"Dragonball AS: Ultimate Cell Saga"

Chapter 71- "Family Reunion"

By- Tiny

Apio was sitting in the desert just outside of his home in Ginger Town, his body hovering just over the ground as he focused his thoughts in a deep, meditative stance. The young Saiya-jin frequently went out to this location to gather himself from the stresses of life, thinking that this must be the same reason Piccolo meditates. It was a quiet, peaceful morning when he first started, but all that had changed in an instant.

The earth around him seemed to cry out in pain all of a sudden, as though the planet itself had been injured in some way. In his minds eye, Apio could see the planet's life blood flowing from an open chasm like the waters in the rivers, slowly killing the planet as if it were a living being. That same pain surged through Apio's senses, knowing that something horrible had happened yet not being able to figure out exactly what it was as he got to his feet.

"What's happening?" the Saiya-jin pondered, "Something is...amiss..."

Someone was watching him, he could sense it, and the young Saiya-jin shot instantly into the third level, trying to smoke out whoever this new, unseen adversary may be. It didn't take long for the hidden enemy to launch themselves at the young warrior, but missed as the young man ducked under the attack and grabbed the other fighter around the arm, tossing them into a nearby rock wall.

The massive escarpment crumbled down around the discarded fighter, sending up a cloud of sand and dust in it's wake as Apio whipped around to get a better look at his new opponent. When the dust cleared, a male figure walked virtually unscathed out of the rubble, smirking confidently at the young Saiya-jin the way all of their past enemies had done. But something was different about this one, even though the young Saiya-jin couldn't quite put his finger on it.

The man was not very large in size or build, but the power Apio could sense coming from this new arrival was still quite impressive. His skin was an eerie metallic blue, the eyes looking oddly like a pair of round sapphires that someone had welded into his head. As far as Apio could see he wasn't wearing any clothing either, save his boots, wristbands, and a red-gold vest, but the Saiya-jin tried not to think about that as the figure closed in on him.

"Not bad monkey-boy," the blue man chuckled, "I wouldn't have expected someone so young to have such a massive power level, but I guess I was wrong this time around."

"Who are you?" Apio demanded, his aura spiking, "Why did you attack me?"

"If you must know, I am the last of the Tsufuru-jin people, Bebi," the creature hissed, "And as for why I attacked you, I don't really need a reason to attack a dirty monkey!"

Apio's blood boiled over with rage as the one called Bebi finished his speech, launching himself at the blue-skinned villain as fast as he could only to have Bebi blur out of sight before he could make contact. The Tsufuru-jin swung around to the side of the young warrior quickly, aiming a kick for his ribcage, but was stopped short by the Saiya-jin's fist in his face. Bebi soared across the plains, skidding across the desert floor just as Apio phased overhead, preparing to launch a ki blast at the Tsufuru-jin.

Bebi was quick on his feet, however, and sent a small, sharp-edged ki attack right at the Saiya-jin, which he dodged fairly easily but not before the attack sliced a small gash across his left arm. Apio couldn't believe he had gotten so careless as to not expect such a blatant move and pushed his power slightly ahead, throwing his fist out at Bebi only to have the blue being turn into some kind of goo and wrap around his arm. Apio's eyes widened in shock as he recalled exactly what followed the goo, trying to shake his adversary off of his arm before he was taken control of.

The blue goo was about three inches away from the cut, on the threshold of gaining the revenge it so desperately desired, when another blast cut through the desert air and slammed into Apio's arm. Bebi instantly rematerialized and collapsed to the ground, Apio being thrown a bit to the side with his arm blistering under the heat of the sudden blast. Turning around angrily to see who had interfered with his assimilation of the young Saiya-jin, Bebi felt his stomach drop down into his boots as a chill ran over his body just before another blast slammed into his body.

The Tsufuru-jin's body fizzled away into nothingness, his screams carrying across the desert as each cell was ripped apart from within. Apio was shocked himself, knowing of only a few people who could have pulled such a feat off and turned to face his savior expecting to see his father, Diive, or one of the other Saiya-jin, but none of them even measured up to the man he saw standing before him.

This man was clearly a Saiya-jin, his upper body covered in white fur and a matching tail swishing anxiously behind him as he stared down at the younger man with blue eyes. The weird thing was that this man's head was completely bald, the only hair being his eyebrows and a short-kempt goatee, and the way he carried his body. It reminded Apio remarkably of his father, but the young man didn't see how that could be possible.

"You alright kid?" the massive man spoke, his voice deep, "I didn't get him too late did I?"

"No, you were right on time!" Apio shook his head, "Why did you save me though? I don't even know you."

"Perhaps not, but I know you very well," the bald Saiya-jin smirked, "You and your father, Diive."

"How can you possibly know my father?" Apio huffed, "I've never even seen you before and I've met all of his friends."

"Perhaps you have at that, but you haven't met his parents."

"What do you mean by that?" Apio gulped, raising an eyebrow, "My father's parents are both dead."

"I meant exactly what I said," the bald one chuckled, "Diive, your father, is my son..."

Goten and Trunks were walking around in the city, heading towards the son of Goku's dojo to open it up for the day. The two friends were busy chatting about old times when a loud explosion sounded to the west of them, chunks of building soaring through the air for miles. The two Saiya-jin felt many life energies suddenly burn out, fading away as though they had never been there to start with, and then felt another spike up to unbelievable heights.

Deciding that, with nobody else around at the time, to find out what was going on and took off towards the source of the explosion only to get swatted away by some rapidly moving object before they made it. Pain surged through the untransformed fighter's bodies, but they focused on everything else around them as the two Saiya-jin men pushed their power levels up, golden energy rocking the area as their power went to the LSSJ level in a matter of seconds.

"Well, the monkeys are looking more and more like monkeys every time I see them," a harsh voice chuckled, "That fusion last time was good, but this transformation is quite impressive if I do say so myself."

The two Saiya-jin men turned around quickly to see who had spoken, not able to recognize who they were then either, even though they looked like a member of the Kold family. He was pretty big, easily Brolly's height, with red and white skin that covered him in a sort of patchy style much like Koola's used to, a red tail swishing around behind him as though it was independent of the body.

"You're Janemba, aren't you?" Trunks growled, "Are you the one who did this?"

"Afraid not, but I know who did," Janemba smirked, "Maybe if you can defeat me, I'll be willing to...how do you say it? Spill the beans?"

"If that's the way you want it," Goten smirked, "A pest like you shouldn't be that hard to get out of the way!"

Janemba laughed as his two opponent's charged at him, their fists drawn back to strike him in one place and then another when he moved. The massive demon made no attempt to move, however, and merely stood his ground until just before they made it to him and then faded away from view completely. The two Saiya-jin looked at each other baffled as their fists went through thin air, but that confusion soon faded into anger as Janemba reappeared behind them, knocking both to the ground in one swift attack.

"What was that you said Saiya-jin?" Janemba laughed, "I'm afraid my hearing is a little off, just like your aim!"

"Nice trick, but it won't work again," Trunks huffed, moving into stance, "You are going to die, right here and now!"

"Think so do you?" the demon mocked, "Then show me what you've got, monkey-boy."

"MY PLEASURE!!!!"

NEXT TIME: The evil creature, Bebi, tried vainly to take over Diive's son Apio, but was stopped by the massive Saiya-jin warrior, Nappa! Has this Saiya-jin returned as a friend or could he be the warrior's biggest threat next only to Cell? More importantly, who else has crawled up out of the depths of Hell and how much more powerful have they gotten since last time? Find out in the next installment of Dragonball AS!!!!!!!!