Chapter 2: All That Is Needed Is A Spark
All was quiet over the Northern Wastelands as a certain evil android made his way across the summer skyline. Cell was intent on finding a place to build a great arena upon which to host his event. He had yet to make his plans public to the rest of the world. Oh, but he would!
It wasn't long before he came upon geography with a reasonably level layout and decided to land.
"Ah! This looks like the perfect spot," Cell commented. Looking for level ground, he surveyed the pristine region surrounding him. The place his attention was centered on was similar to a rural farm town in appearance surrounded by groves of trees and other vegetation.
"Now to clear some land," stated Cell. He stretched out his right palm. Trying not to use too much power, the bio weapon let fly with a wave of energy that engulfed the entire small community and practically flattened the surrounding wilderness. Admiring his handiwork, Cell smiled fiendishly. This done, Cell turned to his next task which was creating a ring floor. He took a moment to look around for something he could use to provide a solid foundation for the arena. His line of sight fell upon a great mountain of sandstone that looked as though it would have some degree of flexibility.
"This should provide excellent building material," Cell said to himself. Clearing his mind, he exerted the force needed to lift the giant hunk of land into the sky. Holding this internal state, he then used his mind to cut the great piece into massive slabs of flooring. Each slab in itself was massive weighing between 1500 and 1700 lbs a piece. He brought the sandstone slabs down on to one another in three consecutive layers. Feeling quite pleased with himself, Cell took a moment to bask in the feeling of his latest accomplishment before deciding it was time to leave.
"Now it's time to make my grand début!" shouted the monster as he flew off to announce his plans to the world.
Elsewhere….
Jujitsu hidoshi Rolo Yeung had arrived at the bar called 'the Matchbox' with his friend Fein, and let's just say that he is not exactly enjoying himself at this moment.
'I can't believe that Fein actually goes to this place…,' thought the young martial arts taking another sip from his rum. As he did so, he continued to look around at the interior of the piss-poor excuse for a club. 'I'm thirteen years old and they're serving me hard whisky for God sakes!' Yeung had just this afternoon suffered a grueling defeat at the hands of his best friend. Right now he desperately needed to drink away his troubles. 'Oh God, please let this bottle work it's magic.'
Yeung looked down into the bottom of his glass to see bugs floating around in his fire water. "Holy Shit!" shouted the boy slinging his glass into the middle of an adjacent table. There a gang of about four burly drunkards were holding a poker game. This prompted a bar fight between the four. Shouts of "Dirty Cheatin Bastard!" and "Them's Fightin Words Where I Come From!" could be heard as the other bar trollers began to open a can of whop ass on one another.
'Is that a roach floating around in that egg jar? Do they even serve anything in this shit hole that's worth human consumption?' Yeung said to himself as he shewed away a horsefly.
"OH MY GOD!" yelled the now seriously shocked teen.
"What is it?" asked Fein in between sips.
"It's the bartender's license," answered the younger boy. "It's issued for 1985 and expired in 1990! And it's only good in…..GERMANY!"
At this, Fein began to look a little pale. He bent over and heaved on the guy sitting behind him. Upon hearing this, a rat began to nibble on the unlucky customer.
I can also see why they call this place 'the Matchbox.' continued Yeung spying a burning kerosene lamp sitting atop a pile of magazines. 'One spark and the place really will go up like a box of matches….are those girls really wearing what I think they are?'
Yeung then caught a whiff of something horrendous. 'Sweet mother of God! What in Christ's name is that sickening smell?' The disgusted teen half-heartedly followed his nose to the source of the pungent odor. 'Oh! It's just Fein.' Yeung was brought from his trend of thought by his buddy's voice…
"So what would you like?" asked Fein.
"Anything that doesn't have piss in it would be nice," answered the now tainted-for-life boy. "I could have sworn I saw the midget circus clown cock his leg up on the beer keg."
"You'll have to settle for the fruity drinks then."
"Fine by me," replied Yeung. The boy was understandably beginning to feel a little green around the gills.
"Where's the bathroom?" Yeung asked Fein.
"It's back there," said Fein as he motioned Yeung to a dilapidated door covered in spray paint graffiti and spitballs. "But I must warn you. I wouldn't touch that toilet seat if you put a condom on it!"
"Thanks! I'll keep that in mind." Yeung got up and made his way to the facilities. When he reached the door he was very reluctant to even touch the doorknob. Standing right next to the men's room entrance was a pair of fat naked bikers having at it.
"What the heck are you looking at?" demanded what Yeung thought was the man among the two.
"Uhhhh..Nothing," answered the boy as he hurried into the darkened restroom. Quickly, he shut the door behind him and switched on the lights. The sight before him brought to mind a new level of dirty.
"And these days they call folks civilized," Yeung uttered to himself as he approached what he thought was a billboard but turned out to be a bathroom stall. Peering into the stall, he prepared to scream like a little girl. There before him were cigarette buds burned into the toilet seat and etched into the stall's left inside wall was an advertisement for Fecal Matter Playpen.
After about five minutes of relieving himself, four of which were spent scrubbing the commode, Yeung exited the bathroom praying aloud that he hadn't caught anything too serious. On the way out, he tripped over the naked bikers who were at this time basking in the afterglow of their erotic misadventure.
"Hugh, "moaned the boy as he attempted to get up. "At least now I know which one of them is the women." He tried to reassume his place next to his friend at the bar. However, someone decided they liked his seat a little more than he did.
"I don't know who this asshole is but he's sitting in my seat," fumed Yeung. The kid snagged an empty bottle from one of the service tables. Brandishing it like a menacing club, he made his snuck up behind the fool and drew back. Fein noticed what Yeung was about to do and tried desperately to stop him.
"Yeung! NOO!" warned a now horribly frightened Fein but he was too little too late. Yeung swung with all his might and nailed the trespasser in the back of the head. An elderly sounding squeal erupted from the mouth of his victim.
"Yeung! You idiot!" shouted Fein waving his arms around hysterically. "Do you have any idea what you've just done? You just canned an old lady!"
"Huh?" It had finally dawned on him that he had just committed and act of first degree manslaughter while under the influence, under aged, in a bar after curfew hours. Upon realizing his fatal mistake, his face became white as a ghost. He dropped to the floor and began to ball his eyes out.
I can hear it now. The sirens. The shouts. The angry police officers shuffling me into a processing room. My life has ended. This is it!
He jolted up at the sound of heavy boots thumping against the wooden floor. It was as if the cops really were rushing in to apprehend him for his crime.
"I'm sorry! P-please don't send me to prison," pleaded a now squalling Yeung in between crying. He opened his eyes to see that in fact cops were rushing into the building and heading in his direction. He stuck out his hands as if ready to say "Take me in" but was surprised when he didn't feel handcuffs being slapped onto his wrists.
"Alright boys! Grab her!" shouted one of the officers. The big cop came down hard on the old lady. "Alright little missy, you're going away for a long time." The one giving the orders walked over to Yeung and shook his hand.
"Thanks for your help son," praised the cop. "We've been trying to nab this succubus for a long time. You've did your community a fine service!"
"I did," articulated Yeung as he wiped the tears from his eyes. "Oh, I mean of course I did!" Fein could only look on bug eyed at the spectacle before him.
"You are a fine example of the folks who will lead this great nation into the future," continued the police officer.
"What was that old hag's crime?" asked Yeung.
"She's wanted for using Sunday bingo as a fencing operation for peddling drugs," answered the older man.
"And I would have gotten away with it too," sneered the old lady, " had it not been for those meddling kids and their drinking problem."
"What?" shouted the police official. "What drinking problem?"
"Don't forget officer," warned Yeung, "You have been allowing an unlicensed, unsanitary bar to run here for thirty years."
"You didn't see nothing!" the police officer said threateningly as he grabbed Yeung by the collar of the shirt. "You hear me! Nothing! If you say anything about this and I do mean anything, you are dead!" With that, the policeman left the bar in a mad dash.
"Wow! The fish does rot from the head down," Fein lamented as he helped his friend back to a stool.
"Man Yeung! You should'a seen yourself dude," goaded Fein. "You were simply squalling like a baby."
"Shaddup!" mouthed Yeung turning to his drink. He took one sip before making a change of subject.
"So Fein…"
"Yeah," replied the older boy.
"What have you really been doing for the last eight months?" inquired the younger teen.
"Fishing."
"Say What?" asked the surprised kid. "No seriously."
"I am being serious," asserted Fein. "Just after you and I went our separate ways, I got a job as an oyster fisherman as part of my training. The great northern oceans possess some of the most savage waters on the planet. Every trip out guarantees that at least one man will die at sea, and I almost became one of those men."
"I can only imagine how you almost became a casualty on a crummy fishing trip," remarked Yeung. At this last remark, Yeung got decked to the floor by his friend.
"How dare you!," cried Fein. "I nearly died at sea for God's sakes."
"Look man," started Yeung, " I didn't know. I'm sorry OK!"
"You damned well better be you jerk!" hollered Fein.
"So how did you get lost at sea?" inquired Yeung understandingly.
"I was thrown overboard by my own crewmates."
"What!" asked Yeung incredulously. "Why?"
His hands trembling with the feeling of pent up rage, the one that comes with bad memories, Fein sat down and went down memory lane. "I kept getting us in trouble with the Coast Guard, so one day the first mate with the help of a few others conspired to get rid of me. They drugged me and in my dazed state I was unable to defend myself. They stuck me in an oyster basket and tossed me over the side of the ship. I was lost at sea with no source of warmth, no fresh water, no food…. My only comfort was a piece of driftwood that I ripped off the side of the basket. I endured Hell on Earth for two whole weeks in those icy waters. I came close to blacking out so many times. I thought that it was it for me. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of getting even with the bastards who threw me overboard! One day I will…."
"Wow," exclaimed Yeung "You finally have your own vengeance story."
"My own vengeance story?" remarked the puzzled youngster. "Wait! You're still not talking about getting even with King Piccolo are you?"
"Yes," replied Yeung. "I'll never forget the day that green skinned monster killed my parents. It's the thought of someday killing him that keeps me going. It's really all I've held to for the past eight years. Since King Choppa took me in, I've thought of nothing else. I lost all hope of reclaiming my parents' honor after some kid hero named Son Goku managed to kill Piccolo Daimoa. I was a lost soul. I was cast from one foster home to another until King Choppa saved me. I later learned that King Piccolo was alive and well and fighting that same Son Goku at the 23rd World Martial Arts Tournament as he did three years before. This time however there was no report saying that Goku had killed Piccolo. With renewed hope, I continued my training so that I may one day kill Piccolo."
"Man your obsessed," said Fein.
"At least I'm not alone anymore in that department," retorted Yeung. "Besides, you have yet to hear about what I've been doing for the past eight months."
"I'm listening."
"Well, I got a job in Ginger Town working as an instructor for some run of the mill Tai Kwan Do sensei. The fool obviously had no real skill at all. He couldn't even jump more than 20 feet. He was way out of my league. The differences between us is where the trouble began. He was an egotistical maniac who saw his school as a personality cult that he could just immerse himself in. Once more, he was a horrible teacher who practically abused all of his students, but one day he made the mistake of crossing a very fine line that no one should cross. He molested one of his female students. Her name was Neiegi. I walked in on him while he was forcing her down."
"What did you do to him?" asked Fein.
"I kicked him so hard in the crotch that he'll never be giving another girl trouble. Neiegi became my girlfriend and she convinced her parents to allow me to come live with them. I was grateful seeings how I was then officially jobless. I continued my training in and around Ginger Town until one day I decided it was time for me to resume my journey. That's when I left my new home. My girlfriend was heartbroken at the incident but I told her that I would come back one day. Since then I have been living out of my apartment, clearing out karate dojos as part of my training."
"Well I'd hate to say this Yeung but you may have to take a rain check on visiting your girlfriend," said Fein. "Chances are she's dead."
"What? How?" inquired a now very frightened Yeung.
"I don't know but they say that some monster is killing people around Ginger Town."
"Is it Piccolo?" asked Yeung worriedly. "It's him isn't it?"
"I don't know man," answered the taller boy. "All I know is that nobody survived the purge of Ginger Town. Not even the military. But yeah, something unnatural is definitely happening in Ginger Town."
Just then the two boys caught sight of something strange on the news. It seemed as though a large grasshopper man came exploding onto the TV networks.
"Hey, bartender!" shouted Fein. "Turn up the volume!"
On TV, the large green creature snatched the microphone away from the newscaster and began to speak.
"I am Cell. Your boring lives are about to get a lot more interesting thanks to me. I have enjoyed terrorizing the Earth, but now I have something far more entertaining planned for this insignificant little world. For those of you who don't recognize me, maybe this will help…"
Cell then began to speak in a different voice altogether.
"I am the monster from Nicky Town!"
Hearing this, Rolo Yeung was furious. This thing killed Neiegi. No….
"The reason I am here is to announce that I've decided to hold a fighting tournament. I'm calling this competition 'The Cell Games'. It's a catchy title, don't you think?"
"The Cell Games will be held nine days from today near the Northern Wastelands. There you will find an arena that I designed myself. I modeled it after the one used in the original Tenkaichi Budokai. Bring me your best warriors and I will face each one of them in a contest of strength."
"The rules will be the same as those in the original World Martial Arts Tournament. If you give up or if your body touches the outside of the ring you lose."
"This is the last chance for the planet Earth…. If I am not defeated, it belongs to me!"
Cell then extended his hand towards the wall right behind him and fired a powerful blast that burst through the side of the ZTV News building and decimated a mountain far off in the distance. This done, he again turned to face the cameras.
"Now let the games begin!"
With that Cell flew right out the gaping hole behind him.
"That monster!" gasped Yeung. "He destroyed my home town!"
"Yeung, sit down," commanded Fein. "People are starting to stare!"
"I don't give a rat's ass!" yelled the boy. "Fein, start packing. We're going to enter that tournament." Maybe I will never get my revenge on Piccolo, but at least I can get even with this jackass.
"Yeung, listen to me," implored Fein, "We don't even know what we're getting ourselves into or for that matter what we are up against. You saw what he did to that mountain."
"I don't care Fein," responded Yeung. "Come on!"
"Where are we going?" asked the older teen.
"We need to prepare for our journey. We're gonna walk to the Cell Games."
"Are you crazy Yeung?" asked Fein. "Or is it the alcohol talking?"
"Neither. Let's just consider it another step on our road to greatness. So what do you say Fein? Are you up to it?"
"Looks like I'd better get ready for another road trip," uttered Fein under his breath. "Alright, I guess someone has to be there when you fall down."
"That and I'm broke."
At this last remark, Yeung fell over stupefied.
"Let's go!" shouted Yeung as he rushed out of the bar.
"Hey, wait for me!" yelled Fein tripping over himself in a drunken stupor.
A few hours after they left the bar, the two boys found themselves at West City's Sports and Outdoors complex. The two of them were dead set on stalking up whatever they could carry, and luckily for them, capsules allowed them to carry a lot.
Far off in the back of the store, Yeung had grabbed a shopping cart and began to throw random objects from the shelves into the thing. "Alright, let's see here. We're gonna need a tent, canteens, a compass, fishing lines, sleeping sacks, pocket moonshine distillery, sleeping pills, canned rations, caste iron pots…"
"Sheesh! Slow down Yeung!" whispered Fein. "People are staring at us again."
As soon as the two boys grabbed all they needed for the trip, they made their way to the checkout line. On the way up, Yeung caught sight of something on one of the shelves that just seemed to call out to him.
"Hey Fein! Look at this," ordered the giddy fighter.
"What is it now Yeung?" asked a by now very edgy Fein.
"It's beautiful…" commented Yeung.
"It's a crummy parachute," said Fein unimpressed.
"It's not a parachute," corrected Yeung. "It's an XL power chute."
"What does it do?" asked Fein.
"It allows people to build up their stamina for all kinds of sports," answered the young warrior.
"How does it work?"
"Wind resistance," Yeung stated bluntly. "I absolutely must have one."
"Fine, I'll put it on my gift card," said Fein reluctantly.
"Oh, will you please?" pleaded the boy.
"Sure…." answered Fein. "Come on! Let's go already. We only have nine days!"
"Uh-Huh," nodded the younger among them.
After buying one of the power chutes, Yeung and Fein made their way to the front of the store.
"Wow! Look at this line," said Fein. "We don't have time for this. Maybe we could try the self checkout counter."
"No good!" responded Yeung. "They only process 20 items or less."
"Then let's make two or however many trips we need to make."
"Good call," commented Yeung. "Oh, and grab a few of those burritos from the frozen foods section."
"Why the hell would they have burritos in a sports mall?" asked Fein, puzzled.
"With the prices they're charging, how else were they gonna attract customers?"
"Once again you make a very good point."
Just then a short guy dressed in a checkered overcoat and armed with a handgun came running through the front entrance. Immediately, he began firing wildly into the store manager's cubicle. After emptying a chamber into the office space, he turned his sights on the cashiers. He systematically began to fire rounds into the nearest cashier, a young blonde girl in her late teens, killing her instantly. Nearly everyone in the store instinctively kissed the floor. There were kids crying, people screaming, grown men shitting themselves, etc.
"NOBODY MOVE AND NOBODY DIES!" shouted the gunman. "Now! Put the money in the sack and I won't have to kill too many of you."
In a last ditch effort to thwart the robber, one of the male store clerks made a go for the alarm button under the counter. It would be his last and greatest mistake as the gunman spotted him just in time to load half a chamber into his body.
"WHO ELSE WANT'S TO SCREW WITH ME!" yelled the edgy gunman.
He then grabbed one of the younger female customers by the hair and jerked her off the floor The dame screeched in pain as hair was ripped from her scalp. "HUH? DO YOU WANT TO SCREW WITH ME TOO YOU DIRTY BITCH!" The crazed robber began to rip away at her blouse. When the woman would not submit to his foul advances, the gunman snapped and put a bullet in her temple.
Meanwhile in the parking lot, law enforcement personnel began to file onto the perimeter. Using their patrol cars as a threshold, the police officers formed a arch around the front entrance. Swat cars pulled around back to cut off the crazed suspect's escape.
The officer in charge, a lieutenant, conferred with his seconds. One of the seconds in question was the very same crooked cop who had given Yeung a shakedown at The Matchbox.
"What's the situation Detective?"
Trying to find a smoke, the crooked Detective jostled around in his coat pocket. "Eye witnesses say the gunman has holed in the checkout counter!"
"Hostages?"
"Fraid so Chief," said the man off-handedly.
"You don't seem too concerned," remarked the lieutenant.
"It's the nicotine."
"Those things'll kill ya!" warned the senior officer.
"Bigger fish to fry! Bigger fish!" chided the detective.
"Right! Right! Seems like the guy's only interested in money," said the lieutenant.
"Raid through the back door?"
"Uhh…, no! If something goes wrong city hall will have my skin!" answered the man. "Let's try to negotiate first. That's your field of expertise."
Um…, OoooK then."
Back in the checkout lobby, the gunman wasted no time in grabbing a hostage, Yeung himself.
'Well, at least I'll have a front row seat,' thought the young master. "Hmm… I wonder if King Choppa can see me on television."
"You, shut the hell up!" snapped the murderous larcenist. It was then that Yeung heard an all too familiar voice from out front amplified by a microphone.
"THIS IS THE POLICE! LET THE HOSTAGE GO, DROP YOUR WEAPON, AND COME OUT QUIETLY!"
'Hey! It's the same tin badge from before!' thought Yeung.
"DON'T SCREW WITH ME!" shouted the gunman. "WHEN PEOPLE SCREW WITH ME, FOLKS WIND UP DEAD!" The gunman fired off another round only this time he fired at the cops. The round slammed into the face of the said corrupt cop, and the officer face-planted dead against the payment.
'Score!' Yeung mentally gave himself a high-five. He turned around and while the gunman wasn't looking, broke out of the gunman's hold. He then proceeded to throw the gunman to the floor and disarm him. He kicked the firearm from the crazed gunman's reach and stomped the maniacs' hands to a pulp. The poor fellow screamed in pain as Yeung grinded the bones in his wrists to applesauce. Yeung then reached down, yanked the robber by the back of the head, and twisted him around until he was facing him. Yeung bore a sadistic look that would make even a seasoned killer loose his nerve.
"Now then…" started Yeung, "What shall we do first?"
"P-please! Don't kill me man!" stuttered the wayward gunman, "I needed the money! I got hungry kids at home! Please!"
"Yes and I'm sure they're beautiful," Yeung commented offhandedly. He looked around for a creative way to end the man's life.
'Hmm…Physical assaults are getting old fast. Maybe I should use a weapon…. Ohh! This will do quite nicely.' Yeung had caught sight of the downed gunman's firearm and decided to put it to good use. He pointed the gun at the robber and started pulling back on the trigger.
"When you see the bright lights come out of the end of this thing, I want you to understand that it isn't Heaven." That said, Yeung emptied the remaining rounds in the man's face. The man squirmed around for a short while as blood gushed out of his gunshot wounds like a fountain. Soon he was dead.
Seeing that his work was done, Yeung tossed the firearm to the side just as West City police began to file in through every entrance. What they saw puzzled them greatly. At the feet of this young teenaged boy lay the body of the holdup's perpetrator. Yeung continued to look down at his t kill, a satisfied smirk plastered on his face. One of the officers somehow mustered the courage to approach the scene before him.
"Kid! On behalf of West City, I would like to congratulate you on your heroic act," said the policeman. The store's assistant manager worked his way through the crowd of bystanders and cops that coalesced around Yeung and the gunman's body.
"Please feel free to have anything in the store that you want free of charge," offered the assistant manager. "It's on the house!"
"Oh hell yeah! Free stuff!" Pushing manager out of the way, Yeung grabbed an empty shopping cart. "Thanks lady."
"Come on Fein!" hollered the young master. "We're burning daylight as it is."
"Uhhh…sure," muttered Fein as he ran off after his friend.
When the boys were finished shopping, they began the meticulous task of packaging the camping supplies in capsules so as to lighten the load. However, there were some items that could not be stored in dynocaps. These had to be stuffed in the backpack on top of everything else.
"I'm not going," said Fein.
"What! Why not?" asked Yeung.
"This is your mission. Not mine. And besides, I would just slow you down."
"You won't change your mind?" asked Yeung.
"No. You're idea of action is too intense for my tastes," said Fein. "Knowing you, you'd probably get us both killed. Just promise me that someday you'll come back alive."
"I will. That much you can count on. I'm too good to die this early in the game. There's too much drama waiting for me. And besides, I haven't gotten my revenge on Cell or King Piccolo yet. "
"Well…You just keep trying Yeung and I know that one day you'll get your revenge. Sadly, it might not be what you expected."
"I will old friend," replied Yeung. The two of them shared one last handshake before going their separate ways, again.
Author's Note: I do not intend on being consistent with the length of my chapters. Some will be really long and others will be short depending on what I the writer am trying to accomplish.
Yeung is 13 years old and Fein is 16.