Chapter Five
Cell stood in his arena, his arms tightly folded against his chest and his head lowered. It was dark at the moment, and the clouds that hung low and imposing on the night sky, didn't help to improve his mood. He was disappointed in a number of things that this particular time line had to offer. Cells reflections led him back four years to when he had appeared on this planet, travelling from the future, where his precious androids no longer existed to now, where he had captured and absorbed the pair, achieving his goal of ultimate perfection.
Slowly his eyes opened, dull shades of pink in the night light. He sighed heavily as he recalled what the future was like. Only he didn't want to. The most precious of memories to him, now where the most painful to recall. But inevitably he was cast back when he was still in his imperfect form, a monstrous insect like creature, preying on the scad few lives that remained. A creature that, to himself, reflected the impurities of something hideous. Something he could not bare to recall…
It was night, but the sky was clear and the stars flickered in the sky, casting some form of light. It should have been a time for rest and sleep, but the world lay cracked and beyond repair. The android pair that had only recently fallen at the hands of Trunks, had left a cruel world in their wake. Scarcely any people remained alive, and those that were, once again had a shadow of death cast among them. Cell, a tall lean insect like man was preying on the human race, sucking them up into oblivion. Few survived his sudden and unpredictable attacks.
At the moment, he sat perched like a cat, ready to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse, on top of a ruined skyscraper. It was dark, but his slit eyes could see fine and he watched as a few scad groups of humans humbled around bellow him, torch lights scanning the grounds for the remnants of something treasurable.
He leapt, and for a moment the exhilaration of the that particular fall, of that particular night washed over Cell as he stood in his arena. It passed quickly though, and he sighed trying to shake the memories from him. It was difficult, but he managed, and he suppressed his wandering mind and instead, took to the skies, where he took out his anger and his constant nagging mind on the hundreds of asteroids that drifted, scattered in space.
Cell had no troubles with space. He was designed with the DNA of Frieze, the Icjyuuin to survive anywhere. Including the airless frozen wastes of space.
"I don't trust you Seru!" Cell's eyes widened horrifically. The single memory of his distant past, sneaking through suddenly, and he lost his concentration, the asteroid, crashing into him, and rendering him temporarily stunned. He regained his composure though, after a fleeting moment, and with a swipe of his hand, the asteroid exploded, leaving Cell alone for a moment. He cursed himself, unable to control his mind, he remembered…
A young blonde man, barely into his twenties cowered before Cell. He snickered, his rasped and throaty voice seeming foreign now. His tail arched over his head, the syringe point glistening for a moment, before it crashed against the man's chest, piercing him… He screamed, but blood clogged his throat and it gargled and he choked. He died in an instant as Cell's tail sucked the very bio-essence out of the man, taking the body with him, leaving only a set of deflated clothes.
Cell snickered to himself, the thrill of the kill, of being the predator now, was invincible. He stood to his full height, scanning the buildings, his senses flickering. He sensed a presence, calm, and probably asleep. He smirked at this, and ran, his speed amazing, and his stride graceful. He slipped into the dark depths of the reception room of a ruined hotel and he slipped up the crumbling stairs, silent and excited from the anticipation of another slaughtered kill.
The door that stood now between him and the being that slept on a broken bed on the other side, was stained and heavily cracked. It creaked eerily as he pushed it open and he crept a few stairs inside, but stopped suddenly as his victim groaned slightly then shifted. Cell stared, wide eyed and frozen at the person before him.
A woman, at least 26 and attractive enough. Long chestnut hair, flowing out around her and smothering her pillow. She was lean, as most people of this world were. Food was a hard thing to come by now. Her skin was pale, hinted with a tinge of rose around her cheeks and her face was relaxed and rounded. Her nose was slightly pointed, but it made her look more intelligent than sharp. Her ears each held two piercing, a stud and a sleeper, both silver. What had caused Cell to stop though, and stare, was that she was naked, and her skin seemed illuminate in the star light. Cell had surprised women before, as they slept and showered, and he had seen women unclothed before. But this woman, her arms open at her sides, and her moth partially opened on the rounded and soft blood coloured lips, and the illuminate smooth skin…
She looked almost like she was inviting him, unafraid as her eyes sat barely closed at all.
It was that thought that had caused him to stop and stare. The thought, of someone for him…
Slowly he backed away, something frightening him, but before he reached the door, he heard her groan again, and slowly her eyes fluttered once then opened, revealing an enticing emerald colour. They stared at him, watching, waiting. He froze, not able to think, staring back. Slowly her lips edged upwards into a warming smile. He didn't move, he didn't blink, he didn't even have the capacity to breathe. He simply stared, watching her as she sat up slowly, pulling the torn and ratted blanket over her. She swung her legs over the edge of the bed, pushing herself to her feet.
Cell backed away a step as she approached him. One hand held the blankets to her chest, the other reached slowly out towards him. Stopping as his back brushed against the wall, he watched as she stopped, the proximity tensing him. As slowly and as she could move, her hand reached for his face, finding it eventually, and her palm shaping against his cheek, warming him. Her eyes glittered in the dark but he could see her beam up at him.
"Hello." She whispered. He fought back the temptations that now surfaced, temptations he didn't think he could posses…
"Hello." He replied, his rasped voice, sounding so harsh against hers which held a pure note to it. Her smile seemed to spread, and slowly she let her hand drop. It didn't even leave his face, before his hand had instinctively gripped it, pulling it back against his face.
He realized it quickly as she laughed. He let her hand go, pressing himself further against the wall.
"Do you have a name?" She asked. He stared for a moment, terrified, for the first time in his life because she was making strange and foreign feelings and thoughts run through his head. He had never known a confusion like this…
"….Cell…" He whispered, afraid that if he talked too loudly, his voice would crack as his throat was tightening.
"Seru…" She stated. She paused for a moment. "Would you like a drink?" She asked. He slowly shook his head, choosing not to risk his voice. She smiled. "Do you mind if I had one?" He shook his head slowly again. She smiled and turned slowly, heading towards the remnants of a sink. She pulled a thermos from a backpack that had been sitting on the bench and she filled it with water from the sink, drinking it slowly. She turned back to Cell, only he was right in her face. Before either knew what had happened, his face was on hers, and he kissed her.
The thermostat rolled away, and the blankets fell as the woman dropped them. Her hands had found themselves around his neck and he was holding her to his body, his mind, locked away in such a tight pinch. He did not want this strange feeling, the warmth from her hand, to ever leave him…
Finally reasoning shattered through his mind and he let her go, leaping back a few paces, staring at her in a state of utter confusion. She stared back, in a similar state, and for what seemed an eternity, the two simply stared. Slowly she shook her head and the warming smile found its way back to her lips. She made her way towards Cell, seeming to forget that she was naked, or just generally not caring. He didn't back away, but his mind screamed at him. He had lost, in those few moments, the ability to think as a hunter, the ability to kill, let alone her… He had lost himself entirely…
She stopped, an inch from him, staring into his pink slit eyes, which seemed almost to capture the light. Her hands emerged from her side again, framing his slender face, holding him in her grasp. Ever so slowly she leant into him, kissing his beaked mouth with the sweetest of kisses. Cell's eyes closed and he leaned back into her, letting the kiss deepen…
Cell's eyes opened slowly and he glared angrily into the depths of space as the most painful thoughts of all continued to plague him. That night, so many years ago, he had taken pleasure in the most primitive of acts. But to him, now, it seemed so much of a charitable thought. The sheer fact that one woman so long ago had accepted him…
Now, early today, a young woman, so similar to the one he knew so well, yet so completely opposite had seemingly rejected him. And that thought was painful. He didn't want to be rejected. Something inside him, a remnant of the feelings that had surfaced when that woman's warm hands had framed his face, still remained, and it burned now. A painful reminder, and it wanted so desperately for Kyrie, the reminder of that woman from so long ago, to accept him. To treat him as the friend he wanted.
Sen accepted him. He knew that. And that thought gave him some remnant of hope. Yet, he frowned. Why did he even really care? Because that desire to be accepted was just to much for him. He had to satisfy it. One way or another.
He smirked though, staring around him, as he floated slowly through the meteorite field. It gave him something to do, to pass away the next week. Blowing up asteroids was beginning to grow very boring…