This took...longer than expected.

Okay, yeah, I admit it, this one was mostly on me. Moose gave me the go-ahead to just write and release chapters with his consent cause he's got a lot of stuff going on, so Sivam-Surprise and Doomguy914 have become my editors in his absence, and I'd say they do a pretty good job. I've been trying my best to try and keep the quality to a similar level of quality as it was with Moose, so yeah.

This, despite the long time it took for me to write this (which was due to a combination of school, life, not wanting to write on certain days and several other stupid factors) was actually one of my favorite chapters to write. Things are finally sort of starting to happen with the plot, and that means we're finally getting to the stuff I've been waiting to do since the very start. Which hopefully means I'll be able to keep myself going and find a schedule for releasing a chapter. I want to release at least one chapter biweekly, and I'm going to do my absolute hardest to stick with that schedule, give or take a few days.

Oh and I'm sorry for implying the dance was this chapter, that changed as I was writing it.

Hope you enjoy the chapter, and thanks for sticking through with the wait.

Chapter 15. Mysterious Late Arrivals! Two Warriors Clash!

Piccolo's unconscious form slid across the green plain, kicking up dirt and ripping grass from its roots. His black eyes seemed to glaze over, his mouth still open from when he attempted to cry out in pain, right before his screams were silenced by one kick to the jaw. Goku watched as the Namekian's body stopped below the Saiyan's legs, motionless and broken. Hesitantly, Goku turned his head over to face the one responsible for, not just Piccolo, but all four of the non-Saiyans' current conditions.

Cell was already hovering above the middle of the ring, his arms crossed with a malicious smirk strung across his abhorrent features. Goku saw that the monster was staring directly at him, the bio-android letting his arms fall as he clenched his fists. With each fighter that fell, the hope of defeating Cell declined even further.

"Now that the trash has been dealt with," he paused briefly to chuckle. "We can finally begin the main event! Goku, join me in this ring so that we may finally have our destined battle, and I may prove my superiority to the Earth's greatest warrior!" Cell's voice boomed, pushing Vegeta's anger to new heights.

Goku knuckles turned white, looking down at Krillin and Tien's defeated forms. Compared to their attempts against Cell, Piccolo was actually far better than both of them by a large margin. He had actually lasted a minute. Now they were down to four fighters left, including Android 16.

So much for wearing Cell down.

Even though he already knew it by this point, Goku still snuck his hand down his sash to check on how many Senzu Beans they had on hand. It was still the same number as it was when they arrived, a measly four. They were going to have to conserve the magical edibles if they were going to be effective, and that meant only using them when they were absolutely needed. Considering that it was clear his friends were going to live, a fact evident just by sensing their energy signals alone, he couldn't waste a bean on any of them.

They'll be okay.

He had no choice but to tell himself this. Even if their bodies were pulsating with agony, he knew he couldn't afford to use the Senzu Beans on them.

I'm going to beat Cell, and they'll be okay in the end!

Once he had checked on his bean count, the Earthling raised Saiyan, was about to answer Cell's challenge. It was out of desperation more than anything else; since he saw how easily Krillin, Tien, Yamcha, and Piccolo were swept away, but before he could even get off the ground, he noticed that Vegeta had already made a dash for the ring with a confident smirk.

"Sorry, Cell, but I'm afraid you won't have a chance to fight Kakarot," the prince spoke with conviction, letting his white armored boots rest on his side of the ring. "Because the one who's going to destroy you is me! The Prince of the Saiyan race!"

The android menace seemed to frown for a moment, clearly quite disappointed that his battle with the first Super Saiyan would be postponed, but he hid it with a smug smile. "Well now Vegeta, aren't you confident? I'm honestly surprised that you'd come back to fight me with such pride, considering how easily I dispatched you in our last encounter. Of course, I suppose I shouldn't be. You always were an arrogant fool."

Surprisingly, the prince didn't react to the insult. He merely smirked, challenging Cell's position as the strongest warrior.

"Keep talking Cell, we'll see who's laughing when I am picking you apart at the seams!" The onyx haired warrior boasted, before grunting and clenching his fists. His power erupted out in a flash of golden light, his eyes turning teal as he entered his now mastered form of Super Saiyan. His power failed to stop there, however. He kept charging up his strength, unleashing every ounce of Super Saiyan power he had within him as his muscles bulged out. First, his arms exploded out, then his chest, and his neck and finally his legs and feet. As his transformation finally concluded, the golden aura of energy seemed to die down, as Vegeta's screaming turned into faint laughter.

"Now do you see, Cell? These will be your few moments among the living!" Vegeta smirked, controlling all of his Ascended Super Saiyan power with ease.

Cell chuckled, immediately realizing exactly what his new opponent had achieved, clapping sarcastically. "Very impressive, Vegeta! I had doubted it was possible, but you've obtained complete mastery of your 'ascended form'. What does that make you now, Ultra Super Vegeta?"

"Do not play me for a fool, Cell!" Vegeta suddenly growled, readying himself for the battle ahead by stiffening his muscles and getting into a stance. He was prepared for combat the moment it began. "This time I'll show you what a true Saiyan warrior is capable of! Prepare yourself for oblivion!"

Cell only laughed some more, lazily getting into position while staring Vegeta dead in his eyes. "Well then, let's see you try."

With a feral scream, Vegeta charged forward, and the true battle had begun.

No matter how many times he watched, the half-Saiyan always found entertainment in watching the students of Beacon Academy spar in combat class.

Gohan studied the battle intently, a sense of curiosity filling him as he observed the two warriors clash. Pyrrha was a skilled warrior in her own right, certainly better than most of the other students at Beacon, possibly just in general. Despite having just watched Pyrrha embarrass team CRDL with her outstanding combat ability, he had to to fair to them, Cardin was still recovering from his prior injury. Even with that however, it was an incredibly impressive feat, and it certainly wasn't the only thing the scarlet haired fighter had done that was impressive this year.

So why would the silver haired boy from Haven speak up and choose to face her with such confidence in his voice? It couldn't be too much of a stretch that the boy was overconfident. there were more than a few examples of fighters who thought themselves better than their opponent and they had paid the price for it, but his energy told a different story. In fact, this newcomer, Mercury Black apparently, seemed to actually have the advantage when it came to physical strength. Of course, physical power wasn't all there was to a fight, but it was still a surprising advantage. The only person besides Mercury that had surpassed Pyrrha in physical power, was Yang. Even then, they were just about neck and neck.

To his surprise, Mercury was actually doing incredibly well against Pyrrha as he not only was managing to keep up with her, but challenge her on even ground. He seemed to have a pretty unique weapon, even compared to the strange weapon combinations the Saiyan had seen all around Beacon. As he observed the battle, he noted that his boots seemed to be metallic in nature; and while it was hard to spot, there seemed to be a gun at the heel of it, allowing him to fire blasts off from it. Granted, that was just a guess, since Mercury didn't seem to see any reason to show it off. instead choosing to fight Pyrrha up close with a fighting style that primarily focused on using his feet, making the most of his metallic boots.

Despite the unorthodox fighting style her opponent used, Pyrrha held her ground, going toe to toe with Mercury. It seemed that neither combatant had actually taken a blow from the other yet. Both their aura meters were completely full. This did nothing but further motivate the two warriors to continue their battle, kicks and slashes being thrown across the battlefield at an almost blinding speed. At least, to everyone who wasn't a master at Ki Control. It was actually a very close and exciting battle, one Gohan should have enjoyed watching. He just couldn't though, something seemed very off.

Mercury's energy bothered him.

It wasn't just the abnormal strength, that wouldn't have been strange on it's own. No, what bothered him was just how his energy felt. A constant bubbling of malicious energy that bothered Gohan enough for his thoughts to drift away from the fight. The boy's partner seemed to contain the same type of energy, although in her case it seemed to be to a much lesser degree. Confused, Gohan turned his attention back to the fight, making sure to pay attention to Mercury's movements closely incase he tried to do anything illegal or overly harmful to one of his best friends.

The silver haired boy went for a kick, but it seemed to fly right by Pyrrha's face, one of her gloved palms up beside it. Mercury's momentum turned his body away from his opponent, catching his leg on the floor with a confused expression on his face, before smirking. Upon seeing this, Gohan's expression morphed into a scowl.

He was only fighting her to test her strength and figure out her semblance. He was playing with her.

Pyrrha wasn't usually as sloppy with her semblance, so it was growing evident that she was starting to have some trouble keeping up, even to those who couldn't sense energy. It was an abnormal experience for everyone present to see the invincible girl struggle in a battle. Most of them assumed the battle was neck and neck, but Gohan knew better. If the fight kept up like this, Mercury was going to win. Pyrrha was giving it everything she had out there, whereas it looked like her silver haired opponent wasn't even trying. The only thing she had done that seemed to even disorient him was that latest usage of her semblance, pushing his metal boot to the right so it wouldn't hit her. Even that didn't last long though, as he suddenly smirked and jumped towards his opponent, looking for a dropkick. The scarlet haired warrior noticed at the last second, putting up her shield to block the strike.

Mercury's kick impacted Pyrrha's shield and let out a thunderous crack as he fired, confirming Gohan's suspicions about his weapon, and sending the silver haired boy flying to the other side of the arena flipping over and landing on his feet. Pyrrha clenched her weapon in her hand tightly and charged in hopes of landing a strike before her opponent could recover, but she suddenly stopped as Mercury turned over to Goodwitch, smirking.

"I give up."

The invincible girl came to a halt immediately, her feet sliding across the floor as her emerald eyes looked at Mercury, bewildered.

"You...don't even want to...try?" she panted, clearly confused about why he'd quit so early on, especially since he was doing so well.

"What's the point?" he shrugged. "We're clearly leagues apart."

His response only fueled Pyrrha's confusion further, but she hesitantly put her weapons back, sighing. In a way, she was almost disappointed. The only person who had managed to put her on the ropes like that had been Gohan. It would have been nice to see the fight reach its conclusion, but it had been fun while it lasted.

Glynda looked just as confused as Pyrrha, knowing full well how rare it was to see Nikos struggle. She sighed to herself, deciding it was none of her business, before removing their aura measurements from the screen with her scroll. "Well, Mr. Black, I suggest from now on that you pick your opponents mor-"

"Professor Goodwitch!"

Glynda practically growled. She had a lot of pet peeves, but being interrupted was certainly at the top of the list. Her eyes narrowed as she pushed up her glasses, fully prepared to dig into whoever had called out, but she stopped herself when she saw that it was Son Gohan. The blonde Professor sighed, knowing that the boy was one of the finest students here, despite this being his first year at Beacon. He was typically so polite and straightforward, so it was obvious that if he was willing to interrupt her, it had to be for something important.

Goodwitch regained her composure, forcing herself to calm down before speaking again. "What is it, Mr. Son?"

"Is it alright if I have a match with Mercury now?" he wondered, staring at the silver haired boy with curiosity flowing through his orbs. A look of confusion danced through Mercury's eyes when he realized he was being challenged after forfeiting his match with Pyrrha. His eyes drifted to Gohan, a subtle frown forming on his features.

"I admire your enthusiasm, Mr. Son," Goodwitch explained. "But we hardly have enough time for another sparring match."

"I know, but could we make an exception this time, Ms. Goodwitch?" the boy pleaded, his expression hardening as he looked over at the silver haired fighter. "I hardly ever get to fight anyone else hand to hand except Yang. Isn't it good to have variety when you're learning? While fighting Yang is helpful, I can only learn so much."

Goodwitch peered at him for a few moments, before glancing at the clock and finally softening up. "Fine. I suppose, considering how quickly that last bout ended, there could be enough time for one more. If Mr. Black wishes, and I do recommend he choose an opponent more wisely this time, then you may do so."

When she finished speaking, the teacher turned towards the silver haired boy, expecting a response. "Hey, if the kid's up for it," he smirked.

Gohan didn't like the look Mercury was giving him. That energy was unnerving enough, but something in the kick boxer's eyes seemed to indicate he knew something, or at least he thought he did. The Earthling pulled Legacy out of its sheath and rested it where he sat, walking to the side so he could reach the stairs to take him down the bleachers.

"Good luck, Gohan!" Ruby flashed a thumbs up at her boyfriend as he passed her, but her grinning face faded as the Saiyan failed to respond to her. Gohan just walked past all of Team RWBY without so much as a glance at them. It wasn't that he was just focused, he seemed different from usual, and that unnerved the leader.

"What's with him?" Yang wondered aloud, watching with interest as the boy stepped down the stairs. "He's usually captain cheery in combat training."

"He certainly does seem irritated about something," Weiss added, her sharp blue eyes softening a bit with a sense of worry. It was one thing to see Blake or Yang angry, but Gohan? That rarely occurred.

Blake hadn't picked her head up from her book to even notice what was going on.

"I wonder what's bothering him?" the crimsonette rubbed her arm, slowly noticing the suspicion that was taking over the back of her mind. Was that how Gohan was feeling? She had never gotten around to asking about that weird connection they had, so she couldn't know for sure. What did Gohan even have to be that suspicious about, anyway? Mercury, maybe, but he didn't seem like that bad of a guy, just a little bit cocky. It was weird how he ended the fight with Pyrrha early, sure, but that was no reason to get so serious.

As Ruby continued to ponder the reason for Gohan's sudden drop in mood, the half-Saiyan passed by his Scarlet haired friend as he strolled down the stairway. Gohan, again, paid Pyrrha no mind, simply walking past her without a word, completely focused on his opponent in the ring. Pyrrha stopped walking, her emerald eyes just staring at her rival as he jumped into the ring, a dead serious expression in his onyx orbs.

Is he alright? She wondered, worried for her friend's state of mind. The prodigy huntress even noticed his fists clenching, far tighter than seemed necessary for a situation like this. The scarlet haired teen took a moment to take a deep breath, before walking back up the stairs to take a seat and watch the battle unfold.

Gohan landed on his side of the ring, still staring down Mercury as he slowly slid his arms and legs into position, the very same one Piccolo had taught him all those years ago. He took great measures not to outright growl as the silver haired boy simply hardened his stance, not moving from his spot whatsoever. The saiyan really didn't like the vibes he was getting from this student.

"Hand to hand only, got it? No cheating by using those guns on your boots. I left my weapon in the stands, so let's keep this clean." the saiyan narrowed his eyes tighter, focusing so that he didn't accidentally use too much power in this fight, especially not at the start. This wasn't just a fight. He wanted to prove a point.

"Sure. If a handicap is what you want, I'm all game. Ready when you are." Mercury spoke calmly, like he wasn't particularly concerned at all. He really had no idea what he was dealing with.

He was about to find out.

Pressing a few buttons on her scroll, Goodwitch started the bout. "Son Gohan vs Mercury Black, begin!"

Just like he had started his fight with Pyrrha, Mercury charged forward, leaping in the air and slamming his foot down near Gohan's skull. The Saiyan only turned his body to the side, letting the metal boot fly past his nose, not flinching in the slightest as the attack merely struck the ground. Then, the saiyan slammed his foot into Mercury's leg, sweeping him off the floor as Gohan lifted up his other foot and rammed it into the boy's back, sending him flying back to the other side of the ring faster than Mercury could hope to react.

Mercury grunted in pain, catching himself on the ground and frowning. Gohan was fast, leagues faster than he had anticipated! Pyrrha hadn't even come close to using this kind of speed!

He got back into a fighting stance, realising that this fight was going to take more work than the one he had just had with Pyrrha. He took a breath, watching as Gohan just stared at him, holding his ground and daring him to attack. He didn't seem concerned in the slightest about the spar and now it seemed like he was paying him back for wasting Pyrrha's time. Everyone knew it was a power play, giving up like he had. This kid was obviously pissed off.

Mercury ran towards Gohan again this time with a sense of caution.

Gohan watched his opponent's movement's carefully, noting that there seemed to be a bit more effort in them this time. Still though, the saiyan didn't even bother to get into a fighting stance. He was so fast he could avoid anything Mercury tried to do at this level in his sleep, and judging by the power he was sensing, that would be the case no matter how hard Mercury worked. Still though, power sensing could be deceiving, and skill was the true deciding factor in a fight. Gohan needed to see Mercury's skill and talent altogether, along with his strength to gauge how much of a threat he could potentially be.

Not to him, of course. To his friends. To the people he cared about.

But first he had to make him angry. Mercury was too calm, and Gohan wouldn't be able to see what he was capable off until he pushed him far enough.

He only had to tilt his head to avoid the next shot, countering by grabbing Mercury's boot and slamming his entire body into the ground. The poor boy gasped in pain, once again caught off guard by Gohan's infinitely superior speed and skill. As he picked himself off the floor, the silver haired boy swung his foot near the ground in an attempt to sweep his opponent off his feet, but the half-Saiyan jumped off the floor, causing the metal boot to hit nothing but air.

Mercury grunted, annoyed he had yet to land a single attack on this kid. It was becoming increasingly clear that the stories Roman had told were at least based in some form of fact. Gohan was obviously more of a threat than the so called "Invincible Girl" could ever hope to be. He spun around, jumping to his feet and staring at the boy carefully. He was dead still, refusing to move a muscle. It was as if he was daring him to keep fighting, to make another move.

He's toying with me!?

The stone eyed fighter took a step towards his opponent. Gohan didn't budge. Mercury took another step, and again his opposition refused to move from his position. He narrowed his eyes, thinking to himself about what tactic he could use to actually force this kid to fight him. He was supposed to be gathering information about the fighters, and a chance to study the mystery airship catcher had landed right on his lap. There was no way he was going to waste this chance!

This arrogant punk is going to regret making me look like a joke!

Meanwhile, the other students continued to watch the battle from the stands, and they all took quick notice of how easily Gohan was controlling the match. Three quarters of RWBY were especially interested in the spectacle, although not all of them could fully enjoy it.

"Daaammnnn!" Yang chuckled a bit. "Well, regardless of his attitude, Gohan's really messing with Mercury. Poor guy hasn't even hit him yet!"

"What's gotten into him? I've never seen him fight like this before. He's not even taking this seriously..." Ruby sighed, unable to enjoy watching her boyfriend fight. There was just a nagging feeling in the back of her head that she couldn't get rid of. It wasn't just worry, she felt angry and she just couldn't figure out why. Then she began to recall the conversation she had with Yang a few weeks ago. It was around the same time that Blake and Weiss had that fight, and therefore before they had found out Blake was actually a Faunus. She had noticed a weird connection to Gohan's thoughts back then, but she had mostly just shrugged it off as regular couple stuff. It's not like she would have known. When she asked Yang about it though, she said it wasn't normal, and was probably the result of Gohan's alien DNA or something.

Ruby still couldn't understand it. Was it his emotions she was feeling right now? No matter how hard she tried to investigate this alien bond she had with Gohan, she only came up with nothing. It was as if the bond only worked when intense emotions were present. Right now, all Ruby could feel was this strange fear inside of her chest. Whatever it was, she couldn't explain it. Gohan stood inside the arena, looking completely stoic, emotionless even.

What had happened to him?

Gohan's onyx glare continued to pierce into Mercury's very soul, just watching as his opponent hesitantly closed the gap between them. The silver haired warrior kept stepping forward, looking at the teenager up and down, looking for any hint of a weakness or weak point, but frustratingly he wasn't finding anything. Somehow, his defense was seemingly perfect, impossible to exploit from any angle. That didn't make any sense, he was a thirteen year old kid! There was no way anyone like him could be so good in every aspect!

Mercury saw that he didn't have any other options other than to go for another attack. At this point, he was actually considering using his weapons.

Without warning, he jumped up into the air, time seeming to stop as he floated above Gohan's head. The spiky haired teen looked up at him, still glaring at his opponent the same way he had before. Mercury launched his foot down towards Gohan, letting gravity enhance the force of the strike as he descended towards the Saiyan. He was expecting the boy to either block the attack or dodge it, and had established plans to follow up afterward for both possibilities. Gohan however, had a different plan in mind. He simply lifted up his leg, thrusting his boot forward while tilting his body a bit to the side, just enough so that Mercury's attack would fly right by him. Then, the saiyan merely let gravity do the rest of the work, as the stone eyed fighter was pushed straight into Gohan's foot by it.

Mercury's jaw snapped open as the blow slammed into his gut. Gohan pulled his foot away from Mercury's stomach, spinning around as he lifted his other leg off of the ring floor, slamming it into his enemy's cheek almost casually, sending the boy sliding across the ground. His aura was more than half gone, and Gohan had hardly performed three attacks. Mercury panted and jumped to his feet, rubbing his cheek as he decided to simply throw caution to the wind. Not being able to actually hit this kid was beyond frustrating, he had never felt this helpless against anyone in battle, not since that fateful night with his father.

His anger erupted, rage pouring out his eyes. He was sick of this fight, and now he was gonna make this kid pay!

He charged straight towards Gohan with every bit of determination he had inside him, trying to slam his metal boot right into the half-saiyan's chest. In a fraction of a second, Gohan reacted by leaping above Mercury's head. He spun in the air for a moment, before landing on his hands and feet right behind his opponent. Growling to himself, the stone haired fighter used the momentum his previous attack had generated to swing his boot 180 degrees, attempting to ram it into the side of Gohan's head. For a brief moment, he thought that his kick had actually connected, but he slowly realised that it wasn't the case. His metallic boot just went through the boy's head, like it wasn't even there. Just as his foot slid across the floor and he had enough time to process that event, Gohan seemed to fade away, exactly like what would happen if he had made contact with one of Emerald's illusions.

Except it wasn't an illusion. It was real.

Mercury blinked for a moment, trying to process what had just happened, before he heard a voice, one that was almost growling. "Over here."

The stone eyed fighter immediately turned his head behind him, seeing Gohan in his gi, just standing there, watching him. Mercury stood still for a few seconds, completely baffled. He knew that what had just happened wasn't an illusion, his semblance was flight. So that meant, he went so fast he produced an afterimage.

That wasn't even something Cinder could do!

What the hell was this kid?!

That was it, it was entirely clear to him now that holding back wasn't gonna get him anywhere. Gohan was playing him for a fool, and if he didn't get serious, that was going to continue. This was already ridiculous, but there was a pit in Mercury's stomach that told him there was still more to him. He dreaded the idea, but he couldn't deny it. Pyrrha Nikos was fodder compared to… whatever this kid was.

Clenching his teeth, the silver haired striker charged forward towards his opponent. He assaulted Gohan with a flurry of kicks, all of which simply flew past their target as the child barely dodged each one with a bored expression. Mercury's frustration only grew with every near-miss, using every ounce of energy he had in an attempt to at least make Gohan try, but it wasn't working. No matter how fast his kicks came out, no matter how he tried to follow up, every kick missed it's mark.

RWBY and JNPR continued to watch the fight in awe, utterly amazed by Gohan's speed. They had known for a fact that the saiyan was incredibly fast, but the afterimage left them all dumbfounded. Not even some of the best huntsmen were that fast!

"That was AWESOME!" Nora happily declared, standing up in her seat and throwing her hands in the air, pulling against Ren's desperate attempts to keep her seated. "How did he even do that!"

Pyrrha was watching with a thoughtful and concerned expression. When she sparred with Gohan, she never seemed to manage to gain a win, which she didn't mind since she hardly ever faced someone who pushed her to the limit, but it always seemed like a close fight. Now though, her best friend was demolishing someone who likely would have beaten her if their fight had continued on, and he was doing it without trying! He was never this fast before, nor was he this powerful. Had he been holding back against her? Why would he do that? Surely he understood that she would want to see his best. The only way she could possibly improve was to face someone far stronger than her, after all.

The thought of Gohan actually hiding his skill and strength from her actually hurt her pride as an aspiring huntress. How could she possibly hope to improve if one of the only people that could challenge her didn't even take her seriously in training?

Did he think she was a joke?

Another thought suddenly struck her, as the fact that Gohan still wasn't trying his best in this spar with Mercury, became incredibly apparent. He was winning the fight against someone so skilled, and it didn't even look like he was giving it even half of his effort. In fact, he looked thoroughly bored! If he was this good when he was holding back, just how good could he be when he gave it his all?

She continued to ponder this thought as the battle continued, her emerald eyes only leaving her friend for a moment as she noticed Jaune's face of pure awe, which forced a small smile to her face. She glanced back over at her friend's battle, watching it curiously.

Mercury kept throwing kick after kick towards the saiyan, but Gohan avoided every blow thrown at him as if he was watching his opponent's movements in slow motion. Finally, after the session had repeated itself for what seemed like an eternity, the saiyan launched one more attack. In an instant, his fist had imprinted itself on Mercury's cheek. The moment the blow connected, it seemed as if time had gone still, before the silver haired warrior was sent flying across the ring. His momentum didn't cease when he hit the ground, causing him to roll on the ground for a moment, finally stopping at the edge of the ring.

The assassin slowly crawled back up to his feet, spitting on the floor. He rubbed his cheek, feeling it return to it's natural shape. Mercury knew exactly what the look in Gohan's onyx eyes were saying. His eyes were mocking him, laughing at the fact that even though he was able to take on Pyrrha Nikos, he couldn't land a single blow on a kid that didn't look older than thirteen. Clenching his fists, Mercury charged one more time towards his opponent, tensing his muscles to go for one more ki-

"I give up."

Mercury stopped running the instant he registered those words, his stone colored eyes widening as his metallic boots slid across the floor. He blinked, unsure if he had heard the boy correctly, considering his expression hadn't softened in the slightest. "What was that?"

"I said I'm done. You win. The fight's over." Gohan's voice was aggressive, yet calm at the same time. "I've seen more than enough from you to know exactly how this battle will end, so I'm giving up."

"You pretentious little-!"

Before Mercury could even finish his sentence, the saiyan jumped out of the ring, walking up the stairs as the bell rang. Professor Goodwitch looked over at Gohan for a moment, glancing at Mercury's dumbfounded expression before sighing.

Children and their grudges…

Ruby watched as Gohan grabbed Legacy, sheathing it once more. She waited patiently for him to explain why he was acting the way he was in that fight, or at the very least for him to smile again, but he never did. He just walked past them all, walking out the door and into the hallway. The crimsonette stood there dumbfounded for a few seconds, before suddenly hopping out of her seat and ran off towards the saiyan, leaving the rest of her team in the dust. She ran as fast as her feet could take her, but it was impossible to navigate through the massive crowd of students. After a few moments of struggling, the crimsonette finally accepted that he was gone, and there was no way she was gonna find him in this mess.

Pouting as the crowd seemed to wash over her, Ruby sighed, chewing on her cheek as she could do nothing but worry about what was going on with her boyfriend, only having a slight connection to his emotions to assist her. It just didn't make any sense, Mercury hadn't done anything to deserve the attitude Gohan had, but Gohan wouldn't just get mad at someone for no reason. There was something else to this, and not knowing what it was frustrated her.

The crimsonette felt a warm hand rest on her shoulder, and turned to face the source. Her older sister was smiling down at her, although her grin still seemed to show signs of concern. "Don't worry too much about it, sis," the blonde spoke as if she could read Ruby's mind. "Gohan'll be fine, you know he can handle himself."

"Yeah, but that's not what I'm worried about, Yang!" Ruby cried out, her face scrunching up in annoyance. "I don't understand what's going on with Gohan all of a sudden! He's almost never this angry, and even when he is, he usually has some sort of reason!"

Weiss and Blake both walked over to the siblings, although for Blake it seemed automatic, as if she wasn't really thinking about it as much as she was simply following Weiss. The heiress crossed her arms, looking down at her silver eyed partner. "Exactly, Ruby. I'm sure Gohan has a reason for acting like this, and as strange as it might seem to us right now, it'll all make sense when he explains himself later on."

"Yeah, the Ice Queen is right!" Yang chuckled as she wrapped an arm around Ruby to comfort her, ignoring Weiss's objection to her hated nickname. "Gohan'll calm down in a bit, and then he'll explain to us all exactly what happened. You've just gotta give him a little time, Rubes."

Ruby looked down at the floor, conceding that her older sister and partner were probably right. "Yeah, okay. That's a good idea, Yang," the crimsonette forced a smile and shook her head, trying to get out of her funk. "I should just give him a little space and then everything'll be back to normal!"

"That's the spirit, Ruby!" the lilac eyed blonde assaulted her sibling's head with a quick noogie before laughing. The girl in question grunted and pulled in protest to the attack, but eventually joined in on the laughter.

"Can we get going?" Blake almost snapped, tapping her foot impatiently. "We don't have time to waste standing around here."

"Oh, fine, Blakey!" Yang giggled a bit more, letting go of her sibling, who promptly fell on her face without the blonde holding her. "You're no fun sometimes." The raven haired faunus just sighed, exiting the room as well. Weiss and Ruby followed her close behind, the crimsonette forcing herself to keep a positive outlook as they went to Professor Peach's class.

"Come now, you must be better than that, Vegeta!"

Cell flew backwards, looking up at his golden haired foe firing a stream of ki blasts his way. The bio-android smirked as he watched each attempted blast miss it's mark, slamming into the Earth and exploding on impact. Each ball of energy left a small crater in it's wake, leaving the ground in a completely different state than what it was before the battle had started. Each blast missed him by a mile, and Cell took great joy in every failure.

"Faster now, Prince! Surely you know that moving at this speed won't work! You'll need to pick up the pace if you want any hope of defeating me!"

The Saiyan prince continued his assault, launching blast after blast from his palms, his fury driving him to beat the creature that had managed to surpass him just a week ago. He took Cell's words as a challenge and picked up the pace, his arms becoming a blur as he continued to fire out energy blasts like a gattling gun. None of them managed to hit their target, but Vegeta didn't really care. What mattered was he was keeping the bug on the ropes, and sooner or later Cell would slip up. Then, the prince would have his victory!

The bio-android chuckled in excitement as he suddenly raced up into the air. Despite his comments, Cell was enjoying the battle with the would-be king. He was actually quite impressed with how much the Saiyan had improved in such a short time. The battle had just begun but he already knew it would be a far more entertaining show than the one the three Earthlings and Namekian had given him. Perhaps if the battle's pace continued as it was, Vegeta might actually prove a worthy opponent.

Vegeta's rapid-fire blasts refused to cease, as the heir to the throne started bringing his attacks upwards to follow his opponent's path, but he was still missing every shot. With a devilish look in his eyes, the freak of nature's energy exploded out, Cell charging forward towards the saiyan with his leg pulled back. He slammed it forward, intent on ramming his bug-like foot into Vegeta's jaw, but the prince lifted up his arm just in time to block the strike, standing sturdy as the wind around the two fighters launched out from them, blowing grass out of the ground by it's roots.

The bio-android went for another attack, a punch this time, but Vegeta dodged out of the way and countered with a massive haymaker to his adversary, sending Cell flying through the air. He used his energy to put a halt to his momentum, looking at Vegeta with a shocked expression.

Vegeta just stared his rival down with a smirk. "Fast enough?"

Cell used his pasty right hand to rub the mark off of his cheek, chuckling. His Saiyan cells were overflowing with adrenaline. This was the first time he'd have a proper chance to show off his newfound perfect form's glory. He began to clap his hands together, giving the prince an honest display of congratulations. "Well done, Vegeta! You've improved immensely from our last skirmish. You might actually be worth fighting this time!"

"But," the bio-android added, dropping his arms as his pasty smirk grew in size. "Saying it'll be enough to beat me is a bit of an exaggeration."

Vegeta growled, clenching his fists together, staring him down. The two fighters hovered in the air, the sky being deceptively calm considering the massive levels of strength the two warriors possessed. They stared each other down for a few moments, before the prince finally broke the silence.

"Well then, how about we end this little warm up and get to the real fight!" His voice oozed confidence, letting his smirk grow on his face once again.

"I was hoping I'd get to play with you a little longer, but if you insist on ending our battle so soon-"

Cell was interrupted by an explosion of energy from Vegeta, his golden aura expanding at a rapid rate as raw power pulsated out of him. The wind gusted in every direction, as if the air itself was trying to flee from the Saiyan's overwhelming power. He began to scream, charging more and more, feeling his muscles bulge as he let out every ounce of energy he had within him, all too eager to face off with Cell at his maximum strength.

Cell actually felt he had to give a little bit of effort to push back against the Saiyan prince's energy. Frowning, he let out a mighty cry of his own and let his power radiate off of him. His golden aura exploded out as well, pushing against Vegeta's vigor with equal force. Their very essence fought against each other, the clouds and sky going crazy from the power being thrown around.

Finally, the two warriors' screams ceased, and their auras softened considerably, although their energy was still on full display, glowing off of their chiseled bodies. They smirked at each other, both of them completely convinced that their victory was assured. After a few seconds that felt like an eternity, they both charged forward, Vegeta throwing a punch while Cell went for a simple kick to the jaw. Both blows slammed into their targets with frightening force, sending them both flying. The speed caused the air itself to explode outward, the gale force winds cutting mountains and hills in half from the first real attack of the battle. Then, they continued, clashing back and forth throughout the air, faster than the eye could even comprehend, creating similar shockwaves with every blow.

Trunks watched the fight in awe, impressed to see his father doing so well against the android menace. The prince seemed to be holding his own, pushing Cell back just as much as Cell was pushing him. Of course, with the unbelievable speeds they were going at, it was hard to tell, but ki sensing provided him the benefit of actually being able to follow the action.

"He's actually fighting him!" the future warrior commented. "Father and Cell have landed about the same number of hits on each other, neither one can overpower the other!"

"Not exactly, Trunks," Goku watched from behind the lavender haired fighter. His arms were crossed observing the battle with a sharpness in his eyes that Trunks had rarely seen before. "You're somewhat right, Vegeta and Cell seem to be fighting at around the same speed, but that doesn't mean they're equals." Trunks turned away from the fight and gave Goku an incredulous stare.

"Cell was made to be the perfect warrior, and with so much natural fighting DNA flowing within him, he's capable of things we simply can't do," The Saiyan raised on Earth paused, correcting himself. "Things we can't do yet, so his reaction time is way higher than ours. Vegeta has to think and react to every one of Cell's attacks, but Cell doesn't have the same disadvantages, at least not to our extent. Every time they clash, Vegeta's taking just a little more damage, and at this rate it's going to add up fast."

Goku glared at Cell, studying his movements until the Saiyan had them memorized. Trunks just frowned, realizing exactly what Goku was getting at. He resumed watching the fight carefully, quickly noticing that what the eldest member of the Son family had explained. Even though the prince and the bio-android seemed to be landing their attacks at the same time, it soon became clear that Cell was making the first move in every exchange, and every blow seemed to leave Vegeta reeling, while Cell was hardly dazed. With every attack, the effects seemed to get worse and worse. The heir to the throne refused to give up though, pushing forward against his foe with all of his energy.

"This is where it ends, insect!" Vegeta growled, throwing a knee that Cell immediately blocked with his forearm, replying with a kick to the prince's jaw that sent him flying up towards the clouds.

"I don't think so, Vegeta." the perfect warrior chuckled, dashing up to meet his opponent.

Their skirmishes only intensified as the battle went on, shaking the ground from the pure power being thrown around. Still, Trunks couldn't help but look away from the incredible fight his father was going through to glance at Goku again. He'd never seen the man in the orange gi look so determined. On the other side of the ring, android Sixteen stood, observing the battle with similar focus to Goku, a thoughtful expression glazed over his mechanical exterior. He was thinking about something, but of what the former swordsman wasn't entirely sure. It seemed that Sixteen was on their side for now, but Trunks still found it hard to entirely trust him. It was clear he still very much wanted to kill Goku, and he'd likely do anything in his power to achieve his purpose. For now though, Trunks decided he was just going to have to trust that he wouldn't try anything yet.

The air seemed to explode as Vegeta suddenly slammed a fist straight into Cell's gut, actually managing to cause him to cry out in pain. The prince's white gloved fist made a dent in the android's stomach, as the heir chuckled in satisfaction from his strike. Vegeta immediately pulled his knuckles away, attempting to slam it into his enemy's cheek this time, but the perfect creature managed to regain his bearings just fast enough to dodge the strike. Using his mutated instincts, the bio-android launched his leg towards Vegeta's skull. However the Saiyan prince saw the attack coming and flew up into the air, maneuvering his body to just barely avoid it. He pressed his arms outwards towards the monster, letting his ki suddenly pour out of his palms in a yellow flash.

When the dust cleared, Cell was nowhere to be seen. Vegeta allowed himself a smirk, extending his senses to search for the bio-android, knowing that an attack that weak couldn't have been the creature's end. Just as he suspected, the bug-like warrior appeared behind him, his aura flaring violently. The saiyan prince swiftly turned around, ready to nail his opponent with a massive attack for picking such a predictable strategy, but he saw far too late that Cell was anticipating that reaction. His pasty white hand was resting right in front of the Saiyan's stomach, a green energy blast hovering just in front of it.

"Goodbye!" The perfect organism laughed as he shot out the attack, which almost instantly grew in size, pushing Vegeta down towards the grassy Earth. He growled, struggling to push the blast off of him with as much energy as he could muster, but the energy blast simply refused to budge. He only had a few seconds before the energy blast slammed him into the ground below, and that would mean that he would end up being rung out. It would be a humiliating way for a warrior like himself to go out, and he wouldn't allow such an outcome to occur even within the confounds of his own mind. He pushed the concept of failure away, and shouted to the heavens as he gripped the blast, managing to turn it in mid air. The armored fighter pushed himself away from the blast as it changed course, flying high into the sky.

Vegeta landed on the edge of the ring, taking a breath. He was mere moments away from being beaten in this match. It infuriated him that he had almost fallen to such a cheap tactic. His gloved fists clenched, digging into his palm as he stared up at his opponent with hate and anger. There's no way that I could lose to this freak, not a second time! He growled internally, taking a moment to rethink his strategy.

Cell looked down at the proud warrior, smirking as he finally felt adrenaline running through his veins. His saiyan DNA was starting to take over, fueling him to continue fighting with all of his power, but one thing bothered him. He could have easily won the battle with his last attack, blasting the prince out of the ring and onto the ground, but even as he watched Vegeta inch closer to his defeat he felt no joy. Winning by ring out would be no victory at all. What Cell wanted was a true test of his perfect abilities, and ending the battle prematurely would prove nothing.

Having already decided what needed to be done, Cell extended his hand downwards, not towards his opponent but the center of the ring. Vegeta looked up in confusion, not sure exactly what the creature was planning. Another green blast of energy formed in the monster's hands, although this one was duller, less powerful than the first, as if it wasn't aimed towards Vegeta at all. The elite's eyes widened, realising what his rival was going to do. In a flash, he had lept off the tiles of the ring and flown up high into the clouds.

The beam of energy charged straight into the middle of the ring, sending tiles flying into the sky as it burrowed inside of it and into the ground, finally exploding and turning what used to be the Cell Games arena into a crater in the Earth. Vegeta watched from the skies, staring at the monster with confusion. What exactly did destroying the ring do for him?

Cell dropped onto the ground, right in front of the cavity he had created. His smug smile didn't fade in the slightest, in fact it seemed to have grown even wider than before. His purple orbs glared at the prince of Saiyans, as he opened his mouth to speak. "There we are Vegeta, now this entire planet can be our battlefield!"

"I don't want to beat you through such a simple tactic like knocking you out of the ring," he grinned, his aura still glowing. "It will be far more satisfying to see you grovel at my perfection on the floor, where you belong."

Despite the comment, Vegeta couldn't help but chuckle as he too dropped to the ground, ready to take this battle to the next level. "Finally come to your senses then, freak?" he chuckled, his bulging muscles seemingly overflowing with the raw power that he had managed to master.

Cell laughed back, the excitement that came from having an all-out brawl with Vegeta, especially after all of the training the prince had gone through, was getting to him. "Yes! This fight will only truly be over when one of us is incapable of fighting for another second."

"And naturally, it'll be you," the former underling of Freeza chortled, charging up a wave of yellow energy in his hand and firing it out of his hands. "Maximum Flasher!"

Cell leapt into the air to avoid the attack, but the prince was quick to follow things up by charging into the air after his opponent, nailing him with a sudden kick to the head. The bio-android was launched into a mountain, flying straight through it, but it seemed to only mildly annoy him as he recovered and flew at his maximum speed towards the Saiyan warrior again. The two warriors had gone right back to where they were before, throwing fists and kicks at lightning speed, in what seemed like an eternal struggle to decide who was the best.

Gohan's sudden change in mood had been jarring, and Ruby was still having trouble figuring out what was wrong with him.

She walked down the halls of Beacon Academy with her team, rubbing her arm with worry. Yang had told her that everything would be fine, but she couldn't help but doubt her older sister's words a little bit. There was just a hole in her stomach, a toxic feeling crawling around in the back of her mind and no matter what she tried to do to appease it, she couldn't get rid of it. It was stuck in her mind, and every time she thought she had moved on from it, it suddenly pounced and she was stuck with the horrible feeling that something was seriously wrong.

He actually skipped class! she screamed internally, at the top of her metaphorical lungs. He's so by the books and stuff, him breaking such a big rule and just cutting class seems wrong! The redhead made a face, chewing on her cheek in contemplation as she desprately searched for an explanation, any possible reason Gohan could be so mad or on edge that he would skip class, but nothing came up. Mercury was kind of a jerk, she had to admit, but that was no reason to get like this! He was supposed to be kind and understanding, not cold and distant. Even when she had slipped and asked about his first Super Saiyan transformation he didn't outright cut class!

"Rubes, I'm telling you that everything's fine," her older sister walked beside her, the blonde doing her best to help comfort the silver eyed girl. "He was mad, and he needed to collect his thoughts, so he didn't come to class. It happens all the time."

"Not with Gohan," Ruby pouted, the frustration of not knowing how to fix this problem being highlighted in her body language, which seemed to slump and point down just as her emotions did.

"Ruby, Gohan is hardly any different from any other child," Weiss interjected, attempting to soothe the situation in her own way. The heiress quickly realised the fault with her sentence, backpedaling to correct herself. "Emotionally different, I mean. He's not immune to mistakes or overreactions. I assure you that everything is perfectly fine."

"No, you guys just don't get it!" the girl protested further, unable to believe her team's claims. "Something is seriously wrong, I can feel it! Gohan wouldn't do anything like this unless he had a good reason to!"

In the back, Blake sighed, looking at the rest of her team with an annoyed and frustrated expression. "Are you kidding me right now? We have Roman Torchwick working with the White Fang, and you're worried about Gohan's little display in the arena? He's thirteen! Who cares! We have bigger problems to deal with than his anger issues!"

Three quarters of the first year team turned their head towards their teammate, all of them caught off guard by her sudden attitude. "Whoa, Blake," Yang commented, looking over at the faunus, a little unsettled. "Where exactly did this come from?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe it's something I ate," the cat-girl retorted sarcastically, her amber eyes turning to face the wall. "Roman Torchwick and the White Fang are still out there doing who knows what, and we're all just sitting around, taking classes, laughing and joking like everything is just going to sort itself out! Now, we're concerned about Gohan cutting class, like it's somehow the most important thing in the world!"

The other three girls were caught off guard by the sudden change in tone, both recognising that the onyx haired faunus had been holding in these feelings for a few days now. Weiss was the first to respond to her this time, attempting to try and defuse the situation. "Now, Blake, I understand that you might be frustrated that we haven't been focusing on the White Fang situation, but perhaps it would be better if we had this conversation lat-"

"No!" Blake interjected. "Look, if you want to worry about Ruby's boyfriend so much, that's fine, but I'm going to do some work in the library and try and find something to help stop them!"

Ruby, Weiss and Yang could only watch as their friend stomped off towards the library, all three of them similarly baffled. Ruby frowned and looked at the floor, saddened that she had yet another friend in a bad mood. She had noticed that Blake had seemed off the past few days, but Blake was always kind of quiet, so she hadn't thought about it much.

Her emotions must have been clearer than she thought, because the crimsonette felt her older sister's warm hand rest on her head and ruffle her hair. "Here, Ruby, why don't you and Weiss go talk to Gohan. I'll handle Blake, alright?"

Ruby looked up to face Yang, her silver eyes looking up at her lilac orbs with doubt. "No, Yang, you don't have to go talk to her alone. We're a team, so we should help her together!"

The blonde just smiled down at her younger sibling, giving the same smile she had produced countless times to cheer the redhead up. "Don't worry about it, Rubes. You deal with your boyfriend problems, and I'll make sure that Blake perks up a bit."

Ruby chewed on her cheek in contemplation before finally giving in and nodding. "Okay, if you say so, Yang."

"And I suppose I'm just being forced to stay with Ruby then?" Weiss spoke up, her arms crossed as she stared at the two sisters with her icy blue eyes. Yang chuckled a little bit, and Ruby couldn't help but smile. Both of them knew that the question was rhetorical and that the ice queen wasn't expecting any real answer, but still, Yang felt the need to say something in response.

"Just stick with my sister while I'm gone, okay Weiss?" the golden haired warrior grinned. "Maybe give her some advice too? I mean, surely you've dated someone before, right?"

"No," Weiss responded automatically. "I haven't, actually. Plenty of people have tried to ask me out, it comes with my position, but I've never actually accepted an offer."

Yang's mouth clamped shut, just staring for a moment at the girl with snow colored hair, staying silent for an awkward length of time before forcing herself to say something in reply. "Oh, wow, huh. I uh, kinda just assumed that at some point, you...y'know…?" She gave another quick chuckle, causing stares to come her way from both the rapier wielder and the redhead.

"Uh, forget it," the lilac eyed brawler shrugged, turning her head to go walk down the hall. "Just help out Ruby a bit while I'm gone, okay?" Before either of the partners could object, Yang had turned the corner to the hall, vanishing out of sight.

"Huh," the hopeful huntress shrugged, still frowning as she turned to face their destination, Gohan's dormitory. She knew that if the Saiyan was anywhere in the school, then it would be in his own room. Granted, it was entirely possible that he wasn't there at all, and that the boy had gone out to fly through the Emerald Forest. She had certainly found it relaxing when he flew her around, and she wouldn't be surprised if he had gone out so he wouldn't be bothered.

Still, she had to at least check, right?

Sneaking a glance at Weiss, who was simply waiting patiently for her to knock on the door, she hesitantly rapped her knuckles on the entrance, her eyes clenched shut. "Hey, Gohan? Are you there? It's me, Ruby!"

"I'm here as well," Weiss quickly added.

The huntress-in-training waited for what felt like an eternity, before she heard the door handle click and turn. She held her hands in front of her, watching as the door slowly opened, revealing the thirteen year old Saiyan. His expression had certainly softened from earlier, which sent a surge of relief through her body, but he still seemed to have something on his mind. When his onyx orbs met with Ruby's silver eyes, he seemed to smile a little bit more than he was before, taking a deep breath before greeting the two of them. "Hey, Ruby. Hi Weiss. What's up, are Yang and Blake with you? I think I heard them outside the room a few moments ago."

Ruby let out a soft chuckle, relieved to hear Gohan's voice seem relatively happy, at least compared to how he was acting during Goodwitch's class. "Well, uh, we just wanted to check on you, cause you sorta skipped class. You like, never do that, so um, are you okay?" The scythe wielder played with her hands, facing the ground as she spoke, her voice growing higher and higher in pitch as she continued. Her nerves were getting to her, as much as they were before they started dating, if not more.

"In far more coherent terms," Weiss spoke up, her arms behind her back. "We noticed that you seemed very off during and after your fight with Mercury, and once we realized that you skipped class we decided to come and check on you, to see if you were doing alright."

"As for Yang and Blake?" The heiress continued. "Well, Blake just had a bit of an outburst, and Yang volunteered to go with her, while we talked to you."

"Oh, uh, well I appreciate the concern," Gohan frowned, looking at the two girls like he felt conflicted. "But I'm fine, I just needed some time to think. So don't worry about me, okay?"

"But," Ruby started before stopping herself, staring down at the floor. Her thoughts were so scattered she had trouble articulating them. "But-but-but why did you get like that? Why would you suddenly cut class, what did you need to think about? I don't understand..."

The Saiyan didn't respond immediately, so Weiss once again added onto the crimsonette's statement. "Gohan, remember what we said just only a few weeks ago. We promised we wouldn't keep secrets anymore."

"Right," the warrior from Earth frowned, facing the ground and sighing. "Yeah, you guys are right. Do you, uh, wanna come in? I'll tell you about it inside."

Ruby nodded, smiling a little bit more now that she knew that she was about to get some answers. Gohan opened the door all the way, allowing the two partners to come in. "It would be easier if you sat down for this. It's not exactly easy to explain," the bookworm directed the two girls to his bed, where they both sat down. The Saiyan stood in front of both of them and took a deep breath. "You two both know I can sense energy, right?"

"I believe you've mentioned it at least once," Weiss replied, curious as to how that had anything to do with the topic at hand.

"Yeah, you said everyone had a unique energy signature and that you could easily tell who was who just by sensing them, right?" the scythe wielder recalled asking about it only a few days ago, and while a decent portion of the young boy's explanation went over head, she understood the idea well enough to repeat it.

Gohan nodded in response to both of their answers, before closing his eyes and crossing his arms. "Yeah, you're both right, but that's not all there is to it. When I'm sensing energy, I can do more than just measure how strong someone is at that moment in time, or who they are. I can also sort of see into their soul, and their intentions. I can tell if they have pure heart, or one full of malice."

"When Pyrrha was fighting Mercury, I noticed a couple things. Not only was he far stronger than she was, but Mercury's energy felt dark. Twisted even," the boy opened his eyes again, staring at Ruby and Weiss to make sure they understood what he was talking about. Ruby's eyes widened a bit in shock and confusion, whereas Weiss simply raised an eyebrow.

"So, what? Are you saying he's evil?" the heiress wondered aloud. "That somehow seems hard to believe."

"Yeah, Gohan," the daughter of Summer Rose agreed. "I mean, it's not that I don't believe you or anything, but he just didn't seem evil. He was kind of a jerk maybe, but he wasn't even as bad as Cardin is."

The Saiyan elaborated, "I thought you'd say that, and trust me it was hard for me to believe too. Sure, he wasn't nearly as bad as the people I've fought before, but when you combine his higher than normal energy signature with what seemed to be malicious intentions, it got me a bit worried. I mean, I've sensed Torchwick before and Mercury actually seems to have a very similar energy signature to him, which I'm sure I don't need to say is wrong for a student."

"You're saying he's, for lack of a better term, 'just as evil' as Roman Torchwick?" the heiress's skepticism was showing itself off full force. "Are you certain that you're not misreading something?"

"I know what I sensed, Weiss," Gohan nodded, his expression dead serious. "I don't know exactly what he's doing, but I've had more than enough experience to know that whatever he's up to, it isn't good."

The entire room was silent, as the redhead and the blue eyed heiress struggled to comprehend the fact that one of the students in their school was just as dangerous as the crime boss who they had been chasing for a couple weeks now.

"What about his partner?" the silver eyed warrior finally allowed herself to ask, a little scared that she already knew the answer. "I actually met her the other day, in passing. Her name is Emerald and she seemed really nice. She can't be like him too, can she?"

The Saiyan nodded again, sadly. "Assuming that Emerald was the girl with the green hair who I saw sitting next to Mercury, yes. She doesn't seem as bad as he is, but I can still feel a bit of malice in her energy. I don't think that's a coincidence."

Ruby looked down at the ground, absolutely hating that she was right, before turning her vision back over to the Saiyan warrior. She knew exactly how capable Gohan was, and the chances of him being wrong about this seemed increasingly slim. In the back of her mind, she could even feel how certain the boy was that what he had sensed was real. With all that in mind, she knew that she had to trust Gohan on this. When she turned to look over at what Weiss was doing it seemed clear that the heiress was going through a very similar discussion in her mind, and was quickly coming to the same conclusion. "Okay," he said to her boyfriend, determination flowing through her silver orbs. "Then what are we gonna do about it?"

"It's not like we have a lot of evidence. Even if they are 'evil', they haven't actually done anything malicious," the heiress thought aloud, considering the situation from every angle she could think of.

"You're right Weiss, they haven't done anything seriously wrong yet," Gohan frowned, nodding towards the heiress. "I overreacted when I fought Mercury today, and immediately assumed the worst. What we need to do is keep an eye on him, and his entire team. With energy like that, he must be up to something."

"Maybe he's working for Torchwick?" Ruby suggested, her mind hard at work trying to figure out the current situation. "He could have paid Mercury off to give information or something, maybe on us after the whole docks and padalin thing?"

"I don't know, Ruby," Gohan looked to the side, trying to piece things together as well. "I think there's something more to it. He must have performed some really heinous actions in order to taint his aura like that, and if he's just a student coming in for the Vytal Festival that doesn't make any sense."

Weiss frowned, resting her hands on her knees and sighed. "I'm sorry Gohan, but this idea just seems absurd. Even if, for the sake of argument he does in fact have 'malice in his heart', that doesn't necessarily mean there's some sort of gigantic evil plot at work. I'm still not entirely convinced that you can sense that at all, it just seems ridiculous."

"I'm sure everything that I can do seems ridiculous to you Weiss," the saiyan in the orange and black gi countered. "But I'm telling you the truth. He and Emerald's energy are full of malice. Maybe not to the same level as most of the people I've fought, but certainly enough to be worrying."

"Okay, fair point," Weiss admitted, straightening her posture. "That still fails to prove that he's up to anything at all."

"Come on Weiss, don't be like that!" the hooded girl frowned, looking over at her partner. "I mean, if we don't try and figure this kinda stuff out and just give up, what's gonna happen if Gohan's right and this guy really is evil!"

"I never said I wouldn't assist you all," the heiress crossed her arms, staring down both Gohan and Ruby in a way only someone like her could be capable of doing. "All I'm saying is that I'll be remaining skeptical until more information is brought my way. We'll need to learn more about Mercury and his partner Emerald before we make any rash claims."

"Yeah, you're right!" Ruby agreed, hopping off the bed, a plan forming rapidly in her mind. "We need to get some information on them, probably their whole team too. I'm pretty sure they're from Haven, based on the uniform I saw Emerald in when I ran into her, so maybe some of the other students know stuff about them too."

"And if they don't that's a pretty obvious clue that something is wrong," Gohan nodded, already seeing where the crimsonette was going with things. "Alright, so I guess we're gonna work together to figure this out."

"In that case," Weiss stood up, putting her hands behind her back. "We should probably wait for Blake and Yang to come back, and come up with a strategy together."

"Yeah!" Ruby smiled, happy that things were finally coming together. Sure, the fact that there was potentially some sort of spy or criminal hiding in Beacon Academy was incredibly worrying, but she knew that the five of them would be able to figure things out and handle it, all it would take is a little bit of planning. "Let's head over to our team dorm, Yang and Blake will probably come back there when they finish, so we can come up with a plan together."

Gohan and Weiss simply nodded in agreement, causing the crimsonette to smile. The three of them moved over to Team RWBY's assigned dormitory and waited patiently, talking about other things to try and pass the time. Eventually the blonde and the faunus finally arrived in the dorm, Blake looking quite a bit happier and less annoyed than before. Neither of the partners seemed to want to talk much about what happened, assuring the rest of the team that details would be given later, especially since it seemed that Mercury and Emerald were a far more pressing matter. The group of five went to work, spending the rest of the day figuring out their plans for the following day, deciding what would be the best route to scout information in a short period of time.

It was time for another mission.

"I'm not finished yet, Cell!"

Vegeta flew through the air, going at his maximum speed now, his fist pulled back in preparation for his next attack. The prince saw Cell, still airborne from the kick the son of the king had landed just moments prior, and lifted his arm up ready to slam the bio-android into the ground below. As he launched his fist down towards the creature's skull, however, Cell vanished.

The Saiyan grit his teeth, looking around in every direction and sensing the area around him, knowing that he would only have an instant to figure out where his opponent was before he was struck. He caught a glimmer of the monster's energy right behind him, and immediately turned around, blocking the punch that was sent his way. The onyx haired Saiyan wasted no time in following up with a swift and hard uppercut that sent his rival even higher into the skies. The elite warrior continued by closing the distance between him and his enemy and slamming his skull in with an axe handle, sending him hurtling towards the ground below.

Vegeta looked down at the crater Cell had made with a smirk. He could feel that he was starting to get the advantage over the android, and the warrior wasn't going to let the menace trick him into giving that up a second time. He had learned from his previous mistakes, and thus was ready for any trick that Cell tried to pull on him.

With a mighty scream, his golden aura shined through the air as he rocketed towards his downed opponent's face with his leg clenched back, preparing to smash the android's face in with his royal white boot. Just before contact however, Cell lifted his hand up and grabbed the bottom of Vegeta's foot, preventing it from slamming into it's target. In one solid motion, the perfect warrior tossed the Saiyan prince to the side, rose to his feet, and sent a ball of lime green energy to follow his opponent.

Caught off guard by the sudden toss, Vegeta managed to kill his momentum and extended his hand forward, charging energy into it as he watched Cell's blast fly towards him. A massive blue sphere of plasma formed right in front of the Saiyan warrior's outstretched hand, growing until it's size exceeded its owner's. He pulled his arm back for a brief moment, before pushing it back towards the attack, sending it straight towards Dr. Gero's final creation, screaming his attack's name at the top of his lungs. "Big Bang Attack!"

The massive energy sphere launched itself towards Cell, engulfing his relatively puny by comparison attack with ease, not even slowing a little bit as it ran through it and headed towards it's target. Cell scoffed, extending both of his hands and catching it as his feet dug into the ground.

"Is this the best you can manage, Vegeta?" he mocked the prince, hoping to see even more of his opponent's skill come from his rage. Saiyans tended to grow stronger the angrier they got, and that was something the android was going to take full advantage of. He needed to prove that even at these warriors' best, he was still perfect, and they were not.

The Saiyan elite growled at Cell's words, pushing his hand forward and pushing more energy into his attack. He was stronger than the android now, he knew that had to be the case, and he also knew that no matter how hard his rival struggled, there was no chance he'd be able to overcome the power of his mastered ascended Super Saiyan state. He'd spent his last bit of time in the Hyperbolic Time Chamber with Trunks pushing himself to the limit constantly, and the battle with Broly only heightened his abilities even further. This would be his triumph, his revenge for the utter humiliation Cell had given him only a week prior.

Cell chuckled as he felt the pressure increase on Vegeta's attack increase, and his brown bug-like feet were pushed even deeper into the dirt. Shouting to the heavens, Cell's own aura exploded out of him as he started putting more effort into pushing the blast away, eventually managing to toss it right back at it's creator.

A smug smirk grew on his pasty cheeks as he watched the massive blue ball of energy charge towards Vegeta, who grit his teeth in frustration as he clenched his fist and tossed a small blue energy ball into the attack, detonating it manually before it could hit him. The prince had to close his eyes for a moment to protect them from the shock wave the blast had created, but in that singular moment his guard was let down, Cell pounced.

He flew up into the skies and nailed Vegeta in the jaw with a perfectly placed kick, sending him spinning in the air, where the perfect warrior followed. He slammed a quick punch into the prince's cheek, before using his other hand to punch him in the other, repeating the process a few times before nailing him with a fist that sent him flying backwards hard, finishing off by dashing up into the skies, then back down to slam an elbow into the Saiyan warrior's back.

Vegeta fell down to the ground, landing harshly against the uncaring dirt before struggling to get to his feet. Cell merely watched on with a smile as he saw his enemy pant and slump, slowly rising up to stare back up at the bio-android with hate. The Saiyan warrior knew that if Cell actually managed to land any more devastating combos like that, he would actually lose this bout.

Damn it, this can't possibly be it! After all of that training, I refuse to go down like a weakling!

Suddenly, he cried out in a fit of rage, his golden ki aura almost swirling around him from the power he was showing off, cupping his hands together at an odd angle, staring up at Cell with a look in his eyes that indicated that this was his last ditch effort.

As his rival's energy flared, Goku couldn't help but notice something familiar about that pose. "Wait a minute, isn't that-"

"The Galick Gun?!" Trunks finished, watching his father's energy grow with every passing second, the awe evident in his purple orbs. He had trained with his father for quite some time in the chamber, and in that time he became increasingly familiar with the Prince's techniques.

"Yeah, I remember when he used that attack against me after first coming to Earth. It was powerful enough to destroy the planet back then, I can only imagine what it's capable of now that he's ascended."

Cell watched the elite charge with vague amusement, having also recognised the technique. "That technique won't work, Vegeta," he laughed, preparing himself to smack the would-be-king's futile attack away like a fly getting hit by a flyswatter. "You'd have better luck trying your Final Flash again. At least that hurt a little, this won't even tickle."

Vegeta seemed to ignore Cell's mockery, simply charging up his energy, replacing his golden yellow aura with a foreboding purple one, still shouting to the heavens as his energy continued to rise. "THAT'S WHERE YOU'RE WRONG, FREAK!" he announced, a vicious grin growing at the corner of his lips.

"THIS IS NO ORDINARY GALICK GUN! I'VE SPENT A LOT OF TIME DEVELOPING IT, JUST FOR YOU! ALL OF MY POWER, ALL OF MY RAGE, AND ALL OF MY PRIDE IS GOING INTO THIS LAST ATTACK, THE ONE THAT'LL OBLITERATE YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL!"

Vegeta continued to charge the blast for a moment, his purple aura suddenly changing to a burning red, as everyone present noticed that the air itself seemed to thicken. "Vegeta seems to be growing exponentially stronger," #16 noted as he watched the battle with intrigue, although his robotic form made it hard to show it. "He's using every bit of energy he has remaining to try and end the fight here and now."

"You're telling me," Goku chuckled, unable to contain his excitement to see the power of this new variation of his rival's old attack. "Come on Vegeta, show me what you can do!"

Cell let his arms drop as he replaced his smirk with a scowl, realising through Vegeta's sudden bursts of energy that the fight wasn't over quite yet. This would be the prince's last ditch effort, so if he managed to survive this attack, his victory would be assured. Desiring to test the strength of what appeared to be his enemy's new technique, he cupped his white hands to the side, slowly charging up a familiar ball of blue energy. "Kaaaaaa! Meeeeee! Haaaaaa! Meeeeee!" he announced, staring down at Vegeta's form, now glowing a crimson color.

Cell charging his own attack only seemed to fuel Vegeta's fury, as his energy finally exploded all out at once, the red aura managing to engulf his figure, making him almost invisible. "IT'S OVER, ANDROID! LET'S SEE YOU REGENERATE FROM THIS!"

With every bit of rage left in his body, the Saiyan thrusted his gloved hands forward, sending his massive scarlet energy beam straight towards it's target, screaming as he did so. The attack exploded from his hands, shaking the planet to the core as it thundered towards its intended target.

Cell watched as the beam of energy charged towards him, his eyes narrowing as he slammed his own hands straight towards it, releasing the attack was powering in return. His roar echoed throughout the battlefield, watching the bright blue attack fly towards Vegeta's Galick Gun, the two beams colliding in the air and pushing each other back with what seemed to be equal force. The air was shoved away, sending shockwaves across the ground as mountains seemed to be pushed out of the ground, flying off into the distance. Both warriors pushed against the other's beam, causing an explosion of power in the middle of them to move up and down repeatedly as neither side could manage to truly get the upper hand.

Vegeta grit his teeth, almost crushing them from the pushed past his limits, forcing more energy than he knew he even had into the attack, screaming with pure rage. His anger and desperation to win the fight was the only thing fueling him now, and he sent it all into his Crimson Galick Gun, causing it to double in size. Cell's eyes widened as he watched the attack engulf his own, pulling his hands back in surprise. It seemed to devour his figure, before flying off into space, eventually moving so far back that nobody on the planet could track it.

The prince fell on one knee, gasping for air and clutching his chest. He felt like he would fall over at any moment. It was a miracle he even survived with so little energy left in his system, but it seemed to have worked. His attack managed to beat Cell's and that was something to be proud of, but he couldn't even smile or laugh about it, because there was still a lingering feeling in the back of his mind. He could still sense Cell's presence, and that means that despite all of the effort he put into his last attack, it hadn't meant anything.

Cell still lived.

He heard the thud that came as the monster touched down on the ground, behind Vegeta. He was panting, out of breath from dodging Vegeta's attack at the very last second. The frustration and hate was clear in his violet eyes, glaring straight at the exhausted Vegeta with evil intentions. The Saiyan warrior glared right back at his opponent, before letting out another mighty shout and flying towards Cell with little regard for his own energy conserves, trying to throw another punch the android's way. He couldn't even pull his fist back, however, before Cell had slammed his knuckles into the spiky haired fighter's gut.

The exhausted prince coughed up blood, his eyes almost rolling back from the force Cell's attack had hit with. He would have fallen right down onto the floor, face first, if Cell hadn't immediately followed up his punch with a vicious kick to the cheek that sent the Super Saiyan spinning through the air and into one of the crater's their battle had created. Vegeta was unconscious before he even touched the floor. After that, Cell turned his attention to the remaining fighters, Goku, Trunks, and Android 16, glaring at them with a newfound intensity as his stamina started to return to him.

"Now then," he spoke seriously, his voice almost booming through the air. "Who's next?"

And thus Chapter 15 is in the books. Like I said before, this was one of my favorite chapters to produce so far, as Gohan's actively involving himself in the villain's scheme, although he and RWBY aren't entirely sure what's happening just yet. This is going to lead to some changes in canon that may seem relatively minor, but don't worry, they'll have major consequences down the road.

Past that the Cell Games have kicked into gear and I decided to skip the rest of the Earthling's fighting. It's nothing against them, and I had planned on writing their fights but I didn't find it very fun to write and before Moose got busy he convinced me that very few people were going to enjoy watching Krillin or Tien battle Perfect Cell anyway, so I just dropped it. Hopefully nobody minds it too much, and if you did, sorry!

Anyway, onto the review responses.

Blake2020: As I mentioned previously, Gohan's probably going Super Saiyan 2 at some point, but I highly doubt he'll obtain Super Saiyan 3. At least, not in this story. (See the end of this AN for further details) Also, no, no, no, and no, I am not putting Gohan in a harem with Ruby and Yang, it would barely even be a harem at this point since Ruby and Gohan are already together and just...no. Yang's already got Weiss anyway (not that they know it yet.)

Guest (1): Not gonna get into XV stuff, cause that's weird, but I wouldn't have Goku use the Super Kaioken without some sort of reason involved, so…

Saiyan Fan: Can't say anything about Ruby getting ki at the moment, but know I've got things planned.

Guest (2): I believe he's changing the story to a GohanXPyrrha one to a GohanXWeiss one (think about the Videl/Weiss similarities), and I have no clue when he plans to upload it. Probably not anytime soon though, and he has other things he wants to work on.

Random95: I'd say everything you said he was perfectly valid and I think this argument stems from a misunderstanding. I wasn't really saying they were Saiyan level, merely that they had more potential than humans did if they trained the same way Krillin, Yamcha, and Tien did. That doesn't mean that they'd realise that potential because I don't find it likely they'd train in the same way the humans on Earth did, but if someone taught them those methods...they could have amazing power. Does that make any sense?

SomeRandomChillGuy: Why of course, it's Hetap! I mean come on, you've killed for less!

Guest (3): 1. Well you've seen Tien and Krillin and Piccolo get their asses kicked so at least I'm consistent. Sorry, just didn't know what to do with them in an actual fight with Cell. They'd get destroyed.

2. Gohan's holding back a lot so the other's will actually be able to figure out problems without him. Remember, even with Ruby he's still leaving to go back home whenever he gets a chance.

3. Looks like somebody called it!

4. Cause he is, in this story Broly isn't nearly as strong as Cell. Movies aren't canon, I can do what I want.

X The Reaper: Your advice is noted, but don't expect me to focus too much on fluff, even at the dance.

Njohnson12: I don't see why it couldn't be both. Or it could be none of them. All I'm saying is there's possibilities.

Jedi Alex Colbent: I will say Siv's take on the story inspired me a bit when it came to that scene, but I don't think it's the exact same either. Also there will be Freezerburn hints there, I promise.

Guest (4): Don't worry, there will be more changes and original stuff coming soon. The dance is where most of it'll start actually.

KitsuneNaruto135: You're entirely right and I've been working to change things more and more in the DBZ world. Broly was essentially filler, with a bit of a purpose that I sadly can't explain yet. Anyway thanks for the input.

Now, I'm gonna skip the bonus question this chapter but I do have an announcement. I mentioned earlier that this story had multiple sagas, like 12 or so, but that's not the case anymore. Instead this story will focus on one major saga, and if I choose to do any more sagas in this universe, it will be done in sequels. I decided that this would be for the best, both in organization and just my life in general.

Thanks for reading, have a nice day.