Cell's squeaky steps closed in on Vegeta as the shaken Saiyan seethed at his defeat. From the looks of it, even if Meta-Cell were to step on Vegeta's head and obliterate the Saiyan while crushing him into the dirt, Vegeta would hardly mind, since his mind was already elsewhere. However, instead of finishing Vegeta off, the metallic transcendental being wrapped its tail around Vegeta's throat and lifted him up.
The pain and the alert to being strangled brought Vegeta back to reality. The Saiyan began to kick and grunt in pain, beaming mean stares at Cell as if he could defeat the newly ascended apex predator by merely staring him to death. In response, Cell smiled and moved his hand up. Vegeta's stare blanked out, and he gasped, fully resigning himself to his fate. However, neither the pain of being disposed of nor the liberty of his killer met Vegeta in the next blink of his awareness.
Instead, it was a bright flux of cerulean energy cubes washing over him and swallowing Meta-Cell and Vegeta. Before he even realized that this peculiar phenomenon wasn't hurting him, Vegeta thrashed around, as if trying to put a block up that would protect him against this energy rift. Before he knew it, Vegeta felt the fresh whiff of Earth's air and saw Meta-Cell standing on emerald grass fields with majestic snowy mountains looming on the horizon.
"E-Earth…!?" Vegeta gasped before Meta-Cell's tail slipped off his throat and released the King of Saiyans to slump down on the ground, coughing for air on his knees.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Vegeta, did you expect me to kill you?" Meta-Cell mocked his kneeling and wheezing opponent with a joking remark before laughing up to itself. "No. That was the old, cowardly Cell. The Cell who was prey, hiding and sneaking around, only hunting that which it dared to strike at and always looking behind its back, always scheming. That miserable slime was a weakling vulture, I, on the other hand, am the apex predator. I needn't fear anyone."
"You dumbass!" Vegeta scoffed, wiping the traces of blood off his lip while giving Cell a defiant sneer. "With you coming down to Earth, everyone can sense your energy and it'll take no time before…"
A snap interrupted Vegeta's warning. Son Goku, surrounded by the entirety of the surviving Dragon Team, now stood around Vegeta like a wall, staring at Meta-Cell as the transcendental predator stared back at its playthings.
"What is this…?" Ultimate No. 16 asked, looking baffled by the readings that his system was reporting. "You should be Cell, but… My self-defense system, which was programmed to forsake all other functions for the sake of reducing you to ash isn't triggering."
"Oh, Big Brother, look at you…" Meta-Cell cracked a light cackle while covering its sneering mouth with its index finger. "Gobbled up Artificial Human No. 8 to become an Ultimate Class Artificial Human. Isn't that just the cutest thing?"
"So, you're Cell?" Goku asked after giving Vegeta a reassuring glare and a thumb up, to which Vegeta only sneered and turned away in disgust. "You look nothing like your kids from back when."
"Their genetics are as inferior compared to mine as a handful of sand is compared to yours," Meta-Cell scoffed, crossing its arms. "I am pleased to finally meet you eye-to-eye though, Son Goku…"
A rumbling roar made Cell's eyes widen. Before a hysterical Saiyan could drive a flying haymaker into the jaw of the universe's most perfectly ultimate creature, Meta-Cell became intangible, causing Chayote in her Wrathful State to phase clean through the creature and skid on the other side while snarling at Cell.
"Hmph…" Meta-Cell scoffed at the pitiful level of challenge. The rest of the Dragon Team looked aghast that Chayote would attack the creature so openly and bring war to Earth, while it may have been entirely avoidable. "I thought perhaps we could talk a little, though it might be troublesome with this one rampaging around…"
Meta-Cell extended its arm toward Chayote and beamed a radiant glow of emerald light that surrounded Chayote and seemingly drained her of her bulk, reducing the Wrathful Saiyan to a suppressed and slender base form. When Chayote appeared to be back to a state that seemed more sociable, Meta-Cell sighed in relief. Even it wasn't fully sure if Dr. Puri's countermeasures against Chayote would work after all this time.
"Talk? You want to talk…?" Bardock hissed, stepping out from his son's side while shaking a wrathful fist in Cell's direction. "Back when you attacked me and Launch you seemed a lot more murdery, what made you so gracious all of a sudden? It wouldn't be the sight of everyone standing right in front of you, ready to break your back just for the fun of it, would it?"
"Hah!" Meta-Cell cracked a grin before devolving into a senseless peal of laughter, going as far as to stroke a single tear from its eye. "Please, Bardock. No more of your comedy. It's simply too much to handle! Why don't you ask Vegeta how confident he feels about all of you beating me right now? Heck, one of you must be carrying Senzu, right? Why don't you give Vegeta one, bolster your odds some more?"
Piccolo turned to Vegeta while Krillin pulled out a Senzu and handed it to the proud Saiyan. Vegeta turned away from it, standing up with his own strength and scoffing through bloody teeth. "Forget about it!" Vegeta barked out. "Even if all of us went all out against Cell right now, we'd all die before leaving a scratch. It's hopeless. Cell's truly become invincible."
Goku, Piccolo, Krillin, and Yamcha gasped audibly. The intense focus in their eyes from just a few seconds ago was now noticeably absent as their stares turned blank and dull from the shock of hearing Vegeta, of all people, admit his inferiority and all but kneel before someone else and their battle prowess. Even with all the warriors they've met: The Ginyu Special Squadron, Frieza, Cooler, the Artificial Humans, Broly, even Baby… No matter the odds, Vegeta always believed in some kind of way to overcome the enemy. This man amongst them looked… Broken.
"Is Vegeta out of his mind!?" Yamcha leaned back, shaking.
"No way he just said that! Not Vegeta!" Krillin gasped with a wavering tone and a long, terrified expression.
"Hmph… You were indeed an arrogant piece of garbage," Chayote tucked her chin in uncomfortable admission. "But your arrogance could also serve as your most endearing feature. In some ways, you believed in victory even more than Kakarot did sometimes, even though both of you did so because of your inherent flaws. For Kakarot, it was his cluelessness, for you–it was your absolute refusal to admit your shortcomings."
"So, do you still want to fight?" Meta-Cell leaned its head back at an unnatural angle, showing no limit to how malleable its limbs and even its neck could be. "If so, come at me all at once, I'd love to stretch some more!"
"No!" Goku exclaimed, surprising everyone, who almost lashed out and rushed at Meta-Cell out of fear. "We can't beat this guy. Not now!"
"Pity," Meta-Cell sighed with a delightful shrug of its shoulders. "Oh well, this will only make me more excited about when I get to devour all of you at long last."
"Why not do it now, then?" Piccolo hissed at Meta-Cell. "If you bugger off, we'll only become much stronger. You're risking defeat. Everything you've worked for, all those schemes, spanning multiple timelines, all of your victims and sacrifices, the future of your master race of perfect creatures, all of it is in peril if you leave us be."
"After transcending all physical and metaphysical limitations, I found fear to be an obsolete hindrance. The reason I leave you be is the same reason a wolf doesn't butcher all the sheep. It's the same reason I didn't kill Vegeta–I simply wasn't hungry," Meta-Cell laughed out. "Besides, Vegeta showed me a good time. We've almost become buddies, I feel like. If I need to refuel my cells, I can devour much inferior cattle."
"Alright, thanks for giving us a shot!" Goku clapped his hands and bowed with gratitude, smiling from one ear to the other. "The thought of training to overcome someone like you makes me shiver! It's both good and bad shivers. Let's fight sometime soon, Cell!"
"Right back at you, Son Goku. You are my most delectable prey, I look forward to breaking you over and over again until I see no further use of you," Meta-Cell smirked. Just as the space behind the transcendental predator began to shuffle and gleam, Gohan looked up at Cell in the eyes, surprising the apex predator with the calm in the teen's eyes.
"Cell-san, if you want to fight my father, that's okay. My father loves fighting, and I do too. We'll welcome your challenge, but I must warn you. I've discovered incredible new power inside me, and if you cause any further trouble to Earth or anyone in the universe, I will destroy you," Gohan said without blinking.
Even Cell seemed slightly taken aback by this threat and how confidently Gohan said it to his superior, the matchless, perfect apex of all living and otherwise things. There was no doubt in Meta-Cell's mind when he looked into young Gohan's eyes–the boy believed every word he said. What was even more chilling was that Gohan wasn't the type for vague or baseless threats.
"Fufufufu!" Meta-Cell let out a demented giggle, feeling whatever passed for blood in its system boil in excitement. If Gohan thought he could kill even one such as Meta-Cell, Cell wanted him to give his best shot, purely out of scientific curiosity if such a thing was even possible. "I can hardly wait."
"Don't get too excited," Super No. One-Nine walked up to Meta-Cell, measuring half the metallic creature's size as she looked up and pouted her cerulean-dyed lips. "The ones to kill you for what you did to our mother will be us."
"Don't get any wrong ideas," Chayote joined in on the threats to Meta-Cell's life. "I would destroy you here and now for all the trouble you've caused us. But, now that I've cooled off, I have to admit that fighting you here, on Earth, would cause too much harm. I want to rip you to pieces in some remote, uninhabited corner of the universe, so make sure to find a suitable place for your grave. One you're happy dropping dead in, freak."
"Just as much as I'm looking forward to fighting Son Goku, I'm looking forward to the challenge of dealing with you without causing this universe to end," Meta-Cell sighed. "Even if you manage to put up more of a fight, I'm not much of a fan of your caveman-like roughhousing style, so please stay quiet for now and wait your turn."
Just as Meta-Cell's portal opened, and the transcendental existence took a step back to walk through the rift and vanish again, Piccolo called out to it. "Wait! What about the Ultimate Dragon Balls? You took them, didn't you? Surely you want the final one for your wish?"
"Come, now, Piccolo," Meta-Cell smiled. "Look at me and ask yourself, what could a creature as perfect as this possibly want? No. I couldn't care less about the Dragon Ball Tenshinhan sacrificed his life for. Have it. Just sit tight and wait for my word. I'll arrange for a magnificent event to fight our differences out. In the same way, I'll give you the chance to save your planet by bringing the Dragon Balls together."
"So the Ultimate Dragon Balls were just bait to get us to dance to the beat of your drums?" Lazuli gnashed her teeth in disdain for the apex predator who was about to walk away after causing everyone so much pain and trouble and holding the whole Earth hostage by capturing six Ultimate Dragon Balls, preventing them from being reunited on Earth.
"That's right, Big Sis," Meta-Cell flashed a cocky grin. "And, if you want to save your precious families and live as good, submissive little cattle, dance to my tune you will."
Just like that, Meta-Cell stepped through the rift of its own creation and vanished without a trace, almost like it's never been here in the first place. The only trace of Meta-Cell's transcendental existence was the impact that the creature had on the lives of everyone present. Cell's departure caused the atmosphere to become dense and chill, laying onto everyone's shoulders and backs like an iron curtain. It was only when Meta-Cell vanished that everyone felt the tremendous weight of having to deal with that creature.
"We let him go…!" Chayote clenched her fists, rearing her teeth and hunching over, as if she was about to explode and wreak havoc. One heartbeat later, she closed her eyes, sighed, and straightened herself back up, stuffing her hands inside her pockets. The rest of the Dragon Team sighed in relief.
"Son, do you really think that, if we were to fight, Cell would win?" Piccolo turned to Goku with his mouth slightly ajar. It wasn't like them to just let enemies leave after they were cornered like this. A sign of weakness on the part of them as Earth's defenders could have meant that their planet truly was doomed.
"Who knows?" Goku snickered, brushing the back of his head. "I just kind of felt like fighting him here and now would be wrong, you know?"
"You two know nothing!" Vegeta lashed out at the pair, limping up between Goku and Piccolo and forcing himself in between them. "You haven't fought Cell like I did. Tsk… I haven't even fought him either. I can't even find the words to explain what happened, it's like I tried to kill him with all my strength while he was just amusing himself!"
"Shut up," Chayote turned around and looked up at the sky. "I can't even stand to look at you anymore. I've never liked you, could hardly stomach being around you, and I only let you fight in my vicinity out of necessity to protect my home and my son. I once used to think if you at least once acknowledged the horrible person you are, that maybe things could be different, but… Now that you hate yourself, I think I hate you even more. I'm almost glad Cell broke you. Now you'll stay home and out of my way when Cell officially issues his challenge for the Dragon Balls."
"That's mean, Chayote," Goku said at Chayote's back. There was no edge to his voice, he didn't demand that Chayote apologize for her attitude toward the Saiyan King. It was like Goku was utterly incapable of subtext and only acknowledged that which was directly in front of him. "We'll get Cell. We'll beat him when Cell's ready to fight. You heard him, he's not gonna let the Earth explode unless we fail his challenge. He's giving us time to train. It's not much, but we'd be fools not to take it."
"What's the point?" Chayote turned back, scanning the troubled party that looked distraught over the narrow schism in the group. "The Room of Spirit and Time is in shambles. We won't satisfy a half-full stomach by licking the plate clean."
"The Room of Spirit and Time is destroyed?" Vegeta gasped. "Then how do you intend to…?"
"We'll work something out!" Goku laughed out, leaning his head back with carefree abandon. "Let's just go to God's Temple, lick our wounds, and figure things out."
A rift spilled open a pool of ethereal energy cubes, letting Meta-Cell pass through it into cold and open space. The apex predator looked around, finding the nearest planet to it and raising its hand. Time-space bent and twisted like a whirlpool from an intense flux of gravity. It was as if Cell punched a hole into the dinner table without ripping through the tablecloth and then pulled it from below to pull the plate on the other side of the table closer to the transcendental creature.
In awe of its own power, Meta-Cell raised its arms over the planet, like a self-indulgent deity that decided to govern over its domain. The planet's atmosphere began to twist, swell, and hiss, turning bright red as the lush, inhospitable world burnt to a charred crisp. With a smile and an artistic spark, Meta-Cell pointed its fingers toward the red-hot planetoid and sliced it to pieces with the psychokinetic stroke of its hand. Like a perfect fusion between a butcher and a virtuoso.
Once the planet was cooked and sliced, Meta-Cell began seeing what magnificent things it could do to the world he chose as one of its arenas for the spectacular game of scavenger hunt the predator was going to put its amusing prey through. Meta-Cell had no doubt in its mind that the entertainment from Planet Earth wanted nothing more than to save their planet and it was in Cell's best interest to give them that chance. After all, they were willing to fight their hardest for it and Meta-Cell wanted nothing more than that.
This was the first time that Meta-Cell partook in such a role. A builder, an engineer. More so, a progenitor of the superior race that would soon enough govern the universe and prey upon the weak as they saw fit. At long last, Meta-Cell was completely free. Meeting everyone it once feared and cowered away from on Earth and walking away was a living proof of that. Sparing Vegeta was worth that feeling a hundred times over. Though perhaps Cell went a bit too far on how much it broke the poor Saiyan royalty.
After all, a prey that didn't fight back and had not even the faintest ambition to overcome its predator was just a boring rodent that's no good for entertainment. Prey was good for two things: entertainment and sustenance and if it wasn't one–it was the other. Meta-Cell went to work on its first sculpted world, hoping that Vegeta would find a way to get his groove back before Cell was finished with its homework.
So much excitement boiled inside Meta-Cell's chest. This game will be so much fun that the transcendental one could hardly wait. However, just this once, work had to come before play. After all, if Cell does this right, these worlds will host battles beyond Cell's wildest dreams. Meta-Cell's only regret was that, given its infinite life, these glorious Cell Games would only last a blink on the grand, cosmic scale.
Oh well, it's not like Cell can't repeat it all. Once more proud and powerful prey ripen into teeth-baring warriors. Now was the time. Now was Cell's time! Cell suffered so much for so long, lived without a hint of humanity or mercy, with not a single drop of hope for anything better spared. Now Meta-Cell was free at long last! That pathetic poacher was right–being the apex predator at the top of the food chain was the only true way to experience freedom.
Meta-Cell couldn't stop huffing the sweet oxygen of its first crafted world. Now was the time to truly be alive. The makeshift, needle-thin pores in Cell's metallic carapace pumped the gas that would become this planet's atmosphere. The universe was awful at its job. As the transcendental creature surpassing such trivial concepts as existence and non-existence, time-space, energy, and entropy, Meta-Cell truly felt like it could do a much better job. Perhaps it will, one planet at a time.
The gods, if there were any, were rolling dice en masse like imbeciles. Meta-Cell was showing sublime mastership in their job. It would take an eternity to change this infinite and ever-expanding universe one planet at a time into something fitting for Cell Jrs to live in. But, as an eternal and invincible being, Meta-Cell had nothing but time.