A Life Form of Evil and Destruction!! His Name Is Artificial Human Cell

The Kamehameha flies at Piccolo, still shocked that this monster could even perform the attack. Piccolo dodges and ends up above the explosion, looking down on it, amazed. His guard is down and the monster jumps up behind him. The monster wraps his arms and legs around Piccolo, locking him down and preventing escape. Monster, "I've got your life." His tail swings out and hangs in front of the two of them for a moment, then dives straight into Piccolo's arm. Piccolo cries out in pain. "Scream, but it will do you no good. I'm going to get all of your powerful energy." Piccolo continues to struggle and scream, though it doesn't really help him all that much.

"But... Who is Piccolo fighting right now?" Trunks, "Probably that thing that left that shell in the time machine." Kuririn, "How is it that the creature has Goku's, Piccolo's, Vegeta's, Freezer's, and Freezer's father, King Cold's, ki's?" Trunks, "Yes, that's true, but..." Kuririn, "Damn it, what's going on?" Lacking an answer, Trunks remains silent as the pair nears Gingertown.

We see a view of Kame House from the shoreline. The view moves up, looking specifically at the window into the second floor. A fan blows on Son Goku, and his wife and son sit on either side of him. "Goku-san is getting much better." Gohan, "Yes, that's good, Mother." Goku stretches his arms and they both look down at him. Chichi, "Goku-san!" Gohan, "Father!" Son Goku doesn't respond. His arms go limp again and his head falls to one side. Chichi, "What? He fell alseep again." Gohan, "But it looks like he'll wake up soon." Chichi agrees. Gohan, "I should let them know..." He runs off down the stairs. "Hey, everyone!" He jumps into the room and finds everyone staring grimly at the television screen. He joins them. Reporter, "We've just received a news flash that the West City Army has been dispatched to Gingertown." Gohan, "What? The army?" Reporter, "So the surrounding towns around Gingertown will be protected and their people will be made safe." Roshi, "Hmm. I hope that there will be no more victims." A man hands the reporter a slip of paper. "News flash. We have visual contact of the army entering the town." He sits in silence for several seconds. "So please watch." Several more silent seconds. "It looks like we're experiencing some interference in that area." He looks somewhere off-screen for a moment. "There we go." The picture changes to a woman standing in the ruins of Gingertown. The fuzzy picture pans over to the army entering Gingertown, a fleet of tanks at the front.

In the sky, the monster continues to drain Piccolo's energy. Piccolo continues to scream as he loses more and more energy. The tanks pull up and set their targets. One of the military men announces to the monster, "Hey you! You are now completely surrounded. Just give yourself up!" Monster, "Damn, they're getting in the way of my supper." He fires eye beams down at one of the tanks. The driver jumps out and runs back to hide among the other tanks. "Damn him! Fire, fire!" The tanks let loose a barrage, and the monster is quickly lost among all the smoke and explosions. Missile turrets and tanks pound Piccolo and the monster with all that they can. They finally finish, satisfied. The smoke clears and the monster is no where to be seen. Commander, "Alright." Someone else suddenly screams, "It's still alive!!" The commander spins around. "What?!" Monster, "You bunch of cockroaches." The missile turrets swivel around to the monster's new position and attack again. The monster sticks his arm out and screams, and all of the missiles suddenly stop and fall back to the Earth. The soldiers scurry away, hoping to save at least themselves if they can't save their tanks, too. "A mere distraction. Shall I continue my meal?"

Piccolo's arm begins to whither and shrink up. He screams. Popo drops his watering jug. He stares at the sky in silence for a moment. "Kamisama!" The monster continues draining energy until Piccolo apparently decides that he's had enough. He smacks the monster in the face. The monster drops Piccolo and falls back, clutching his face. Piccolo drops back to the ground, the monster following shortly thereafter. Monster, "You..." Piccolo glares at the monster, holding up his good arm. The other arm hangs limp at his side, whithered and dead.

The Artificial Humans round a curve on the mountain highway. Number 18 stares out the window at the passing scenery and Number 16 sits in the back, eyes closed as usual. His eyes open as a beeping sound alerts him of something. Number 18 turns around. "Anything wrong, Number 16?" Number 16, "That power source we were talking about has changed. It looks like the fight is over." Number 18, "You mean the super-powered being that rivals our power?" Number 16, "Yes." Number 17, "You're still talking about that thing? Your power radar is broken, Number 16. There is no power on this planet that can match ours. Don't make me explain this to you again."

Piccolo clutches his dead arm. The monster laughs at him. "Looks like you got away, but since you can't use one of your arms, our stance has changed." Piccolo, "Yes, my balance is off, so this is going to be difficult. Unfortunately, it looks like you win." A smile crosses the monster's face. He laughs. "So you've finally given up? Be happy with yourself, for with your energy, I shall be close to reaching total perfection." Piccolo, "Total perfection?" Monster, "You are going to do me some real good. Aren't you happy?" Piccolo, "Before you absorb me, let me know something. What are you? Why do you possess Son Goku's and Freezer's ki's and are able to use the Kamehameha?" Monster, "Okay, since you're going to die anyway, I'll tell you."

"My name is Cell and I am an Artificial Human." Piccolo, "An Artificial Human?" Cell, "The computer that Dr. Gero had used created me." Piccolo, "Damn, that Dr. Gero again." Cell, "A long time ago, Dr. Gero started collecting cells from the greatest warriors of all time, from which he would create his Artificial Humans. But it took too much time to develop, so he quit the project." The view changes to Dr. Gero standing beside a tank in his laboratory. Inside the tank is a green liquid, and floating in that liquid is a small...something. At this time, Dr. Gero is still human (instead of Artificial Human). He shuts off the lights and walks out of the room. "But his computer continued processing the program." Nappa throws a giant ki blast at Son Gohan, but Piccolo jumps in the way and takes it for him. "Piccolo..." Oozaru Vegeta leaps into the air, planning to stomp Goku. "Son Goku..." Oozaru Gohan shrinks back down to human form. "And Vegeta's cells were given to me when he first came to Earth to fight." Oozaru Gohan falls on Vegeta as he finishes reverting back to his normal form. Cell chuckles. Piccolo, "Hmph. Son Goku from that time? No wonder that Kamehameha was so weak." Cell, "And then..." Cyborg Freezer flies into the air, staring down at the blast that he just dodged. "Freezer and his father came to Earth, so I was fortunate enough to get their cells, as well." Mirai Trunks flies at Freezer, sword drawn. Freezer just watches in horror as Trunks slices cleanly through him. Trunks blasts straight through King Cold's chest. King Cold slides down the rock wall, leaving a blood trail behind him. "I could have gotten Trunks' cells, but I had enough data on the Saiya-jin." Piccolo, "How did you get the cells? We didn't sense anything strange going on." Cell, "You should have heard from Dr. Gero that a robot spy was watching over you guys. It was as small as a bee. You never noticed it. It was gathering up your cell tissue. Look closely. It's here even now, sending data to the computer." Cell points out the small robot and Piccolo looks up at it. "Maybe it wants your cells, even now." Piccolo blasts the small robotic insect. Cell laughs. "It's useless for you to try to destroy it. It's already taken the necessary cell tissue to study. I shall reach my perfection in 24 years." Piccolo, "Impossible! We destroyed Dr. Gero's lab!" Cell, "The computer is located far underneath that lab. Okay..." Cell walks over to Piccolo. Piccolo, "It took you three years to hatch from that egg." Cell stops. "On this Earth, you needed three years to develop so as to hatch from the egg." Cell, "That's it. Now allow me to absorb you." Piccolo, "One last question! Why did you come from the future?" Cell, "For me to become a perfect being, absorbing human energy would not be enough to satisfy the necessary energy requirements. The computer told me that the combined energy of two beings was necessary. Number 17 and Number 18, which were created by Dr. Gero, are necessary to me." Piccolo, "What?" Number 18 kicks Vegeta, breaking his arm. Number 17 punches Piccolo in the stomach so that his fist shows in Piccolo's back. "But in my future, this Trunks destroys Number 17 and Number 18, so they didn't exist. Lucky for me, this Trunks had a time machine." Trunks climbs into his time machine. Cell creeps out of the shadows and Trunks turns around. Trunks runs and attacks him, but Cell strangles him with his tail. The last remaining Saiya-jin falls to the ground, dead. His sword lands nearby. "So I killed Trunks and got the time machine to come to this time period." Cell glows and shrinks. He climbs into the time machine, activates it, and reverts fully to his egg form. The time machine travels back in time and Cell blasts out. He burrows into the ground. "Why did you choose this time period?" Cell, "Trunks had already set the time machine to this period. All I did was press the switch." Piccolo, "I see. Trunks probably set the machine so he could let us know how he was able to destroy the Artificial Humans. And this creature..." Cell, "The computer also said that if I reach perfection, I will attain unimaginable powers." Piccolo, "Why? For what reason would you want such power?" Cell, "Reason? You ask such stupid questions. The computer was programmed to create the strongest being possible. Or maybe it's the blood of the Saiya-jin and that Freezer wanted such power." Piccolo lowers his head.

"Okay, that's enough." Piccolo, "Sorry, but now all the mysteries are solved." Piccolo tears off his dead arm and regenerates a new one. Cell stares at him, wide eyed. Piccolo, "That does me a lot of good." Cell, "You! You made me tell you everything!" Piccolo, "I can't let you reach perfection. You may have my blood, but you forgot about my ability to regenerate." Cell scowls.

The 'camera' pulls out above Piccolo and Cell. Trunks and Kuririn hurry to the ruins of Gingertown. Vegeta and Tenshinhan take their own separate ways to the city. Son Goku slowly continues his recovery as a smile crosses his face...