Disclaimer and Words from the Author: First of all, this needs to be said: I own nothing except the plot, Layrial, and a few select other things. This chapter contains actual words spoken by DBZ characters in the episodes that I'm too lazy to list here. Now, for my dear readers and reviewers, take note that first—there are a lot of things missing from what happened in the series, for two reasons: One, I'm lazy and two, I don't feel the need to incorporate everything that happened. Lets see...note that if there are really stupid typos I didn't catch during editing I do apologize for it--my parents gave me a new wireless keyboard for Christmas and I'll have to say that its very odd to use and I'm finding that the backspace key is my personal favorite button to use...heh. Oh, and I hope the length of this chapter makes up for the last. I'm also dreadfully sorry it's taken me longer than I even anticipated writing this. Christmas was busy and I was having trouble getting the inspiration worked up to finish this story off. Now I know the website here will be shutting down posts and such for Dec. 30th, so obviously I won't be posting tomorrow. Whether I'm able to get chapter 20 finished and posted tonight or this weekend is another story—I desperately need to clean my room, so that's what I'm off to do now. Enjoy.
Chapter 19: Heroes of Earth
Cell hadn't been gone as long as I thought he would've been. When I saw him returning I took it upon myself to move away from the center of the arena and back to my normal corner. He said nothing as he landed, but I could tell that his thrill level was rising steadily. Cell was ready for what was to come and he probably felt as if he couldn't wait a moment longer.
To know that I was now stuck between choosing the killer yet my personal savior versus the good people on Earth was something my mind wasn't willing to pick apart. Yes, Cell had killed hundreds if not thousands of people and was preparing himself for finishing off what remained of the human population, not to mention any other living organism that existed on this planet. However, he had been the one to save me in the desert. Several times, actually. He brought me to Nikki Town where I was able to find food, and although it was cruel to bring me to that particular town and keep me as a prisoner, he didn't have to do it. Also, he saved me after I passed out when I tried to walk away. I could've died. I could be watching all of this from some comfy seat in the clouds for all I knew.
"Its time," he said suddenly and I looked up at him. His eyes were menacing, his mouth curved into a devilish smile. Cell was doing all he could to keep himself still, at least that's what I figured from where I sat.
His attention turned to me then and I gave a courteous nod. "Will you wish me luck, Layrial?"
I didn't know how to respond to that. It was almost as if he was daring me pick sides to challenge my conscience. If I said no he could've been disappointed and may not give a damn about what happened to me, which was still a big hope in my mind that he'd decide to spare the Earth because of me. Then again, if I said yes I'd be betraying humanity. Damn, I hated him.
"I don't know," is what I came out with. "What do you want me to say?"
"Oh, I was just curious to see if you'd say yes to me," he replied. "I didn't get my hopes up, if that's what you think." He had suddenly become defensive and I chose not to go into it. I didn't feel like having a fight right before the end of the world began.
Yet it seemed that's exactly what he wanted to do, probably for the mere reason to keep himself occupied while he waited for the first victim to arrive. I don't know what he was getting out of besides enjoyment of making my mind suffer, but I will say that I just wanted to tell him to shut the hole in his face and leave me be with my thoughts.
"Layrial, you are about to witness he biggest battle of all time," he stated. "You should be excited."
"Will it hurt your ego if I say I'm not?"
"It might just that," he replied with a smirk. He walked over to me and looked down with an intimidating smile. "You've tied yourself to me, Layrial. What will you say when this is all over?"
"I don't know," I said quickly. "But I can say I'm not tied to you."
"Oh I think you are."
"We're not a couple, Cell. It's just…"
"Just a what?" He pushed, that grin still spread clear across his pale face.
"…a fling."
"If that's what you want to call it, then by all means." I could tell right then and there that nothing I said would tamper with his mood. He was way too confident to be corrupted by an ill tempered disposition.
When Cell's hand reached out to me I took it without hesitation. I guess that meant that I was comfortable with him now and there was no point to present fear in his presence. To be frank, there wasn't a point to fear. I was pulled to my feet and immediately his arm embraced me around my waist, his other hand venturing up to push a tuff of my hair behind my ear. "This could be our last moment together, dearest Layrial."
Yeah, and it's because you're going to kill me, I thought regrettably. It would've been so much nicer to pretend nothing was going to happen like the rest of the world was doing right about now.
"What if you're the one to die?" I asked without thinking.
"I highly doubt that will be the case," he said softly. His mouth came down and brushed against my left ear; I felt a chill run down my spin when his warm breath blew past my earlobe. "Will you still not consider my off?"
"I will not be the only human alive," I said. "Please stop acting like this."
I wanted to push him away so badly. He was almost blinded and changed by the prospect of his to-be victory. The way he was touching me made my heart race and my brain want to send signals to my vocal chords to scream and my arms to push him away. But I didn't. I stood still and allowed him to do what he wanted. His lips trailed down my jaw and finally our mouths met. And the one thing that my mind came up with wasn't what I thought it would—what would anyone say if they found this scene?
When Cell moved away a few inches, my eyes dove into his deep magenta hues. What was he thinking that made him look so calm and such? Did I even want to know? No, I didn't….
"I wish I didn't have to say that that will be the last time we will be in each other's embrace, but that was your choice."
"Stop," I said quietly and turned my gaze to the desert around us.
"I realize we've been down this road before, Layrial, but I want to see if it's changed since the last encounter," he said. "Do you love me?"
"No," I said without hesitation. "I could never love you…."
Cell removed himself from my arms which I hadn't noticed encircled around his torso. "Well then, at least we still agree on something."
My head shot back up to look at him with a needy expression. I thought…well…. No, it was stupid. How could I let such a possibility flood my senses? Then again, if I had been a little more honest with him, maybe he would have been with me as well.
"I'd find a spot to place yourself, my dear," Cell said as he walked away. "There is a van approaching. You don't want people to start to wonder what's been taking place here." I made no reply as I backed away and stepped off the ring to sit down on the grass that bordered the arena.
At first I thought he might've been imagining the fact that someone was already heading out here because I saw absolutely nothing. I should know by now that it's not worth doubting him because he usually proves me wrong. In the distance I saw a cloud of dust and moments later a white van was indeed approaching.
ZZTV had sent out their crew to broadcast the tournament. I wasn't surprised. They usually did send out their people to cover anything that could make them say that had been brave enough to do it. And I highly doubted with Sazuke's situation at WMTV that I'd be seeing any of my old co-workers that had yet to quit.
The van halted a distance away and I could see two people emerge and skitter across the rocky terrain. They disappeared for a moment, but I saw that Cell's eyes kept track of where they were going. He looked away once they had peered over the top of a large rock they had apparently climbed to keep themselves at a safe distance. I couldn't tell who it was from where I sat, but I'm sure I'd know them the moment they found the nerve to get closer…the cowards.
"And yet another unexpected vehicle approaches," Cell said rather quietly, but probably only made the announcement for my benefit. I turned and looked in the direction he did and saw a rather long, shiny black limousine driving up. I knew who this was…it could only belong to one person stupid enough to think they could stand a small chance against Cell.
My assumptions were correct. The door of the limo opened and out stepped a tall, husky man wearing the traditional martial arts garb and a white cape. His hair seemed to be puffier than I remembered, but I knew that Hercule was here to prove himself to the world once again. I loathed that man…it made me sick just to look at him.
Hercule walked steadily to the ring, not giving a care that his limo made a hasty retreat behind him. Once at the ring side he stopped, raised a hand and gave Cell a thumb's down. "You're going down!"
I wanted to just take a nap. It wasn't worth my time to see this idiot act so ridiculously in front of a camera just to make people think he was the savior of everything. I especially wanted do just that when he motioned for the cameraman and reporter to get closer so he could gloat more.
To my even greater disgust, I discovered the man that hurried forward was none other than Gerald Firecracker, idiotic superstar of ZZTV. I couldn't stand that man—his attitude and appearance made me want to gag. His hair was combed flat, his glasses overpowered his thin face and he shaved his moustache so thin I wondered why he kept it. The young man holding the camera was Tom Mee, who I had met once before and he seemed nice enough. Actually, he shared my opinion for Gerald so that automatically won him bonus points.
I let my eyes focus back on Cell, who appeared not to give a damn about what was taking place. Obviously these weren't the people he was interested in seeing. I wondered just how much longer it would before that other guy—Goku—made his grand appearance.
"I'm gonna spank you Cell!" I heard suddenly and I alerted my attention back on Hercule. He was standing there making cheap calls and gestures at Cell as if to intimidate him. While he was doing so, though, Gerald looked around and spotted me. He snickered and walked over, nudging Tom to follow.
"I believe I've met you before," he said in a high-pitched voice that was so fake I wanted to puke. "Why are you out here all by yourself?"
"None of your business," I said back. "I suggest you keep an eye on dumbbell over there instead of wasting your time figuring me out."
Tom moved away to do just that, but Gerald covered his microphone. "Just make sure you keep your nose out of my broadcast—although it seems your co-workers already deserted you on this assignment."
I stuck my tongue out at his retreating form. He appeared alongside Hercule and egged him on. This was just too sick for me to want to witness. I had half a mind to get up and leave. If Cell were to now ask me who I would want to win, I'd automatically say him.
I had spent the next ten minutes blocking out the babble of Hercule and Gerald, letting my thoughts wonder about nothing and my eyes take in the scenery I became very familiar with. My trance was broken though when the noise in the background became suddenly silent and everyone's attention turned to the sky. A flash of light streaked across the blue sky and then form into a man that landed gently on the rocky ground next to the ring. My eyes became a little wider as I took this guy in—short, yet buff to extreme measures with hair that stood straight up over a stern, angry-looking face. Gerald ran over to him, but I heard him being quickly denied. I liked the new stranger—he too was already annoyed with this crap.
Not even a minute later another figure landed, but Cell seemed more amused by this arrival than he was with the first. This guy was extremely tall, perhaps more so than Cell, and wore strange clothes topped with an orange Mohawk.
"Android Sixteen, you're still alive and kicking! And with beautiful repairs, no less," Cell said. Apparently this guy was also an android, as I understood, and something must've happened to him before. I dared to think Cell blew him up.
Again, more chants and stuff came flying out of Hercule's mouth, but I ignored it all. My brain only came back to reality when I saw no one or two, but nearly half-a-dozen streaks of light in the sky. With the same smile plastered across Cell's face, I knew this had to be the bunch he was waiting for.
And so it was. Centered amongst the group was the same man I had met days before, hair as blonde as ever and disposition calm and unyielding to his opponent. A young boy with a similar appearance stood next to him and several others around them, including this drop-dead gorgeous guy with lavender hair….and a tall oddly dressed, green fellow with a turban. I didn't ask.
"Welcome, welcome everyone!" Cell said cheerfully. His attention was clearly on the recent arrivals, who talked amongst themselves.
Apparently Hercule and his little friends didn't like the fact that the attention wasn't on the World Champion because Gerald suddenly broke out into the infamous "Hercule Rules!" chant. I was more than happy to see the others weren't buying it.
"I'm not going to wait around for you to hurt innocent bystanders, Cell," Hercule started. "I'm going to give you one last chance to back down before I pound your face!"
The brute reached inside his shirt and pulled out a small capsule that, once activated, turned into a blue duffle bag. Everyone, including Cell, watched in mild amusement to see what the heck this guy was doing. Gerald was going on about Hercule preparing himself, but I tried my best to tune him out. Although I suppose he was right, because Hercule pulled out tiles and stacked them to nearly half his height. I wondered what the heck he thought he'd be accomplishing, but I guess he thought he could scare Cell by smashing all of them into rubble.
Cell remained still. In fact, his eyes weren't even on Hercule—they were peering over his shoulder to the group behind him. Goku must be the one he wanted to meet in battle, not even anyone else.
Hercule snorted and jumped in front of Cell. "Alright buster lets get this started! Hawww!"
Cell unfolded his arms as Hercule jumped up and positioned his body into a kicking stance. He lunged forward, his foot raised, and made the attempt to kick Cell's head. The android didn't even flinch. He stood still as Hercule delivered punch after punch, kick after kick, and his mouth throwing out obscene cracks every few seconds.
"And now for my finish!" He yelled out loud enough for the next city over to hear.
As quickly as it had started it had ended. Cell, standing perfectly straight and still, flung out his arm like a stick and Hercule was gone. I looked in the direction behind the android where everyone else had turned to and saw Hercule picking himself up in the distance. I wanted to burst out laughing, but that would've destroyed the peaceful silence of Gerald. It was wonderful. Cell had barely done anything to get the idiot out of the ring. Pathetic!
"Let's get the tournament underway," Cell said. "Will it be Goku to start things off?"
"Let's do it," Goku replied as he stepped up onto the platform. He walked calmly across the arena and stopped maybe ten feet from where Cell was. From where I sat, Goku was facing me and Cell's back was all I saw of him. I couldn't tell what was on his face, but I'm sure it was glee and utter excitement. For a split second, though, I caught Goku's gaze. If I saw right, he gave me a very slight nod, as if to say he was glad to see I was ok. I guess he didn't know that I had ventured away from here and returned on my own free will. Why the hell did I do that anyway?
During this, though, Hercule had made his way back to the party. He, Gerald and Tom had huddled together on the opposite side of the ring where I sat, so I couldn't really hear what was being said. Tom kept his camera on the two opponents that were about to start, but Gerald was content with interviewing the nerd-ball.
"As I'm sure you know by now," Cell said, "I've been waiting for this. Killing the helpless quickly grows old. I look to you for amusement while I test my body."
I stared at Cell's tall form and the glossy black wings that sprouted from his shoulders. He was so damn arrogant that it was almost a surprise to think that he actually figured he couldn't be beaten. I mean, look at the people that turned out to fight him! They all look like they live in a gym and spend their whole lives working out. Cell was one against many…how could he think he wouldn't eventually get tired?
"I hear you're designed to use all of our techniques against us," Goku said in reply to Cell's comment.
"Perfection."
Yeah; ultimate perfection. This was going to be a long end of my life…
One last note: I hope you guys aren't disappointed that I cut out Coroni and Pieroshki (or whatever his name is) and that cutsie girl, but I honestly have no need for their stupidity and their appearance. Besides, I have made the decision that this story will end with 21 chapters, for reasons I'll disclose later. So basically, adding them in would be a waste and would take away from what I want to get out in the final two chapters. Also, I'm giving you a heads up—don't be surprised when I cut out a lot of fighting sequences of the battles to take place. Until we meet again, my friends….