Trunks tells Son Gokou of his future where terror reigns, and two Androids created by Dr. Gero of the former Red Ribbon Army basically run the world by instilling fear in all. Piccolo, Vegeta, Kuririn, Yamucha, and Tenshinhan have all been killed by the Androids, and three years ago (in Trunks' time line, obviously), even Son Gohan was killed. Gokou asks why he didn't fight them, and Trunks says that Gokou died of a viral hear disease that can't be cured presently, and didn't survive long enough to even see the Androids. He gives Gokou a small vial containing medicine that has been developed for the disease in Trunks' future. Trunks slips in that he's the son of Vegeta and Bulma, then leaves, going back to his time. Gokou tells everyone of the future, but no one believes the story until Trunks' time machine vanishes overhead. They decide to train, and for the next three years, they do just that. Piccolo, Gokou, and Gohan train together, Vegeta trains in 400 Gs using a space capsule like the one Dr. Briefs built for Gokou, and everyone else trains in their own ways. Three years pass and everyone meets up at the island where Trunks said the Androids would appear. Bulma carries a small baby called Trunks... a shock to everyone but Gokou and Piccolo. The Androids have no ki, but Yamucha finds them. Android 20 puts his arm completely through Yamucha's chest, covering his mouth with the other hand. Yamucha tries to fight it, but goes eventually begins to go limp. Number 20 finally removes his hand, and blood pools on the ground. The other Z Senshi sense Yamucha's dying ki and go to it. They and the Androids go off to a more remote area and Gokou takes on number 19. Gokou's heart problems begin to set in though, and he gets weaker and weaker. Android 19 is quickly gaining the upper hand, and starts sucking out Gokou's ki. Before he can finish, Vegeta arrives and shows off a new ability. He turns Super Saiya-jin and easily defeats Android 19 with a Big Bang attack. Trunks arrives and Number 20 escapes before meeting the same fate, reviving Androids 17 and 18. They destroy the shut off controller, revive Android 16, and destroy Dr. Gero (Android 20). In an effort to stop the revival of 16, Trunks fires a tremendous blast that destroys that area of Dr. Gero's lab. He's unsuccessful, and 16 is revived anyway. The trio flies off to destroy Son Gokou. Obviously, the Z Senshi will not sit idly by and watch this happen. They pursue, and the result is a battle between Super Saiya-jin Vegeta and Android 18 on a busy freeway. I won't go into detail, but let's just say Vegeta loses pretty badly. Number 17 steps in midway through the fight to make sure the other Z Senshi don't join in, and Number 17 stands by, watching but not joining. The rest of the Z Senshi eventually join the fight, along with Number 17. The added numbers don't turn the tables in favor of the Earth very much, and all of the warriors are defeated. The Androids run off to find Son Gokou, showing that these Androids are apparently not as evil as the ones in Trunks' future. The Jinzouningen steal a car and start cruising while the Z Senshi regroup and Bulma discovers something disturbing... A time machine, just like Trunks' has been found. It's old and rusted, apparently very old. But... Mirai no Bulma only made one time machine. The Trunks, Bulma, and Kuririn go to check it out. Indeed, it is Trunks' time machine. These suspicions are confirmed when Trunks finds the word "HOPE!!!" scrawled on the side (he had written it there himself before going back to the past). Nearby, a giant shell is found, and it's determined that it can't be too old. Meanwhile, two other things are going on. First of all, cities are being attacked and wiped out... and no one knows who's doing it. It's basically like a neutron bomb. The people are completely wiped out without a trace, but everything else is left intact. While this has been going on, Piccolo has traveled to God's Shrine. His goal is to join together with God and recreate the original Piccolo. After much contemplation, Kamisama agrees, and the original Piccolo returns to Earth. Piccolo arrives in a city in the process of being attacked and finds an alien-like being has been sucking the life out of the people there. His name is Cell, and he's an android, created by Dr. Gero's computer. His goal is to absorb Juunanagou and Juuhachigou and reach his Perfect form. At this point, Piccolo is the strongest Z Senshi, and Cell states that even at his present strength, only Piccolo would be able to contend with him. They finish introductions and Piccolo finds that he's in for a real shocker. Cell's ki begins to take on a familiar feel and he gets into that all too familiar position and begins calling out his attack name. "KA!...ME!...HA!...ME!...HA!" Cell possesses the ki of Son Gokou himself. Actually, Cell contains the cells of Son Gokou, Piccolo, Freezer, Vegeta, and all the other Z Senshi (hence, the name). There's a short scuffle and Piccolo and Cell end up in the air. Cell has a tight grip on Piccolo, and it looks like the Namekseijin just might be a bit in over his head. Cell sticks his tail into Piccolo's arm and begins sucking the life out of it. Piccolo escapes and rips off the dead arm, then regenerates a new one. Cell uses the Taiyo-ken to escape as Trunks and Kuririn arrive. Piccolo, Vegeta, Tenshinhan, Kuririn, and Trunks discuss what to do. Vegeta's all for the "Let him combine, I'll kill him then" plan, whereas everyone else wants to keep them as weak as possible by separating them. Vegeta states that he will surpass Super Saiya-jin, which comes as a surprise to everyone else. He assures them that Gokou will eventually do the same. Vegeta flies off and the remaining warriors disperse. Piccolo and Ten stick around, looking for Cell, but come up unsuccessful. Trunks and Kuririn go back to the remains of Dr. Gero's lab to destroy the unborn Cell, thus at least leaving their future Cell-less. They arrive, and Trunks takes the Androids' blueprints. The two of them proceed to wipe the lab off the face of the Earth, then they leave. While all of this goes on, Gohan trains and Gokou continues his recovery from his heart disease at Kame House (the Androids would have gone to his house, and that would have been bad). Cell continues on his little rampage, stealing lives to make himself stronger. Kuririn finally finds him and actually gets a few good hits in, but doesn't defeat Cell. Before help arrives, Cell has escaped once again. Meanwhile, Son Gokou has awoken and plans to surpass Super Saiya-jin before attempting to fight with the Androids. Gokou, Gohan, Vegeta, and Trunks travel to God's Shrine to make use of the Room of Spirit and Time, a place where one day in the real world equals one year inside the room. The room allows only two people at a time, so Vegeta and Trunks go in, then Gokou and Gohan. Almost a day after Vegeta and Trunks go in, the Androids show up at Kame House. They find that Son Gokou is not present, and obviously, Piccolo refuses to reveal Son's true location. Piccolo challenges the Jinzouningen, and they fly off to a nearby island to battle. They fight, and Piccolo's fusion with Kamisama is definitely helping. He's taking on 17 pretty well...until Cell shows up, anyway. Piccolo is no longer any match for Cell, and gets beaten. He's feared dead by the other warriors, but of course, he's not. Anyway, Cell fights number 17 briefly, but 17 isn't any trouble for him, either. Android 16 finally steps up to fight, and beats up on Cell for a while. Cell finally gets an opportunity to absorb 17, and he takes it. With Android 17 absorbed, Cell is now much more powerful than 16. Before 16 is destroyed, Vegeta and Trunks show up. Vegeta increases his ki and reaches Ultimate Super Saiya-jin Stage 2. While this is happening, Bulma gets a special controller to Kuririn. She created it using the blueprints Trunks had taken from Dr. Gero's lab, and it'll detonate the Androids. The catch... it must be used within 10 meters of the Androids or it won't work. Kuririn flies off to the island and gets close enough to do it, but flashes back to different things with 18 (a kiss on the freeway and such) and destroys the controller. Anyway, back to Vegeta... He beats the crap out of Non-Perfect Cell for a while, but Cell tells him about how much more powerful he'll be if he can absorb 18. As should be well known, Vegeta loves fighting strong opponents, so he allows Cell to become Perfect. Trunks tries to interfere, but Vegeta keeps knocking him away. Finally Trunks blasts Vegeta, and we don't hear from the Saiya-jin prince again for a while. Number 18 tries to get away, and Kuririn tries to defend her. As you should have been able to guess, Cell absorbs Android 18 and becomes Perfect. Super Vegeta (the name he gave himself when he reached USSJS2) can't do much to him, and he's knocked out. Trunks asks Kuririn to take Vegeta back, and Kuririn complies. Kuririn and Vegeta leave and Trunks increases his ki. He reaches Ultimate Super Saiya-jin Stage 3 and begins to fight Cell. This form is much too slow, though, and Trunks is defeated. To end the battle, Cell decides to hold a tournament to decide the fate of the world. It will be called Cell's Game, and its rules are basically the same as those of the Tenkaichi Budokai. Cell leaves and Trunks goes to prepare for the Cell Game with the other Z Senshi.