Authors note:
Thanks to Zaya Ayame for being the first to review, and also thanks to aquasage for reviewing chapter 1.
Chapter 2: Fail and Fail Again
How? How?! What had brought this failure on? Why was it that he, all the perfection in the universe incarnate could have been taken down by a mere hybrid brat? Lament a super Saiyan backed by his father's power, but a child nonetheless. Oh how he was going to make that whelp pay when he escaped this hell. Though he was dead still he would surely find a way to get vengeance.
Because of this failure he, the great Cell, the perfect warrior, stood in the face of his judgment. He knew where he would end up. It was not a hard thing to predict with the actions he had willingly committed. The android smirked inwardly, perfection belonged in Hell, he supposed.
"According to these files, you've not only indulged in mass murder, but a time warp which created an entire alternate reality!" The giant behind the desk sighed exasperatedly as he shook his head in something that must have been akin to disappointment. "Your sentence is eternal damnation."
Before the last of demons words had left his mouth the floor opened up and attempted to dump Cell into the clouds below. But if the perfect creation was to be put off by such a trivial detail such as a lack of earth beneath his feet, than he would not have gotten so far as he had before his death. And so the android kept his place in mid-air, preparing to attack the one whom had dared to judge such splendor as Cell. Before he could elicit his revenge, however, hands of shadow rose from the bright intensity of the clouds and grabbed the creation in their infinite translucence, dragging him down into Hell.
With an outburst of rage the android powered up, his deep voice reverberating eerily in this new dimension as his energies easily repelled the phantom hands and gathered his ki beneath him once again. He all but disappeared as he rocketed upwards, only for his head to be hurled into an unyielding barrier more durable than any rock he had come into contact with. Badly jarred, the creation fell to the slightly more forgiving earth with a loud thud and a cloud of dust. His superior mind raced with outrage: This was not right! his mind ranted like that of a spoiled child.
He was perfection incarnate, he was the best of the best, he was meant to be the most powerful creature in the universe, and yet a mere half-Saiyan had overpowered and humbled him to this? How!? The urge to destroy came upon Cell hard, and it came fast. No doubt the urge trickled from the Saiyan DNA within his veins. He had to destroy something, anything! His mind searched for powers, maybe a city…were there cities in Hell? The android extended his senses, seeking for powers worthy of his wrath.
That was when he felt them, slightly familiar, but still very alien ki's that just might serve his purposes of venting pent up frustration. Faster than a bullet the creature known as Cell phased out, and into action. And that was how Cell had met with and all but completely decimated Frieza, his father King Cold, and his soldiers, Burter, Jaice, Guldo and Recoom. And that same day, Cell, along with these creatures, were deemed jail-mates and thrown into a prison cell.
Cell wrinkled his nose in disgust at the pungent aroma which swelled around the aliens in the jail hold. Why did they smell so badly when they were all dead? Cell himself was glad there was no perspiration that dared to bead his brow, or anywhere else upon him. Not only did his cellmates smell badly, but they were plagued by disgusting habits. Recoom was commonly seen picking at his orifices and sometimes ingesting whatever it was he had found. Jaice and Burter engaged almost daily in 'wrestling' matches Cell knew where anything but simple play.
And Guldo that disgusting toad. His time freeze had failed him at the most sensual part of his 'alone' time.
Despite these...disgusting flaws, as a whole this group was almost invincible, but they had one great weakness. The Quarreling. The soldiers spent a considerable amount of their time, free or otherwise, bickering about their worthless 'style.' While Frieza was almost always enjoying the challenge of attempting to pick apart Cell's intellect, as if the ice-jinn could even fathom such vast Cold didn't bother with arguing, thinking of it as barbaric and below his stature unless absolutely necessary. And so all their attempted escapes ended the same way, an hour of fun, then they're on the run. Right before being captured and stuffed back into this very literal Hell Hole.
The android could not even remember how long he had been kept locked up in this pit. Only that it had felt like an eternity. Day in and day out the same things, over and over and over again. The monotony of it all was utterly maddening.
But this day would be different. There was to be some sort of important announcement, and so the two jail guards had gone 'upstairs' to listen in. The group of fiends had escaped mere moments after the pair's power signatures had disappeared, and now the jackals ran rampant, sure to detect unwanted attention should anyone quirk an ear in their direction.
Currently Jaice, Burter and Recoome were teasing the short four-eyed Guldo, tossing some sort of stolen pastry between them. There was a slight flicker, and the green cretin had the sweet between his lips, he had obviously used his time-freeze to obtain his goal. Friezia was making the most ruckus, venting upon the poor unsuspecting town, or at least the half that remained. It seemed King Cold and Frieza had more in common than just their egos.
The party came to an abrupt halt, however, as the air began to charge with some strange unseen force, and an unknown figure stepped through a beautiful golden portal. The gateway was like molten sunlight and stood open directly below them. The group gawked for a moment, before, as a whole, they rushed down to surround the stranger, her body hidden in the infinite folds of a midnight-blue cloak of some sort, the fabric was strangely stiff and uneven in places. Cell was quite pleased with the outcome of this so far, thirty seconds of group work and not a single sign of The Quarreling rearing its ugly head. It bode well, very well indeed.
"What are you?" Frieza demanded of the figure, who merely turned her violet eyes his direction. Her skin was pale and purple tresses framed her eyes.
"I am many things." Replied the female in a cold and cryptic voice. Though her eyes did not leave the one-time lord of half the universe, she seemed to be painfully aware of her surroundings. Her petite bare toes twitched as if to run every time one of the men around her appeared to be about to move. The android narrowed his eyes suspiciously, his memory banks were tugging at his mind and distracting him. He felt as though he should know this woman. He felt as if they had met someplace before...
"What was that you came through?" Cell spoke up suddenly, attracting the female's attention to himself. Her eyes glinted strangely, as if she, too, recognized him. Curious, very curious.
"That was my Rift." Explained the female before them. A small gust blew past them and her lochs were tugged into motion easily enough, but her large cloak barley rippled in the breeze.
"Take us through." Cell continued in his rich, deep voice, his memory banks still racing, sorting through scene after scene and still not yielding any results. He had heard talk like hers before, somewhere, he knew. Perfection never forgot.
"If I were to grant your wish, you would have a price to pay." Her voice remained calm and undaunted by the tension and fighting stances being struck around her.
"And the fact that we had spared your life is not price enough?" Frieza butted in.
"No." Was the simple rebuke from the creature who's eyes had never left Cell, once settling upon him. There was still that glimmer behind her eyes before a flash of victorious recognition crossed her features.
"I believe we have me before, One called Cell." Her voice had changed. It became somehow lighter, as if the mere memory of him was enough to lift the frost from her being.
"Oh? And where, my dear, have we met?" Replied the creation curiously. He was sure it was before his current form had been attained.
"Earth." Her eyes traveled up and down his bodice as she took him in. "You have lost your tail, and gained infinitely more power, it would seem."
"Indeed?" Crooned the android. He had finally found the memory and began to replay the scene within his mind. He smirked inwardly, this could be entertaining, if he played his cards right. "I don't seem to recall your name."
At his statement a small smirk appeared at the corners of her lips. "I am called many things, but from birth I have been named Ices." At this her grin was mirrored by Cell. He remembered now. How could a creature so perfect as he forget such an intriguing day? One detail in particular called out to him and his humor dissipated.
"If memory serves, you were on the run?" A sudden suspicious note crawled into his voice, and the female visibly tensed as her own smile dimmed while her eyes flashed to a visibly impatient Frieza before she answered. She knew full well she was in danger of being attacked, the Icejinn's offensive stance was testament enough to that fact.
"I am." She answered, the frigid note creeping back into her voice as she became slightly nervous once more. So many eyes on her always made her uneasy.
"From whom?" Queried Cell, curiosity provoking him. Ices stared at him for a long moment, an internal debate seeming to rage within her. Should she reveal her secret and add yet more pursuers? Her eyes drifted from him to the others and then she seemed to shed her fear like a wool coat. They could not harm her.
"I flee from those who desire me to grant their wish." At a questioning eye-ridge from Cell the female continued, never faltering in her speech even as she darted her eyes to a now visibly angry Frieza. "I am a wish granter."
"You grant wishes?!" Exclaimed Recoom stupidly, the android flinched inwardly at the idiocy within the barbarians voice.
Ices did not bother to reply to the redundant statement, merely watching for the males' reaction.
"We wish to return to life." King Cold interrupted in his royal voice, successfully catching her full attention.
"There is always a price for a wish." Reminded the figure before them, the robes about her seeming to rustle without any assistance from the wind. As if they were a physical witness to her mental discomfort.
"Such has already been established, name the price." The king continued, his arms crossed and tail held perfectly still behind him as he anticipated her answer. There was a brief pause before the beastess' lips pulled back into a frighteningly feral smile. She knew exactly how to entertain herself amidst this brood. Her eyes locked with Cell's as she spoke.
"A duel. If you are victorious than the wish is yours." The smile shown brilliantly in her voice, coloring her words with danger.
"Done." Cell smirked, At last she will know a true battle. He thought as he stepped toward the female readying himself for the fight. The intricately folded dark blue cloak unfurled into a pair of great wings which glinted magically in the sunlight and revealed the bloodied, tattered remnants of what had once been an elegant violet dress. Likely the same dress Cell had seen her in all those years before. Not only had she wings now, but a long powerful tail that helped the beastess balance her weight easily on the balls of her feet ready to spring in any direction at any given moment.
All at once she launched away from the female's tail brushed his nose as she barley avoided the rash attack on the side of the finally fed-up Frieza. Cell blinked at the slight tickle then his features screwed up with annoyance. The young woman pumped her wings with each dodge her tail lashing beneath her in the air as she barely kept ahead of Frieza's wild rage. Just as she began to grow accustomed to his frenzied pattern a foot in the small of her back pushed her towards an extremely painful fist. She did not cry out as the blue creature called Burter teamed up with the one called Frieza and followed her plummet to the ground, where the graceful female had bounced from her hands to keep from plowing too painfully into the ground, and leapt up just in time to avoid a 'surprise' attack from Jaice.
She came back to her feet and blocked the punches as best she could, using her legs, wings, tail and arms and grinning manically as she realized how powerful her opponents truly were. Something in her mind warned her of oncoming danger and Ices leaped into the air just in time to witness Jaice attempt to surprise her once more, and instead plowing his fist in Burter's stomach. The red-skinned humanoid received a bloodied cheek in return, and the allies glared at one another angrily.
The interlude was short lived as Frieza and the humanoid barbarian creature teamed up behind her, and she was forced into motion once again.
"It is Dishonorable, to attack an opponent from behind." Growled the creature, tail lashing, as she folded in her wings and almost free-fell toward the ground to avoid their attack, the one called Jaice all-but appeared before her and before she could react, shoved his entire fist through her stomach. A sharp intake of breath followed this action as those around stood in either curious or stunned silence. For an instant the female seemed incredulous, but then the same untamed grin stretched across her features as a halo began to flicker atop her head. The alien from down under withdrew his hand, shaking the gore from his glove with frightened eyes, if she was unable to grant wishes while dead…he was definitely toast.
"That was…fantastic!" Exclaimed the female breathlessly even as the halo continued flicking in and out of existence. After a few moments, however, strings of muscle and organs began to reconnect themselves, and she was whole once more within the minute as the halo disappeared completley. "Your wishes shall be granted!" Laughed the obviously insane creature as an arm was lifted. A few moments passed before the halo's atop the heads of these creatures were gone, and they were again amongst the living.
"Why didn't that kill you?" Queried Jaice with a mixture of frustration, relief and awe. She spared him a glance, her tail lax behind her and only the tail twitching in the dust.
"Silly mortal, you cannot harm me." Replied the female with an amused grin adorning her voice as well as her face. She sensed tension forming in the small Icejinn and flicked her gaze towards him for a brief moment.
"You call him a mortal, does that mean you are not?" Cell, whom had decided to sit out the fight and observe, spoke up finally. Surely he would have decimated her in mere moments if she had struggled so greatly with that filth. Though she claimed immortality, she was hardly a threat to a seasoned warrior such as himself.
"Yes." She replied, the grin disappearing and her characteristic mysterious attitude returning. Her eyes took in the forms of the males around her as her tail stilled behind her.
"Which makes you…?" Recoom prompted.
"Immortal, of course." Frieza spoke up bitterly. Everyone it seemed was able to gain what he most wished, save for him. "I wish to be immortal." He growled, taking a slightly intimidating step forward. The female fought the urge to step back from the volatile being as she frowned. It was the first actual negative emotion to adorn her face.
"I am not in the habit of granting two wishes in solar cycle, let alone five seconds." Her eyes narrowed slightly in annoyance as her tail curled behind her in an S, "You may be unable to pay my next price."
"Name it, it shall be paid." The ex-lord growled, lashing his tail angrily.
"I want to be immortal too!" Exclaimed Jaice, clenching his fists in excitement. The Mistress of Wishes sighed and clenched her teeth, a growl in the back of her throat as her violet eyes took in the males around her.
"Do all of you wish to share this?" It was a unanimous 'yes.' Suppressing a sigh of frustration the female attempted to think of a task that would be impossible for them to complete, while at the same time making the whole ordeal worth her while. Fighting had been extremley entertaining, albeit a bit humbling, but what she really wanted was something that would stay with her forever.
Perhaps something she could keep wrapped up in her arms as she traversed the universe. Quickly the young woman shook these feelings off, no, she did not need that. Those were her instincts speaking. What she needed was an entertaining memory that they would never succeed at.
Suddenly a malicious smirk graced her lips.
"I have come to decide upon the price I wish to be paid in exchange for your immortality." Ices kept her eyes glued upon the males before her, prompting them to ask what it was. A few nervous moments slithered by as the males shifted awkwardly.
"Well? What is it!" Frieza finally snapped a slight tremor of rage in his voice.
"For my second wish challenge you must…" She let it hang for a moment just to tease the villains. "seduce me."