It's been two weeks since Cell awoke in Gero's lab. The surrounding landscape of the mountains became his new territory relatively quick as not only did he have a good lay of the land through Gero's topological data of the location, but in these last weeks he'd managed to catalog a number of species that were native to these regions.

He knew what creatures were harmless, which ones were the apex predators of the land, and opportunistic predators who would simply pluck at whatever leftovers were in sight. Or the local Flora that decorated these mountain ranges and provided some of the smaller creatures shelter and nourishment when they were incapable of predation themselves.

And to think...this knowledge that was hardwired into his very core had come from a madman who was hellbent on revenge of a then 12 year old boy who decimated the army he'd spent his life building up. Insane yes... had a one tracked mind. But if there was anyone with a more brilliant intellect then the Manga never showed them in detail.

' maybe...If you consider The Worlds Strongest canon.' Cell thought quietly to himself.

In his larval state he wasn't quite capable of speech but he still retained cognitive thought and self awareness. He could tell the time of day not simply by the position of the sun but by internal organic programming that the doctor had put into consideration for him. Time of day, month, even things as minute as the change in local temperature or wind speed.

Weather forecasters be damned...He could do all their work and more efficiently. Because of these 'lesser functions' in his being, he knew when to hunt, where some animals would be at certain hours. He could only imagine once he fully matured, that the other cells in his body would awaken and offer him much more out of this new life.

He'd started crawling through the surface of the earth, not unlike Naturon Shenron. In his mind, he could not help but sing to the song that the strange body snatching dragon would perform whenever he'd be trying to start earthquakes. Only Cell's purpose was a little more subtle.

After many hunting trips through his territory, some of the predators and prey creatures of the region were becoming quite aware of his trapping techniques. He'd dig a hole, and pull them inside the depths of the cavern he'd make and gobble them up.

But now...he had to rethink his strategy. Powerful as he was becoming, he still had many flaws that would leave him prone to attack by some of the creatures in this land.

The largest creatures he discovered in these lands were the Sabertooth tigers, of whom he'd eaten plenty, and the occasional Triceratops. The latter, he had to be careful tackling because one strike from those horns in this stage...and his life as the ultimate life form would be over before he could even have his fun.

One particular Triceratops was his target. They were respected among the creatures in these mountains as it's king. Cell referred to this one as the Triceratops King, as it's appearance reminded him of the same creature that caused such a ruckus south of West City in one of the older Dragon ball handheld games.

Whether it held the same personality or not...it had become somewhat of a rival force to our hero. But today was going to change all that. Either he'd claim the Triceratops as his prey, or he was going to die a bug. A wonderful bug...But a bug none the less.

Whether it worked or not would rely on a handful of factors. Weather being one important key but with his advanced programming, there was little doubt conditions would be favorable. In these 2 weeks, he'd learned the margin for error in his sensors were less than than a 5th of a percentage and even then, his biggest failure had been that a rainy night had gone on about 10 seconds longer than his senses predicted.

With a small window of inaccuracy, Cell wasted little time tunneling through the range. His purpose clear.

Further within the bio android's territory lay the heart of his problem. The herd of Triceratops were grazing where the grass grew thick. More than enough for the lot of them, of which there were ten, to comfortable consume their fill.

Each Triceratops was easily the size of a mid sized Sedan with tough light caramel colored hide. While the greatest beast of them all, whom they've come to respect as their leader was nearly as large as a capsule house. There were no predators whom would intrude on their feeding grounds, because one swing of his head and the king cleaved most creatures in half with horns nearly as long as an adult human arm.

The thought always amused Cell, tunneling just underneath their land, that the apex of this range of mountains weren't the ferocious Saber Tigers, or even some of the raptors he'd occasionally spotted and devoured. No...Everyone feared and respected the power of the triceratops king.

But it would be overthrown today. There was a new apex in town, directly beneath their feet.

As Cell's last few days of recon had enlightened him to...The king would stamp through his herd's territory every day on the dot. It was this daily routine that made him one of the more prominent marks of this group compared to the rest of the saurians. It proved to be a strong...thinking leader with more self awareness than most of the denizens of the forests.

With that level of sentience, albiet small compared to Cell's own...It could become quite a formidable threat, and soon all of his tactics would become all but useless on the brute. Strength was what the Triceratops had...and until Cell finally hatched out of his larval stage, he wouldn't stand a chance in a face to face confrontation...nor in a match of speed due to the anatomy of his limbs.

But underground...he had the advantage...!

He could hear the big brute trudging along on his usual path. Each sound nearly deafening to his acute sense of hearing, but it reassured Cell that he was on the right path, and so far...everything was working out just fine.

A few clouds gathered in the last few minutes, but he was aware of this. So far...factoring the weather pattern and the Triceratops king's behavior, his plan had only shifted by 0.15 percent by his judgment...Hardly enough for him to start doubting the fruit that he would undoubtedly be harvesting.

Up above, the Triceratops king grumbled to itself. Something didn't feel right. The clouds coming in also warned that he would have to hurry his patrol.

In the distance, he heard thunder rumbling, an indication that some rather rough weather was coming to their mountains. Without time to lose, this king of beasts pounded faster through his patrol, knocking away any creatures that may have stumbled into his path but otherwise left things to their own interests.

When the second roiling of thunder came through, it was followed with a sudden flurry of rain that alerted most of the herd that they need to take to shelter. A cavern structure that had naturally formed within one of the many ranges of mountains that extended through the region.

The heavy foot falls of marching could be heard even beneath the earth's surface...Something that gave Cell a brief curl of his beak in amusement. 'So far...everything's working as expected.'

A small tingling ran through his carapace. Something he'd not felt in the last few weeks he'd been born into this world and for once his body hadn't known immediately what it was. Like a brief surge of power...

'I can worry about that later...Our stage is almost set...'

Above the surface, many of the Triceratops hurried their way towards the cavern even as a rumbling beneath them started shaking them up. Confusion filled the pack as many of them rushed to avoid whatever catastrophe that quake might signify. Unfortunately...that very need to get away also proved to lead them right to it.

As many great feet pounded at the ground just in front of the caverns mouth, the ground started to cave in, forcing at least a good two thirds of the herd into darkness below.

Their king however was not one of them. He'd remained at the back of his pack, as a means to ward off potential predators but when his group vanished into the blackness of the earth there was a bit of rage in his eyes. He was aware of the creature that invaded their territory and consumed other life in these mountains, and this looked like just his style.

From the pit he could see nothing...But he could certainly HEAR the sounds of what was transpiring down below. Lots of swallowing sounds...wet and hungry...Something was gorging on his pack and the distressed bellows from his pack sent shivers into the king's back. Nothing he could do from above but listen.

The most terrifying of it was after a bit of swallowing, one of his Triceratops herd would manage to partially break out of the darkness, only for a large beige claw to pull it back in.

*gulllp ullllp! Slrrrrrrrp!*

These were the sounds he heard for the next few minutes until suddenly any sort of resistance or struggle went quiet. The ominous silence was only cut out by the thunder roaring in the distance.

"BWUAAAAAAAAARP!"

A loud belch rang from the depths of that cavern, one could even feel a slight tremor through it as several cracks appeared to form around the Triceratops king's feet. What land was left suddenly crumpled inward as the pack's leader was thrust into the darkness below to join in whatever fate may have befallen his tribe.

The king landed at the bottom of the pit with a earthshaking thud. He'd landed feet first to which some part of the beast was thankful it hadn't fallen on it's side. It would not be taken off guard. Eyes red, the Triceratops king marched into a deep cavern that seemed to have been haphazardly dug.

In truth Cell hadn't thought that the earth would have given as strongly as it did, and he hadn't expected King Triceratops to descend so quickly. So far, everything'd gone according to plan. INCUDING making the king's tribe a feast that he'd consumed with rapid success. Normally…it took his body at least a full day to digest the food he'd been given, but lately his metabolism's been growing. He found that the other day a pear from a nearby tree would take only 5 to 10 minutes stewing in his stomach to be completely integrated into his body, and most saber tigers took little under 30 minutes.

Whatever it was, he was gorging at an increased rate every day that through rough estimations on his part…His evolution was nearing it's final stages. These dinosaurs he'd eaten…If he could get away safely where he could let his prey digest and fully absorb them then he would be free of his shell.

What he didn't expect however was that in his calculations, He'd factored the king's weight but he hadn't counted on the beast to remain in that sort of catatonic state for so long. His large size coupled in with the chunk of earth he'd destablized, it created a massive tremor…Naturon Shenron would have been proud of such a feat.

Unfortunately…It allowed the behemoth to follow him down into the depths of the earth. And he could hear him…There was a roar that shook the cavern even as Cell fought with the extra weight in his belly, rapidly shrinking.

'There must be some way I can speed this process up…! Because if I don't them I'm gonna be a bug on a shoe!'

It was weird, but almost as if reacting to his wishes, his body started gurgling much more noisily…It would surely attract the sound of his chaser but as he looked down over his body he could see the shapes of the dinosaurs he'd previously consumed starting to rapidly shrink down. Legs that barely touched ground were now managing to cling into the soil again.

'Definitely…not a Pear…' He thought, even as energy started rapidly coursing through his body. His first thoughts being that he may very well pop.

If his trivial knowledge of dragon ball was anything to go by, creatures that absorbed too much power tended to burst before they could use it. One example he could think of on the top of his head was Yakon…But his belly was shrinking, not expanding like that brute.

And again he could feel that tingling feeling throughout his body. It was as though his body were telling him something. He was ready!

But could he break out in time? He could hear the behemoth charging his way, ground quaking with each step that threatened to start a cave in. What was the worst was how his body simply could not move anymore. It failed to respond to his direction but then…he also couldn't feel it as well as he had before…

When his hands tried to dig into the ground it instead dug into something hard…Had his metamorphosis happened that quickly? Inside he was already changing, and working to claw his way right on out of the shell he'd grown so used to over the past few weeks.

Not a moment too soon either. The King Triceratops was right on him, ready to pounce…and pounce it did. Just as a large slit through the back of Cell's Carapace began to form, the king lifted one great foot in an attempt to pound the beast that devoured his tribe to sand.

His foot stopped short however. Not by his own choice though, as he looked as though he was straining to drop it to the ground…But by an arm that shot out of the massive cicada's back. Dark green scales with black dots were all the king would have seen had he not been so large. The arm wasn't even straining to hold his weight judging by how it failed to budge even an inch when the Triceratops pushed.

There was a shove by the arm, sending the Dinosaur staggering a few feet as he could now see what was a strange bipedal green creature slowly rising out of it's target, dripping with eerie pink fluids that seemed to illuminate it's body wherever it touched. Two horns protruded from the side of it's oddly shaped head with a black oval right in the middle, just above it's piercing eyes.

From the neck down it's body was vaguely humanoid, save for a similar black spherical like protrusion just around it's belly with some orange skin just underneath that looked as though it might be another form of armored shell that also protected it along the groin. Two pairs of wings stuck out behind it's back very much so like a beetles and a very VERY long tail with a needle like tip at it's end.

Cell looked down over himself, noted his three toed feet and wiggled them just for a moment before glancing over his hands. He actually had HANDS now and each of his five digits were tipped off with a hardened black claw. His beak split open just for a moment as he smiled.

"This is really happening…" He spoke out for the first time, his voice scratchy very much like Cell's had been in the english dub of the anime. Its initial sound surprised him, because up until now he'd been thinking in his head, with a voice now he could only vaguely remember as something from a distant past

"I am Cell…Holy crap I'm actually here and…" He briefly pinched his wrist area and smirked when he felt a momentary jab of discomfort. "And I'm not dreaming this…! I'm most definitely here…!"

He was enjoying this new experience. He looked at his hands for a moment, wiggling each finger and staring at the claws, wondering… "If my Cell Juniors could do it…" He muttered, focusing on his fingers and dug into what the internal memory of his body had on the issue and watched his claws grow about an inch, becoming like knives at the tip which startled him just for a moment.

Meanwhile…the Triceratops king was getting frustrated. This creature was ignoring him…And it had sprang out of what it had come to know as it's nemesis. In a rage it charged at Cell who managed to stop it in it's tracks simply by holding his hand out.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to enjoy the moment here. Don't interfere!" Cell bellowed, though he sounded more annoyed than actually fearful. He did not fear this Dinosaur any more than a Lion might fear a Gazelle. He was way more interested in his body. And when his tail lightly came around over to his head, he inspected the length of it. He realized the underside of it was quite dark…But the strength he felt along the whole of it was not to be underestimated.

"This is my greatest weapon…" He muttered, only to put his tail down when the Triceratops charged at him again. This guy just would NOT learn his lesson would he? His own sensors told him when to move and for a second he was startled by his reaction speed as he grabbed the King's horn and twisted, practically shoving him into the ground beside him.

"I thought I said to hold on a moment…! You're so rude…But if you're THAT eager to finish things off then so be it…"

The sheer force of having had it's head shoved into the ground…it's horns lodged into the soil left it shaken! It's instincts were screaming at it to get away…To flee this…abominable creature. But it felt something grip at it's tail and realized such escape was fleeting…It's horns were dislodged from the hard soil underneath and it soon found itself being carried up out of the caverns depths…They were flying…!

And effortlessly too. Cell noticed that the King Triceratops was quite light…Or rather, the strength within this new body was just so great that it felt as if the Triceratops was mere luggage to the bio android. Truly a marvel of genetic engineering if there ever was one.

"Hmhhhmmm…You really have outdone yourself father…There could not be a better body." He complimented Gero. Even though the doctor was long gone, he felt as though maybe some of him was in there…After all…He consumed the memory processor that had the man's memories. In a way now Gero lived inside of him.

"Ah right…Inside of me…" He seemed to realize just what his main function was again. He was to absorb his brother and sister. And after briefly reliving Gero's furious last moments he realized that he really wanted to do it.

Once they were out of the cavern, he realized the rain had finally stopped. The sky was clear with the sun's rays shining through the canopy of trees. So far his plan had backtracked a little bit…but now he needn't worry about following the script of his plan. Once he found a good place to drop the house sized dinosaur he did so, letting him fall with a earth shaking thud that startled many of the smaller critters in the range.

"Now then my liege…" He mocked, suddenly putting his hands up towards his belly, giving it a small pat. "Why don't you join the rest of your tribe…Inside of me. Become part of the world's greatest apex."

He said it in such a tone that he really did believe every word. He believed himself to be the best, and in his mind, this world was his domain where everything within it were his. Including this massive Triceratops.

He could see a bit of fright in the creatures eyes…Something inside of it was saying to not engage and flee. To escape this predator whom when it looked into Cell's eyes…could see a vast hunger that likely would not be sated anytime soon. He would devour everything…!

King Triceratops did turn around, attempting to flee, but he'd only made a handful of steps before Cell had jetted right at his side, hand on his horn again to which he could not pull away from. Sweat built up on the creature's head when it shouldn't have.

"You look so frightened. Do not worry." Cell licked his beak, his belly growling defiantly as if impatient for what was to come. "You will live on inside of me. Inside of…Imperfection." He cackled this last part, knowing full well he intended never to become perfect.

"Now then…" Cell muttered quietly to himself as he snaked the length of his tail into view of his prey, stopping briefly to allow the finely pointed stinger at the end to catch King Triceratops eye, the position of the sun giving off a brief glint at the time as if nature itself was aware of it's deadly purpose. "Just relax. You're going to save this world."

Even if the Dinosaur didn't understand what he was saying, his voice was foreboding enough that there was a brief flailing of the Triceratops head as he finished only for his prey to feel a brief sensation of pain as it felt something penetrating it's back.

It had been the stinger from the tip of Cell's tail. He'd wanted to test out just how durable the point was, and it was indeed strong enough to pierce through hard saurian tissue! He did also want to try enveloping someone whole with his tail but this meal was much to large for that…

Besides…as his design was built for, he would need as much bio extract as he could get his hands on. It was his food, his life…and something that would ultimately be necessary to catch up to his siblings and put their evil deeds to rest.

With that thought in mind, Cell began to focus on his tail, feeling a rather sudden and tingling sensation running through his body when his tail began pulling in the first of the dinosaur's organic material into his body. Having been human from what he could remember…there most certainly wasn't a way to describe this that he could relate it too. His tail did most all the work for him.

The Dino tried to break out of his grip, howling as that tip was draining his mass into itself…Something quite visibly seen when a rounded bulge would occasionally run along the length of that snake like tail and feed itself right up into Cell's main body. It was not a pleasant experience as it's strength was gradually being stolen from it.

*Glrrrrup!….Glurrrrup!...Glurrrup!*

The sounds his tail made, and it's sporadic motions as it bobbed up and down with each batch of genetic extract made Cell feel alive. It was like a drug for his first time, like he'd never eaten before up until today. And the poor Triceratops King had to listen to his predator letting out a shrewd moan every couple seconds as his body gradually shrank and shriveled up from this slow absorption process.

Eventually the King's struggles ceased, as did the noises coming from him as his body started deflating much like an air mattress with a hole through it, while at the same time that deflating body was also slowly being sucked into the tail.

It should have been horrific to see. Cell looked at the remains of what had been his greatest foe so far, and how nothing was left of them but their skin, as if they'd been pulled right on out of it. His stomach never felt so full…Even as he watched the great mass of scales being pulled into him like a straw sucking in the last dregs of a smoothie, the king was gone. And yet his belly had plumped up quite a bit, even gaining a bit of squish to it when he realized the effects the Triceratops king had on his body.

"oooogh…I'm so full now. Who'd have thought…even after having eaten him THAT way he'd still be so fattening…"

Cell grabbed at his stomach with his hands and gave it a playful shake as the contents within sloshed quite audibly. It would take awhile to fully process and absorb this one. That said…he could already feel the kings power coursing through him. "Long live the king…" He chuckled, finally letting his stomach free of his hand and giving it a brief pat. "You will contribute to the greatest predator this world will ever have. And you will help me bring my siblings to justice."

The only response he'd gotten back was a brief sloshing sound in his stomach followed by a low gurgling sound as his body worked to finish up the absorption of something that was once as large as a house.

Even as his attention was already elsewhere. He'd looked at his tail in a mesmerized state. Such an appendage turned such a massive beast, into the slush now sitting inside him. And he could taste it…! The king had a gammy taste like Alligator…He couldn't remember WHEN he'd eaten Alligator flesh before but it must have been in his old life…but it wasn't a bad taste.

He ran his tongue across his beak as he savored what was left of that taste while flexing his tail's stinger a bit…It took a few attempts, but he needed to learn how to expand his stinger into the bell shape he'd always known from the anime.

When he DID finally succeed, he looked horrified at first but then intrigued. He stared into the depths of his tail and noticed just how fleshy and pink it was on the inside. It was a tunnel that lead right on into the core of his being…And he realized just how grand his whole existence was…What Gero had actually succeeded in accomplishing despite his deranged mindset.

"You were a little crazy father…but maybe you had some of your screws tightened after all... I'll get your revenge don't you worry." He smirked, slowly closing the stinger back to it's needle pointed tip...Getting a SHWWWWIIIIP like sound from it before he started rubbing the slender appendage while gazing up at the clear blue sky. "At least…your revenge against 17 and 18."

Far as he was concerned, with Goku dead, and most of the fighters gone, there was no reason for him to go on Gero's crusade to kill them. His primary goal and design was to absorb his brother and sister, and achieve world domination. Well… He'd accomplish both those goals, but he'd leave humans largely out of this. They didn't need more problems piled on to the ones they already had in this dystopian world.

"No…I'll still dominate this world without having to terrorize humanity…So much work to do…And so much food to consume." Cell reached a hand at his stomach one last time and felt oddly satisfied about the weight within it. By his calculations, Trunks was already a Super Saiyan and had suffered the loss of Gohan. He still had time to fix some things. If he focused on consuming the world's strongest predators then he'd be just in time to keep Trunks from ever having to use the time machine.

"My Glorious Imperfect life begins now." He muttered, licking his lips idly before finally putting his wings to good use and flying out and away from these mountains. It was time to find his next meal.

(To be continued)