Chapter 2: The way it shouldn't have been

I think I may have dozed off for a while during our trip to the location Sazuke had given us. I never saw it, but he claims that this Cell creature invaded one of our competitors—ZZTV—and broadcasted to the whole world what he was going to do and where. I didn't even really ask exactly what this plan was until we were out of the city—it hadn't been in my best interest to know until now.

"He said he's holding a martial arts tournament," Chuck told me. He was our camera man. "I didn't see it live, but we got a hold of the tape from them early this morning."

"A martial arts tournament, huh?" I remember when I was a kid how my brother absolutely loved the martial arts tournaments. He never missed a broadcast and one year we were lucky enough to go to one that had been sold out. I didn't really see the point of jumping around and smacking people, but that's just me. Give me a trip to the beach any day.

"He's not even human!" Taka remarked. "You should see that face! I mean, he's got all these colors and some weird thing on his head…and what he did before he left made me freak out. I don't know why I agreed to come out here with you guys!"

"Because you were offered a raise like I was and chance to get a boost into your acting career," Chuck said. "Just keep driving, okay?"

"Yeah, sure thing chief," Taka said dimly. "If I die, I'll come back and haunt you."

I laughed. They were odd at times, but both of them kept me amused. Taka was fresh out of college, but his degree for acting landed him as the bus-boy, so to speak. He was cute enough—short, pale, thin—and he had this funky hairstyle that I've never seen anyone get away with without the word "freak" coming to mind. He was unique alright, but I loved him anyway. Chuck, on the other hand, had a calm and smooth disposition, but he wasn't afraid to speak his mind. He was older than me and knew a hell of a lot more, but I trusted him with my life. If anyone could protect us from this whacko he could. He had the scar on his face to prove that he had been in fights before.

I didn't ask many more questions about this Cell guy, figuring if they told me too much I'd lose my nerve and demand to go back. I needed this though—I had the confidence to do it right and when I got back Sazuke would be praising me like I was a queen.

"Hey Layrial," Taka said and I opened my eyes. With the slight grogginess I felt I was sure I had fallen asleep. I sat up a little straighter and looked out the window. "We're nearly there," he finished.

I looked around to see what I expected—nothing. It was as I knew it to be—dirt, mountains and rocks. There were some grassy patches here and there, but otherwise that was it. I looked over my shoulder and saw Chuck was replacing the lens on the camera in the back. Taka looked nervous, but didn't say anything about it. Was this Cell creature that bad? The description Taka had said about him 'not being human' struck me and I wondered what he meant by it. I heard the reports about the monster in Nikki Town and all I could think of was some green alien with huge ugly eyes, four arms and a big head. I never saw the picture of him, if there was one, but my imagination liked to run whiled sometimes.

"How far are we?" I asked, trying to get a glimpse at the distance gauge, but it was at a bad angle.

Taka glanced down for a moment. "About 24 miles from the station," he replied. "Only four more to go."

I sighed and looked out the window, using my arm as a leaning post for my head. I was starting to get hungry and although I knew there was usually snacks in the back I didn't dare eat them yet with my nervous stomach. For someone that was so used to being in the spot light amongst peers, you'd think I would be handling this easier.

Taka was usually a speed demon, but today he was going much slower. I could tell he wasn't happy. Actually, I bet I could guess exactly what was on his mind. From what I've heard, Cell murdered hundreds of people—nearly an entire town!—and now he threatened the whole planet by claiming if no one could beat him in this tournament he'd destroy everything and everyone. I highly doubted that; no one could do such a thing by themselves without some military ensemble at their fingertips. But I did wonder what he would do when he saw us show up. Would he try to kill us? Or would he just tell us to get lost and make me push my way into his head to get answers?

"Look," Taka said in a broken voice and pointed out the window. Chuck moved up and looked over the front seat between us. I turned my head to look directly forward and I saw what my young friend was looking at. In the near distance was something white, something that was definitely out of place with the rest of the landscaping.

"That it?" Chuck asked.

"I think so," I said and looked at the note with the directions. "Are we 28 miles in area S, point five?"

Taka's eyes shifted to the navigator screen on the dashboard. "Yeah…27 and a half."

I saw him try to swallow the lump in his throat. Chuck said nothing, but I noticed the sweat forming at his hairline. I, on the other hand, tried to get prepared for anything that could happen. I pulled out my haughty attitude that usually intimidated people enough to speak without pushing me away. I looked behind towards Chuck and asked him where my microphone was.

"Shit, there he is," Taka said and took his foot off the gas to let the van coast.

I turned back around and saw a figure standing in the center of what I could now make out as a square, white fighting ring, complete with four cone-shaped pillars at each corner. I could tell that this Cell guy was wearing green and black and what appeared to be some sort of black cape, but any other features were still too small to see at our distance.

"Just keep driving," Chuck said again and handed me my cordless microphone. I clutched it in my right hand and stared at it like I had never seen it before. Was I ready for this?

You bet, a small part of my mind confirmed. But…be ready to run…just in case.

I held my breath as we neared the end of the paved road—it seemed to have been chopped off suddenly, as if someone came in and decided they wanted it to end without it leading anywhere.

"Guys, I can't go out there," Taka said, his face starting to turn a pale shade of green.

"Get a hold of yourself," I said.

"Whatever you took to keep yourself calm give me some because I'm about to lose my mind here!"

I said nothing. Before the van rolled off the edge of the road, Taka stopped and put it in park. He was practically hyperventilating, but he was the first to open the door. I sat still for a moment and looked at Cell from where we were. We were something around twenty meters from him, but I could see him in full view just the same. And I was surprised at what I saw.

Taka was right—he wasn't human. At least, not dressed like one. What I thought to be a black cape turned out to be some sort of stiff, decorative wings that reminded me of a cockroach. His body was speckled green, with the exception for his shins and calves, chest and shoulders—they were a shiny black. His head was incased with some sort of strange looking helmet that rose like a two-sided crown that too was green and the top of his skull round, smooth and black.

My face turned into disgust as I wondered what the hell was in this guy's head to think he might look cool or something. And the way he stood there, his left side to us with his head slightly cocked in our direction, I wondered who the hell he thought he was.

I opened the door and jumped out, fixing my blouse and making sure my hair was still neat. I leaned over and glanced in the side mirror of the van and was fairly satisfied with my face's appearance. Chuck appeared behind me with the camera hoisted on his shoulder.

"Ready?" I asked.

"No," Taka said, but followed us anyway.

I walked defiantly ahead of both of them, my back straight and head high. I wasn't afraid…I refused to be afraid…

I neared the edge of the ring and from where I stood I could see that I was partially wrong on my vision of this…thing. He wasn't completely green. His neck was a grayish-white, jaw outlined with a yellow plate, and next to that was a bit of purple before the rest of his face took on the same coloring as his neck. He looked human enough to me, which gave me the impression he was in some dorky-looking costume to hide his identity.

This is it Layrial…there's no turning back! Although when I gazed up to those cold and stern magenta eyes I wondered if there was any logic in my decision to be out here.

To get onto the ring's platform I'd have to take a giant step up, since it was built nearly half my height from the dirt ground. I glanced over to see where Chuck and Taka were, and to my disappointment they weren't with me. Not exactly, that is. Chuck was several meters behind me, probably using the camera to zoom in for a better look and Taka was even further away than that. I sighed and made a mental note to smack them on our way home.

Cell kept his eyes on me as I climbed up and stood on the edge of the tiled ring. I gave him the best smile I could muster and continued to stand up straight as I made my way to him. My hand was a little sweaty around the microphone, but I ignored the fact that it could be nervousness; instead, I blamed it on the warm, late spring day.

"Good afternoon," I said, trying very hard not to let him notice any stress in my voice. I wasn't sure yet just how smart he was. "I'm Layrial Adercon and I'd like to engage you in an exclusive interview."

I waited for a moment to hear a reply, but none came. He still stared at me. I cleared my throat to continue and to get his attention just in case his head happened to be locked in my direction but nothing was sinking in through that thick helmet. "Well, let's start by asking why you decided to create a tournament on your own? And why way out here?"

Again no reply came and I could feel my stomach turning the nerves off so the rest of my body could feel my blood start to heat up. For a second I thought he was going to actually be polite and turn towards me instead of looking at me from the side, but instead his eyes closed and head turned to the front of where he stood.

I was starting to get agitated. I looked over to where Chuck and Taka stood and was a bit happier to see they both moved closer and were nearly at the ring side. I looked back at Cell and put my hands on my hips. "Excuse me, didn't you hear me? Are you deaf or something?"

"The stupidity amongst you humans is almost shocking."

My eyes widened and my body relaxed a bit when I heard him speak. It wasn't what I expected him to say…not to mention his voice was no were near what I pretended to already know. His words came out smoothly in such a deep elegant voice that I almost forgot what he said. How could someone who spoke so clearly and delicately be dangerous?

It came back to me though. "Excuse me?" I repeated again.

His eyes opened and he barely turned his head back enough to face us again. "I believe you are the one hard of hearing," he said and it was then I realized that not only did his voice have that sort of flair you get from the Romeos in romantic movies, but he had an accent to go along with it—light British, I think.

"You're the second news crew to come out here in the same day," he continued, obviously caring nothing about my first two questions. "If I had wanted more publicity I would have sought it, but you people are insistent on doing things your way."

"Excuse me?" I really wish I would learn to say something else…I don't know what provoked me to say it for a third time.

Obviously he thought the same thing. "Is that all you're able to say now? It seems the big flashy reporter is losing her sudden nerve for an exclusive interview."

"I'm fine, you jerk, so answer my questions!" Where that came from, I have no idea.

"I think not," he said and it was at that point he turned completely towards us. His body was…large. I could see every muscle in his arms, torso and legs, not an ounce of him being made of fat. He was a little strangely put together around the stomach and hips, but I didn't bother picking him apart any further once he uncrossed his arms.

"Do you want to get paid or something? I'll call up my manager and he'll write you a check. Then maybe you can answer my questions." The harsh look in his eyes should've been enough to tell me to shut up.

"Ignorant fool," he said and his arm started to elevate, becoming parallel to the floor beneath his yellow feet.

Before I realized it, I heard Taka yell out and the moment I turned my head to see him running like mad something bright and hot flew by me, making me lose my balance. I tried twisting around as I fell on my backside, but I wish I hadn't. Cell shot something—something I can't even begin to describe other than a bright white flash—that streaked towards Taka. There was a sharp yell, a loud bang, and then the dust from the ground blurred my vision of everything else.

Chuck had slanted the camera on his shoulder so it was pointing towards the ground and although I could barely see his face, I knew he was appalled. My whole body became paralyzed and I couldn't get my mouth to close. I looked on as the dust cleared…and to my own horrified thoughts there was nothing there except a burnt spot on the ground.

"Holy shit," Chuck said and zipped around to look at me. I thought that maybe he'd come grab me, but instead he dumped the camera and ran for his life.

I tried to get to my feet to follow after him, but my sweaty hands slipped on the cold, smooth surface of the tiles and I remained in the same spot. I looked on helplessly at Chuck as he headed towards the van, but in a heartbeat I heard something fly by me. I couldn't believe what I was seeing—Cell had taken flight and was heading effortlessly towards Chuck faster than I've ever seen—and his feet weren't even close to the ground.

I screamed out the minute Chuck turned around and yelled in Cell's face. The guy…no…the monster didn't even plant his feet back on the ground before he kicked Chuck's terrified body into the air. My head drew back and I watched with my hands over my mouth as he flew high enough that he was nothing but a small dot against a blue background. I heard a brief chuckle somewhere in front of me and then another lightening shot came from the creature's hand…and destroyed Chuck in mid-air.

I wanted to scream; I wanted to cry, but I was so scared that neither of those two emotions would work. I tried to get up again, and when I realized I had twisted my ankle from slipping during my first attempt to run the tears started to hit. They escaped when Cell turned back at me and slowly walked back to his arena, every step he took making an odd squeak.

Frozen to the spot, I sat there and watched him approach; his mouth curled into an arrogant smile, his sharp eyes so-sure-of themselves, proving that he took delight in his actions. And it was at that point I realized that my decision to be better than everyone else was the biggest, not to mention dumbest thing I've ever done.