Disclaimer: I do not own any character here within. All are the properties of DC comics, Warner Brothers Entertainment, Toho, Akira Toriyama and all affiliates. This work is presented for pure entertainment purposes and is not intended for monetary gain. If the lawyers don't like it, too damn bad!
A/N: It has been quite a while since I worked on this story, but with work I have been completely brain-blitzed. I hope everyone enjoys this new chapter because there are going to be even more surprises this time around (Oh, and Frieza gets some comeuppance, for good measure!).
Frieza, the self-proclaimed "Emperor of The Universe" was sitting in his command chair on the bridge of his flag ship, overseeing a rather bountiful operation. A planet known as Tapia had been razed to the ground recently and his troops were still collecting the spoils. Artwork renowned the universe over for its beauty and opulence. Precious stones and rare earth elements, natural resources aplenty! The Tapian people had been a bit of a disappointment themselves, being rather frail and lacking in any kind of respectable combat spirit. His troops had wiped the race from existence in under a single day. Bah! Frieza had hoped to sell a few of the black market as slaves, but they simply weren't the good stock he had initially thought they were. His top advisors had informed him of the massive profit he'd make of the Tapians; for the dismal reality that Frieza had discovered, his top advisors were now floating outside of his ship after being kicked out of the airlock. Sans space suits of course.
While the people were a disappointment, the planet most certainly was not. He watched through the ships observation monitor, the buildings being demolished for the construction of new Freiza Force facilities and even vacation facilities for paying customers. Luxurious hotels, lavish recreational locales, whatever came to mind. He smiled as he thought about a few "risque" resorts that would be huge draws for more "discerning" clientele, but was drawn from his reverie when a huge explosion on the planet surface swept away a massive horde of recently acquired workers.
Frieza's purple lips pulled back into an annoyed snarl and he growled, "Who the Hell would dare attack my personnel without my express permission! It took me months of terrorizing the innocent and pathetic to actually get a sizable work force that could actually DO the work!" Whoever was responsible, Frieza was personally going to eviscerate with a rusty spoon! He levitated out of his command chair and rocketed through the front observation port, his subordinates just barely managing to buckle themselves down into their seats and get on emergency respirators. He aimed right for the centre of the huge fireball that had wiped out his slave work force.
The blast wave had since passed by, but Frieza sensed that whoever - or whatever – had fired off the blast-wave was still in the general area. More to the point, he could hear it, all angry roaring and growling.
It wasn't very happy, whatever it was.
Well, HE wasn't very happy either! Frieza had a guaranteed cash-cow ready to put up for auction after the renovation work was done and then this mystery assailant thought to just blow up his hard earned spoils. He thought not! He zeroed in on the angry roars and shot off toward it, but as he got closer he could swear he felt the energy signature of his own late father, King Cold, as well as his own energy signature. What made him even angrier was he also sensed the energy of that nasty earth Saiyan Son Goku and even his old servant Vegeta! What in the Hell...
He sensed a great many other energy signatures, some he had even sensed during the Tournament of Power! It was all a jumble, a veritable mess of power signatures so tangled he couldn't tell how many or who they had belonged to! Now this had quickly turned from an aggravating affront to a most delicious mystery. He began to speculate just what in the galaxy was going on, but a savage roar frothing with hate and rage exploded out of nowhere and sent him hurtling skyward! As he flipped head or heals, Frieza actually smiled. A power signature he remembered well was that of the savage Saiyan Broly, and he was feeling it again.
He knew that whomever – or whatever – was giving off this kaleidoscope energy signature could be something he could use. Of course he knew to be cautious, but yet this mystery was too enticing to pass over. As he righted himself and propelled himself back down, he saw a huge cloud of smoke blown away as though by a powerful wind; more than likely, the the owner of the strange energy signature he was picking up flaring their aura. He knew that whatever he would see would be impressive, but what he did see...well, he had never seen anything like it before.
The being was monstrous!
It stood almost as tall as a Saiyan in their Great Ape form. This was no ugly monkey, though. It was covered head to toe in a glossy metallic carapace, somewhere between "arthropod exoskeleton" and "high-tech battle suit". It had six massively muscular arms and a single pair of monstrous legs; it was a muscular grotesque!
Its armour was covered in nasty spikes and curving blades, segmented sections that conformed to the shapes of the hulking muscles beneath. Three long and equally armoured tails extended from the base of its spine, each equipped with wicked and powerful looking three-digit grasping appendages. Its armoured shell was almost completely black, save for the barest of gaps at points in the armour exposing dark purple flesh; he could swear he also saw computer circuitry growing just beneath the surface of what soft tissue he could discern.
There were recessed ovular crystalline panels and what looked vaguely like jet engine exhaust port on the legs, arms, shoulders and even on the chest that added a bizarre kind of decoration to the otherwise glossy black armour. The creature was looking away from Frieza as it stomped around, snarling and sniffing the air, as though looking for prey. It jerk upright and whipped around so it was looking Frieza right in the eye.
"Gah! What an ugly brute you are!" Frieza couldn't help but blurt out as he locked eyes wit the bio-mechanical monster. It had six burning red reptilian eyes situated just back from the mouth, with another of those ovular crystals smack in the middle of its forehead, though larger than the others. Its bulging neck was covered in the same bio-armour as the rest of its body, segmented plates leading to the back of its head. Its head was crowned by a huge, wide-swept cranial plate decorated with long spines and decorative antler-like horns extending from the sides of its head which grew out from the massive cranial plate. The face was a ugly mix of a wide, bulky reptile mixed with long, webbed insect-like armoured mandibles that extended from just behind the jaw and high on the cheek bones. Those same mandibles closed around the mouth as the beast straightened its posture.
It reared back as though stretching. Frieza had a bad feeling about what it was going to do next. He concentrated for a moment, concentrating his Ki which burst from him, first a dark purple which quickly charged over to fiery gold. He now was transformed into his Golden Frieza form, and not a moment too soon! The creature dropped into an aggressive crouch and roared at Frieza, its mouth filled with long, gleaming serrated teeth. The air itself seemed to shatter and the beast broke into a charge, pulverizing the ground beneath its huge armoured feet with each loping stride.
The now golden tyrant flew backwards like a golden comet, firing dark red energy blasts at the beast with abandon, trying to damage it enough to either maim the thing or simply buy enough time to escape. Frieza's blitzkrieg only seemed to infuriate the beast more, which roared even louder and sped up its charge. It swiped at him with demented abandon, snapping its huge jaws, spittle flying everywhere.
"Didn't your parents ever teach you it isn't polite to spit at people?!" Frieza all but shrieked as he got splashed in the face. He shot straight up and angrily wiped the slimy saliva off his face. His face was now a rictus of fury, incensed that the ugly brute had spat on him. Frieza hadn't actually been that bothered by the attempted assault. You just go around spitting on people! Proper etiquette and all that!
Frieza shrieked like a banshee as he began to power up. He no longer cared about lost resources or his work teams (the former because he was fed up with the beast and decided to look somewhere else, the latter because he never really did first or last). His only "care" was to see the huge monster dead, reduced to component atoms and scattered to the cosmic winds! He was going to shove this power ball right down the things ugly gullet!
That had been the idea.
The creature had another, though.
It had skidded to a halt when Frieza had taken skyward. It was now looking directly at him, but gone was the mindless bestial fury. That had been replaced by a strange look of curiosity mixed with a stark look or recognition. Whatever. Frieza had been able to build up enough power to hopefully kill the thing, and it was staring at him like an idiot. Frieza was now even angrier, not only having been spat upon but also having to use so much energy to deal with some over-grown simpleton of a monster!
He snarled as he launched his attack, the gigantic dark red energy ball roaring toward the huge bio-mechanical creature which was still regarding the incoming attack with curiosity and not aggression. It tilted it huge head backwards and riased all six of its arms skyward, the palm of its huge hands facing upward, as though it was going to catch the attack. Even though Frieza scoffed at the very notion of the beast catching his power ball, he couldn't shake the feeling that the creature just might pull it off.
Frieza's fears were justly founded because instead of vaporizing the beast, the power ball slammed into the beasts upturned palms and simply stopped. What happened next made Frieza's eyes almost pop out his skull with shock. The power ball began to shrink! Frieza quickly realized that the creature was absorbing his attack like it was the easiest thing in the universe to do! This enraged Frieza even further, that some ugly monster could nullify one of HIS attacks! The unmitigated nerve of the thing!
He started to power up again, forming another power ball when he noticed something odd. The first power ball stopped shrinking but now seemed to undulate and writhe. It had actually begun to break and split into smaller power balls! Each new smaller power ball was then promptly absorbed into the creature's six hands. It was now staring at Frieza intently. It straightened its posture and then did something that further unsettled the Emperor of Evil; it levitated off the ground and slow floated up toward Frieza until the two were equal eye-level. The creature stared at Frieza with a completely flat expression on its hideous face. The two locked eyes and neither made a sound for almost ten minutes.
Frieza was getting quite tired of the silence and was about to speak up when the creature made a series of low growling noises as it stared at him.
Frieza at first thought it was simply making random noise, but when the creature made those same series of noises again, he was surprised to realize that the creature was actually talking to him. He cocked his head to one side as he tried to make out what was being said. The task was made difficult by the incredibly deep and gravelly voice the creature had. He tried tuning out all other noises and began to listen for patterns, for syntax and grammar. As he mentally filtered out what he was hearing, he was pleasantly surprised by just how well spoken the creature...no, how well spoken the mystery fellow was.
He realized, with a start, that the fellow knew him, knew about him, and even mentioned meeting him once in Earth's Hell before everyone was sent to their own unique places of punishment. Curious and more curious. Frieza asked the bizarre fellow who he was, but instead of getting a verbal answer, the giant began to glow and physically change shape. Well, it wasn't so much a changing of shape as a changing of size.
The general shape of the being stayed relatively the same, except now it was shorter and now more stream-lined with an elegant musculature. The mandibles around the mouth became a bizarre chin guard and the creatures face was now distinctly humanoid with a bridged nose, high elegant cheeks and a striking jaw line that was partially hid by the chin guard. Dark blue iris' lit up the black sclera of a single pair of almond-shaped eyes. Frieza now had a strong idea of who this was, though he thought it was impossible; on the other hand, he himself had died and been brought back so why not?
"Your Cell, yes? The bio-android that fought Goku the Saiyan?" Frieza asked. The person who he now realized was Cell simply nodded. Cell actually spoke up, but this time it was with a discernible, deep and cultured tone of voice and not the beastly growling he heard earlier.
"Indeed, Lord Frieza, indeed. I am Cell. I have returned and, as your expert eyes can divine, I have had some...work done", he chuckled at his own choice of words. Frieza noticed other changes to the bio-android that peaked his curiosity. Cell retained his three long armoured tails, but they were now situated much higher on his back instead of being extensions of his spine. Also, Cell seemed to have developed what could be described as armoured metal dreadlocks sticking out the back of his head, each tipped with a nasty-looking stinger.
He still had the extra four arms from his earlier form, and all of the decorative elements of his armoured shell were still present, but now those same elements were now more expressed. It was like all of Cell's earlier bulk hid those traits, and now that he was smaller and slimmer, they were easier to notice.
"Work done, indeed", Frieza chimed in.
He smiled at the young bio-mech and wondered if he might ask him who did the work and maybe make an appointment for himself. While Cell was at rest, not even moving a muscle, Frieza could more accurately gauge what kind of power Cell had. If Cell had been simply strong before, now he was strength incarnate! Such a glorious transformation! Frieza knew he stood no chance fighting Cell, but yet he couldn't help but want to put his own not inconsiderable power to the test. As repulsive as the thought was, perhaps, like his hated enemy Goku, he should find powerful opponents and always try to test and improve himself. He'd always have the chance to self-examine and self-improve.
Cell perked up and tilted his head back, looking down his nose at Frieza. He smiled in an almost sad manner and said, "I know what your thinking, Lord Frieza, but unfortuntely, My resurrection came at a price".
"Oh? Due tell", Frieza responded. Frieza did not have a good feeling about the "price" Cell mentioned and he soon provided with a more concrete reason than a gut feeling. Cell said, "I was programmed to kill you. To put a permanent stop to your tyrannical ways. I personally have no grievance with you, Lord Frieza, but the powers-that-be have had quite enough of your behaviour. Far too touchy if you ask me".
Frieza signed in resignation. He had enjoyed his second resurrection – or was it his third? He had lost count - and was just finding his stride again! Bother! Well, at least he could give the universe a final glimpse of his glorious Golden Frieza form! He was about to power up for an attack when Cell vanished from sight, only to appear right next to the space emperor and spin-kicked him clean in the face, sending Frieza high into air and making him see stars.
He had no idea that Cell had dropped into a very familiar stance and began powering up himself, focusing his Ki between his cupped two hands.
"KAAAAAAA!"
Frieza's eyes were still spinning in their sockets as he finally regained enough wit to stop his ascent and right himself, shaking out his head as he did so.
"MEEEEEEE!"
As Frieza finally managed to snap out of his kick-induced daze, he snapped to attention as the memory of the same horrible mantra being spoken by that despicable monkey Goku. How did...?! Never mind! He had to get away! He found frantically scanned the skies and finally found his ship. He turned back to Cell and powered up to his maximum, preparing another but far more powerful energy ball to throw at the android. He screamed defiance as he reared back and made sure his aim was true.
"HAAAAAA!"
No! No No No NO! Frieza needed more time, and threw the power ball at the android, hopping to catch him before he was able to attack. He scolded himself for such a sloppy throw, but Frieza had zero intentions of being caught in that attack one more time! He shot toward his ship in low orbit, never realizing that Cell had shifted his stance and was now locked onto frieza's ship.
"MEEEEEEE!"
Frieza smashed through the port-side airlock, completely oblivious to the handful of soldiers that got sucked into the void. He zoomed down the hall and burst onto the bridge like a bomb going off. He flew to the pilots seat and threw the man over his shoulder like a piece of discarded trash. He grabbed the control and swung the ship around with terrified abandon and punched the main drives to full.
He thought he had gotten away, or at least far enough away to make a hyper-jump.
He was wrong.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Cell fired off a Kamehameha blast so powerful, it turned deep night into blinding day, blowing the clouds away and splitting the sky. The blue-white energy blast was so powerful, it shorted out the systems of Frieza's ship like an EMP well before it was even half-way!
As the self-proclaimed 'Emperor of The Universe' turned to a screen showing the planet behind them – as well as the energy blast screaming toward them - he collapsed into the pilot seat and dejectedly whine, "Why me?! Why is it always ME?!"
The blast struck the ship with such force that it could be compared to a tidal wave washing away a sand sculpture. Nothing and no one was left of the ship to speak of. It had simply been vaporized.
The only witnesses to what happened were the two scientists who had upgraded Cell and the terrified crew of the enormous warship they had commandeered to track Cell down and retrieve him.
Dr. Gero and DeSaad stared at each other, then at the massive display screen that showed the planet they had tracked the errant android to and finally back to each other. Both scientists really wanted to continue living and hoped Cell would be in a cooperative mood. They were pleasantly surprised when Cell himself flew into orbit like a rocket and zoomed toward them, sending a signal that Frieza had been taken care of. He also apologized for damaging the lab the two evil scientists had been sharing.
The two scientists stared slack-jawed as the text from Cell's message scrolled across the screen. DeSaad bonelessly flopped into the captains chair and dropped his head into his hands and blew out an exasperated but relieved sigh. Dr. Gero on the other hand coughed into his hand and bark at the communications officer to send a message to Cell to come aboard the ship.
They were heading home.
To Apokolips.
As the dramatically transformed android flew toward a gaping hangar door that was beginning to open on the underbelly of the ship, he couldn't help but wonder about something that seemed off.
Just before Frieza and his ship had been destroyed, a small yellow metal ball had emerged from his chest. After it glowed for a moment, it had popped out and disappeared. He really had to ask Dr. Gero about just what that was, simply for sating his curiosity.
As he flew into the hangar, he gently alighted on the deck and began walking toward what he thought was the exit. His new eyes displayed information in a kind of holographic form, the information appearing to Cell as floating in mid-air. He began reading a schematic of the ship that had been transmitted to him and stopped. He then walked toward a door on the left side of the hangar and pressed his third right hand against the palm reader, which glowed green, chirped, and the door slid open.
Because of Cell's new sized and body dimensions, he had to duck and twist to get through the door. After he got through, he crossed his arms and dropped his head into a palm and cursed.
He could have just used Instant Transmission to transport himself to the bridge where Dr. Gero and DeSaad were waiting for him. He quickly placed to fingers against his forehead, concentrated and got a lock on Dr. Gero's energy signature, which he had a record of in his new data banks. He disappeared from the hallway and re-materialized right in front of Dr. Gero who fell on his ass out of fright. The bridge crew tried to draw weapon but were shouted down by DeSaad.
"Incompetent cretins! This is the warrior great and powerful Darkseid commanded we retrieve! Put your weapons away! Did you not see what he did to that other ship?! He could kill you all with a look! Now back to your posts and get us back to Apokolips!"
"For Darkseid!" The bridge crew bellowed in response, and quickly began implementing DeSaads orders. Cell turned to his creator and helped the older man to his feet and even helped him dust off. As Gero took stock of his wayward "son", he smiled a genuinely happy smile.
"Your looking well, boy"
Cell smiled at his creator and said, "I feel amazing!"
As Gero laughed at the young android's exuberance, Cell asked about the little yellow sphere that popped out of his chest. Both Gero and DeSaad stared blankly at Cell and then each other. They responded at the same time, "what yellow sphere?"
Apokolips
Ten Minutes later...
The Great and Terrible Darkseid sat on his throne, watching the events on the planet in the other universe transpire.
DeSaad and Gero had indeed found a surprisingly stable portal to Cells home universe. The android had travelled through the portal and arrived on a world called Tapia; there he had observed Cell's interaction with this 'Frieza' character and was intrigued. He had focused his Omega Beams through the special transceiver and used them to transfer Cell's would-be victim into a small containment vessel before Cell finished Frieza off.
The little orb materialized in Darkseids huge hand and after it floated to the middle of his throne room, he used his Omega Beams again to restore the captive within.
As Frieza re-materialized, he screamed like a Banshee as his body was reconstructed. He unceremoniously flopped onto the floor and groaned piteously. He slowly shook his head as his senses stopped swimming, and shakily got back to his feet. An amused Darkseid rose from his throne and strolled up to the effeminate alien warlord without a care in the world.
When Frieza's eyes finally adjusted to the low reddish light, he saw the huge New God looming over him, smiling like a huge cat that had eaten a canary.
"Welcome to Apokolips, Master Frieza!" Darkseid bellowed, even as his smile widened. "I certainly hope you enjoy your stay!" He then did something very very few of his servants had ever seen him do.
Darkseid, the God of Evil, broke into roaring laughter.
Author's Notes: Holy crap on a cracker! I thought I would never get this done, but get it done I did! I hope everyone can please forgive my tardiness! Unitl next time!