The plan succeeded where it mattered. The Android's weren't a threat to humanity anymore and somewhere in his core Cell KNEW that he probably would not have succeeded quite so fast if not for the help of Bulma. Unfortunately…now he had to make good on his word for her part of the deal.

Should he lay claim over the androids, he offered Bulma the opportunity to study his body for nothing more than her own curiosity. He doubted anything would come out of such an inspection but her enthusiasm had somehow instilled a weary feeling in him that he'd only experienced once before...And this time he wouldn't be being swallowed up by an angry kaiju who'd been disturbed from his nap.

As was agreed upon, Cell was laying or rather…He was strapped to a large steel table in the middle of a room that was very familiar to his old human self. It was the same room that Android 16 had been checked over and studied by Bulma and Dr. Brief himself. Where was he now…? Judging by Trunks's age of 18…no 19 or 20 actually due to the effects of the Hyperbolic time chamber there was a good chance the good doctor was no longer present in this era.

Trunks did not trust him. They both knew it would be easy work for him to break out of the restraints that kept him to the table and nothing could prevent him from just absorbing the woman working tirelessly on her monitor as she checked the latest X-ray scans she'd done to his person. The only thing keeping Cell where he was right now was his saiyan sense of honor and his dorky side wanting to get closer to the two he knew were so crucial to the Dragon ball history he knew of.

Even as he sat there immobile, his tail flicked from left to right like a dog that was wagging it's tail. It would have been humorous if that stinger wasn't so dangerous. So capable of sucking anyone dry should they find themselves pierced by it's sharp pointed edge.

This didn't stop Bulma however from getting a closer look. She waited for a moment in which the tail was not in motion and promptly grabbed the base of the funneled appendage and inspected the tip. "So this is what you used to absorb the androids…It can expand so you can consume them whole right?"

"You watched the fight from the cities cameras right…?" Cell called it a fight but really it was simply a game of cat and mouse. He'd made the androids feel the same fear they'd put the humans through for the last 18-19 years. Oh what his father did was unforgivable...But at the same time his father gave him all the necessary tools to make things right again. He was a counterweight to their sins as far as he was concerned.

"Yes I did. And I made a full detailed X-ray scan of your body so I could get a better idea of how your body works that way." Bulma slowly shied away, careful of the tail's snake like motions and moved to Cell's head so she was looking him eye to eye while she spoke. "For the most part you're all organic. I can't even see a speck of metal in you so how are you an android as you claim?"

That was a good question even for someone not as bright as her. To be frank even HE wasn't sure of his classification in that field either. What made him an android? "I was created by Doctor Gero to be the ultimate life form on this planet, using cells cultivated from the strongest beings here. He labored on this ever since the days of the red ribbon."

"But he was working on the other androids back then wasn't he? Building them for his revenge against Goku." Bulma counter argued, trying to find a reason behind why Gero would even consider building a third.

"He chanced upon those two. They used to be human just like you and your son." Cell occasionally caught a glimpse of the half Saiyan boy Trunks peering at him from the left side of the lab exit. "My father did the unthinkable and kidnapped them, altered their bodies so that they were just a shell of what they once were. They were half human, Half machine by that point. I was created in a different way."

"My guess is my father knew in some way that they were unruly. And he disliked relying on other people to do his dirty work so he spent the remainder of his life working on me. Taking information from the strongest warriors in the universe to fuel my strength. Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Tien and Frieza are the most prominent cells that dominate my being. Though I'm sure if you probed further you'd find many others."

It never occurred to Cell until he'd listed out each of their names that he realized that they were truly gone in this world. Their existence now completely contained within the confines of his body. In a way it felt as though now they were living THROUGH him, though the idea of sharing a body with Vegeta in particular got the bio android shivering on the table just for a moment.

"Is something the matter?" Bulma took notice of that gesture and wondered if maybe the table was getting a little too cold for him.

"Just a passing thought…Nothing to worry about my dear." Cell rasped with a calm voice. "But are we through? There are a few loose ends that still need to be tied up."

"Almost…" Bulma was already beginning to loosen the restraints on Cell's body, not needing to hold him there any more. "You told my son you'd like his help for problems that were going to arise in the future. By your accounts you're definitely different from the OTHER androids but do you come from a future even further than ours"

"Oh nothing quite so complicated I assure you." Cell let out a bit of a laugh when she surmised he might have come from the future. Though…it was as good a guess as any might make. "Let's just say I came into this world with certain knowledge of the events that will happen. For now all I can ask is that like the rest of the humans in this settlement that you trust me. I will do my best to allow humanity to grow and flourish again."

It was such an odd turn of fate. Like all of humanity Bulma did have a distaste for the androids, maybe not quite as strongly as her son, but here an android had saved them and was trying to protect them. For a moment she thought Goku was laying there in front of her but shook it off remembering how he had gone long before the androids even arrived.

"I'll trust you…but only because you saved our hides. And now we have a working barrier that should keep other people from causing trouble like they did."

"Just don't put an overreliance on technology my dear." Cell was slipping off the table and stretching his legs even as he said that, loosening his muscles after they'd been left stiff for half a day on that table. "The Saiyans and Frieza's army relied too much on the scouter technology and they let themselves not only become complacent but allowed their enemies to outfox them."

With that he left Bulma to mull over the data he'd left in her care. She had a full copy of his bodies schematics. What made him tick. It should have scared him that she had such an intimate understanding of who he was but it was a risk he felt might make the humans open up to him more. At the very least they'll be reassured that he won't try to kill them later if they have a means to oppose him.

Still…he kept a few secrets to himself, and sucked up what information he DIDN'T want her super computer to possess right up into his tail when she wasn't looking. No need to make them TOO powerful…

As he stepped out of the lab he crossed Trunks' path. The half saiyan still had a great deal of distrust and Cell couldn't blame him. All he could do was hope the boy would not interfere with his plans and that they could find some sort of common ground with each other. At the very least keep them from killing each other.

"So what are you going to do now? You've absorbed both androids so are you going to destroy the world like them?"

The question was more a statement of fact which alarmed Cell. He carefully whipped around to look Trunks in the eye, mindful not to let his tail anywhere near the man. "I told you before. I'm not going to lay a hand on you humans. I don't plan to blow up the earth either if you're thinking that's a motive. I just want to protect your world. It's mine now too you know."

His raspy voice was somewhat condescending in the last statement but he wasn't lying. Since being reborn in this world…of which truthfully he was barely even a year old, he knew that whatever befell this planet would also be his fate too. He was strong, very strong…but not quite enough yet to change the course of this world positively.

"I am going back to my father's lab in the mountains. I doubt there will be anything left there of any use but he was a genius…If there are any Android's still there I plan to reprogram them…Make them less hostile towards humanity."

It wasn't an answer Trunks was especially happy to hear. The idea of ANY androids surviving Gero's lab going down seemed slight at best. Then again…Cell here survived because the old man had a knack of keeping secrets even to his strongest toys.

"Then I'm coming too. You may have my mother's blessing to go about as you please but I don't trust you." Trunks pushed ahead of Cell so as to get out of the building first. "If you do anything I find suspicious I'm taking you out."

'As if you could.' Was the first thought that came through Cell's head. Amusing that Trunks believed he had the power to overcome the imperfect Android. "Very well. I trust you know the way." He then followed behind the half saiyan with a slight smirk on his beak. Something told him it would be a long while till he gained the boy's trust.

Even so…Cell felt an odd sense of excitement running through him. First he met Bulma, who had the courage to grasp his tail where others would tread lightly and now he was meeting with Trunks. While he had little doubt he could overpower the Saiyan, he still found himself internally fanboying over the fact he was in close proximity of him. So much so he was glad Trunks took the lead so he wouldn't see the bio android's wagging tail. 'He slayed Frieza and King Cold effortlessly. I bet that was a sight to see in person! Oh if only I could have been there.'

His personal thoughts were put on hold however when he heard Trunks shouting for him to follow in the air. He needed to put his fan boyish perspectives in the back end of his thoughts for now…There was still much to be done if he was going to keep this world safe. Spreading his wings out, he pumped his legs once before jetting into the sky alongside one of his old heroes.

{I'll have to stop thinking this way. They're not celebrity figures anymore…I live in their world too, and I'm just as important.} He kept thinking this line of thought even when they were flying down wrecked highways with miles of wreckage…a testament to what his kind could do if they had misguided intentions.

One stretch of highway he thought he recognized. It was the same stretch of road that Vegeta had battled it out with Android 18. Not to mention where he was thoroughly outclassed along with the rest of the dragon team.

As if to confirm that theory, he even recognized some of the vehicles destroyed between their scuffle. "Man…He really didn't hold back his punches back then. Those poor people…"

Trunks, as the android quickly realized, was paying attention to where he was looking. Probably thinking the same things too. Yet Cell also knew one thing about Trunks' father that he did not…And that was how Vegeta would eventually learn how to soften his blows. From Saiyan prince to earth protector seven years after his other self was defeated at the hands of Gohan.

"Things really do come full circle." Cell let a light chuckle come out of his beak even as he said this. "I'm glad you could come. I doubt you'd trust me if I just went about on my own now would you?"

"What do YOU think?" The tone in Trunks' voice was a little rude and maybe even defiant as if he wanted to deny this version of Cell's good nature. "Let's…just get on with it. The lab was somewhere around here."

Yes…definitely more time…

Cell started searching amongst the valleys that lead up around the highway. "I was born here only a few months ago. We're on the right trail. This place used to be filled with plenty of dinosaurs." He idly put a claw against his belly as he said that. Inwardly…The dinosaurs still existed in some form, just as a part of himself.

"If you don't remember then follow me. The computer still has power and it calls to me." Cell announced even as his tail twitched in mild annoyance. Not from Trunks' outburst but rather from the frequency of the signal he was receiving. It was as though the super computer were trying to order him around…Or it was trying to rouse something awake.

Winding up the mountainside, the memory of his hatching became clear in his memory. That moment when he first drew breath in the world felt as though it were years ago but it only amounted to a few months at best, hardly even a year. Then again MOST people's years don't involve chasing down Dinosaurs, Kaiju's and killer Androids bent on human genocide. It's no wonder the peaceful days spent in the pod felt so distant.

"You are my ultimate creation." Gero's voice rang in Cell's head but at the same time his namekian enhanced hearing could pick up the repeating audio log that played on the moment of his release. He could even feel the subtle vibrations of the doctor's voice through the mountainside walls which shouldn't have been possibly given the thickness of it. He was indeed the ultimate perfect creation. Even if he remained in his Imperfect shell.

"Above." That was all he said before making a few select leaps over a few minor footholds with swift mobility until he found the wreckage of the good doctor's upper laboratory. The sight still haunted our hero who saw bits and pieces of destroyed pods and at one point he thought he'd even spotted a hand or a head but looked back and they were gone.

Trunks followed him in just half a second later and examined the wreckage for himself. His reaction to the carnage wasn't as impactful as Cell's but why would it? Trunks had a deep hatred for the Androids since their conception, he probably thought that this was nothing more than poetic justice. At least that's what Cell thought until the boy surprised him in his first words since leaving the city.

"So they really destroyed Android 16 didn't they…?"

That one question stunned the Bio android. Maybe Trunks' adventures in the past softened up his hardened exterior somewhat. For a moment Cell didn't know what to say even as he carefully walked through the wreckage of what could have been other sibling androids and stalked over toward one particular piece of hard metal with the label {16} slapped right onto it. "I haven't done a thorough search of this place even after I was born. In my Larval form it's difficult clearing debris. But from what I gathered from Gero's memories…It's unlikely he survived. I'm sure he would have been peaceful even in this world, which probably would have angered my siblings even more."

"Mhm." It was Trunks' only response to that information. He was still struggling with the idea that CELL was being helpful. He started picking apart debris, worried and even somewhat sick to his stomach thinking about what he might find at all through all of this. "Why…did you want to come back here? I know you said there's some technology my mother might be able to make use of but that can't be the only reason."

"So insightful." The android rumbled in amusement even as he started shifting rocks and debris and tossing them outside. He would clear them out later but right now as he cleaned out the lab he was grateful that he wasn't finding anything like a severed limb. A part of him wanted to think somehow they'd survived but knew on the inside it was just wishful thinking. "My father wasn't the kindest human by any standard. But even my kind need a home. And this is it…even if not for me."

"Your kind…?"

"Androids like me." Cell elaborated even as he started pulling debris off a few damaged consoles and gave them a brief tap just to see if they had any power to them at all before sighing in his defeat. "Android's 19 and 16 might be dead. But there were at least 21 models that the doctor had gone through the effort of creating. I want to turn this place into a positive place for them to think back on, instead of a place of oppression."

He could think of ONE that might actually be clear of this lab, away from Doctor Gero's ambitions but he didn't know if they were still alive. Up north in one of the snowy regions of this world. Unfortunately, his search ABOVE ground proved to be fruitless. None of the pods 1 through 20 could be found on the upper level which left him nearly sad until he realized.

{I was born in an underground bunker…I think those three might well be down there too.}

"Follow me." Cell let the soft *TSK TSK TSK* Sound of his footsteps fill the room even as he uncovered the underground lab's entrance, leading Trunks into it. "This time there won't be a larva waiting in a tank for you and Krillin to destroy…but you may yet still find something just as useful here." And hopefully something useful to himself as well.

As he paced down into the mountain's depths he came to appreciate just how thorough his father had been in creating his laboratory. The upper floor had been outright demolished with no chance in hell of anything surviving the explosions. The underground, hidden floor however was made of much more sturdier stuff. For one thing, Upon his exit the first time he had roughly broken down a huge pair of steel double doors that took quite a bit of rough housing for him to get loose, but upon inspection of the outer door's layer he noted that there were charred markings over it from 17's explosion yet somehow they did not yield.

Deeper still, the walls remained freshly in tact with the only damage to the basement that HE could see was the shattered glass of the tube he had been born out of in the middle of the underground lab. What fluid had spilled out had stained the floor around it. He noted the foot prints on one side and knew that was his first point of contact with the outside world…where he had been reborn.

"If you are receiving this message then it means I have not lived to see your completion. Your name…Is Cell! You are my ultimate achievement and most remarkable creation." It was the same audio playback Cell'd heard when he first awoke in this world. The playback that set him on this track in life.

And now Trunk was listening to it as well. A message he had not heard back in the past, something that must have been triggered by the Bio Android's surfacing from the pod. Hearing the mad doctor's voice gave the boy chills. Like he was hearing the voice of a dead man…WAS hearing the voice of a dead man.

"So…Do you plan to follow that ambition?" Trunks gave Cell an accusatory look, feeling as though the voice itself was proof enough to distrust this current Cell. "You exist to rule this world and wreak havoc on his enemies. US. Did you bring me here to silence me?"

That last bit got Cell's eyes rolling. This was starting to get repetitive. "Some aspects are true. I have an appetite that really can't be curbed. So I devour the apex creatures of this world. THEY are my prey, not you. But if you get in my way I can't say it wouldn't be tempting." He half joked even as he looked around and started approaching the super computer, circling around it as he felt along it's surface.

"My father's enemies are dead. Goku is gone, as is your father, but his vendetta was against Goku himself. Why should I care to chase after a ghost I'd never be able to defeat anymore?" It was then that Cell lifted up his tail and stabbed it into the computer's core. He didn't do this to destroy the machine but rather to integrate directly within it, to take it's knowledge for himself. "I can live as I wish because I choose to interpret my father's wishes differently. THAT is why I protect humans…I will rule them with a more gentle approach."

"Rule them…?! You…!"

"Silence." Cell lifted a finger to shush the boy and closed his eyes. "Wait…this cannot be…I swear that I saw it…"

"What? What did you see?"

Cell's face contorted just for a moment, a grumble in his voice. "The computer…It has a connection with the remaining androids in a functional state…" His eyes shot open as if he were now staring at a ghost. "16! He's alive…!"