The Universe, Eastern Galaxies, Outer Rim, Frozen Moon
In the farthest reaches of this Universe, hidden away within the Eastern Galaxies — formerly the sole dominion of the current Grand Kaiōshin, known as Shin — was a star system that had faded from memory. It was one of the oldest in the known Universe, and yet, when Shin had devoted his attention to Majin Bū, this particular system had been claimed by another entity. Focused within the star system was a frozen moon, a gigantic, iced-over sphere of rock that orbited the largest planet in the solar system. This lunar body — beautiful in its appearance, gleaming a brilliant white sheen even in the vacuum of space, a faint ring of frost surrounding it — was now being used by a certain individual and their ilk.
Outwardly, it appeared innocuous.
The interior was where the most interesting adjustments and changes had been made.
In what must have been painstaking effort, the entirety of the moon had been hollowed out. Even the core had been gutted, and there was not a trace of the original interior's remains. How the moon remained intact was a mystery to anyone — the loss of a core for a planet or moon usually lead to Armageddon, but this moon continued to orbit its host planet in complete and utter defiance of this simple fact. Whoever had ripped the inside of this moon out wasn't content to stop here, and had given the interior a complete makeover.
To the surprise of those who had first seen it, the inside of the moon was not the stony, cragged interior that one would expect from a hollowed out moon. Instead, the entirety of the inside carried the frozen appearance of the outside — an aesthetic choice by whoever had claimed this satellite — stretching out into an encompassing, frigid tundra. Without explanation, internal workings of the moon seemed to possess its own sky, from which fell a light snowfall. The terrain consisted of sloping frozen hills, frozen canyons and mountains, and in the centre of the moon lay a brilliant lake, defying the weather by shining luminously, reflecting an artificial source of light. At the most distant edge, standing proudly at a height visible to all, was a castle, jutting towards the "sky".
If one wasn't looking for it, it could be easy to miss. While the castle rested at the edge of a cliff, it was constructed out of the same ice as moon in which found itself contained, blending in easily as yet another natural structure. The fortresses icy-walls gleaming with the light that encompassed the entirety of the moon's interior, possessing multiple towers, some rising from an otherwise domed roof. In conventional measurement, the castle was a staggering 60 meters high, perched on this cliff in such a manner made it clear that there was nothing in this realm that the owner of the castle could not 'see'.
Yet it could be said that the interior of this castle was of the most interest. Through the massive, double-doors that composed the entrance, one would be beset by winding corridors connecting to adjacent rooms, some which led to other floors, others to dead-ends, and others to rooms which contained things that only a scientist could find fascinating. The room of the hour, however, was not here. The room in question was the throne room, located at the rear-centre of the first floor of the castle. The room was vast, and empty, devoid of all things but the throne itself, a strange stasis chamber that was located next to it, and the five flickering figures that knelt before the throne. Sitting at the seat was a being shadowed, owing to the fact that the room was kept dark. The only source of light was from the moonlight which pierced through the openings of the castle, and the stasis chamber which cast an eerie glow onto the throne — enough to reveal that the figure was feminine in build.
She turned her attention towards the shimmering figures composed of shadow, her silhouette making it clear that the woman sat with her knuckles resting on her cheek. She spoke, and her voice carried, loud and clear, throughout the dimly light throne room. "I'm pleased to see that the five of you could make it here...and all on such short notice. Are you confident that your locations cannot be so easily discovered? We may be here for more than just a moment." The voice was deeper than average for a female, and certainly commanded presence.
Two of the smallest shadows addressed her first. The one at the end of the procession, their eyes gleaming red despite their incorporeal forms, nodded vigorously. "Yes, ma'am. My sister and I have hidden ourselves away on Gaspa."
"There aren't any sentient species, so we're free to do as we please here." chimed in the shadow of a sister, her eyes equally crimson.
The third his irises a pale blue, and his body seeming absurdly smooth, even as a silhouette, spoke next. "With Lord Beerus active, my Lady, the vast majority of the Freeza army has been completely destroyed. It's no longer a functioning unit in any sense. I've taken up a base for now on one of Freeza's abandoned outposts, for the purposes of this conversation."
Another figure, the fourth, and a woman, judging by the shape of their blinking form, rose her eyes to behold their leader next. "I have found a suitable spot of cover as well, my Lady. I'm acquainted with the inhabitants of K2, and they were more than willing to harbor me for the duration of our meeting."
The final, fifth figure had irises of an ebony hue, and they stared directly into those of the woman they followed. Even his silhouette could not fail to showcase a flickering tail snapping behind him. His voice was deep and mellow, almost addressing her with a cordiality matched by the two smallest. "There aren't any problems here, miss. I met a bit of resistance but...well, Zun didn't offer much in the way of challenging fighters. Oddly proud of their ten-fold gravity, though." He snickered.
"Well then, it would appear that you're all nice and comfortable," continued the throne-perched entity. "I'm pleased, then, that I find you all whole and hale. My preparations are nearly complete. All I ask is for your patience...and when the time comes, you'll all be able to serve a greater purpose. That isn't why I've called you here, however." She dismissed her earlier notion as quickly as she'd brought it up. "While Beerus is certainly troublesome, he and I had a little chat over tea recently...and I was able to garner some fascinating information about something he called the Super Saiyan God."
"Super...Saiyan...God...?" The name bounced between the procession of five, but it seemed to rest with immense curiosity on the lips of the fifth figure. His eyes narrowed intently, and he was completely attentive now.
"Yes, a Super Saiyan God," the shadowed woman carried on, acknowledging the interruption only briefly. "A god borne from a mortal without meddling by the hands of another divine entity. Truly, the Saiyans are remarkable. Even more, he was able to contend with Beerus!" A slurping sound indicated the licking of lips, the female being laughed. "It was a spectacle, truly! I'd never seen a nascent god put on such a performance! So I had to ask Beerus more — I needed to know everything he knew about this Super Saiyan God."
"And he just explained everything that easily?" inquired the female shadow, surprise in her tone. "From what you've told us of Lord Beerus, my lady, I can't imagine he'd give up information so easily."
"You would be correct" agreed the woman, waving it off. "But he and I can't very well fight, can we? Whis wouldn't allow that, not unless he wants to see this Universe go up in smoke. No, with Whis there, we had a begrudgingly peaceable conversation. You see, the idea of a Super Saiyan God fascinated me — someone who could fight with Beerus without necessarily being in my position? But I wanted more than a simple Saiyan...nay, Beerus' Super Saiyan God is of no interest to me." Her tone indicated otherwise; she clearly was, but had relented a chance to acquire Beerus' Super Saiyan God at that time. "I could feel his heart while he fought Beerus. That boy would never see things the way we do. And so I turned my attention to his planet's history...and found the ideal specimen. All thanks to the unwilling assistance of those who call themselves the Red Ribbon Army."
Trailing her sentence off here, she waved her hand towards the stasis chamber at her immediate left — to the right of her subordinates — who looked on in a mixture of amazement and confusion. "I need just a little more time before the table is completely set. And you all are my precious followers. I won't send you to Earth — not just yet. So I concocted this." The entity within the pod was humanoid, but possessed features indicative of insects, creating a strange hybrid appearance that would frighten the faint of heart. "Pulling someone from the very depths of Hell is by no means a simple feat. Greet your newest brother. On Earth, they called him Cell."
A/N: Hello hello! Happy New Year, my readers! I hope your Christmas or other such holiday celebrations found you well enough. This is the first Erased Chronicles chapter of the 2019, and by the gods you all with either love or hate it. It's self-explanatory, so I don't need to go over much. The only thing I feel like I need to go over is planet "K2", as this comes from "teku" (テク), or "tech", i.e. technology. Beyond that, Zun (ズン), or Zoon, and Gaspa (ガスパ) are canonical planets that you can find in the series. While I'm sure a lot of you will be excited for Cell, please look forward to these six individuals. They'll play a huge part in the coming storm of my series! This chapter obviously starts a new arc, so let's go over them again:
"That Girl From Seven Years Ago" Arc — Chapters 1-14
"Tenka-Ichi Budōkai" Arc — Chapters 14-23
"Prince of Destruction" Arc — Chapters 24-37
"Majin Bū" Arc — Chapters 38-54
"Peaceful World" Mini-Arc — Chapters 55-57
"Advent of the Hakaishin" Arc — Chapters 58-83
"Bio-Android Resurgence" Arc - Chapters 84 onward
This time, I would like to thank Firegod00 for proofing, though Demod20 gave it a look as well. I'l see you all soon!