Cell landed a second after Super 13 did right outside the doors to Dr. Gero's lab. The doctor was already standing there with Tao at his side. "Such power is well beyond my estimates." Dr. Gero said looking Cell over. "For anything made of organic material to have such power... it's beyond absurd really."
Cell smirked. "Well, it's as you always said, at least in my time-line. The Organic Advantage, the ability to get stronger over time."
"Is that so?" Gero asked. "Interesting. In this world, this time-line, I set my goals on building the ultimate Android. I dabbled with Cyborgs, of course, but their power was nothing and so I tossed aside all thougts of organic based creations. I wonder what went differently in your world to change my mind."
"Your study of Sai-jin and Changeling DNA." Cell said as he reached up to crack his neck. "You found in them the answers you were after."
"Sai-jin and Changeling DNA?" Gero asked. "I did collect DNA samples and studied them for years to see if they would lead me anywhere but they never did. And I never did accquire Changeling DNA. It would seem that Frieza and his father did visit Earth but by then I had already stopped collecting DNA."
Cell nodded. "That would explain it. You noticed within them two attributes that, once mixed together, would give the resulting being unlimited ability and potential. Both races have massive ammounts of potential, Sai-jins more than Changelings, but both still have their limitations. Their bodies can only adapt so much, eventually the Changeling can no longer transform and the Sai-jin no longer gain Zenkais, but by mixing certain elements of both the true ultimate lifeform can be created. One with no limits to the power it can gain. Throw in a little Human and Namekian DNA for extra measure and added benefits and you have an unstoppable warrior. Me."
Cell smirked. "And now I also have Tanarian DNA in my system, absorbed from that Sakura girl and integrated during my transformation to my new state. This power... it is greater than I anticipated. No doubt thanks to that girl's DNA. I now possess the genetic material of four of the most powerful races in the universe. Sai-jin, Human, Changeling, and Tanarian."
"So then, why did you come here instead of going after the others?" Tao asked.
The creature shrugged. "I seek a challenge now that I have reached my full power. I'm going to give Goku and his friends a while to train and improve." He looked down at one of his hands as he opened and closed it. "And myself time to adapt. My power has increased greatly since this time yesterday. I want to be sure I can control it all before I get into another battle."
"So, then, what do you plan to do?" Gero asked.
Cell tilted his head in thought for a moment. "Ah! That's perfect!" he said at last, smiling. "Tell me, when was the last Budokai?"
"Budokai?" Tao asked, curious as to what Cell was up to. "About four years ago. The 24th Budokai was held, for the first time in November, as the organizers didn't want to wait another year and it had only just been completed. Due to the stadium being destroyed, again, it was postponed last year. The next one is not scheduled until May 7th of next year, assuming construction finishes on time this time."
"Well then, I guess I'll need to make my own ring." he said lifting into the air. "We are going to have a tournament."
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The Lookout:
Everyone had settled down between the two rows of trees and were waiting for... something. They didn't know what to expect now, Cell had gone off North first and was now flying south at a rather slow pace considering how fast he could go now. They were all too distracted to talk, each with their own thoughts.
Sakura closed her eyes and laid back stretching out on the floor. Her mind was working on overdrive analyzing everything from the earlier fights with Super 13 and Cell. She was picking apart everything either of her opponents had done. Their own offensive moves and their retaliatory actions to her and the others' attacks. She wanted to be ready for her next fight with them, and she knew she'd get another.
At the same time her mind was working strategy, it was also remembering. Everything from her first memory to this last battle. It was one long string of fights. Her first memory was one that no one should have. Her father's death. The only person close to her she'd not lost was Trunks and she had no intention of losing him at all. No matter what.
Vegeta was the only one of the group on his feet. After he'd come to again, thanks to a Senzu, he'd taken to leaning against a tree with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. Now that he was out of the fight his mind was trying to process the power his son and the Sakura girl had. After he'd finished his training he'd been so sure that nothing and no one would ever be able to match the power he had. Then he found out he'd been too blind to tell he'd been surpassed before he'd even finished training.
It had been nothing but one blow to his ego after another ever since Namek. The only thing that had gone his way since then was the fight against Cooler. He wasn't really sure how much more damage his pride could take. Somehow, somehow he knew that when Kakkarotto and his father emerged again his pride would take another blow. But he would make sure it was the last. Next time he entered the RoSaT he'd reach a power they couldn't hope to match.
Hotaru was sitting with her legs crossed, elbows on her knees, and head in her hands. She was contemplating her own hand in the recent battles, slim as it had been. It annoyed her to no end that she was falling behind the others so fast. When she'd first arrived on Earth, aside from Appla, Bardock, and Vadora, she was the strongest of them. Sure, she'd surpassed Vadora and Appla but Piccolo, Gohan, and Goku were going well beyond her seemingly at ever increasing speeds.
She was beyond proud that her daughter had attained the second transformation and was such a strong woman, in more ways than one. She was carrying on her own dream of restoring the Tanarian people to their former selves, even if it was currently by necessity. Hotaru turned her eyes toward her sprawled out daugther and smiled. /She's already a great Queen. We, no, I have to make sure she gets a better life this time./ Shifting she stood and moved over to where the present day Sakura sat playing with baby Trunks beside Bulma.
Piccolo sat apart from the rest of the group. His legs were crossed, as were his arms, and his eyes were closed. He'd intended to meditate but he couldn't seem to get his mind clear, old memories were drifting up, distracting him. On top of that the other... presences within him were restless. He'd experienced this a little after his merger with Nail but it was a bit more intense now, he had three different presences now, not just the one.
It had unsettled him at first, finding that he'd not added one presence to his mind but two, with his merger with Kami. Kami himself and one he could only assume was Zildar. He and Kami had changed so much over the years neither thought exactly the same as Zildar had but he was still there, just not as overt. He wasn't sure what the three of them were talking about in his head but he had a feeling it was related to his new found memories. No matter what the cause he just wished they'd keep it down a little, so he could focus.
Krillin had been staring at his feet for the last five or ten mintues, he wasn't really sure how long. He was too occupied trying to place the feeling he had. He knew he felt sorry for 18 and even her brother. Especially after having heard 18's tale of their lives. They really weren't bad people. Lost, misguided, confused, but not bad. But there was more to it than that and he just couldn't place what it was.
It wasn't like he'd known her very long. A little over day. So what was it that he was feeling? Why was it that he was feeling it? And how the hell was he going to get 18 out of Cell. /Wai, wha/ he thought blinking. /Why do I...? Oh, now, you have to be... I can't be... I only knew her for.../ His shoulders slumped a bit and he put his head in his hands. /I am so screwed./
Trunks found that his mind had wandered into the past, or the future depending how you looked at it, as soon as he had a moment to himself. Memories of his own time-line, of the battles he'd fought, of the people he'd lost. He, Sakura, Gohan, and Videl had been an inseperable group for years. Sakura looked up to Videl like a sister, and he looked up to Gohan like a brother. Videl's death had hit Sakura hard, Gohan's had hit him hard.
And then he found his mind wandering away from the bad and toward the good. The few good memories he had, the memories he cherished the most. He couldn't believe it, but he smiled faintly as he remembered Hotaru giving him the Union Stone as they ran from the palace the day the Androids came. More than that, he remembered her parting words. "Ask her before her hair turns white." he mouthed, as he remembered. And he had, shortly after their first visit to the past. He'd make sure the future held nothing but good memories once he got back.
Tien was sitting outside the main group, though not as far as Piccolo. He, too, was leaning back against one of the trees, but with his eyes cast skyward. His mind wasn't on Earth but another world, deep in space. Planet Vegeta. He'd sent Chaotzu there a month ago, to stay with Vadora until this was over, he'd be due there in a couple of days. /Once this is over... I think maybe I'll move./ he thought, watching the energy arcing through the sky.
/With Vadora's position in the Palace she can't leave often, and there really isn't a reason for me to stay here./ He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. /Yes. If I survive this... I'm moving to Planet Vegeta. No. Not if I survive. I can't start thinking like that now. Once this is over. Survival is not an option, it's a requirement. We'll all survive. We've been through too much to lose now./
Appla kept glancing back toward the building atop the Lookout. Her mind was stuck on her mate, her sons, and her grandson. She couldn't get how close she came to dying, for good, out of her mind. And the more she thought about that the more she thought about the fact Gohan and Bardock had both died once already, and that Goku had died twice. She was worried about losing them, especially Goku since he couldn't be revived again.
She hoped this would be the last time her family was threatened like this, even if she knew otherwise. /Even if we make it through this now there's still the matter of those others./ She closed her eyes and sighed as she leaned back and laid down putting her arms behind her head. /Worrying like this wont help anything. I'll just have to do my best to make sure nothing happens to them.../
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Planet Vegeta, the Palace:
Vadora had left the throne room a couple minutes ago and now stood on one of the balconies overlooking the city below. Things on Earth seemed to have calmed a little and she needed time to think. She couldn't get her mind off the thoughts and feelings that ran through her head when she didn't know if Tien was alive or dead earlier. Thoughts and feelings she'd never had before.
/I wonder if Bardock, Appla, and Goku rubbed off on me back on Earth./ she thought as she rested a hand on her stomach. "I never would have thought like this before my trip to Earth... it's all that airhead's fault." she muttered, smiling faintly and shaking her head. She turned her gaze skwyard and looked up at the stars. "Stay alive Tien. And Goku, you better make sure he does..."
King Vegeta still sat in his throne but his eyes were now on the floor instead of the machines before him. His thoughts had gone first to his son and his grandson, both the one of the present and the one from the future. They both far exceeded anything he'd dreamed they could. Even if it had not been enough in the end to win.
And then his thoughts had gone to what the future might hold. He wasn't sure if this Cell creature could be beaten, he couldn't see how even Bardock or Goku could match him. And if that was the case... the Earth Dragonballs were gone now and the Namek ones wouldn't be ready for months. By the time they could wish the Humans off of Earth for the last resort plan they'd probably all be dead anyway. Things were not going well.
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Tanaria, the Palace:
Sango stood with her arms crossed and her foot tapping impatiently on the floor. Before her a small army of palace personnel were stocking one of the royal ships with supplies and equiping it with a newly developed prototype engine. She would be able to reach the Earth in about ten days time with it. It would be the fastest ship in the galaxy, assuming it didn't explode during the journey. But she had to get to Earth and her Terepo wouldn't go that far.
"This is crazy, you do realize that, don't you?" Akira said walking into the hangar room as well. "All you'll do by going to Earth is get yourself killed."
"We've been over this Akira." Sango said stiffly. "I'm going and that's all there is to it. Even if I have to break orders, so don't make me."
"He wont." Sora said as she, too, entered. "I've already ordered him not to." Sango smiled and gave the Queen a glance. "I only wish I could go with you, but it is out of the question sadly. If things... do not work out..."
"Don't." Sango said, her eyes going back to the preparations. "They will work out, Hotaru wont die out there. I know she wont."
Sora nodded and walked over to her. "Here, this is for you." she said, holding out her hand.
Sango glanced down curiously and then held her hand out. Sora then dropped a small silver pin into the other's palm. It was an object that Sango recognized from the history books, an Emissary Crest. They had spoken before about Sango becoming the Emissary of Tanaria, it's ambassador to the rest of the galaxy, but had not come to a decision yet. At least, Sango hadn't thought they had.
"This is..."
Sora nodded. "Akira, Kavar, and I decided that since you are going on this mission anyway it may as well be official."
Sango glanced over at Akira and raised an eyebrow. Somehow she doubted that Akira had actually agreed, more like been ordered to agree. "Thank-you, my Queen." she said at last, bowing, and then placing the crest on her clothes.
"Preparations are complete, ma'am." a Tanarian tech said from the ship.
Sango nodded. "Alright."
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Earth, the Lookout:
"Huh?" Krillin wondered, looking up. "Cell's stopped moving." he said, climbing to his feet. The others soon noticed the same thing and they all moved to the edge of the Lookout and gazed down at the planet. Cell had come to a stop about a hundred and twenty miles north-east of Capital City. "What's he up to?" Krillin asked seeing that the creature had lifted a large rock up out of the ground.
"No idea." Yamcha said. They all watched as Cell used his Ki to cut the rock apart into slabs and laid them about on the ground. "Wait... that looks like a..." As Cell set up four pillars, one at either corner of the slabs, and then take off again Yamcha blinked. "It is, it's a ring..."
"But, why?" Tien asked. Suddenly Cell lifted into the air and started south again. "What is he up to?"
"I don't know." Sakura said slowly. "This is... unusual. Why doesn't he just come here? 13 was able to find the Lookout. He could lead Cell here and we wouldn't stand a chance."
"That's probably it." Vegeta said after a moment. "We wouldn't stand a chance."
"I don't get it." said Trunks.
Vegeta turned and looked over to the lavendar haired half Sai-jin. "It's simple, really, he wants a fight. So instead of coming to us he's going to have us come to him, when we think we're ready."
"That will be his last mistake." Sakura said, her eyes narrowing as she watched Cell land in Capital City. "Now what's he doing..."
Bulma reached into her pocket and pulled out a capsule case. Popping it open she pulled out a capsule, depressed the button, and tossed it to the ground. "Since Gero made an announcement once it's possible that's what Cell is going to do." she said, as a small TV appeared. "The biggest TV station in Captial City is ZNN..." Kneeling down she activated it and the screen turned to ZNN.
The news channel was still covering the series of recent events, breaking things down as they knew them. And then the anchor froze. A second later Cell walked into view and stood between him and the camera. "Hello people of Earth." Cell said smiling. "My name is Cell, I am one of Dr. Gero's creations. His greatest creation. I am here to make a challenge.
"I have created a ring to the northeast of the city. In 14 days time, on May 24th, I will be holding a tournament. The Cell Games. Anyone who wishes to enter may do so. The Cell Games will determine the fate of the Earth and the rest of the galaxy as well. You see, the prize for winning the Cell Games is the galaxy itself. You have exactly 14 days to prepare. The Cell Games will begin at exactly noon on May 24th. Until then."