4 – CRYSISxCALL
Luka and Rin stayed at Len's grave for what seemed like an eternity; Luka didn't have the heart to pull Rin away until she had stopped crying. Eventually, they decided it was time to go.
"Where next?" Rin asked, finally tearing her eyes off her brother's grave.
"Miku knows Len is gone, obviously, so knowing her...she's gone to get revenge on his killer," Luka thought aloud.
"Is that why you stopped me killing Vegeta?"
Luka paused for a moment, carefully mulling over her thoughts.
"That's just the thing," Luka said, getting a confused look from Rin, "she may not know Vegeta killed him."
"Then how does this help at all?"
"Well, she knew what you were programmed to do, so her target is most likely Son Goku."
"Are we going to let her?" Rin asked.
"I doubt she'd be able to if she tried. She's barely as strong as you, and I doubt Son Goku would be left unguarded by his friends if he is, as you said, infected with some sort of virus. There's no way she could take them all on."
"So...if you're right, that means..."
Luka paused before replying.
"Yeah. She may be killed...simply because of a misunderstanding. We should hurry."
Rin nodded, and glanced at Len's grave one last time, before the two flew off.
"Well? What's happening?" Piccolo demanded Kami for what felt like the hundredth time.
"I think the androids...are the least of our worries, right now..." Kami muttered, concentrating as he stood at the edge of the Lookout.
"Vague and useless. Just how I like it," Piccolo growled sarcastically, his patience ebbing.
"A horror I have felt for the past four years," Kami continued, paying no heed to Piccolo's heckling, "I thought it to be the androids, but I sense no malevolence from them. No...this is far, far worse."
Piccolo stood up, and approached Kami.
"This...creature...from the future is far more powerful than anything I could possibly imagine. This could be a hopeless crisis..."
"What is going on?" Piccolo demanded. Kami did not answer, his focus locked on the earth below.
"I have seen what I need to see," Kami said, turning to face Piccolo.
"So you'll tell me-"
"There's no need. Once I am a part of you, you will know what I know."
Piccolo smirked, and said, "took you long enough."
Kami dropped his cane, and stood directly in front of Piccolo.
"I will be the dominant mind! You got that?" Piccolo declared, a strange anxiety clawing his mind. Kami nodded in acceptance.
"You are younger, and more powerful. I will grant you a power boost…and my vast knowledge," he explained.
"Place your hand on my chest," Kami ordered. Piccolo complied, his eyes never leaving Kami's gaze.
"Kami!" Mr Popo exclaimed, seemingly unnoticed by the two until then.
"Fear not, my old friend," Kami said, smiling at Mr Popo, "the world needs a hero, not a god…Piccolo is not as evil as he once was."
Mr Popo opened his mouth to disagree, but stopped himself before he could say anything.
"Goodbye, Mr Popo…"
Kami surrounded himself in a blue aura, ready to merge with Piccolo.
"Rin, hold up for a sec," Luka called out as the two were flying towards Goku's house.
"What's up?" Rin said, gliding closer to Luka.
"I'm detecting a high power to the south…"
Rin cocked her head inquisitively, looking in the same direction with a confused look on her face. It took a moment for Luka to realise the source of Rin's confusion.
"You don't have a long ranged scanner, do you?" Luka asked, her attention divided between Rin and the steadily growing power figure coming from the south.
"No, Gero only put a short range scanner in me and Len, even though he could have just as easily given us long range versions."
"Strange…you'd think Gero would want us to be as potent as possible…" Luka said distractedly, her focus on the high power moving at high speed westward.
"What's happening now?" Rin asked.
"…That odd high power is on the move," Luka informed her, "is it one of the Saiyans? But it's such a rapid increase…how could…?"
"Luka?"
Rin prodded Luka's back. Instantly startled back into reality, Luka turned around to face Rin.
"Is the power…too much for you?" Rin asked slightly nervously.
"No…but it's a bad sign. We must hurry."
The two raced off, Luka still monitoring the high power.
Piccolo, unaware that he was being monitored by CV03, had his own problems to deal with; namely, the strange creature in front of him that had devoured the entire population of Ginger Town. Said strange creature had announced that he was his brother, and his ki felt like himself…
…and Goku…
…and Vegeta…
…and Frieza and King Cold.
He was also very, very strong.
"What are you?" Piccolo demanded.
"Why would you need to know that in my stomach?" the creature replied, his tail waving and curling behind his back. Its eyes met Piccolo's, its unsettling gaze boring into his skull.
"…Keeping secrets? Fine," Piccolo said after a moment, not eager to stay in the creature's company for longer than necessary, "then I'll just kill you without knowing!"
"Oh? Piccolo, the demon king, kill me?" the creature chuckled contemptuously.
"Piccolo? Sorry, you've got the wrong guy."
Piccolo, freshly powered up by his fusion with Kami, released his energy violently, creating a crater around him. The creature stumbled backwards, gasping in shock.
"Not…Piccolo?" it murmured, clenching its fists.
Piccolo smirked in reply.
"It's a good thing there's no one left here…" he said.
"What are you talking about?"
"…it means I don't have to hold back!"
Piccolo fired a huge blast of energy at the creature, which took it head on and was thrown into the air. Piccolo did not follow up on the attack, waiting for the dust to settle to see how the creature had taken the hit.
Said creature was picking itself up, having been clearly taken by surprise, so Piccolo decided to go the offensive once again, throwing himself towards his opponent. The creature swiped at him, which he leapt over, before landing a kick to its head. The creature was thrown forward, barely stopping its fall with its hands, before Piccolo suddenly appeared to its right, throwing another kick at it.
The creature landed in a crouched position, eyeing Piccolo as it stood back up. Piccolo returned the stare with a frown.
"I was led to believe you would be stronger than this…" he commented.
"Not bad. Even considering I'm not in my perfect form, you're putting quite a fight."
"Perfect form…?" Piccolo repeated, "is that why you absorbed all these people?"
"Heh…indeed. I take their energy for my own."
"Who sent you in the time machine?" Piccolo pressed, seeing a chance to get answers from the creature.
"I did. I had to revert to my egg stage to do so, however," the creature explained, "I'm surprised you knew about the time machine…"
It crouched, cupping its hands in front of itself.
"Here's something else I bet you know…"
Piccolo blinked in confusion.
"Ka…me…"
Realisation slowly crept over Piccolo, frozen in place by pure shock.
"It…can't be…" he breathed.
"Ha…me…"
"But…how…?"
"HA!" the creature exclaimed, releasing the attack. Piccolo barely shook himself out of his state of confusion in time to narrowly avoid it. The creature took this opportunity to grab Piccolo from behind while he was in midair, locking its arms and legs to bind Piccolo. Piccolo struggled as the creature used this opportunity aim its tail at Piccolo, who shifted to the right at the last moment, the tail stabbing into his left arm instead.
"RRAHG!" Piccolo roared in pain, watching in futility as his arm was reduced to a wrinkly husk.
"Now your energy is mine!" the creature gleefully cackled.
Piccolo rammed his head backwards into the creature's, breaking free from its clutches. The two landed on the ground, Piccolo holding his now-useless arm and panting, worn out by the energy loss.
"Well done…but I'd say you're just dragging out your suffering now," the creature commented, chuckling.
"You're right," Piccolo admitted, his mind racing, "I can't beat you with one arm."
"Heh…you certainly aren't stupid, I'll give you that. Knowing when to give up is a good trait, after all. Yes…with your life force, I can move on to the next step of my evolution…"
The creature hungrily leered at Piccolo, waving its tail in anticipation of its coming feast.
"Wait…before you absorb me, I must know," Piccolo said, "what are you? How do you know the Kamehameha? Why does your ki feel like Goku's, Freeza's and mine?"
The creature paused briefly to consider. Piccolo's heart thumped, knowing that this would likely be the only opportunity he'd get to find out anything about this creature.
"…Very well. Who am I to refuse a warrior's inconsequential last wish?" it said, smiling victoriously. Piccolo barely managed to hold back his sigh of relief.
"My name is Cell," it continued, "I'm a bio-engineered android created by Dr Gero…or at least, his computer."
"Gero again?" Piccolo growled, "figures…"
"Long ago, the good doctor experimented using samples of the most powerful fighters in the world to create the ultimate life form. It was slow work, however, so he set it aside for his computer to handle instead. Cells were taken from you, Son Goku, and Vegeta when he came to this planet. It was quite the stroke of good fortune that Freeza and his father came to this planet so we could get their samples, too."
"But how could you collect those samples? There was no one else there…"
"Tiny spy robots, not even the size of a fly, observing your every action and taking cells for later study. There's one here right now…maybe it's after your cells…" Cell pointed over its shoulder without looking. Piccolo, confused, stared intently until he finally saw the tiny robot.
"Damn it!" he yelled furiously, vaporising the robot with his good hand.
"Hahaha! It's too late, of course. All the cells needed for my creation have already been collected. Though, I won't be completed for around 24 years."
"Impossible! Gero's lab was destroyed!"
"The computer- and myself- were far too important to keep in the company of testy, ill-natured and rebellious androids. We were put underground, in secret."
"I see…" Piccolo said, chewing over what he'd learnt, to see if anything didn't add up, before realising, "but why have you taken three years to reveal yourself…?"
"I had to mature from my egg form, so I burrowed under the earth until I was ready," Cell explained, "is that everything? Good. Time to absorb you."
"One last question! Why did you come to this era? What are you after?" Piccolo asked, sensing Cell's impatience.
"Absorbing human life force will only boost my power so much- according to the computer, to complete my evolution and obtain perfection, I must absorb Kagamine Rin and Kagamine Len."
Piccolo gasped, but after the initial shock he could only smirk at this knowledge.
"In my time, the only functional android is Hatsune Miku- entirely useless to me," Cell continued, not noticing Piccolo's expression, "I figured that Trunks or even Hatsune herself had destroyed the other androids, so I killed Trunks and took his time machine. He'd already programmed what year it'd go back to so all I had to do was push one button…and here I am."
"You're after…power?"
"Yes…maybe it's the Saiyan cells, or Freeza's cells, or even your cells, but I won't rest until I have obtained power beyond any mortal comprehension!"
Piccolo's smirk grew as he tore off his drained arm, and regrew it, now looking totally unscathed.
"I hate to be the one to tell you…but Kagamine Len was killed. You won't be getting your perfection in this time period."
Cell's eyes widened in shock as Piccolo continued.
"In fact…you won't be leaving here alive."
"You…tricked me?"
"Or course. Kami had quite the mind. I'm surprised you fell for it. You have my cells. You should know about my regeneration ability."
Cell took its turn to ingest the information.
"An inconvenience, but not a major issue."
Piccolo frowned, but did not speak.
"In truth, neither of the CV02 models were built to survive- no, they simply carry a single part which I need for my evolution. They would call it their 'heart'. Both of them are so fragile, but their 'hearts' are nigh indestructible. The fact that you've killed Len isn't a problem- in fact, it'll save me the trouble of having to look for him!"
Cell laughed, but stopped moments later upon noticing the arrival of Trunks and Krillin.
"He's still alive…?" it muttered, focusing on Trunks.
"So this is the thing that wiped out Ginger Town?" Krillin asked Piccolo as he and Trunks landed.
"Yes…watch for its tail. It absorbs its victims that way," Piccolo warned, his eyes still on Cell.
"Why am I feeling Goku's energy from it?"
"Later, Krillin. We need to focus on finishing it first."
"Ha! Finish me? You think it'll be so easy?" Cell scoffed.
"It's three on one. I don't see any way out for you," Piccolo replied.
"I'll just have to retreat, then…"
"Do you honestly think you can escape with that pathetic Kamehameha?"
"It can do that?" Krillin exclaimed.
"Not just that, Krillin. I could probably pull off a Spirit Bomb if I wanted to…" Cell said, carefully eyeing the three.
"You…know my name? Man, Goku's gonna be shocked about all of this…"
"Goku is…alive? So, history has changed…interesting…"
Without warning, Cell leapt into the air, and bellowed, "You can't stop me from obtaining my perfect form! I will absorb Rin and Len's hearts and become the ultimate being! Solar flare!"
With the last two words, Cell let out a huge flash of light, temporarily blinding Piccolo, Krillin and Trunks. When their vision cleared, it was nowhere to be seen.
Not too long after, Trunks and Krillin were at the ruins of Dr Gero's lab, looking for the basement.
"Geez, that android really did a number on this place," Krillin said, shivering, "do you think we should blow the rest of the mountain up?"
"Krillin, I found something!" Trunks said, indicating a ladder going deeper into the mountain.
"Whoa, this is pretty far down," Krillin said as the two dropped down to the basement. There, they were met with the sight of huge machinery covering the entire room, beeping and whirring at varying volumes. Trunks was the first to spot the bubbling tank with a small, foetus-like object floating in it.
"This must be Cell…" he said, approaching it.
"Hey, what's this?" Krillin wondered aloud, noticing two pods, similar to the ones in Gero's lab before it had been blown up.
"More androids?" Trunks asked, as Krillin looked to see if anything was inside either of them.
"No, they're both empty. And both have CV00 marked on them…"
"There doesn't seem to be anything useful here. You ready, Krillin?"
"Let's do it."
The two fired beams of energy at all the machinery in the lab, Trunks firing one at Cell, instantly destroying it. Both of them flew out of the lab, and Krillin fired the finisher. Grinning, Krillin and Trunks set off, their job there done.
"I'm going this way, Krillin," Trunks said, tilting his head to his left.
"Huh? Where're you going?" Krillin asked.
"I want to train with my father, so I can also transcend the Super Saiyan…if it's possible."
"Do you think he'll let you?"
"I'm not thrilled either, but he must surely realise that it'd be more efficient to train together."
"Well, good luck!" Krillin said as the two parted ways.
A few days later…
"Luka?"
Luka was brought to a halt, pulled suddenly from her thoughts- mainly, what had happened between the two high powers in what she had calculated to be close to West city.
"Sorry, Rin…"
"No, it's just that…we're here."
Both were floating several feet above Son Goku's home.
"Odd…I'm not detecting anything here…" Luka muttered, descending to ground level, Rin following her lead.
"Are we too late?" Rin asked nervously, as the two approached the front door.
"Miku might have passed by here. Let's see if we can find any clues."
Luka entered first, her eyes scouring the room for any signs of its previous inhabitants.
"It's so clean…" Rin uttered in awe. Luka found this suspicious, and wordlessly moved to check the upstairs.
After a few minutes, the two sat down at the table, having found absolutely nothing.
"No Miku, no Son Goku," Luka said, "not even Son Goku's wife."
"Do you think they knew we were coming?" Rin suggested, staring out of the window.
"Son Goku's probably still got the virus, and is therefore vulnerable…it makes sense that they'd move him from the first location we'd check."
"What about Miku?"
"Beat us here, most likely. She's probably heading to the next most likely place, and according to the data, that would be…the Muten Roshi's house, on an island southwest from here."
Luka stood up, and continued, "let's go. We haven't got time to waste."
A/N: Augh, this took longer than I thought...but hey, it's done now. Not entirely satisfied with it, but I'm excited about next the chapter.
Feedback appreciated!
