After the vicious battle against Freeza, our heroes enter the age of Cell...
After years of anguish from a defeat that took place decades ago, Dr. Gero continues to plot revenge against the character who destroyed Red Ribbon and ruined him- Goku. Dr. Gero begins a project, but the development was taking too long, so he abandoned the project and left the computer running the program...
Android 19 is unleashed. Dr. Gero gets himself made into an android and becomes Android 20. The Z Warriors meet with Androids 19 and 20 and the two sides engage in battle. Android 19 is destroyed and Dr. Gero retreats. Next, Dr. Gero unleashes Android 17 and Android 18. Androids 17 and 18 get annoyed of Dr.
Gero and rebel. As a result, Android 17 kills Dr. Gero. Android 17 and Android 18 leave the lab
and turn on the program for Android 16. The Z Warriors become aware of the androids and they
battle. The Z Warriors are not match for the androids because androids do not tire in battle whereas mortals eventually use up their energy. Goku, the only one strong enough to stand up to the Androids, suffers a heart attack in battle and retreats. Goku is saved, and is recooperating from his illness. The Androids run amuck in the cities while the Z Warriors await Goku's recovery. News comes about a time machine discovered that matched that of Trunks's. It is investigated, but all that is found is an empty shell of an unknown being that has been newly hatched. Piccolo is in the Sky Palace with Kami. Kami, guardian of the Earth, senses the strange mysterious being from
that shell. Piccolo asks what he senses, but Kami only tells that the world does not need a god right
now, but a super powered being to face the catastrophe that is to come. Piccolo and Kami fuse, and the two become one once again. The newly powered super namek Piccolo flies to the town near where the time machine was discovered to investigate; all the inhabitants of the town have vanished and only their clothes are found lying around. The being hatched from the time machine shows itself. It shows that it has been literally absorbing humans, and introduces itself as Cell, otherwise known as Android 21. The two fight. Cell holds Piccolo captive and absorbs an arm.
Piccolo breaks free and demands to know more about Cell before he loses his life to it. Cell yields
to what he believes to be Piccolo's final wish before he absorbs him. He tells that in the future
when Trunks returns and kills Androids 17 and 18 of that time, he killed Trunks to steal his time
machine to return to the past where the Androids were still alive. Cell also reveals about how Dr.
Gero abandoned the project on him but left the computer on to develop him on its own. To reach
perfect form, he needed the beings of two figures crucial to the powerup- Androids 17 and 18. As
newly hatched, he needed energy. That is why he has been absorbing people. Piccolo laughs and tells that he won't let Cell reach perfect form. Then, he tears off his useless limb and regenerates his arm. The two fight again, but Cell leaves the town to enter other parts of the city... Goku recovers and the Z Warriors go into training to get stronger. Cell flies for Androids 17 and 18, and devours the souls of the unlucky civilians he passes. Finally, he meets with the other androids. Androids 17 and 18 know nothing about Cell and decide to bully him. Cell and Android
17 battle, and Android 17 is easily beaten. Android 18 is shocked at Cell's powers and is too petrified to do anything, but Android 16 flies out to fight Cell. Android 16 fights Cell to a stand up, but is eventually ripped apart by Cell. Cell now continues for his goal and absorbs Android 17. Cell changes into Cell form 2. Then, Cell devours Android 18 and changes to form 3, perfect form. After Cell is gone, Bulma collects the body parts of Android 16 and rebuilds him to be programmed to fight on the side of the Z Warriors. The Z Warrior have finished their training and head out to battle Cell again. Cell grows strong enough to reproduce. From his body come 7 miniature blue duplicates of Cell, the Cell Juniors. The two sides collide. Android 16 fights Cell and gets destroyed again. With the death of Android 16, a deep rage is triggered inside of Gohan. Gohan powers up as Cell steps on Android 16's head and shatters it, and reaches Super Saiyan level 2. Gohan then single-handedly destroys all the Cell Juniors and fights Cell. Cell gets kicked and Android 18 is spit back out. Cell degrades back into form 2. To avoid defeat,
he activates his self destruction mode so that the planet will go with him. To save the Earth, Goku
teleports Cell into Kai's planet. Cell explodes and Kai's tiny planet gets ruined. Goku, Kai, Bubbles, and Gregory die at the cost of saving billions on Earth. The Z Warriors mourn the loss of Gokou and cheer at their victory that the Earth has been saved.
An unexpected fireball pierces through Trunks. Perfect form Cell appears smiling. Cell is back, and Goku is gone to help... Cell tells that when he exploded, a single brain cell survived. The cell underwent mitosis and eventually regenerated his whole body. Cell boasts that he was able to rebuild himself in perfect
form. Vegeta becomes outraged and shoots hundreds of fireballs at Cell. The smoke clears and reveals that Cell was unscathed from the attack. Cell flies over and knocks Vegeta out. Then, he aims a fireball at Vegeta's helpless body and shoots. Gohan intervenes the blast to save Vegeta's life. Gohan gets back up, with half his body bloody. With Goku dead and Trunks and Vegeta out, it is left for Gohan, who has been severly injured, to save the planet. Cell and Gohan blast a fireball at each other and a fireball stalemate is reached. Cell's fireball overwhelms Gohan's, and Gohan simply tries to hold out. Through Kai, Goku yells to encourage Gohan. The remaining Z Warriors (Yamcha, Tenshin-han, Krillin, and Piccolo) shoot fireballs at Cell to distract him from Gohan. Vegeta, consicious again, flies above Cell and tells himself that it is impossible for low class Saiyans (Goku and Gohan) to be stronger than him, an elite warrior and also Prince of all Saiyans. He charges up a fireball and blasts it at Cell. Goku continues to
encourage his son. Cell eventually loses to Gohan and is disintegrated by Gohan's fireball. The Z Warriors cheer over this victory and fly to Sky Palace. Vegeta staggers away in disbelief that he is still not the strongest even with Goku gone. Sataan and the news reporters revive back to consciousness. Sataan, seeing the area empty, takes advantage and takes credit for killing Cell. As the cities parade for Sataan, the Z Warriors are in Sky Palace. Dende heals Gohan and Trunks. Android 18 awakens. The Z Warriors threaten to kill her, but Krillin defends her and tells them
not to. Android 18 flees and the warriors yell at Krillin for his decision. Then, they tease that he
has fallen in love with her. The dragonballs have been gathered. A wish is made to remove the bombs in the Androids. Then, another is made to revive all those killed by Cell. However, Goku is still dead. Through Kai, Goku tells them that it is okay. The Z Warriors all reflect at Goku's life. Sataan emerges a hero. Gohan breaks the news about Goku to his mother.
Seven years pass, and Gohan is 16...