Chapter Five

Only One

It was a simple plan really. Seru knew when he absorbed someone, he took on some of their personality characteristics. The more powerful the person, the more powerful the absorbed characteristics. He had hoped that when Cell absorbed him, his friendship with Rowan would help protect her. He had failed her in every other way, and had made the ultimate sacrifice as a last resort. He sat in his own form of oblivion, smiling to himself as the plan had worked...

Cell stood, flexing his muscles. He didn't look any different, but he felt incredibly powerful. His level must have jumped, to nearly double what it was. He felt almost invincible. He turned his attention to the unconscious girl and felt confused feelings of varying degrees clouding his mind. He laid a silent curse to Seru and his mixed sentimental feelings. The girl groaned and stirred and he felt himself whir into action.

"Seru?" She asked groggily as she sat up slowly. He stared at her for a long time, forcing his mind to sort itself out. Rowan broke into a smile though, as he knelt down next to her. She leaned over and hugged him.

"Seru." She said softly. "Your Okay." Cell was confused further, and forced himself to not make any attempt to either hurt her, or push her away.

Finally she let him go and slowly stood up, using the tree as a support. She had a little bit of blood tracing a line down her face from a cut in her forehead.

"What happened?" She asked as she looked around. There was a long line of destruction where the trees had been blasted away, and a crater where the battle had taken place. Cell smiled despite himself.

"We merged." He said simply. She stared at him for a long time looking troubled.

"What's my favorite color?" She asked suddenly. He stared for a moment as the memories from Seru rushed through his mind causing him further confusion.

"Red." He replied. She frowned slightly.

"Yes. But what does it mean now that you've merged with Cell?" He shrugged.

"We were identical anyway, so the only real difference is the power." He lied before forcing himself to shut his mouth. He was far to obliging to this woman and found his head in chaos again as Seru and Cell duked it out over the emotions. This was going to get annoying.

"I don't know what to say. You've become one, but what now?" Cell smirked.

"Androids. I'll go after them, achieve the ultimate perfection and become unstoppable." Rowan sighed at the hungry cold expression in Cell's eyes.

"Every time you evolve or merge, you loose a little piece of yourself. Your nothing like the bug that got mauled by the dogs in the forest any more. I hope your still you when your finally satisfied with what your doing to yourself." Her words stung him for some reason, he truly couldn't decide why, but pushed it to the back of his mind to think on later.

"I'm going now. At least you don't have to worry about me trying to kill you. For a while." Cell said with a snarl. Rowan frowned, her eyes sad and lost as Cell burst into the air. She felt lost.

Evaluating the situation, Rowan sighed. She felt confused small and to some small degree lucky. Two Cell's had fought over her, for all the wrong reasons, and she still felt horribly numb from the near miss with Cell. His words still echoed in her ears, and she wished she could go back and bleed the information from him. She sighed. Maybe the merged Cell could tell her. She didn't like the new merged Cell much. He seemed cold and hungry, and just as spiteful as the old Cell had been. She missed Seru something shocking. The Seru that sat on the couch with her, while they read books, or watched TV. The Seru that could eat almost her entire income in a day... The Seru she had called her friend...

A day passed. She was still confused about to what to make of the new Cell, but she was trying not to pass judgment on him just yet. She smiled slightly to herself though. The smiley face she had drawn on his crest had become a permanent apart of him, looking like another spot on his crest only cuter.

She was outside, stretching, when it happened. The whole Earth rumbled, and she felt the vibration through her feet, before suddenly the whole world shook violently. She cried out as she fell to the forest floor. She heard the crash of a tree falling nearby and rocks cascading down other rocks. It was over before it had begun though and she stood back up, dusting herself off. She felt the chill down her spine that told her it had something to do with Cell. She hazarded a guess and assumed he had found his androids. Either that or he was fighting someone powerful. She hoped, for simplicities sake, it was option A.

Later that afternoon, the question was answered. She had been watching the news when he appeared. He rose through the floor of the studio, strangled the news reader and turned to the camera.

"My god. What happened to you?" She whispered. He was more human then ever before. His amour was still leathery and green speckled, but it look different, more like clothes then skin. His wings were longer and more slender and shelled black. His chest and shoulders were the same. His crest had split now, framing the black shelled skull. His eyes were a calculating and intelligent pink color and he wore his familiar smirk, just without the beak.

Sitting to the left of his split crest was the little smiley faced speckles, hidden amongst the others, but there none the less.

"Seru." She said quietly as she listened to him. He declared himself the Ultimate Perfection, unbeatable in combat. He challenged the Earth and all it's greatest warriors to a tournament. He gave them ten days to prepare and the location. Then, he turned and blasted a hole through the building's wall, through the city and blew a mountain up in the distance. All just to prove a point.

"Fool..." Rowan muttered. He had just challenged Earth to a battle.

Rowan poured over her geology books and a map. She managed to pin point where he was holding his tournament. It was on the other side of the map in farming country, but she figured she could get there in time for the tournament, assuming Cell didn't come and find her first. She packed up her house and belongings and began the walk through the forest towards where she figured, a town would be. Night settled in quickly and she stopped to reopen her capsule home and cooked herself a steak and some vegetables for dinner. On the news on the TV, the whole planet was in turmoil. Cities were evacuating, people were panicking and causing riots and mass protests. The Army had retaliated and was telling everyone that they were scheduling a response to Cell's threat. Rowan sighed slowly and felt smaller then she had before. She felt somehow responsible and cold.

A sudden knock at her door caught her off guard, but she opened the door anyway. It was Cell. He was as tall as ever.

"Seru..." She said slowly. He looked more impressive in reality. He smirked at her and held his hands out to his side, showing himself to her.

"What do you think?" He asked. His voice was deep and polite, although still held a tinge of menace. She studied him for a moment and gave him a nod.

"So this is what happens when you absorb the androids?" He nodded.

"Ultimate Perfection. I'm the strongest person in the universe now. Completely Unstoppable." She sighed at him. He stared, his cold pink eyes widening in question.

"What wrong with that?" He asked.

"Your going to destroy my planet. I can think of lots thats wrong with that." He smirked.

"I won't destroy it. I'll definitely conquer it though." He said. He felt the twinge of conflict within himself, but pushed it aside. It was unimportant now. She frowned and shook her head, but gestured for him to come inside.

He sat cross legged, but hovered in the air so his wings hung down. It was a trick he had picked up from Piccolo.

"I heard about your tournament." She said casually as she made herself a tea. She offered one to Cell, who took it but made no attempt to drink it.

"Yes. I wanted to give the people of Earth a chance to defend themselves." He said. His eye twitched in response to the internal conflict again waging war within. She sighed slowly.

"I admire that much at least." She felt herself turn cold and steeled herself, building her resolution. Finally she turned on Cell who was staring at her, watching, calculating.

"Cell told me about my mother. He said she was killed by Gero. Can you tell me, please? I need to know." It was sudden, but she felt infinitely better now that it was in the air.

Cell felt himself baulk, felt the overwhelming desire to protect her rise, courtesy of Seru's genetics. The merger seemed so long ago, so much had happened. He no longer thought of himself as either one or the other. He was a combination of the two and no conflicting personalities remained. It was just him with the traits of both. A new Cell. A new Seru. The Ultimate Life form, but the fact that he felt a certain fondness for any single creature irked him still, and it was something he had to adjust too, even though he knew killing her was out of the question. She was needed. But could he tell her why? What difference would it make if she knew the truth?

"Your mother was Celia, Rowan. She was not from overseas like she told everyone. She was in fact from another planet." This news shocked Rowan visibly and she stared blankly and in disbelief. He pressed on. "Gero knew she was an alien, but wanted to know what kind. After all, some aliens have incredibly useful parts in them." Cell's hand gestured towards himself.

"He set about trying to capture her. She proved illusive, but after several years, he managed to capture her. He studied her, much like a human would a rat. He took her genetic sequencing and blood samples and discovered a rather useful chemical compound. Turns out her blood possessed a chemical that could bond with the genetics of another animal, and if done under the right circumstances, would mutate and amplify the animals strength, enhancing them. There were drawbacks, and it took the Good Doctor a long time to iron them out."

Cell paused for a moment, watching Rowan's face turn from anger to shock to confusing and sadness.

"What happened to my mother?" She asked quietly.

"She escaped, eventually. She managed to evade the doctor for a few years then. Enough time for her to fall in love again, settle down and bear the fruits of that love." He indicated to Rowan then. "Unfortunately, the doctor found himself rather annoyed at her disappearance. He sent one of his lesser androids to find her, and he killed her on the street." Rowan felt tears streaming down her cheeks, but they felt distant and far away.

"Ma..." She whispered. An image of her mother fluttered into her head. Blood red hair, knee length with bright green eyes and an unearthly shine around her. It made sense, but Rowan couldn't believe it.

"So... I'm half alien?" Rowan asked after a long time. Cell nodded.

"Yes. You have the same chemical compound in your blood as you mother did. Gero tried very hard to recreate the compound, but it dies without the host. He thought he had succeeded when he managed to procure some of your blood from your old school check ups and used it for his experiments. Yours turned out to much more resilient, possibly because of the human mix in you. Who knows?" Rowan nodded slowly.

"So my ma was an alien, I'm a half alien... What about others? Surely there are others?" Cell smiled sadly.

"No. Your mother was one of the few survivors of a planet that came under attack, and was subsequently destroyed. Others escaped, headed in other directions, but none of them came here to Earth."

Cell had the urge to wipe her tears away, but reigned himself in, and continued to sit unmoving, watching as she wiped her own eyes on her shirt. His insides burned. He hated feeling like he needed to stop her hurting. It wasn't like him. She was obviously upset about finding out about her mother and her self, but that couldn't be helped. He still hadn't told her all the news yet, but he wouldn't yet. He wanted to wait for her to ask, wait for her to swallow all the information he had unceremoniously dumped on her. It took a while, but not as long as he was expecting. She had sipped her tea, tried to calm herself down. His tea sat in his hand, untouched turning cold.

"So I guess that means, that you want my blood?" She asked softly. He smirked.

"No. The compound is in your blood, but nothing will happen if I simply drink your blood. Thats not the way it works. It needs to be released through... special means." She looked at him quizzically.

"So how do you get it then?" She asked. He frowned.

"Do you have no ideas?" He asked, raising his eye ridge in an incriminating way. The memories of Cell trying force himself of her came back to her and she felt herself cringe involuntarily.

"Sex." He nodded slowly.

"Thats the general idea of it. Gero was rather upset about relying on sex as a tool, but he ran out of time to find another way around it." Rowan frowned and stared into Cell's eyes.

"Are you going to... I mean... Um..." Her face grew hot and flushed. Cell laughed at her and shook his head.

"I don't have to. I'm already far stronger then anybody else, so there is no need. But you should at least know." She nodded slowly.

"Thanks... I think. At least I know about my mother now." Cell smiled simply.

"A pleasure." He moved forward suddenly, using his hand to lift her chin. She stared at him a little shocked.

"I won't hurt you Rowan." He said simply. "Despite the differences between my previous counterparts, I won't hurt you. The memories you and Seru shared are still here." She gave him a weak smile.

"Thanks. I think I needed to hear that." He smirked again, his eyes brilliant with his hidden intelligence, and his reservations. He fought an internal battle right then as he stared into her eyes. He wanted to leave her, never talk to her again, pretend she wasn't there, but it was hopeless. He wanted to stand by her side too. He cursed Gero silently for writing the genetics for the attraction towards the half breed. Gero had recorded simply, that it would help.

He left shortly after that, leaving his still untouched cup of tea on the table. She stared at it and let her mind wander. She felt somehow more at ease now that she knew the truth, although she was still troubled. A thought popped into her mind suddenly and she felt eased by it. When he had touched her with his white hand, it had been warm.

She stripped her clothes off and stepped into her shower, cleaning the grime from her afternoon trek off. She dressed and headed to bed, finding an exhausted sleep, despite her wandering, chaotic mind.