Man I've wanted to write something about Zamasu for such a long time now and I definitely didn't expect a what-if scenario to be my first time, but here it is! Just...a small clarification first, this is an AU, where Cell won the beam struggle against Gohan and proceeded to kill all the remaining Z-fighters on Earth. In case it confused you why Cell is even alive to begin with. But with that, I hope you enjoy my little one-shot and as always reviews are greatly appreciated!
The tea was as pure and delicious as ever. Even after stirring it a third time, the brown substance stayed the same and didn't darken at all. That was good. Gowasu should definitely be pleased now. And so the green Kaioshin in training put the tea on the cart to start pushing it through the realm of the tenth universe. Truthfully a god of creation's realm usually wasn't a very exciting place to be around, having only green landscapes and trees on the entire globe.
Walking along the sole path, surrounded by simple trees and landscapes, Zamasu soon reached the main hall, where Gowasu was sitting next to a table, carefully reading one of his many scrolls. The apprentice immediately recognized some of the many scrolls and presumed his master was rereading some of them for whatever reason.
"Gowasu-sama. I've brought you tea."
Zamasu calmly announced himself and proceeded to put the tea on the table. His master put the scrolls away for a moment and waved the air over the tea, so he could get a scent before taking a sip. Gowasu's eyes were closed and his face relaxed, as he the tea went down his throat, taking a few moments to truly feel out the flavour.
"Good, very good, Zamas. Your heart is pure and free of any doubt, it is perfectly reflected in this tea!"
The yellow Kaioshin happily complimented his pupil and took another sip of the tea. This made Zamasu smile and bow thankfully, before also taking a seat to the table. Even though his tea has always been formidable in Gowasu's eyes for the last few years, he still could never shake off the doubts that one day this might change. But. Those were of course just meaningless doubts. His mind and heart are as pure as they could be without anything deluding from it. Or that's at least what he keeps telling himself
The following conversation between the gods went as ever. Gowasu was teaching his student more of the duties of a Kaioshin and such. Nothing at that day had any implication that something eventful was going to happen today, really. Though what happened next was exactly what Zamasu feared was going to happen. His master asked a question. The same question he asked almost every week. And for some reason the Kaioshin was never satisfied with his student's answer, which angered Zamasu greatly every time. Set question being:
"Zamas. Why do you want to become a Kaioshin?"
Just as he thought. What was he supposed to say now? More like what didn't he already say already? Wanting to climb a higher rank was wrong. Wanting to improve himself was wrong. Wanting to lead the next generation was wrong. Well what was right?
"I...want to become a Kaioshin, so I can help maintain the balance in the universe. So that all evil can perish and we all live in a beautiful world."
And then silence. Gowasu was looking Zamasu in his dull, grey eyes for a while, before mindfully nodding. He was surely taking his time with a response, it almost got kind of awkward after a while, really.
But of course just when Zamasu was about to say something, he suddenly felt an unfamiliar ki pop out of nowhere. Gowasu must have noticed it too, as both student and teacher stood up at the same time with an expression of clear shock and surprise.
"Gowasu-sama, what is this ki?"
"I...I'm not sure. But there are two different energies I'm sensing. One of them belongs to a Kaioshin, though I'm not sure about the other...let's go have a look!"
Whatever the other ki was, Zamasu was sure it wasn't divine energy. Though who other than a god would be ever allowed to enter such a holy place? Whoever they were, it made him already really ticked off.
Both agreed that it needed to be investigated, so without another word the two gods flew off to where they felt that strange ki. And only a few minutes later, the two reached their destination and Zamasu took a first look at the Kaioshin and the ungodly presence, who dared to enter this sacred realm.
Green. That was the first thing he made out. A tall green creature with black markings all over the body. The real shocker though was what this being was holding. A small purple skinned god in a blue robe. Undoubtedly the Kaioshin of Universe 7.
"Shin-sama!"
Gowasu yelled out in shock and worry, seeing the Kaioshin beat up and at the complete mercy of this weird creature. Set creature turned around to the sound of another voice and without another word threw Shin in front of him to the ground like a piece of trash.
Zamasu's master rushed to help the wounded Kaioshin, while he himself just kept glaring at Cell with calm, but furious eyes. Not that because he hurt Shin-sama. But because he managed to do and dare that in the first place, even going as far as entering this holy realm.
"Who in the hell are you?"
The green Kaio asked with such a passive aggressive tone, it was almost kind of scary. The non-godly being smirked in a cocky manner, before giving a response in a surprisingly smooth and matured voice.
"My name is Perfect Cell! I hail from what you may see as Universe 7. I was created by the brilliant Dr. Gero as the perfect fighter and now want to propose a challenge to this Universe's God of Destruction!"
Both Gowasu and Zamasu were firmly shocked by that revelation. Wanting to challenge a god of destruction? That's nothing short of suicide! Even such idiotic humans such as this Cell creature should know this!
"I-I'm sorry..."
Suddenly came the unexpected voice of the Kaioshin from Universe 7, as he finally managed to get up with Gowasu's help of course.
"This Cell...he completely overpowered me. He wanted to challenge our God of Destruction, but...Beerus is still asleep and trying to wake him up at a time like this goes with the risk of him accidentally destroying me. I truly apologize for inconveniencing you, Gowasu-sama, but please try to understand that I had no other choice."
After all that, Shin even went as far as bowing very respectfully towards Gowasu. It was very obvious that his words were sincere. It was no surprise he would choose this universe to flee from all the options. After all, Gowasu and him have had some of the better relationships between all the gods and Kaioshin.
Yet the yellow Kaioshin first took a few moments to process what just actually happened, who this weird bug creature is and what Shin had told him, but Zamasu on the other hand didn't take long to respond. He already had a look of utter and complete hatred. This Cell guy was a human. Or at least a creation made by them. How dare such a low level species have the audacity to enter a realm of Kaioshin and randomly start challenging gods?!
"You will have no such gesture, filthy peasant."
Zamasu fearlessly walked up to this Cell creature and gave him such a hatred filled glare that basically screamed nothing, but: 'Get the fuck out of here.'
"Your very existence on the ground you are standing on is an unforgivable crime. Now unless you want to be perished right here, bow your head and respect your gods, ungrateful simpleton."
However Cell did no such thing. He just smirked arrogantly and clenched his fists, while his black wanna-be wings on his back stretched out like he was getting ready for a fight. Every bit of movement coming from this hideous creature was making Zamasu's hatred grow more and more.
"I know from a sage called Zuno all about you gods. And I have no interest in fighting a Kaioshin, they're all terribly weak. All I'm interested in is fighting a Destroyer God. Though since Beerus is asleep, I'll just start making my name something to remember here."
Suddenly a golden ki surrounded Cell and his energy started increasing to a ridiculous amount. Zamasu, however, was still dealing with the unbelievable hatred towards Cell for saying such despicable things.
"Zamas, maybe we should just get Rumoosh to care of this. There's something very strange about this fighter's energy."
Gowasu advised his student, but he didn't budge. Even though Zamasu knew what his master meant with the strange energy, being that the ki felt like a mix or a combination of many different energies instead of just one and even though he knew that Rumoosh could destroy Cell without any effort, he didn't want to back off. And before Shin was able to say something against it, Zamasu already declared his decision.
"I am a god as well. And I will not allow such despicable actions from mere humans like you."
The bio android didn't look like he wanted to argue anymore and instead began the fight by making his purple eyes glow violently to shoot out little lasers towards Zamasu. However the student had no problems ducking out of the way, before disappearing and then reappearing next to Cell who was about to receive a clean chop to the neck.
Dr. Gero's creation faceplanted the ground, but didn't take long to get up again and charge the green Kaio for a barrage of punches. All of them, Zamasu successfully blocked a parried, before he simply gripped Cell's fist and pulled him towards himself so there was enough momentum to deal a devastating knee to his chest, followed by another chop to the back of his head, making Cell kiss the ground once more.
Zamasu knew full well this Cell had not a chance in the world to defeat him. But he didn't finish him off yet. He wanted to see the fear and regret in the human's eyes for daring to challenge a god like that, before he would be satisfied.
And indeed once Cell stood up and faced Zamasu, there was clearly a look of shock and anger in his expression. Although it was quickly replaced by the same cocky smirk as before. What now?!
"I admit, for a Kaioshin you're much more formidable than what I expected. Maybe this will actually result in more than just a warm-up. However don't get the wrong idea. God or not, you're still no match for PERFECTION!"
With the last word being yelled out, Cell powered up once more, flaring up his golden ki several times over. Small bolts of electricity now surrounded the bio Android at his full power. It still wasn't divine energy or anything like that, but still certainly not something to scoff at.
Shin, but much more so Gowasu were firmly shocked by this new revelation, as Zamasu's master was already about to contact Rumoosh, when the green Kaio put up a hand as a sign to stop.
"Power up as much as you like, but the fact remains that a mere low-level species like you could never even dream to reach the power of a god."
The green Kaioshin in training confidently exclaimed and shifted himself into his fighting position. Legs slightly crouched, feet pointing towards the direction of his opponent and both hands as stretched out palms in front of one another. Both knew it was time to get serious.
In what could only be described as a flash of light for a normal human eye, both fighters disappeared and clashed in a fury of incredibly fast punches and kicks. None of the two were ready to back down, as only blurs from Zamasu's purple robe and Cell's green limbs were recognizable in the fierce exchange. However one things was for sure. While Zamasu had the far superior technique and smooth movements, the bio Android had the Kaio far outclassed in raw speed.
The god soon found himself in complete defensive mode, only being able to block and parry, while slowly being forced to take a step back every once in a while. Eventually Cell managed to get the upper hand for a moment exchange and nailed a right hand to Zamasu's face, who however countered with a swipe of right leg. Though Cell still managed to dodge the attack by flying into the air and firing several ki blasts towards the green Kaio.
Zamasu tensed up and deflected all the blasts with his right hand, while simultaneously pointing at Cell with his other palm, before releasing a small shockwave, which successfully caught the bio Android off guard.
Not wasting any time, Zamasu charged towards Cell to once again give him a fury of kicks right against his chest, before swiftly putting a palm on the spot and blasting him backwards with another, much stronger shockwave.
But Cell didn't take long to find his composure and stopped himself mid-air. Damnit! This wasn't supposed to be such a close of a match. Zamasu really hated to admit it, but this human was an extremely formidable opponent. And then there was it. That despicable smug on Cell's hideous face.
"Don't make such a face, fighting a god. It's utterly insulting."
Zamasu advised him darkly with his cold grey eyes. In response, Dr. Gero's creation just shrugged and responded.
"Well someone's a drag. It's been a while, since I've had such an entertaining battle such as this, so what's so wrong about enjoying it?"
After that Cell held up a hand in the sky and charged up an attack of his. Soon enough a red energy escaped his palms and created a circling disc of some sort. And so pulling back his arm, the bio Android threw his red disk at the Kaio, who got ready to block it.
"No, you have to dodge it!"
Shin suddenly called out to Zamasu, who quickly observed the upcoming attack to actually realize that it was indeed a slicing technique. But dodging was out of the question with how close it was, so Zamasu immediately formed a blade out of his purple ki and chopped the disc clean in half. That was a bit too close to comfort.
"Hm. Not bad."
Cell complimented and stretched out his right arm in the air again for another one of those red slicing discs.
"But let's see how we- ARGH!"
His announcement was cut short, as Zamasu already dashed towards him and swiftly used his ki blade to cut off Cell's arm, before the attack could be made. The cut off arm harmlessly fell to the ground, leaving the Android in a state of pain, as he gave annoyed and furious glares at the god who dared to do such a thing to Perfection itself.
Though once again his expression changed to the usual smug and before Zamasu knew it, the arm literally just grew back, covered all in a yellow substance.
"How did you-"
"Regeneration. Quite the useful ability, even if it does come with the cost of some loss of energy. Anyway, let's resume where we left off."
To that Zamasu really couldn't say anything. This only gave him another reason to despise this Cell and all humans by default. To posses such an ability, where you can just regrow lost limbs...were there other humans who could do that? Either way the Kaio stopped the energy in his ki blade and made a small distance between the two.
Then there was another quick pause of attacks. The two fighters stared eachother down in anticipation of eachother's next move, when...Cell put his index and middle finger on his forehead and just disappeared into thin air!
"What is-"
Before Zamasu even know what was happening, a heavy blow was felt on his back and now it was his turn to be smacked against the ground.
He tried to pull himself together as fast as possible and turned around to see what even happened, only to find Cell still in the air right behind where Zamasu used to be.
'He instantly teleported to where I was, but...I thought only Kaioshin could do that! What else can this repulsive creation do, anyway!?'
To add on the pile of strange techniques, Cell's energy flared up again and the bio Android put both hands in form of a bowl behind his back, like he was preparing something again.
"Ka-Me-Ha-Mee..."
Realizing what the creature was doing, Zamasu immediately fired a darkish purple ki blast towards Cell, who however once again disappeared into nothingness before it could hit and suddenly reappeared right in front of him.
"HAA!"
Just in time, Zamasu managed to put up his arms, but the blue attack still exploded in front of him, creating a huge blur of smoke and blue energy.
"Zamas!"
Gowasu worriedly yelled out the name of his student, as he and Shin closely looked into the smoke in hopes to find Zamasu unharmed. And indeed after the smoke cleared, the figure of the Kaio was made out, though it got obvious very fast that the last attack did a number on him.
His sleeves and parts of his godly robe were completely ripped, not to mention the fact that he was bleeding his purple blood on several places on his body, specifically his arms. But what changed the most was his expression.
His eyes. His grey eyes have never looked so utterly hateful and full of despise as now. Every single vine in Zamasu's divine body was boiling of complete rage. Anger that a low-level such as this green bug could actually hurt him -a GOD- in battle.
"You...you...you despicable, ugly, bug. Challenging, touching and even hurting a god...all of these are unforgivable sins. Every part of your body, every move you do and every word you spill out of your pretentious mouth...is a sin towards the gods!"
Zamasu literally screamed out, while his suddenly much darker ki got incredibly huge to where even Cell himself was pushed back a little. Though as if it ended here, Dr. Gero's creation suddenly found himself being stabbed by a purple ki blade through the chest, making him spill a yellow substance once more.
"M-My Perfect body!"
Now really angered, Cell tried to punch Zamasu, though the Kaio was much faster and quickly blocked his fist, before slicing it right away for a second time now. But the angry god was far from finished. Swinging his blade of purple energy in a surprisingly elegant fashion, Zamasu shot out several little ki blasts, which all bored into the Android's body in a painful fashion.
"How...how dare you do this to m-"
But before Cell even managed to finish his sentence, Zamasu put a hand on his mouth to finally shut him up.
"Shut your dirty mouth, sinner! You have stained this world's beauty the moment you put your first step on it and it's time for me to fix the god's biggest mistake once and for all. Perish, Cell."
And now putting his second hand on Cell's stomach, Zamasu charged all of his energy into his palms for an enormous ki blast, which the Kaio made sure he could not regenerate from. Not even a fearful scream could have been heard from Cell, as the dark explosion grew bigger until there was nothing left of the Android who called himself the 'Perfect Warrior'.
The rest of that day is not worth going into detail for. Zamasu was quickly healed, Shin apologized once more for dragging them into such a mess and they all agreed to never let a word slip from that encounter to the other gods. But one thing still changed forever.
From that event forward, Zamasu's hatred for humans never ended up calming down with the same sentence being repeated in Zamasu's head almost every single day. And so, as the soon to be Kaioshin poured another tea for his master, which immediately darkened itself, he said it out loud for himself one more time.
"I will never forget you, Cell..."