The gentle night of Hell was fading away to bright dawn. As the inky darkness began to fade, tendrils of yellow light began to snake their way through the sky as they chased the stars away. Hellish fauna began to stir in the underbrush and canopy of the expansive forest. Feathered lizards preened their plumage with sharp beaks, chittering and tweeting all the while.
The serene morning scene was disturbed as a fast-moving blur darted overhead. Hurricane winds followed in its wake. Trees were uprooted, and Hell's animals scampered and shrieked in terrified horror. Some of the feathered lizards attempted to take flight but were scattered by the cyclone.
Cell paid the creatures below no mind as he raced over the heights of the plateau. He checked the river's path underneath his flying form. By his estimate, the direction of the river moved almost perfectly over the path that he had travelled underground. That was certainly a happy coincidence since the opening of the cave mysteriously disappeared.
He remembered flying in circles, getting angrier and angrier with every loop. The ravine that he found was nowhere near any place in Hell that Cell had explored before. Trying to find his way back was near impossible. Cell halted and pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Okay," he growled to himself, "I'll just go back through the caves. That appears to be the only logical choice."
He clenched the crystal in his right hand. Damn this thing! He turned to fly back to the waterfall. The night wind was growing colder as he flew quickly to his destination. He glanced at the diamond.
"I hope you're worth this inconvenience," he snarled at it.
He landed at the pool again. He craned his neck up high while peering closely at the rock face. He was trying to distinguish the mouth of the cave hidden behind the deluge of water. But his initial investigation resulted in a resounding failure. He could not see anything behind the powerful wall of water.
Gritting his teeth, Cell continued his investigation by plowing through the waterfall. Again, he felt the weight of the water slap the air from his lungs momentarily. However, he easily pushed himself through and now stood behind the waterfall.
Cell gracefully flew up the rockface, hugging the rock close to his person. The roaring waterfall plunged at his back, ready to swat him out of the sky if he ventured too close. The teeth of the rock whipped past the android's face and chest with mere millimeters to spare. Cell felt his adrenaline rise from the thrill as the narrow gap between pain and destruction rushed past him at blinding speed. The gap was narrowing now. Cell felt his heartbeat roar in his ears. It thundered along, racing faster with unbridled glee. This is why he was the supreme being!
His face was the first thing to break the waterfall with an earth-shattering strike. He soared over the lip of the plateau and touched down beside the lazy river's edge. He peered over the edge of the cliff face, staring down the length of the waterfall. While the ride had been amusing, he had failed to find the entrance to the cave.
"Perhaps in my excitement, I lost track of it," Cell thought.
He dived. Plunging through the waterfall again, he slipped between the rock and water again. He slowly descended this time, being sure to thoroughly check the rockface so that he could find his objective. He landed again. Perplexed, Cell repeated the dive twice more. On his final landing, Cell could only conclude one thing:
The entrance to the caves was lost.
"DAMMIT!" he screamed, punching the plateau in frustration. The tall mountain shook, cracks appearing down its sheer face from the power of his punch. He landed again, staring up at the entrance-less waterfall.
He then made the decision to try and find his way back by going over the plateau, not under. With careful consideration, Cell mapped out his path and then took flight. He broke through the water with an almighty splash, then turned his attention skyward. He was over the lip of the plateau in seconds, charging headfirst into the light of the oncoming dawn.
That was several hours ago, and now the sun had fully risen above the horizon. Cell hadn't stopped moving since his unwelcome discovery forced him to move on. He soared overhead, never tiring from the flight.
His hand grew warm. Cell slowed to look at the crystal. It sat there, in the palm of his hand, glowing slightly and warming his skin as it sparkled in the dawn's light. Cell frowned. His glimmering guide might be trying to lead him somewhere. He extended his hand in front of him, dangerously letting the precious gem balance precariously on his hand in the whipping wind.
It cooled as he wavered away from the river. Cell corrected his course to follow the flowing water and the crystal warmed accordingly.
"So, I must be on the right track after all," Cell smirked to himself.
The sun was high in the sky when he finally saw the familiar reddish mountain peaks near the Blood Fountain. Cell gleefully picked up the pace as the little stone grew warmer and warmer with every passing inch.
"It seems you and I have the same goal," Cell addressed the stone in his fingertips.
The diamond glittered in the sunlight, almost as if it was agreeing with him.
Cell bounded over the lip of the mountains, the stone burnt his fingers now. But he held on as he continued onward. He raced as fast as he could to the Blood Fountain. The stone was scalding him now. The heat was almost intolerable!
The stone went cold. At the unexpected sensation, Cell stopped in midair. He glowered at the rock and was about to forcefully demand an explanation but was distracted by movement in his periphery.
At the base of the Blood Fountain, Freeza's army was rebelling again. Cell rolled his eyes at the futile display. Freeza was leading the charge, firing beam after red beam at the ogre army pushing his forces back. The Freeza Force was faring little better against the overwhelming numbers. Cell watched as the entire Ginyu Force was thrown clear over the height of the Blood Fountain by a single, massive ogre wearing a "taco-cat" t-shirt. How embarrassing for them, and amusing for him. Cell smirked.
"Those nitwits are wasting their time," he muttered.
He turned his attention back to the crystal. It was still cold as ice.
"Well?" Cell demanded.
Suddenly, his hand holding the stone seized up without Cell's volition. His arm jerked up against his freewill, and he was yanked forcefully forward as if he was glued to the back of a jet engine. Cell tried to resist, digging his feet into the ground as hard as he could, but it only served to yank his arm out of its socket. Cell yelped in pain and the momentary break in his resistance allowed the force to drag him forward. Cell had to run to keep up and prevent further damage to his shoulder.
The warring armies paid Cell no mind as he darted past them towards a cave entrance that Cell had never seen before.
"Was that always here?" he thought.
The pulling force picked up speed, and Cell was now struggling to keep pace. He raced up a long, narrow flight of stone steps carved into the cave floor. It seemed to go on endlessly as he travelled higher and higher.
"I must be higher than the mountains now," Cell thought absently, now feeling utterly out of control of his own body.
Cell burst into bright light, a pink sky, and a long road that looked like it was carved onto the top of a blue snake's back. Making a sharp left, the force dragged his body along the yellow path at breakneck speed.
"I've never seen this part of Hell before," Cell took in the time to sightsee as best he could. Beyond the lip of the road, there was a great expanse of yellow clouds that carpeted the horizon. It almost looked like he was flying over the clouds of Hell. But he could not be certain because the scenery moved by too fast for him to see much detail.
He felt his arm begin to quickly repair itself to perfect condition again as the force turned right down a fork in the path. This part of the road sloped downward, back into the clouds. As he neared them, Cell could feel the air turn to mist, and the air became thick from pressure.
Then, the force vanished. Cell stumbled forward, tripping over himself. He tumbled head over heels several times before he skidded on his rump to a halt at the edge of the cloud bank. Cell stood and brushed himself off, glad that no one had seen his embarrassing fall.
He looked at the rolling clouds at his feet. Then he looked at the crystal in his hand.
"You want me to step into the clouds, don't you?" he asked. He almost slapped himself. He was talking to a rock!
A rock that had just dragged him here as if he was a piece of paper. If Cell hadn't been so consumed by his wounded pride, he would have been in awe of the tiny rock. However, he didn't appreciate being treated like a doll.
"I'm not going in there," he told the rock.
The rock, of course, did nothing.
With a huff, Cell turned to head back to the main part of the road. Only to find that the path had entirely vanished behind him.
"Not again," Cell pinched the bridge of his nose, "Fine!" he snapped, "I'll go in! But only because you're giving me no other option!"
Cell moved forward. As soon as Cell's feet were swallowed by the clouds, the road beneath him disappeared. Cell plunged downward into darkness. A great pressure began to both crush and pull apart his entire body. The experience was horrifying as Cell felt his body simultaneously be crushed to an atomic size and pulled apart to a galactic scale. His senses were useless. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he registered that he was screaming in pain.
Cell hit solid ground hard. Lying face down for a moment, Cell realized that the horror was over. He lifted his head to find himself lying face down in a dead forest. Every tree looked blackened and burned. The sky was a mustard yellow, with wispy, smoky grey clouds. Hundreds of pits filled with black, bubbling liquid pockmarked the scene. The place was eerily silent and devoid of life. Not even a single leaf had a spark of Ki.
Cell scrunched up his face as his nose was assaulted by the smell of decay. He felt his innards churn with revulsion at the pungent smell of death. His eyes began to water as more black bubbles burst in the deep tar-like pits that ravaged the bleak landscape, releasing yellowish clouds of putrid sulfur. Cell pinched his nose and grunted involuntarily in a vain attempt to blot out the wretched air.
"By all that is perfect, this place is revolting," Cell thought, "Even after inferior creatures die, they still leave behind a putrid stain. It's as if you can never escape the defects of imperfect life!"
With a mood as foul as the thick air around him, Cell trudged on. His feet sucked deep into the mud comprised of half rotting debris and half soot mixed together with burning sulfur. Cell sank to his calves in the muck, and he shivered with disgust at the uncomfortable, dirty intrusion of his perfect body. As he waded through the decaying mire, his feet squelched loudly in his ears. The muck splashed his face, chest and arms. With every black drop that touched his body, Cell winced as if stung.
Finally, he reached ground that was a little more stable, and he now only sank a few centimeters into the mud. But now he faced the obstacle of the blackened twisted corpses of the trees and their thick, tangled roots. He picked his way around the remains, still clutching his face with one hand and the stone in the other.
Cell glanced at the stone for the first time since he had touched down on this perfection-forsaken world. Miraculously, the stone was untouched by black mud. It still sparkled as clean as the moment Cell had picked it up. It was as if the stone was mocking him with its cleanliness. Cell had the urge to crush it, but since he now had no way back without it, he reluctantly refrained.
Several hours passed languidly by in near silence as Cell continued to follow the heat of the crystal. He was scaling a particularly tall surface root when the silence was broken with the sound of a snapping twig. The noise was as loud as a gunshot in the silence.
Cell froze. An ominous sense of dread crept over him like an icy cold blanket. A loud rhythmic sniffing could be heard behind him. He looked down.
A creature the size of a large bear was gazing up at him from the foot of the fallen tree. It was long and bony thin, covered in shiny black skin and six long feline legs. Its long, whip like tail made a faint whistling noise as it languidly waved its tail through the air. It raised its canine muzzle, sniffing the air curiously. It looked curiously up at Cell, as if gauging what to do with the hovering android.
"Begone!" Cell snarled, firing a blast at the thing.
The ground exploded at the creature's feet. Cell's eyes widened as the creature didn't flinch. Its skeletal, hairless form continued to stare unblinkingly up at him.
Cell was now feeling truly unsettled. Any normal animal would have turned tail and run. Cell didn't want to waste energy killing it, but this thing clearly hadn't learned. He raised his hand again. The creature responded by unhinging its jaw, exposing row upon row of yellow fangs held between a net of black gums and saliva.
The sound that burst forth from the creature's mouth curdled Cell's blood. It was as if Cell heard the screams of every one of his victims pouring out of this creatures' maw. Cell felt his eyes grow even wider as the noise began to shake the surrounding trees. Black spit flew from its mouth in viscous ribbons, splattering the already filthy rotting woods. Rocks and debris crumbled to dust by the soundwaves. The creature's beady black eyes rolled back in its head, letting the red and white backs bulge unnaturally out.
It closed its jaw and pounced. With the hideous sound still ringing in his ears, Cell drew back a fist and punched the oncoming creature square in the jaw. A repulsive crunching noise emanated from the back of the animal's skull as its head was whipped violently backwards. It fell to the ground with a sickening thud, its cranial vertebrae shattered beyond repair, head lolling abnormally on its back.
Cell landed on the ground, admiring his handiwork for a moment. The force of his punch had knocked the creature's jaw off, so the lower mandible dangled uselessly in a fold of skin. But Cell hadn't damaged it beyond inspection. Now curious and a little eager to learn more about his bizarre surroundings, Cell bent over the corpse and touched the shoulder of his kill. The skin was spongy, cold, and clammy. It was almost like the thing was dead for several months already.
"Hmm," Cell muttered, now preoccupied with playing scientist, "This thing must have been hungry for a while. But it didn't die of starvation, so this area must have been destroyed recently."
Cell continued to run his hands along the creature, noting the thin texture of its skin. It almost appeared like this thing had no internal organs, like someone had draped skin over a skeleton. Cell's fingers dipped low between the gorges of the creature's ribcage. Cell then checked the creature's paws. He pushed the pad of one heavy paw, and four-inch black claws unsheathed themselves.
"Retractable," Cell noted absently before moving to the creature's head.
"Interesting mix of feline and canine," Cell muttered, tugging on one pointed ear and gingerly touching the tip of a fang, "I wonder how you were able to sneak up on me."
Cell stood, his curiosity satiated. It was now time to move on.
Suddenly, the creature twitched.
Cell backed away from the creature with growing horror as it got back to its paws with spasmodic motions. Its head twisted around, its spine snapping and crackling as its head slid back into place. It's bulging eyes never left Cell's frozen form as it swung its head with two jerky movements. The lower jaw snapped back into place with a nauseating crunch.
The creature roared, spitting more saliva at Cell. This time, however, the black droplets burnt holes into the ground like acid.
Before Cell could register what was transpiring before him, the creature leapt. Cell raised the hand holding the crystal to defend himself as he turned to avoid the creature's pounce. But Cell was a fraction of a second too slow. Cell's hand burned with unbearable pain as the animal's fangs sliced his index finger clean off.
Cell stumbled backward, purple blood leaking copiously onto the crystal in his now four-fingered hand. He clutched his wound with his free hand, hissing with pain.
The creature turned to pounce again. This time intent on getting its fangs around his throat.
"Run," a voice in his head commanded, cutting through the pain.
Cell obeyed, turning and fleeing.
He did not have time to register the trees and roots as he instinctively dodged each of them. He tried to fly, but the intense pain from his hand was spreading up his arm, both making his head oddly fuzzy and distracting him enough so that he could not muster up the energy needed to take to the sky. For the first time in his life, Cell felt like prey.
Terror welled in his chest as he heard the terrifying monster crashing through the forest behind him. It was far faster than Cell could have expected, if he made one false move, then he'd be finished.
He burst into a foggy clearing, his breath coming in sharp gasps. His design may allow him to survive anywhere, but something here was sapping his strength fast. He could feel his power draining like water being poured down an open drain. In his near exhaustion, he tripped over his own feet and fell to the ground. The creature was hot on his heels, and he scrambled on his hands to continue his frantic fleeing.
Trees blocked Cell's path. Without the power to fly or knock them down he was helpless. He turned, time seemed to slow to a crawl, at the same moment the creature burst into the clearing. The air seemed to shimmer as if Cell was underwater.
The beast halted. It cocked its head and sniffed. Cell stared at it, wondering in horrified curiosity why it had stopped when it very clearly had him cornered in its sights. It growled and circled, sniffing every inch of the clearing. Cell's heartbeat rose faster and faster as it drew nearer to his location. It was inches away now. Cell felt beads of sweat fall from his brow and into his eyes, stinging and blurring his vision.
The creature passed by without even acknowledging Cell's presence. Cell didn't dare breathe a sigh of relief, it could easily still find him.
Suddenly, the creature froze. Cell barely dared to breathe. Terror welled up in his body, and he shook like a leaf as he heard more rustling.
A hazy shape of a woman entered the foggy clearing. The creature whipped its head around, spotting its prey. It pounced, ready to kill. Cell opened his mouth to warn her.
"Get down, you stupid thing!" Cell heard her voice cut through the fog.
The noise of a punch or kick was heard, followed by the pained yelps of the animal. It skittered by Cell's hiding spot, bony tail between its legs. It curled up at the foot of a nearby tree, whimpering and shivering. It looked up plaintively as the woman fully appeared in Cell's view.
Cell flinched in horror as he took in her appearance. Like the creature shivering at her feet, the woman was bony, almost skeletally thin. Her long, black cape and dress only accentuated the sickliness of her sallow skin and hunched posture. Two small, black, feathery wings protruded from her back, looking torn and battle scarred. Her face was thin and pinched, marred by scars and unnaturally sharp cheekbones. Her three eyes were fiery red, with no irises or pupils to be found. Long, thin tapered ears swept high into the air. One appeared to have a chunk missing, like it was bitten off. Her black hair was long and swirled in the still air like smoke. Her demonic appearance was crowned by two large, ram-like horns twisting around her ears and a small broken horn on her forehead.
Her thick, dirty claws gripped the creature's face as she jerked it's head up to meet her gaze.
"Where did it go?" her voice was both raspy and high pitched, like nails on a chalkboard.
The creature shivered and whimpered.
"I am your master!" she yelled directly into its face, large catlike fangs spat saliva, "You will lead me to the source of that smell. Filthy dog! It can't have just disappeared!"
The demonic woman turned away from her animal with a derisive sniff and stalked the clearing, sniffing and scanning the trees with her eyes. Several times, Cell almost thought that her eyes had landed on him, each time making his heart leap into his throat. But she always passed over him, as if he was not even there. Apparently furious, she pulled something small out of her pocket that Cell could not see.
"I've almost missed my mandatory check-in," she growled, "I'd better call Usir and let him know what you found."
She crushed something in her fist, releasing a cloud of thick, black smoke. The wisps congealed into a floating circle of darkness that occasionally shot sparks of dark purple into the air. It swirled for several moments, and the woman watched it intently.
Then, deep within the darkness, an image began to appear. From what Cell could see of it, it appeared to be a silvery coat of arms, but he didn't know what kind of beasts flanked the strange symbols. So, he had no clue about who the woman was and who she was calling.
The woman looked horrified.
"She's onboard!" the woman squeaked, "Oh no!"
Cell's curiosity stirred at her reaction.
The image vanished, an in its place two beautiful eyes stared back at the shaking woman. They looked like two deep, sparkling pools of water. Long, red lashes blinked casually at the scene presented before them. They seemed to stare directly into Cell's soul, despite being hidden. Cell felt his heart flutter, it was not an unpleasant feeling.
The piercing blue eyes spoke.
"Who is this?"
That voice. Cell's body grew warm. That sound was so pleasant. It was like listening to the sound of crystal bells.
The demonic woman bowed.
"Great Demon Queen, it is one of your humble servants, Priestess Xirana."
"Xirana?"
The eyes spoke again, and Cell felt his body melt. He could listen to those pretty, blue eyes for the rest of eternity.
"Oh, the scout. Correct?"
"Yes, Majesty. You asked Priest Usir to send scouts to locate the source of the-."
"Yes, yes. The energy signal, I know. Did you find it?"
"No, Majesty. One of my beasts was following something that may have been the source. But it vanished suddenly without a trace."
"What!" the blue eyes flashed scarlet, "Nothing that could mimic such a strong signal could disappear completely you idiot! Search again!"
The voice was upset. Maybe he should reveal himself to calm her down. Anything to make her happy.
"Silver Tongue," a voice whispered in the back of his mind again.
Cell jumped, awakened from his stupor as if he'd been splashed by ice cold water. At the same moment, the woman called Xirana fell to the ground, bowing and shivering in fear.
"Yes, Majesty!" she shrieked in pleading terror, "I will search again!"
"Don't call me back until you find it, understand?" the scarlet eyes snarled, "I don't want my precious time wasted anymore!"
The eyes vanished in a puff of black smoke. Rising to her feet, Xirana leveled her gaze at the creature. It cocked its head and panted happily up at its master.
"You stupid thing!" Xirana snarled, "I bet you followed some animal instead of the signal, didn't you?" She drew herself up to her full height and loomed menacingly over the creature in her shadow, "Now the Queen is going to have my head if I don't find the source of that signal!" her voice rose in pitch as she continued her accusations, "It's all your fault for getting distracted!"
Xirana kicked the creature and it yelped in pain as it was launched high into the air. Xirana snatched the creature out of the air and in one fluid motion, impaled her animal onto sharp tree branches. The creature thrashed and squealed in its death throws as it was pushed along the entire length of the branches, until its back slammed into the thick trunk. Black blood poured out of its gaping wounds as its screeches grew shriller. With a final thrash, the creature's voice gargled to silence as it drowned in its own blood. She gave a derisive sniff, and Cell assumed that Xirana was finished. However, with one more motion, Xirana ripped another sharp branch off another tree and jammed it through the creature's upper jaw, and through one of its eyes.
Looking pleased, Xirana turned away from the grizzly hanging corpse. She spread her small wings and took off. Cell didn't move until her figure had vanished into the yellowish sky.