Android-Cell

On the battlefield, a pile of rubble in the ruins suddenly trembled. A moment later, an invisible force blasted the boulders and surrounding rocks to pieces—and the monster appeared before them once more.

Before it could even get up, Piccolo was already charging toward it. The monster had no choice but to endure the pain and force itself to its feet, swinging a fist. But the gap in their strength was too great. Piccolo easily dodged, circled around behind it, and kicked it hard in the back. The monster pitched forward, catching itself with both hands just in time. It sprang back up to counterattack, but Piccolo's next assault was already upon it—a sweeping kick came at it from the side, forcing it to retreat again and again, barely managing to dodge.

Piccolo gave it no chance to catch its breath. His fists and feet rained down like a storm, using his speed to bat the monster around like a ball.

Just as Piccolo was about to kick it flying once more, the monster abruptly stopped itself, opened up some distance, and flew high into the air. It pressed the index and middle fingers of its right hand together against its forehead, and power gathered wildly at its fingertips.

Piccolo's pupils contracted. Of course he recognized that stance—it was the Special Beam Cannon, a technique he had created himself. He had only taught it to one person, and Gohan couldn't have taught something like this to the monster. So how did it know the move? The thought had barely crossed his mind when a Special Beam Cannon shot through the air. Piccolo turned his hand into a blade and knocked the energy blast aside.

"Th-that just now was..."

While Piccolo was distracted, the monster charged at him. With no other choice, Piccolo fought it head-on. The monster had struck first, but the gap in their strength soon became clear. Piccolo quickly regained his composure. When the monster pulled back again and repeated its previous move, he flew straight behind it and kicked it hard back to the ground, sending dust billowing into the air.

The monster tossed aside the rubble pinning it down, then knelt on one knee and looked at Piccolo, who had landed on the ground. It rose again and assumed a fighting stance.

Piccolo landed and took the same stance, golden sparks occasionally flickering around him. "So this is all you've got. I guess I was wrong before. I mistook you for a monster whose strength had no limits."

"Even though I haven't become Perfect Form yet, you've put up a pretty good fight. You're quite strong." The monster tried to sound confident, but its words revealed a crucial clue—exactly what Piccolo had hoped for.

"P-Perfect Form?" Piccolo frowned slightly, drawing out his words—but the corner of his eye never left the monster in front of him. "Could it be... that's why you're eating people?"

"They're just energy for my growth." The monster didn't seem to care.

"You monster! Then who put you in the Time Machine and sent you here? Was it one of your allies?" Piccolo suppressed his anger and kept probing.

"I sent myself here. The Time Machine was much smaller than my body, so I had to regress to the size of an egg." The monster smiled. "Still, I'm surprised you know about the Time Machine."

"But... there's no way you could know about this too..." As it spoke, the monster assumed the stance for the Kamehameha Wave. Piccolo was stunned by the sight.

"Kame...hame...ha!" As the monster gathered energy, Goku's aura grew stronger within it. Piccolo wasn't the only one astonished; warriors far away in other places found it hard to believe as well.

"Th-that stance... Could it be...? How is this possible!" As Piccolo cried out in shock, the monster's Kamehameha Wave shot toward him.

"It really is—" The wave whistled toward him, and only then did Piccolo snap back to his senses. An explosion thundered, and smoke filled the air—but Piccolo had moved at high speed to escape the blast radius. He hovered in the air, staring down at the smoke with a grave expression.

Meanwhile, the monster had used the opportunity to sneak up on him. Piccolo sensed the danger at the last moment, but it was already too late to dodge. The monster had him locked in a tight hold, and he couldn't break free.

"I'm going to kill you." The monster stared at Piccolo in its arms as the tail behind it shot toward his heart.

Piccolo struggled desperately and managed to turn aside from a vital spot—but the stinger pierced his shoulder. He let out a pained cry.

"Right in the shoulder, huh? No matter. I'm about to drain all the energy from your powerful body anyway." The monster was slightly surprised that its stinger had missed a vital spot, but it didn't care. As far as it was concerned, the outcome was already decided.

Below them, the government's tank force had arrived. The commanding officer saw the monster through his binoculars and followed protocol, shouting for it to stop resisting and surrender peacefully.

Annoyed at having its meal interrupted, the monster's eyes flashed red, and two beams shot straight toward the tank where the commander was. The commander and his deputy hurriedly jumped out and fled as the tank exploded.

"Open fire!"

The commander, furious and humiliated, ordered an attack. Countless shells rained down on the monster. Explosions rang out without pause, smoke billowed, and the sky was lit up on one side.

When the smoke cleared, the monster was no longer where it had been. The commander assumed it had been destroyed, but the others quickly shattered his illusion: the monster had moved to the other side. The barrage had thoroughly enraged it. The monster efficiently wiped them out, getting rid of the annoying flies, then resumed draining Piccolo's energy.

As the monster continued absorbing his energy, Piccolo's entire hand shriveled. He slammed the back of his head into the monster's face. It cried out in pain, loosening its grip. Piccolo seized the chance to break free and landed on the ground, gasping for breath. He clutched his left arm—it had shrunk to a pitiful husk. His once-plump green skin had turned yellow and rough, like autumn leaves.

The monster landed on the ground as well. Looking at Piccolo clutching his withered arm, it laughed smugly. "You're pretty good at escaping. Too bad you can't use one of your arms now—the winner is obvious."

"That's right. In this state, it would be hard for me to keep my balance. Continuing to fight would put me at a disadvantage." Piccolo clutched his left shoulder, his voice filled with reluctance. "I hate to admit it, but you've won."

"Even you have to admit defeat. This is great! After I absorb life energy of your caliber, I'll be one step closer to Perfect Form."

"Perfect Form?"

"You must feel honored to help me become Perfect Form, right?"

"Before you absorb me, let me ask you something." Piccolo clutched his shoulder, his voice weak. "Who are you? Why do you have the auras of Goku and Frieza? And how can you use the Kamehameha Wave?"

Seeing Piccolo in such pain, the monster let its guard down completely. "All right. You're about to die anyway, so I'll tell you." It paused, a smug smile curling across its lips. "My name is Cell—and I'm an android."