Bringer of Death

Cell Saga - Part 3: Ashes of Hope

Cell Saga - Part 3: Ashes of Hope 

In the wreckage of a ruined city, where sleek, beautiful buildings had been reduced to rubble only hours before, something incredibly terrifying was taking place. Damaged steel beams were everywhere, some sticking out of the ground, others bent every which way, and some simply shattered into tiny shards. The androids and the Super Saiyans had torn through tempered steel like tissue paper. 

A constant rain of explosions-even ones these warriors had emerged from unharmed-had lit the very ground aflame. Metal had melted and boiled in the intense heat; water pipes had flashed to steam and exploded. A pallor of gas and white smoke hung low over the debris as fires continued to rage on. Even the air was moist and hot. 

But suddenly, all of it began to shift once again. In terrifying concert, thick rusty beams and entire sections of concrete rose into the air, shaking as if the very earth trembled in fear. Their weight was nothing; they rose together...ten, twenty, thirty feet into the air. Everything imaginable was lifted, from smashed dumpsters and busted refrigerators down to the circular concrete sewer tubes underground. The whole city was coming apart once again. 

At the epicenter, a deep throaty growl sounded, long and unflinching. Gradually, it began to sound more humanoid, yet it maintained its deepness. The creature known as Cell was changing. His body, formerly monstrous and insectoid, began to glow with a white light. The very outline of his flesh was lit with unapproachable brightness. 

The wreckage now hanging in midair began to slowly swirl, circling him. His influence seemed to have no bounds, as trees over a mile away were ripped from their comfortable soil and jerked into the air. Clouds above began to spin around him like the eye of a hurricane, and rivers many miles away shifted their flow upstream. What kind of incredible power was this? 

"HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The groaning continued, a chilling howl echoing for miles. 

Cell's green wings began to shrink back into his body, disappearing into the armor plates on his back. Accompanying his scream came the grotesque gurgle of new muscles, organs, and tissue bursting into place. Cell screamed even louder, his purple beak stretching bizarrely. To those watching, it seemed the pain of transformation could be compared to trying to birth a full-grown man. 

Several brave warriors, protectors of the earth, observed all these events in stunned silence. The creature they had thought to be Goku mere hours ago was transforming into an even worse monster, the most powerful they could have ever imagined. Each Z fighter covered his eyes, struggling with their energy to resist the pull of Cell's aura, still swirling around him. His power...somehow it continued to rise above all expectations. 

"How is his power still increasing?" the Namekian named Piccolo shouted. "The android's power didn't just increase Cell's-it's like Cell's getting ALL of it!" 

Krillin and Yamcha, the two weakest of the group, shut their eyes tightly, barely able to hold their front-row position. Yamcha was the first to lose control, as he was whisked off sideways into the whirling vortex of city garbage and chunks of buildings. But he was in no danger, as he was able to ignite a white aura, typical of the Earth's warriors, and land a safer distance away. 

Krillin, seeing Yamcha get carried off, wanted to turn and do the same. Yet as long as Number 18 was here, something kept him where he was. At first, he had tried not to think about her, but it had been futile. Somewhere, those innocent thoughts had transformed into feelings. He would stay and try to protect her; he had to. He couldn't imagine it would do any good. He was more than useless against Cell before, but now that he had added the power of Number 17 to his own, the creature would be nigh unstoppable.