c100 – Cyborg No. 21: The Fifth Update
"Dad, we're coming too!" Li Yi and Bulla cried out simultaneously.
Li Xu looked at them, seeing the determination in their eyes. After a brief moment of thought, he nodded. It might not even be safe to leave them at home if agents of the Dark Demon Realm were hiding in shadows, his family might be just as vulnerable.
"Alright. Stay close."
"Yes!"
The two kids beamed with excitement, and Bulma's worried expression eased into a small smile.
The three gathered beside Li Xu, and with a soft whoosh, they vanished Instant Transmission warping them to the scene of battle.
---
Elsewhere on Earth...
Android 16 was severely injured half his head was smashed open, wires and circuits sparking. Androids 17 and 18 looked battered and exhausted, clothes torn, faces bruised.
"Sis, go get Li Xu. Only he can take down these freaks!" Android 17 said, a rare desperation in his voice.
"I'll hold them off. You go!" Android 18 urged, preparing to charge forward.
"If I go, he might not help. But if you go well, you're a beautiful woman. You might be able to convince him faster," 17 added with a forced grin.
"You're joking now?!" 18 snapped.
"I'm not! If you'd seduced him last time like I said, maybe we wouldn't be in this mess," 17 replied bitterly.
From the sky above, Cell descended slowly, his wings spread, eyes filled with malice.
"You can't run. But I'm feeling merciful. Surrender and serve me, and I might let you live," he said with a wicked smile. Cell had achieved his Perfect Form, though Androids 17 and 18 were still intact meaning he had used an alternate absorption method.
"Tch. We're not your minions," 17 growled. The androids might have been created as tools, but they still had pride.
"Then die."
Cell's expression turned cold as he formed a dense ki blast in his hand, hurling it at full speed toward the siblings.
17 clenched his teeth, preparing to self-destruct hoping to stall Cell.
But at that instant
BOOM!
The energy ball was swatted away by a blur Li Xu had arrived, palm extended. The blast veered off into the distance before detonating, forming a deafening mushroom cloud.
"Perfect Cell…" Li Xu muttered with a frown.
What disturbed him wasn't just Cell's transformation but that Androids 17 and 18 hadn't been absorbed. This wasn't the Cell of their timeline.
And behind Cell stood someone even more ominous…
A woman with long, flowing hair, glasses, and a sinister smile Android 21.
Her ki was darker and more potent than Cell's. A bio-engineered hybrid, she had cells from not just the Z-Fighters and Frieza, but also Majin Buu, granting her shapeshifting, absorption, and regeneration.
"Hehe… that was fast," Cell chuckled, unshaken by Li Xu's arrival.
Whoosh!
In a blur of wind and ki, Goku, Gohan, Piccolo, and Vegeta appeared beside Li Xu.
"Li Xu, what's happening? Who are they?" Goku asked, narrowing his eyes. The energy signatures were overwhelming, yet unfamiliar.
"They're artificial lifeforms but not from our timeline. They came from the same alternate future as Trunks," Li Xu explained calmly.
"I see…" Goku nodded. It made sense this Cell and Android 21 were far too different from the ones in their original history.
"Well, well. You know a lot about us," Cell smirked.
Li Xu stepped forward, his eyes fixed on Cell.
"One thing doesn't add up. I don't exist in your timeline. So why does your ki feel like mine?"
Cell's grin widened, but he didn't answer. The mystery deepened and Li Xu wasn't about to let it go.
"Hahaha! Thanks to the fact that you didn't destroy the Cell embryo in this timeline, not only have I achieved my Perfect Form, but my power now surpasses even the Cell from Dr. Gero's original data!" Cell said with a twisted grin, his tail swaying slowly behind him.
"So that's what happened…" Li Xu muttered, realizing his oversight. In his focus on larger threats, he had neglected the larval Cell hidden in this world's timeline giving him the opportunity to mature and be manipulated.
"As a token of my gratitude, I'll make sure to give you a slow, agonizing death," Cell continued, laughing with cruel satisfaction.
Li Xu's brows furrowed not because of fear, but because there was something off about this Cell. His malice, his tone, and even his presence felt darker than the original. And with the mysterious arrival of Android 21, it all pointed toward an outside influence.
"Just you?" Li Xu scoffed. "Quit wasting time and call out whoever's lurking behind you. Cell's change in personality… and Android 21's premature appearance this stinks of Dark Demon Realm meddling."
Cell's smile twitched. "What are you talking about?" he asked, voice sharpening. Whether it was genuine confusion or deliberate ignorance, Li Xu couldn't tell.
"Doesn't matter. I'll crush you anyway even if they never crawl out of their hole," Li Xu said coldly.
"Li Xu, let me take this one!" Goku stepped forward, cracking his knuckles. "Last time was just a warm-up."
"Back off, Kakarot! This one's mine!" Vegeta roared, launching straight at Cell with a blast of energy.
"Hey! No fair!" Goku shouted, rushing after him. "You always steal the fun!"
Li Xu didn't join the fray. Instead, his focus shifted to Android 21. Her power radiated like a black hole dense, chaotic, and unnatural. He sensed fragments of Majin Buu, Frieza, Gohan, and others. She was more than a creation she was a hybrid weapon, an unpredictable threat.
"Thank you for helping us..." a quiet voice said from behind.
It was Android 18. She was bruised, her clothes scorched, but she stood tall. Li Xu turned and offered her two Senzu Beans.
"These will restore your strength. You're energy-based, but your physical injuries still need healing."
"Thanks..." 18 took one, then passed the second to 17. They each ate, and instantly their wounds vanished.
"Sister," 17 smirked. "Li Xu just saved your life. Gonna repay him by becoming his woman?"
18 flushed red, her cheeks turning rosy. "Shut up, idiot!" she snapped, though she didn't deny it.
Bulma, having watched the scene, narrowed her eyes and pinched Li Xu's waist while clinging to his arm possessively. Clearly, she wasn't amused.
Li Xu laughed quietly, enjoying the moment even amid rising danger.
---
Meanwhile, the battle escalated.
"Kakarot! Get lost I said he's mine!" Vegeta snarled, blasting forward in Super Saiyan form.
"Don't be so selfish!" Goku retorted, going Super Saiyan as well.
Bang! Bang!
Before either could land a decisive blow, Cell moved like a blur and slammed both of them in the gut with bone-crushing force.
"Tch… You'll need more than childish squabbles to beat me," Cell mocked. "Try fighting together."
"Oww…" Goku clutched his stomach. "Okay… that really hurt."
The two Saiyans glanced at each other, nodded, and with a synchronized shout, launched into a coordinated assault flaring with golden energy as they struck from opposite angles.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Their punches and kicks rang out like thunder. Cell held his ground, blocking with uncanny speed. He wasn't just holding his own he was toying with them.
Watching from afar, Li Xu frowned again.
"This Cell is far stronger than in the original timeline… and his ki is polluted."
The sinister aura radiating from Cell's body wasn't entirely his. It was infused tainted by a power foreign to his origin.
"This isn't just Dr. Gero's work. Someone… something... gave him that energy."
His gaze drifted back to Android 21—silent, smiling and he knew the battle had only just begun.
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