A/N: Welcome I suppose; I'm sorry to block you on your way to reading but I feel this is necessary to point out.
This story all stemmed from a dream, Cell being heavily influenced by TFS and while I will Attempt to keep him in character as much as I can, clearly I can't do too well of a job considering the character is not mine. I would thoroughly appreciate all comments and feed back; The main reason I'm posting this story is to get it out of my head before I go crazy; hopefully you all can enjoy it too.
If it's not your thing, I thoroughly understand, but thank you anyway for dropping by. In this world Cell won. The androids were successful, and even super villains can get themselves Puppies.
The world was crushed. How simple, a notion. Androids had ravaged the world; picked it almost clean as the strongest of warriors were not there to stop them; No grand entrance, no show of awe, or rain of power; simple elegant silence. The world became strewn with wasteland features; urban jungles becoming just that; devoid of most life bar the rats that swarmed within the destruction, perhaps the odd human now and then, yet mostly it was barren. With the human race left to fend for themselves, there was truly no contest. What little resistance there was banded together, yet still ended up fighting more amongst each other than the threat at hand. Though that being said, not even an entire flourishing race of human's could do anything against the might of what befell them.
The most powerful factions, of the newly named 'Factions breach' area were: 'The bane of Dragons' and 'The grip of Faith' One being a lot more militarised, the other clinging to their faith in hopes some form of god – or god like entity would hear their cries for redemption. Though as it stands, no answer came, or perhaps it did? The main enemy of these factions were one and the same. 'The great death', 'The perfect execution' The factions had many names for the power of Cell that tore down their defences again and again, like a cat eagerly playing with a rather pathetic grouping of mice. He had a habit of attacking for at least 3 days, before backing away for a two day respite; allowing the factions time to 'plan' and recover before they moved against him once more.
The Factions breach was a wild, fielded area; grass being the main coverage over the small hills, two imposingly large buildings standing at either end of the valley; long metallic cables swaying in the wind, tapping against the brick work now and then showing the two buildings were once connected, as they now stood, no longer intimate. With sunrise pouring over the grassy plains, the dragons stirred.
"Hurry, hurry least we lose even a shred of daylight." Came rather sternly barked orders; a man in leather armour, gilded with recycled metallic plates called to a small team of about five men, or rather four men, and one woman. Hurriedly at the man's behest they darted their way across a rather warn torn looking battle field, over the hills into a more charred and debilitated area; scorched grass burning around the edges of deep-set holes. One by one, the group scattered within the landscape before the woman paused; raising her hand in the air; calling the group to gather on her point.
"Petra! Are you certain?" Came the question of the armoured man, who somewhat towered above her, being a good 6 foot tall compared to her 5'6''.
"Very." Gesturing towards the more innards of the hole, the group focused as a small metallic glint caught their eyes, a door barely hanging onto its hinges as it swung lightly. Gripping the arm of her more eager comrade, Petra shook her head. "Jezameina. You know I have no doubt in your abilities… but we have no idea if there's something still lurking within there." The plated male chuckled, bringing his hand around her waist, firmly pressing the small of her back.
"Please? We are the dragons, you and I; we make something far more than even the factions themselves! We'll be fine." And with that he jumped, his hand forcing her to jump with him, the pair leading the group deep within the hole, towards the door stained somewhat red, a white RR heavily scratched within the design.
Tentatively the group pushed onwards into the unknown, Jezameina poking anything within range and mild suspicious with his sword, the rest of the group somewhat splitting up within the compound, looking over mostly charred apparatus and parchment.
"What are we even expecting to find down here?" Asked one of the men, the group stirring a little.
"Anything that can help us; Anything at all. Even if there's something small down here, it could give us the edge we need." Jezameina answered them.
"Careful their Jezameina, you sound like one of the faithful~" Petra quipped, earning herself a rather throaty laugh.
"That coming from the 'uniter of the factions', how rude of you" Jezameina returned, kicking over a rather solid lump of metal, a small look of confusion within his features.
"It was a good idea; Strength in numbers, the more we are united the more chance we have; besides, it's the longest shot and probably the least likely avenue we could take." Chuckling softly, Petra wandered into one of the off-shooting rooms, squinting as she looked over broken glass chambers, small fragments of charred paper and metal underfoot. "What were they even doing in this place…?"
"Oh, you know" The group turned on their heels, Jezameina almost falling back over the metallic lump he'd kicked; the voice boomed with power as it echoed throughout the rooms, the men turning to lay their eyes upon their ever taunting nightmare. "Stuff that would usually make human's skin crawl, figuratively and literally speaking." Pale hands rose within the darkness, the compound flooding with illumination as blasts of ki launched into the confined space; rubble, shrapnel, and all kinds of debris flying over, towards and into the humans what so dared explore this place.
"Jezameina!" Petra shouted through the smoke, her tone laced with concern as the whirr and blasts of ki still rained around them.
"Focus on yourself Succamine! Get out!" Responded Jezameina's frantic cries. Panic laced with calm shot through her body the group hot with adrenaline as they tried their best to dodge the onslaught, or at least get out somewhat uninjured. Petra flew within the darkness, blown off her feet as she slammed into one of the only intact glass containers, the fragile material shattering under her weight as her head then collided with the metallic frame below, crushing what was left of her consciousness.
The burning sun of midday filtered through what was left of the now almost utterly destroyed shelter, Petra forcing her body upwards as she tried to shake off the haze of unconsciousness. Slowly she froze, her eyes catching a glimpse of her, or should I say his reflection, causing him to almost fall back within the pile of glass.
Petra stepped closer to the glass, running his hands over his features. Where there was once breasts now ran smooth pectorals, his jaw was no longer the feminine cut, taking on a much squarer, sharper edge. His green eye's burned towards his own reflection, taking in the change with a mixture of concern and bitterness. There was no doubt about it, her body was no longer female. His features flooded with confusion as small burning pains began to make themselves known, bruises welting his skin, cuts and grazes stinging with the threat of infection, recalling him to the events of earlier.
"Fuck, fuck." He scrambled his hands around his person, checking the main wounds, one of which being a rather deep and threateningly straight slice down the middle of his chest. Squinting and using the glass as a mirror, he inspected the wound, unable to see the fragments of metal that hid within it due to the darkness. Petra ran a hand through his long, curled black locks, hissing gently as he grabbed the edges of his skin forcing them together; Glancing around the room, he soon made his way over to a corpse of his former friend, delicately snatching the first aid kit from his person. "I always called you a fool for bringing this… Ha… I'm sorry, friend."
Taking a seat, he held his skin tight as he struggled to stitch the rather sensitive area up. "It'll do. It'll fucking do." He hissed through his teeth, frustration mixed with shame flooding through his senses as he tried to understand his situation, to no avail. With a sigh, he moved back the way he came, sparring a moment for the two corpses of the men he had lead down here earlier in the day. Pushing on wards, Petra gripped at the side of the hole, pulling himself up onto the main field.
"Movement! We have movement!" Came a stern cry, Petra gritting his teeth as he raised his hands into the air.
"Human, I'm human!" He called back to them, finding himself slowly surrounded by men he didn't intimately recognise.
"Not from our faction; Could be from the dragons" One of them speculated.
"This soon after a raid? What if it's a trick? It could be one of his tricks." The men seemed riled, agreement on their features as the closed their circle more around Petra.
"State your name! Who are you?" Lifting their weapons, they questioned him, keeping a close watch on his moments.
"My name is Petra Succamine…" He answered them bluntly.
"Petra? More like Peter." They chuckled slightly. "Succamine of the dragons, I always thought she was a woman."
"These are very strange and compelling times…" Petra muttered somewhat, earning a nice jab against his lower back with a pointed object.
"Take him in. We can use the chair, see if he's hiding anything, the second attack comes soon." With hurried nods, they quickly left the fields, their hostage in tow. Petra didn't resist them, he was a bit too injured to really try as they lead him into the grip of faith's building. Petra took in what details he could of the building, noting every possible exit and entrance as they lead him up into one of the higher rooms, strapping him down into a crudely made chair, a battery connected to fraying wires at its side.
"What's your name?" The ringleader asked as he took a seat opposite Petra, hovering his hand over the battery.
"Petra Succamine." With a grating hiss, Petra gripped onto the arms of the chair, the volts from the battery surging through his form as the ringleader tested the apparatus. "Fine, fine. Fucking, Peter. Peter Succamine." With a chuckle, his aggressor accepted the answer.
"Where did you come from?" He asked simply, some of the group filtering away, leaving the ringleader to question their hostage.
"I'm a dragon…" Petra growled roughly as his muscles tensed, the chair fizzling a little beneath him as a dull ache formed within his chest, a trickling of blood leaking from his stitches. "I'm a god damned dragon!"
"No need to be so feisty, Peter. We need to be thorough, can't have Cell breaking in here now can we?" He danced his hand over the battery, Petra giving a hearty laugh.
"If I were anything to do with Cell, I think strapping him down to a chair and electrocuting him would just be likely to piss him off!" Petra barked towards him, grinning as the man seemed to contemplate his words.
"True, very true. Well, then Peter." His hand gripped the battery, turning the shocks all the way up to max as Petra writhed within the chair, an almost girlish scream forming in his throat before he bit it down, pride twisting the shout into a growl, his body jolting for the man as the electricity stole away the last of his energy. Slumping within the chair, Petra began a deep pant glaring at the man who seemed to take an interest in her suffering, his grin subtly hidden within his well-schooled features.
"Welcome to the faith~! I expect good things from Succamine of the dragons." Lifting the latches on the chair, the man left; leaving Petra to his thoughts. It took a minute or so until Petra moved, sliding off the chair, slumping onto the worn mattress in the otherwise barren room, the only other bits of furniture being a rather lacklustre chair and a matching table. With a heavy sigh of effort, Petra rolled onto his back, his hand clutching at the wound on his chest as it ached and throbbed, thankful that it was no longer bleeding.
The familiar scream of alarms soon roused him from his self-pity induced nap, the man scrambling to his feet, though he was unaware of the attack protocol in this building, he did his best to emulate those around him. Leaving the 'torture' room that he was quite happy to call his bedroom at this point; Petra ran for the stairs, pushing his head out the window to view the situation.
Cell wasn't beating around the bush like he usually would; there was no toying, letting the humans get a hit instead the monster seemed to be rushing the complex, intent on beating anything that came near him into the ground. Petra looked for anything he could use, rocks he could throw, something he could throw together to aid the battle. Casting his glance up, a grin began to cross his face, the glinting of a metallic arrow just barely catching his attention as the point jutted from the edge of the roof.
"YOU CALL THAT PERFECT?" Petra called out over the commotion, Cell pausing as he hoisted one of the men into the air, tightening his grip as he listened. "LOOKS MORE LIKE A FUCKING MESS TO ME!" Petra shifted from the window, rushing up the stairs as the window frame soon blew apart, the torso of a man barely clinging to the brickwork as he made it to another floor higher. Pushing himself out the window there, he looked down only to see he'd been noticed.
"Look at that, I missed." Cell shook his head, almost seeming to scold himself.
"GUESS YOU'RE JUST AS IMPERFECT AS US WHEN IT COMES TO SOME THINGS." Petra could almost taste the brickwork of the window as he ran for the stairs once more, the ki blast tearing a rather nice chunk out of the building. Forcing his weight through the door on the roof, Petra ran forwards, gripping the armed ballista, pulling it back to obscure it from sight. With a small calming breath, he ran for the edge, leaning over slightly.
"Dear me, you're a nimble one." Came Cell's somewhat amused tone, the man watching from the ground as Petra seemed to evade his actions.
"COULD ALWAYS COME UP HERE AND FACE ME LIKE A MAN!" His heart pounded in his chest as he heard the monster laugh. With a shake of his head, Cell ignited his ki, slowly rising from the ground as he scaled the building, his arms crossed over his chest.
"You know; You really should be careful what you wish for~" His mocking tone clung to his every word as Petra backed up slowly from the edge of the roof, hesitating for only a moment before rushing behind the ballista, tension hanging on every drawn second as he waited; the dark green tints of Cell's form making itself known as he glared down towards his taunter, his wrists, waist and ankles bearing strange, square chunks of what looked to be black, metallic armour.
"… Clever girl…" His eyes widened as Petra pulled harshly upon the trigger; Cell far too close to really defend against the bolt as it ripped through his right side, taking out his shoulder, ripping away a chunk of his face. With a growl of annoyance, his remaining eye narrowed towards the man before him, enjoying the fear that seemed to take over the mortals form, his shivers and twitches betraying the condescending smirk on his face, he was sure to commit such a face to his memory.
A slight grin tugged at his lips, a small tinge of respect flooding him for a moment, for the ant that ripped his face off. Sparing one last glance, Cell decided to retreat, for now, allowing the ant its victory. Petra slumped against the ballista only able to relish in the silence for a few minutes before he was soon surrounded by people once more.
"You hurt him! Tore right through him!" There was a roar of celebration from the people as Petra was filtered downstairs, no amount of protest able to stop them. The entire faction came together to celebrate the small victory, it wasn't much considering they were all very aware that Cell could regenerate, however, the moral was high, Petra being congratulated at every turn.
"Listen to me, everyone!" Petra moved to the middle of the room, climbing onto some un-cleared to address the masses. "Today's victory was small… But it was by all of us!" The group roared, cheering at his words. "Even though I am just a lone dragon; I burst through his head!" The crowd seemed to quieten a bit at that one, looking between themselves for confirmation.
"See what happens… When we work together? I am but one dragon. One dragon amongst the faith and look at our victory! We need to unite the factions, make a wall he can't hope to pass." The crowd erupted with chatter, many of them shouting their agreement.
"But how can we do that?! It's hard enough to get outside let alone come together!" Came the first cry, many other similar questions being thrown towards him.
"We walk…" Silence echoed through the crowd, many looking up to him as if he'd lost his mind, some shouting that fact towards him. "Listen; Cell expects us to panic. He expects us to use this victory and hole ourselves up, to let this get to our heads and fill us with false hope. We need to do the unexpected, we need to be different, break the human mould. We walk to the building of the dragons. We walk… Because it will confuse him."
"You're mad!" echoed from the crowd, many joining the shout, others shouting them down.
"Don't you see? It makes sense! He wants us to be like this, to use our victory to make us soft… I say we take the walk. Take the walk, and have Peter stand beside us. Even if Cell does come; Peter-" Petra hissed softly speaking over him.
"I… Will be a good enough distraction for his attention, it'll give you time to run as he focuses on me." This calmed the crowd somewhat. Some looking more solemn than others as Petra just agreed to rest his head on the chopping block. "We go at midnight; he's not likely to attack until about noon tomorrow. Get everything you need, but I beg of you do not burden yourselves." The cheery atmosphere has dissolved away into something rather solemn, the room soon becoming empty as Petra let out a long, heavy breath.
Thank you for reading. Please review and/or comment. I appreciate you taking the time and I will answer any and all questions 3