Chapter Two

She was standing at the base of a huge grassy hill. Everything was gray, the wind blowing so slowly, as if time had almost come to a stop. She could see every blade of grass bend, every leaf in the great oak strain against the wind. She was unaffected. She couldn't feel the wind on her skin, couldn't feel the heavy icy rain that drenched the ground. She couldn't hear anything, except the sounds of her breath as it caught in her throat, the sounds of her heart hammering in her chest.

'No...' She thought, her mind panicking. 'Not again, please, not this dream again!'. She wanted so desperately to wake up, to tear herself out of this nightmare.

She wanted only to turn her back, to run away, but it was no use. Her legs began to walk, move her towards the top of the hill. Tears poured from her eyes, she tried so hard to brace herself for what was coming. She looked back, tried to yell out as she saw a little girl, barely four years old running joyfully up the hill, followed by her father, laughter in his eyes. The little girl with the sky blue dress, the blue sandals and the long auburn hair with the bright green eyes.

She braced herself, heard the sounds of shouting, heard the sounds of screeching tires...

They reached the hill together, Kyrie, and her younger self. There was nothing she could do to stop her heart from shattering, as she saw the car smash into her mother, saw her sprawl on the pavement. There was blood everywhere... Kyrie screamed, fell to her knees, watched the horrible slow motion as people flocked to the broken body of her mother, saw her father run past her. Kyrie saw her younger self, standing next to her, her eyes wide, opened, blank. She was too young to truly understand what she was seeing yet. But it would sink in, when mum wouldn't come home that night...

Kyrie woke suddenly, tears flowing down her cheeks, her mind numb, her heart breaking as she was forced to remember her mother's death. She tried to force air into her lungs, tried to calm herself down. She buried her face in her blanket, wrapping her arms around her knees.

"Does it hurt?" She froze, her clammy skin suddenly freezing at the sound of the rasped voice. Slowly, she lifted her head. He was perched like a cat on the banister of her balcony, the doors open to the still night air. He stared at her, unmoving. She couldn't help notice that he looked concerned, but stony.

"It... It was just... just a dream." She stuttered, her voice failing her as she tried to swallow down her grief.

"Your mother's death." it wasn't a question. She stared, open mouthed, terrified suddenly of the strange creature.

"How?... How did you know?!" She couldn't hide the fear from her voice. The creature said nothing, simply lowered his head slightly. Her body trembled, overwhelmed from the stress of the dream and the sudden burst of adrenalin that her fear had created. "She died when I was a little girl..."

"Killed by a car when you and your father went to meet her and some friends for a picnic." He said it so conversationally, but to Kyrie, it was the most terrifying thing he could have said.

"...Yes..." She couldn't say anything else, simply stared, horror struck at the strange creature perched on her banister. He looked like such a hunter as he sat there, motionless, his slit eyes seeming to glow in the star light.

"It was not your fault." He said suddenly, absently, as if it didn't matter to him. She swallowed the lump in her throat, her body was starting to calm down.

"I was only four when she died." Kyrie said a little flatly. He smirked.

"Yet it still haunts you." She frowned at his statement.

"Yes. It would haunt any one." He moved then, slipping off the banister, onto his feet. He stood up to his full height. His tail twitched. Her eyes traced it's movements. A strange sound emitted from him then, and she realized he was chuckling. She turned back to his face, a frown on her face.

"I'm not going to hurt you, Kyrie." He said simply. She knew he wasn't lying, but she still felt as though this creature in front of her was not a friendly man.

"I..." She sighed to herself, trying to gather her courage. "I don't know who you are, or what you are. I don't know how you know so much about me..." She stopped, the man was chuckling to himself again, his beak open to reveal his four pointed fangs.

"I should introduce myself. My name is Cell. I am a biological-android, created by Doctor Gero of the Red Ribbon Army." He placed one of his three fingered hands to his chest and gave her a curt bow. He stood back up to her full height.

"Cell?" He said nothing, simply stared at her as her mind processed the new information. "An android? You were created..." He moved towards the balcony again. She could see him staring towards the city. "Why?" She asked suddenly. He turned reluctantly from the view, towards her.

"Why?" He questioned a little flatly.

"Why were you created? What was the purpose?" Cell snickered, pride in his eyes. He stood tall, proud.

"I was created to be the Ultimate Perfection in a single entity." He let the statement hang in the air, before he turned back to the view. He glanced back at Kyrie, gave her another nod, before he threw himself over the balcony. Kyrie stared, began to yell, thinking he would kill himself, but caught herself. Instead of falling to the ground, he simply flew up into the night sky, arching over the manor, and disappearing into the forest.

\/\/\/

"Wait, so let me get this straight, this Cell character just appears in you bedroom?" Sen asked. Kyrie nodded. Sen had thought the whole thing an elaborate joke on Kyrie's part, but she had seen the pale face, the stress and pain in her eyes, and had let Kyrie tell her about the previous night.

"Yeah. He can fly. He's got wings. Well they look like wings. The kind of shell kind of wings you get on beetles." Kyrie replied. Her voice was tense, and she hadn't bothered trying to go back to sleep. Instead she had ridden her bicycle to Sen's house. The sun had just begun to rise when she reached Sen's house.

"Right, well it's really weird. I mean, don't get me wrong, I believe you Kyrie, it's just..."

"Weird. Yeah, I know." She finished. She sipped at her tea, willing it to calm her shot nerves. Sen tapped away on her laptop's keyboard. She frowned as she worked.

"According to what little information I can drag up on the Red Ribbon Army, they used to be a real terrorist like organization. They worked external from the King's Army, mostly up North. They were led by a guy called... Well, they just say Commander Red. Apparently it was... disbanded years ago. Theres no real mention of a Doctor Gero. Although that doesn't surprise me. Secrecy and all that." Kyrie nodded, but the information only made her feel worse. She put her head on her arms, sighed to herself.

Sen patted Kyrie on the shoulders.

"Maybe you should just have the day off, go back to sleep. You look horrible." Kyrie nodded weakly, still not lifting her face.

"I just don't get it. Why me?" Sen shrugged.

"Don't know. You should have asked him." Kyrie groaned in response. Sen stood up, heading towards the kitchen door. She flicked the TV on low for Kyrie, before she headed down the hall.

"I'm gonna get dressed for school. I'll let the teachers know you won't be coming in today. Finish your tea, then go home." Kyrie groaned again. She was lost in thought, ignoring the ambient sounds of the television, until she heard the muffled quiet sounds of screams. She shot up, staring at the screen.

"Surveillance shows only poor quality images of what can only be described as a Monster. It appears to be using it's tail like weapon to literally suck people dry..." Kyrie stared horrified as she watched blurry gray scale images of Cell absorbing people through his tail. "The entire population of Nikki Town is feared dead. The King's Army is scouting the city, but there looks like no sign the monster is still in the city. Official Reports warn all civilians to say inside your homes, lock all doors and windows. Do not go outside!"

"Sen!" Kyrie yelled, utter fear in her voice. "It's him!" Sen came running out of her room, stared at the TV, saw the security footage of Cell, watched in sickened horror as he 'drained' people dry...

\/\/\/

Two days passed. The entire Spice District was in turmoil. The monster was randomly attacking small towns and villages, 'eating' all the inhabitants and then moving on before any counter attack could be utilized against him. Any efforts of resistant were useless. Security footage showed bullets merely bouncing off his amour.

The news posted constant 24 hour surveillance and up to date reports on the 'Monster Watch'. People were in panic. Food began to be hoarded, school was shut down. Everybody was urged to stay inside, to not leave their homes, to arm themselves with what ever weapons they could. Sen's family came to stay with Kyrie and her father in the huge manor. It was secluded, away from the city. Sen kept Kyrie's secret, neither of them daring to utter a word about Cell's appearance and strange infatuation with Kyrie.

On the second day of Cell's public appearance, Kyrie celebrated her 18th birthday. It was overshadowed, the joyous occasion severely marred by the monster's appearance and attack. Kyrie was inwardly, terrified. Cell may have promised he would not harm her, but as she saw Sen walk past with her youngest brother, only six, in her arms, she felt a pang of guilty shame. She couldn't bare it if anything happened to her loved ones.

Her father threw a tiny party, only Sen's family and the few remaining staff celebrating Kyrie's 18th. She feigned delight, eating the cake and dancing with her father and his assistant, trying outwardly to be happy and ignorant of the panic and shame she felt inside. She snuck away from her own party, retiring to her bedroom. It took her several minutes to notice a juicy red apple sitting on her bed. She picked it up, turning it around in her hands.

"Many Returns." Kyrie yelped, dropping the apple back on the bed, whirling around. He was on the balcony banister again.

"Cell!" She tried to force her voice to work, but she could feel the fear rising in her stomach. "Erm.. Thank you... But..." He tilted his head.

"But?" She felt her face burn, felt her stomach knot.

"Don't kill my family!" She blurted out. He frowned, lifting his head up, staring down at her.

"Do you really think I would do that to you?" She found it hard to keep her eyes locked with his, under his angry, yet some how, hurt stare.

"I don't... I don't really know what you would or wouldn't do. I don't know you." He snarled suddenly, his tail flicking madly.

"No, I suppose you don't." He turned to leave.

"Wait, Cell!" He glanced over his shoulder. His eyes were full of pain and rage. "I..." she found her voice unwilling again. She swallowed, forcing herself. "Thank you." She said quietly, looking down at the ground. His expression seemed to soften, for just the tiniest flicker of a second, before he was suddenly gone, leaving Kyrie feeling even worse then ever.