Yo! Son Goku and friends!

by Lucky8ofspades

If you've ever found yourself wanting Yamcha, Krillin, Tien, or Piccolo to contribute in the latter half of Dragon Ball, then this is the story for you. There is but one simple goal in this story. It's not about fighting, it's about martial arts.

44. They've Waited Patiently

Yo! Son Goku and friends! Cell Saga (Chapter 6)

Raditz

"Nice to have you here, Raditz. Come, have a seat anywhere."

"Thank you." The Saiyan answered back with a graceful bow, taking a seat near Mic at his left side.

"So you want a position here with us?"

"Y-yes." Raditz nodded and straightened his red tie tightly.

"Have you had any previous experience in this field before?"

"Yes. Back in outer… back in the day I and many other colleagues took jobs securing locations and making sure it was fit for the clientele."

"You know what this job entails, right?"

Raditz raised a brow, not totally sure.

"Uhm~"

"If you take a bodyguard position with The Budokai, you will no longer be able to participate in the tournament."

"..."

"A strong guy like yourself, eager to prove your worth… That's a pretty big sacrifice, no?"

Raditz averted his sharp eye contact and stared up at the lazy ceiling fan as the bright blues of the sky had very much faded away into the purple and orange smoothie dusk calls for.

"Not particularly."

"Why not? You even got to Grand Finals in The 24th. You're not gonna be bothered by never taking the title?"

"Hmm~ Let me phrase it this way… Back in my old job people were always looking to step on others, not even cause they really even hated each other but more that they cared so much about being above someone. I've seen decent folk turn into monsters just cause it was that much safer to be higher up on the totem pole. Competition doesn't really tickle my fancy anymore, I've had the concept ruined for me a little bit I suppose."

Mic said nothing, only fixing his sunglasses and letting the big man talk.

"I mostly look to be better than I was yesterday. The only one I'm competing with now is myself. I learned a lot from one of my brother's best friends."

"I see."

"..."

"Wise words. I can trust you to handle any discrepancies or altercations then?"

"I heard about The 25th and I feel bad about it, so that's why I'm here. We're lucky none of those attendees got hurt."

Mic smiled brightly, hollywood style as he stood up in a huff and extended out his right arm invitingly.

"Welcome to the team."

"Hah! Really?"

"I've been wanting to hire one of Goku's friends for a long time ever since The 23rd. That tournament was way too out of hand for my taste. It's why we took so long to rebuild. If we had someone like you around it'd keep the sanctity of the tournament intact and force people into actually doing what they're supposed to. Now we have rules instated as to the fact that as a member of the bracket, we're not responsible for your death, but now we have some insurance." Mic said with his shining whites twinkling as he patted on Raditz' shoulder.

Cell

The sunburnt sky loomed over the three men as Jed handed off the item he promised for a job well done. Nighttime had finally come.

"You have 5 more, Dragonballs, to gather, Cell. Get to work."

"Yes, Doctor."

"Remember. You are the perfect creation, you have no need to feel bad for these lesser organisms. Got it?"

"I don't..?"

"Never. It is Survival of the Fittest."

A bit of Cell's melancholy lifted as the two doctors bagged the Capsules and left the premises. Jed looked on from inside the house, peering through the curtains as the strange visitors walked away with the crystalline orb.

Ga-Chuik! Bee! Bee!

"Well, the next Dragon Ball is..? West..? Maybe? Is that west? I guess so."

Cell put away the radar and flexed his muscles, gauging the newly acquired strength from The King. A flicker of doubt crossed his mind regardless, two lives now cut short for his own.

It didn't feel good.

"Hahhh~" He let out in a heavy sigh, looking towards the mix of purples, blues, and oranges swirled together in the myriad beyond. "Father and Kochin are very smart men. I wouldn't be here without them so I suppose I should trust them…"

Cell elected not to think about it too much, checking the radar one more time before blasting off into the aether with a flap of his wings, the resounding echo blowing away a bit of the surrounding farmland and white picket fences.

FOOSHH!

"Whoa~ I didn't mean to do it that hard…"

Cell's thoughts lulled and he let himself go blank as he soared through the clouds.

Maloja

The sun set outside Baba's palace as ghosts and ghouls looked on, appalled and shocked at a new winner. The moon wasn't in full swing but that didn't matter, the yellow light emanating from the celestial body still illuminated the coliseum in a beautiful mix of natural lighting both from the top and from the surroundings as Baba had many a torch lighting the circular outside arena.

"I didn't see this coming in a million years."

"You Never thought I was good enough, you old witch."

"Cause you weren't. You goofed off and made excuses. You're still not even a fortuneteller, Maloja."

Bandages crawled around on the ground, aching from the pain and falling out of the arena and into the water, reflecting the moon in the night time.

"Fortune telling is for those who can't shape their own destiny."

"How funny you'd say such a thing since you came to me to tell your destiny." Baba shot back with a wicked smile.

"You have to sit back and watch as the world changes around you, Baba. I'm only using your service as a means to an end and to prove just how wrong you were about me."

"Perhaps I was." She mused. "So what!? You still need my help."

"The Dragon Balls. You said they were nothing but a legend long ago, is that still true?"

"No." She lamented, looking out into the calm waters surrounding the palace.

Maloja stared at the old woman with an ethereal gaze.

"They're real. What do you-"

"They grant any wish?"

"Something like that. As long as it's within The Eternal Dragon's power to do so."

"So I could wish for immortality?"

"More or less. I believe Demon King Piccolo wished for that all those years ago."

"Perfect." Maloja answered with a strong mind and an iron fist. "Tell me where they are, Baba."

"You get one fortune, Maloja. Or have you forgotten?"

"You were always a money-grubbing hag."

Dr. Challenger

The sun peeked through the bottom of the skyline as dawn approached. A well dressed elderly man with a black coat and jeans parked his car, turning it off and checking himself in the rearview mirror. He stepped out of the older black vehicle and walked up the steps of a building labeled:

The Royal Academy of Science

He fixed his tie one last time before pushing the doors open to the more rural-looking establishment. It wasn't poorly taken care of or anything, but the name left a lot to be desired considering it was made of mostly brick and shoved into a small pocket on the street. It could have been mistaken easily for one of the many apartment buildings right next to it.

"Doctor!" A woman greeted, all smiles as she talked to a receptionist typing down something at the front desk.

"Ms. Nain." He greeted her warmly with a bow of his head.

"Aren't you just bursting with excitement?" She asked joyously, shoes clicking on the tile as she joined him in a walk down the chrome halls.

"Hah-hah~" The man laughed with all the energy an old man can have. "I try not to get too excited for my own good these days."

"You play too much, Doctor."

The man shook his head as he flung the doors open to a room with a clear reasoning:

Meeting Room 2

"Hello, gentlemen. All on time, I see."

A balding man who still had a little bit hanging on at the back wiped his glasses on his yellow button up and brandished a smile.

"I didn't want to keep you waiting, Challenger. Wouldn't wanna ruin this new gig. I've had quite enough of my fair share of excitement… This life and the next."

"What is up with you guys?" She questioned, still keeping her upbeat demeanor. "Is this how I'm gonna be when I'm your age?"

"He-Hah-Hah-Hah!" The not-quite bald man laughed as he fixed the last bit off his glasses and put them on. "Life has a way of stealing your excitement from you whether you want it or not. That or the excitement is a little too much for anyone."

"Vell, I am ready veneva anyvone else is." The final man in a stark yellow waistcoat called out as he flapped it, scratching at his puffy blue afro and then subsequently his mustache.

"If everyone is ready…" Dr. Challenger motioned to everyone with an enthused wave of the hand. "We'd better get going, post haste!"

The crew followed him out the building just the same as he came in, the three others waving to the receptionist as they walked out into the street and then subsequently into the parking lot. In no time at all they were already on 'the road', flying through the air as Ms. Nain checked the maps.

"Just a refresher, Nain."

"Yes?"

"What's our ETA for Kyodai?"

"A little over three hours, sir."

"Alright, I guess we had better play some tunes then."

"Couldn't hurt." She shot back with a cheery smile from the passenger side.

Raditz

Raditz walked back into Capsule Corp. with a bit of swagger to him, enough so that Mrs. Brief commented on it.

"Oh youa' lookin' pretty confident today."

"Am I?" Is all Raditz said back, brandishing a cheeky smile. Mrs. Brief just laughed as The Saiyan hoofed it up the stairwell to the loft.

Bulma, Oolong, Puar, Yamcha, Gohan, Piccolo and Trunks were all corralled into the somewhat large room and spaced accordingly.

"Oh hey, it's the other dude with a tail."

"What's good, Oolong?"

"Not much." The pair high fived as Raditz laid his arms over the back of the couch, eyeing the TV with the rest of the inhabitants. "Just watching these people argue over houses that are already out of these buffoon's price range. It's amazing just how out of touch people are with their own finances."

"Hey, Uncle Raditz."

"What's good, Kid?"

"Yeah, these people really don't seem to understand. But the weird thing is that this is like the norm I guess."

"Mongrel."

"Green Man."

"Did you get it?"

"Yup."

"Awesome!" Bulma greeted cheerily, hugging onto Raditz' large frame.

"Huh?" He blushed at the sincerity of the gesture.

Bulma backed off and zoomed around the counter to get drinks. Raditz hopped over the ledge and plopped down on the couch in the middle of Gohan and Piccolo, forcing Oolong up against the armchair on the left side.

"Wow. I thought we had an understanding."

"My bad." Raditz' giggle didn't have much space to light up the room any extra as Bulma handed him, Gohan, and Oolong some water. "Thank you."

"Thanks, Bulma."

"Finally." The Pig breathed out as the cold container trickled into his fuzzy fingertips.

Bulma just gave Oolong an icy cold glare as she returned to her laptop behind the counter, picking up and putting on her glasses. Yamcha stole a kiss which in turn ushered a blush as he sat next to her on one of the stools. The Wolf bobbed the small child up and down for a while as he looked around with intrigue.

Raditz shot several glances at Gohan during his stay at the building while the dawn crept into noon and then almost midday.

"Gohan?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you would be willing to help me again?"

The whole loft just looked at Raditz with a bit of trepidation.

"What..? He's stronger now, cut me some slack. Green Man and 4 for 5 are here too. I don't have to be doing it by myself."

The others looked to each other for validation and some wise words but it was Gohan who broke the silence.

"Sure thing!"

"Thanks."

In an instant, the chrome deck was already preoccupied with everyone excluding the two Saiyans.

"I always wondered what this thing was for." Oolong commented as he hopped up onto the large windowsill, aiming down at Raditz and Gohan with hand-mimed binoculars.

Bulma tapped away feverishly on the computer before Piccolo vanished and then reappeared with several cases of water.

"Oh my." Oolong spoke up once again as he noticed the pair taking off their clothes. "How scandalous."

"Hagh-hagh-hagh!" Yamcha laughed out loudly with his hand placed firmly on the device.

Soon enough, everyone was ready to go and Piccolo sent out one last flicker of Telepathy.

"Gohan, try your best to hang on. You've always been good at being docile while in that ape form but we need you to actually get ahold of your complex thought."

"R~right!"

Gzzzzzzz~Yuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu~

The turquoise beams struck and the two Saiyans eyed the artificial moon like mad dogs before their bodies began to warp and alter under the stimuli.

"Come on, Gohan, talk to me." He relayed with some strain, putting his left hand harshly on the glass.

"Yes, Piccolo?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"We… we've already been through this."

"I know, but you've got to tell me anyway."

Gohan's maw started to shift and break out into the beastly ape-wolf as he grew in stature. The lashback of the Telepathy started to put a hefty load on Piccolo's mind like white noise.

"Bulma…" Is all Gohan shot back for a while. Piccolo thought it had been lost, breathing out a sigh and stepping away from the glass, turning around to leave.

"..."

"Bulma. I want to be a pioneer like Bulma and her family..." Gohan finally spoke again as he put his growing ape hand against the chrome wall, Piccolo's eyes widening as he looked on from the red catwalk. "Mr. Brief created something the world has never seen. I don't know exactly…"

"ROUUUHHHHH!" Raditz bellowed as he transformed into the beast, beating on his chest and smacking up against the walls of the cylindrical space.

"What I'm gonna do, but… I think I'd like to be a pioneer like her…" Gohan spoke with full calm and collectedness as he eyed the glass from the darkness.

"He did it!" Bulma screamed as she just about fell out of her chair. "He's looking right at us!"

"Piccolo?" Yamcha yelled in an inquisitive tone from across the way.

The Demon walked back into the control room gallantly, cape flaring at the revelation.

"Yep. Gohan is speaking to me, here you go." He gave out the line to everyone.

"Bulma?"

"I'm right here, kid. Excellent job."

"Thanks… It's kind of scary down here. And loud."

"You need any help? Me and Piccolo will bust in there as soon as possible." Yamcha said as his eyes sharpened into fight mode.

"No. I don't think so… I'd just… I'd feel more safe if~"

Before Gohan even finished the sentence.

"-dad was here."

Vsh!

"Huh? What's up, Piccolo? Hey guys!"

"Hi, Goku." Bulma said.

"Hi dad!"

"Gohan, where are you?"

"He's down there."

"Oh! You guys are trying a second time?"

"Well, third for Raditz." Yamcha stated as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What do you need my help for?"

"Well, Gohan would feel more safe if you were here." Piccolo stated matter-of-factly.

"Hey, you can rely on them just as much as me, Gohan. With Piccolo and Yamcha looking after you, you should have no problem."

The genuineness of Goku and the consistency with which he spoke highly of his friends always managed to bring out the fluffy blushes from everyone.

"But…" Goku continued as he blitzed down the hall.

Yamcha touched the button on the side and the hatch soon opened.

"Bulma."

"Yes?"

"Turn on the lights." The Demon stated as Goku made the rounds, kicking off the chrome hallways on his way towards the secret entrance.

"Are you sure?" Bulma asked with a bit of unease, Piccolo's cold but still distinctly confident demeanor broke her and she switched the lights on the inside.

Yamcha ran back quickly and handed off Trunks to Oolong.

"Oh wow. Never thought I'd see the day."

"His name's Trunks."

"Pig." Trunks commented plainly as he stared down at Oolong.

"I don't like how this kid's almost taller than me. How old is this guy?"

"Three."

"Three!? What are you feedin' him?"

"Oolong. You're like not even three feet tall. It's not that hard to be taller than you."

"It's four feet, ma'am. Though I know those kinds of nuances aren't your forte. I mean Goku barely passed that threshold for like five years."

"Well Goku's strange. Gohan's not even 15 and he's taller than Goku was at that age so I think that's just a weird Goku thing."

Soon enough, Piccolo, Goku, and Yamcha had entered the chrome hall. Raditz banged like mad until the lights turned on and the burning fluorescents hit a bit harshly. Gohan shielded his large red eyes too until he saw the three men floating around him for back up. Something about it just hit him, he could see a Titans hat Yamcha had on and:

Gohan recalls the first time he went hunting for The Dragon Balls and that red Titans cap he gave him as a memento.

Gohan began to change again, much to the dismay of Piccolo.

"What's happening!?"

"You think I'd know!?" Yamcha yelled back as he fixed the green cap atop his head.

Raditz roared with the booming voice of a God, charging up an ethereal pink beam in his maw.

"Guys! Get ready!" Goku cried out as the pink plasma fired.

The brother got in the way of the blast, manhandling it with his palms. Piccolo and Yamcha got right next to him on either side and forced their will onto the surging Ki wave, forcibly dissipating the maneuver.

"GRAWHH?" Raditz growled in disbelief as the trio turned the blistering plasma into hot vapor.

"What's happening to Gohan!?" Puar finally called out as he pointed down to the now regular sized boy. "Why did he revert?"

Oolong got up on the windowsill again and peered down with a furrowed brow.

"I don't think he reverted."

Trunks hopped out of Oolong's grasp and gazed at the boy for himself. Bulma typed a few things on the console and the glass window miraculously switched images like a monitor.

"I think he evolved again." Oolong stated bewilderingly as he looked upon Gohan, brown fur all the same but now stuck to a humanoid teenage body instead of a large beast.

This is not a Super Saiyan.

This is something different.

This is Conquered Oozaru.

"Gohan?" Piccolo called out, completely bewildered.

Goku didn't check on his son, more concerned with the threat as Raditz returned to his rampaging in the small room.

DWANN! GWANGG!

"ROAUUUUUUUGHHH!"

The Demon left the others to float in the air as he went to check on the boy. The Wolf and the younger brother flew circles around the beast trying to keep a lid on it.

"Gohan?"

"What's up? Uhh~" It was almost as if the boy didn't even realise himself, checking the rich brown fur on the backs of his hands, all the way up to his shoulders, strange black fingernails.

The fur was everywhere except for the face, the chest, and the fingers, toes, and insides of his palms. He looked very much like a monkey now, not just a boy with a tail. His eyes also had a dark look about them as if he were wearing mascara or some kind of makeup.

"Is this what Raditz was looking for?"

"I don't know." Gohan answered plainly as he stood up as tall as could be, his brown tail jiving in both intrigue and excitement.

"Gohan, are you okay?" Bulma shot out from the intercom.

"Yeah. I'm fine." He quickly retorted via Piccolo's Telepathy.

"Good."

The Demon and Gohan turned their attention back to the big wolf-monkey abomination swinging and smacking the walls of the chrome space. Soon enough, Tien arrived.

"You really just like getting me all worked up, huh? Don't you know just how scary a random energy surge this high is?" He asked Bulma, Puar, and The Pig bouncing up Trunks on his knee.

Bulma said nothing, only blinking a few times as he entered.

"When you guys put your energy into this thing it doesn't actually Feel like your energy." Tien blurted through the intercom. "Your shit is also masked by whatever this box is. How do I get in there?"

Vavv~Vsh!

Tien was already inside.

"Kid?" Truly bewildered, The Crane's third eye just about popped out of the socket as he saw what looked like the cover of a death metal album walk around in the flesh, tail out and everything.

"Hey, Tien."

"What the hell?"

"Piccolo and I were just speculating if this is what Raditz' aim was with the Great Ape Transformation."

"Piccolo…"

"Piccolo…"

"Piccolo…"

A familiar yet distant and quiet voice teetered at the edge of his mind, The Demon thought he was going crazy until he took the bait and sent out a Telepathic pang.

"Piccolo. Damn, I guess he's not good enough yet."

"Who's not good enough?"

"Finally. Good job man, I guess I can just yell at you now and you'll hear it."

"Shut up, Krillin." Piccolo's words were tough but neither the delivery nor the smile he had were antagonistic.

"What's goin' on? I'm at work right now so I can't just bail until I have the details."

"We're working with Raditz."

"Oh, the big chrome box?" Krillin said as he kicked away from the wall on one of the many swivel chairs at the precinct.

"Yup."

"Who's there?"

"Everyone but you. We've got this thing under control so we don't need your help."

"Gotcha. I guess I'll leave it to you then."

"..."

Piccolo severed communications by pinching his index and thumb together and then drawing a line in the air.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, Raditz." Goku reassured calmly as he jumped up and around his brother's wild swings.

"This strat isn't really working very well, Goku. You sure it's not better just to knock him out?" The Wolf asked as he pounced from surface to surface, dodging the uncontrolled swats with ease.

"Why would we do that?"

FOOSH! DWANN! DONGG! FSH!

"He's like any other animal, only more vicious. But that's okay. Even vicious animals have their quiet moments, we just gotta find out how to get Raditz there."

Yamcha held his tongue, shaking his head a bit in disapproval. Tien met up with them in the air, dancing around the strikes with the other two.

"So what's going on?"

"Hey Tien!" Goku greeted jubilantly as he jumped onto a titanic right arm, leaping off of it soon enough before it doubled back.

FSH! DWONGG!

"Are you guys okay down there!?" Bulma interjected once more.

"We'll manage!" Yamcha yelled back.

The now trio flew without synchronicity, impossible to predict patterns for the beast, a long while was used up just trying to maintain the focus and attention of the large wolf-monkey hybrid until finally it ran out of gas.

The Oozaru is still a living creature after all and does suffer from exhaustion. It being so big uses up a lot of energy. After about an hour of playing catch-me-if-you-can, Raditz finally submitted and sat down on the floor in defeat, catching his breath and swinging at the trio with much less gusto.

"I can't believe they really did that for..? How long was that, Bulma?"

"Well. Raditz got back here at like 10 A.M. and it's six right now so we've probably been in here for over an hour and a half."

"Unbelievable." Piccolo just shook his head while holding a smile.

The Wolf and The Crane just left Goku with the beast and made their way to Gohan, sweat and exhaustion piled onto their frames as well.

"Whoa~ What happened to you, Gohahnhu~?" Yamcha questioned as he took off his shirt and wiped it over his body and face, taking off the green Titans' cap.

"Well, Piccolo and I are thinking that this was the answer Uncle Raditz was looking for. I just have better control is all."

"I see." Yamcha said as he let his t shirt flop onto the chrome floor and put the baseball cap on. After another set of composing breaths, he shifted his gaze to that of the brothers in the corner.

Goku squatted down low to the ground and locked eyes with Raditz as he sat upright against the chrome corner.

"Hey. I'm not here to hurt you, Raditz. Can you hear me?"

The beast looked back, but it didn't feel the same as his son's, not because the eyes were different but because the intent behind them was.

"If you can't let me help you, then that means you have to help yourself. I know you can do it, Buuut it's a lot easier if you let me."

Goku sat criss-cross and paralleled his brother's body language, slumping a bit and forming a goofy slouched maw. Raditz raised a brow at this and started shifting his form. Goku pantomimed a monkey-see monkey-do routine until something clicked. Inside of Raditz' brain, something finally caught on and Goku could retroactively see the difference in his brother's eyes. No more malice, he could see the cognitive thought enter into him as Raditz looked about the room.

"Yes!" Goku screamed as he leapt into the air. "Huh-Hah! Way to go, Buddy!"

Raditz blinked a few times, and studied Goku's form.

Something about it was scary, but equal parts inviting as well. It was a mixed bag of emotions as he stared at his brother's hair.

The beast stared and sat there for a long time just trying to understand.

"He did it! Hee-Hee-Haugh-Haugh-Hah!"

It all cut across with the goofy and high-energy. Kakarot was different from Bardock and Turles, not just the personality however. It was the energy. Goku ran around like a kid in a candy shop almost every waking moment of his being. Turles and Bardock NEVER carried themselves like that. The high-energy of his brother brought a tear to his eye and the beast started to shrink.

Tien smacked onto Yamcha's chest harshly in a kind of: 'Bro come look at this' way. The wait was over and Raditz looked beastly but still distinctly himself, his wild mane looking even more impressive overtop the brown fur coat. He was modelesque and ready for a role in a big blockbuster as he checked himself.

"No… way. What's this?"

"Hey!"

Raditz looked at his fur laden nephew from across the way. Gohan didn't say anything after that, just a thumb's up. Raditz laughed at the absurdity of it all, and met it in kind.

Cell

Cell soared over the mountains and plains alike. Vast oceans and cloudy apparitions swept across his bird's eye view as he neared the next Dragon Ball. It was packed away somewhere in this heavily forested region, covered in stones and wildlife. He searched high and low before he finally came across a strange and colourful abode with the letters:

Party

just above the front door. Cell got out the radar once more and clicked in the top node.

Ga-shwick! Bee! Shuup.

"I guess it's in here." He said upon walk-landing on the grass.

Cell wormed his way around the garden gnomes and lawn flamingos, bopping one on the head for good measure as he stepped gallantly upon the porch.

KNOTT-KNOCK!

Cell raised his brow a bit.

"What's that noise?"

DududunduDududunduDududunduDududundu~

Cell had no idea what it was but it was a wavering hard bass hit. Club music.

DududunduDududundu~ Fwof~DUDUDUNDU~

"Sup, Jive Turkey!"DUDUDUNDU~"Welcome to the party!" The man shook his head along with the beat, wearing an orange polo shirt and grey slacks as he bounced up and down to the beat at the front door.

"What is that noise!?"

"Huh!?"DUDUDUNDU~

"What is that noise!?" Cell yelled as he leaned in close.

"You ain't never heard of EDM!?" DUDUDUNDU~

"WHAT!?"

"It's EDM!"DUDUDUNDU~

"CBN!?"

"YEAH! You got it!" DUDUDUNDU~ "You want to come in?"

"What!?"

DUDUDUNDUDUDUDUNDUDUDUDUNDU~

The man walked inside and ushered the bug-man into his swinging bachelor pad. Cell complied with a smile, the beat kind of infecting him.

"Okay!" The hip man called out with a bright smile as his new guest started to bob and weave along to the tunes.

"What is this!?" Cell asked as his lips moved without his consent, making a stink face of approval rather than one of disdain.

"I told you! EDM!"

"Oh, okay!"

Cell's sharp eyes scanned the place and it was nice, it's not like he really had the necessary knowledge base to compare it to but the home was stuffed to the bits with accessories and lavish features. The whole carpet was a silky red velvet that felt great to walk on. In the middle were two purple couches opposite and facing each other across a wooden table. Behind that was a gigantic TV with bumpin' speakers that blared the EDM into the establishment. Just in front of the television and facing the middle table was an egg-shaped chair that looked the type a supervillain would use in a spy thriller. The other embellishments were high-end as well, such as two dining tables tucked in the corners as you walked in. Cell's new acquaintance shuffled over to the speakers and turned the dial most of the way down.

DUDUDunduDududunduDududundu~

"I like your costume, Guy." The man called out as he still maintained a steady dancing rhythm.

"Uhh~ thanks?"

"So what's your name?"

"Cell."

"Cell, what a strange name."

"Is it? What's yours?"

"You can call me, The Vinnie."

"Why, The Vinnie?"

"It builds intrigue. I'm trying to get it to catch on, ya' know?"

"No-ho." Cell laughed out genuinely. "I don't know."

"Ahh, out of the loop are you?"

"I guess I am."

"Have a seat, guy. I'll go fetch some drinks."

Cell was taken aback by the hospitality and sat down on one of the comfy couches, sinking right into it.

"Oh wow~"

Vvvvvvv~

His wings fluttered wildly, catching into and rubbing against the material.

"This is absolutely fantastic."

"You dig it?"

"Dig it?"

"Are you down with it?"

"Down with it?"

"Fucking with it?"

"Fucking with it?"

"Are you comfortable my dude?" He shot back one last time as he kept it mellow and shoveled some ice from a fridge into a tall glass. "That's all I'm asking."

"Most certainly. This is delightful."

"Shuh~" He laughed out strangely. "We lookin' at orange juice, milk..? Soda maybe?"

"I uhh, I don't know. I've never had a drink." Cell replied back with a childlike smile, hands placed on his lap as he sat up straight.

"You're a wild cat, aren't you?"

"I'm not a cat I'm a… Well to be honest I don't really know what I am. I think I'm a bug..? Maybe..?" He asked for himself mostly as he jived his tail-like piercing appendage in the air.

"Well what sounds the best to you?"

"Could you tell me what they are?"

"So I've got soda, which is a carbonated beverage. That one's probably not for you since you've never had it. Orange juice, all natural, pretty good, of course, water. Milk, that's the go to for chasing down super spicy food. Sparkling water, and we've got Sparking! A new energy drink on the market."

"Energy drink?"

"Yeah, this kinda stuff is advertised mostly for athletes. The ironic thing is most athletes in any competition just drink water anyway because The Man just likes to keep us in the dark."

"The Man?"

"The Man! You know, like the big corporations."

"Corporations?"

"You're out of the loop, guy, and I kind of dig it. You're definitely not gonna let yourself be controlled by The Man."

"I still have no idea."

"That's no big deal. So what do you want?"

"Maybe the sports drink?"

"Excellent choice, dude."

Kllllluuuuu~

"Here you go!" The Vinnie called out as he served the tall glass of red liquid to Cell and sat opposite him on the other couch.

"Thank you." Cell greeted respectfully with a small bow and nod of the head.

"Man you have really good manners from someone who's out of the loop."

"Is that uncommon?"

"Well. I guess in the movies they always make the caveman guys really stupid and uncivilised."

"What's a caveman?"

"Sheesh. This 20 questions?"

"Pardon?"

"Wow~ you're alright." The Vinnie laughed as he downed his drink.

Instead of a forced laugh to go along for the ride, the first real fit of laughter escaped the bug-man. It felt good and most importantly, natural. They sat by themselves for a while until The Vinnie turned on the TV and started surfing through channels.

"What is this?"

"It's a TV."

"Oh~ What does it do?"

"It's for watching stuff. Like movies and shows."

"I see."

"Yeah, I'll just put on one of my favourite movies." The Vinnie put his drink on one of the coasters, getting up and walking to the shelf beside the enormous flat screen, picking out a thin disc from a box and shoving into a compartment below the screen.

Vrrr~Werrrr~

"This is Explosions 4. The lead actor, Pamput, got killed about two years ago now. So… Slurrrr~ This one's for you, you beautiful brown bastard."

Cell watched as The Vinnie stared at the TV screen and raised his glass high. Cell mimicked his new friend's motion, both raising their glasses to the ceiling before gently calling them back down in tandem.

"So why are you here, Cell?"

"Why am I here..?"

The warm and inviting atmosphere completely sidetracked the biological creation from completing his task.

"Slurrrr~" The Vinnie kept his eyes on the bug-man as the intro credits rolled on the film, Cell content to stare at the ceiling as he tried to recall what he needed to.

"Oh! The Dragon Ball!"

"The Dragon Ball? What in the world is that? … Don't tell me..?"

Cell said nothing, only looking over to his friend with some concern.

"Is a Dragon Ball an orange ball with stars on it?"

"Yes! That's exactly it!"

"Ahh, I thought something was weird about that stone. It crash landed outside my house. What..? Must have been, gosh. Almost three years I think. Time really flies."

"Great!"

"What..? You want it?"

"Yes please! It's my life's goal to collect them."

"Shoot, you can have it. I certainly don't need it. I derive all my powers from my electronic devices. I have no need for an orange ball with stars."

The Vinnie hopped off the sofa with drink in tow, forcing Cell off his feet as well as he followed him around the pad. With great effort The Vinnie opened a steel door on the left side and flicked on a switch inside on the right. The door led to a dusty and mostly empty basement with a few boxes here and there, a large generator taking up most of the space. He fiddled with and folded up a lot of cardboard until he came across what a dusted orange sphere, still capable of glowing ever-so-faintly in the low light, cobwebbed conditions.

"Here you go, dude."

The 4 Star Dragon Ball.

"Thank you very much… The Vinnie."

There was a moment of pause. The Vinnie hadn't truly considered the ramifications of being called The Vinnie. Cell calling The Vinnie The Vinnie was a once-in-a-lifetime offer of genuineness and only in Cell's genuineness and non-mocking tone did The Vinnie find out just how stupid the name was.

"You know what, bro?"

"..?"

"You can just call me Vinnie."

"Oh. O-kay. Thanks very much, Vinnie."

"No prob. You still trying to watch the rest of the movie?"

"I'd be delighted to."

Master Carrot

People of all different shapes, sizes, and being shared one goal, to figure out whatever that shooting star was. It kept getting bigger until it zoomed past the food stalls, past the tall business signs, and past The Orin Temple. Not only that but it struck like a match across the clouds and into the bamboo forest east of East City. Several monks paid no mind to the strange incident, at least until the large bang that accompanied the arrival. Inside the main building housed two portraits, one of a beautiful man with platinum blonde hair and piercing blue eyes. Next to that was another of a strange, feral looking man with a mane so wild it defied reality and stuck out to his left.

The monks inside finished up their prayers, extinguishing the small smokey embers of their incense before they got up and checked the disturbance as a group. The whole school flocked to the edge of the archway, walking into the foggy unknown of the bamboo line.

Kffffffffffffffffffff~

"Hmph." A small charry figure scoffed from the dust and earth kicked up in their wake. Soon enough the clouds obscuring them from view finally parted only to reveal three absolutely jacked individuals, just monstrous. It can't be understated. The thing is, is that one of them was a small white bunny, his tattered clothes barely hanging on by a thread, his shirt not even being able to be called that anymore. The two others beside the bunny wore blue 'trenchcoats' but that name didn't apply anymore either, really only being blue skirts that only hung on due to being tied around the belt line, the rest of the top only hanging on as dirty scraps. The trio was filthy, mangy, bruised, and didn't smell very good to boot. Wherever they came from, it didn't seem like they had a very good time there to say the least.

Somehow, someway, the bunny's sunglasses were perfectly well kept, it didn't make any sense. As soon as the Orin academy reached the trio, the bunny leading the pack took a sizable and deafening chomp of the dull orange carrot in his paw.

CHOMPP!

"Gulll~"

The Bunny gazed over to the bald onlookers in priestly garb, raising a brow and tilting his glasses down in an intimidating manner before shielding his eyes with them once more.

CHONT!

He gave the pair beside him a tilting nod of the head. With nonverbal communication, the pair responded and started cracking their knuckles. They both wore goggles that also were immaculately well maintained considering.

"Don't tell me."

"What?"

"That these guys are who I think they are?"

"And who are they..? More importantly, who could they possibly be? They're from Earth are they not? No one sick actually comes from Earth."

"You wouldn't understand."

"That's just the default response people go to when they want to act like their opinion matters and don't have a viable answer to rebuttal with."

"Ah-hem."

The Orin students took on defensive posturing as the two roughed up outer space inhabitants neared them, attempting to stop their advances.

"Hold on a minute. Who are you?"

The pair of disgusting men looked back to the white rabbit who finished the rest of his long carrot, chomping down and gazing back with one last ice cold stare. He drew a line across his furry neck which could only mean one thing.

Maloja

"Tch!" Maloja scoffed loudly as he waited atop an enormous pyramid with the sun beaming down on him. "Why'd I even ask such a vague question? That bitch, I knew she was gonna pull some genie-in-a-bottle type shit on me. 'I answered your question'." He mocked, bringing his hands up and clowning her all by his lonesome. "No you didn't and you know you didn't. 'Under the sun and under the moon, The Locust will guide you'. How am I supposed to figure out where a Dragon Ball is here? I'm not dumb, I know she meant the great pyramids of Kyodai but it's not like I have some magical device that just points them out. Shoulda tried harder to learn divination… stupid stupid stupid…"

Maloja kept going on and on, complaining as the sun forced his mucky frame to ooze with sweat. He flapped his dusty and dirty green robe under the pressure, breathing out in a steady rhythm until he heard something tear across the sand.

"No. Way. What are people doing all the way out here? City folk too." Maloja commented as he peered at them through his staff, the red crystalline orb acting as a telescopic lens.

The sky car weaved through the dunes, parking just outside one of the great pyramids. He tapped on the staff a few more times and an ethereal warping force wrapped around his ear.

He could zone in not only on visuals, but sounds as well.

"Finally." The older gent in the driver's seat proclaimed as he stretched it out and raised his arms high.

"Oh just kill me now." The only woman in the group groaned as soon as she felt the heat impact her frame, wringing out a piece of paper from the passenger's side and fanning herself with it as she closed the car door.

"This is vat you signed up for. I don't really know vat you expected." A man with a poofy blue afro sassed back.

KLM!

"Four." Maloja said to himself as he scanned all three perfectly normal looking humans. "Where's The Locust? None of them look like a bug to me. Are they insect researchers..? Or is The Locust more of a comment on which pyramid has a theme like that?" Maloja stroked his long salt and pepper scruff as he watched the professional-looking individuals enter one of the pyramids. "Interesting. Should I..?"

There was a long pause as the sun's rays hit him and he watched the group vanish into the giant single-pointed structure.

"Tsk-tsk-tsk." He sped by fast, weighing the options. "No. I'll wait for a clearer answer on The Locust. Then I'll make my move." He proclaimed with stoicism, sitting down in a huffy criss-cross position with his glossy red staff reflecting a bright light under the sun.

The Vinnie

"You're leaving already, guy?"

"I've got to go, Vinnie. There are 7 whole Dragon Balls. I've only found two, this one you've given me will be the third."

Vinnie looked down and jived his head to the low-fi beat in the background, his gaze shifted to that of the red velvet carpet. Cell sighed a bit deflated as well. He felt upon the crystalline orange orb, just allowing it to move smoothly around his large hand and fingers.

"You know what?"

"What is it, Jive Turkey?"

Cell stuck the Dragon Ball right onto Vinnie's chest.

"You keep it."

"..?"

"For now."

"What do you mean, my guy?"

"When I find The Dragon Balls, I'll just drop them off here and when I gather the five, I'll take em' back to base."

"Oh."

"Is that gonna be a problem?"

"Not at all."

"I would like to watch more movies. It was pretty fun." Cell got out with a sheepish laugh and the rubbing of the back of his head.

"Hah~ Dope. Me too."

"Thank you."

"You too, brah. Stay safe out there. You never know what kinda weirdos are lurking around every corner."

With one final smile and a wave, Cell had exited the premises, leaving The Vinnie all by himself with nothing but his loud music, lawn gnomes and pink flamingos to keep him company.

Cell

Cell raised his brow at the revelation occurring on his device.

"I don't remember a Dragon Ball being this close last time I checked. I think this is..?"

He contemplated for a while while flying at his sharp speed, stopping on a dime as he overshot.

"Ahh, yes." Cell smiled as he pointed at a large billboard. "West City. It's near West City." Cell turned tail and went back the other way, gliding outside the edge of the metropolis and exiting into the forested region to the west.

He flew over tall trees, grass and the beauty of nature. A large ground force of men caught Cell's attention as he flew past, the sound of his wings drawing their attention just the same. The bug-man raised a brow at all the soldiers with gold embellishments, weapons, in loose garbs and even looser bandanas. There were several bears, and humans in the band as far as the eye could see. The group just kept going as he scouted out the rest of the forest, some clearly gabbing about the strange creature in the sky above them.

"How many are there? I didn't know so many people lived out in the middle of nowhere like this." He looked over his shoulder to the skyscraper capsule buildings fading into the brush as he thought. "I thought they all lived in houses like that."

Soon enough Cell came across a gigantic brown fort in the middle of the forest, checking the radar he noticed that the ball was in fact not there.

"I wonder what they're all doing over there then." He pondered aloud as he scanned over the large boxes and chests the men carried to the hideout hidden by the treeline.

Cell shrugged it off and pierced the sky with intent elsewhere, checking the radar another time only to realise:

"Hah! I overshot again." He laughed out poshly before landing and jogging over to the location, this time with eyes locked onto the device to make sure he didn't pass it by. "I guess I'm just faster than I realised." Cell mused as he stepped towards a lone house by the sea.

Waves lapped onto the shore without a care in the world as squirrels and butterflies flittered near the abode. Whoever owned the home also took good care of the garden right of the porch. Smoke rose steadily from the top of the house out of a thin grey chimney. Cell squatted down and brushed his hand along the flourishing flora before standing up tall, checking The Dragon Radar one last time and knocking on the wood.

Knott-Knock!

"Hello?"

There was a long pause before an epic clearing of the throat.

"HhhEMMMMGH!"

Creeeaa~

"What do you want?" A crotchety but still distinctly buff old man asked as he buttoned up his crimson sweater vest.

"Hi. My name is-"

"Didn't ask your name, son, I asked what you were doing here."

"Actually sir, you asked me what I wanted. So if you're going to give me an attitude, at least get it right."

"You're a real smartass, aren't you?"

"A what?"

"Not too bright neither."

Cell and the old man stared down outside the house, a tension already building. The old man's brow was already sharpened as far as it would go, but he felt an aura that would have made anyone else fold, except:

"Go on!" The old man shouted, flailing his right arm out, left hand still cupped on the door knob.

"My life's goal is to find all 7 Dragon Balls. There are magical orange orbs with red stars on them. Do you happen to have one?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do."

"Could I have it?"

"Not a chance, loser."

SLAMM!

"Ah-" Cell gasped, totally stunned. "Sir?" He shot back somewhat intensely, peering through the windows from the outside.

Shhhhhhk!

The old man closed the blinds on him.

"I'm- How- ...What a rude old man." Cell stood there on the porch indignantly with his hands on his hips. "Who Does He Think He Is?"

Cell furrowed his brow and looked square at the forest green wooden door in front of him.

"I'm coming in!" He shouted before absolutely blasting the door off its hinges, thrusting the apparatus into the cozy log cabin's indoors. The old coger's dog was forced to scamper out the way, lest it be lambasted by the bouncing green prism smacking against his master's floor.

KWONN! Da-Dumn!

"Damn hooligan!" The man hollered as Cell entered his residence.

"If you're not going to show me respect then I'm not going to show any to you." Cell pointed dramatically, his declaration a significant amount more believable than the bumbling persona he had at Giran's mansion. No hesitation in his voice, his red eyes gleaming as specks of dust rained down around him.

"You trying to scrap, you heathen?"

"No, I am not. I just need that Dragon Ball and I don't care which way I get it!"

"Follow me, then, damnit!"

Fwofff~

The man tore off his red sweater button up and threw it over onto the ground, his dog yapping up a storm as it gazed upon the bug-man. He was bursting at the seams, ripped to shreds for an old head, his veins drawn to the surface of his tight skin.

Tp. Dmp. Tmp.

The man walked with a determined swagger right past him, much to Cell's complete and utter confusion.

"Wha..?"

"You comin', Smartass?"

Cell threw up his hands in defeat.

"Shoot, I guess."

"Get the door behind ya'."

"But sir..? There's no door."

"That's right. Screw you!"

"..."

The pair strided into the bushes and treeline, fading behind the shadows cast.

"Where are we going?"

"You help me, you get your damn ball."

"Why help me? I…" He pointed towards the house that was now obscured by the greenery. "I just kicked your door down."

"That's why, Tough Guy. Anyone brazen enough to kick My goddamn door down definitely doesn't give two shits about The Taliban or those damn Somali Pirates."

"The Taliban? Pirates?"

"Damn militaristic forces stapled and glued together like a preschooler did it. They wouldn't know how to work in a group if they were joined at the hip and shat out the same ass."

"I'm lost."

"Don't worry, we're almost there."

"Okay…"

"..."

"What's your name..? Sir?"

"Robert."

"..."

"..."

"My name's-"

"Didn't ask."

"..."

"We're here." Robert proclaimed as he brushed some of the brush aside, revealing the keep through the leaves.

"So what're we doing?"

"We're breaking in there, and sending everyone packin'. I don't care if they got they're things in order. They're gonna be sorry their sorry asses ever stepped foot outside West City."

"And that means..?"

"Christ, kid, what kinda' rock you living under?"

"I Was born yesterday."

"That tracks." Robert answered as he shook his head and rolled his eyes.

"So?"

"We're gonna beat their goddamn breaks off."

"And that means..? Beat em' up?"

"Maybe this business isn't for you."

"I'll have you know I've never lost a fight."

"What, in two days? Colour me surprised. You know anything about firearms?"

"No. What are those?"

"Weapons that fire high-speed projectiles. Designed so that men don't have to put their dukes up the old fashion way. They're for pussies."

"And that means?"

"I ain't got all day, Smart Aleck. Can you kick ass?"

"Yes sir." Cell answered with an emphatic salute.

"That's more like it."

The brush bristled as the men tore through, ambushing the many pirates wearing rags, bandanas, jeans, and wifebeaters. The bandits looked on in total disbelief as the short grandpa and tall bug-man walked confidently into the compound. Just about everyone dropped what they were doing and turned their attention to them, guns at the ready.

"Who the hell are you two supposed to be!? Ant Man and The Wasp!? Ha-Ha-"

WHAMM! BAMM!

Karate chop to the neck. Three shots, three KO's. This old man was pretty good, moved younger than his years for sure.

"Get those putos!" A tan man yelled from the top of the keep, setting a RPG over his shoulder and firing it.

Ga-THUNKK! Fyuuuuuuu~

Robert was preoccupied, not ready to block or defend the oncoming missile. Cell dashed next to the older 'gentlemen', bringing his left leg up high and slamming it into the rocket.

TWANGG! Pof.

The rocket stalled and landed on the grass like nothing happened.

"What the hell!? Get tha boss, vamanos!"

During the man's exaggerated call-out the others surrounding the area rained hell with their machine guns. Cell looked on curiously as the bullets moved slower than he had predicted. The bug-man moved in and caught every single bullet fired with excited precision.

Ting-Tin-Ting-Tink-Ting-Ting~

Robert looked over at his ally with wide eyes as Cell stared at the ground with intrigue. He pointed at the metal pellets on the ground lackadaisical.

"Why would you ever use a firearm?" Cell questioned plainly. "They don't seem to be very good."

The pirates from the top of the castle just about fell over themselves in disbelief, running back inside to go grab who they needed.

"You're a natural."

"Am I?"

"Good enough to get the job done, that's for sure."

"Who are these guys?"

"Pirates."

"And?"

"They're The Warlord's men. He's been doing some deals here for a few weeks now. West City isn't gonna do anything about it because it's out of their city and they've been quiet enough. Been sailing out to other cities through the ocean and living snug here in their hideout. That's horseshit if you ask me though, they're supposed to protect and serve so what are they doing?"

"But are these guys even doing anything bad?"

"Half of those crates are filled with gold, the other half is filled with hard drugs. The typa' stuff that makes you see things that go bump in the night. That and besides, you're supposed to have a permit for a firearm. And That's not even mentionin' a goddamn rocket launcher."

DMM!

The massive double doors to the keep were thrust open, half a dozen men on each side, struggling to heave the heavy doors aside to make way for a big bear. He possessed a red mohawk, a matching red fencing frock, stark white parachute pants, brown coin sacks that jingled as he walked, a sizable sniper rifle over his shoulder, and a large sabre at his left side. He motioned with his right paw and his men entered into position, getting weapons ready.

"What are you punks doing here? You got a death wish or somethin'?"

"I'm just here because I need The Dragon Ball."

"Dragon what? You one of those fruity muhfuckas?" His silky smoothe voice didn't quite match his monstrous form.

"What?"

The air was still as The Warlord looked them over.

"Well we ain't got nothin' like that for you."

"I know. I'm getting The Dragon Ball from this guy." Cell stated matter-of-factly as he pointed at Robert.

"I ain't got time for this. We're gonna beat you to death and if you're lucky we might think about giving you a proper burial instead of just letting you rot at sea."

"I'm not sure you'll be capable of doing that, sir."

"Why not?"

"I'm 2 for 2."

"2 for 2 whats?"

"Fights. I've fought two people and won both fights."

"Ah-Haw-Haw-Haw~"

"Boss." One of the men with bandanas motioned with a whispering hand and intonation. "Psspsspsspsspss."

"Ahuh."

"Psspsspss."

"He did what now?"

"Psspsspss."

"But I can tank bullets too so what's the problem?"

"Psspsspss."

"So he can kick rockets out of the sky?"

"Psspsspss."

Robert crossed his arms in a characteristic old-man way, rolling his eyes at the young hooligans.

"Big whoop, I'm gonna kick this guy's ass. If I end up beating the crap out of him, you're fired. And if I lose..? You're still fired."

"Huh~" The informant gasped.

KOMM!

The large mercenary bear quickscoped on Cell, shooting a blazing fast round from his sniper rifle. Cell just palmed it like nothing, smoke steaming off his hand from the heat. He held it between his index and thumb like it were a point of interest and not a red-hot bullet just fired from a non-regulated sniper rifle.

The Warlord just stared at the bug-man before him in disbelief. Cell threw the bullet up in the air and flicked it back at the bear, piercing his left eye in one fell swoop. He winced, big time.

"Ssss~Sorry." Cell apologised as he brought his hands up in apprehension.

Twinkk! Sklatt!

"AAAAAAGHHH!"

"Boss!"

"Who the hell is this guy!?" The Warlord cried as he fell onto his butt, clutching onto the streaming pink of his goopy jello.

"Oh god, boss, it's hideous."

"Don't say that~" The Warlord whimpered on the ground.

"We'll be back!" They shouted as they brought out stretchers and evacuated the residence in a flash, bringing their bear leader out of the fray and into the forest.

"That was easy. Didn't mean to hit him in the eye with that though." Cell let out as he cringed a bit.

"Buncha' pussies." Robert called out as the last of the bandits escaped into the green shadows of the treeline.

"So?"

"So what!?"

"I get the Dragon Ball now, right?"

"Yeah, yeah, stop busting my balls."

"Busting your balls?"

"You sure ask a lot of questions for a smartass, guess you're really a dumbass."

"Sir, I just don't know a lot of the uhh~"

"What?"

"I don't know… just… the speech." Cell answered as he looked about the leaves, raising his hands in defeat.

"Shhuh~" He scoffed, shaking his head at the bug-man once more. Robert jogged through the now-open archway that should have been his front door, walked the brown decorated concrete of his humble abode, and fetched the orange ball across the way.

Cell eyed a particular blue punching bag in the middle of a ring on the left side of his house which was really just a loft. There were no rooms in the home, just a giant open space.

"Here. Take it and get out of my face."

"Thank you, sir."

The man blushed from embarrassment.

"Just get on outta here, I don't got time for this."

"Whatever you say. Oh… Uhm..."

"Out with it!"

"Do I need to pay for the door or..?"

"Get the hell outta here."

Cell backed up defensively, hands held high as he bumped his head on the archway.

"Oof! Man, this doorway's really small." Cell commented as he palmed the top and dipped under, fluttering his wings fast and rocketing off into the aether.

Krillin

The front of Giran's courtyard still kept up appearances, the only way you could even tell that a struggle took place were the two busted-up columns at the back entrance of the mansion and the slightly off-hinges gates. Krillin and Lapis stood stoic under the burning sunlight of the day, asking questions to well dressed women huddled in a somewhat 'organised' group.

"Can you tell me what his motives were?"

"Uhh..?" The girl looked back and tilted her shades down, chomping on her gum and flapping her pink fur coat. She chewed a few more times with an open mouth, very distracting before she fixed her pseudo-pompadour. "I think he wanted something called the Dragon Nuts. Chw~ I don't know what else to say other than that Giran clowned him for even askin'."

"The wha-ha-hat!?" Lapis asked, absolutely busting out laughing.

Krillin was not laughing at all.

"Dragon Balls?"

"No, amigo, she clearly said the Dragon Nuts. Totally different."

"You might be right now that I think about it." The woman pondered as she put a finger to her glossy pink lip.

"That's all that I need to know."

"Really? You don't want to hear anything else that happened?"

"Lapis?"

"..?"

"Could you be a dear and take over for me?"

"For what? What are you talking about?"

"I know how to find The Dragon Balls. If that murderer is looking for them then I have him dead to rights and he doesn't even know it." Krillin pulled down on his hat harshly and checked his phone before looking back at his partner. "Can you send me a link to that video on the news?"

"I mean if it's on YouTube yeah, but if not I'd have to go to ZTV and ask for it."

"Then do that."

"Bruh." Lapis shot back, shaking his head as Krillin took to the skies in Ki-based dolphin dive.

VYUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuu~

The Vinnie

"Whoa dude~ you smell awful!" Vinnie greeted Cell at the door, pinching his nose with an iron grip.

"I do?"

"Yeah, guy, I guess I just didn't notice it last time."

"Huh." Cell checked himself, looking at his sleek black and green colours.

Vinnie snatched The Dragon Ball and looked it over.

"Two stars?"

Cell strided in, closing the door behind him.

"Seriously dude, go take a shower."

"What's a shower?"

"Damn. You really are a caveman."

"..."

"Just go back in that room over there, turn the dial over to H and tug at the dial outwards to get the water running."

"Turn the dial to H, and pull it outwards…" Cell mimed to himself as he walked towards the door.

The door in the back shut the same time the door in the front came alive with hard knocks. Vinnie raised a brow, perturbed, tossing The Dragon Ball into a glass bowl on the countertop with the other.

"Okay, I get my first two visitors in three months during the same week? That's crazy. Next thing I know it's just gonna be an alternate timeline version of Cell, or some whacky shenanigans like that." Vinnie mocked as he made his way across the red velvet and swung open the front door to that of the opps.

"Greetings sir." The short and stout cop greeted as he seemed to shove a device of some sort into his back pocket.

"Keep it cool, Vince." Vinnie stared back ice cold. "How can I help you, Officer?" He shot back with an epic smile.

"Can I come in? I'm looking for a strange item that might be related to a case I've been working on for what now… must be over a decade."

There was a little bit of hesitancy, but Vinnie thought he might play nice.

"Yeah, go ahead."

The short cop stepped through the doorway and scanned the room with the thoroughness of a snitch.

"I'm looking for the man in this video." The short guy in uniform brought out his phone and showed a playback of Cell getting knocked into some lawn chairs.

"OH SHIT!"

Vinnie was pretty goated. Ever since a young age, Vincent Thesp has had a huge interest in acting and movies in general. In Orange Star High School he starred as Romeo in Romeo and Juliet for his senior year. Now as a lonely bachelor with a lot of time on his hands he spent most of his waking moments watching movies and acting them out all by his lonesome, he was a way better actor than he had any right to be.

"What'd this fool do? Fall into the Nickelodeon gack?"

The cop busted out a laugh.

"Okay, that was pretty good. But uhm~"

Vinnie noticed a peculiarity.

Whoever this cop was, he was intent on hiding his left arm in his coat.

"Why would he do that?" He couldn't stop himself from thinking.

"The man in this video is wanted for murder."

"WHAT!?" "That's wild. Who'd he kill?" Vinnie asked politely, hand on his chest.

"Giran, the most recent tournament winner in The Tenkaichi Budokai series. He killed him just outside his new mansion."

"Whoa~" "Did Cell really do that? I find it hard to believe, why would Cell be so nice to me then? Doesn't seem like a violent guy at all…"

"Sir?"

"What's up?"

"I like those little crystal balls you got there. Those are some nice little ornaments."

"Thanks. You like the fine threads, guy?" He asked while popping his bright orange button up. "They say that the clothes make the man."

The cop straight up avoided his question in pursuit of his own.

"Where'd you get them?"

"Come on, Vinnie. Don't fuck it up." He thought a mile a minute as he walked over calmly and palmed the two spheres, throwing The 4 Star Ball at the officer. "Found this one just the other day while looking at the dinosaur eggs across the mountain ridge over there. And that one~" He motioned over to the one he threw at the officer. "-crash landed outside my house like a year ago now."

The cop's brow furrowed, and strained skin showed his focus to Vinnie.

"What did the ball look like when it crashed?"

"Shit. Does that even implicate him in any way? I guess not, because it's the truth and he really did have nothing to do with that one…" "It's weird dude. Like, I don't believe in magic but I swear that one you're holding was like just a stone when it landed. I didn't even wash it off or nothing. It just came to life one day and was that beautiful colour you're seeing now."

"Maybe this guy is telling the truth." Krillin pondered as he studied The 4 Star Ball. "He really could be just freakishly lucky."

"..."

Vinnie kept it cool, no sudden moves, no harsh swallowing, he was honestly convincing.

"Your shower's running, you got someone in there?"

"Think fast, Vinnie." "Yeah, my smoking hot wife. You know what..?"

"..?"

"I think she likes short guys like you, she'd probably let me film as you just went to town on her."

The cop just sharpened his brow as a look of disgust tore across his face, only heightened by the stranger's OK sign and tongue-out combo he had going.

"This guy's a freak freak." Krillin kept to himself as he tightened the top of his police cap. "No matter. I know he has two Dragon Balls." He mused, locking eyes on The 2 Star Ball. "And whoever's in the shower actually has a Ki signature. I'll need to remember what it feels like."

Krillin motioned to toss the ball, the man got into position to receive and then it was out of his hands. The New Detective had many thoughts as he brandished a notepad and clicked in his black pen loudly, his left arm finally coming out to play.

Krillin had gotten good enough now to cast The Two Witches without any handsigns, something Tien wasn't even capable of.

"Officer?"

"..?"

"What are you doing?"

"Just taking some notes."

"Okay."

"Thanks very much for your time. I've got some things to do back at the precinct… Have fun with your… wife…"

Clicc.

"Damn I really just sold my soul for that one, huh. Where's his car?"

FYUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuu~

"Oh. So everyone flies now? That makes no sense."

SSSSSSSSssssssssssTee~

Cell stepped out of the bathroom moments later, dripping all over the floor.

"Bro! Not on the carpet!"

"What?"

"Wipe yourself off dude, are you nuts!?"

"HAH-HEH-HAH! Sorry!" Cell apologised with a chipper cadence, waltzing back onto the tile.

"What am I gonna do with this dude? If he really did kill someone, he's definitely gonna get fucking caught. He's way too dumb to not leave a trail." Vinnie thought as he shook his head and laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Krillin

Krillin gave the radar another look, eyeing it carefully before he got a call on his cell phone, the unexpected buzz bouncing against his pocket kind of spooked him as it brought The New Detective out of his focused trance.

Rrrrring!

"Hello? Chief?"

"..."

"What?"

"..."

"I'm working a case right now, I don't really have the time to~"

"..."

"What!?"

"Gingertown is under siege by some bandits! These guys are strong! We can't handle them, bullets don't even phase them! I don't know why but there are carrots everywhere!"

"Are you serious?"

"I'm dead serious! Why would I joke about something like this!?"

Krillin looked down at the radar, and closed his eyes in frustration as he pocketed it.

"I'm on my way."

FYUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuu

After a while, Krillin came across the abandoned cityscape, buildings were intact strangely. Krillin expected more property damage and way less… carrots.

"What in the world?" Krillin pondered as he landed next to the brigade of empty squad cars. "Where is everybody?"

Skyscrapers stood tall, ground level buildings claimed their stake, but more than anything, it was the sheer volume of orange that spilled out from every nook and cranny of the city. Alleyways? Carrots. Street corners? Carrots. Sewage systems and potholes? Carrots. Driver's side? Carrots. Passenger's? Open convenience store doorways? Windows thrust or broken in? Sidewalks?

Krillin didn't think it was possible for this much of anything to be put anywhere, but that just proved how most people don't put that much stalk into other's existence as something to be noted. This many people walk around everyday in Gingertown, but the fact they were all now vegetables put it in full focus.

Since nothing else was moving, the slight shift coming from the limp vegetation caught out of the corner of his eye, Krillin saw something.

Krillin VS The Rabbit Mob

Objective: Find out what the hell is going on!

Ka-KOMM! Ga-Chick!

A shotgun blast from behind, Krillin turned on a dime, spinning a sharp pirouette into the ground and bringing up his right hand to stall it in a wavy Kiai.

Vuuuuuu~

"This one's strong, boss."

"Is he?" A strange bunny-man walked from behind a building, his shades twinkling under the midday lighting.

Tingtatingtatatatingtingtating~

The spent pellets made contact with the ground as Krillin made eye contact with the three men in front of him. They all were impressively muscular, wearing what seemed to be tailored suits. The bunny-man grabbed a carrot off the ground and chomped on it with indignation. The two men on either side of him cracked their knuckles before dashing in deep. Krillin sent out a quick pulse of Ki Sensing and:

"Nothing. Nothing..?" Krillin thought to himself as they rushed forward, raining down blows on the man as he backpedaled towards the cars.

Krillin dodged and parried them like they were kindergartners. They posed no threat so he just used the extra time to think.

"If none of these guys have Ki, are they just really strong? Don't want to hit them too hard, I'd take their damn heads off."

WHAPP! KRSHH!

Krillin stuck the burly black one in the nose with a careful straight, sending him packing and crashing into the windshield of a police van. The bunny-man's whiskers twitched a single time as he chomped down and finished the rest of the carrot.

"Where did all these carrots come from?"

THMM!

With one more calculated yet nonetheless furious blow, he had dispatched the threats in no time. Krillin and the bunny stared down for a long time before the white furry adversary cleaned his hands with several claps and then put them behind his back. He coughed a single time and then gallantly walked forward.

Fsh!

The bunny-man was quick on the draw but nowhere near Krillin regardless, in one move, the man was flattened, out of commission.

THOKK!

"Gu~hawww!" The bunny-man gagged as his sunglasses fell off and he was knocked onto his ass and the concrete.

With a flick of the wrist and a growing of the hand, Krillin got out some cuffs and proceeded to strap them around the bunny's wrists.

Pof!

In a flash, without even realising it, Krillin had been turned into a carrot at the touch of the bunny, his shape morphing quickly into the thin orange vegetable. The bunny-man laughed and snickered and hollered and guffawed, rejoicing in the conquest.

"Ahahahahahaha~" He chortled like a maniac as the last cop touched the ground. "I think I'll take you as a little souvenir, mister cop." The bunny joked as he picked up the lone carrot from the many around it. "You actually managed to put up a fight. But in the end… you just couldn't get it done." He mocked, placing the Krillin-Carrot in the front pocket on his silky green vest.

Master Carrot recalls his one and only defeat. Goku sent him packing, all the way up to the moon with his Power Pole. After 20 years of subservience and training Master Carrot was back, and he was going to take his revenge on that little brat. Master Carrot was one of Goku's very first ever enemies. It's been a long time coming for the rabbit.

"Alteration Hakai? How does a damn Earthling have that?"

"It's not even Hakai, Beerus. He can just do that."

"Are you serious?"

"I've been watching the Earthlings for a long time now and they never fail to continue to amaze and inspire."

"I'll give this one to you, but don't expect me to let you hold it over my head."

"Oh. I won't. Hmm-hmm-hmm."

"Hmph!"

"Ah-hem."

Master Carrot's ability has nothing to do with Ki. It is magic in the truest and traditional sense and so cannot be parried in any way. The only way to resist would be to possess The Right of the Strong and naturally resist powers from lower-level beings.

The Master dusted himself off, wiping the spent saliva from his second-long fight with the short and strong but still eliminated cop.

"You fools! Hurry your asses up!"

The men responded in kind, almost heaving up their innards from the brutal blows they received.

"That little boy with the staff isn't here. We're going to have to continue our search elsewhere." The Master commanded as he picked up his shades, flicked them open, and placed them over his face determinately.

"Yes Sir!" The two goons behind him saluted.

The Vinnie

"Yo, Cell?"

"What is it?"

"I gotta talk to you, man."

"Sure." Cell responded as he folded his arms behind his frame, leaning deep into the couch.

"Have you ever killed someone?"

"..."

"I know it's a complete-"

"Yes."

The answer left Vinnie totally stunned. It was obviously him in the video but the assuredness and genuineness that Cell carried himself with only strengthened the response.

"Uhh-"

"Why do you ask?"

"The… the freaking cops came banging down my door earlier today, bro. I… you're my guy but I gotta let you know, I don't want to go to jail for a guy I barely know."

"What's jail?"

"Oh my god…"

Cell let him think it through, only raising a brow and maintaining uncomfortable eye contact.

"Wow. Let me just think, dude."

"Of course. Take your time." Cell chimed in before turning his head back to the movie playing on the giant TV.

"Cell."

"..?"

"You can't stay here. And I can't hold The Dragon Balls for you."

"..! Why not?" Cell answered as he sat up sharply, returning to his stoic eye contact.

"Jail is a place where they lock you up and throw away the key for an allotted time." Vinnie looked at the velvet carpet in horror and disbelief, just throwing his hands up as he went on. "I didn't kill anyone, and I never directly helped you kill anyone, both of which are prosecutable crimes that I don't want to go to jail for."

"Why would you go to jail?"

"Cause I've stashed you and The Dragon Balls here. You killed that guy Giran for a Dragon Ball, didn't you?"

"Yes…" Cell answered coldly as he finally took away his gaze and sent it towards the floor.

"I thought so…"

The room was quiet, the silence only punctuated by the fancy clock on the wall and the cheesy B-movie playing on the big screen.

"You haven't ever treated me poorly, Cell, so…"

"So?"

"I'm not gonna snitch."

"Snitch?"

"Tell on you, or… turn you into the police. I'm not gonna do that."

"..."

"Just take The Dragon Balls and, … go."

Cell closed his eyes and sighed, taking the two starry spheres from the glass bowl with a heavy heart.

"It was fun while it lasted."

Vinnie didn't say anything as his friend headed for the door, only looking up at the ceiling fan as the characteristic open and close played out.

Skwee~Klm.

Cell

"Uhh." Cell hummed blankly as he stared at the dirt, checking the radar to make sure. "Well I know the hideout is here. But how do I get in?"

Dwerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr~

"Ahh." Cell smiled as the faux-dirt began to segment and slide apart from each other.

The entrance opened up and Cell walked down the endless corridor until he finally reached the impenetrable steel wall. After a few squeals from the other side, the gigantic circular entryway was opened up.

"Why do you only have, 2, Dragonballs?"

"I…"

Gero and Kochin eyed him strongly as he searched for an appropriate response.

"I needed to make sure to drop these off because I don't have a good way of carrying them. You guys didn't give me the Capsule bag."

"Cell." Gero stated determinately.

"Yes, Father."

"With genes from, The Demon King Piccolo, you should be able to use, Telekinesis."

"Really?"

"Yes. There's no need for you to carry things around in your hand. We've carefully cultivated the genes and cells selected to make you the ultimate being."

"What's Telekinesis?"

Cell asked the question but sort of found the answer as he asked. Gero and Kochin had crafted Cell in such a way that keywords or statements were already programmed into his being. He was designed as a learning machine in the hopes that, he would find The Dragon Balls faster than a traditional A.I. would. It was proving to be not the case and insanely annoying for the two doctors. Cell asked questions like a child, because that's essentially what he was.

Cell pantomimed a strange aura in his hand, eyes wide at the result.

"Oh wow." He ruminated as The Dragon Balls floated ever so slightly out of grasp. "Alright! Well… I still need to drop this off."

Kochin palmed the two orange spheres, taking out the Capsule pack and sealing them up.

It was a planned endeavor, they didn't put them into the Capsules for easy storage. The Dragon Ball's signal couldn't be picked up by a radar if they were put inside a Capsule. They are space alteration devices, The Dragon Radar simply couldn't detect it because it didn't exist on that plane anymore. Though, that's not to say a more advanced Dragon Radar couldn't find it, but that'd have to be created first and it most certainly didn't exist yet.

Cell waited around blankly before the two doctors shooed him out.

"You still have three more, Dragonballs, to find, Cell."

"Of course." Cell responded as he took a respectful kneel before them, placing his hand over his slick black chest.

The bug-man's wings fluttered crazy fast as he made his way towards the hull. Gero tapped a few buttons on the computer, forcing the large opening to close and lock the wheel into place. He finished the routine with a final button press and the segmented opening opened up to the sunsetting sky above.

"Almost time to sleep." Cell stated as he looked up at the stars poking through.

Qua~Klmm!

"Cell!"

"Father?" He questioned plainly, looking to where the noise came from.

Gero's voice called out from the panel on the right side.

"You are an organic lifeform, so you do need rest. But we have also designed you in a way that you've been preselected to go for over 72 hours at peak performance. Those were also part of The Demon King Piccolo's gene pool."

"I don't need… to sleep?"

"Not for at least two more days."

"Wow. What immacula-"

"Move it!"

"Yes, Doctor…"

Dr. Challenger

The four scientists studied the dank walls caked with dust, wiping away years of meticulous wear and tear that the crypt had hoisted upon itself. Wind howled throughout the cracked corridors.

"Wow~" Nain called out as she put her nail on the many glyphs lining the halls.

"And to think I vas just fooling around creating androids when this marvellous scripture was here right under my nose."

"Androids?" Dr. Challenger challenged with a smile and a squirm of his grey mustache.

"You don't know?"

"Heh~" Challenger laughed just before coughing out a wad of the dungeon dust. "No. I probably should have done a bit more quality assurance before hiring you I suppose."

"I created one of the finest artificial lifeforms this planet has ever seen."

"Oh yeah?" The man with the receding hairline fought back as he fixed his glasses.

"Oh yes, Dr. Collie." He answered back determinedly, pointing a finger at the slightly balding man.

"Enlighten us, Dr. Flappe." Nain coaxed with a smile as she grinded out the grainy cobwebs between her fingers.

"Many years ago I vas contracted by The Red Ribbon Army to create the ultimate killing machine."

"The Red Ribbon Army!?" Dr. Challenger yelped as his already cold skin ran colder. "Why in the devil would you ever want to help them!? I really should have run more background tests." Challenger stated as he swallowed harshly and fixed his round glasses, the crypt's depths brushing more icy air around the four as they trekked down the path.

"Don't you vorry your pretty little head ova' it, Doctor. That's long in the past and I chose this line of vork for a reason. I don't vant to put my life on the line vor those kind of scumbags. Archeology is a field with no adversaries and that's just how I like it."

"What did the android look like?" Nain asked curiously, turning her full body language toward Flappe.

"Vell~" He pondered, striking up a pose as the quartet followed the narrow passageways of the crypt. "He's a big man like this~" Flappe mimed as he waddled, bringing his arms out as wide as a bear. "And tall as a tree." Standing up on his tippy-toes for scale. "I modeled him afta' Frankenstein's Monster. Flat top, short hair, bolts and all."

"Creepy." Nain giggled.

"You know~" Challenger challenged again. "That design was only for the movies. Frankenstein's creation was more vague in its descriptors, no bolts, no flat top, no bolts."

"Fine! Maybe I didn't read Shelly. But he vas still very intimidating!" Flappe shouted loudly as a rebuttal. "Those jerks practically pooped their pants ven I first unveiled him."

"I don't doubt it." Collie called out calmly. "A living being that's not alive would scare just about anybody."

"But he vas alive!"

"An android? Really?"

"Yes really! He may have been all circuits but the programming was top-notch!"

"So not alive." Collie smirked like a bastard.

"Vatever!" He yelled back, crossing his arms like a child as the rest of the group chuckled lowly.

The four of them scoured the halls until a grandiose space happened upon them. A large hall opened up before the four, dusty columns supporting the high ceiling of the crypt. There were several weathered stairs leading up to a well-embellished golden sarcophagus. The steps led up in all cardinal directions, looking like a mini pyramid inside the hall. The group fanned out and scanned the walls of the arena before deciding to tackle the obvious in the middle of the room, each taking their own way up the stairs.

Dr. Challenger breathed in heavily before heaving the lid over a tad with the help of the rest of the group.

Skfffffffffffff~

"Ack-Hack-Ack!"

"Coufff~ Vat the heck? Couff~ It smells like something crawled up its ass, died and Then laid eggs."

"Why'd you have to give me that mental image?" Nain complained as she closed her eyes and swatted away at the coffin dust.

"If I have to power through it, you do too."

"Maybe you should just keep your thoughts to yourself, Flappe."

"There he is~" Dr. Challenger shined brightly through all the dust, his smile as wide as could be. "The Pharaoh, Totenhotep!"

The Pharaoh was covered in dainty but pristine golden wraps, his skin also covered in a thin layer of what looked to be a golden clay mold of some kind. His eyes had been stuffed with purple gemstones

"Vat's that?"

Collie looked around the rest of the echoey halls, seeming to notice something the others didn't.

"Do you guys hear something?"

Whuuuuuuuuuuuu~

"Uhhhhhhhhhhh~"

That's all it took for Dr. Collie to turn fidgety, wide-eyed, and frightened.

"Guys?"

"You're paranoid, Collie." Nain called out as she examined the wraps of The Mummy. "Always have been."

"What's this?" Challenger asked as he pointed at an orb covered in dust, flakes, and the passage of time.

"Looks like a crystal ball I'd reckon." Dr. Flappe shot out immediately. Something strange prodded at the back of his mind for a moment though.

Dr. Challenger picked up the ball from The Mummy's hand and eyed it curiously near one of the torches.

"Vait!"

His scream was deafening, drawing everyone's attention.

"I know that! That's a Dragon Ball!"

"A dragon-what?"

"Guys."

"What is it, Collie?" Dr. Challenger asked, somewhat deflated.

"How were the torches already lit in here?"

"..."

Everybody's eyes just about popped out of their sockets in thought. In one moment, the sarcophagus shook like a magnitude 10 earthquake. The meticulously constructed pyramid boomed, and the cubic blocks keeping its structure rocked violently, jutting in and out the room seemingly at random. Before he could really even process what was going on, The Pharaoh's hand blitzed forward and iron-gripped Dr. Challenger's right wrist.

"What!?"

"Aiiiiiiiie!" Nain screamed as she saw the previously cadavered mummy grapple onto the man's arm.

The Pharaoh said nothing, his purple gem eyes twinkling under the whispering torchlight. Challenger dropped the ball in his fright and it popped loudly as it bounced down the steps.

Bop-Kop-Fop-Krrrrrrrrrrr~

The Dragon Ball rolled away into the unknown as it exited into a hallway to the right of the sarcophagus. The Mummy still stayed quiet, shooting out his right arm like a claw and stapling itself around Challenger's throat.

"I came to The Royal Academy to get avay from this stuff! Come on!" Dr. Flappe whined as he threw his hands into the air.

Dr. Collie looked on in horror as other mummies filed in from all directions.

"What are we gonna do!?" Collie shouted as he fell onto his ass under the stress.

"Get off him!" Nain shouted as she slapped and tried to pry The Pharaoh's grip from her colleague.

The Mummy just glared at her and an ethereal presence washed over the woman's entire being. Nain booked it, dashing down the tile and trying desperately to escape. Flappe looked around, taking a torch off the wall.

"You vant some of this!?" He taunted, swinging the fiery stick at The Mummy. Totenhotep was wholly unfazed, his bandages refusing to be lit ablaze. "Vat is this!?"

Collie turned tail to run too, but was caught and dragged into the unknown, screaming bloody murder as they tore him asunder. Flappe's blood ran cold as Challenger attempted to whimper out anything at all. He was unsuccessful, only spit came dribbling out under the chokehold.

Flappe had enough as well, forgoing helping the man and dashing out into the darkness with his new weapon.

"Get back!"

Fwuofff~

It seemed to actually work against the others, dissuading their grasp and lighting their dusty cloaks made of wrappings. All that was left in the main room was Doctor Challenger. Groans of the undead filled the air and echoed to every corner of the tomb.

Goku VS Piccolo

Objective: Not really one in particular, just a friendly spar. Is what I would say if that were the case but really there is one but I don't feel like spoiling that specifically. Beerus is being super petty today. He stole my boba, I couldn't believe it. I spend all this time cleaning the house and he doesn't care one bit. I should teach him a lesson one of these days and really clown on him when he fights another God. The problem is that I don't know when that'll be but if I go out of my way to set it up he'll expect something so really I'm at a loss. Anyway, here's Goku and Piccolo fighting each other.

"You ready?" Goku asked with a chipper tone as he bobbed up and down on the ground, feet shuffling through the healthy grasslands of Mount Paozu.

"I should be asking you." Piccolo remarked, chuckling through his clenched maw, throwing his cape and turban to the side. "You didn't fare too well last time."

"But that was last time." Goku kept it bouncy as he sidled around like the hands on a clock, smiling and pointing back at The Demon.

Piccolo kept formation with The Saiyan, winding around with him as the sun started to descend from its apex of the day. Gohan and Chi-Chi watched on with drinks in hand, under the shade of the tree with a light breeze accompanying them. Raditz also viewed the contest as he chopped wood at the side.

THUNKK! WHUNKK! TONKK! HUNKK!

Through the rhythmic strikes, the two readied their plans of attack, striking on the next log split.

THUNN~Wsht!~KK! Whapwhap! FufufufFwooosh! Swu-FOOSHH!

They ran buckwild in front of the house, dashing in deep, both sending out furious blows which hit nothing only for Piccolo to blast him away with an epic Kiai cannon. Goku backhandsprung off the grass, laughing all the while.

"This is fun!"

"Tcheh!" Piccolo scoffed loudly as a smile crept across his face.

"Honey?" Chi-Chi posited.

"Yes dear!?" He shouted over the fist flurries and harsh cuts of wind.

"When are you going to get your driver's license!?"

"What do you mean!?"

Goku hit a mean high frontflip over Piccolo's committed left straight, landing on the ground and then backdashing with a lead elbow towards his target.

"A driver's license is-"

"I know what you mean, Chi-Chi, what I was asking was…"

Fufufu! Swoosh!

"Why would I ever need a driver's license!?"

"If you ever needed to take the kids-"

"But, I could just fly them there myself!"

Fa-FOOSH!

"That or…"

FuFuFu-Wast~WHOOSHH!

Goku retreated, parrying perfectly three overhands from his rival, guiding the tops of Piccolo's green fists over his shoulders. He returned fire only for Piccolo to dodge out of the way, grab his white tank top and judo throw him over. Goku landed in a cartwheel, grabbing onto Piccolo's own vest and sending him into the air instead.

"-Use The Nimbus!" He responded plainly, taking his eye contact away from the endeavor and instead placing it on his wife.

Chi-Chi just stared at him blankly, hands on her lap.

"Come on."

"..."

"Huh-Hah!"

Piccolo came back with a vengeance, bisecting the air with his hefty claw acting as a scythe, sharp gusts blowing into the treeline near the older brother.

"Alright then, Son Goku…" Piccolo offered as he went to town, throwing a barrage of heated lefts. "Your wife might not make very much sense but-"

Chi-Chi's mouth was agape, taken aback utterly. Gohan laughed loudly as he held onto Goten's stubby body.

"What if I challenged you?"

"A challenge, huh?"

Fsh! Fsh! Fsh!

Piccolo's green face held a wide grin, meeting the always bright whites of The Saiyan's.

"Whoever gets their license first is the one who gets a spot in the next Budokai."

Goku's jaw dropped, but instead of disbelief, it was of total hype, as excited as could be.

"You're on!" Goku screamed throatily, pointing a declarative index finger at him, completely unable to stifle his childlike giggles.

Maloja

The sun hung low in the sky, casting reds and oranges at the same time it cast blues and purples. The moon poked through the sky the same as the sun and they stared at each other like enemies while Maloja eyed their standoff.

"Under the sun and the moon." He spoke to himself.

Soon enough as the sun continued its descent, a sharp noise shot through the dusk. Maloja's eyes narrowed, skimming across the hundreds of acres of sand and wouldn't you know it:

A large bug-like creature tore through the cream coloured minerals like nobody's business, blowing up thick pockets of dunes every which way just for fun. Pure joyous laughter giggled from its teeth as the sand parted beneath the insectoid being.

"The Locust..!" He shouted in his mind, eyes wide at the revelation. He eyed it again through the staff orb, the bug-man floated a pocket watch in front of him with his own magics.

"He knows Telekinesis huh? … What is that?"

Maloja turned around slowly as The Locust passed under him and towards the temple.

"..! It's a device to locate the Dragon Balls!" He proclaimed as he saw a blip blink into existence on the scanlines from his perch. "The Locust will guide me!" He grinned with a snarky disposition, leaping down from the apex of the pyramid and skittering across the sandy desert, making his way towards the same temple the bug-man entered.

Cell

"Wow." Cell marvelled as he stepped inside the ruins, taking a torch of the wall and examining it thoroughly.

Fwuoofff~ Fwaff~

He swung it around a few times for good measure, a smile creeping across his face as he did it. Dust and sand drained from the ceilings as he entered. He brushed his hand along the walls of long since forgotten glyphs.

"Huh-hah-hah!" The black spotted goon giggled gleefully. "What strange little drawings…"

Fffffffff~

Cell took his time, much to the dismay of his unbeknownst follower.

"Who the heck is this dude? He's like a damn kid! Hurry up already!" He thought, gritting his teeth and baring it, not daring to alert the creature. He marked his path carefully, drawing on the walls with his staff. He made sure to stay out of sight, using the red orb to peek around corners as he hid in doorways and various cracks in the walls.

Cell explored the various rooms, passageways, tunnels, canals, you name it. There were an endless amount of places to pray, bury the dead, areas to paint or transcribe, make shortcuts, the list went on, and so did the many hallways leading towards shadowed abysses.

"What is this place..? It's absolutely fantastical." Cell marvelled as he scoffed, touching up against the tapestries that fell into dust at his touch. "Who..?"

He asked all sorts of questions to no one but himself as he checked the surroundings, dipping his toes in the waters of unknown origins. He picked up another torch off the wall, dual wielding them and laughing all the while.

"Oooooooooooo~"

Strange noises bounced off the walls in ghoulish echoes, chills running up Cell's speckled spine as he made his way towards them.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh~ Fffffffff~

He would light rooms and jump at shadows as he got closer to the sounds or more accurately, the sounds got closer to him.

"What's making all that racket?" Cell pondered aloud as he stepped with caution down the narrow corridor.

Tup. Tup. Tp. Dp. Tp. Tup. Tup. TpTupTpDmpTupDupDmpTup.

"AIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEE!"

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!"

"Ahhh-ha-ha-ha!" The woman screamed again as she tried to pass through Cell.

"Ahhhhh!" Cell screamed back as he tried to pass her only for the two to meet face to face again.

They screamed at each other's faces one last time before they heard a ghastly moan bellow from behind her.

"UUHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH~"

"AHHHHHHHH!" The two of them screamed in tandem again before they calmed down.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"Duh-uptdaugh-Duh~" Cell goofed out, not only stumbling over his words but falling down several flights of coherency staircases in the process.

"UHHHHHHHH~"

The mummy groaned as it rounded the corner and stretched out its mangled, blotchy, and blackened arms only barely covered in wraps.

"EYAHHHHH!" The woman screamed as she jumped into Cell's arms.

"Huh?" Cell called out as he dropped the torches on the sandy tomb floor.

"Get me the hell away from that thing!"

"Uhh, … okay." Cell reluctantly agreed, kipping up one of the torches and then blasting it with a snap front kick at the foe.

FWOFFF~

"UUOOOOOOOOOOOOGHHHHH~"

The mummy groaned as it caught fire, the messy yellow wraps being a good source of fuel for the torch. The unearthly groan it let out rattled the pair to the bone, Cell booking it down the corridors, going many miles a minute and not really thinking where he went or how he got here.

"Where are we going!?"

"I don't know!" Cell cried out as he entered room after room, no end in sight.

"What do you mean you don't know?"

"I uhh~" He whimpered, checking feverishly in the darkness.

"Go back for the torches!"

"Which way is back?"

"Uh oh." She let out plainly as they entered the pitch blackness.

"Okay. Think."

"Think what!? I'm gonna die and it's all your fault!" She cried, bopping him on his shadowy body with smacks of her palms.

"Would you calm down?" Cell asked with authority. "I'm going to hit you back if you keep going."

She stopped immediately.

"Wowww~ You'd hit a woman?" She asked, clearly offended.

"What's the difference?"

"UOOOOOOOHHHHHH~"

The sound didn't just echo like last time, its base reverberated off several different sources, more than one. It wasn't a lone attacker but a mob, their footsteps clapping lightly in every direction. She gripped around him tighter and shook like a newborn.

"Think." The bug-man said plainly as he stepped out into the hallway. "Hold on." Cell commanded as he took away his arm to feel out the walls.

His chalk white hand checked the surfaces, feeling out the dust and cracks.

"Welp. Brace yourself I guess." Cell stated matter-of-factly as he backed up.

"What are you-"

KA-KOOMM!

"Eyahhhh! Ow!"

KA-KOOM! Koh-KMM! KA-KOOMM! KA-KMM! KRMM! FMM! FA-KOOMM!

He crashed through wall after wall, sticking out his left arm and blindly smashing through the pyramid until he reached the outside. The sun had all but faded leaving only a sliver of orange at the very top of the horizon. Cell dropped her off, dazed and confused. He didn't do a very good job checking for quality control, she had definitely taken a few hits, bruises and blood marked her frame as she saw stars on the grass.

The bug-man rounded to the front and entered just the same as before, taking a torch off the rack on the left side of the entrance. The echoes of the damned got louder again as he made his way deeper.

KrrrrOKK! Krrrrrrrrrrrr~

The sound of flames rocked again as he left a large line in the wall with his right arm, piercing the stone and dragging it along to mark his path.

FWOUFFF~

Cell raised a brow as another surge of fire pierced the darkness, this time wholly visible instead of audible. A man ran with reckless abandon through the halls, chased down by more figures in burning wraps. They fell over themselves with poor structural integrity, both from the flames and their own poor leverage due to the thinness of their frames.

"Dah! Back demon! Back!" The man screamed in a strange voice, gargling while swinging the torch at Cell's face.

"I mean you no harm. I'm only looking for The Dragon Ball."

"..! Vat!? I knew this place vas no good! I'm out of here! The Dragon Balls are nothing but trouble!" The man blurted out as he attempted to juke the bug-man.

FWOFF~

It was to no avail.

"KYAH! It's got me!"

"Sir! Calm down! You know of The Dragon Balls?"

Maloja looked on from the darkness, hiding in the stream of a canal as his staff sniped the action.

"Gah!" The banana-suited man with the blue afro screamed as he saw another group of mummies walk over the embers of their fallen only to share in their fate, their old dusty rags catching fire without a second thought. "Just get me out of here, damnit! And I'll tell you vatever you vant!"

Cell looked up at the mummies, grabbed the man's shirt collar, turned around, sniped the line he made and absolutely blasted out of there, much faster than having to break through the pyramid walls in a conga-line.

FOOMM!

"Shit…" Maloja cursed, shaking his head above the water as he saw the display of power. "This guy's gonna be a tough one."

"Vahh..? How did you, I don't..? Vat?" The man ran through the motions as Cell tossed his ass on the sand.

"The Dragon Balls."

"..? Oh! Right!"

Nain walked around the corner, spooking the hell out of Dr. Flappe.

"Dah! Nain!"

"Flappe? Did anyone else get out of there?" She asked in a hurry, crouching down to meet his eye line.

"I don't think so…" He lamented.

"Sir. The Dragon Balls."

"Right! Uh… there is only one in there!"

"That makes sense. The radar only picked up one in there."

"Totenhotep is guarding it."

"Totenhotep?"

"Yes! They say Totenhotep is The 3rd Trial Olibu of Olympus had to conquer in order to gain favour vith the Gotts!"

"Totenhotep?"

"He… He is… vas, a legendary pharoah in his day, but his time has long since passed."

Nain barely got the swallow down as she stood up tall and glared over to the entrance.

"Or would have passed. He has been resurrected somehow~ I eehh~ don't know how, but-"

"So Totenhotep has it, huh?" Is all Cell remarked as he stepped toward the pyramid.

"Vait! Totenhotep is going to destroy you! Unless you possess the divine power like Olibu in the legend, you'll never be enough!"

Cell neglected to answer as he entered the crypt. Nain and Flapped spared a glance at each other before booking it toward the car.

"OWOUHHHHHHHHH!"

They beckoned as he marched with swagger back into the tomb. Harrowing groans and moans capstoned the halls as the bug-man made his way inside for the third time, clutching the torch he held with the most intense version of himself he had presented to the temple. The dilapidated deceased oozed black tar, blood, dirt, dust, grime, and all manner of untoward fluids as Cell beat them back with righteous blows. Every hit was a one-shot, absolutely mowing them through with punches, kicks, and swipes of his wooden weapon. The bug-man fought through the hoard, eventually making his way to an open room with an empty coffin.

"What's this?" Cell asked plainly as he breached the steps and peered into the expertly gilded sarcophagus.

The Dragon Ball was nowhere to be seen, just an empty box. Cell looked around, seeing nothing before taking out the radar and checking it.

Ga-Chuik! Bee! Bee!

As he stood up, a large shadow cast on the wall in front of him. He blinked a single time before pivoting on the spot and kicking up age old dust into the bristly crypt air. The Pharaoh stood before him, his bandages not a pee-stained yellow but a perfected gold that was undisturbed by the man's decay. Unlike the others, this mummy said nothing, and seemed to possess a certain level of coherency, staring right back at Cell with arms locked at its side.

"Are you Totenhotep?"

The Mummy nodded.

"I'm here for The Dragon Ball. I won't fight you if I don't have to."

The Pharaoh eyed his physique.

Oh yeah. Totenhotep thought. Cell's body would be great to turn into a minion.

"..."

Cell and Totenhotep locked eyes for a long time, the small crackles of flame being the only thing punctuating the silence until more mummies started piling into the hall, literally, plodding and shimmying over each other with no thought for anything else other than to surround.

"But if you leave me no other options… Prepare to lose."

Cell answered as he stuck the torch and radar in the coffin, cracking his knuckles outward and rolling his burly onyx shoulders. The mummies didn't come after Cell so much as block off all the exits, two less mucky faces in their ranks. Lost in the sauce and focused on his own objective, Cell didn't notice The Dragon Radar start floating and soon enough it passed through the veritable wall of wraps and entered into Maloja's hands.

"Hmm." Maloja smirked as he palmed the item. "Perfect."

Ga-Chuik! Bee! Bee. bee b-

Maloja's frame was encompassed by darkness as he snuck away.

Cell VS The Pharaoh Totenhotep

Objective: Fight off The Pharaoh!

The room hushed, the groans of the damned ceased as The Pharaoh limbered up. The fires of the torchlights crackled, signalling combat.

Fsht! WHOKK!

Cell hiked his left leg up high and launched it into Totenhotep's jaw, forcing it up.

Tup. Tp.

Cell scanned his target for any oddities as it backed up with two steps. The Pharaoh was unperturbed, standing up to full height almost immediately after taking the blow.

"Okay then." The bug-man commented as he cracked his fingers again, stepping down from the middle platform and sidling around Totenhotep.

The pair waltzed in a clockwise direction, waiting for each other's first move. In a blitz, Cell's wings sprung to life, flapping an uncountable amount of times in a split second, gusts of winds bellowing out into the dungeon and blowing all manner of dust and wraps wildly.

WHUMM! Pa-POCKKLE!

The Mummy saw right through it as his indigo gems twinkled, booting Cell right in the sleek black chest region.

"Ohhh…" Cell groaned as picked himself off the ground, brushing away the loose rubble stuck to his backside. "You're not a pushover yourself, eh?" He remarked with a smirk.

Cell disappeared from view, faster than he thought, slamming right into the wall of mummies on the opposite side, his arms draped over one each.

"Sorry..?" He apologised briefly, blinking at the oddity. "Huh. I just keep getting too strong for my own good, I guess." It was less of a taunt and more of a statement as he stood up and wiped himself off, standing the mummies up on their feet after having knocked them over. "Didn't mean to do that. Apologies."

The Pharaoh stared him down, unblinking. Not that his sparkling gems could perform the action anyway.

"I mean if you're just gonna let me." He commented, taking time away from the battle to loosen up. Cell stretched it out one last time, checking all his limbs.

The Pharaoh maintained his animalistic glare as Cell breathed out deeply.

"Heh~" He coughed, clearing his throat a bit. "Mm-Hmm! Sure is dusty in here. Okay! Let's do this!" Cell proclaimed, hitting a thumbs up before whirlwinding towards his foe.

FOOSHHH!

The wild winds rocked the room, knocking the nearby mummies on their asses as Cell hit a fly-by haymaker of a right hand.

THMM!

Totenhotep bounced off the wall, the structural integrity of the pyramid being called into question as dirt and dust rained down from the ceiling, chunks of bricks falling down here and there as well as the two went at it. Totenhotep shot out a length of wrap, tightening around Cell's left arm like glue.

"Huh?" He questioned plainly, looking at it with intrigue before getting pulled in with the tug of legends.

WHAMM!

Cell was flattened on the ground, but only for a moment. The bug-man kipped up like it was no big deal.

"This is..? All you've got?" Cell asked with a serious intonation. Again, it didn't really sound like he was making fun or prodding at his opponent, it sounded too genuine to be that.

Totenhotep tugged him in again, looking to grab and thrust him into the ground. Cell acted too quickly, going with the momentum of the pulling motion to deliver a thrusting superbug punch.

WHOKK! KrrrrOCKKLE! Slash~Sloshh~Slouss~ Ftatutu~

The wall caved in, revealing a canal that drove under the room. Cell was forced through, dragged into the other room due to the iron-grip the gilded wrap still had on him. The space was almost pitch black, the only light in the room coming from the hole in the wall that was steadily being blocked out by the line of mummies shifting into place and proceeding to fall into the water.

Slass! Sloush! Fsht! Whst! Slshh!

Cell was tossed around by the wild wippings of Totenhotep. He slashed every which way like a whip, thrusting the bug-man into the walls as he was incapable of seeing his enemy.

WHOMM! WHOOSH! FMM! Slashh~ Sloushh~

"Ahh…" Cell groaned as he splashed around in the trench and up against the stone cubes. "Okay." Cell thought aloud as he was bombarded with strikes, sent every which way, throwing into the ceiling, the wall, and the water. It didn't faze him, he just used the time to think. "That one time~"

Cell recalls his fight with The Triceratops King.

"I felt that huge surge of energy right at the end. How did I do that?"

WHUMM!

The Pharaoh slammed him into the wall, getting right in front of his bug-like foe and raining down shots, punch after punch to pin him down. Cell barely defended, just keeping his arms up limply, it's not like he could even see The Mummy anyway.

"I calmed myself… and focused only on one thing."

Cell's frame lit up like an x-ray, purple energies lightly radiating off his frame as Totenhotep laid on the punishment. Cell's eyes were closed but he furrowed his brow all the same.

"What is this power?" He thought. "I'm…"

He stopped blocking altogether. There was no need.

"Even stronger than I think I am." Cell contemplated out loud as The Pharaoh reigned it in, backing up to try and deliver a monstrous haymaker.

Instinctually, he sent out a pulse of Ki Sensing, only this time, his was naturally Level 2, or what Gods of Destruction refer to as Scanning.

The entirety of everyone's frame was revealed, Cell could see their brittle bones, the outline of the water, the walls, the cracks, and the flittering dust snowing down from the top. Time slowed to a crawl as Totenhotep inched forward. Totenhotep's wrap was still locked in on Cell's left arm, he didn't remove it however, he instead used it to his advantage. The Pharaoh edged closer, his own left arm raised to strike with an overhand. Cell pivoted sharply, turning his back to The Mummy and beating his wings in a single dominant flap as he pulled him in with the golden line. The Mummy was forced in at the tug, during the spin, Cell caught his arm, and arm-dragged him into the wall, cracking and denting it in under the pressure.

Cell planted his left boot on Totenhotep's stomach, the barely human creature pinned to the cracked wall while upside down. He sighed with a bit of distress and melancholy.

"Survival of the fittest." He chanted like a mantra, nonetheless still perturbed, you could hear it in his voice.

Sssk! Vyoip~Vyoip~Vyoip~

The other mummies looked on, splashing around in the water to attack their foe. Cell barely registered their presence, one-shotting them with lazy right hands that completely shattered their existences, turning them into mucky goo and nothing but wraps as he took the only energies Totenhotep had left.

"I'm…" Cell contemplated as he drained the last of the black tar from Totenhotep's being. "I'm made for this, huh?" He asked plainly, looking at his left hand as he bashed and battered the troupe with his right. "Others are born, right..? But I was Made for this." Cell reiterated, maintaining his focused stare at his left hand.

"Hu-hu-help!" A low bassy scream cut across.

Cell looked up, and sure enough, there were two men in wraps fighting off the rest of the mummies on the top level. He flew up immediately, clearing the room with a wild flourish of blows, almost seeming to teleport from action to action.

Fsht!

"Huh." Cell remarked as he screeched to halt across the bricks, leaving a black burnout in his wake. "I got faster. Again."

"By jove! Who or what..? In the devil are you?" The man with the bushy mustache asked spiritedly.

"Cell."

"..? Cell?"

"Yep. That's my name." Cell answered blankly as he stepped away from the two elderly gentlemen and towards the sarcophagus housing his torch and radar.

"We of The Royal Academy of Science are forever in your-"

"What!?" Cell shouted, his eyes bugged out to oblivion. "Where's the radar!?"

"Sir? What radar?" Challenger challenged as he fixed his glasses and stood side by side next to the bug-man.

"The Dragon Radar! It's for tracking down The Dragon Balls!"

"Hmm…" Challenger meditated on it for a moment, his index finger placed gently on his thumb. "Dragon Ball..?"

"Where could it have gone!?" Cell yelped with fervor, heaving up the heavy casket to check underneath and around. "I'm sure I put it over here somewhere!"

The bug-man scanned the area with a nervous jitter that seemed uncharacteristic from the previously stoic, and somewhat just-happy-to-be-there individual.

"Gah!" He bellowed, double and triple checking the usual suspects.

"Sir?"

"What!?" He boomed, almost knocking them on their ass just existing.

"Thank you for helping us."

"... I don't have time for this. I have to find The Dragon Radar."

Dr. Challenger and Dr. Collie stood stunned as the green creature bolted out of the room in a huff, blowing the arcane dust of the establishment all around.

"Huh."

"What A Day." Collie commented as he fixed his slightly askew glasses.

In a flash and flicker of green, Cell reached the outside of the temple. Only the sparse lights from the admittedly mostly full moon and litany of stars added to the collective viewing of the dusty dunes of indigo. He furrowed his brow and sent out his unconscious use of Scanning throughout the region.

The field was huge, much larger than anything any of The Z Fighters had performed. Mind you, each act of Ki Sensing uses up energy from a limited Ki pool, Scanning the planet is incredibly inefficient due to the cost. Only beings who have run the numbers over and over again, sharpening the techniques to perfection and making sure to not waste any energy in the process can scan the planet. Kami was an exception due to the abilities granted to whoever was in the position of Guardian of Earth. It is why Kami wants Korin to step up as Guardian because he believes that Korin is far more talented in the avenues that matter as Kami.

The only feedback he got were faraway plants, insects, and reptiles scurrying about the desert.

"No~" He groaned, falling to the floor with a whimper.

For as strong as he was physically, the loss of the radar hit hard. The unknown programming of his masters endeavored to make the location of The Dragon Balls such a priority that this blow had a palpable tug at his heartstrings. He collapsed, clutching at his black armour-like chest with tears in his eyes as his fingers dug deep and clawed into the grainy sands.

"No…"

Maloja

"This is like the best it could have happened. Don't even need to mess around with that guy." Got The Dragon Ball to boot, too."

Maloja's eyes disappeared into the five red stars hidden in the gleaming golden sphere.

"Unreal." He relayed under the nightlight of the moon as his staff glowed. "This thing is just oozing magic power out the wazoo. How does something this small even hold all this much? Fuck a wish, I might just make a staff out of the orb. The seal looks nigh-unbreakable though. It'd be hard to actually convert this thing to a catalyst."

Maloja scoffed, shaking his head as he sat high on a cliff face, looking out into the prairie nightlife. He tossed the ball up and down rhythmically, eyes glazing over in a trance as he let himself go into autopilot.

Tp. Tp. Tp. Tp. Tp.

After a while of just mindless staring, he brought himself together, shaking his head to rattle awake. The scraggly bearded man checked The Dragon Radar for the next conquest.

Ga-Chuik. Ja-Shuick.

"Hmm? Is this the farthest setting it goes? Oh brother, it's gonna be a pain to find all of them. I only see three on the whole thing."

Something didn't sit right with the priest.

"Wait a minute…"

He feverishly clicked and checked, searching for any details he could.

"This thing is pretty advanced. It doesn't have any labels or nothing… but… It looks like it actually checks for elevation. And if that's true. Then that means that's Monster Island, and that's Mt. Frappe. They're opposite ends of the planet aren't they?"

There was a moment of pause as he gripped his staff tightly, focusing hard on The Dragon Radar.

"I'm making too many assumptions. I'll check that southern location first, and if that's Monster Island then I might be onto something. And if I'm onto something…"

He threw over his green cloak, it cutting against the wind sharply in a satisfying way.

Fwuoff~

"Then I don't like that. That's the whole globe and there are only three Dragon Balls. Did that old hag get it wrong? No… That can't be."

Maloja stared at the stars.

"Unless it's some cruel fake out joke by whatever divinity forced these into being."

Maloja sighed and took one last calculated look at the five stars in the epicentre of the orb.

Cell

With his stinger-like tail between his legs, Cell arrived hastily at the unknowable hideout in the middle of the desert. With a hefty sigh, and a heavy heart, he aimed his gaze at the bright stars above before being accosted.

"Did you bring the rest of the, Dragonballs?"

"..."

"Hurry up!"

"No. I didn't."

"It would seem forgoing automation was a wholly incorrect path of action."

"Very well. Come on in, Cell."

"Yes, Father."

GZZZZZHHHHHHHTT!

The bug-man stomped down into the long hall and cursed himself as he walked the seemingly endless length. The harsh light bearing down on him stung, almost as if they were showing the world what a failure he was. It was hard to breathe as the gigantic door swung open. He had to look at his creators and basically tell them he wasn't good enough.

"I lost The Dragon Radar." Cell stated with melancholy, taking a kneel on the metal flooring.

"You what?"

"And The Dragon Ball."

"We've only, three, more left. You understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"We made an extra, Dragon Radar, just in case. If you mess this up again, Cell. There are going to be big consequences."

"Thank you very much for this second opportunity."

"..."

"We should have automated him, Gero. He's taken far too long searching anyway. We've already waited, 9, years."

"Maybe you are right."

Kochin handed off the last radar with a furrowed brow and a cold look about him. There was a soft tug as Cell had to remove it forcibly.

"I won't fail you again."

"I'm sure, You, won't."

The way Kochin said it just rung as a little strange. Cell took a moment to compose himself before the two Doctors yelled at him.

"Cell!"

"Are you gonna get a move on? We were expecting you to gather the, Dragonballs, all in, one, day. Get out!"

"Yes, Doctor."

Cell closed his eyes and walked out of the room, slamming the large circular vault door shut on his way out.

"..."

The insect humanoid took a long time to himself, just stargazing as he reached the outside.

"Do they not understand? Why do they treat me like that..? I'm supposed to be their son..."

The wind blew softly and before he knew it, Cell had wasted the entire night pondering, the morning sun barely breaking through the horizon.

"I guess… I better get going."