder feels like it's on fire, I'm dizzy from blood loss and bruised all over, because some creature that looked like a giant insect decided to attack me and Chichi. That thing was Cell wasn't it?" Trunks nodded.

"You killed him though,"

Her eyes widened in surprise. "I did?" He nodded. "You did exactly what you had in the hospital. It seems though you were a tad more coherent than last time."

She was silent for a moment or two while she tried to remember anything after the first Ki blast came her way but it was to no avail.

"I guess I made a mess of the village huh?" She joked slightly. "Just a little but no one got seriously injured or killed, so I'd say you did better than I thought you could have." He stood and stretched feeling hungry. "That's okay though because you'll help me rebuild the buildings you destroyed."

"I figured as much." She sighed dramatically and held out her hand for him to help her up.

"You're sure you can walk?" "I broke no bones. Just help me up I'm starving." He helped her stand and although she was somewhat shaky from the blood loss she walked on her own just fine.

It's been forever since I actually got to submit something. This stupid chapter has taken me forever and it still kind of sucks, but ah well, I guess as long as people get the general idea of what's going on. Hopefully the next chapter won't take so long. (Is it terrible that I have more of Cat's daughters story written out than her own? LOL)