At the top of a mountain, surrounded by trees, there
is one of the most beautiful locations in Hell. Here, in
greenery, accompanied by magpies' songs (the best
'soundtrack' Hell's nature has to offer), someone is
sitting down, cross legged, and meditating.
It wouldn't seem weird to an observator that no other
Hell residents are here if they knew that that someone
is Cell. Cell, the bio android, the ultimate fighting
machine, the ultimate fighting genius. Created by cells
of various martial arts masters, he was born not only
with the knowledge of their energy attacks but also
with the mastery of their fighting styles: Goku's and
Krillin's shaolin kung fu, Vegeta's krav maga, Tenshinhan's
ninjutsu, Piccolo's karate.
Very few Hell residents would even consider coming
anywhere near that warrior's lair. Even the supposedly
invincible Icers, who ruled Universe 7 for centuries, turned
out to pale in comparison to that fighter's power.
Cell has to admit that the first few years in Hell weren't
that bad. He would go around terrorizing and torturing
people to his heart's content, which was not really
different from what he had been planning to do in the
living world had he won the Cell Games.
A pleasant bonus in Otherworld, as he soon found out,
was the possibility to have fun by killing a person over
and over; you see, dead people cannot really kill one
another (if such a thing was possible, within a few years,
almost everybody in Hell would have vanished through
the 'second death' process and Hell would be an empty
place). If a dead person's body is destroyed by another
dead person, the body is automatically regenerated.
As years went by, though, Cell started growing bored.
His Saiyan nature craved a challenge and destroying
weaklings definitely didn't classify as such. Maybe there
are two or three persons in the vast realm called Hell
that could give him an exciting fight or even turn out
to be stronger than him, but what are the chances he
will come across them anytime soon in a place bigger
than a galaxy?
At some point, Cell met Dr Gero. The two of them tried
to hang out for a while. After all, Cell always felt love
and respect for his father and the feelings were mutual.
Soon, though, they realized that those feelings stemmed
from the common goals they had while still alive. Now
that they were both dead and those goals would remain
forever unfulfilled, they no longer had any common
ground. So their relationship faded.
Sometimes, Cell wonders whether it would have been
better if, back then, he had decided to spare Earth and
settle there. I mean, he could spar with Goku everyday
and have fun as he had that day he fought him at Cell
Games. He might have left even Gohan in the dust eventually
if he challenged him every day and pushed himself to
his limits. Heh. He's pretty sure he could have made that
kid interested in combat if he'd joined their group and
got the chance to influence him.
There was no need to adopt their altruistic bullshit as
well, but leaving alive those who can give you a challenge
so that you can face them again another day is more
rewarding than killing them just to show off your superiority
after all.
Suddenly, Cell feels two chis behind him. 'Who can be
so idiotic as to approach the mighty Cell?' he thinks as
he stands up. 'Obviously some newcomer...'
The next moment, Cell realizes whom those chis belong
to. He turns around and sees Goku and Vegeta.
'Hmf. You,' he says, crossing his arms indifferently.
'Heh. I was expecting a more emotional reaction,' Vegeta
comments.
'I'm not in the mood. I don't feel like myself lately,' Cell
says. 'Just tell me what you want and scram.'
Goku takes a few steps towards the bio android. Not
feeling like getting straight to the point, he tries to
initiate some chat first: 'So, Cell, have you made any
progress since you arrived in Hell?'
'Not really,' the villain answers. 'It's hard to become
stronger when the gravity is so low and everybody
around you are weaklings. But it doesn't matter. I can
still crush either of you and I'll do it if you keep wasting
my time.'
'Okay, that does it,' the provoked Vegeta says and
clenches his fists.
Goku, who has realized what his friend is about to do,
tries to stop him:
'Vegeta, no, this isn't the right time for...'
'HAAA,' Vegeta transforms into Super Saiyan Blue, the
burst of his aura shaking some trees around.
Cell is shocked. What is this blue aura? And this chi...
it's totally different in nature from anything Cell has
ever felt and its amount seems... bottomless.
'Curse... you...' Cell whispers, trembling as he did
when Gohan was knocking him around like a ragdoll.
'How about I get my revenge on you for the times
you humiliated me back then?' Vegeta asks, taking
a fighting stance.
'VEGETA, NO,' Goku snaps. He transforms into SSJ
Blue and stands in front of the other Saiyan, arms
extended to the sides.
'Goku can do it too?' Cell thinks, further shocked.
'This is not what we've come here to do,' Goku reminds
Vegeta.
The former prince chuckles and reverts back to base.
Goku reverts too and turns to Cell. He tells him the
reason he and Vegeta are here.
'Tournament of power, huh?' Cell comments, now
calmer. 'Sounds interesting. You must be really eager
to get that wish from Super Dragonballs to take a chance
and revive a thug like me.'
'Just tell us whether you're in or not,' Vegeta sighs.
'I'll do it. On two conditions,' Cell smiles deviously.
'Here it goes. He wants to be the one to make the
wish if we win,' Vegeta mumbles.
'No, Vegeta,' Cell laughs, comforting him. 'I don't need
the enhanced power of those planet sized spheres.
The plain, old dragonballs are enough. I want you to
use them to revive me as soon as we get back to the
living world. Also, I want you to teach me how to do
that blue transformation.'
'Do you think you can do it?' Vegeta asks cockily.
'Of course,' Cell answers. 'I have Saiyan cells. I could
transform into something like a Super Saiyan when I
reached my perfect form. And, after my failed suicide
attempt, I gained access to something like that sparky
form Gohan had. So I can definitely reach a transformation
equivalent to your blue one.'
'Okay, Cell. We agree to both conditions,' Goku butts
in, laughing. 'I was going to revive you and train you
for the next 4 months anyway.'
'What? Are you out of your fucking mind, Kakarrot?'
Vegeta yells.
'Chill, Vegeta,' Goku laughs. 'If he does anything bad,
we'll just fight him again.'
'Don't worry. I won't,' Cell says, very seriously, drawing
the two Saiyans' attention. 'All these years in Hell
made me realize what is important in life.'
'Huh?' the two Saiyans cry in a gagly unison.
'Don't treat this as a change of heart,' Cell explains.
'Don't think that I'll ever grin like an idiot and join forces
with you or that I won't hurt other people if it happens
to be in my best interest. But I'm no longer interested
in going around and torturing weaklings for no reason.
I just want to pursue and reach greater heights. Because
now I know that perfection is not a static state as I thought;
it's an ongoing quest for improvement.'
Goku smiles and offers his hand to Cell. The bio android
refuses to reciprocate.
'I hope we won't regret this,' Vegeta thinks.
