Dr.Gero, the world’s most brilliant scientist, and the greatest threat that humanity has ever faced to this point, had just way too much damn equipment! The first thing that went through this Cell’s mind as the Cicada like Larval form crawled out of he hidden laboratory that was hidden within mad scientist’s hideout was that the mad doctor was a MAD Hoarder!

And mad was putting it mildly. He was more or less the brains behind the operation of the whole Red Ribbon Army debacle, and spent the entirety of the last decade or so of his life trying to get his revenge on the one life form that put an end to all of his plans of world domination.

At the same time…When Cell took a look around at the wreckage that had been caused by his siblings over 10 years ago. Broken tubes, exposed power cables and several containers which he could only assume were the capsules that Gero had left his other android creations during their production.

Nature had already reclaimed many of the broken pieces of machinery that still remained in the lab. How Cell managed to survive was anyone’s guess. Up till now, he’d been defenseless within the chamber below while the computer worked day in and day out.

‘so much devestation. But then the special never showed THIS place in the future. Maybe this is more than a dream after all.’

He didn’t have the capacity to speak, or at least not yet. In time that would come but for now he was curious as to the world’s events thus far. If the computer below was correct, then this time period was around the time Trunks would grow fed up with the state of the world and seek Gohan as a mentor.

One glance around his ransacked home and Cell soon would come across a familiar sight. It was the good Doctor’s head…Or what was left of it after 17 had smashed it under his foot. It did look a jumbled mess, and he wouldn’t have even known if not for the bluish transparent glass off to the side.

‘He converted himself, but Trunks’s timeline never encountered the energy absorbers…’

The contradiction was something that was of a curiosity for the bio android and the thought, the desire to know, flooded him. ‘I ate the drones and assimilated their data…I wonder…’

Though wordless in a verbal sense…anyone looking in the wrecked remnants of the lab would see the hunger in the monster cicada’s eyes as he opened his beak wide, taking in the bits of Gero that were left into his system, consuming and absorbing it so that he could get the bigger picker. Who knows…? Maybe he’d learn something that his geek self didn’t already know!

With a tug from his tongue, he would take in his ‘creator’ and swallowed what remained of his cyborg existance right on into himself. There was a bit of morbid humor in there that Cell couldn’t help but reflect on. They usually said that your maker could give you life and take it away, but here, his maker was gone, and what was left was being taken and integrated into himself. Life was ironic.

With a firm swallow, and a bobbing motion from his gullet, he took the processing unit of Gero’s android remains and sent them into the pit of his stomach where he could begin his integration and electronic absorption.

The information came in all at once to him. He was looking at the world through Gero’s perspective…Could see the doctor’s hands moving over a digital keyboard. Or at least he assumed it was. The flat surface, and the way each panel glowed a different color in reaction to his contact with it made this the only conclusion that made sense to the android.

It looked as though he’d just finished his preparations to awaken his partner, whom from the Manga and anime suggested was Android 19, yet there was no sign of it. The pod he was staring at however, as he entered the final key was that of Android 17.

The pod hissed open as the pressure within it was stablized with that of the lab’s. From within, as if only asleep just seconds ago, Android 17 awoke with a stunning level of alertness for one who’d just recently came out of a boot up process. Even Gero was caught by surprise by this, as he commented with “Active and ready for mayhem as always, aren’t you my dear 17?”

The response wasn’t nearly as gratifying. If the male android heard his creator then he didn’t make any effort to show it. Instead he climbed out of the pod after his fingers made contact with the sides of his container. Those eyes…They had an eerie lifelessness to them. As if the Android weren’t really looking at the doctor but rather INTO him.

One quick look around. That was all 17 made in his rounds of accessing his location before he walked over to an adjoining pod with the label 18 on it. “You look like you’ve aged a hundred years doctor. Don’t tell me work’s got you stressed out.”

His attitude was nonchalant. 17 did not fear Gero, and the doctor knew that, and Cell could SENSE that and a feeling of resentment of the lack of respect from what was supposed to be his subordinates.

“Don’t use that tone with me 17. You know well and good why I’ve chosen to take you out of sleep mode. Time is of the essense.”

“Of course.” 17 turned his head only slightly, so that he was looking at the doctor with a side glance and a concieted smile that made Gero think he was being mocked.

“We’re opening her capsule too. You two always did work best in a pair.” Gero was already tapping away at the faceless keyboard, letting the door hiss open for 17’s twin sister. The ever so dastardly beautiful android 18. She woke with an equally responsive start. Eyes darting open before taking her first steps out.

She gave a glance around their little hideout and scoffed, smiling to her maker. “I see you decided to convert yourself into an android as well doctor. Though you seem to have chosen a more inferior model for your design.”

Always a critic. Dr.Gero despised their personalities, as they never were ones to give him the respect he believed he was due. This may be because they’d originally been human, possibly even remembered those origins and spited him for it. Even so…

“Your original target, Goku has fallen.” Gero announced without much fanfare, but found some hint of satisfaction when the twins looked to him in surprise.

“Did you somehow take him out without our help doctor? If you did, good for you! Even your inferior designs can actually do something right.” Android 17 mocked, talking closer to the doc and examining the controls on the keypad.

His mustache twitched. The doctor grew a little more irritable with each comment about his inferiority, but he’d have to let it pass for now. “He died from natural causes. A new heart condition that was making the rounds these last few years. Thankfully I converted before the process could affect ME.”

“If he’s dead then why do you need us?” 18 asked, voice soft and disarming. Anyone else might have assumed she could do no harm but those around her knew better.

“He might be dead, but his companions have become ever stronger. Your job is to find them, and kill them. Then my plan for world domination will be complete.”

Both twins looked to one another as if coming to a unanimous decision before the brother spoke up. “No.” It was as simple as that.

“NO?! What do you MEAN no?”

“He means, no. We’re not going to do it. Maybe we will on our own time, but we’re not going to do it because of you.” 18 continued, finishing her brother’s thought as she approached the command console for the lab and blasted it to bits with a simple ki blast.

The act of just immediate destruction was enough to throw Gero over the edge. Cell could sense his growing apprehension even as a few of the containers of some of the earlier android models were destroyed in the blast.

“What are you DOING?! This is MY LAB!”

“Relax doctor.” 17 put one hand so casually over Gero’s shoulder, the touch anything but friendly as a bit of malice leaked out from his otherwise emotionless face. Well…almost emotionless.

There was still that slight smile that seemed to just leak out his belief of superiority. “We’re just getting rid of all your lesser work. You won’t be needing any of it anymore.”

“That is not for you to decide! Now then, I am your maker, enough with this foolishness!” Dr.Gero produced a remote in his hand, relatively simple looking with only a single red button at it’s center. If anything it looked like the remote of a very simple television set, with the only purpose being to shut something on or off.

“That’s far enough! Or should I shut the two of you down ag-“

All Gero felt was a gust of wind, as did Cell as he replayed the memory. It felt as though he were there, and in that moment he could sense the doctor’s sense of fear, and his outrage growing within him…and yet knowing that without that control there was nothing he could do about it.

“You mean with this controller right?” 17 was now holding the device in his hand, keeping it out of the hands of the doctor who desperately reached for it, only to have a hand thrust right through his chest.

Purple blood, or what would amount to blood given his altered body spilled on the ground. He looked down at his belly, gasping for breath and sounding very pained. “17…! Why…! I gave you life…!”

“Hmm…” The male android smiled, looking to the doctor who was now stuttering over his words. “You took my life too if I recall doctor. So I’m just paying you back for it. Besides…your idea of world domination is just plain boring.”

“What…?!” Gero exclaimed even as the male android pried his hand right out of the doctor’s body, forcing him to stumble back a bit, sending some electronic equipment scrambling to the floor. “How would you have access to any of that information…? I wiped your recollection of those events.”

This time it was 18’s time to answer. She looked at the pathetic mess of the doctor who was bleeding out on the table…or what equalled to bleeding out for an android. “You really think you can fill us with all this information about your enemies, make us the perfect beings and still think we can’t hack into your network?”

The mention of a perfect being caught Gero by surprise, as it did Cell who was currently reading into these memories. It seemed…as while they were able to hack into his computer facility above…they did not have access to the supercomputer below…or weren’t even made aware of it.

Suddenly the doctor’s fear was turning into rage…Such rage that Cell could feel it pouring out into his beastly form in the present. In these last moments, Gero seemed to feel a rising sense of regret that his creations would turn on him…would destroy him. But he held hope that if the computer resumed it’s work in peace, then his revenge would at the very least be completed in the hands of his greatest creation.

Slowly, the doctor pulled himself up. Hands propped on the table as he snarled at the duo. “You might kill me…but it will be I who has the last laugh! I hope you’re prepared to die!”

With a swift kick of his leg, 17 practically sliced Gero’s head off, letting it roll off a short distance away with the doctor staring scornfully at him. “You will rue the day you defied me…! You will pay!” The way Gero glared at 17, even Cell could sense the hatred the doctor was feeling now. “He will…Some day he will avenge me…and you will be part of my greatest creation…!”

Android 17 had nothing more he wanted to say to the doctor. With one quick leaping motion he towered over his creator’s head and crushed it under his shoe.

“Oh doctor…nobody is going to avenge you…Because I am your greatest creation.” Sounding full of himself, 17 pulled his shoe away and started the work of destroying the doctor’s lab. No evidence needed to be left behind of this place anyway.

Unfortunately, this is where the memory of the professor cut off. As his life came to a crashing halt, his processes shut down almost immediately. The last thing he could hear before returning into the present day lab was the sound of a blast going off.

Cell blinked once to clear a haze out of his eyes before turning from left to right within the lab and understood now exactly what had happened. Strange…In the canon timeline the android’s were definitely a cocky duo, but they weren’t evil. That said…he knew what the future timeline of their counterparts did and knew that they wanted nothing short of the extinction of the human race.

‘or at the very least…use humanities existence for amusement…’ Cell thought to himself with a small bit of rage forming inside his core. He didn’t know if it was his own or maybe remnant’s of Gero’s emotions from assimilating his remnants but he did know he wanted to make this a future worth living.

Nothing however could be done here. He glanced at a few wrecked pods, labels 19 and even 16 were completely smashed to pieces which just went on further to his belief that Trunks was right. These androids didn’t have any meaningful views on life aside from their own. Well…he was certainly going to make their lives worth more than their pitiful, hateful existence.

Taking a step out of the laboratory, Cell was now standing in the middle of a mountain formation. Where he was he didn’t know the exact location was…but he did know that this was where the Dragon team was supposed to have encountered them in the canon storyline.

‘first things first…I need food…’

As his belly growled, anxiously for some food, he began to question just what to eat…Humans were out of the question. While in his current state he didn’t outright empathize with them given his android chemestry, but he knew he was once a human himself…in his other life, so he considered that borderline cannibalism.

Though…he desired to consume both android’s 17 and 18…and they were his siblings in a sense. So the idea shouldn’t have been too disturbing for him. Either way…he desired for something greater. Something that could provide him with greater bio extract than what a human could provide…and with the rampage the Androids had already incurred, they wouldn’t be a reliable source of nutrition with their status as an endangered species.

Thankfully, the land surrounding the lab remained intact. His targets probably thought it was worth keeping the natural ecosystem in tact since humanity hadn’t greatly tainted it yet.

‘Natural ecosystem…? Now there’s an idea…’

He was too weak to do anything about the androids…and if he were like his original counterpart this is where he’d wiggle his way into the ground and hibernate for the next 6 to 12 months while he waited for metamorphasis to occur in what he would consider his final form.

But he wanted to do things differently. He wanted to get that energy much faster, that way it defeated the purpose of Trunks destroying the androids and would prevent him from having to repeat that dastardly timeline where he murders the boy to get at the prize he sought.

First things first…He stepped out into the lush forest beneath the mountains and began his search. He had a belly yearning for food, and a desire to get strong as quickly as he could. The question though was just what kind of creatures lived within this habitat. While the doctor’s information on the saiyan’s and this world’s history was top notch…None of the data that was in his information stores told him of the ecology of this location.

His red eyes scanned the area even as he shuffled his way through the brush. His searching, and his questions however would soon become apparent as he felt the presence of something stalking him, but what?

Whatever it was, it was keeping a clear distance from him to avoid complete detection. ‘so…you won’t reveal yourself huh? Well that’s fine. I have learned a lot from the computer…involving my own power detection.’

He started crawling his way deeper into the wilds even as the rustling grew louder and more frequent.

His predator, or rather his stalker had been following some feet away to avoid detection but had a sense that something wasn’t right about it’s prey. For one…instead of running in a fright like most creatures in the forest, it remained calm. A moment later however, he felt a subtle vibration in his middle…his stomach was growling…gurgling for food.

‘Well…I was just starting to get hungry. Guess it’s feeding time…’ He thought quietly to himself, already beginning his plan and using what he knew of this new body to take advantage of this situation.

Through the thick bushes, a sabertoothed tiger with white paws stepped out, sniffing the air for a trace of it’s prey but found nothing. The growl from it’s throat was one indicating confusion as it approached the spot which it last picked up Cell’s scent.

What lay waiting for it however was a large hole. It’s prey burrowed underground! Was it safe to go after it…? The Saber didn’t think that would be such a good idea given the size of the hole but couldn’t get over the disappointment of a well earned meal.

Feeling a sense of defeat, the tiger began to turn back and away from the sight. It only made it about 15 feet when it felt a rumbling beneath it. Looking down, it assumed this may have just been a tremor usually found in these lands, before the ground split open beneath it and a beaked maw suddenly dragged it down by one of it’s hind paws!

Desperately, it growled and yowled as it tried to keep itself above ground with it’s forepaws! But it was all for naught as it slowly gave way to the power of the creature that had it’s leg in such a strong vice grip and sank below the ground.

A brief howl could be heard echoing through the chasm before all went quiet in the area. Birds flew off from the sight while other animals steered clear from that ominous howl prior.

A few moments later, Cell was crawling his way back up to the surface, eager to take a good fresh breath of air as he felt a weight in his middle squirming within him. ‘I…Really have to hand it to you Doctor…You gave me a body that’s perfect all on it’s own…If I keep eating like this, I’ll be the best imperfect creature in no time…’

As the weight settled inside him, he knew that he wouldn’t be able to feed like this forever…Such a weight in his body would make it hard to move, especially once he reached his imperfect state…But for now he was satisfied. And experimenting with that tail he’d acquire would be worth more to him than this current fullness.

‘yes…I’ll prey on the world’s apex predators…Make them part of my own strength and give them purpose as the world’s true apex…’

(To be continued)