Chapter 16 Meet me in the Ring: The First Matches Begin?

Hollow Bastion

The world of Hollow Bastion was old and barren, the perfect place for an arrogant alien to show off his new power. Cell found a large patch of dry earth; he grinned and used his telekinesis powers to build a giant arena, about the size of a full tennis court. He then flew down and landed; he crossed his arms and waited. He didn't have to wait long for someone to appear.

Someone on a motorcycle was speeding towards him and behind him were several others, including a giant mechanical dragon, a man in a red and black jumpsuit with several katana's on his back, a dark winged female angel like creature and several others he didn't recognise. He laughed to himself as the biker got there first followed by the dragon that landed a short distance away from him.

The biker got off his motor cycle and started walking towards the ring "You sure like to put your arenas in the middle of nowhere huh?" he said, Cell chuckled "Beezlemon, so glad you could make it and I see you brought others too" he said motioning towards them. Beezlemon scoffed "Yeah well we couldn't exactly just sit around and watch you make a mess of things, now that everyone knows about us. How exactly to you plan on fixing this mess?"

Cell frowned "I'am tired of working in the shadows, the time to act is now. We have the Devils Machine up and running so I see no need to hide in the dark anymore, I miss the thrill of battle. Besides I'am the strongest being in the universe, nothing can stop me now" he boasted, Beezlemon crossed his arms and scoffed "Yeah, that's exactly what Giygas said and look at what happened to him"

"Giygas was a fool, he had incredible power but he could not control it and now he has been reduced to the creature we see know, I was built to be the perfect weapon. Trust me, I won't be making the same mistake" said Cell. "Ok so suppose then that one of these warriors actually beats you, then what? You think they'll just forget?"

Cell chuckled loudly "I highly doubt any of these warriors will put up even the slightest challenge to me" before crossing his arms and looking out into the distance again. It wasn't long before the first warriors started to arrive, warriors of all shapes and sizes, some human, other anamorphic creatures. Most of them he didn't recognise but some looked familiar to him; one of them was the armored woman he had seen with the silver haired dark blade meister.

She pointed her arm cannon but not at Cell but at Ridley who was with the others, "Ah ah ah! If you fire at my companion it will be going against the rules and then I'd have to destroy you" he warned amused, she lowered her gun and clenched her fist. "Are you fighting Ridley?" she said, the dragon grinned "No Aran, I'd much rather sit back and watch Cell kill you instead of getting my hands dirty" he sneered

"Coward" she muttered before turning back and sitting alone on a rock away from the others. Cell turned his attention back to the warriors that had arrived, one of them was a large well-built man with a goat man by his side telling him different combat methods, "You there" said Cell looking at the goat man.

"Who me?" he said, the man bet down "Phil I think he's talking to you" he said, Phil tried to shut him up "Pipe down kid, I don't wanna be talking to him" said Phil in panic. Cell walked forward and stopped at the edge of the ring "I would just like to say thank you for inspiring me, after all it's your coliseum and its tournaments that inspired the Cell Games" he said smiling before returning to his place at the centre of the ring.

"Any time pal" Phil said in panic, he was glad to still be standing; he turned back to his student "Ok Herc now remember what I told ya. To defeat an opponent you need three simple things. Speed. Strength, Defense and a Plan"

Several hours pasted and the warriors continued to train, either by themselves or with each other. Cell stayed standing patiently awaiting the fighter he had been hoping to sniff out, he had been built for the soul purpose of defeating this boy and today he would succeed. "What're you waiting for Cell?, everyone's here" said Envy, Cell shook his head "Not everyone, the students from the DW academy are yet to arrive"

He turned to him frowning "You did tell them about the games did you?" he said calmly, Envy shook his head "Yeah of course we did, they went off training somewhere and their fighting without their partners" Cell looked interested, "Really? Interesting, I wonder why they would leave behind their weapons."

Then he felt it, an immense power coming closer and closer to the arena, someone was flying toward the arena surrounded by a purple aura, Cell started to get excited but when the person finally arrived he did not recognise the person and became uninterested. He was a young man with messy red hair and markings on his face; he was dressed in a casual smart uniform and a pair of goggles on his head which kept his hair out of his eyes.

Nevertheless this was the most powerful person to have come to the games and unless the fighters he had been hoping for turned up in the next five minutes then this stranger would have to provide him with the necessary entertainment.

"Five minutes" he said loudly catching the attention of everyone who all started training extra hard, while some who thought they were ready went to stand at the edge of the ring.

KHROS

Hyper Bolic Time Chamber

Maximus, Zidane, Riku and Sora all stood outside the Hyper Bolic Time Chamber, they had finished their training. Zidane stretched his arms and grinned "I feel like a million bucks right now" he said enthusiastically, Sora grinned and flexed his arms muscles "Same here! We're gonna knock that android into the dirt!"

Riku high fived him as Maximus placed his fingers on his temple "You guys go on ahead, I need to pay someone a quick visit" he said, Zidane shrugged and mimicked his action "See yah on the battle field Max" before teleporting away. Sora grabbed Riku's shoulder "Hopefully we'll leave someone for you Max" he said grinning before they too disappeared.

Maximus concentrated and found himself back at the Academy, he quickly hid from view as someone came walking down the halls, he looked round and saw it was exactly who he was looking for "Garnet" he said causing her to jump and spin round, she looked surprised then angry and placed her hand on her hips and frowned at him.

"What are you doing back here? Realised you couldn't leave your partner behind like that? Do you have any idea how upset Aht is right now, you know how she feels about you fighting someone like that again or did you forget?" she spat. Maximus sighed but kept his stern face "I came here because I want you to promise me something Garnet, I want you to make sure Aht doesn't get involved"

Her face turned from that of anger to shock "What do you mean?" she said, he turned away from her "Aht can get pretty emotional and I know she'll want to get involved but this battle is too dangerous for her, I can't risk her getting hurt again like last time. Please Dagger, your my friend I need you to help me" he said, he looked desperate.

She sighed and closed her eyes before frowning again "Ok fine, I promise" he smiled and was ready to walk away before she grabbed him "And in return I want you to promise me that you'll bring Zidane home alive" Maximus sighed "Look you know how Zidane is once he…"

She grabbed him by the scruff of the neck "Listen to me! If it looks like he might lose then I want you to throw in the towel and stop the fight!" she shouted, he nodded and she walked away but not before stopping again "And look after yourself and the others as well, good luck" she said before walking off.

Maximus sighed and then placed his fingers to his head and thought of Hollow Bastion, in a flash was there and immediately was met with some cries of surprise. He saw Sora and the others and walked towards them, he could hear whispers from some of the other warriors who had turned up.

"Is that Maximus?"

"I thought he'd be taller"

"It's the guy who killed Freiza!"

"I thought he was supposed to be some kind of monster, guess the rumours were a little exaggerated"

Maximus scratched his cheek in embarrassment as he joined the others, Zidane looked annoyed as he approached "What's with you?" he asked amused, Zidane didn't say anything but pointed to a young man with red hair and a pair of goggles on his head which kept his messy hair out of his eyes, he was sitting on a rock about ten feet away from them.

Maximus groaned as the man jumped of and started walking towards him "Hi Reno" he said, the man grinned "Hello Maximus, how long the days without you have felt" he said sarcastically. "Didn't know you were the tournament type" said Maximus, Reno chuckled "Indeed, I will prove to everyone that I'am stronger than Cell and once I'm done with him then you and I will fight to prove who is the strongest"

Maximus chuckled and turned away from him "Well you have to beat Cell first" Reno frowned and walked away "I'll see you in the ring"

"What's his story?" asked Sora, Maximus rolled his eyes "That's Reno, he was a fellow….comrade of mine before becoming my so called "rival" but that seemed to end when I beat the shit out of him, he's pretty strong though and he can use Trance as well" said Maximus.

Riku the noticed someone he recognised and ran over to her "Hey Samus!" he said grinning as the bounty hunter looked up "Riku? I didn't know you were competing" she said with surprise as he reached her "Yeah, how about you? I didn't think tournaments were your thing" she looked over to the other side of the ring "I'm not here for the tournament, I'm here for him" she said pointing to a familiar looking dragon.

"Ridley" Riku snarled, he had thought he'd finally seen the end of the dragon "How is he still alive?" said Riku as he clenched his fists. "One thing you need to learn about Ridley, he is very difficult to kill" she said, he glared at the dragon "Well I'll make sure to kill him properly this time" he grumbled.

Samus shook her head "He is not taking part in the tournament and Cell will kill anyone that tries to hurt one of his comrades" she said as she sat back. "Well then once we kill him, you can have that chance" said Riku, Samus looked up to him "Do you think you can defeat him?" she asked. He didn't answer; he kept his eyes on Cell.

Sora was talking to an old friend of his "So Herc I take it Phil's been training you harder than ever before huh?" he said as Hercules started flexing his muscles "Yeah, he's been training me non-stop since I'm a half god and all he thinks I have more of a chance than anyone else" Sora nodded in agreement, the Cell began to move and everyone's attention was on him.

"The Cell Games begin now. So who will be the first to enter this little contest of mine? Remember if you enter and lose then your world will be destroyed so only enter if you think you can win" he said smirking. Phil nudged Hercules forward "Herc this is your chance, now you can become a true hero"

Hercules nodded and confidently went onto the ring "I'll challenge you first Cell, now you'll see what the power of an Olympic god can do" he said as he made his way to the opposite side so that they were facing each other. The other warriors started muttering and chatting under their breath though there eyes were fixed on the ring.

"Do you think he has a chance?" Riku said to Sora, Sora frowned and kept his eyes on the ring "I'm not sure Riku; Herc's the closest thing to a god that I know of but I don't know how powerful Cell actually is, maybe he has a chance" he said confidently. Maximus shook his head "He doesn't have a chance" he said as Hercules went into a fighting stance.

Cell remained stationary, he kept his eyes on Hercules but didn't mover or even flinch as Hercules charged towards him getting ready to punch him, Cell casually sidestepped out of the way before slamming his hand into Hercules's jaw and sending him flying out of the ring where her crashed through several rocks before impacting into the dirt.

"Next" said Cell simply crossing his arms again, "Herc!" shouted Phil as he ran to wear his student had landed. Sora glared at Cell while Riku looked on in shock "Even a god can't beat this guy!" he then looked to Sora "Dude we're totally fucked"

KHROS

Kairi was mad to say the least, she had awoken in the nurse's office in the academy and had learned of the Cell Games only to find out her partner had left her here and went off without even saying goodbye and right after they had a little moment in Airhaven. "Honestly the nerve of that jerk, leaving me here like that. Who does he think he is? Some kind of superhero that's gonna go beat the evil bad guy and save the day? They're all such idiots" she said as she sat with the other girls.

Xion looked sad but didn't say much while Garnet looked less fumed than before but she was still pretty mad "I just hope Maximus keeps his promise", Aht stood up and looked determined "Well I don't care if Maximus thinks he can take on that creep, I'm going over there right now and drag him out of that arena, by the ear if I have to!" she said and marched out of the door.

Garnets face filled with panic as she grabbed the hyperactive little girl "No Aht its way too dangerous for a girl your age" she, Aht huffed and crossed her arms "I'm not a little girl anymore Garnet, I can take care of myself. Why did Max bother to train me if he doesn't think I can fight?" she said annoyed but sounded hurt as well.

Before Garnet could answer the door was kicked open and in walked a young woman with curly green hair and blue eyes, she was about the same age as Garnet and she did not look happy. "Ok where is he?" she said frowning. "Terra!" shouted Garnet and Aht and they ran over to hug there friend, Terra's face softened as she picked up Aht like a mother would and started fussing over her.

"Oh Aht! You've sure grown up and you look so beautiful and Garnet I love what you've done with your hair it makes you look like an angel" she said as she hugged her friend, Aht giggled and wriggled out her friends hold "Hehehe!"

Garnet looked over to Xion and Kairi "Terra these are our friends Kairi and Xion" Terra shook their hands "Oh wow, you two are so adorable!" she squealed, the girl had gone from looking like a force of nature to a giggling school girl in the space of five seconds which confused Kairi.

When Garnet asked her what she was doing here however her stern face returned "I've come to find that jerk!" she said annoyed looking around for someone. Garnet nodded "Oh right you mean Max? Well he's away" she said, Aht looked annoyed as well but Terra looked fuming "He promised me that he'd take me on a date! What did he and Zidane get up to this time?" she said crossing her arms.

Garnet sighed and looked sad as Terra's face softened "What is it? What's wrong?" she said her voice becoming panicked "They went to take part in the Cell Games" said Aht. Terra looked surprised "I heard about that but what's got you guys so worried about it?" Aht frowned "Cell is composed of cells from Freiza" she said, Kairi noticed something in Ahts eyes when she said that, like a burning hatred in her.

Terra immediately looked angry as well and started to leave "That jerk is going to pay for not inviting me, did he forget what Freiza did to me? Because of him all of my….." she looked pained and couldn't say the last words. Kairi climbed out of bed ignoring Xion's protests "Then let's go, I'm not going to sit around here while my friends fight that battle without us, you coming Xion?" she said giving Xion a determined look.

Xion nodded bravely and put on the most aggressive face she could muster "Yeah I'm coming" she said, Garnet nodded "I'll come too" Aht started bouncing up and down "Me tooooooo!" she shouted. Terra shook her head "I've forgotten how energetic you are Aht but how do we get there?" she said thinking, Kairi suddenly got an idea "I know let's ask Mickey if we can borrow some Star Shards"

"That's a great idea Kairi!" said Garnet and Terra grinned "Alright ladies it's time for us to show those boy how completely hopeless they are without us!" before they all ran out from the office and back to the Mysterious Tower

KHROS

"Son of a bitch!" shouted Zidane as he was flung from the ring by Cell, he had lasted much longer than any of the other contestants who had entered but even with Trance he still wasn't strong enough to take down Cell who was simply too fast and too powerful for him. He had managed to get some good hits on Cell including a serious punch to the gut but Cell had quickly turned the tides and karate chopped him in the face which sent him flying out of the ring and onto the dirt.

"Zidane!" shouted Maximus as he rushed towards his fallen friend "Talk to me, are you ok?" he said as he skidded down, Zidane tried to pick himself up but collapsed again "Max, he's too strong" he said weakly before passing out. "Son of a bitch. SON OF A BITCH!" He shouted before jumping onto the ring.

"You will pay for this Cell, I'll make you dead" snarled Maximus, Cell chuckled and uncrossed his arms "I have been waiting for this, ever since I was created from the cells of the greatest warriors, including Freiza, I have wanted to fight a warrior of my own level, now you will see what I'am truly capable of" said Cell.

Riku and Sora were next to Zidane "Hang in there buddy" said Sora as Riku kept glaring at Cell "Riku if Max doesn't win then it'll be up to us to fight him, the thing is after watching beat Zidane like that I'm not sure there much I can do" Riku grimaced and clenched his fists "Then we're just going to have to put our faith in Max, he's the strongest meister from the academy, it's time to see if he lives up to the legends"

A/N Woohoo! I'am finally back on track in terms of where the fuck this story was going. I have been reading back and I realise just how needlessly complicated this story has become but from now one it'll be a lot more straightforward. BTW the whole thing with Freiza and Maximus will be explained in Rage of Maximus so just be patient to find out what crazy shit happened there.

Next chapter will see Maximus and Cell finally throw done and the girls and their little adventure. Don't tease the octopus kids!

That's all for now