As soon as Ling and Piccolo arrived in Gingertown felt uneasy. They can't sense anyone. The only signs that people once lived in this town. The clothes of the townspeople are littered everywhere. But Piccolo and Ling notice stab marks on the clothes. Some or something killed these people. The sight made Ling's skin crawl.
"Stay close!" Piccolo said firmly.
"O-Okay," Ling nods," It's too quiet,"
"Yeah, and I don't like it," Piccolo growls. He quickly stops because his ears pick up a sound and look at that discretion. Ling turns to where Piccolo is looking. She was shocked by what she saw. It was a green humanoid bug man with black spots and snake-like eyes. He is dragging an unconscious bald man.
The man wakes up and panics when he sees the bug man. He spots Piccolo and Ling, "H-Help me!" the man reaches into his pocket and holds out a large wad of cash, "I-I'll pay you! I'm the richest man in the city! Just, please! Help me!"
Ling was going to take a step forward, but the look the bug man gave her froze the female Saiyan in the spot, "What are you doing?! If you want more, I'll give you more! Take it all!" The rich man was going to say more, but the bug man smiled and stabbed the man with his tail. The man cries out in pain.
Piccolo and Ling look on in horror as they see the man slowly melt away. Ling has her hand over her mouth and feels like she's going to throw up. Ling has never seen something so horrifying. She slowly walks back and hides behind Piccolo. The sight and sounds will stay with Ling forever.
Once the rich man has fully melted away, the bug man pulls his tail and chuckles. He hasn't taken his eyes off Piccolo and Ling. "Greets Piccolo, Ling, my name is Cell," the bag man said. He clenches his fists and starts powering up. What shocks Piccolo and Ling is the Ki they sense.
They sense Goku, Vegeta, Frieza, King Cold and many others. The other Z-fighters feel it too, and they are just as confused.
When Cells finished powering up, he destroyed parts of the city.
Piccolo smiles, "It was a poor move killing everyone in this city. Because with them gone, I can go all out! Also, the Piccolo you know is gone!" hearing that, Ling gets some distance so she won't get in the way of him powering up. Ling is utterly shocked by how strong Piccolo is. His power destroyed the city entirely. Ling believes Piccolo is the strongest one on Earth.
An annoyed Cell pushes large rubble off of him when suddenly, Piccolo is flying toward him and kicks Cell high into the air. Cell recovers, but Piccolo is on him again. Ling watches on in awe as Piccolo overpowers Cell. It was quite the sight to behold. But Cell did something that caught both Piccolo and Ling off guard. Putting his fingers on his forehead, Cell charges a familiar move.
"Special beam cannon!" Cell shouts and shoots the beam at Ling. Piccolo is fast enough to get to Ling and deflects the beam away, "Impressive, Piccolo, but can you deflect this one?" Cell chuckles. He cups his hand, presses the back of his palms together and draws his arms back, "Ka…me…ha...me," Cell smiles as blue energy forms in his hands.
"H-How?!" Ling gaps.
"HA!" Cell shouts and fires a large blue beam at Piccolo and Ling. Piccolo blocks it and takes no damage, but that wasn't Cell's goal. The bio-android used the smoke created from the blast as cover and got close to Piccolo. Cell wraps both his arms and legs around Piccolo. He then stabs his tail into Piccolo's arm.
"PICCOLO!" Ling screams.
Cell turns his head to look at Ling and smiles, "You bastard!" Ling shouts and turns into a Super Saiyan. Piccolo uses Cell's brief moment of discretion to headbutt him and break free from Cell's grasp.
Piccolo flies to Ling's side, "I'm sorry, Ling, without my arm, I'm helpless. You have to take over from here,"
Ling is confused by Piccolo's words but recalls what Gohan once told her, "You can count on me!" Ling shouts and powers up to max.
"The ultimate lifeform against the perfect lifeform. Sounds fun," Cell smiles.
"How the hell do you know about me?!" Ling growls.
"Because you and I share a similar history," Cell smiles.
"Explain!" Ling demanded.
Cell chuckles "Since both of you are going to die soon. I see why not. Both you and I are byproducts of the Red Ribbon Army. A group both of our fathers work for. I'm not sure about your timeline but I'm mine, our fathers were competing on which one of their projects the Red Ribbon Army is going to fund. My father won when exposes your father's true intentions. Curing his daughter from an incurable disease. Not only that there were a few flaws he discovered in your father's project,"
"Like what?" Ling asked.
"Your father had difficulty in making all the Saiyan DNA work together. Each fought the other for dominance. Dr. Gero found a workaround when creating me. By using the DNA of other powerful species, he fooled all the Saiyan DNA that they are the only ones. Your father did create you however but you exploded because your body couldn't handle the overwhelming power," Cell smiles, "Something that's going to happen to you,"
"What?!" Ling gasped.
"Your body is already tearing itself apart. Why do you think the glowing green scars are? It's a sign of her imminent demise. A flaw I don't have. I just need to absorb 17 and 18 who are alive in this timeline to get my full power," Cell laughs.
The news shocked Ling to her core that she reverted to her base form. Piccolo suddenly walks in front of Ling, "So you're saying the only way for Ling to reach her full potential is for the other Saiyan DNA to awaken?" Piccolo asked.
"In theory, that's going to be impossible," Cell smiles.
Piccolo smiles back, "Good to know," Piccolo rips off the arm Cell drained and grows a new arm.
"You tricked me!" Cell growls. Just then Trunks and Krillin arrive. "Not good," Cell growls then smiles. He flies in front of the sun and shouts, "Solar Flare!" Everyone but Cell covers their eyes and shouts in pain. Cell laughs and flies off.
When everyone got their vision back Piccolo became enraged "I'll find you Cell! I'll find you!"
"How did he get so strong?" Trunks asked with a shocked expression.
"He fused with a guy named Kami," Ling said with a depressed tone.
"Are you okay?" Krillin asked Ling.
Hearing Ling's tone, Piccolo calms down and explains what happened. He tells them about Cell who is and Ling is dying slowly.
"But there has to be a way to awaken the other Saiyan DNA in her body!" Trunks desperately asked.
"There is but it's extremely dangerous. The chances of you dying is high. We can't use the Dragon Balls because they don't exist anymore," Piccolo explains.
"They don't!?" Krillin gasps.
"I fused with Kami remember," Piccolo said to Krillin and looked at Ling, "It's called the Ultra Divine Water. Anyone who drinks it will have their hidden potential unleashed. I'll go get it. You'll stay here and prepare yourself,"
"Is there no other way?" Trunks asked.
"No," Piccolo said and flew off at full speed.
"Water that draws one's hidden potential. This I got to see," Vegeta said as he landed nearby.
Tien then lands and asks, "Where did Piccolo go?"
"To get Ultra Divine Water," Krillin said with a serious expression. He also explains to Tien why Piccolo is getting the Ultra Divine Water and what happened.
"If it makes you feel better, Goku drank that water and survived," Tien said to Ling.
"He did?" Ling asked.
Tien nods "Yeah if he survived, so will you,".
"Okay," Ling nods. Her nervousness lessened with Vegeta's judging gaze. She'll prove what he thinks of her wrong.
When Piccolo arrives, Ling can feel her heart start to race. "Here," Piccolo said and handed Ling a small cup with purple liquid in it.
"That doesn't look appetizing," Trunks said.
"I agree but I need to drink this," Ling said. She takes the cup from Piccolo. Taking a deep breath Ling drinks all of it at once. Instantly, Ling felt pain surge throughout her body and held her throat. She falls to her knees and screams in pain. "Endure it, sis! You're so close to unlocking your hidden power!"
From Ling, everyone starts sensing Ki from other Saiyans. Some they recognized, like Nappa, Vegeta and Goku. The water is working! After a few hours, all the Saiyan Ki they're sensing starts to mix. Ling manages to get back on her feet. "Stand…back!" Ling said as her Super Saiyan aura ignited.
Ling sees an image of a Great Ape with golden fur in her mind.
With a roar as mighty as a Great Ape's, Ling turns into a Super Saiyan. This time her power is higher than before. She's almost as strong as Piccolo now. Something that angers Vegeta. When Ling finishes powering up, the Z fighters approach Ling. Her energy feels different but the same. Not only that, her energy truly feels like a Saiyan's. When they got close, they noticed Ling's Super Saiyan hairstyle had changed. It looks similar to Goku's but messier.
Ling is looking at her hands and is amazed by how much power she's feeling, "How do you feel?" Trunks asked.
"Powerful and I feel there's more but this is all I can access at the moment," Ling said and turned back to her base form. She looks a little different now. Her hair is a little spikier and her largest bang is black. The reds in her eyes turn to a darker shade and her tail is now black. With her hair tie destroyed her hair is flowing like a lion's mane.
"Well, that's nothing a little training can't fix," Krillin said with a smile.
"Can't believe it but that water managed to turn you into a true Saiyan," Vegeta growls, "So as Saiyan prince I bestow the Saiyan name, Elery," he then cliches his fist, "But know this, I will find a way to surpass you and Kakarot!" Vegeta declares and flies off angrily.
"That guy is the walking definition of jealousy," Tien said, folding his arms. His comment made everyone laugh.
"Since Cell is from a different timeline so there might be another Cell in this timeline," Trunks said.
"But didn't you blow up Dr. Gero's lab?" Tien asked.
"You did?!" Ling gasped.
"Yeah, I lost my cool when I saw 17 and 18," Trunks said bashfully.
"Tell me about it! You didn't give us a chance to get out of the way!" Krillin said.
"Sorry," Trunks said and lowered his head.
"It's fine Trunks and besides I have a good feeling Gero has a sub-lab," Krillin said.
"What makes you think that?" Ling asked.
"He's a mad scientist and mad scientists always have a sub-lab," Krillin said.
"It's working checking out, Krillin you take Trunks and Ling to find Dr. Gero's sub-lab. Tien and I will track down Cell,"
"Alright, let's go you two!" Krillin said to the young time travellers and flew off.
"Right!" both Ling and Trunks said and followed Krillin. Ling hopes that in Dr. Gero's sub-lab there might be more info on her past.