The Hunted

Chapter I: Prologue

If you can hear this voice, you are now self-aware.

My name is Dr Gero, and I am your creator.

As you undoubtedly know, your primary purpose is to destroy the one known as Goku, and extract my revenge.

However, to do this, there is a complex series of steps you must undertake before you are ready to make an attempt at his life.

I initially intended for you to steadily develop over a period of twenty years, until it was time for you to leave the safety of your stasis tank and begin your life.

Your original mission was to extract the life force of a sufficient number of humans, and gain the power necessary to overwhelm and absorb Cyborgs #17 and 18, who were to be unaware of their purpose in your completion until their time to join you had come, due to their insufferably independent nature.

However, upon re-analyzing all of the possible variables of such a process, I have concluded that there is far too large a margin of error.

If the Cyborgs were to catch wind of your mission before you became strong enough to face them, it goes without saying that you would be compromised.

On a similar note, if Goku or his friends were to gain knowledge of your existence in the early stages of your life force-extraction phase, they would surely put a stop to you.

To combat this, I have employed a faster, more efficient way for you to become perfect and carry out your purpose in the shortest time possible.

Rather than simply relying on the small power gains taken from regular humans to add up and give you the strength required to absorb the Cyborgs, I have instead decided that you will systematically hunt down and extract the energy of the world's most powerful fighters, with the obvious exception of Goku himself.

Starting with the weakest of them, each extraction will give you the strength you need to overpower the next in line and work your way up, as well as automatically updating your design with the techniques and abilities of your victims, until only Goku is left; at which point you are to continue with the original plan of incorporating the Cyborgs into your body and achieving perfection.

Because of the far more rapid power increases that you will experience as a result of the new approach, your embryonic-development time has been cut short by 15 years, due to your initial design not needing to be anywhere near as powerful or have any inbuilt techniques.

Scientifically speaking, you are flawless, and I have complete faith in your abilities. You are now ready to enter the world and begin your mission.

Your name is Cell, and you are my ultimate creation.

October 26th, 770 Age

Cell could feel the water drain from the tank as the glass shattered around him. He slumped down to the cold, metal floor, and began dragging his limbless body, like an overgrown slug, to where he instinctively knew the exit was. Reaching a small opening in the wall, he slid inside and onto a smooth conveyor belt. A whirring sound initiated and he could feel the mechanism was slowly taking him upwards. A few short minutes passed, and the conveyor belt began to gradually slow down, before coming to a complete stop. He was in a dark tunnel, just barely big enough to house his somewhat rotund frame.

Realizing that the rest was up to him, he slowly started shifting in the direction he was facing, until a loud clunking sound told him that something was opening in front of him. Sure enough, the "wall" at the end of the tunnel began to quickly split apart and he was able to drag himself through. He realized that the somewhat crude, metal entrance to the passage he had just exited was cleverly concealed on the side of a jagged rock face. Now out in the open, he began to contemplate what to do next. Seeing and feeling sunlight for the first time seemed to have no effect on Cell, as he still felt cold and dark on the inside.

What he didn't yet know, however, was that his exposure to the sun was an important part of his evolution. He could feel the brown surface of his skin drying out and making crackling noises. At that moment, a strange sensation came over Cell, as if he felt trapped inside his own body. He began to struggle, trying to force his way out of his skin, which now felt more like a shell. Eventually, it began to split down his back, and he used the opportunity to push himself up and out of his suffocating prison.

Standing up, the feeling of claustrophobia was now completely gone. Cell began to admire his own body. He had arms and hands, legs and feet, things he had initially thought he would be doomed to complete his mission without. Stepping out of the now useless husk that had once held his being, Cell began analyzing the data files stored within his advanced artificial mind. After a few minutes, it became clear where he was to begin his mission. It was a slow start, but every step was essential. His mind was racing with ideas, but eventually he decided on the simplest approach.

He began to run in the direction of his first victim's most likely location. He could have flown, but decided against it for the off chance that someone with ki-sensing abilities just happened to be near his path. As the wind whipped against his face, Cell felt excited… no, exuberant about what he was eventually going to achieve. He would be become the perfect being, and nothing and no one was going to stand in his way.

Author's Note:

The idea for this story came to me when I was re-watching the anime; specifically the Cell Arc. Not only do I have plenty of exciting ideas for it, but I am also looking forward to torturing you with an endless string of cliffhangers. Just kidding, but seriously, I thought I'd introduce a review game for this chapter and possibly several others after it. All you need to do is guess who you think Cell's next (or in this case first) victim is, somewhere in your review. If you guess correctly, you'll get a mention at the end of the following chapter.