A/N: Another night, another chapter, and this is a big one for plot development. I feel kind of bad for the Outer Senshi; because they hold the keys for the Holy Grail, I feel like they always end up in the same circumstances regardless of Canon or fanfic. They are fated to die so that the Holy Grail can be formed from their artifacts, really sad.
As regards Souichi, I wanted to include a bit at the beginning to start exploring his own internal motivations and how they differ from Mistress 9.
I had a ton of fun writing the Cell section. I always feel like I can get in the zone whenever I'm writing an evil character, and Cell's arrogance is just a blast to put on paper.
A final note: I am not a lore expert on Sailor Moon by any means. I have never seen the complete 90's series or Crystal, but I have tried to keep the personalities and characterizations of everyone as faithful as possible, with a bit of added angst. If you do notice any Lore discrepancies, please let me know in the reviews and I will try to correct them.
Please Enjoy!
Sailor Uranus, Haruka Tenou, had been defeated. She was bloody and broken, the signs of her injuries still fresh upon her body, small driblet of blood leaking from her skin as the two Daimons around her strapped her to the operating room table. From across the way, she could make out the figure of a man, darkened and veiled in shadow, save for the flash of his glasses and his insane smile.
"Sailor Uranus, how kind of you to join us. I admit, you did give us quite a bit of trouble, we should have expected no less from an outer senshi."
His voice was calm, analytical, just a tag mocking. He approached her in easy steps, his polished shoes clacking against the cold floor. Behind him, Haruka could see the Daimon Oven cooking, humming with power, various wires, cords, and leads connecting the infernal magical device to only the moon knew what other things in this room.
"You won't break me."
Haruka said boldly, and it was true. Even though she had been defeated, she felt no fear. If this was her time, then she would lay down her life for his princess, a pretty soldier who was true to her purpose until the end.
The doctor seemed to laugh at that, Souichi taking pleasant amusement in her defiance.
"Now, now, that won't at all be necessary. I have no intention of torturing you, I'm simply going to take what I need and be done with it."
Souichi motioned towards one of the Daimons and the feminine-shaped creature hit a switch. Above the operating room table a device began to descent and Haruka instantly knew what it was, had seen it before: a Heart Snatcher Device.
The muzzle of the object, shaped almost like a long gun, pointed directly at her chest and with a laugh Souichi activated the device. Instantly Haruka felt pain, felt it blossom through her body like a fiery flower, unbearable in its intensity, though it lasted only a few seconds. Within moments, her Pure Heart Crystal emerged, morphed shape as Souichi took it in his hands, the Crystal emerging as the first of the three talismans required: the Space Sword.
Souichi held the object in his hands for a few moments, felt its weight and perfect balance. He really should hand this over to Mistress 9, after all, this is what they were after, what they needed to bring about the birth of Pharaoh 90 into this realm; but Souichi had other plans.
Without warning he drew a weapon from his side, an object shaped like a blaster, and aimed it at the two Daimons that had been assisting him, each in turn. Their termination was swift, both exploding in a burst of dark energy as he killed them, left no witnesses. Mistress 9 thought he was a loyal lap dog, well, that simply wasn't the case. He was out for his own ends, and now he had the first of what he needed, the first piece of the Holy Grail.
Imperfect Cell stood over the body of Sailor Pluto, huffing with exhaustion, green blood oozing from various cuts along his body. He had struggled; he didn't want to admit it, but he had. This imperfect body, it wasn't allowing him to reach his full potential, but that would all change very soon.
The area in which they stood was pure white, seemed to extend an infinity of distance in every direction, all save directly in front of him, where lay the door.
Setsuna struggled where she lay on the ground, reaching out with one hand, as though she could stop him with mere thought.
"Don't."
She said, struggling with the effort, her deep eyes burning with a violent resolve, yet, it was already over. Cell drew himself up to his full height, sensuous tail swishing back and forth before finally rising up menacingly.
"You gave me a good fight, but now it's over. I'll take your energy, and with it, your life."
The needle-like point of Cell's tail impacted Setsuna's chest in the next instant, impaling her heart. Cell wasted no time in extracting her energy, sucking her body dry as the Sailor Senshi faded away, yet, something curious happened. As Setsuna's body shattered into light, leaving behind no trace of her, yet something remained. A Pure Heart Crystal, one that contained a talisman of the Grail, the Garnet Orb.
"Now what is this?"
Cell said with obvious amusement, reaching out to take the artifact. He could sense the immense power within it, the strength that seemed to course through his veins as he touched it.
"Yes, what an interesting little trinket you were hiding, I think I'll take it."
He said with a laugh. After this, Cell turned his attention to the Door of Space and Time. He had defeated the door's guardian, Sailor Pluto, and freely stole her keys. Lifting one to the door, he fitted it's head into the lock and gave a turn. There was a soft, perhaps anti-climactic 'click', and the door swung open as Cell was embraced by a shining, radiant light.
Gohan and Rini leaned on one another as they recovered, out of breath, but alive. All around them the Lookout was absolutely decimated, holes in the floor left where massive vines had once moved, entire buildings and sections of the once perfect near-paradise completely destroyed. From the central building, Dende, Krillin, Bulma, and Popo approached warily, though they were beginning to sense the danger had passed.
"So that was one of the Witches 5?" Gohan clarified, finally managing to stand, and Rini gave a solemn nod at his side.
"Yes, they are beings of extreme strength sent from the Tau Nebula. They want to gather Pure Heart Crystals, to bring about the birth of their leader, their god." The last word was bitter on Rini's tongue; she hated how there seemed to be so many so called gods running around now, as if self-proclaimed titles made them as such. Just as she was about to let out sigh of relief, release breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding, the situation changed again.
When to the Hyperbolic Time Chamber opened, everyone felt it. It was like a boulder had just been dropped into the calm surface of a pond, it's very presence creating ripples, shockwaves that radiated out from its point of origin.
Gohan knew the source, as did everyone save Rini, knew what had just walked through that door.
Gohan was in stunned silence, Rini gazing at him expectedly, as those familiar, eery sounds echoed out across the Lookout; 'Tsch', 'Tsch', 'Tsch'.
Fresh horror blossomed on Rini's face, terror gripping her heart, she knew the being to whom those footsteps belonged. Her heart felt as though it were being ripped open, a wound which had so recently begun to heal was now unraveling, the trauma almost to much. At her side, Gohan experienced a similar sensation. Memories flashed through his mind: the death of Android 16, the way the monster's foot had mercilessly crushed the life out of the person Gohan had come to call his friend, the battle against the Cell Jrs., the bodies of his fellow friends and warriors in broken heaps along the rocky ground.
They remained rooted there, stunned, unable to move, as Cell finally revealed himself, rising up along the walkway, exiting through the central room.
"Gohan, we meet at last."
Even in his imperfect form, Gohan could read the monster's massive ki signature. It was unbelievable; this cell, this imperfect form, was stronger than the Cell he'd defeated in his own timeline, much, much stronger. Multiple thousands of years and the lives of an entire planet had ballooned his strength in unfathomable ways; it was a chilling realization for all, that this creature was the host for the souls of an entire planet, a planet that he had picked clean of life, left a barren wasteland.
Rini couldn't hold herself back anymore. The memories, the trauma, the horror, it overwhelmed her in a flood of emotion and in a burst she let out a scream, tears streaming down her face.
This villain had killed just about everyone she'd ever known, had destroyed her home, her original timeline, had eliminated every person who had lived on that planet Earth. Rini collapsed to her knees as Cell began to laugh, but that wasn't the end, there was still more up his sleeve.
"Trunks may had destroyed the Androids from the future, but now, I don't even need them. I've found something better, stronger, even more powerful."
Cell seemed to gloat as his hand opened, revealing a shocking revelation to everyone. He had it, had one of them, an Imperium Silver Crystal. Rini knew exactly where it had come from, from the body of her dead mother, the Neo-Queen Serenity of the future. And if her mother was dead, that meant King Endymion had died too, no doubt at his wife's side, defending her to his last breath.
Cell absorbed the shining crystal into his body and his transformation began, the unbelievable magical energy of the crystal causing his form to warp, to shift and change. Cell's Ki flared, and it felt as if the Earth were shaking apart, as if reality itself were tearing at the seems. The monster screamed, golden light exploding across the lookout, blinding everyone; Rini and Gohan lifted their hands to shield their eyes, then, it was over.
As they lowered their hands they could see him, see his incredible power. Cell had changed, had evolved by the power of the Imperium Silver Crystal, had reached his Semi-Perfect form.
"Yes, YES, YESSS!!!"
His voice boomed, muscles tensing, body flexing, it's bulked out exterior rippling with energy, his aura massive, encompassing nearly the entirety of the space between them.
"I can feel it, perfection looms ever closer, ever nearer."
His bloodshot eyes turned to Rini and the girl froze.
"I can sense it, you have it don't you? Another Crystal. Hand it over, now, quickly, I must reach my perfect form, I must be complete!"
Rini could feel her heart screaming at her to run, to flee, to depart from this place and never look back, to avoid this horror, to repress those memories, but she refused. She rose to her feet, took a defiant stance, her Pink Moon Rod held directly in front of her.
"Monster."
She spat, and although she was overcome with absolute terror, she refused to back down.
"I will never hand over the Crystal, I will never allow you to win. We are going to destroy you, to save the Earth and this timeline, that is our destiny. If you want my Silver Crystal so badly, you're just going to have to come and take it."
She channeled all the haughtiness she had, all her fake confidence and waning strength. She wouldn't give in no matter what; as long as she had Gohan by her side, they would win!
Cell cackled at her response, his amusement plainly evident, though that didn't stop him from moving forward with the plan.
"If you won't hand over the Crystal, then I'll just pick it off your corpse"
They were out of time, out of options. Gohan knew he couldn't match Cell, not after the fight with Tellu, not after Cell had grown so strong in the future timeline. The creature extended it's arms to either side, green energy forming in a sphere near it's chest.
"We have to go."
Gohan said, but Rini looked determined, resolute, unwilling to leave. The Green sphere began to expand slowly, annihilating everything it touched, the Lookout fading brick by brick, atom by atom, as time slowed and reality seemed to bend around the wave, twisted by the sheer power that Cell wielded.
"Rini, now!"
He snapped her out of it and in the next moment those red eyes were looking at him, pleading, but when she saw Gohan's expression, she knew he was right. The entire group gathered around Rini and in a moment she felt her Silver Crystal shine, it's magics activated, a light surrounding them. One instant they were at the lookout, and the next, they were gone; she teleported them away. The last thing they heard was Cell's laughter, their last sight, the Lookout being totally annihilated, erased from existence.