Dragon Ball/Z/GT Fan Fiction ❯ Thorns Of The Rose ❯ Imperfections ( Chapter 5 )

~*Thorns Of The Rose*~

By Shasta

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Disclaimer: Eeeer….. Me no habla Engelius!!

(Shasta runs through the Author's notes, branishing a large frying pan, in hot persuit of what appear to be pink Cell Jnrs)

Shasta: Diiiiiiieeeeee, ebil Writer's Block Demons!!!

Demons: Eeeeeee! Daddy! Get the scary woman away! *hide behind Cell*

Cell: *looks down at his pink children, the casts an evil glare at the cat-girl before him* And just WHY are my kids …PINK?!

Demons/Cell Jnrs: *in perfect unison* We drank too much Pepto Bismol….. ^_^ ;

Shasta: O_o Wait…. You're NOT W.B.Ds?!

Cell Jnr # 1: Nuh-uh, Miss Shasta, ma'am. We're The Cell Jnrs. I'm Groucho, *pints behind him* that there's Pepito and the one to the left is Calipso….*this goes on for about half an hour*

Shasta: * pointing them out* Okay… Groucho, Pepito, Calipso, Ororo, Gonzorro, Montoro and…..Joe. Aaaah! So you DO have names!

Cell: *looking beyond bored* Will you quit with the rolecalling and get on with the damn fic already?!

Gonzorro: *gasp* Daddy said a dirty word!

Pepito: Damn damn damn!!!

Cell: *eyes bulge out of his head, clamping a hand to his mouth* GAH! Me and my big mouth…

Shasta: *cracks up* Oh, this is precious! *pulls a Kodak out of midair and takes a snapshot* *grins and turns to the readers* While Cell and I try to purify the kid's minds again, read down for Chapter 5 of the fic that is… *Ororo snaps her fingers and a fanfare sounds*…..'Thorns Of The Rose'!

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Thorns Of The Rose

Chapter 5: Changes

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A warm beam of sunlight shown down on Sarah's face, causing her to slowly awaken. She yawned loudly and tried to stretch, only finding her hands still bound with the ki handcuffs. Cursing loudly, she sat up and tried to break loose, but the bounds were too strong and each time she tugged at them, they seemed to get tighter. With a sigh, she gave up and curled her knees up to her chest.

It was then she realised that Cell was no-where to be found. A growl escaped her lips as she stood up, glancing around the clearing.

"Trust that big oaf to abandon me in the middle of no-where….I bet he's probably off searching for the androids right now.." she thought out loud. She sat down on the rock were Cell once sat the previous night and stared absently into the small pile of ash that was the remains of the campfire. She leaned back against the rock, hands above her head as she lay against the flat rock, peering up through the gaps in the trees to the sapphire blue sky above.

A few clouds floated over head, forming abstract shapes before her eyes. One cloud in particular suddenly took on a loose outline of Cell's head, which made the teenager sit up in supprise.

"Wait.. why am I thinking about him? He's nothing but a cold-hearted bastard!"

<Aaaah..> a nasty voice in her subconcious told her ; <He DID save your life though, right? Plus, he has'nt really harmed you up to this point, unless you count the absorbtion attempt..>

"Oh, shut up.."Sarah groaned, leaning back against the rock once again….

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Meanwhile, several miles north….

Cell smirked to himself as he finally cornered his prey, tail arched high aove his head, the stinger pointing directly over Seventeen's heart. The bug-like android had finally suceeded in locating one half of the pair of androids he needed to reach perfection. It had taken him all night and most of the morning to track him down, but now he was to receive the fruits of his labours as his tail lunged forward, the tiny hole at the tip widdening untill it was large enough to swallow Seventeen whole.

The raven haired android watched helplessly in fear, trapped by Cell's hands clasped tightly around his neck. He tried to scream, which resulted in Cell tightening his grip. He smirked and lunged his tail forward, consumming the raven haired android whole. His screams soon died down to nothing as raw power began to surge through Cell's veins. He could feel his muscles getting bigger, his body transforming.

His beak disappeared, replaced by a wide, muscular jaw, pearly white teeth smirking under orange lips. His eyes, once magenta, had turned a deep, sapphire blue and his skin had turned a much lighter shade of green. Powering up, he flew over the forrest in search of a lake to check his reflection. He soon landed in a creek, not too far from where he had set up camp the previous night.

He peered into the deep, shimmering water and almost yelled out in alarm. <I'M UGLY!!!> he screamed in his head, eyes widdening at the sight of his new body. His muscles were chunky and in all the wrong places, making him look fat and flabby. Brow furrowing in confusion, he sat down on a nearby rock, trying to figure out what went wrong. <I don't get it.. I'm supposed to be stronger, but these bulky muscles make it hard to move..if this is Dr.Gero's idea of a practical joke, I most certainly am not laughing!> he thought in annoyance, kicking a rock into the river with his foot. It bounced several times on the waves, making ripples of water on the surface, before disappearing out of sight.

A sigh escaped his lips. As much as he wanted to find Eighteen and absorb her, he felt too tired to do so. He had been up since dawn searching for her brother and even though absorbing gave Cell a huge energy boost, fatique already began to settle in.Not in the mood to go hunting for wild animals in the woods, he waded into the lake and swam down to the bottom.

Although he was encumbered on dry land, he could swimming at lightning speed underwater, which please him to a degree, enjoying the weightless feeling as he floated in among the roofs, gazing up at the surface several feet above, the light of the sun shining down through the waves. A school of brightly coloured fish shot by him, snapping him from his stumpor. A smirk crossed his face as he watched the fish dart about in every direction. With a burst of speed, he swam after them, challenging them to little races along the lake bed, enjoying every second of it. All too soon, his lungs screamed for oxygen and he quickly swam to the surface, head bursting through the waves as he took in a deep gulp of air.

Cell may have been built as a superior being, but even he could'nt hold his breath for longer than 5 minutes..

Heading back to the shore, he dried himself with his ki and headed back to camp, feeling much more relaxed than before his swim. Sarah was lying on her side near the burnt out fire, fast asleep with her hands clasped together. A soft, purring snore came from her lips, the odd whimper every know and then. Rolling his eyes, Cell knelt down to wake her, but as he was about to do so, he had a sudden change of heart. Despite all the time they'd been stranded in the forest, he had never truly gotten a good look at her.

Brushing aside some of her embony black hair-wavy and silky to the touch-, his eyes roamed over her face, almost milk white in colour. Her lips were pale pink, which added a hint of colour to her skin and her eyes appeared sunken in, even though they were closed. She looked so helpless, curled up in a ball that Cell did'nt have have the heart to wake her up and yell at her.

He felt a sudden tug in his chest were his heart was located. Frowning, he rubbed the area with his hand, confusion eaching across his face. At that moment, Sarah began to stirr, her eyes slowly opening to reveal deep, emerald green eyes, glazed over and seeming to hide something within them…

"WHAA?! Cell?! " Sarah sat up like a shot, her eyes wide and big, staring at him with an expression of amazement on her face. The android felt his cheeks flush and he quickly turned away from her stares. He felt one of her hands on his shoulder, slowly turning him around, her brow furrowed with a somewhat amused grin on her face.

"I barely recodnize you… I take it you got a hold of Seventeen, hmm?" her voice sounded sarcastic and tauting as she pinched an inch of flab on his forearm. Cell's blush was quickly replaced by a red flush of anger. He growled and pushed her away, getting to his feet as he went to sit on his rock, glaring at her.

"IT'S NOT MY FAULT I'M UGLY! There was possibly a flaw in Eighteen's data that I did know of. Now please, do not mock me or I shall wipe that smirk off your pretty little face!"

Sarah chuckled mirthlessly. Cell looked so pathetic in his new form it was all she could do to keep from laughing at his face. Judging on Seventeen's looks, she had expected the bio-android to look somewhat different, but nothing like THIS…

She had to admit, though, it was somethingof an improvement. His now sapphire eyes took away the evil glare that they once held when they were magenta, and he looked much more meaty, as opposed to his first form. Still, Sarah though he was as ugly as sin….

Cell felt her eyes linger on his form. He turned to look at her, face twisted into a sneer. "Ugh….I'm going in search of Eighteen.." with that, he got up from his seat and began to power up. Sarah raced towards him and twapped him on the head.

"Oh no ya don't! You are NOT leaving me here for the animals to eat alive, Bug Boy!"

The android felt a vein pop in his neck, his teeth grinding together as he felt a surge of anger course through his veins. <By Kami, this dumb onna is getting on my very last nerves!! I ought to just kill her and be rid of her……no..….okay, calm down, Cell. You've had a bad day. Don't go blaming her for your ugly new form. It was'nt her fault….it can be corrected by absorbing Eighteen, I'm sure.>

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. With a sigh, he wrenched the ki handcuffs from her hands in one fluid motion, allowing Sarah to flex her wrists and rub the deep crimson marks were the bonds cut into her skin. She looked up curiously at him, her emerald green eyes searching his. A blush rose up again on Cell's face and he quickly turned away before she noticed.

"Ugh….just get out of my sight…..you're getting on my nerves.." he said, in a tired tone of voice. Powering up untill white flames surrounded his body, he took to the sky and flew off towards the horizon, leaving a confused Sarah to complemtate what just happened…

<Okay…that was kind of weird…> she though to herself, sitting down crosslegged in a patch of grass. She rubbed her sore wrists and flopped backward onto the ground staring up at the sky.

<You're one confused little grasshopper man, Cell…>

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"Whoa!" Krillen paused in midair, eyes wide with shock. He had just sensed a huge energy level nearby and it DEFFINATLY was'nt good. Judging on what Goku had told him and the other fighters, there was a fair change the energy he was sensing belonged to the android Cell. Gulping nervously, he sped up and shot like a bullet towards Bulma's house, not wanted to risk becoming bug bait….

Soon, the huge domed structure of the Capsule Corp manor came into clear sight, it's yellow tiled walls glinting in the mid afternoon sun. He landed in the front lawn and ran to the door, knocking forcefully. The door swung open forcefully and almost caused Krillen to fall over from shock.

Vegeta was standing in the doorway, naked except for a pair of polka dot boxer shorts hanging low on his hips, Chibi Trunks fast asleep and drooling in his arms.

(A/N: I'd drool too if I was in that possition! ^_~ )

Krillen gulped, rubbing the back of his head. "Sorry, did I come at a bad time?" Vegeta grunted and motioned for the pint-sized cueball to follow him inside.

"You'll be wanting to speak with the onna, I take it?"the Saiyen prince growled, narrowing his eyes at Krillen before heading upstairs to get Bulma. Krillen sat down on one of the huge, over-sized sofas in the middle of the room, staring up at the ceiling. About half an hour before, he had received an urgent phone call from the teal-haired scientist, urging him to come to the Capsule Corp.

He was just pondering over what she might need him for when soft footsteps snapped him from his train of thoughts. He turned around to see Bulma, dressed in a long white labcoat over a blue tanktop and black shorts. She looked tired and sleep-deprieved but her eyes were alert and wary. She smiled weakly at Krillen and sat down beside him.

"Hey, Krillen.. I need to ask a favor from you. Eariler this morning, Vegeta detected a high ki increase in the 451 Forrest Area not too far from here. Chances are that it was Cell he sensed. Also, Eighteen has been sighted without her brother and you know those two… never more than a metre apart. If Cell absorbs Eighteen, then we're doomed. I'm asking you to help round up the other fighters and inform them of this at once, Krillen. Also, as a precaution, should Cell ever corner that mechanical monstersity, I created a control that will shut down all major power supplies within a 30 mile radius. I'm trusting you to use it when the time comes…" she said, handing Krillen a small control with a large, red button in the middle.

The tiny monk nodded and saluted Bulma. "You can count on me!"

Bulma smiled weakly. "Great! Now, If you'll excuse me, I'm off to bed.." she said, failing to stiffle a yawn. She kissed Vegeta on the cheek, whispering something that made him blush slightly before proceeding upstairs to the bedroom they shared.

Krillen arched an eyebrow at the scene, grinning slyly. Before he had a chance to come up with a witty coment, Vegeta shot him a deathglare.

"Shut up, Krillen."

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Cell sighed to himself as he lay attop the roof deck of a large skyscraper. The sun was beginning to set on yet another day. He had no luck whatsoever locating Eighteen despite searching far and wide. He suspected that she had found out about her brother and gone into hiding..

A sigh escaped his lips as he rolled onto his back, one hand behind his head, the other resting on his stomach as he stared up at the darkening sky. HOW was he going to fight when these bulky muscles encumbered him greatly? With a frustrated sigh, he closed his eyes, silently cursing Seventeen for having the last laugh…

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END CHAPTER 5

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