Disclaimer: This work is a work of fiction. All characters presented herein have no relation to any person, living or dead. These Characters are the property of Akira Toriyama, DC Comics, Toei Animation and their affiliates. This work is presented without monetary compensation and for the purpose of entertainment only.
Author's Notes: Guess who's back?! Cell has been reborn! He has now awoken from his upgrade transformation a vastly more dangerous being. Get ready for "Testing – Phase 2: Deployment!"
Dr. Gero and DeSaad both knelt before the evil being responsible for their mutual resurrection. Dr. Gero and DeSaad had travelled to the home universe of great and terrible Darkseid. They had used Vados to transport them across dimensional space, using a powerful artifact called the Key of All Things to break through the barriers between multiverses. The two super scientists had learned that their respective home universes were each a part of a much larger multiverse, but in this case, the multiverse that DeSaad called home and the multiverse that Dr. Gero called home were two completely separate multiverses. A mind-boggling realization, but one that could wait for further analysis; Darkseid called
"So, my servants", the dark god of Apokolips began, his voice an ocean deep rumble, "I am to understand that Cell somehow awoke much earlier than expected and tore free from the transformation lab I so graciously bequeathed to you two? I am also to understand that he somehow resisted your best efforts to recapture and return to stasis? I had come to understand that there were measures in place to control the bio-android brat and bind him to my will. Was I in error of my interpretation of the relevant information?"
The dark god's tone gradually became more antagonistic, more accusatory, more furious as he spoke, looking out the massive main window of his hellish throne room, his arms behind his back in a deceptively contemplative pose. Darkseid snarled as he had not received a reply from his two servants regarding this matter. He turned to face his terrified and completely embarrassed "scientific experts". Darkseid's horrible red eyes glowed like bloody hellfire, his rage an almost palpable thing in the room. He had wanted a powerful general to lead his armies and one day obtain for him the Anti-Life Equation. Was that such a complicated thing to ask for, especially from two so-called geniuses? Apparently so!
"My Lord Darkseid! Please, hear me! We have both examined, in great detail, the data logs of our experiments and we have found something most disturbing!" DeSaad cried in panic at the thought of his masters "judgment".
The power of his fearsome Omega Beams could revive the dead as Darkseid had done with him after his failed attempt to convert the ridiculous 'hero' know as Superman into an advanced Para-Demon prototype. Superman had snapped his neck like a twig, his mind partially consumed with primal rage from the aborted transformation process. The power of his masters Omega beams, while infinitely destructive could also undo death itself. Darkseid had made it abundantly clear that he had revived DeSaad because he did not want to trouble himself with finding a replacement for him.
Darkseid knew that DeSaad would never dare to interrupt him without due cause, or what he perceived as due cause, but he had a suspicion as to what DeSaad would be reporting so he allowed the interruption this time. His suspicions were quickly confirmed.
"My Lord, our data logs show that the control mechanisms we implemented in Cell's redesign were either reconfigured for other tasks or simply not install first or last! Someone had remote access to our work stations and tampered with our work! While, yes, the enhancements to Cell were indeed implemented, all of the control mechanisms whether software or hardware were simply not installed, with other additions designed by neither myself or Dr. Gero being installed in their stead!"
Darkseid had actually been hoping that DeSaad wouldn't say that. Yet another great disappointment that day indeed! He fully turned to the two scientist and asked them a simple, but rather loaded question, "If the control mechanisms were disabled by an outside source, then who was the outside source?!"
The Dark God of Apokolips shouted with such force that walls of his throne room cracked and the two scientist were thrown with such force that they slammed into the throne room doors with bone pulping force. The only reason the two scientists survived the outburst of power was that Gero had been reborn into his android body and DeSaad had been permitted to enhance himself in a similar fashion. That wasn't to say that the impact was painless, or even pleasant.
After shoving parts that shouldn't have moved back into their proper place, it was Dr. Gero who spoke next, quite intent on answering his new lord. He quickly shot to his feet despite the searing pain in his extremities and shouted back, though simply to hear over Darkseid's terrible voice.
"Great Darkseid! My colleague and I are ever endeavouring to answer your query. We have been seeking answers ever since Cell's escape! We had discovered many clues, one of which is eminently stunning!" The Doctor walked toward Darkseid with a confidence he certainly wasn't feeling, producing a small metal cube from his vest pocket. It was an upgraded version of the Apokoliptian personal computer known as a Mother Box. The Mother box floated from the Doctor's outstretched hand and begun to spin in place until its form was a blur. A beam of light was suddenly fired from the spinning cube and exploded in the middle of the room. What was produced was a holographicly projected recording of what had happened in the lab. Darkseid's crimson eyes almost flew out his skull as he realized that the Mega Para-Demon prototype, who had called himself Adapt, was covertly going from console to console making the changes that had been discovered, but that was not the most important discovery. Not at all!
His supernatural powers allowed him to see what others could not; the black smoke obscuring a console and the vague visage of the one responsible for this blatant treachery appearing out of it! As the recording continued, Darkseid went from a stunned fury to snarling like a massive angry beast. To say that he was upset would have a criminal understatement. He slammed his hands together, dispelling the hologram and launching the Mother Box back at Dr. Gero at near Mach velocities.
"So! I am to be made the puppet, to dance to the tune this extra-dimensional vagabond wishes to play?! Darkseid thinks not! Not! At! All!" As he bit off each of the words, Darkseid's terrible wrath was now even more palpable, the room seemed to become a sauna! He snarled at the two scientists and bellowed his next command, "Get after Cell! Take my fastest warship and track him down! Our traitorous 'partner' must have a means to transport Cell from this universe back to his Cell's own universe. FIND IT!"
Never had two beings so quickly rushed from the God of Evil's throne room in the entire recorded history of the blood-and-ash blackened world of Apokolips! They literally flew to the vast terrestrial based space port and picked the largest, most powerful of Darkseid's war vessels, an obsidian behemoth several miles long and bristling with armaments. They both landed with a boom! In front of the huge vessels boarding ramp and shoved and pushed crew members out of their way as they ran to the bridge. DeSaad had alerted each and every ship captain that they would be choosing a ship to use in their hunt for the errant bio-mech.
The captain of the vessel rose from his throne-like command chair and greeted the two with pomp and circumstance...well, he tried to.
"My Lords! I am humbled to welcome you aboard the Devastator! I am..."
DeSaad vaporized the mans head with a precision energy pulse from his eyes and flip-kicked his corpse behind the command chair, quickly replacing the former captain. Dr. Gero shoved the pilot out of her seat and plotted a pursuit course, using data gathered from analyzing Cell's energy trail. He pushed the engines to maximum and the monstrous vessel quickly lifted into the toxic skies of Apokolips, the back-wash from the engines incinerating any and every poor soul not fast enough to find cover. As the mighty war ship began to pick up speed and angle its nose up toward the stars, Darkseid glared after its departure, silently vowing to end the existence of the being who had so easily tricked him into this damned arrangement!
What even the Dark Lord of Apokolips did not know was that another was watching the vessel depart the blasted world. The being in question was no longer concealed in black smoke, but stood tall and proud several hundred miles away from the space port. Its six blood red eyes glowed with mirth and mischief, not malice. Quite contrary to its appearance.
If the Being and Darkseid stood next to each other, the mystery entity would be taller than Darkseid by half of the Dark Gods height!
It wore long, flowing robes of glossy obsidian and dark ashen gray over midnight black baggy pants and a fine high-necked shirt of matching shade and colour. What added a sense of menace to the entity was the heavy, ornate armoured boots and articulated leg plating, the hideously stylized metal girdle about its wait that held its robes closed and also held up a long metallic skirt that matched the robes in colour. The entity wore a fabulously ornate chest plate over the fine shirt that was similarly styled after the girdle, completing its attire with massive sectioned gauntlets that could have doubled for wearable shields. Every single piece of armour the being wore was decorated with images of hellish monsters and deathly visions.
While the Being was menacingly attired, its face was hideous. Its skin was smooth and oily black that seemed to harden in places and sprout nasty barbs. Its head was vaguely reminiscent of a dinosaur but with curved yellow spiked sprouting along the jaw-line. It had ghostly white hair that rose from its ugly head in a massive billowy mane, styled into nine long braids that reached to the ground, kept from the dirt by its huge and expansive cloak which all but completely covered the huge boulder it was standing on. Its six red eyes were focused on the departing ship. It had a large primary eye on either side of its head with two smaller eyes beneath each larger one.
Those eyes narrowed in thought. It spoke allowed.
"Darkseid, dear boy, you have no idea whats to come, but Cell will be a part of something truly magnificent, whether you like it or not. Kids today are just so tempermental!" It finished with a booming laugh as it vanished in a swirling vortex of wind and blackened ash.
Author's Notes: WOW! I have been so busy at work these last couple of months I just haven't been able to get this out! I am sorry to all my faithful readers that this took so long. Now, dear ones, crack open a cold one and enjoy yourselves! TTYL!