Under the crushing weight of Earth's imminent annihilation and the searing, grief-stricken images of Trunks and Bulma's deaths, Gohan's psyche had been carved into a new shape. The rage, once a dull ember of helplessness, was now a white-hot forge. And into that forge, Rhode had fed the final spark—the flickering image of another Gohan, younger, fiercer, wreathed in the lightning of Super Saiyan 2.
The result was cataclysmic.
"AHHHHHHHHH! "
Gohan's scream was the sound of a limit shattering. His aura didn't just expand; it detonated. The familiar golden glow was consumed by a blinding, incandescent gold-white. Wild, jagged arcs of electrical energy erupted around him, crackling with a power that dwarfed anything he had ever felt. His hair, already golden, lengthened and sharpened, standing defiantly against the very concept of limitation.
Super Saiyan 2.
And the transformation was not a plateau. It was a launchpad.
His power, already astronomical, did not stop climbing. 15 billion... 20 billion... 30 billion... The sheer force of his unleashed potential warped the very air around him. It wasn't until his battle power crested an astonishing 40 billion that the surge finally began to slow.
His Kamehameha, now fueled by this godlike might, didn't just push back Rhode's sphere of annihilation—it hurled it into the depths of space, a forgotten star cast adrift.
*WHOOSH. *
In the next instant, Gohan was before Cell. His gaze was no longer that of the hopeful, trusting boy Cell had tried to manipulate. It was the cold, absolute stare of judgment.
Cell, feeling the crushing weight of that gaze, the tsunami of power radiating from the transformed Saiyan, felt his perfect form tremble. "G-Gohan! I helped you! We were fighting together!"
The stare held for an eternity. Then, slowly, Gohan looked away.
**BOOM! **
A flash of gold. Cell's form disintegrated into cosmic dust, erased from existence without a sound of protest. Rhode stood where Cell had been, his hand still raised, his expression calm.
"You—!" Gohan's renewed fury was immediate.
"Still so naive, Gohan." Rhode's voice cut through the rage, calm and lecturing. "Could you not feel the endless, concentrated evil radiating from him? He was a weapon pointed at this world. His purpose is over."
Gohan's jaw tightened. He knew Rhode's words held truth. Cell's evil was absolute. But the memory of the last few hours—the betrayal, the mind games, the planet-killing attack—was a knot of confusion and anger in his chest.
"The energy ball," Gohan finally said, his voice low, dangerous. "You would have destroyed everything."
Rhode's smile was infuriatingly calm. "Heh. It was just an energy ball. You think I couldn't have dealt with it if I needed to?"
"Just an energy ball?!" The casual dismissal was the final spark. Gohan's fury, barely contained, exploded. In a flash of lightning and speed, he was on Rhode, his fist driving forward with the force of a collapsing star.
**BANG! **
The impact shattered the silence. The battle was not over. It was just entering its final, most personal phase.
THUMP.
The sound was dull, final. Gohan, who had just ascended to the godlike heights of Super Saiyan 2, his power surging past 40 billion, was suddenly... normal. His golden hair faded to black, the lightning dissipated, and he was left gasping, bent over Rhode's knee, utterly bewildered.
What... happened?
One moment, he had been mid-charge, fury and power propelling him toward the man who had toyed with his emotions. The next, he was a regular Saiyan again, his transformation snuffed out like a candle, and Rhode's knee was driving the air from his lungs.
Straightening the dazed young man, Rhode regarded him with a knowing, mysterious smile. The secret was simple: a fraction of a second of localized time stop, applied at the exact moment of Gohan's attack. His Super Saiyan 2 power was immense, but it was useless if he couldn't move, couldn't think, couldn't be. Time stop was the ultimate trump card, and Gohan had just run headlong into it.
"This..." Gohan's voice was a whisper of disbelief. He had broken through, achieved a form he never dreamed possible, multiplied his power astronomically. And he had been defeated in an instant. Not by a more powerful blast, but by something he couldn't even comprehend.
The pieces finally clicked into place. The betrayal, the mind games, the near-destruction of Earth—all of it was a crucible, forged by Rhode to push him past his limits. The anger and hatred he had felt were real, but they had been tools, not truths.
"Mr. Rhode..." A wry, exhausted smile touched Gohan's lips. "Please... never do that again."
Rhode laughed, a genuine, unburdened sound. "Haha! I'd have to find the right opportunity. Who knew Cell would conveniently drop into my lap?" He shook his head, acknowledging the improvised, reckless nature of his scheme. It was full of holes, reliant on Gohan's trusting nature. A more cynical, suspicious mind would never have fallen for it.
"Anyway," Rhode said, his tone shifting to practicality, "the androids are gone. Cell is dust. Now we fix this world."
Gohan's gaze drifted over the ruins of his home, his planet. A deep, profound sadness settled in his eyes. "Piccolo is gone... Kami... Shenron is useless now..."
Rhode waved a dismissive hand. "Minor details. Earth's Dragon Balls are out, sure. But Namek's?" He looked at Gohan, a simple solution offered. "Go find Namek's Dragon Balls."