Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Thorns Of The Rose ❯ Determination ( Chapter 2 )

~*Thorns Of The Rose*~

By Shasta

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Disclaimer: I a'int sayin' nuthin!

(Shasta promptly falls off her chair after reading the reviews)

Shasta: *eyes take up half of head* MASQUERADE REVIEWED MEEEEE?!

(Perfect Cell walks into the room, slurping on a Pepsi Twist)

Cell: What's so great about that?

Shasta: *jumps up and shakes Cell* Masquerade is one of the best-if not THE best Cell fanfic authors I've ever been lucky enough to encounter. Now I KNOW this fic is not crap because she reviewed! *clasps her hands together, eyes big and sparkly ala Mishoshi*

Cell: *eyes anime swirls from all the shaking* Goood for yoooo-oou…*falls over*

Shasta: *strikes a kawaii pose* Masquerade, thank you so very very mucho for your review!! You've made my day! *hands Masquerade a Cell plushie and a bottle of Pepsi Twist*

Cell: MY PEPSI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Shasta: *sweatdrop* Oh, don't worry, Cap'n Cockroach! There's plenty left in the fridge!

Cell: *eyes go sparkly* Pepsi Twiiiiiist…*suddenly takes on the appearance of a fangirl on a sugar high*

Shasta: *backs away sloooooooowly* Ummmm…read on for chapter 2 while I get some coffee into my muse…O_o

Cell: *starts rambling on about Pepsi Twist as if it were the greatest thing since sliced bread*

Shasta: *runs for her life* EEEEE!!! CELL'S ON A SUGAH HIGH!!!!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!!!

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For Jen 'Saintme' Prepodnik, Vegeta's love slave.

~*Thorns Of The Rose*~

Chapter 2: Determination

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Emerald green eyes glanced around the room, feeling unsettled in this unfamiliar territory. The room was shrouded in darkness, ebony black as far as the eye could see…the door suddenly swung open, flooding the room with the light of the upstairs ceiling lamp. A figure stood hunched in the doorway, a half-full bottle of whiskey clearly visable in it's claw-like hand.

Sarah knew this dream all too well. It had plagued her very being since it happened, almost 6 years ago… she felt so helpless, trapped in the fragile body of a 10 year old. She was trapped in this room with no way out but through her attacker.

The figure stepped into the room, walking animatedly from all the alcohol in it's bloodstream. In the dim light, the figure could be see as a tall man with a stubbly, unshaven face. Lanky brown hair hung in dead, onyx eyes and there appeared to be a feral look about his face. Sarah slowly backed up against the wall, knowing all too well what was about to happen.

"Saaaa-aaaarah…come here…Daddy wants to speeak to yoooou…" the man rasped, his voice dead and emotionless. Before she had a chance to react, Sarah felt strong arms push her down on the bed, trapping her arms and legs and rendering it near impossible to move.

"Noooo-oooooo!" A scream escaped her lips, but only for a moment as a hand was brought up to backhand her roughly across the cheek. She shut her eyes tight, not wanting to witness what was happening…all she could feel was the raw pain surging through her body as her foster father abused her in every way imaginable.

"Noo.. please.. no! N…NOOOOO!!!"

"NOOO!"

Sarah bolted upright, breathing hard. She glanced around wildly, hoping she still was'nt dreaming. She found herself lying on a makeshift bed of huge leaves and bits of straw within a large cave. A fire was burning nearby and right in front of her, a curtain of water shielded the cave from the outside world. A figure suddenly emerged from underneath the waterfall, carrying some sort of dead animal carcass in his hands.

It took a moment for Sarah to regiester that it was Cell she was seeing. She relaxed slightly and brought her knees up to her chest. She felt uneasy from the dream, but that was normal. The event had seriously tramasized her and left many emotional scars along with physical…

"Why are you screaming?" Cell queried, his eyes, althought narrowed, looking curiously at her. The raven haired teenager smiled weakly and bowed her head low.

"Bad dream…." She muttered. It was then she remembered what happened the previous day. She glared up at Cell and tried to stand up in order to give him a good beating, but instead her legs buckled and she fell back onto the straw bed, clutching her stomach which was aching like no tomorrow.

"Idiotic human…" Cell muttered, as he sat down crosslegged in front of the fire, his back to her. He picked up a long, pointed tree branch from the woodpile nearby and speared it through the animal carcass. He then put the 'shish kebab' onto two sticks placed near the fire like a rotissere. (sp?)

Sarah watched him as he cooked the food, feeling somewhat irritated by his arrogance.

But another thought hit her. <Wait…I was passed out and completely vulnerable. Why did'nt her eat me?>

She was just about to voice her thought when Cell stood up. He walked to the cave enterance and folded his arms over his chest, bowing his head low as he listened to the eerily soothing rush of water.

"I must achieve perfection…." She heard him say, voice barely above a whisper. Her brow furrowed in confusion as she watched him, muttering to himself at the cave enterance…

<The girl is indeed a hinderance to my goal. I should have killed her when I had the chance…but she is the only one like me… created and spawned from the DNA of the greatest fighters the world has ever known. She could prove usefull in my quest for the androids Seventeen and Eighteen…yes..she will be usefull in the long run…> Cell thought to himself. He smirked evilly and turned to face her. She was slowly inching towards the meat on the fire, a very glazed look on her face.

Cell sweatdropped slightly and sighed. <Then again….>

"Umm… I think it's burnin'…" Sarah said, blinking slightly. The android shook his head and sighed at the small column of smoke swirling out of the fire.

"Remind me to download a cook book into my data banks once we find Dr.Gero's laboritory…" he said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Sarah arched an eyebrow. "And just WHY do you need to go there?"

Cell smirked. He grabbed hold of her arm and yanked her to her feet. Leaning in untill their faces were meer inches from each others, he dropped his voice to such a low tone it was almost a whisper.

"YOU can help me achieve perfection…I will not absorb you.." he added, noting the look of annoyance on her face ; "You can help me find the androids…help me reach my goal of becoming the the most powerful, perfect warrior on this accursed mudball!"

Sarah yanked her arm away from him, mouth twisted in a sneer. "And just what makes you think I'll help an asshole like YOU?!"

Cell glared at her, his magenta eyes like lazer beams as the bore deep into her being. "You owe me."

"How so?"

"I saved your life, woman. If you'll look under that rag around your waist, you will see that the puncture wound has healled.." Cell said, in a exasperated tone of voice.

Puzzled, Sarah looked down at her waist. Sure enough, there was a rag of animal skin wound around her waist. She pulled it off slowly and felt her eyes widden at the sight beneath. There was no puncture wound or any scar for that matter. The only indication of injury was a small ring of dried blood and what looked oddly like a dent in her skin just under her rib cage. She glanced at Cell, her face unreadable.

"Why..?"

Cell folded his arms. "You are more use to me alive. Besides, you put up quite a good fight and I could use someone to train with."

Sarah's brow furrowed again, but she did'nt feel up to interogating the android any further. Knowing her luck, Cell would probably go back on his word and absorb her if she did'nt obey. Sighing, she walked towards him, arms folding with a very annyoed look on her face.

"Since I don't have any choice, I guess I'll have to help you find the androids, won't I?"

Cell nodded. "Smart girl. You are indeed wise." His voice was sadistic and evil, which unnerved Sarah slightly. She shook it off and walked towards the curtain of water concealing the cave enterance.

"Very well…"she groaned, glancing warily at him from the side.

Cell cocked his head to one side. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

"I can't fly….you'll have to carry me.."

Unless her eyes decieved her, Sarah could've sworn she saw a flash of crimson show on Cell's dark green face. She watched as the emerald-skinned android stepped forward. He looked somewhat uneasy as he picked her up in his arms the same way a groom would carry his new bride. Not caring that she got soaking wet on the way out, he powered up and took to the sky, in the hopes of finding the killer androids and perhaps becoming perfect….

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They had been flying for several hours and Sarah, despite having to be held in place by an obnoxious, arrgogent grasshopper man, had to admit it was somewhat enjoyable. The wind rushed through her raven black waves, tickling her face and blowing her hair into her eyes. Far below, she could see rows upon rows of tree-tops, the lake where she had first incountered Cell and a dense forrest- all rushing past as they flew through the air at top speed.

Cell looked down at her, brow furrowed. Something was troubling her. He could sense it….He turned his attention back to the view in front of him. Just beyond the mountains was Nicky Town. Perfect for a 'pit stop'…

"…..What was it about?" he queried, dropping his speed a little to avoid getting the head blow off him. Sarah looked at him, eyes filled with curiousity.

"What do you mean?"

Cell leaned down to her so that they were face to face. "The bad dream…I've never heard a human scream like THAT before…"

Sarah looked down at her hands, which tensed slightly at his comment. She wondered if she should tell him or not…about her past and the abuse she suffered at the hands of her foster parents..deciding against it, she shrugged and said she did'nt remember.

Cell gave her a reproachful look, but said nothing more on the subject as Nicky Town came into view.

He landed on the roof of a tall apartment building, watching the people below go about their meery ways, oblivious to the danger above them. He put Sarah down gently on one of the small benches scattered among the roof deck.

She folded her arms and glanced over the edge of the roof, to where Cell was staring. She sweatdropped a little when she noticed he was licking his lips and rubbing his hands together like a kid in a candy store.

"So many humans to eat, so little time!" he cackled. Sarah's eyes widdened and before she could stop herself, she promptly backhanded Cell on the head. Caught off-guard, he rubbed his head and glared at her.

"You getting on my nerves, onna…what on Earth did you do that for?!"

Sarah's eyes narrowed to near slits. "I know what you're planning, Cell. If you think I'll just stand by and watch you kill innocent people, think again!"

The android smirked and cocked his head to one side. "Foolish girl. Can't you see that I am the ultimate warrior? I care not for the lives of a few pathetic humans. Once I've achieved my perfect form, I will completely wipe them out…then, I shall rule over entire galaxys…. Make great warrior races tremble in my wake!"

Sarah felt anger like she'd never known rise within her.Her left eye began to twitch uncontrolably as her hands clenched into fists. Cell was going to destroy innocent lives for the sake of achieving his own twisted goals….and she was'nt going to stand for it. A dark red aura slowly began to materialize around her body, faintly at first but then gradually becoming clearer.

Cell look suprissed in the very least. He could feel the heat radiating off her body. It was intense, like a forrest wildfire and the red aura gave the appearance that she was surrounded by flames.

Upon seeing her power, Cell licked his lips again. <Such power……I must have it…..it is more than enough to make me strong…>

His tail lunged forward, aiming for her heart, the razor sharp point glinting in the sun. He would have succeeded in absorbing her, had she not been pulled away at the last minute. Loosing his balance, Cell tripped and landed flat on his face on the hard tarmac. He looked up to see a man standing high in the air, surrounded by a golden aura. The man was extremly muscular, dressed in baggy grey sweatpants, a blank tank top and a denium jacket with the 'Capsule Corp' logo on the left shoulder.

(A/N: A plushie of your choice to whoever can guess who the guy is! ^_~ )

He glared down at Cell, raw anger across his tanned face, fire burning in his blueish-green eyes. With one hand securely around Sarah's waist, he used his free hand to fire an enormous pink ki ball towards Cell. However, the android was faster and took to the air just as the ki ball slammed into the building, completely destroying it on impact.

Growling in anger, Cell held both hands to his forehead. Small energy particals began to gather within the palms of his hands, growing larger by the second. With a smirk, he yelled out the dreaded words:

"SOLOR FLARE!!"

Sarah and the mysterious stranger sheilded their eyes just in time, but when they uncovered them once again, the sneaky android was long gone.

The mysterious stranger landed in the middle of the street, watching as people ran around in a panic, scared for their lives. He looked down at Sarah with an unreadable expression on his face.

"You okay?" he said, his voice supprisingly gentle. Sarah looked up at him, the red aura around her body fading to nothing. She felt a wave of dizziness overcome her and it was all she could to to keep from collasping in his arms.

"Hey! Easy! C'mon.. I'll take you to my mother. She'll know what to do." He said. Just before she passed out, Sarah could see his aura fade down to nothing and his hair turn from golden blonde to a light side of lavender.

"What….are..you..?" she muttered, before slumping into his arms, completely knocked out.

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To Be Continued

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